The term ''mysticism'' has never been consistently defined or employed, either in religious traditions or in academic discourse. The essays in this volume offer ways of defining what mysticism is, as well as methods for grappling with its complexity in a classroom.
This volume addresses the diverse literature surrounding mysticism in four interrelated parts. The first part includes essays on the tradition and context of mysticism, devoted to drawing out and examining the mystical element in many religious traditions. The second part engages traditions and religio-cultural strands in which ''mysticism'' is linked to other terms, such as shamanism, esotericism, and Gnosticism. The volume's third part focuses on methodological strategies for defining ''mysticism, '' with respect to varying social spaces. The final essays show how contemporary social issues and movements have impacted the meaning, study, and pedagogy of mysticism.
Teaching Mysticism presents pedagogical reflections on how best to communicate mysticism from a variety of institutional spaces. It surveys the broad range of meanings of mysticism, its utilization in the traditions, the theories and methods that have been used to understand it, and provides critical insight into the resulting controversies.

"Sensible Ecstasy" investigates the attraction to excessive forms of Christian mysticism among twentieth-century French intellectuals and demonstrates the work that the figure of the mystic does for these thinkers. With special attention to Georges Bataille, Simone de Beauvoir, Jacques Lacan, and Luce Irigaray, Amy Hollywood asks why resolutely secular, even anti-Christian intellectuals are drawn to affective, bodily, and widely denigrated forms of mysticism.
What is particular to these thinkers, Hollywood reveals, is their attention to forms of mysticism associated with women. They regard mystics such as Angela of Foligno, Hadewijch, and Teresa of Avila not as emotionally excessive or escapist, but as unique in their ability to think outside of the restrictive oppositions that continue to afflict our understanding of subjectivity, the body, and sexual difference. Mystics such as these, like their twentieth-century descendants, bridge the gaps between action and contemplation, emotion and reason, and body and soul, offering new ways of thinking about language and the limits of representation.

Before etching Jerusalem William Blake wrote about creating 'the grandest poem that this world contains.'
Blake's avowed intention in constructing the work was to move readers from a solely rational way of being (called Ulro) to one that is highly imaginative (called Eden/Eternity), with each word chosen to suit 'the mouth of a true Orator.' Rational interpretation is of limited use when reading this multifaceted epic and its non-linear structure presents a perennial challenge for readers.
Susanne Sklar engages with the interpretive challenges of Jerusalem by considering it as a piece of visionary theatre --an imaginative performance in which characters, settings, and imagery are not confined by mundane space and time-- allowing readers to find coherence within its complexities. With his characters, Blake's readers can participate imaginatively in what Blake calls 'the Divine Body, the Saviour's Kingdom, ' a way of being in which all things interconnect: spiritually, ecologically, socially, and erotically.
Imaginatively engaging with Jerusalem involves close textual reading and analysis. The first part of this book discusses the notion of visionary theatre, and the theological, literary, and historical antecedents of Jerusalem's imagery, characters, and settings. Particular attention is paid to the theological context of Blake's Jesus ('the Divine Body'), and Jerusalem, the heroine of his poem. This prepares the ground for a scene-by-scene commentary of the entire illuminated work. Jerusalem tells the story of Albion's fall, many rescue attempts, escalating violence and oppression, and a surprising apocalypse --in which all living things, awakening, are transfigured in ferocious forgiveness.

Hildegard, 'the Sybil of the Rhine', was a Cistercian nun, a prophet, and one of the most prolific and original women writers of the 12th century. Arranged thematically, this new selection brings together extracts from her trilogy of visionary writings, her treatise on medicine and the natural world (Causes and Cures), and her choral music (Symphonia), and documents relating to her life and work.

Ancrene Wisse introduced through a variety of cultural and critical approaches which establish the originality and interest of the treatise. The thirteenth-century Ancrene Wisse is a guide for female recluses. Addressed to three young sisters of gentle birth, it teaches what truly good anchoresses should and should not do, offering in its examples a glimpse of the real life women had in England in the middle ages. It is also important for its evidence for the continuation of the Anglo-Saxon tradition of prose writing, being produced in the West Midlands where Old English writing conventions continued to develop even after the Norman conquest. The Companion addresses the cultural and historical background, the affiliations of the versions, genre, authorship and language; the various approaches also includea feminist reading of the text. Contributors: ROGER DAHOOD, RICHARD DANCE, A.S.G. EDWARDS, CATHERINE INNES-PARKER, BELLA MILLETT, CHRISTINA VON NOLCKEN, ELIZABETH ROBERTSON, ANNE SAVAGE, D.A. TROTTER, YOKO WADA, NICHOLAS WATSON.

