Mysticism : its true nature and value : with a translation of the "Mystical theology" of Dionysius, and of the letters to Caius and Dorotheus (1, 2 and 5)

Front matter

ITS TRUE NATURE

ANDV\UJE

\.B. SHARPS M.A,

Introduction

Different uses of the word " mystical " — Confusion due to a congenital tendency — Primitive man seeks knowledge for a practical purpose — Infers an immaterial element in nature, from his consciousness of a similar element in himself — Attempts to make use of spiritual powers external to himself — Hence arises magic, a confusion of science, theology and mysticism — The education of the human race, a progress from confused to distinct thought — Incongruity of a/rz'^«assumptions with scientific method, perceived by Bacon — Stages of progress : lamblichus, Paracelsus, Cardan — Christian Revelation —Precipitation of effete ideas, hence surviving superstitions — The vaguely mystical habit of mind latent in everyone — Appears in sudden emergencies ; symbolic, or nature mysticism and spiritualism — Idealistic Pantheism as applied to mysticism — Its difficulties, logical and moral- Progress always attended by struggles between the old and the new — Element of truth in the primitive view not to be lost sight of^The new not always true — Christian mysticism still entangled with alien ideas xiii.-xliii.

CONTENTS CHAPTER I

Knowledge is either experimental or theoretical, but is limited by sense-experience — Natural knowledge of God, through reason or revelation, is theoretical ; it cannot be experimental — Experimental knowledge of God always desired — Mystical theology— Two points of view, the natural and the supernatural — They are not mutually opposed, but complementary — Natural mysticism is the attempt eitlier to transcend the limitations of sense or to find transcendental knowledge within them — Fundamental difference between these two methods — Neither is more than a mental attitude — Supernatural mysticism implies the transcendence of God, on the one hand ; and on the other hand, the inability of the natural powers alone to attain to immediate knowledge of Him — Catholic idea of mysticism — True mysticism rightly said to be empirical — Compared with sensation — The intellectual principles of mystical knowledge not essentially different from those of ordinary knowledge— What is to be understood by the supernatural — The Via Remotionis — Supernatural illumination not contrary to nature — Its method — Natural theories to account for supernatural mysticism — Reasons for rejecting them — Theological and evidential value of the subject . . 1-49

Chapter II

Origin of the term — Mysticism in the Church— In Greek philosophy — Dionysius — Social conditions which bring mysticism into prominence — Spurious mysticism 50-60

CONTENTS CHAPTER III

Mystical experience essentially supernatural — Three modes of relation 'of creatures to the Creator — "Natural" contemplation — Passivity — Mystical cognition and sensation — Mystical and ordinary religious experience — Mystical certitude — Mystical experience indescribable — Necessity of preparation— Gerson — Eckhart, Tauler — Three stages — St Teresa— Visions and locutions — Self-delusion . 61-87

Chapter IV The Object Of Jiystical Knowledge

Mystical " vision," how to be understood — How the soul can see God — The Beatific Vision — Doctrine of St Thomas — St Paul's visions — Transiency of mystical state — Spiritual marriage — The liDiicn gloricE — St Augustine's classification — Uncertainty of sensible and imaginary impressions as compared with intellectual vision — All three truly supernatural 88- 104

Chapter V

The object of mystical contemplation perceived by a natural process, and therefore capable of analysis — No theory on the subject formulated by mystical writers — Three different views (i) existence of a special mystical faculty. This theory is superfluous. (2) that all apparently mystical states are merely automatic, and generally of pathological origin. This implies the presupposition that genuine mysticism is impossible. (3) that mystical communications really take place, but are apprehended by the same psychical process which transmits automatic suggestion. This practically coincides with the view of ecclesiastical authority — Difficulty of distinguishing, how caused .... 105-121

CONTENTS

Chapter VI Evil

Affinity of the problem with mysticism — The solution of mystics often appears unsatisfactory to others — Evil due to created freewill — Independence of the Divine Will — Evil negative — Practical character of mystical solution compared with the philosophical or theoretical — Schopenhauer, Hartmann and "Ethical" religions — Benefits of mysticism in this respect not restricted to mystics . . . 122-135

