See also:

• MYSTICISM (from Or. µuety, to shut the eyes; µuorrts, one initiated into the mysteries)

MYSTICISM (from Or. µuety, to shut the eyes; µuorrts, one initiated into the mysteries)  , a phase of thought, or rather perhaps of feeling, which from its very nature is hardly susceptible of exact See also:

• DEFINITION (Lat. definitio, from de-finire, to set limits to, describe)

definition . It appears in connexion with the endeavour of the human mind to grasp the divine essence or the ultimate reality of things, and to enjoy the blessedness of actual communion with the Highest . The first is the philosophic See also:

• SIDE
• SIDE (mod. Eski Adalia)

side of See also:

• MYSTICISM (from Or. µuety, to shut the eyes; µuorrts, one initiated into the mysteries)

mysticism; the second, its religious side . The first effort is theoretical or speculative; the second, See also:

• PRACTICAL

practical . The thought that is most intensely See also:

• PRESENT

present with the mystic is that Farnell, Cults, iii . 299—302 . 2 See Archie See also:

• FUR (connected with O. Fr. forre, a sheath or case; so " an outer covering ")

fur Religionswiss . (1906), See also:

• ARTICLE (from Lat. articulus, a joint)

article by Salomon See also:

• REINACH, JOSEPH (1856- )

Reinach.of a supreme, all-pervading, and indwelling See also:

• POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power, in whom all things are one . Hence the speculative utterances of mysticism are always more or less pantheistic in See also:

• CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character . On the practical side, mysticism maintains the possibility of See also:

• DIRECT

direct intercourse with this Being of beings—intercourse, not through any See also:

• EXTERNAL

external See also:

• MEDIA

media such as an See also:

• HISTORICAL

historical See also:

• REVELATION, BOOK OF

revelation, oracles, answers to See also:

• PRAYER (from Lat. precari, entreat; Ital. pregaria, Fr. priere)
• PRAYER, BOOK OF COMMON

prayer, and the like, but by a See also:

• SPECIES

species of ecstatic transfusion or See also:

• IDENTIFICATION (Lat. idem, the same)

identification, in which the individual becomes in very truth " partaker of the divine nature." See also:

• GOD

God ceases to be an See also:

• OBJECT

object to him and becomes an experience . In the writings of the mystics, ingenuity exhausts itself in the invention of phrases to See also:

• EXPRESS (through the French from the past participle of the Lat. exprimere, to press out, by transference used of representing objects in painting or sculpture, or of thoughts, &c. in words)

express the closeness of this See also:

• UNION
• UNION (known locally as Union Hill and officially as Town of Union)

union . 1Vlysticism differs, there-fore, from See also:

• ORDINARY (med. Lat. ordinarius, Fr. ordinaire)

ordinary See also:

• PANTHEISM (Gr. 7rav, all, Oeos, god)

pantheism in that its inmost See also:

• MOTIVE (from Lat. movere, to move)

motive is religious; but, whereas See also:

• RELIGION
• RELIGION, FOLKLORE, CUSTOM

religion is ordinarily occupied with a practical problem and develops its theory in an ethical reference, mysticism displays a predominatingly speculative See also:

• BENT
• BENT (E1. BENI)
• BENT, JAMES THEODORE (1852–1897)

bent, starting from the divine nature rather than from See also:

• MAN
• MAN, ISLE OF (anc. Mona)

man and his surroundings, taking the symbolism of religious feeling as literally or metaphysically true, and straining after the present realization of an ineffable union .

The union which See also:

• SOUND
• SOUND, THE (Danish Oresund)

sound religious teaching represents as realized in the submission of the will and the ethical See also:

• HARMONY (Gr. dpµovia, a concord of musical sounds, dpA'ew to join; &plan midi (sc. TeXvil)

harmony of the whole See also:

• LIFE

life is then reduced to a passive experience, to something which comes and goes in See also:

• TIME (0. Eng. Lima, cf. Icel. timi, Swed. timme, hour, Dan. time; from the root also seen in " tide," properly the time of between the flow and ebb of the sea, cf. O. Eng. getidan, to happen, " even-tide," &c.; it is not directly related to Lat. tempus)
• TIME, MEASUREMENT OF
• TIME, STANDARD

time, and which may be of only momentary duration . Mysticism, it will be seen, is not a name applicable to any particular See also:

• SYSTEM

system . It may be the outgrowth of many differing modes of thought and feeling . Most frequently it appears historically, in relation to some definite system of belief, as a reaction of the spirit against the See also:

• LETTER (through Fr. lettre from Lat. littera or litera, letter of the alphabet; the origin of the Latin word is obscure; it has probably no connexion with the root of linere, to smear, i.e. with wax, for an inscription with a stilus)

letter . When a religion begins to ossify into a system of formulas and observances, those who protest in the name of See also:

• HEART
• HEART, LUNG

heart-religion are not unfrequently known by the name of mystics . At times they merely bring into prominence again the ever-fresh fact of See also:

• PERSONAL

personal religious experience; at other times mysticism develops itself as a powerful solvent of definite dogmas . A See also:

• REVIEW (Fr. revue, from revoir, to see again, Lat. re and videre)

review of the historical appearances of mysticism will serve to show how far the above characteristics are to be found, separately or in See also:

• COMBINATION (Lat. combinare, to combine)

combination, in its different phases . In the See also:

• EAST
• EAST, ALFRED (1849- )

East, mysticism is not so much a specific phenomenon as a natural See also:

• DEDUCTION (from Lat. deducere, to take or lead from or out of, derive)

deduction from the dominant philosophic systems, and the normal expression of religious feeling in the lands in which it appears . Brahmanic pantheism eastern Systems . and Buddhistic See also:

• NIHILISM

nihilism alike See also:

• TEACH [THATCH OR THACH], EDWARD (d. 1718)

teach the unreality of the seeming See also:

• WORLD

world, and preach mystical absorption as the highest See also:

• GOAL

goal; in both, the sense of the See also:

• WORTH
• WORTH, CHARLES FREDERICK (1825-1895)

worth of human See also:

• PERSONALITY (from Lat. persona, originally an actor's mask, from personare,1 to sound through)

personality is lost . See also:

• INDIA
• INDIA, FRENCH

India consequently has always been the fertile See also:

• MOTHER

mother of practical mystics and devotees . The See also:

• CLIMATE

climate itself encourages to passivity, and the very luxuriance of See also:

• VEGETABLE

vegetable and See also:

• ANIMAL
• ANIMAL (Lat. animalis, from anima, breath, soul)

animal life tends to See also:

• BLUNT, JOHN HENRY (1823–1884)
• BLUNT, JOHN JAMES (1794–1855)
• BLUNT, WILFRID SCAWEN (184o— )

blunt the feeling of the value of life .

