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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....

November 2023

November 16, 2023

LSD, Anxiety, and Contemplation: Can Psychedelic Therapy Support Spiritual Growth? (and Vice Versa)

Today (November 16, 2023) is the 85th anniversary of the discovery of LSD, by the...

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...

October 2022

October 03, 2022

Gnosis and Mysticism

A reader of this blog named Brian writes: Carl, How would you compare and contrast...

September 2022

September 15, 2022

Happy Birthday, Dawn Treader!

The year 1952 in England has gotten a lot of attention lately, with the passing...

July 2022

July 28, 2022

“Mystics Teach us to Reconnect with Timeless and Essential Truth” — Join Me for the Free 2022 Mystics Summit, online August 8-12!

An awake heart is like a lighthouse helping others to find a safe way home....

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...

November 2021

November 04, 2021

Putting the “Christian” into “Christian Mysticism”

Mysticism crosses all religious and spiritual boundaries. In other words, mysticism — like prayer or...

May 2021

May 24, 2021

Union, Intimacy, and Love: the Dynamics of Christian Mysticism

The best way to understand Christian mysticism (if "understanding" is even a possibility, given the...

May 08, 2021

Why Julian of Norwich Matters to Me

I first "met" Julian of Norwich through reading Evelyn Underhill's magisterial book Mysticism: The Nature and...

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...

January 2021

January 14, 2021

Explore the Mystical Life — with a Christian Mysticism “Unknowledge Base”!

Friends, I'm excited to announce a major new initiative on my personal website (www.anamchara.com). Coming...

November 2020

November 24, 2020

The Prayer of Recollection: A Classic Mystical Practice as Taught by Evelyn Underhill

Contemplative spirituality has its own jargon, and this "language of prayer" evolves over time....

November 13, 2020

Video: Mysticism and the Bible — Three Contemplative Verses

"Is mysticism in the Bible?" It's a question I get asked from time to...

August 2020

August 28, 2020

Living in the Spirit of Contemplative Prayer

What does it mean to live a contemplative life? Especially for those of us who...

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 28, 2020

Questions After a Retreat: What Books to Read, What Steps to Take Next

Shortly after concluding my Praying with the Spanish Mystics Retreat, one of the persons who...

July 25, 2020

Praying with the Spanish Mystics

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

June 2020

June 18, 2020

A Drop of Water is Not the Ocean (Understanding Christian Mystical Teachings of Union and Nonduality)

A reader named Beth writes: Hi Carl, I started reading "The Big Book of Christian...

April 2020

April 08, 2020

“Don’t Call Yourself a Mystic” — How Kenneth Leech’s Challenge Helped Me To Embrace Contemplative Practice

In my book Unteachable Lessons I talk about Kenneth Leech, the Anglican priest who wrote a...

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...

November 02, 2019

Gatekeeping and Contemplation: Is the Church Its Own Worst Enemy?

A friend of mine posted the following fascinating observation recently on Facebook: I am easing...

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,...

March 2019

March 08, 2019

Six Videos on a Variety of Contemplative Topics

In August 2015 I had the opportunity to record a series of videos in front...

March 08, 2019

Five Ways to Think About Christian Mysticism

Mysticism is a notoriously squirrelly word to try to define. In The Big Book of Christian...

February 2019

February 23, 2019

Walter Hilton: A Contemplative Guide Who Will Take You Back to the Basics

Twice this month, the lesser-known English mystic Walter Hilton has shown up on this blog....

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...

February 17, 2019

Great Mystical Book Covers

The other day I wrote a post about a dream I had back in the...