This book introduces students to Christian mysticism and modern critical responses to it. Christianity has a rich tradition of mystical theology that first emerged in the writings of the early church fathers, and flourished during the Middle Ages. Today Christian mysticism is increasingly recognised as an important Christian heritage relevant to today's spiritual seekers. The book sets out to provide students and other interested readers with access to the main theoretical approaches to Christian mysticism - including those propounded by William James, Steven Katz, Bernard McGinn, Michael Sells, Denys Turner and Caroline Walker-Bynum. It also explores postmodern re-readings of Christian mysticism by authors such as Jacques Derrida, Jean-Luc Marion and Jean-FranAois Lyotard. The book first introduces students to the main themes that underpin Christian mysticism. It then reflects on how modern critics have understood each of them, demonstrating that stark delineation between the different theoretical approaches eventually collapses under the weight of the complex interaction between experience and knowledge that lies at the heart of Christian mysticism. In doing so, the book presents a deliberate challenge to a strictly perennialist reading of Christian mysticism. Anyone even remotely familiar with Christian mysticism will know that renewed interest in Christian mystical writers has created a huge array of scholarship with which students of mysticism need to familiarise themselves. This book outlines the various modern theoretical approaches in a manner easily accessible to a reader with little or no previous knowledge of this area, and offers a philosophical/theological introduction to Christian mystical writers beyond the patristic period important for the Latin Western Tradition.

Female mysticism, usually nourished in contemplative surroundings, in Blannbekin's case drew its inspiration from urban life; Weidhaus identifies her visions as 'street mysticism'. This early example of a spiritual diary incorporating the visions of a female mystic offers a glimpse of religious women's daily life and spiritual practices. Agnes Blannbekin was from an Austrian farming family, but as a Beguinelived an urban life: Ulrike Weithaus refers to her experiences as 'street mysticism'. Blannbekin's spiritual life revolved around the liturgical cycles of the church year, but also embraced the opportunities and vagaries of city life. Her visions comment on memorable events such as a popular bishop's visit to town during which people were trampled to death; the consequences of a rape committed by a priest; thefts of the Eucharist and the work of witches. Christ, for Blannbekin, is not only bridegroom, but also shopkeeper, apothecary, and axe-wielding soldier, and it was her vision of swallowing Christ's foreskin which led to the eventual censorship of her works. Life and Revelations has only recently been rediscovered by Austrian scholar Peter Dinzelbacher, and this translation is based on his critical edition.

St John of the Cross testifies to a God who longs to meet us in our deepest need. Whilst rejection and imprisonment played their part in the life of this sixteenth-century Spanish friar, John's poetry and prose reveal the beauty and power of a wondrous God. It gives us courage to believe in the possibility of change in our own lives, however unlikely or impossible this may seem. Father Iain Matthew uses this classic inspirational Christian writing as his starting point, and offers five interpretations which make its richness relevant to the modern reader.

David Brown argues for the importance of experience of God as mediated through place in all its variety. He explores the various ways in which such experiences once formed an essential element in making religion integral to human life, and argues for their reinstatement at the centre of theological discussions about the existence of God. In effect, the discussion continues the theme of Brown's two much-praised earlier volumes, Tradition and Imagination and Discipleship and Imagination, in its advocacy of the need for Christian theology to take much more seriously its relationship with the various wider cultures in which it has been set. In its challenge to conventional philosophy of religion, the book will be of interest to theologians and philosophers, and also to historians of art and culture generally.