Silent contemplation and the See also:

• TOTAL

total deadening of consciousness by perseverance for years in unnatural attitudes are among the commonest forms assumed by this mystical See also:

• ASCETICISM

asceticism . But the most revolting methods of self-See also:

• TORTURE (from Lat. torquere, to twist)

torture and self-destruction are also practised as a means of rising in sanctity . The sense of See also:

• SIN
• SIN (O. Eng. syn: a common Teutonic word, cf. Dutch zonde, Ger. Siinde)

sin can hardly be said to enter into these exercises—that is, they are not undertaken as See also:

• PENANCE (Old Fr. penance, fr. Lat. poenitentia, penitence)

penance for personal transgression . They are a despite done to the principle of individual or See also:

• SEPARATE

separate existence . The so-called mysticism of the See also:

• PERSIAN
• PERSIAN, SYRIAN, EGYPTIAN AND TURKISH

Persian Sufis is less intense and practical, more See also:

• AIRY, SIR GEORGE BIDDELL (1801-1892)

airy and See also:

• LITERARY

literary in character . Sufism (q.v.) appears in the 9th See also:

• CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century among the Mahornmedans of See also:

• PERSIA

Persia as a See also:

• KIND (O. E. ge-cynde, from the same root as is seen in " kin," supra)

kind of reaction against the rigid monotheism and formalism of See also:

• ISLAM

Islam . It is doubtless to be regarded as a revival of See also:

• ANCIENT
• ANCIENT (also spelt ANTIENT; derived, through the Fr. ancien, old, from the late Lat. antianum, from ante, before)

ancient habits of thought and feeling among a See also:

• PEOPLE

people who had adopted the See also:

• KORAN

Koran, not by See also:

• AFFINITY (Lat. affinitas, relationship by marriage, from offinis, bordering on, related to; finis, border, boundary)
• AFFINITY, CHEMICAL

affinity, but by compulsion . Persian literature after that date, and especially Persian See also:

• POETRY

poetry, is full of an ardent natural pantheism, in which a mystic See also:

• APPREHENSION (Lat. ad, to; prehendere, to seize)

apprehension of the unity and divinity of all things heightens the delight in natural and in human beauty . Such is the poetry of See also:

• HAFIZ

Hafiz and Saadi, whose verses are chiefly devoted to the praises of See also:

• WINE (Lat. vinum, Gr. oivos)

wine and See also:

• WOMEN

women . Even the most licentious of these have been fitted by See also:

• MAHOMMEDAN

Mahommedan theologians with a mystical See also:

• INTERPRETATION (from Lat. interpretari, to expound, explain, inter pres, an agent, go-between, interpreter; inter, between, and the root pret-, possibly connected with that seen either in Greek 4 p4'ew, to speak, or irpa-rrecv, to do)

interpretation . The delights of love are made to stand for the raptures of union with the divine, the See also:

• TAVERN

tavern symbolizes an See also:

• ORATORY (Lat. oratorio, sc. ors; from orare, to speak or pray)

oratory, and See also:

• INTOXICATION (Lat. toxicare, intoxicare, to smear with poison, toxicum, an adaptation of Gr. 'r(*uK v, sc. ¢apµasov, a poison smeared on arrows; roEov, bow)

intoxication is the bewilderment of sense before the surpassing See also:

• VISION (from Lat. videre, to see), or SIGHT

vision . Very often, if not most frequently, it cannot be doubted that the occult religious significance depends on an artificial exegesis; but there are also poems of Hafiz, Saadi, and other writers, religious in their first intentions .

These are unequivocally pantheistic in See also:

• TONE, THEOBALD WOLFE (1763-1798)

tone, and the See also:

• DESIRE

desire of the soul to See also:

• ESCAPE (in mid. Eng. eschape or escape, from the O. Fr. eschapper, modern echapper, and escaper, low Lat. escapium, from ex, out of, and cappa, cape, cloak; cf. for the sense development the Gr. iichueoOat, literally to put off one's clothes, hence to sli

escape and See also:

• REST (O. Eng. rest, reste, bed, cognate with other Teutonic forms, e.g. Ger. Rast, Riiste, rest, and probably Gothic Rasta, league, i.e. resting or stopping place)

rest with God is expressed with all the fervour of Eastern poetry . This speculative See also:

• MOOD

mood, in which nature and beauty and earthly See also:

• SATISFACTION (Lat. salisfacerc, to satisfy)

satisfaction appear as a vain show, is the counterpart of the former mood of sensuous enjoyment . For opposite reasons, neither the See also:

• GREEK
• GREEK, ETRUSCAN AND

Greek nor the Jewish mind See also:

• LENT (0. Eng. lenclen, " spring," M. Eng. lenten, lente, lent; cf. Dut. lente, Ger. Lenz, " spring," 0. H. Ger. lenzin, lengizin, lenzo, probably from the same root as " long " and referring to " the lengthening days ")

lent itself readily to mysticism: the Greek, because of its clear and sunny See also:

• NATURALISM

naturalism; the Jewish, because of its rigid monotheism and its turn towards worldly See also:

• REALISM (from Low Lat. realis, appertaining to res, things, as opposed to ideas and imaginations)

realism and statutory observance . It is only with the exhaustion of Greek and Jewish See also:

• CIVILIZATION

civilization that mysticism becomes a prominent See also:

• FACTOR (from Lat. facere, to make or do)

factor in Western thought . It appears, therefore, contemporaneously with See also:

• CHRISTIANITY

Christianity, and is a sign of the world-weariness and deep religious need that See also:

• MARK
• MARK, CARL (1858– )
• MARK, GOSPEL OF ST
• MARK, ST

mark the decay of the old world . Whereas See also:

• PLATO

Plato's See also:

• MAIN (from the Aryan root which appears in " may " and " might," and Lat. magnus, great)
• MAIN (Lat. Moenus)

main problem had been the organization of the perfect See also:

• STATE
• STATE, GREAT OFFICERS OF

state, and See also:

• ARISTOTLE
• ARISTOTLE (384-322 B.C.)

