This page is designed to collect resources for the philosophical study of mysticism. Of course, it is difficult to determine what exactly is philosophical in this area, but I will do my best. The resources on this page do not pretend to be a comprehensive list of what is on the Internet. Instead, I have collected some of the more useful sites for teaching and research. Many of these pages are quite comprehensive, and will lead to many other resources. Feel free to contact me for further additions.
“Western” in this case includes Christian, Jewish, and Islamic mysticism, as well as non-religious mysticism from sources in modern Europea and North America. I have not included links to the extensive resources on non-Western traditions of mysticism. This is mostly because the course that this page is a resource for is limited to Western mysticism. It also reflects my own lack of experience with non-Western mysticism. In no way does it suggest that Western mysticism is somehow better, more worthy of study, or anything like that.
General Western Mysticism Resources
Secondary Sources and Resource Pages
- *ChristianMystics.com.
- *Gene
Thursby’s mysticism page – currently the best scholarly
site on mysticism. - Hermetic
Fellowship Website. - Inner Explorations.
- Institute of Cistercian
Studies. - Internet
Theology Resources: Monastic Studies. - Internet
Theology Resources: Spirituality – both primary
and secondary sources. - James, William, The Varieties of Religious Experience.
- Kingsgarden.org — a host centre that houses a number of groups interested in religious,
mystical, and theosophical things. Saint-Martin texts are here, as well as others. - Library
of Hermetic Philosophy (J. R. Ritman, Amsterdam). - Mystical Experience
Registry. - Mysticism – Deb Platt. Site linked from Wayback Machine (internet archive site).
- Mysticism – Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- Mystics
and Mysticism. - One
Little Angel.com – quotations from mystical texts
and figures. - Recent
Books on Mysticism. - *Resources for the Study of Mysticism and Religious Experience
– good resources. Lots on non-Western mysticism, and also out of body experiences, near death experiences, etc.
– Offline - Routes of Mystical Traditions: Antiquity to St. Teresa of Avila
- Spirituality,
Monasticism, and Mysticism — Wabash Centre. - Studies
in Spirituality – Titus Brandsma Institute. - Who’s
Who in the History of Mysticism – Bruce Janz &
Gene Thursby. - Yahoo Mysticism Page
Bibliographies
- Academic Approaches to Mysticism Bibliography.
- Bibliographies for Theology. _OFFLINE
- British Mediaeval Mystics:
A Bibliography. - Mysticism:
A Select Illustrative Bibliography. - Philosophy and Religious
Experience.
Primary Text Sources
- Alchemy Virtual Library.
- Christian Classics Ethereal Library.
- The Franciscan Archive.
- Guide to Online Resources in Medieval Spirituality.
- Internet Mediaeval Sourcebook.
- Internet Sacred Text Archives.
- The Labyrinth: Resources for Medieval Studies.
- Myriobiblios – Online Library of the Church
of Greece. - Mystical Writings By Or Ascribed
To Saints. - Pass the Word Services
– includes texts on & by Shakers, Fenelon and Madame Guyon, William Law, and Jane Leade. - Project Wittenberg
– Lutheran texts online. - St. Pachomium Library – many Orthodox texts, including mystical ones.
- TEAMS Middle English
Texts.
The Academic Study of Western Mysticism
What is Mysticism? Definitions and Descriptions
- Defining Mysticism.
- Definitions of Mysticism.
- DeConick, April D. ed. “Early Jewish and Christian Mysticism: A Collage of Working Definitions”.
- How Many Types of Religious
Experience Are There? (course notes). - Mystic Experience and Two
Modes of Consciousness — adapted by Gene Thursby from the work of Arthur Deikman. - Mystical Experience
Registry. - Mysticism
(Powerpoint presentation). - What is Religious Experience (course notes).
- What is the Cognitive or
Evidential Value of Mystical Experience? (course notes).
Contextual vs. Perennial Philosophy
- Experience and Interpretation
in Mysticism (course notes). - Forman, Robert K. C. Paramaartha and modern constructivists on mysticism: Epistemological monomorphism versus duomorphism.
- Interpretive Debate Bibliography – B. Janz.