Chapter VII

Terms explained — Spinoza, Hegel and Mysticism — The "ground" — Immanence and Transcendence not ontologically distinct 136-145

CHAPTER VIII Philosophy and mysticism of Plotinus — Two possible

views of his relation to Christian mysticism . . 146-158

Chapter IX

Distinction clear between true and spurious mysticism— "Pragmatic" test, twofold application — Mysticism, theosophy and theology — Intrinsic distinction between mystical experience and deductions from it — Doctrines not to be guaranteed by mystical origin — Necessary features of genuine mysticism — The Beghards — Boehme — Swedenborg — Quietism — Distinction between doctrines and mystical experiences equally applied to orthodox mystics — St Teresa — St John of the Cross — Margaret Mary Alacoque. . . . 159-176

CONTENTS

Chapter X Mysticism, Philosophy And Religion

Obstacles to philosophical treatment of mysticism in its transcendental aspect — Experimental evidence of mysticism in support of natural theology — The object of mysticism beyond the reach of explanation per causas — Mysticism a form of religious experience, but not one guaranteed to Christians — Its relation to " institutional" religion, and to ordinary religious experience as continuous with and interpenetrated by it — The Imitation of Christ — Mystical experience perhaps occasionally granted to non-mystics 177-192

Chapter XI

History of the Dionysian writings— Authorship and character — Can they be considered forgeries — Modern theories, etc 193-206

CHAPTER XII THE "mystical THEOLOGY" OF DIONYSIUS THE AREOPAGITE

CHAP. PAGES

I. — What the Divine Darkness is. II. — How to be united with, and to give praise to Him who is the cause of all things and above all.

III. — What is affirmed of God, and what is

denied of Him.

IV. — That He who is the supreme cause of all sensible things is Himself no part of those things, v.— That He who is the supreme cause of all intelligible things is Himself no part of those things 207-223

X CONTENTS

Letter pages

I. — To Caius the Monk — The ignorance by means of which God is known is above sense-knowledge, not below it.

II. — To the Same — In what sense God is above

the principle of divinity.

V. — To Dorotheus the Deacon — The divine

darkness further explained . . 224-229

APPENDIX I

The occurrence of " imageless thought " demonstrated by the most recent psychological experiments — Application of this discovery to mysticism — Explanation of the relations between image and concept — Thought deals primarily with concepts — Hence all difficulty is removed from the theory that the soul, while still united with the body, can have a direct intuition of an immaterial object — Further, the place and function of sense — imagery in thought is now seen to be precisely those which are assigned by mystics to visions, locutions, &c. in mystical experience — It follows that the reality of such imagery corresponds to the reality of the concepts with which it is connected — Thus, also, the distinction between natural and supernatural states which have features of mutual resemblance is experimentally confirmed and elucidated — Professor James's view, that a mystical or "cosmic" consciousness is aroused by natural stimuli — No cause can be found for supernatural states, but that to which the mystics themselves attribute them — Professor James's instances — The abnormal state in each case connected with a sense-image — Thus there is no specifically cosmic form of consciousness, but only an aptitude, common to mankind, for contemplating ideas apart from images — Conscious-

CONTENTS ness is not cosmic, but conceptual— Argument recapitulated — If the contemplation of religious ideas is held to have a natural tendency to bring on mystical states of consciousness, the point is really conceded 230-256

APPENDIX II Notes 257, 258

A quella luce cotal si diventa,

Dante, Paradiso, cxxxiii..

INTRODUCTION

Most people have only a very vague notion of what is to be understood by mysticism. The w^ord is generally applied to anything beyond the range of ordinary sense-experience, or to any occurrence which sense-experience does not immediately seem to explain. The way in which this common use of the word is connected with its original meaning will be pointed out later. But it is of some importance to notice what the things or occurrences are that in the popular language of the present day are called mystical. These are very various, but they may be classified somewhat as follows. First, there is magic, in all its forms, ancient, mediaeval and modern. Next there comes what is now called spiritualism, or the attempt to communicate with immaterial but rational beings, who are believed to have some power xiv MYSTICISM

of influencing tlie visible world. Thirdly, there are the various emotions, of a more or less obscure kind, which are excited in the mind by associations connected with natural objects, familiar sights and sounds, or strange and sudden events ; these are experienced in greater or less degree by everyone, but their origin and development are not always readily traceable. Fourthly, there is a derivative sense of the word in which it is applied to modes of speech or action, apparently directed to some hidden or obscure object, which do not directly indicate, but rather seem to suggest something in itself impalpable or transcendental.^