Aristotle's See also:

• INTELLECT (Lat. intellectus, from intelligere, to understand)

intellect had ranged with fresh See also:

• INTEREST

interest over all departments of the knowable, See also:

• POLITICAL

political See also:

• SPECULATION

speculation had become a mockery with the extinction of See also:

• FREE

free political life, and know-ledge as such had lost its freshness for the Greeks of the See also:

• ROMAN

Roman See also:

• EMPIRE

Empire . Knowledge is nothing to these men if it does not show them the See also:

• INFINITE (from Lat. in, not, finis, end or limit; cf. findere, to deave)

infinite reality which is able to fill the aching void within . Accordingly, the last See also:

• AGE (Fr. age, through late Lat. aetaticum, from aetas)

age of Greek See also:

• PHILOSOPHY (Gr. gthos, fond of, and vo4 (a, wisdom)

philosophy is theosophical in charac.er, and its ultimate end is a practical satisfaction . See also:

• NEOPLATONISM

Neoplatonism seeks this in the ecstatic See also:

• INTUITION (from Lat. intueri, to look at)

intuition of the ineffable One . The systematic See also:

• THEOSOPHY (from Gr. Oe6s, god, and vogbta, wisdom)

theosophy of See also:

• PLOTINUS (A.D. 204-270)

Plotinus and his successors does not belong to the present article, except so far as it is the presupposition of their mysticism; but, inasmuch as the mysticism of the See also:

• MEDIEVAL

medieval See also:

• CHURCH
• CHURCH (according to most authorities derived from the Gr. Kvpcaxov [&wµa], " the Lord's [house]," and common to many Teutonic, Slavonic and other languages under various forms—Scottish kirk, Ger. Kirche, Swed. kirka, Dan. kirke, Russ. tserkov, Buig. cerk
• CHURCH, FREDERICK EDWIN (1826-1900)
• CHURCH, GEORGE EARL (1835–1910)
• CHURCH, RICHARD WILLIAM (1815–189o)
• CHURCH, SIR RICHARD (1784–1873)

Church is directly derived from Neoplatonism through the speculations of the pseudo-See also:

• DIONYSIUS
• DIONYSIUS (c. 432–367 B.C.)

Dionysius, Neoplatonic mysticism fills an important See also:

• SECTION
• SECTION (Lat. sectio, cutting, secare, to cut)

section in any historical review of the subject . Neoplatonism owes its See also:

• FORM (Lat. forma)

form to Plato, but its underlying motive is the widespread feeling of self-despair and the longing for divine See also:

• ILLUMINATION

illumination characteristic' of the age plat- ptatontsm, in which it appears . Before the rise of Neoplaton- ism proper we meet with various mystical or semi-• mystical expressions of the same religious craving .

The contemplative asceticism of the See also:

• ESSENES

Essenes of See also:

• JUDAEA

Judaea may be mentioned, and, somewhat later, the life of the See also:

• THERAPEUTAE (Gr. BepaawTat, literally " attendants " or " physicians," hence " worshippers of God ")

Therapeutae on the shores of See also:

• LAKE
• LAKE, GERARD LAKE, 1ST VISCOUNT (1744-1808)

Lake See also:

• MOERIS, AELIUS
• MOERIS, LAKE OF

Moeris . In See also:

• PHILO
• PHILO, HERENNIUS

Philo, Alexandrian Judaism had already seized upon Plato as " the See also:

• ATTIC (i.e. "in the Attic style ")

Attic See also:

• MOSES (Gr. Mwvo c, Mcoo-i3s)
• MOSES, ASSUMPTION OF

Moses," and done its best to combine his speculations with the teaching of his Jewish prototype . Philo's God is described in terms of See also:

• ABSOLUTE (Lat. absolvere, to loose, set free)

absolute transcendency; his See also:

• DOCTRINE

doctrine of the See also:

• LOGOS (X4os)

Logos or Divine See also:

• SOPHIA (1630-1714)

Sophia is a theistical transformation of the Platonic world of ideas; his allegorical interpretation of the Old Testament represents the spiritualistic See also:

• DISSOLUTION (from Lat. dissolvere, to break up into parts)

dissolution of historical Judaism . Philo's ethical ideal is renunciation, contemplation, See also:

• COMPLETE

complete surrender to the divine See also:

• INFLUENCE (Late Lat. influentia, from influere, to flow in)

influence . See also:

• APOLLONIUS

Apollonius of Tyana and the so-called Neopythagoreans See also:

• DREW
• DREW, SAMUEL (1765-1833)

drew similar ethical consequences from their eclectic study of Plato . Wonder-workers like See also:

• ALEXANDER
• ALEXANDER (1461-1506)
• ALEXANDER (ALEXANDER OF BATTENBERG) (1857-1893)
• ALEXANDER (ALEXANDER OsxENOVici) (1876-1903)
• ALEXANDER, ARCHIBALD (1772—1851)
• ALEXANDER, FRANCIS (1800—1881)
• ALEXANDER, GEORGE (1858— )
• ALEXANDER, JOHN WHITE (1856- )
• ALEXANDER, JOSEPH ADDISON (18o9—186o)
• ALEXANDER, SIR JAMES EDWARD (1803—1885)
• ALEXANDER, WILLIAM (1824— )
• ALEXANDER, WILLIAM LINDSAY (1808—1884)

Alexander the Paphlagonian exhibit the grosser side of the longing for spiritual communion . The traits See also:

• COMMON

common to Neoplatonism and all these speculations are well summed up by See also:

• ZELLER, EDUARD (1814-1908)

Zeller (Philos. der Griechen, iii . 2 . 214) as consisting in: " (I) the dualistic opposition of the divine and the earthly; (2) an abstract conception of God, excluding all knowledge of the divine nature; (3) contempt for the world of the senses, on the ground of the Platonic doctrines of See also:

• MATTER

matter and of the descent of the soul from a See also:

• SUPERIOR

superior world into the See also:

• BODY

body; (4) the theory of intermediate potencies or beings, through whom God acts upon the world of phenomena; (5) the requirement of an ascetic self-emancipation from the bondage of sense and faith in a higher revelation to man when in a state called See also:

• ENTHUSIASM

enthusiasm." Neoplatonism appears in the first See also:

• HALF

half of the 3rd century, and has itsgreatest representative in Plotinus . He develops the Platonic philosophy into an elaborate system by means of the doctrine of See also:

• EMANATION (Lat. emanatio, from e-, out, manare, to flow)

emanation . The One, the See also:

• GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

Good, and the See also:

• IDEA (Gr. Ibia, connected with i&eiv, to see; cf. Lat. species from specere, to look at)

Idea of the Good were identical in Plato's mind, and the Good was therefore not deprived of intelligible essence . It was not separated from the world of ideas, of which it was represented as either the See also:

• CROWN

crown or the sum .

