Chapter I

Introduction



Mysticism is a term so irresponsibly applied in English that it has
become the first duty of those who use it to explain what they mean by
it. The _Concise Oxford Dictionary_ (1911), after defining a mystic as
"one who believes in spiritual apprehension of truths beyond the
understanding," adds, "whence _mysticism_ (n.) (often contempt)."
Whatever may be the precise force of the remark in brackets, it is
unquestionably true that mysticism is often used in a semi-contemptuous
way to denote vaguely any kind of occultism or spiritualism, or any
specially curious or fantastic views about God and the universe.

The word itself was originally taken over by the Neo-platonists from the
Greek mysteries, where the name of μύστης given to the initiate,
probably arose from the fact that he was one who was gaining a knowledge
of divine things about which he must keep his mouth shut (μύω = close
lips or eyes). Hence the association of secrecy or "mystery" which still
clings round the word.

Two facts in connection with mysticism are undeniable whatever it may
be, and whatever part it is destined to play in the development of
thought and of knowledge. In the first place, it is the leading