- Mahoney, Timothy. Contextualism, Decontextualism, and Perennialism: Suggestions for Expanding the Common Ground of
the World’s Mystical Traditions. - Mysticism and the Perennial
Philosophy – Gene Thursby.
Mysticism and the Human Sciences
- Anthropology of Mythology – Jungian page.
- Smith, Huston. The
Psychology of Religious Experience. - Stahlman, Sandra. The
Relationship Between Schizophrenia & Mysticism: A Bibliographic Essay.
Science and Mysticism
Literature and Mysticism
- Elliott, Sandra Stahlman. The Mysticism of Annie Dillard’s “Pilgrim at Tinker Creek”.
The Roots of Western Mysticism
Greek Mysticism
- Parmenides, On
Nature.
Neo Platonism
- Philo Research Page.
- Plotinus, Enneads. Also here.
Gnosticism
- Academic Info Gnosticism.
- Gnosis Archive.
- A Gnostic Reading List.
- Gnostic Web.
- Gnosticism.
- Gnosticism Links (hundreds).
- Gospel of Thomas Page.
Esoterica: Alchemy, Hermeticism
The online resources for esoterica are immense. I will only list a few entries here. Note: I do not include paranormal phenomena under the heading “esoterica”, unlike some other sites.
- Alchemy Virtual Library.
- Esoterica: The Journal of Esoteric Studies – full online content.
- Hall, Manly P. The
Secret Teachings of All Ages (1928). - Museum Hermeticum.
- Twilit Grotto: Archives of Western Esoterica.
- Western Esoterica Online Library.
- Western Esoteric Texts.
Christian Mysticism in History
This section contains key texts for understanding various times, people, and movements in the history of mysticism.
Ancient & Early Christian Mysticism (up to 400 CE)
- Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata, or Miscellenies.
- The Fathers of the Church — primary texts. Very extensive.
- Guide to Early Church
Documents. - Willoughby, “The
Mysticism of Philo” in Pagan Regeneration.
Early Mediaeval Mysticism (354 – 1000 CE)
General
- Benedictines.
- De
Miribalis Mundi: The Mediaeval Worldview and Ars Magica
– Jeremiah Genest. - Guide
to Online Resources in Medieval Spirituality. - Internet
Mediaeval Sourcebook – primary sources. - Internet
Resources on Christian Asceticism.
Augustine
- Augustine – James O’Donnell.
- Notes
on Augustine’s Confessions.
Boethius
- Boethius, Consolation of Philosophy
- Boethius, Theological Tractates
- Boethius, Trinity Is One God Not Three Gods
Dionysius the Areopagite
- Dionysius the Areopagite: The Celestial Hierarchy,
The
Mystical Theology. - Pseudo-Dionysius
the Areopagite. - Rolt, C.E. Dionysius the Areopagite: On the Divine Names and the Mystical Theology.
- Scouteris, Constantine. Platonic Elements in Pseudo-Dionysius Anti-Manichaean Ontology.
The Cappadocians: Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory of Nazianzus,
Basil the Great
- Gregory
of Nyssa Home Page — David Solomon. - Gregory of Nyssa, Selected Letters.
Eriugena, John Scotus
- Eriugena:
East and West. - John
Scotus Eriugena. - John
Scotus Eriugena (ErraticImpact). - John
Scottus Eriugena: Life and Works. - Notes on John Scotus Eriugena.
Later Mediaeval Mysticism (1000-1500 CE)
General & Uncategorized
- Feminae: Medieval
Women and Gender Index. - Internet Mediaeval Sourcebook – primary sources.
- Internet Theology Resources:
Monastic Studies. - Matrix: Resources for the Study of Women’s Religious
Communities. - Medieval German Women
Writers. - Medieval Women.
- Medieval Women.
- The Order of St. Benedict.
Beatrice of Nazareth
- Beatrice of Nazareth, “On Seven Ways of Holy Love”.
Beguines and Beghards
- Council of Vienne, 1311-1312
– Section 28: Condemnation of Beguines. - Knuth, Elizabeth. The Beguines.
Bernard of Clairveax
- Bernard of Clairveax, On Loving God.
