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August 2024

August 20, 2024

You don’t have to become a monk to be a mystic

A reader wrote to me recently: Hello, I am interested in becoming a Christian Mystic....

April 2023

April 29, 2023

Mysticism, Faith, and “Knowing” God’s Will

A reader of this blog, named Peter, asked me a couple of questions recently. He...

March 2023

March 29, 2023

How Do I Meet Other Mystics?

One of the patrons of this blog wrote to me recently: My question is, how do...

September 2022

September 24, 2022

Twelve Mystical Anthologies That Belong in Every Contemplative Library

There are literally hundreds of mystics in the Christian tradition alone — or, should I...

August 2022

August 20, 2022

“The Friar of Love” — Revisiting Brother Lawrence, Mystic of the Divine Presence

N.B. Today's guest post is by Carmen Acevedo Butcher, Ph.D., renowned for her luminous translation...

June 2022

June 28, 2022

Encountering Christian Mysticism with the “Mystics and Skeptics” Podcast

Hi friends, I recently was a guest on the "Mystics and Skeptics" podcast. Needless to...

May 2022

May 08, 2022

The Erotic Dimension of Mystical Spirituality (or, Why Do Mystics Love the Song of Songs?)

Almost from the beginning of the Christian era, mystics and saints and theologians and spiritual...

March 2021

March 27, 2021

What do Christian Mystics Believe?

What do Christian mystics believe? Hidden in this question is really two questions: Do Christians...

February 2021

February 10, 2021

Theosis: A Misunderstood Mystical Concept

Theosis comes from the Greek θέωσις and literally means "divine state" — Theo (God, divinity)...

December 2020

December 28, 2020

A Mystical Catechism

One of my dreams is to create a Christian Mysticism Knowledge Base (or, perhaps better...

August 2020

August 07, 2020

Do Christian Mystics Believe in Redemption?

An email came to me today, with this question: Dear Carl, I read your Big Book...

July 2020

July 25, 2020

Praying with the Spanish Mystics

This week I facilitated my second Zoom retreat hosted by the monks of Holy Cross...

December 2019

December 16, 2019

What We Need for Union with God

Recently I posted this quote from Fr. Thomas Keating on Facebook: If you're curious about...

November 2019

November 08, 2019

Contemplation, Community, and the Institutional Church: Has the Time Come to Be “Mystical But Not Religious”?

I often get asked if Christian mysticism needs the institutional church. Do you have to...

October 2019

October 11, 2019

Romans 8:28-39: Basic Instructions for A Mystical Worldview

One of the most beautiful passages in the New Testament — perhaps even one of...

August 2019

August 20, 2019

The Characteristics of a Mystic

What are the characteristics of a mystic? I know two elderly monks at the local...

May 2019

May 08, 2019

Julian of Norwich’s Timeless Message

We know the first woman who wrote a book in the English language (at least,...

February 2019

February 20, 2019

Nondual Christianity and the Problem of Evil

A reader of one of my previous blog posts sent me this question via Facebook...

January 2019

January 17, 2019

Understanding How Contemplation and Mysticism are Different (and Similar)

Sometimes people will ask me if "contemplation" and "mysticism" are synonyms. I admit: I often...

December 2018

December 28, 2018

The Privilege of Silence

Back in 2003, I spent a day at a relatively new monastery near Sligo, Ireland....

October 2018

October 24, 2018

A Litany for Julian of Norwich

Here is a litany created from the words of Julian of Norwich, 14th Century English...

August 2018

August 24, 2018

Getting to Know A Dangerous Mystic

Meister Eckhart is one of the most renowned of Christian mystics: a medieval philosopher who...

July 2018

July 14, 2018

Why Are the Mystics So… Weird?!?

One thing I love about the mystics is just how weird they are. Obviously, there are...

March 2018

March 26, 2018

Meet Julian of Norwich

I created this video using photographs that Fran and I took in Norwich, along...

March 12, 2018

Three Evelyn Underhill Anthologies To Inspire Your Contemplative Practice

It's no secret that I consider Evelyn Underhill one of the most important Christian mystics...

February 2018

February 01, 2018

The Ethics of Sharing Mystical Knowledge: Meister Eckhart and the Cloud Author

Pick up any edition of The Cloud of Unknowing, and you are likely to find...

January 2018

January 11, 2018

Everyone is Called to Union with God

About ten years ago I had a conversation with an elderly Trappist monk about the book...

December 2017

December 08, 2017

The Call to Move “Beyond” What is Safe and Familiar

Today's post is by guest contributor Mark S. Burrows, who is a poet and an...

November 2017

November 21, 2017

Twelve Insightful Quotations from the Great Christian Mystics

Note: the following quotations are excerpted from The Little Book of Christian Mysticism which features...

November 16, 2017

What Can We Learn from that Foolish St. Francis?

Today's guest contributor is Jon M. Sweeney, author of The Saint Francis Holy Fool Prayer Book. Read Jon's...