Mechthild of Magdeburg and Her Book Gender and the Making of Textual Authority Sara S. Poor Winner of the 2006 First Book Prize of the Society for Medieval Feminist Scholarship Winner of the 2008 John Nicholas Brown Prize from the Medieval Academy of America "Authoritative, convincing, well argued."--"Choice" "Everyone who is genuinely interested in problems of women's writing, vernacularity, and the construction of textual authority will have much to learn from this book."--Barbara Newman, Northwestern University "Poor has not only contributed to our knowledge of Mechthild and the textual history of her work but provided an ambitious model for how to engage with a medieval text, its author, its reception by disparate readers, and its perception by modern scholars."--"The Medieval Review" Poor's astute examination of Mechthild's authorship and the historical transmission of her text contributes significantly not only to the fields of feminist medieval scholarship but also demonstrates how a medieval text can more broadly engage in the construction of religious, philosophical, and literary traditions across time."--"Medieval Feminist Forum" "This remarkable book, a kind of textual biography, is the product of meticulous research and is an astute reflection on the paradoxes of textual authority in mystical texts."--"Journal of Religion" Sometime around 1230, a young woman left her family and traveled to the German city of Magdeburg to devote herself to worship and religious contemplation. Rather than living in a community of holy women, she chose isolation, claiming that this life would bring her closer to God. Even in her lifetime, Mechthild of Magdeburg gained some renown for her extraordinary book of mystical revelations, "The Flowing Light of the Godhead," the first such work in the German vernacular. Yet her writings dropped into obscurity after her death, many assume because of her gender. In "Mechthild of Magdeburg and Her Book," Sara S. Poor seeks to explain this fate by considering Mechthild's own view of female authorship, the significance of her choice to write in the vernacular, and the continued, if submerged, presence of her writings in a variety of contexts from the thirteenth through the nineteenth century. Rather than explaining Mechthild's absence from literary canons, Poor's close examination of medieval and early modern religious literature and of contemporary scholarly writing reveals her subject's shifting importance in a number of differently defined traditions, high and low, Latin and vernacular, male- and female-centered. While gender is often a significant factor in this history, Poor demonstrates that it is rarely the only one. Her book thus corrects late twentieth-century arguments about women writers and canon reform that often rest on inadequate notions of exclusion. "Mechthild of Magdeburg and Her Book" offers new insights into medieval vernacular mysticism, late medieval women's roles in the production of culture, and the construction of modern literary traditions. Sara S. Poor teaches German at Princeton University and is coeditor of "Women and Medieval Epic." The Middle Ages Series 2004 352 pages 6 x 9 ISBN 978-0-8122-3802-0 Cloth $69.95s 45.50 ISBN 978-0-8122-0328-8 Ebook $69.95s 45.50 World Rights Literature, Women's/Gender Studies

‘Just because I am a woman, must I therefore believe that I must not tell you about the goodness of God?’

After fervently praying for a greater understanding of Christ’s passion, Julian of Norwich, a fourteenth-century anchorite and mystic, experienced a series of divine revelations. Through these ‘showings’, Christ’s sufferings were revealed to her with extraordinary intensity, but she also received assurance of God’s unwavering love for man and his infinite capacity for forgiveness. Written in a vigorous English vernacular, the Revelations are one of the most original works of medieval mysticism and have had a lasting influence on Christian thought.
 
This edition of the Revelations contains both the short text, which is mainly an account of the ‘showings’ themselves and Julian’s initial interpretation of their meaning, and the long text, completed some twenty years later, which moves from vision to a daringly speculative theology. Elizabeth Spearing’s translation preserves Julian’s directness of expression and the rich complexity of her thought. An introduction, notes and appendices help to place the works in context for modern readers.

Original and thought-provoking study of three medieval women mystics based on writings and biographical material. `A wholly feminine voice within Catholicism-they express the inexpressible better than any amount of rational thinking about God.' THE TIMES The three women who are the subject of this fascinating study lefta rich legacyof medieval spirituality. Frances Beer explores their writings and draws on available historical evidence to bring the experience of all three women closer to a 20th-century audience. She sees Hildegard's perception of her Creator as informed by the heroic ideal, while Mechthild's erotic experience seems to show the influence of the minnesingers. Julian's experience of tender intimacy with her Lord demonstrates an egalitarian confidence in the ability of the individual soul to progress towards onenesswith the divine. Their individual natures are also further revealed through the author's examination of their resolution of a number of theological problems. In contrast, the works of two medieval men writing for women are also explored. FRANCESBEER is Associate Professor of English at York University, Toronto.

Kempe's work is accompanied by an introduction, a map of medieval England, a Kempe lexicon, and explanatory annotations. "Contexts" collects primary readings that illuminate The Book of Margery Kempe. Included are excerpts from The Constitutions of Thomas Arundel, Meditations on the Life of Christ, The Shewings of Julian of Norwich, The Book of Saint Bride, and The Life of Marie d'Oignies by Jacques de Vitry. "Criticism" includes nine varied interpretations of the autobiography, written by Clarissa W. Atkinson, Lynn Staley, Karma Lochrie, David Aers, Kathleen Ashley, Gail McMurray Gibson, Sarah Beckwith, Caroline Walker Bynum, and Nicholas Watson. A Selected Bibliography is also included.