Thus the rites of savage religions, the incantations which found a place in the prescriptions of mediaeval physicians, the pretensions of astrology and of alchemy and of sorcery and witchcraft, share the title with the feats of clairvoyants and " mediums," with the claims of faith-healing and of thoughtreading ; and again with the vague emotions

1 See e.g., Disraeli's Endyviion, ch. xxvi., " There is a mystic bond between us, originating perhaps in the circumstance ol our birth ; for we are twins," and ch. xxxv., " She asked questions in a hushed mystical voice."

INTRODUCTION xv

aroused by a brilliant sunset or by mountain scenery, by music, or by the memories associated with a well-known place. So even a whispered word, a solemn tone of voice, and even a conjuring trick, is often, by the derivative (though doubtfully legitimate) use of the word, described as mystical.

In quite another direction, again, mysticism has been brought into connection with a certain school of metaphysics, as a kind of direct intuition by means of which the absolute reality underlying the phenomenal world may be perceived and contemplated ; and this intuition is held by some to be the true essence of mysticism, as the common and only reality belonging to all kinds of mystical experience.

Lastly, the mysticism recognised by the Catholic Church as genuine is the direct intellectual communication of God with the soul. This is due not to any natural endowment or effort of the mystic, but to the favour of God alone ; though this favour is granted, ordinarily, only to those who have prepared themselves to receive it, and who xvi MYSTICISM

may therefore be said in a certain sense to be specially qualified for it.

It seems well to indicate, by way of introduction, the real significance of the confusion in which the subject is still commonly involved ; a confusion which is due, unquestionably, to certain congenital tendencies of the human mind in its perpetual contact with an environment of which its understanding, though always imperfect, grows constantly deeper and wider.

It is certain that all human beings have a natural desire or tendency to seek for some explanation of the various objects which surround them, both animate and inanimate. This desire arises, no doubt, primarily from man's dependence on his surroundings, and his want, at least for practical purposes, of those primitive instincts by means of which other animals are enabled to make provision for their needs, and to avoid the dangers that constantly threaten them. For these purposes man has to rely mainly on the reasoning power which distinguishes him from the lower animals. He has, therefore, from the first, set himself to

INTRODUCTION xvii

discover the various uses to which natural objects may be put, and the means that may enable him to avoid premature destruction by hostile powers. The desire of knowledge for its own sake is a less potent and far less universal cause of enquiry ; it may probably, indeed, have no independent source, but be merely an aspect or outcome of the practical need. However that may be, the chronic desire of the human race for an understanding of its environment, and its increasing efforts in pursuit of such an understanding, are unquestionable. Now the method by which knowledge is sought is always the explanation of the unknown by the known : no other method is, indeed, available. Therefore uncultivated and uncivilised man has necessarily to use his very small stock of knowledge as his instrument for reducing the vast proportions of his ignorance. The first thing of which all men acquire a clear conception is themselves. Self is the first thing that stands out clear-cut against the confused background of the notself ; and the self is almost immediately perceived to be something more than the mere xviii MYSTICISM

body, since it is endowed with the powers of thinking, of feeling and of willing — powers in which the bodily organism seems to have no direct share, but to which it appears to be in some way subject. A man's invisible and intangible thoughts, desires, and intentions are, or appear to be, the causes of the movements of his body ; and when he sets out to interpret to himself the impressions he receives from surrounding objects of all kinds, he naturally applies to them the only criterion he possesses, namely, his experience of himself. Thus he is led to attribute the movements of objects over which he has no control to a cause like that which he has already been led by experience to assign for the bodily movements which depend on the invisible controlling power within himself. As, then, man finds by experience that the motive power of his own body is supplied by the immaterial co-efficient of his nature which we call soul or spirit, so by an inevitable inference he attributes the movements and actions of persons and things other than himself to a similar invisible and intangible power within or behind them. The inference

