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Mysticism Reloaded: Innovative Approaches, Methods, and Theories to Study Mysticism
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Mysticism Reloaded: Innovative Approaches, Methods, and Theories to Study Mysticism

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2024) | Viewed by 10297

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Ali Qadir

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Social Sciences, Tampere University, 33100 Tampere, Finland
Interests: sociology of religion; mysticism; Islam; critical realism; comparative religion; interreligious relations
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Studies of mysticism have been in a state of turmoil. As Leigh Schmidt noted, “There is hardly a more beleaguered category than ‘mysticism’ in the current academic study of religion. Its fall from theoretical grace has been precipitous.” Critical scholarship on religion has pointed out the dangers in generalizing mysticism (and constituent terms like “experience” or “union”) as a cover-all term that may in fact speak to different aspects of spiritual and lived realities in different contexts. Yet, many researchers are finding that this added sensitivity does not require abandoning the term altogether if we are to consider empirical realities. Indeed, a post-critical, more nuanced recovery of mysticisms appears to be underway. This Special Issue moves past uncritical accounts, on one hand, and pure criticism of the category, on the other hand, to probe new approaches, methods, and theories to study mysticisms.

This Special Issue welcomes theoretical, methodological, and empirical research papers that shed new light on how to study mysticism in any religion and non-religious contexts. Potential topics include the following questions.

Is there analytical value in re-defining “mysticism”, and, if so, what should that look like? In what way does mysticism overlap with “spirituality,” “esotericism,” and the like? Are there better categories for mystical “experiences” or “consciousness?” On what grounds can we compare mysticisms? Can mysticisms be recovered from colonially imposed terms? Should mysticism as a contemporary phenomenon be studied in the same way as mysticism of the past? Are there rigorous methods and theories to probe the widespread yet elusive claim of many mystics about divine love and its human reflections? What kinds of theories can describe socially engaged and practical “this-worldly” mystics? Can the material turn help us to study mystics’ relationships with place and objects? Can we study the commodification of mysticism, for instance via tourism? How should we approach the discursive relations between mystics and institutions over time and across faiths? Should mystics, especially recent mystics, be better considered as inter-religious than bound to a religious tradition? How do mystics contribute to interfaith relations or conflicts? How do mystics relate to gender? What do mystics think about the boundary between science and religion? Are there any patterns of similarities in the symbolic languages used by mystics around the world? Are methods and theories in the arts useful to probe mysticisms and, if so, are there differences from other kinds of art research? How can we study and compare music of the mystics? Have traditional mystical paths and schools changed in our age of global media? Is there a digital mysticism, and how does AI affect mysticisms? Can and should mysticism be taught in university, where should it be taught, and what should that teaching look like now? What kinds of new interdisciplinary methods can be applied to the study of mysticisms between social, historical, philosophical, and biological spheres?

We request that prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 400–600 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send this file to the Guest Editor ([email protected]) or the Religions Editorial Office ([email protected]). Abstracts will be reviewed by Guest Editor for the purpose of ensuring their proper fit within the scope of this Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo a double-blind peer-review process before being accepted for publication.

Prof. Dr. Ali Qadir
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • mysticism
  • methods in religion
  • comparative research
  • interdisciplinary theories of religion

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Published Papers (8 papers)