- Bernard of Clairveax, Some Letters of Bernard, Abbot of Clairveax.
Bonaventure
- Bonaventure, The Journey of the Mind to God.
- Bonaventure, The Journey of the Mind Into God – interlinear Latin and English.
Cloud of Unknowing author
- anon. The
Cloud of Unknowing (Underhill translation). - anon. The
Cloud of Unknowing (original text). - The Cloud of Unknowing – introduction.
- Vuletic, Mark. The Yoga-Sutras of Patanjali and The Cloud of Unknowing: A Preliminary Step in Assessing the Ontological Accuracy of the Mystical Experience.
Cusa, Nicholas
- Institut fur Cusanus-Forschung.
- Jasper Hopkins’ Page
– all Cusa texts translated in pdf form. - Nicholas of Cusa site.
- Nicholas Cusanus
Society.
Eckhart, Meister
- Beyer de Ryke, Benoît. Maitre Eckhart: une mystique du détachement.
- Drazenovich, George. The Metaphysical and Social Context of Meister Eckhart.
- Eckhart, Sermons
– 7 sermons. - Eckhart, Meister (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy).
- Eckhart – major German
site. - Eckhart Society.
- Inge, W. R. Light,
Life and Love: Selections from the German Mystics of the Middle Ages. - Maitre Eckhart – a French Eckhart site.
- Meister
Eckhart links. - Meister Eckhart and Mediaeval
Mysticism – bibliography. - The Meister Eckhart Site.
English Mysticism (mediaeval)
- British Mediaeval Mystics:
A Bibliography. - The Cell of Self-Knowledge: Seven
Early English Mystical Treatises. - Luminarium: An Anthology of Middle English
Literature (1350-1485). - The Website of Unknowing:
Celebrating the Lives and Writings of the Mediaeval English Mystics.
Francis of Assisi & Various Franciscans
- Francis of Assisi, The Little Flowers of St. Francis of Assisi.
- Franciscan Authors, 13th-18th century.
- The Franciscan Archive.
Hildegaard of Bingen
Hilton, Walter
- Introduction to Walter Hilton and his Scale of Perfection.
- Hilton, Walter, The
Scale of Perfection — in Middle English. - Hilton, Walter, The Scale of Perfection — in Middle English.
- Hilton, Walter, The Scale (or Ladder) of Perfection — slightly modernized English.
- Hilton, Walter, The Song of Angels.
- Hilton, Walter, Treatise Written to a Devout Man.
- Walter
Hilton links.
Julian of Norwich
- *Julian of Norwich — a site containing primary documents, essays, an extensive bibliography, and many resources.
- Julian of Norwich, The Shewings of Julian of Norwich — in Middle English, with
introduction. - Julian of Norwich.
Kempe, Margorie
- Kempe, Margorie, The Book of Margorie Kempe — in Middle English, with extensive
introduction. - Kempe, Margorie, Treatise of Contemplation.
- Mapping Margorie
Kempe. - Margorie Kempe.
- Margorie
Kempe links.
Mechthild of Magdeburg
Porete, Marguerite
Rolle, Richard
- Richard
Rolle Page — David Solomon. - Rolle, Richard. Selections
from The Fire of Love and The Amending of Life. - Rolle, Richard. The
Fire of Love and the Amending of Life.
Ruysbroeck, Jan van
- Jan van Ruusbroec, “The Spiritual Espousals”.
- Ruysbroeck, The Adornment of the Spiritual Marriage, The Sparkling Stone, The Book of Supreme Truth. Also
here. - Ruysbroeck, The Sparkling Stone.
Silesius, Angelus
- Silesius, selections
from The Cherubic Wanderer.
Suso, Henry
- Inge, W. R. Light,
Life and Love: Selections from the German Mystics of the Middle Ages. - Suso, A
Little Book of Eternal Wisdom.
Tauler, Johann
- Inge, W. R. Light,
Life and Love: Selections from the German Mystics of the Middle Ages. - Tauler, The
Inner Way. - Johannes
Tauler links. - Winkworth, Susanna, History and Life of the Reverend Dr. John Tauler with Twenty Five of his Sermons.