INTRODUCTION xix

is like that which he makes about other human beings, and which he knows they make about himself; it is very far from an unreasonable one, and in its main features is perfectly correct. We need not, indeed, suppose that the precise idea of an immaterial soul as it is now conceived, or of immaterial as distinct from corporeal existence, is distinctly present to the mind of primitive man. It would seem that, in some instances at least, he has only a general and vague notion of all-pervading power, manifested in material things by various means, and in various degrees.^ But even so, the mere notion of power as something real, though beyond the purview of the senses, has in it at least the rudimentary concept of spirit. The primitive mind does not seek to analyse its confused ideas, and does not, at first, attempt to associate its notion of the power exhibited in material things with any particular kind of vehicle, such as the individual soul. Nevertheless, the essential idea is there, and we may safely conclude that the primitive or savage conception of the universe is in a wide sense

^ See A. Lang, Origins of Religion.

XX MYSTICISM.

animistic, i.e., it attributes to all things alike, in different degrees, the possession of an invisible and intangible power, closely resembling that of which human beings are conscious in themselves.

It is then but a short step from the belief in the existence of spiritual, or quasi-spiritual, power to the attempt to make use of it. It would seem in fact, as we have remarked, that the general animistic notion of the world is obtained in the course of a quest for knowledge which may be turned to practical use. As therefore uncivilised man makes use of his material surroundings to obtain food, warmth and shelter, so he inevitably endeavours to make use, in their own sphere, of the spiritual powers by which he thinks the world is animated. Hence arises the primitive notion of magic, or the art and science of dealing directly with the hidden and spiritual qualities of things, apart from the mechanical methods by which the things, in their external aspects, are converted to human uses. This is the fundamental notion of magic in all the numberless forms it has assumed in the history of mankind. It contains

INTRODUCTION xxi

in germ and in confusion all the different sciences in which the whole experience of the race has since been formulated. Magic is in fact rudimentary science, theology and mysticism all in one.

The savage doctor drives out the occult quality, or invisible spirit of disease, from his patient by means of charms and incantations, which are not supposed to have any direct or mechanical effect on the disordered parts. They are intended to drive out the hidden cause or agent to which the sickness is attributed. The treatment is, in principle, thoroughly scientific ; it declines to deal with symptoms, and attacks the supposed origin of the trouble. The only mistake about it is that it is founded on a diagnosis which goes rather too far ; but the medicine-man's procedure is quite reasonable in view of his limited knowledge. Or again, primitive man at a certain stage of development believes that the whole world is worked by supernatural agents, acting on motives like his own, and liable, like himself, to be moved by appeals to their fears, their pity and their hopes. Through them, therexxii MYSTICISM

fore, he supposes that he possesses unlimited powers of influencing the course of nature to his own advantage. Prayers, promises or threats may secure for him sunshine or rain, abundant crops and success in hunting or in war.^ Hence the system of taboos, by which the anger of the god is averted, and his goodwill secured. Here we have, jumbled together, the scientific principle which aims at the control of nature through a knowledge of its processes ; the theological concept of the government of the world by a spiritual being or beings ; and the rudiments of the mystical notion of some kind of direct communication with the unseen, the prime condition of which is already perceived to be the removal of obstacles, even though the nature of the real obstacles to be removed is far from being rightly understood.

The process of scientific, moral and religious education through which mankind has passed, and is still passing, is thus evidently one of differentiation. It seem improbable, however, that the process is chronologically continuous

' Frazer, Golden Bough, vol. i. p. 8.