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Research

23 pages, 577 KiB  
Article
Merton’s Unity of Action and Contemplation in Transpersonal Perspective
by Jenny Anne Miller
Religions 2025, 16(2), 147; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16020147 - 28 Jan 2025
Viewed by 464
Abstract
Adopting a transdisciplinary approach, with specific emphasis on the post-Jungian transpersonal psychological theories on the ‘Spectrum of Human Consciousness’, this paper introduces a transpersonal psychological thread of understanding of ‘Mystical Consciousness’ through an interreligious field of comparative religious approaches to action, contemplation and [...] Read more.
Adopting a transdisciplinary approach, with specific emphasis on the post-Jungian transpersonal psychological theories on the ‘Spectrum of Human Consciousness’, this paper introduces a transpersonal psychological thread of understanding of ‘Mystical Consciousness’ through an interreligious field of comparative religious approaches to action, contemplation and non-action. This paper draws on Merton’s interreligious contemplative thinking in relation to three major world religious mystical traditions of Buddhism, Hinduism and mystical Islam/Sufism and elucidates comparative insights with the Christian mystical–contemplative tradition, akin to the ‘mystical contemplation’ of Evelyn Underhill. This paper introduces and applies the transpersonal perspective to the scholarly field of mysticism. The reader is invited to consider how Merton may have responded or written about interreligious contemplative depth mysticism in terms of his own writings on ‘pure consciousness’, had he had the benefit of the language of the transpersonal models of consciousness. Finally, the reader is left with a contemplative question at the ‘heart’ of mysticism—does the ancient sculpture of the Sleeping Hermaphrodite helpfully represent an art–theological symbolic analogy for the inner repose of an illumined soul, one with God’s Unity, in whose awakened consciousness through depth mystical contemplation, action occurs as an extended manifestation, a total gestalt of contemplative solitudinous action? Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mysticism Reloaded: Innovative Approaches, Methods, and Theories to Study Mysticism)
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27 pages, 494 KiB  
Article
Rethinking the Unio Mystica: From McGinn to Ibn ʿArabī
by Arjun Nair
Religions 2025, 16(1), 94; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16010094 - 19 Jan 2025
Viewed by 828
Abstract
Research into the unio mystica has revealed what seems to be an area of “real discussion” between scholars of different traditions of mysticism, particularly those of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Although this research serves as a promising start to the dialogue among scholars, [...] Read more.
Research into the unio mystica has revealed what seems to be an area of “real discussion” between scholars of different traditions of mysticism, particularly those of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Although this research serves as a promising start to the dialogue among scholars, it has also raised many questions about a “shared moment” that is nevertheless expressed in “irreducibly diverse” and distinct ways in each tradition. What purpose, for instance, can generic cross-cultural categories serve when they mean little or nothing to scholars in each tradition? By contrast, tradition-specific vocabularies are profuse and often difficult to represent in interlinguistic contexts without significant explanation. The challenge of translating mystical texts, imagery, and ideas across cultures and linguistic traditions raises obvious concerns about the misrepresentation and distortion of traditions in an environment of post-colonial critique. Nevertheless, the continued promise of dialogue calls for specialists of these traditions—particularly non-western and non-Christian traditions—to approach, assess, re-formulate, and even challenge the categories of mysticism from within the conceptual and theoretical horizons of the traditions that they research. The present study models such an approach to scholarship in mysticism. It offers a (re)formulation of the unio mystica from within the theoretical frame of the 12th/13th-century Muslim/Sufi mystic, Ibn ʿArabī (d. 638/1240) and early members of his school of thought. By unpacking the primary terms involved in such an account—“God”, the “human being/self”, and “union”—from within the conceptual and theoretical horizons of that tradition, it problematizes the prevailing understanding of the unio mystica constructed from the writings of specialists in Christian mysticism. More importantly, it illustrates the payoff in terms of dialogue (incorporating the critique of existing theories) when each tradition operates confidently from its own milieu, developing its own theoretical resources for mysticism rather than prematurely embracing existing ideas or categories. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mysticism Reloaded: Innovative Approaches, Methods, and Theories to Study Mysticism)
24 pages, 551 KiB  
Article
De-Mystifying Mysticism: A Critical Realist Perspective on Ambivalences in the Study of Mysticism
by Ali Qadir and Tatiana Tiaynen-Qadir
Religions 2025, 16(1), 10; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16010010 - 25 Dec 2024
Viewed by 779
Abstract
The study of mysticism has been at an impasse for many years, wavering between naïve realism around a common core hypothesis and critical questioning of the category of mysticism and its imposition. In this article, we review key 20th century developments in the [...] Read more.