Victorines
Early Modern Mysticism (1500-1700 CE)
General Resources on Religion, Society, etc.
- Catholic Reformation – texts and readings.
- Protestant Reformation – texts and readings.
English Mysticism
- Spurgeon, Caroline F. E. “William
Law and the Mystics” Ch. XII of Cambridge History
of English and American Literature, Vol. 9: “From Steele and Addison to Pope
and Swift”, with bibliography. - Traherne, Thomas. Centuries of Meditation – and another copy.
- Thomas
Traherne links.
French Mysticism
- Fénelon, François and Jeanne Marie Guyon, Spiritual Progress, or, Instructions in the Divine Life of the Soul.
- Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life.
- Francis de Sales, Treatise
on the Love of God. - Guyon, Jeanne Marie (Madame). Autobiography.
- Guyon, Jeanne Marie (Madame). Various
Works.
German Mysticism
- Jacob Boehme Resources –
Bruce Janz. - Jakob Lorber Books
- Weigel, Valentin. “Astrology Theologized” (partial version here).
Spanish Mysticism: Carmelites, etc.
- Carmelite Literature on the Web — Theresa of Avila, John of the Cross, etc. OFFLINE
- CarmelNet – An Information Database for Carmelites.
- Doohan, Leonard, The
Contemporary Challenge of John of the Cross. OFFLINE - John of the Cross, Ascent of Mt. Carmel.
- John of the Cross, Dark Night of the Soul.
- John of the Cross, Spiritual Canticle of the Soul and the Bridegroom of Christ.
- Molinos, Michael de. The Spiritual Guide – quietist document.
- Mondello, Geoffrey. The
Metaphysics of Mysticism: A Commentary on the Mystical Philosophy of St. John of the Cross. - Theresa of Avila, Autobiography.
- Theresa of Avila, Life of Theresa of Avila.
- Theresa of Avila, Interior
Castle. - Theresa of Avila, Way
of Perfection.
Modern Mysticism (1700-)
General Resources
- The Evelyn Underhill
Association. - Evelyn
Underhill: Selections from her Writings – these
selections are very extensive, with full texts of several books. - Hollywood, Amy. Bataille and Mysticism: A “Dazzling Dissolution” Diacritics 26.2, Summer 1996: 74-87.
- Nature
Mysticism – Quotes, Bibliography, etc. - Rudolph Steiner
Archives. - Steiner, Rudolph. Knowledge of the Higher World and its Attainment.
- Think Unity, Christian Mystic (John Kuykendall)
Buber, Martin
- Bertman, Martin. Buber: Mysticism Without Loss of Identity.
- Buber, Martin. Concerning Jacob Boehme.
Wiener Rundschau
V, 12 (June 15, 1901), pp. 251-253.
James, William
- James, William, The Varieties of Religious Experience.
Also here and here. - William
James Studies
Kant, Emmanuel
- Palmquist, Steve. Kant’s Critique of Mysticism: The Critical
Dreams (Part One); The Critical Mysticism
(Part Two). - Ross, Kelley. Intuition and Mysticism in Kantian Philosophy.
Merton, Thomas
- Thomas Merton Center and
International Thomas Merton Society. - Thomas Merton
Foundation. - Thomas Merton
Resources. - Thomas
Merton: Monk and Poet. - Thomas
Merton Resources – Gene Thursby.
Eastern Christian / Orthodox Mysticism
- Jewish Roots of Eastern Christian Mysticism – many documents linked.
- Myriobiblios – Online Library of the Church
of Greece. - Orthodox Mysticism.
- Orthodox Mysticism:
Teachings of the Desert Fathers. - St. Pachomium Library – many Orthodox texts, including mystical ones.
- Vladimir Lossky, “Theology and Mysticism in the Tradition of the Eastern Church”.
Jewish and Islamic Mysticism
Jewish Mysticism (includes Hekhalot, Merkabah, Zoharic and Lurianic Kabbalah, and Chassidism)
- Blumenthal, David. Philosophic Mysticism: The Ultimate Goal of Medieval Judaism.
- Jewish Mystical Traditions – bibliography by Zos Imos.