By Plotinus, on the contrary, the One is explicitly exalted above the vows and the " ideas "; it transcends existence altogether (irbcava ri)s ovvias), and is not cognizable by See also:

• REASON (Lat. ratio, through French raison)

reason . Remaining itself in repose, it rays out, as it were, from its own fullness an See also:

• IMAGE (Lat. imago, perhaps from the same root as imitari, copy, imitate)

image of itself, which is called vows, and which constitutes the system of ideas of the intelligible world . The soul is in turn the image or product of the vows, and the soul by its See also:

• MOTION (Lat. motio, from movere, to move)
• MOTION, LAWS OF

motion begets corporeal matter . The soul thus faces two ways—towards the vac, from which it springs, and towards the material life, which is its own product . Ethical endeavour consists in the repudiation of the sensible; material existence is itself estrangement from God . (See also:

• PORPHYRY (IlopcPisptos) (A.D. 233-c. 304)

Porphyry tells us that Plotinus was unwilling to name his parents or his birthplace, and seemed ashamed of being in the body.) Beyond the IcaOfipo•eas, or virtues which purify from sin, lies the further See also:

• STAGE (Fr. 6/age; from Lat. stare, to stand)

stage of complete identification with God (ova Ei w fivapntas etvat; aXMa Oeov eivat) . To reach the ultimate goal, thought itself must be See also:

• LEFT

left behind; for thought is a form of motion, and the desire of the soul is for the motion-less rest which belongs to the One . The union with transcendent deity is not so much knowledge or vision as See also:

• ECSTASY (Gr. iarra(TLc, from i LarliU, put out of its place, alter)

ecstasy, coalescence, contact (Fauravcs alrXwves, &A, Ennead., vi . 9 . 8-9) . But in our present state of existence the moments of this ecstatic union must be few and See also:

• SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short; " I myself," says Plotinus simply, " have realized it but three times as yet, and Porphyry hitherto not once." It will be seen from the above that Neoplatonism is not mystical as regards the See also:

• FACULTY (through the French, from the Lat. facultas, ability to do anything, from facilis, easy, facere, to do; another form of the word in Lat. facilitas, facility, ease, keeps the original meaning)

faculty by which it claims to apprehend philosophic truth . It is first of all a system of complete See also:

• RATIONALISM (from Lat. rationalis, pertaining to reason, ratio)

rationalism; it is assumed, in other words, that reason is capable of mapping out the whole system of things .

But, inasmuch as a God is affirmed beyond reason, the mysticism becomes in a sense the necessary See also:

• COMPLEMENT (Lat. complementum, from complere, to fill up)

complement of the would-be all-embracing rationalism . The system culminates in a mystical See also:

• ACT (Lat. actus, actum)

act, and in the sequel, especially with lamblichus and the Syrian Neoplatonists, mystical practice tended more and more to overshadow the theoretical groundwork . It was probably about the end of the 5th century, just as ancient philosophy was 'dying out in the See also:

• SCHOOLS

schools of See also:

• ATHENS
• ATHENS ['AN vat, Athenae, modem colloquial Greek `Ath va]

Athens, that the speculative mysticism of Neoplatonism made a definite lodgment in See also:

• CHRISTIAN
• CHRISTIAN, WILLIAM (1608-1663)

Christian thought through the literary forgeries of the pseudo-Dionysius (see Dronvsrus THE AREOPAGITE) . The doctrines of Christianity were by that time so firmly established that the Church could look upon a symbolical or mystical interpretation of them without anxiety . The author of the Theologia mystica and the other See also:

• WORKS

works ascribed to the Areopagite proceeds, therefore, to develop the doctrines of See also:

• PROCLUS, or PROCULUS (A.D. 410-485)

Proclus with very little modification into a system of See also:

• ESOTERIC

esoteric Christianity . God is the nameless and supra-essential One, elevated above goodness itself . Hence " negative See also:

• THEOLOGY

theology," which ascends from the creature to God by dropping one after another every determinate predicate, leads us nearest to the truth . The return to God (€vwvcs, 9Ewnns) is the consummation of all things and the goal indicated by Christian teaching . The same doctrines were preached with more of churchly fervour by See also:

• MAXIMUS
• MAXIMUS, ST (c. 58o-662)

Maximus the See also:

• CONFESSOR

Confessor (580-622) . St Maximus represents almost the last speculative activity of the Greek Church, but the influence of the pseudo-Dionysian writings were transmitted to the See also:

• WEST
• WEST, BENJAMIN (1738-1820)
• WEST, NICHOLAS (1461-1533)

West in the 9th century by See also:

• ERIGENA, JOHANNES SCOTUS (c. 800-c. 877)

Erigena, in whose speculative spirit both the See also:

• SCHOLASTICISM

scholasticism and the mysticism of the See also:

• MIDDLE

middle ages have their rise . Erigena translated Dionysius into Latin along with the commentaries of Maximus, and his system is essentially based upon theirs . The negative theology is adopted, and God is stated to be predicateless Being, above all categories, and therefore not improperly called Nothing .