INTRODUCTION xxiii

for the whole race ; degeneration has probably quite as much to do with the present state of savage races as imperfect development ; and there is no evidence to negative the supposition that the animism of the savage is ultimately due to a primitive revelation now well-nigh forgotten. But the educational process is clearly traceable within specific limits of place and time ; and in its main features it consists in the disentanglement and consequent advance of departments of knowledge which first appear in a single confused mass. Development is from confusion to distinction of thought.^

This process of development has been a very gradual one ; it is still far from complete in itself, and it has by no means uniformly affected the whole of mankind either socially or individually. It was long before either theology or science could be fully emancipated from the presuppositions of magic. The chemist, the astronomer, the physician and the mathematician were for many centuries regarded, and indeed regarded themselves, as ' Marett, Anthropology, p. 239.

xxiv MYSTICISM

occultists or magicians, on one side, at least, of their researches ; though on another side they were true experimentalists. The two points of view were curiously intermingled and combined in ancient and mediaeval science and philosophy, the a priori assumptions of earlier times being brought in to fill the gaps in the fragmentary and tentative scientific theories of the time, The first to be conscious of this incongruity was Bacon, who supposed that nature would yield up her secrets only to a system of unprejudiced " interrogation," thereby overstepping the mark in one direction almost by as much as his predecessors had in the other. Mere interrogation of nature is, of course, impossible ; what the Novum Organon left out of account was the necessity of some kind of creative imagination for the direction of experiment. But Bacon was the first to state clearly the distinction between the construction of verifiable hypotheses and the a priori assumption of unverifiable theories as facts — a distinction which has never since been wholly lost sight of

A clearly marked stage in the advance from

INTRODUCTION xxv

confusion to distinction of thought appears in the theology of lamblichus.^ He held that there were two sorts of gods — the higher, or purely spiritual, who were the proper object of the spiritual contemplation that only a select few are capable of; and the lower gods and demons, whose nature was something between the purely spiritual and the wholly material — removed on the one hand by their spirituality from the direct knowledge of mankind, and on the other hand, separated from that of the higher gods by its admixture of the nature of earthly things. Material sacrifices were due to the lower gods, and all men were free to propitiate them by this means ; they were not, like the higher gods, the patrons of an exclusive class. Here we see the primitive conception of animism divided, and then somewhat curiously cross-divided.

With Paracelsus again, and the later mediaeval physicists, the animistic assumption takes a different and less transcendental form. Paracelsus conceived all material existence as a hierarchy, rising in successive degrees of

1 Egyptian Mysteries, v. 14.

xxvi MYSTICISM

refinement to the immediate presence of God. The highest degree is reached in the "quintessence" of things, which is a "moist fire," serving as a kind of mask or screen to the divine presence. Lower down in the scale are the " essences " of things, in which are highly sublimated elements called "virtues," capable of being extracted and of entering into combination with one another. Certain of them possess a dominating power, in virtue of which they are " magisteries " and attract others of the same kind to themselves, as the virtue of vinegar attracts and dominates the virtue of wine. This is the way in which drugs were supposed to act on the human body, and anticipates the homoeopathic principle of infinitesimal doses.^ Paracelsus's directions for producing the desired results contain an odd mixture of chemical formulse and magical incantations. We may see in this cosmic theory a further advance towards distinctness of thought. Quintessence, essence and virtue are not either wholly or partially spiritual ; yet they are not strictly material or organic ; they

Paracelsus, Theophrastia (Archidoxies vi.).

INTRODUCTION xxvii

are mere names, concealing a wide ignorance of natural processes since discovered, and confusing those processes with the all pervading energy of nature to which they are due, and which is still as far as ever from being understood.

Another striking instance of the confusion, as yet only partially resolved, of man's ©utlook on the universe is to be found in the relation long supposed to exist between the "microcosm" of the human body, and the " macrocosm " of the solar system. The heavenly bodies were believed to be in natural sympathy with the human organism, and to exert special influences upon it. The sun acted on the heart, the moon on the "animal humours." Hence a considerable part of mediaeval therapeutics was concerned with the movements of the planets, with the object of transmitting their virtue to the patient at the most favourable moment.^ Animism had receded to a very great extent from the earth, but still lingered among the stars.