- Jewish Mysticism – Eliezer Segal — superb course resources.
- Jewish Roots of Eastern Christian Mysticism.
- Jewish Traditions – text links, from Gene Thursby.
- Mysticism
during the Talmudic Era — study questions on Merkabah mysticism. - Judaism Online
– see, in particular, lectures from Rabbi Dr. Akiva Tatz
Hekhalot & Merkavah Mysticism
- Blumenthal, David. Ascent of the Merkava.
- Hekhalot Mysticism Bibliography.
- Karr, Don. Notes on the Study of Merkabah Mysticism and Hekhalot Literature in English with an appendix on
Jewish Magic. - Merkabah
Mysticism.
Maimonides
- Blumenthal, David. Maimonides’ Philosophic Mysticism.
- Blumenthal, David. Maimonides’ Intellectualist Mysticism and the Superiority of the Prophecy of Moses.
- Blumenthal, David. Maimonides: Prayer, Worship, Mysticism.
Kabbalah: Sites
- Hermetic Kabbalah – excellent set of resources.
- Hermetic Kabbalah
– The Big Picture – a great chart, with clickable boxes, outlining major figures. - Don Karr’s Bibliographic Surveys.
- Links page.
- Karr, Don. “The Study of the Christian Cabala in English” – extensive
and excellent resource.
- Hermetic Kabbalah
- Index to Kabbalist Texts – primary texts, commentaries, and introductions.
- Kabbalah: Journal for the Study of Jewish Mystical
Texts. - Kabbalah and Jewish Mysticism.
- Kabbalah Words of Wisdom.
- Kabbalistic WWW Pages.
- Qabala Links (over 700 of them).
Kabbalah: Documents
- Blumenthal, David. Creating Zoharic Texts.
- Blumenthal, David. Commentary to Sefer Yetsira.
- Gellman, Jerome. Jewish Mysticism and Morality: Kabbalah and its Ontological Dualities..
- Hornek, Daniel. Franz Kafka and Jewish Mysticism: Kabbalah.
- Low, Colin. A Depth of Beginning: Notes on Kabbalah – pdf format.
- Mathers, S. L. MacGregor. Kabbalah Denudata (The Kabbalah Unveiled).
Islamic Mysticism
- Islamic Mysticism:
Sufism — notes. - International Association of Sufism.
- Muslim or Islamic Traditions – text links, from Gene Thursby.
- Nicholson, Reynold J. “The Mystics of Islam” (1912).
- Sufi related resources on the internet.
- Sufism
– Dr. Godlas. Extensive external links. - Sufism – Sufis – Sufi Orders.
- Sufism and Islamic Mysticism.
Comparative Mysticism
Websites
- Center for Sacred Sciences
– Mystical Core of Great Religions (perennialist account of mysticism) - East-West Contemplative
Dialogue. - Mysticism in World Religions.
- Philosophy East
and West – often has papers on comparative mysticism. - Transcendent philosophy:
an international journal for comparative philosophy and mysticism – online
content. Comparative work mainly on Islamic and Western mysticism.
Documents
- Swami Bhajanananda. An Epistemological Study of Mysticism in Christianity and Hinduism.
- In the Name of Peace: On Comparative
Mysticism. - Mahoney, Timothy. Contextualism, Decontextualism, and Perennialism: Suggestions for Expanding the Common Ground of
the World’s Mystical Traditions. - Randrup, Axel and Tista Bagchi. “Correspondences Between Jewish Mysticism and Indian Philosophies. Some Significant Relations to
Science.” - Suzuki, D. T. Mysticism:
Christian and Buddhist. - Vuletic, Mark. The Yoga-Sutras of Patanjali and The Cloud of Unknowing: A Preliminary Step in Assessing the Ontological Accuracy of the Mystical Experience.
- Zelinski, Daniel. “Morality and Mysticism: the views of Dogen and Eckhart”.
Courses
- Comparative Mysticism (Rick Colby).
- Comparative Mysticism (Moore).
- Comparative Mysticism – Jorge Ferrer (PhD Seminar, good bibliography attached).