The study of mysticism has been at an impasse for many years, wavering between naïve realism around a common core hypothesis and critical questioning of the category of mysticism and its imposition. In this article, we review key 20th century developments in the study of mysticism to understand why the term was largely abandoned and unpack the contours of this impasse. Specifically, we probe the literature to ask (i) how has mysticism been defined and (ii) who counts as a mystic? Our primary data are key pieces of scholarly literature on mysticism, including interdisciplinary studies and disciplinary literature from religious studies, history, philosophy, sociology, anthropology, and psychology. This review draws on a metatheoretic perspective of critical realism and is not meant to be comprehensive but rather analytical, seeking to identify patterns in scholarship. We find that each question is answered by studies along an axis, wavering between two ideal–typical poles. On the first question, we find scholarship ranging along an axis of essence between extreme poles of a reified vs. relativized substance of mysticism. On the second question, we find studies on an axis of access, varying between a rarified concept of mystical elites and a laified concept of mystical knowledge open to all. Putting studies along these axes yields a definitional space of mysticism that is compatible with critical realism and allows for the general study of mysticism to continue in a more nuanced, post-critique way. We also find that the category of experience lies at the origin or intersection point of both axes, and is a source of many problems in the general study of mysticism. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mysticism Reloaded: Innovative Approaches, Methods, and Theories to Study Mysticism)
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21 pages, 319 KiB  
Article
Wittgenstein’s Mysticism(s)
by Rodrigo César Castro Lima
Religions 2024, 15(12), 1460; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15121460 - 29 Nov 2024
Viewed by 755
Abstract
I will argue that the examination regarding the topic of mysticism should play a much bigger role when it comes to the ensemble of Wittgenstein’s writings. In this sense, while drawing upon previous analyses, I will make the case that the Tractarian mystical [...] Read more.
I will argue that the examination regarding the topic of mysticism should play a much bigger role when it comes to the ensemble of Wittgenstein’s writings. In this sense, while drawing upon previous analyses, I will make the case that the Tractarian mystical spirit still animates other works by the author such as his Lectures on Ethics and the Philosophical Investigations. Then, I will propose that the unity of this mysticism lies in the sui generis discovery (or shock) that the world exists; however, as his work progresses, different strategies will be employed to convey this type of message—and they shall vary from the attempt of putting such a perspective into words until the full annihilation of the mere possibility in this regard. Hence, there would be one fundamental underlying type of mysticism in Wittgenstein’s proposals, but the unveiling of such a mystical insight will demand different forms of exposition and understanding. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mysticism Reloaded: Innovative Approaches, Methods, and Theories to Study Mysticism)
14 pages, 850 KiB  
Article
A Gladdening Vision of a Dancing Christ: Findings of a Ritual Ethnography of Intercultural Icons
by Sebeesh Jacob
Religions 2024, 15(11), 1310; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15111310 - 26 Oct 2024
Viewed by 844
Abstract
The cultural renaissance in 20th-century India has fostered an aesthetic integration of contemplative mysticism with popular religious practices, influencing various artistic and theological movements. This paper examines Christian artist Joy Elamkunnapuzha’s use of Indian classical and mythical elements in his religious artworks, particularly [...] Read more.
The cultural renaissance in 20th-century India has fostered an aesthetic integration of contemplative mysticism with popular religious practices, influencing various artistic and theological movements. This paper examines Christian artist Joy Elamkunnapuzha’s use of Indian classical and mythical elements in his religious artworks, particularly in two North Indian churches. These intercultural icons, which incorporate symbols from Hindu traditions like mandalas and mudras, have been central to the worship practices of local Catholic communities for over three decades. Through ritual ethnography, the study reveals how these visual representations mediate ritual affectivity and communal imagination, impacting identity formation and spiritual engagement in a multi-religious context. Respondents—including worshippers, ministers, and religious students—attest to the transformative impact of these images, as they negotiate between Christian metaphors and Hindu aesthetic traditions. The research is grounded in practical theology, liturgical theology, and ritual studies, contributing to the works of Indian Christian cultural activists like Jyoti Sahi. By exploring the creative dynamics of visual approach, visual appeal, and visual affinity within worship spaces, the study elucidates the complex processes of meaning making through symbolic mediation in interreligious environments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mysticism Reloaded: Innovative Approaches, Methods, and Theories to Study Mysticism)
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19 pages, 355 KiB  
Article