Out of this Nothing or incomprehensible essence the world of ideas or primordial causes is eternally created . This is the Word or Son of God, in whom all things exist, so far as they have substantial existence . All existence is a theophany, and as God is the beginning of all things, so also is He the end . Erigena teaches the restitution of all things under the form of the Dionysian adunatio or deificatio . These are the permanent outlines of what may be called the philosophy of mysticism in Christian times, and it is remarkable with how little variation they are repeated from age to age . In Erigena mysticism has not yet separated itself in any way from the See also:

• DOGMA (Gr. Sbypa, from b6aeiv, to seem; literally " that which seems, sc. good or true or useful " to any one)

dogma of the Church . There is no revulsion, as later, from dogma as such, nor is more stress laid upon one dogma than upon another; all are treated upon the same footing, and the whole dogmatic system is held, as it were, in See also:

• SOLUTION (from Lat. solvere, to loosen, dissolve)

solution by the philosophic See also:

• MEDIUM

medium in which it is presented . No distinction is See also:

• DRAWN

drawn, indeed, between what is reached by reason and what is given by authority; the two are immediately identical for Erigena . In this he agrees with the speculative mystics everywhere, and differentiates himself from the scholastics who followed him . The distinguishing characteristic of scholasticism is the See also:

• ACCEPTANCE (Lat. acceptare, frequentative form of accipere, to receive)

acceptance by reason of a given matter, the truth of which is See also:

• INDEPENDENT

independent of rational grounds, and which remains a presupposition even when it cannot be under-stood . Scholasticism aims, it is true, in its See also:

• CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief representatives, at demonstrating that the content of revelation and the teaching of reason are identical . But what was matter of immanent See also:

• ASSUMPTION, FEAST OF

assumption with Erigena is in them an equating of two things which have been dealt with on the See also:

• HYPOTHESIS (from Gr. inrorcOivat, to put under; cf. Lat. suppositio, from sub-ponere)

hypothesis that they are separate, and which, therefore, still retain that external relation to one another .

This externality of religious truth to the mind is fundamental in scholasticism, while the opposite view is equally fundamental in mysticism . Mysticism is not the voluntary demission of reason and its subjection to an external authority . In that See also:

• CASE
• CASE, JOHN (d. 1600)

case, all who accept a revelation without professing to understand its content would require to be ranked as mystics; the fierce sincerity of See also:

• TERTULLIAN (c. 155-c. 222)

Tertullian's credo quia absurdum, See also:

• PASCAL, BLAISE (1623-1662)
• PASCAL, JACQUELINE (1625-T661)

Pascal's reconciliation of contradictions in Jesus See also:

• CHRIST (Gr. X pLQTOS, Anointed)
• CHRIST, WILHELM VON (1831-1906)

Christ, and See also:

• BAYLE, PIERRE (1647-1706)

Bayle's half-sneering subordination of reason to faith would all be marks of this standpoint . But such a See also:

• TEMPER (from Lat. temperare, to mingle or compound in due proportion, to qualify, rule, regulate, to be moderate, formed from tempos, time, fit or due season)

temper of mind is much more akin to See also:

• SCEPTICISM (o-Kesrroµai, I consider, reflect, hesitate, doubt)

scepticism than to mysticism; it is characteristic of those who either do not feel the need of philosophizing their beliefs, or who have failed in doing so and take See also:

• REFUGE

refuge in sheer acceptance . Mysticism, on the other See also:

• HAND
• HAND (a word common to Teutonic languages; cf. Ger. Hand, Goth. handus)
• HAND, FERDINAND GOTTHELF (1786-185r)

hand, is marked on its speculative side by even an overweening confidence in human reason . Nor need this be wondered at if we consider that the unity of the human mind with the divine is its underlying presupposition . Hence where reason is discarded by the mystic it is merely reason overleaping itself; it occurs at the end and not at the beginning of his speculations . Even then there is no See also:

• APPEAL

appeal to authority; nothing is accepted from without . The appeal is still to the individual, who, if not by reason then by some higher faculty, claims to realize absolute truth and to See also:

• TASTE (from Lat. taxare, to touch sharply; tangere, to touch)

taste absolute blessedness . Mysticism first appears in the medieval Church as the protest of practical religion against the predominance of the dialectical spirit . It is so with See also:

• BERNARD, CHARLES DE
• BERNARD, CLAUDE (1813-1878)
• BERNARD, JACQUES (1658--1718)
• BERNARD, MOUNTAGUE (1S2o—1882)
• BERNARD, SAINT
• BERNARD, SAINT (Iogo-1153)
• BERNARD, SIMON (1779—1839)
• BERNARD, SIR THOMAS, BART

Bernard of See also:

• CLAIRVAUX

Clairvaux (lo90 Beraard of Clairvaux . 1153), condemns See also:

• ABELARD, PETER (1079-1142)

Abelard's distinctions and reasonings as externalizing and degrading the faith .

St Bernard's mysticism is of a practical See also:

• CAST (from the verb meaning " to throw "; the word is Scand. in origin, cf. Dan. kaste, and Swed. kasta; " cast " in Middle Eng. took the place of the A.S. weor pan, cf. Ger. werf en)

cast, dealing mainly with the means by which man may attain to the know-ledge and enjoyment of God . Reason has three stages, in the highest of which the mind is able, by See also:

• ABSTRACTION (Lat. abs and trahere)

abstraction from earthly things, to rise to contemplatio or the vision of the divine . More exalted still, however, is the sudden ecstatic vision, such as was granted, for example, to See also:

• PAUL
• PAUL (PAULUS)

Paul . This is the See also:

• REWARD

reward of those who are dead to the body and the world . Asceticism is thus the counterpart of medieval mysticism; and, by his example as well as by his teaching in such passages, St Bernard unhappily encouraged practices which necessarily resulted in self-delusion . Love grows with the knowledge of its object, he proceeds, and at the highest stage self-love is so merged in love to God that we love ourselves only for God's See also:

• SAKE

sake or because God has loved us." To lose thyself in some sort, as if See also:

• THOU, JACQUES AUGUSTE DE [THUANUS] (1553-1617)
• THOU, NOM

thou wert not, and to have no consciousness of thyself at all—to be emptied of thyself and almost annihilated—such is heavenly conversation . . . . So to be affected is to become God." " As the little See also:

• WATER

water-drop poured into a large measure of wine seems to lose its own nature entirely and to take on both the taste and the See also:

• COLOUR (Lat. color, connected with celare, to hide, the root meaning, therefore, being that of a covering)

colour of the wine; or as See also:

• IRON [symbol Fe, atomic weight 55.85 (0=16)]

iron heated red-hot loses its own See also:

• APPEARANCE (from Lat. apparere, to appear)

appearance and glows like See also:

• FIRE (in O. Eng. f j'r; the word is common to West German languages, cf. Dutch vuur, Ger. Feuer; the pre-Teutonic form is seen in Sanskrit pu, pavaka, and Gr. irup; the ultimate origin is usually taken to be a root meaning to purify, cf. Lat. purus)

fire; or as See also:

• AIR (from an Indo-European root meaning " breathe," " blow ")
• AIR, or ASBEN

air filled with sunlight is transformed into the same brightness so that it does not so much appear to be illuminated as to be itself See also:

• LIGHT

light—so must all human feeling towards the See also:

• HOLY

Holy One be self-dissolved in unspeakable See also:

• WISE, HENRY ALEXANDER (1806-1876)
• WISE, ISAAC MAYER (1819-1900)

wise, and wholly transfused into the will of God . For how shall God be all in all if anything of man remains in man ? The substance will indeed remain, but in another form, another See also:

• GLORY (through the O. Fr. glorie, modern gloire, from Lat. gloria, cognate with Gr. KXebs, abets)

glory, another power " (De diligendo Deo, c. ro) . These are the favourite similes of mysticism, wherever it is found . Mysticism was more systematically See also:

• DEVELOPED

developed by Bernard's contemporary See also:

• HUGH
• HUGH, ST

Hugh of St See also:

• VICTOR
• VICTOR, GAIUS JULIUS (4th cent. A.D.)
• VICTOR, SEXTUS AURELIUS

Victor (1096—1141) .

The Augustinian monastery of St Victor near See also:

• PARIS
• PARIS (also called ALEXANDROS)
• PARIS, ALEXIS PAULIN (1800-x881)
• PARIS, BRUNO PAULIN GASTON (1839-1903)
• PARIS, FRANCOIS DE (169o-1727)
• PARIS, LOUIS PHILIPPE ALBERT
• PARIS, TREATIES OF (1814-1815)

Paris became the See also:

• HEAD (in 0. Eng. heafad; the word is common to Teutonic languages; cf. Dutch hoofd, Ger. Haupt, generally taken to be in origin connected with Lat. caput, Gr. KerbOvi7)
• HEAD, SIR EDMUND WALKER, BART
• HEAD, SIR FRANCIS BOND, BART

head-quarters of mysticism during the 12th century . It Ictorines. had a wide influence in awakening popular piety, and the works that issued from it formed the textbooks of mystical and pietistic minds in the centuries that followed . Hugh's See also:

• PUPIL (Lat. pupillus, orphan, minor, dim. of pupus, boy, allied to puer, from root pm- or peu-, to beget, cf. "pupa," Lat. for " doll," the name given to the stage intervening between the larval and imaginal stages in certain insects)

pupil, See also:

• RICHARD
• RICHARD (d. 1184)
• RICHARD, FRANCOIS MARIE BENJAMIN (18,9-1908)
• RICHARD, HENRY (1812-1888)
• RICHARD, ST

Richard of St Victor, declares, in opposition to See also:

• DIALECTIC, or DIALECTICS

dialectic scholasticism, that the See also:

• OBJECTS

objects of mystic contemplation are partly above reason, and partly, as in the intuition of the Trinity, contrary to reason . He enters at length into the conditions of ecstasy and the yearnings that precede it . See also:

• WALTER, HUBERT (d. 1205)
• WALTER, JOHN (1738/9-1812)

Walter; the third of the Victorines, carried on the polemic against the dialecticians . See also:

• BONAVENTURA, SAINT (JOHN OF FIDANZA)

Bonaventura (1221–1274) was a diligent student of the Victorines, and in his See also:

• ITINERARIUM (i.e. road-book, from Lat. iter, road)

Itinerarium mentis ad Deum maps out the human faculties in a similar See also:

• FASHION (adapted from Fr. facon, agon, Lat. factio, making, facere, to do or make)

fashion . He introduces the terms " See also:

• APEX

apex mentis " and " scintilla " (also " See also:

• SYNDERESIS

synderesis" or vuv-rhprtvts) to describe the faculty of mystic intuition . Bonaventura runs See also:

• RIOT (0. Fr. riote, of uncertain etymology)

riot in phrases to describe the union with God, and his devotional works were much drawn upon by, mystical preachers . Fully a century later, when the system of scholasticism was gradually breaking up under the predominance of See also:

• OCCAM, WILLIAM OF (d. c. 1349)

Occam's See also:

• NOMINALISM (from Lat. nomen, name)

nominalism, See also:

• PIERRE

Pierre d'See also:

• AILLY, PIERRE

Ailly (1350—1425), and his more famous See also:

• SCHOLAR, SCHOLARSHIP

scholar See also:

• JOHN
• JOHN (1167–1216)
• JOHN (1290-c. 1320)
• JOHN (1296-1346)
• JOHN (1371–1419)
• JOHN (1468-1532)
• JOHN (1801-1873)
• JOHN (Heb. llni')
• JOHN (ZAPOLYA) (1487-1540)
• JOHN, 4TH MARQUESS OF TWEEDDALE (c. 1695-1762)
• JOHN, DON (1545-1578)
• JOHN, DON (1629–1679)
• JOHN, GOSPEL OF ST
• JOHN, or HAYS (1513–1571)
• JOHN, THE APOSTLE
• JOHN, THE EPISTLES OF

John See also:

• GERSON, JOHN (1363—1429)

Gerson (1363—1429), See also:

• CHANCELLOR (M. Eng. and Anglo-Fr. canceler, chanceler, Fr. chancelier, Lat. cancellarius)

chancellor of the university of Paris, are found endeavouring to combine the doctrines of the Victorines and Bonaventura with a nominalistic philosophy . They are the last representatives of mysticism within the limitations imposed by scholasticism . From the 12th and 13th centuries onward there is observable in the different countries of See also:

• EUROPE

Europe a widespread reaction against the growing formalism and worldliness of the Church and the scandalous lives of many of the See also:

• EARLY
• EARLY, JUBAL ANDERSON (1816-1894)

Early See also:

• CLERGY (M.E. clergie, O. Fr. clergie, from Low Lat. form clericia [Skean, by assimilation with O. Fr. clergie, Fr. clerge,from Low Lat. clericatus)
• CLERGY, BENEFIT OF

clergy' Men began to feel a desire for a theology See also:

• GERMAN
• GERMAN, DUTCH AND SCANDINAVIAN

German mystics . of the heart and an unworldly simplicity of life .