The process of distinction goes on with con-

1 V. Cardan, De varietate rerum, Sr'c.

xxviii MYSTICISM

stantly increasing momentum. Our own days have witnessed the birth of several new sciences, each the legitimate offspring of a parent science, and each, no doubt, to be in turn the mother of more. Mysticism is the final step, in one direction, of the differentiating process. As God, the personal and transcendent Creator, is the ultimate term of metaphysics, so the mystical or immediate knowledge of God is the ultimate of that relation of the human soul to Him, as its source, object and end, which constitutes religion. This finality, however, implies more than a natural process of development. Side by side with the growth of natural knowledge, and intermingled with it, has always stood a divinely imparted revelation. Its influence is to be traced, not only in the spiritual experiences of the descendants of Abraham, and in the fuller light of the Catholic Church, but also in sidelights, off-shoots and reactionary movements, often alien and sometimes directly hostile to it. But when God had once made Himself known to man, the way to personal and direct intercourse was open ; knowledge

INTRODUCTION xxix

could be translated into experience. St. Paul's mystical experience was as complete and final as the faith that he taught.

It hardly needs to be pointed out that all mankind have not reached the same stage in their progress from confusion to distinction of thought ; nor is the progress continuous. Reactions and reversions, as well as cases of arrested development, occur in this as in other phases of human history. In the advance of human knowledge and experience from the pre-scientific to the scientific stage, or from confusion to distinction in the apprehension of facts, there has occurred, as was to be expected, a kind of precipitation of superfluous or effete ideas. These have continued to exist, and to exert an influence, more or less recognisable, upon the minds alike of the civilised and the uncivilised, the wise and the foolish, the learned and the unlearned. Human nature is always fundamentally the same, and the primeval tendency to envisage our surroundings as a confused medley of material and spiritual elements, reasserts itself sometimes in the most

unexpected places. A sudden shock to the

c

XXX MYSTICISM

feelings will often throw the most cultivated persons back to the savage state of mind in which the unexpected or the unexplained excites emotions of confused wonder or terror, with an undercurrent of hardly realised suggestion of supernatural agency. Many people who have no belief in ghosts are terribly afraid of them, and are quite capable, under appropriate circumstances, of imagining that they see them. The civilised habits of reflection and analysis generally prevail, after the first moment, over the sudden emotion. But more often than not, at the instant of receiving a sudden blow, or witnessing a sudden catastrophe, or receiving important or unexpected news, either painful or pleasurable, we get a momentary glimpse of ourselves in the mental condition of primitive man. Again, the practice of magic and witchcraft is still far from unknown even in the centres of European civilisation ; and many persons who feel themselves superior to any form of religious belief, still associate good or bad luck with certain trivial actions and events. Many people still feel uncomfortable if they happen to tread on

INTRODUCTION xxxi

the joint of two paving stones, or if they have to pass under a ladder; the "envy of the gods " is still averted by ejaculating " unberufen und unbeschrieen," or some such phrase ; and belief in the power of the evil eye is as seriously and almost as widely entertained now as it was in the days of St. Thomas Aquinas.

In fact the vaguely mystical attitude of mind in which primitive man views everything around him lies dormant in all of us, and on occasion will come uppermost ; just as the savage passions which have been trained and disciplined into the manners and customs of civilised life will on occasion break out in all their primitive crudity. But the undeveloped and untaught mystical tendency is no more true mysticism than the primitive savage emotions are habits of virtue or good manners. To this primitive source we must trace the common tendency to apply the title of mystical to almost anything that seems unusual or difficult of explanation. More especially, the surviving confusion of the primitive mind is to be recognised in the emotional apprehension of objects of beauty or interest, as symbolising xxxii MYSTICISM

something beyond themselves which is their cause and which gives them their deeper meaning. So to appreciate nature, history or art is to follow the mystical tendency which is inherent in human nature, and without which the existence of actual mysticism could scarcely be conceived as possible. But the mystical tendency is not mysticism ; just as the rudimentary elements of science contained in primitive conceptions of nature were not yet actually scientific.

Spiritualism, even if its claims to be considered a genuine science are admitted, falls far short of the position of true mysticism. The beings with whom it deals (if, indeed, they have any real existence) are not supposed to represent the supreme controlling power of the universe, nor is the alleged communication with them direct ; it takes place, if at all, through "materialisations," the body of a "medium," or the instrumentality of domestic furniture. Spiritualism may be considered as a stage, possibly a retrogressive one, in the evolution of the mystical tendency ; it has certainly nothing in common with true mysticism.