Literature and Mysticism in the Wake of Silvano Panunzio: From The Divine Comedy to the European Literature of the Twentieth Century
by Piero Latino
Religions 2024, 15(10), 1278; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15101278 - 18 Oct 2024
Viewed by 2219
Abstract
This article introduces one of the forgotten figures of religious and literary studies: the Italian scholar, philosopher, metaphysician, poet and writer Silvano Panunzio (1918–2010). His contribution has so far been relegated to the margins of academic debate, and, currently, there are no academic [...] Read more.
This article introduces one of the forgotten figures of religious and literary studies: the Italian scholar, philosopher, metaphysician, poet and writer Silvano Panunzio (1918–2010). His contribution has so far been relegated to the margins of academic debate, and, currently, there are no academic studies on his work, in which mysticism plays a pivotal role. Panunzio believed that the transcendental and mystical dimension is fundamental for fully understanding the social, cultural, historical and political events of humanity. Another relevant aspect of his work is the importance he gave to literature and its relationship with mysticism, as in the case of Dante’s Divine Comedy or other European and Eastern writers and poets, such as Goethe, Shakespeare, Ibn Arabi and Dostoevsky. Significantly, Panunzio saved from oblivion the work of a forgotten man of letters of the nineteenth century, Gabriele Rossetti (1783–1854), who proposed the first symbolic and esoteric interpretation of Dante’s literary production and of European medieval love literature. Raising awareness of the intellectual amnesia around the figure of Silvano Panunzio may be a useful contribution to future research, both in the field of religious and literary studies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mysticism Reloaded: Innovative Approaches, Methods, and Theories to Study Mysticism)
19 pages, 315 KiB  
Article
William James: The Mystical Experimentation of a Sick Soul
by David H. Nikkel
Religions 2024, 15(8), 961; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15080961 - 8 Aug 2024
Viewed by 1247
Abstract
Especially in The Varieties of Religious Experience, William James developed the polar categories of healthy-minded individuals content with their once-born religion versus sick souls who need to become twice-born in order to find religious peace. Biographers of James have concluded that he [...] Read more.
Especially in The Varieties of Religious Experience, William James developed the polar categories of healthy-minded individuals content with their once-born religion versus sick souls who need to become twice-born in order to find religious peace. Biographers of James have concluded that he does not fit well under either of his polar categories. Drawing on both data about James’ life and on his philosophical and theological writings, I demur from the biographers’ conclusion and instead advance the thesis that the overall pattern of William James’ life is best understood as a sick soul searching for—and ultimately finding—twice-born religion in connection with mystical experiences. Notably, James attempted to theorize about mystical experiences as connecting with divine reality/ies in naturalistic ways compatible with scientific knowledge of his time. Scientific knowledge today makes it more difficult to find evidence of direct divine input in religious experiences, yet one might find value in religious experiences in terms of James’ pragmatic criterion for truth: their beneficial or adaptive effects. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mysticism Reloaded: Innovative Approaches, Methods, and Theories to Study Mysticism)
14 pages, 270 KiB  
Article
Mysticism and Practical Rationality Exploring Evelyn Underhill through the Lens of Phronesis
by Diego Pérez Lasserre
Religions 2024, 15(2), 197; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15020197 - 5 Feb 2024
Viewed by 1675
Abstract
This paper aims to justify that mysticism can be considered rational from the perspective of practical reason. Particularly, we will argue that mysticism embodies the oxymoron inherent in practical wisdom (phronesis), namely, an ordered openness. Our roadmap for substantiating this hypothesis is as [...] Read more.
This paper aims to justify that mysticism can be considered rational from the perspective of practical reason. Particularly, we will argue that mysticism embodies the oxymoron inherent in practical wisdom (phronesis), namely, an ordered openness. Our roadmap for substantiating this hypothesis is as follows: we will start by explaining that if the concept of rationality is approached in a scientistic manner, then mysticism cannot be deemed rational. We will employ Kant’s approach to rationality to support this assertion (2). Next, we will demonstrate that while the modern scientific approach to rationality is effective for fields of study where the subject matter typically unfolds in a regular or predictable manner, it proves insufficient in dimensions of existence that resist normative descriptions. In this section, following Aristotle and Gadamer, we will contend that theoretical reason should be complemented by practical reason, which is characterized by normative openness (3). Finally, we will argue that mysticism, although not rational from a theoretical viewpoint, is indeed rational from a practical standpoint (4). To avoid inappropriate generalizations when discussing mysticism, the third section will be centered on the work of Evelyn Underhill. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mysticism Reloaded: Innovative Approaches, Methods, and Theories to Study Mysticism)
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