Thus there arose in the See also:

• NETHERLANDS

Netherlands the See also:

• BEGUINES (Fr. beguine, Med. Lat. beguina, begina, beghina)

Beguines and Beghards, in See also:

• ITALY
• ITALY (Italia)

Italy the Waldenses (without, however, any mystical. leaning), in the See also:

• SOUTH
• SOUTH, ROBERT (1634–1716)

south of See also:

• FRANCE
• FRANCE, ANATOLE (1844– )

France and elsewhere the numerous See also:

• SECT

sect or sects of the Cathari, and in See also:

• CALABRIA

Calabria the apocalyptic See also:

• GOSPEL (O. Eng. godspel, i.e. good news, a translation of Lat. bona annuntiatio, or evangelium, Gr. evayyeXwv; cf. Goth. iu spillon, " to announce good news," Ulfilas' translation of the Greek, from iu, that which is good, and spellon to announce)

gospel of See also:

• JOACHIM, JOSEPH (1831—1907)

Joachim of See also:

• FLORIS, FRANS

Floris, all bearing See also:

• WITNESS
• WITNESS (from O. Eng. witan, to know)

witness to the commotion of the time . The See also:

• LAY

lay See also:

• SOCIETIES, LEARNED

societies of the Beghards and the Beguines (for men and women respectively) date from the end of the 12th century, and soon became extremely popular both in the See also:

• LOW, SETH (1850- )
• LOW, WILL HICOK (1853- )

Low Countries and on the See also:

• RHINE (Lat. Rhenus, Ger. Rhein, Fr. Rhin, Dutch Rhyn, or Rijn)

Rhine . They were free at the outset from any heretical taint, but were never much in favour with the Church . In the beginning of the 13th century the See also:

• FOUNDATION (Lat. fundatio, from fundare, to found)

foundation of the Dominican and Franciscan orders furnished a more ecclesiastical and See also:

• REGULAR

regular means of supplying the same wants, and numerous convents sprang up at once throughout See also:

• GERMANY
• GERMANY (Ger. Deutschland)

Germany . The German mind was a peculiarly fruitful See also:

• SOIL

soil for mysticism, and, in connexion either with the Beguines or the Church organization, a number of women appear about this time, combining a spirit of mystical piety and asceticism with sturdy reformatory zeal directed against the abuses of the time . Even before this we hear of the prophetic visions of See also:

• HILDEGARD, ST (1098-1179)

Hildegard of See also:

• BINGEN (anc. Vincum or Bingium)

Bingen (a contemporary of St Bernard) and See also:

• ELIZABETH
• ELIZABETH (1533-1603)
• ELIZABETH (1596-1662)
• ELIZABETH (1635–1650)
• ELIZABETH [ AMELIE EUGENIE ] (1837—1898)
• ELIZABETH [1lisabeth Philippine Marie Helene of France] (1764—1794)
• ELIZABETH [PAULINE ELIZABETH OTTILIE LOUISE] (1843– )
• ELIZABETH [PETROVNA] (1709-1762), EMPRESS
• ELIZABETH, SAINT (1207-1231)

Elizabeth of Schonau . In the 13th century Elizabeth of See also:

• HUNGARY
• HUNGARY (Hungarian Magyarorszdg)

Hungary, the pious landgravine of Thuringia, assisted in the foundation of many convents in the See also:

• NORTH
• NORTH, BARONS
• NORTH, MARIANNE (1830—1890)
• NORTH, ROGER (1653-1734)
• NORTH, SIR THOMAS (1535?-16o1?)

north of Germany . (For an See also:

• ACCOUNT
• ACCOUNT (through O. Fr. acont, Late Lat. comptum, cornputare, to calculate)

account of the chief of these See also:

• FEMALE

female See also:

• SAINTS, BATTLE OF THE

saints see the first See also:

• VOLUME

volume of W . Preger's Geschichte der deutschen Mystik.) Mechthild of See also:

• MAGDEBURG

Magdeburg appears to have been the most influential, and her See also:

• BOOK

book Das fliessende Licht der Gottheit is important as the See also:

• OLDEST

oldest See also:

• WORK

work of its kind in German . It proves that much of the terminology of German mysticism was current before See also:

• ECKHART

Eckhart's time . I\Zechthild's clerico-political utterances show that she was acquainted with the " eternal gospel " of Joachim of Floris . Joachim had proclaimed the doctrine of three world-ages—the See also:

• KINGDOM

kingdom of the See also:

• FATHER

Father, of the Son, and of the Spirit .

The reign of the Spirit was to begin with the See also:

• YEAR

year 1260, when the abuses of the world and the Church were to be effectually cured by the See also:

• GENERAL
• GENERAL (Lat. generalis, of or relating to a genus, kind or class)

general See also:

• ADOPTION (Lat. adoptio, for adoptalio, from adoptare, to choose for oneself)

adoption of the monastic life of contemplation . Very similar to this in appearance• is the teaching of See also:

• AMALRIC
• AMALRIC (Fr. AMAURY) OF BENA (d. c. 1204-1207)

Amalric of Bena (d . 1207) ; but, while the movements just mentioned were reformatory without being heretical, this is very far from being the case with the mystical pantheism derived by Amalric from the writings of Erigena . His followers held a progressive revelation of God in the ages of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit . Just as the See also:

• MOSAIC (corresponding to Lat. opus musivum, from Gr. µovoeiov, an artificial grotto often decorated with mosaics; the word is only found in the sense of mosaic in late Greek, which generally uses k oXI yrlµa)

Mosaic See also:

• DISPENSATION

dispensation came to an end with the appearance of Christ, so the sacraments of the new dispensation have lost their meaning and efficacy since the incarnation of God as Holy Spirit in the Amalricans . With this opposition to the Church they combine a complete antinomianism, through the identification of all their desires with the impulses of the divine Spirit . Amalric's teaching was condemned by the Church, and his heresies led to the public burning of Erigena's De divisione naturae in 1225 . The sect of the New Spirit, or of the Free Spirit as it was afterwards called, spread widely through the north of France and into See also:

• SWITZERLAND

Switzerland and Germany . They were especially numerous in the Rhineland in the end of the 13th and during the 14th century; and they seem to have corrupted the originally orthodox communities of Beghards, for Beghards and Brethren of the Free Spirit are used henceforward as convertible terms, and the same immoralities are related of both . Such was the See also:

• SEED (from the root seen in Lat. serere, to sow)

seed-ground in which what is specifically known as German mysticism sprang up . In Meister Eckhart ( ? 1260–1327) the German mind definitively asserts its pre-See also:

• EMINENCE (Lat. eminentia)

eminence in the See also:

• SPHERE (Gr. vclsa?pa, a ball or globe)

sphere of speculative mysticism .