Contemplative reading is a spiritual practice developed by Christian monks in sixth- and seventh-century Mesopotamia. Mystics belonging to the Church of the East pursued a form of contemplation which moved from reading, to meditation, to prayer, to the ecstasy of divine vision. The Library of Paradise tells the story of this Syriac tradition in three phases: its establishment as an ascetic practice, the articulation of its theology, and its maturation and spread. The sixth-century monastic reform of Abraham of Kashkar codified the essential place of reading in East Syrian ascetic life. Once established, the practice of contemplative reading received extensive theological commentary. Abraham's successor Babai the Great drew upon the ascetic system of Evagrius of Pontus to explain the relationship of reading to the monk's pursuit of God. Syriac monastic handbooks of the seventh century built on this Evagrian framework. 'Enanisho' of Adiabene composed an anthology called Paradise that would stand for centuries as essential reading matter for Syriac monks. Dadisho' of Qatar wrote a widely copied commentary on the Paradise. Together, these works circulated as a one-volume library which offered readers a door to "Paradise" through contemplation. The Library of Paradise is the first book-length study of East Syrian contemplative reading. It adapts methodological insights from prior scholarship on reading, including studies on Latin lectio divina. By tracing the origins of East Syrian contemplative reading, this study opens the possibility for future investigation into its legacies, including the tradition's long reception history in Sogdian, Arabic, and Ethiopic monastic libraries.

Mysticism and Experience discusses the dynamic relationship between revelation and personal experience epitomized by, but not exclusive to mystical experience. The author argues that the inner, personal understanding of nature, God, and the self that one acquires through feeling and connection is similar to a mystical experience, and that this inner knowledge is as important as the outer knowledge gained through our rational faculties. He approaches his subject through an analysis of the writings of the great German mystic Jacob B'hme. Deeply influenced by the growth of modern science and with ties to the 16th century spiritual and achemical philosophy, B'hme is seen as trying to balance the rational/spiritual scales that we are still discussing today.

Melissa Raphael presents a critical examination of the central contribution to the twentieth-century concept of holiness made by the German Protestant Rudolf Otto (1869-1937). Whereas Otto's work has usually been studied from a phenomenological perspective, this book is original in offering theological arguments for Otto's idea of the holy becoming an anchor concept of contemporary theistic discourse. This volume analyses the scholarly context that shaped Otto's concept of holiness and, finding that the theological significance of the latter has been overlooked, discusses the relation of the numinous and the holy to the divine personality, morality, religious experience, and emancipatory theology.

The visions of Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich are the world\'s greatest source of detail on the life of St. Mary Magdalen -- great sinner and penitent. Fully referenced to The Life of Jesus Christ (their source), these pages agree completely with Sacred Scripture, but also tell of Mary Magdalen\'s sinful life from age 9, her extravagant attire, her second repentence after falling back into sin, her exorcism by Our Lord, His defense of her against the self-righteous, her relationship with Martha and Lazarus, her external appearance, her role at Calvary and much more. Impr. 176 pgs, PB

Julian's Literary Legacy is a study of A Vision Showed to a Devout Woman from the inside out. Julian's writing is systematically studied by Fr Luke Penkett, Librarian and Archivist at the Julian Centre, drawing attention to her linguistic brilliance and clarifying complicated passages with greater comprehension for twenty-first-century readers in mind. The ways in which Julian's literary style and her use of earlier and contemporary material are seen to illuminate each other, offering new and previously under-studied aspects without which little new research along well-worn paths is feasible. The Middle English words - and their use - are given their fullness of meaning, heightened by her use of rhetoric, allowing their potential richness to come to the surface, opening up possibilities for Julian's readers to be increasingly aware of God's goodness and the fact that they are loved for who they are.

Reincarnation -- by which human beings return to live on earth -- is a concept most often associated with eastern philosophies rather than Christianity. In this fascinating book, Friedrich Rittelmeyer explores reincarnation from a Christian point of view, arguing that it has a place in modern Christian thought. Reincarnation can sometimes be exploited to justify daydreams or imaginary past glories, or can harden into a legalistic reckonining of vice and virtue. Rittelmeyer's approach is different: joyous, essentially Christian, and full of a sense of freedom as he struggles to find a path through the pitfalls on the way to a Christ-filled acceptance of reincarnation. Drawing on the work and inspiration of Rudolf Steiner, Rittelmeyer was able to encounter the cosmic truth of reincarnation and, wrestling with human doubt on every level, courageously grounds it in human reality.