Resources on Western Mysticism
Papers & Books on Mysticism
- Boulton, Wayne. The Thoroughly Modern Mysticism of Matthew Fox.
- Code, Murray. Explanation and Natural Philosophy: Or, The Rationalization of Mysticism.
- Diekman, Arthur. “A
Functional Approach to Mysticism”. - Deikman, Arthur. ‘I’
= Awareness. - Donner, Neal. Mysticism
and the Idea of Freedom: A Libertarian View. - Ducey, Michael. Mystics in Society – MA Thesis, 1970.
- Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Excerpt from Harvard Divinity School Address, 1838.
- Fales, Evan. Do Mystics See God?.
- Forman, Robert. What
does Mysticism Have to Teach Us About Consciousness?. - Frenken, Ralph. Childhood
and Fantasies of Medieval Mystics. - Goodey, Daniel J. Mysticism
and Fatalism: A Critique of Steven Katz’s Purely Equivocal Perspective. - Ice, Jackson Lee. Was Schweitzer a Mystic After All?.
- Idel, Moshe. “Unio Mystica” as a Criterion: Some Observations on “Hegelian” Phenomenologies
of Mysticism. - Lossky, Vladimir. Theology and Mysticism in the Tradition of the Eastern Church.
- Manker-Seale, Susan. Mystical Atheism I and II.
- Mihailescu, Calin. Corpus Epochalis: Mysticism, Body, and History.
- Miller, Sara. What Can We Learn from the Mystics?.
- Mills, Joy. The
Mystic Vision and Human Transformation. - Morrison, Alan. The
Evangelical Attraction to Mysticism – against mysticism, from an Evangelical point
of view. - Nieli, Russ. “Mysticism, Morality and the Wittgenstein Problem.”.
- Popken, Ian. Political
Science as Mysticism. - Sharpe, A. B. Mysticism: Its True Nature and Value.
- Simmons, Ernest. Mystical Consciousness in a Process Perspective.
- Stace, W. T. Mysticism and Philosophy.
- Steindl-Rast, David. The Mystical Core of Organized Religion.
- Steiner, Rudolph. Mysticism at the Dawn of the Modern Age.
- Teasdale, Wayne. Mysticism as the Crossing of Ultimate Boundaries: A Theological Reflection.
- Underhill, Evelyn, Mysticism, 12th
Edition. - Vuletic, Mark. Stace and the Question of Objectivity in Mysticism.
Related Courses
- Monks, Mystics, and Meditation:
An Encounter with God – Rom Maczka. - Mysticism – Jordan Paper.
- Mysticism – Andrew O. Fort.
- Roots of Western Mysticism – Bruce Janz.
- Spirituality and Mysticism – David Solomon.
Related Journals
- Esoterica: The Journal of Esoteric Studies – full online content.
- Journal of Consciousness Studies — much broader than just mysticism, but it does address issues related to mysticism sometimes.
Full online content.
- Mystics Quarterly
– no online content.
- TASTE: The Archive of Scientists’ Transcendent
Experiences – on-line content.
- Transcendent philosophy:
an international journal for comparative philosophy and mysticism – online
content. Comparative work mainly on Islamic and Western mysticism.
Institutes. Programmes & Activities
- Scientific and Medical Network.
- Conference: The Search for Unity: Mind and Hearth in Science and Mysticism (April
5-7, 2002).
- EmergentSpirit.org
(Atlanta).
- MA in the Study of Mysticism
and Religious Experience (Dept. of Religion, University of Kent).
- Titus Brandsma Institute: Institute for the Scientific
Study of Spirituality.
Contemporary Mystics, Mystical & Esoteric Writing
- Alonzo, Sean.
- Burrows, Elizabeth M..
- Hermitage of the Woods (Brother Aidan).
- Mysticism and Meditation Blog (Kees Voorhoeve)
- Philosophy of Rational Mysticism (Hopkin Cairns).
- Rauhala, Jack. Find Your God.
- Two Mystics.
- Stimson, William.
- The Wild Things of God: Spiritual Awakening and Modern
Life.
- Woodward, Dave "The World of Spirit: Essays in Mysticism and Healing".
“Mysticism” Broadly