Eckhart was a distinguished son of the Church; but in See also:

• READING

reading his works we feel at once that we have passed into quite a different sphere of thought from that of the churchly mystics; we seem to leave the See also:

• CLOISTER (Lat. claustrum; Fr. cloitre; Ital. chiostro; Span. claustro; Ger. Kloster)

cloister behind and to breathe a freer See also:

• ATMOSPHERE (Gr. fir µ6r, vapour; orkaipa, a sphere)

atmosphere . The scholastic mysticism was, for the most See also:

• PART

part, practical and psychological in character . It was largely a devotional aid to the realization of present union with God; and, so far as it was theoretical, it was a theory of the faculties by which such a union is attainable . Mysticism was pieced on somewhat incongruously to a scholastically accepted theology; the feelings and the intellect were not brought together . But in Eckhart the attitude of the churchman and traditionalist is entirely abandoned . Instead of systematizing dogmas, he appears to evolve a philosophy by the free exercise of reason . His system enables him to give a profound significance to the doctrines of the Church; but, instead of the system being accommodated to the doctrines, the doctrines—and especially the historical facts—acquire a new sense in the system, and often become only a mythical See also:

• REPRESENTATION

representation of speculative truth . The freedom with which Eckhart treats historical Christianity See also:

• ALLIES, THOMAS WILLIAM (1813-1903)

allies him much more to the German idealists of the 19th century than to his scholastic predecessors . The political circumstances of Germany in the first half of the 14th century were in the last degree disastrous . The See also:

• WAR
• WAR (O. Eng. werre, Fr. guerre, of Teutonic origin; cf. O.H.G. werran, to confound)

war between the See also:

• RIVAL

rival emperors, See also:

• FREDERICK
• FREDERICK (Mod. Ger. Friedrich; Ital. Federigo; Fr. Frederic and Federic; M.H.G. Friderich; O.H.G. Fridurih, " king or lord of peace," from O.H.G. fridu, A.S. frith, " peace," and rfh " rich," " a ruler," for derivation of which see HENRY)

Frederick of See also:

• AUSTRIA
• AUSTRIA, LOWER (Ger. Niederosterreich or Osterreich unter der Enns, " Austria below the river Enns ")
• AUSTRIA, UPPER (Ger. Oberosterreich or Osterreich ob der Enns, " Austria above the river Enns ")

Austria and See also:

• LOUIS
• LOUIS (804–876)
• LOUIS (893–911)
• LOUIS, JOSEPH DOMINIQUE, BARON (1755-1837)
• LOUIS, or LEWIS (from the Frankish Chlodowich, Chlodwig, Latinized as Chlodowius, Lodhuwicus, Lodhuvicus, whence-in the Strassburg oath of 842-0. Fr. Lodhuwigs, then Chlovis, Loys and later Louis, whence Span. Luiz and—through the Angevin kings—Hungarian

Louis of See also:

• BAVARIA (Ger. Bayern)

Bavaria, and the See also:

• INTERDICT (Lat. interdictum, from interdicere, to forbid by decree, lit., interpose by speech)

interdict under which the latter was placed in 1324 inflicted extreme misery upon the unhappy people . From some places the interdict was not removed for twenty-six years . Men's minds were pained and disquieted by the conflict of duties and the See also:

• ABSENCE (Lat. absentia)

absence of spiritual See also:

• CONSOLATION (Fr. consolation, Lat. consolatio, from consolari, to assuage, comfort, console)

consolation .

The countrywas also visited by a See also:

• SUCCESSION (Lat. successio, from succedere, to follow after)

succession of famines and floods, and in 1348 the See also:

• BLACK
• BLACK, ADAM (1784-1874)
• BLACK, JEREMIAH SULLIVAN (1810–1883)
• BLACK, WILLIAM (1841-1898)

Black See also:

• DEATH

Death swept over Europe like a terrible See also:

• SCOURGE (Ital. scoriada, from Lat. excoriare, to flay, corium, skin)

scourge . In the midst of these unhappy surroundings religion became more inward in men of real piety and the desire See also:

• GREW, NEHEMIAH (1641-1712)

grew among them to draw closer the bonds that See also:

• UNITED

united them to one another . Thus arose the society of the See also:

• FRIENDS, SOCIETY
• FRIENDS, SOCIETY OF

Friends of God (Gottesfreunde) in the south and west of Germany, spreading as far as Switzerland on the one side and the Nether- " ThGe oteslands on the other . They formed no exclusive freunde." sect . They often took opposite sides in politics and they also differed in the type of their religious life; but they uniformly desired to strengthen one another in living intercourse with God . Among them chiefly the followers of Eckhart were to be found . Such were Heinrich See also:

• SUSO

Suso of See also:

• CON

Con-stance (1295–1366) and Johann See also:

• TAULER, JOHANN (c. 1300—1361)

Tauler of See also:

• STRASSBURG, or STRASBURG (French Strasbourg)

Strassburg (1300–1361), the two most celebrated of his immediate disciples . See also:

• NICOLAS
• NICOLAS, SIR NICHOLAS HARRIS (1799–1848)

Nicolas of See also:

• BASEL (Fr. Bale)
• BASEL (Fr. Belle, but Basle is a wholly erroneous form; Ital. Basilea)
• BASEL, CONFESSION OF
• BASEL, COUNCIL OF

Basel, the mysterious layman from whose visit Tauler See also:

• DATES

dates his- true religious life, seems to have been the chief organizing force among the Gottesfreunde . The society counted many members among the pious women in the convents of See also:

• SOUTHERN

southern Germany . Such were See also:

• CHRISTINA (1626–1689)
• CHRISTINA [MARIA CHRISTINA HENRIETTA DESIREE FELICITE RENIERE]

Christina See also:

• EBNER

Ebner of Engelthal near See also:

• NUREMBERG (Ger. Nurnberg)

Nuremberg, and Margaretha Ebner of Medingen in See also:

• SWABIA, SUABIA

Swabia . Laymen also belonged to it, like See also:

• HERMANN, JOHANN GOTTFRIED JAKOB (1772–1848)
• HERMANN, KARL FRIEDRICH (1804–1855)

Hermann of See also:

• FRITZLAR

Fritzlar and Rulman Merswin, the