The Yorkshireman Richard Rolle (c. 1300-1349) was the first and most immediately influential of the English medieval mystics. His writings, including the Latin, remain extant in more than four hundred manuscripts, mainly of the fifteenth century. His passionate insistence on an personal communion between Creator and created was to affect the development of pre-Reformation religious thought, and his ultimate choice of English as the vehicle in which to express his teaching, at a time when it was still a secondary language, rekindled in a modern idiom the tradition of vernacular devotional prose. This is the first full critical edition of Rolle's major English writings, excepting only his glossed Psalter. Although the manuscript chosen as a base text is not in the original Northern dialect, it is of sufficient authority to restore many readings hitherto lost or corrupt, and its inclusion of two texts outside the established canon suggests that this should now be reappraised. The introduction extends the researches of H. E. Allen on Rolle manuscripts, discusses their relationships, and examines methods of textual transmission. In the notes, much of Rolle's possible source material is cited, and the edition concludes with a select glossary.

Realize a greater truth with this uplifting guide to mysticism * Explores the power of a universal spirituality and its nine practical elements: moral capacity, solidarity with all life, deep nonviolence, mature self-knowledge, humility, selfless service, simplicity of life, daily practice, and serving as a prophetic witness in the causes of justice, peace and protecting creation * Demonstrates that the final goal of authentic spirituality is realizing our true nature as mystics Drawing on his extraordinary experience as an interreligious monk and mystic, Brother Wayne Teasdale reveals in The Mystic Heart what he calls interspirituality, a genuine and comprehensive sprituality that draws on the mystical core of the world's greatest traditions. From this spiritual vantage, he shows that what so often forms the basis for conflict can really be a meeting place of understanding and commonality. In their meeting, as he shows, a greater truth is realized.

When Quietism was condemned in 1687 it resulted in an antipathy, if not an open hostility to authentic mystical theology. This situation has lasted down to the present day and has been aggravated by many forms of counterfeit mysticism that are self-centred, not God-centred. The consequences have been disastrous. To restore the balance lost to Christian spirituality, the author returns to the profound mystical teaching that Jesus himself lived and handed on to the early Church through his disciples. His research has resulted in a book that details a practical daily spirituality for all, that mirrors that which was lived by our earliest Christian forebears. It emphasises the original balance between personal and communal prayer in such a way that our whole lives become the place where we continually offer our lives through Christ to the Father.

Carefully edited for the undergraduate reader, this Norton Critical Edition includes an informed introduction, focusing on Julian s theology and preparing students to understand the complex, controversial themes of the text, particularly Julian s solution to the problem of evil in Revelation XIII and XIV. Paragraph divisions have been organized to emphasize the thematic units of each chapter, and the sentences have been punctuated for clarity. The text included is a Middle English edition, based on the Paris manuscript (1580 1650) of the long text, with language akin to Chaucer s and therefore more accessible than other Middle English editions. "Contexts" includes contemporary texts that help students better understand Julian s originality, including selections from works by Margery Kempe, Augustine, Aelred of Rievaulx, and Walter Hilton. "Criticism" brings together interpretations that address the themes and style of the Showings by Sandra McEntire, Lynn Staley, B. A. Windeatt, and David Aers, among others. A Selected Bibliography is also included."

Although Richard Rolle, hermit of Hampole, was perhaps the most influential spiritual author of the later English Middle Ages, the coming of print was not kind to him. Although a large collected Latin Opera appeared in the 1530s, it was scarcely exhaustive, and a number of the texts there included, notably Rolle's Latin Psalter commentary, have not been critically examined since. This volume partially redresses this silence by providing a sequence of four Latin texts that have remained in manuscript. Central to Rolle's oeuvre (and to this volume) is Rolle's meditative reading of the first three verses of The Song of Songs, 'Super Canticum'. Also included are two relatively brief unedited texts, 'Super Magnificat' and 'De vita activa et contemplativa'. In addition, the volume reassesses the universal manuscript ascription to Rolle of 'Viridarium, vel De misericordia Dei'; although the work is here reascribed, there is also an edition of selected passages. Unprinted Latin Writings also includes an introduction, critical and textual, some textual annotation, a description of all those previously undescribed manuscripts used here, and an index of the medieval sources cited.