The Big Book of Christian Mysticism
Order your copy of The Big Book of Christian Mysticism from Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, or Borders. Or, ask for it at your local bookstore.Welcome
THE WEBSITE OF UNKNOWING (www.anamchara.com) is all about Celtic, contemplative, emergent, and mystical spirituality, and assorted other topics.Click on these book covers to learn more about books by Carl McColman, or click here to buy copies.Upcoming Class
Introduction to Christian Mysticism through Emory University's "Evening at Emory" Program.
The renowned twentieth century German theologian Karl Rahner said, “The Christian of the future will be a mystic or will not exist at all.” What could he have meant by this? In the popular mind, mysticism is associated with eastern spirituality, like Yoga or Zen. But there is a little-known tradition of meditation and spiritual awakening even within Christianity. This non-sectarian class will survey the history of Christian mysticism from Biblical times to the present, explore the meaning of mysticism and why Christians often view it with suspicion, and consider the role that mysticism might play in Christianity of the present and future.
Textbook: The Big Book of Christian Mysticism.
Instructor: Carl McColman
September 23-October 21, 2010
7:00-9:00 pm
Click here to registerSpeaking of Mysticism
Carl McColman talks about mysticism: what it is, and why it matters, in this interview which originally aired on Atlanta's AM 1690 in September 2008. Click here to listen:Newsletter
Follow this link to subscribe to my very occasional email list.
Note: this is not the same as subscribing to this website's updates. To do that, please follow the instructions under "The Email of Unknowing" above.Facebook
Twitter
If you'd like to follow me on Twitter, my user ID is @mccolman.
Whenever I post to this blog, an announcement is generated for my Twitter feed, so you can always keep up to date with what's going on here.What others say…
"www.anamchara.com is a beautiful site that lists books and web sites introducing all aspects of Christian mysticism."— Abbot Christopher Jamison, host of "The Monastery" on the BBC
"One of the best spiritual blogs around"— John Skinner, author of Hear Our Silence and translator of Julian of Norwich's Revelation of Love
"Thanks, Carl, for your fine and much needed work."— Richard Rohr, author of
Everything Belongs: The Gift
of Contemplative Prayer
"You are a gifted writer, thoughtful person, and wise teacher."— Edward C. Sellner, author of
Finding the Monk Within
"Recommended website"— Steven Sadler, author of Looking for God: A Seeker's Guide to Religious and Spiritual Groups of the World
"Carl McColman is part Ken Wilber, part Richard Rohr, and part Indiana Jones’ dad."— Brittian Bullock, blogger, Sensual Jesus
"As a former professor of education, I tend to critique instructors rather severely. However, Carl McColman, in my opinion, ranks as one of the all-time great instructors. He has an unbelievable mastery of his subject matter & an uncanny ability to translate esoteric matter into understandable form. On top of that, he's very personable. This is my second Evening at Emory Class with Carl and I will sign up for any class that he teaches!"— Student evaluation formArchives
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
- May 2006
- April 2006
- March 2006
- February 2006
- January 2006
- December 2005
- November 2005
- October 2005
- September 2005
- August 2005
- July 2005
- June 2005
- May 2005
- April 2005
- March 2005
- February 2005
- January 2005
- December 2004
- November 2004
- October 2004
- August 2004
- June 2003
- October 2001
- September 2001
- January 2001
Blogroll
- A Nekid Entente unto God
- A Servant’s Thoughts
- Anam Cara
- Another Loose Canon
- Being in New Orleans
- Blog of the Grateful Bear
- Catholic Anarchy
- Celtic Scribblings
- CelticHound’s WebLog
- Cloud of Unknowing (Ariel S.)
- Cloud of Unknowing (Bill F.)
- Dance of the Mind
- Dharmakara’s Prayer
- Eastern Sun
- Eileen the Episcopalifem
- Emerging Phoenix (Atlanta Cohort)
- Fencing Bear at Prayer
- For Peace Comes Dropping Slow
- God is Not Elsewhere
- Hear Our Silence
- Heather’s Poor Excuse
- Idol Chatter
- James Behrens, OCSO
- Joy Reid
- Liturgy Spirituality Worship
- Living Water from an Ancient Well
- Meg Funk
- Monastic Musings
- Monk?
- Mustard Seed Associates
- Nemeton
- Old Man’s Rants
- Out of the Depths
- Peter Rollins
- Philip Carr-Gomm’s Blog
- Progressive Faith Blog Con
- Quaker Pagan
- Religion and Atheism
- Sacred Awe
- Sensual Jesus
- Songs of Unforgetting
- Spiritual Birdwatching
- The Girl Who Cried Epiphany
- The Practical Mystic
- The Prior’s Column
- The Thread of Words
- The Wild Things of God
- Vegan Bliss from the Organic Goddess
- Voice in the Wilderness (Maggie Ross)
- Window Seat
- Zoecarnate
Other Links
- Abbey Store
- Atlanta Julian Meeting
- Bob Hughes
- Catholic Democrats
- Celtic Christian Church
- Centre de mystique chrétienne, spiritualité chrétienne (French language site)
- Holy Wells in Co. Kerry, Ireland
- House Church Resource
- Interfaithing
- Monastery of the Holy Spirit
- Monastic Interreligious Dialog
- New Testament Mysticism
- Sites Unseen
- The Book Publicity Blog
- Whey Out Chocolate
Calendar
Site Map
- Books
- Christian Mysticism
- Celtic Wisdom
- Carl McColman
- Books by Carl McColman
- Gallery
- Images
- House of Breathings
- Schedule
- Contact
- Calendar
- Center for Spiritual Practice
Monthly Archives: July 2009
On the Rise of ‘Casino Capitalism’
I found this one at the National Catholic Reporter website. I think it needs to be spread far and wide: The cultural embrace of illusion, and the celebrity culture that has risen up around it, have accompanied the awful hollowing … Continue reading
Posted in Current events, Quotations
Tagged Casino Capitalism, Chris Hedges, Quotations, Quote for the Day
1 Comment
Adventures in Shameless Self-Promotion
How I envy Julian of Norwich. Not only did she have an awesome experience of sixteen revelations of Divine Love, but she also took twenty years to reflect on her experience and then wrote a book that remains one of … Continue reading
Quote for the Day
The closer we grow to God, the more intensely we experience the love of God and the desire for God that awakens in us, the more painful become all those defects of character to which we still cling because they … Continue reading
Posted in Christian mysticism, Mysticism, Quotations, spirituality
Tagged Christian mysticism, Mysticism, Quotations, Robert Davis Hughes III
1 Comment
E. Lynn Harris, R.I.P.
I’ve never read any books by E. Lynn Harris. Nevertheless, I was saddened to learn of his passing, apparently from a heart attack, at the young age of 54. This is because I can attribute the best piece of writing … Continue reading
Wikipedia & Me
Tonight I discovered that there’s a picture of me on Wikipedia. It’s on the page for the Monastery of the Holy Spirit, in the “Book store and religious gifts” section. No caption with my name, so unless you knew it … Continue reading
Posted in Christian mysticism
2 Comments
First Communion on the Moon
In honor of the fortieth anniversary of Apollo 11 and the first human beings to set foot on the moon, my friend and fellow blogger Bosco Peters has posted a wonderful article about a little known fact: that the first … Continue reading
The Epistemology of Post-Fundamentalism
A friend of mine, formerly a devout Christian who is now an atheist (and, unfortunately, a rather bitter and cynical one at that), wrote this to me recently: I got into religion as a literal believer, and I became disappointed … Continue reading
Posted in Emergent, Mysticism, Mystics, spirituality
Tagged Agnosis, Epistemology, fundamentalism, Jack Chick, Ken Wilber, Mysticism, religion, Richard Dawkins, science
22 Comments
Who’s In Charge? (Purrrrrr….)
In honor of the recent news article from LiveScience.com that reports a study which has finally scientifically proven that cats control their “owners” (I put it in quotation marks because I think it’s a coin toss as to who really … Continue reading
Twenty Books I Want to Read
I’ve been tagged in yet another Facebook meme. This one asks me to list fifteen books that I would like to read. That seems to be a pretty cool list to draw up; in fact, it seemed worthy enough to … Continue reading
Sorry, Mr. Weigel, the Cafeteria is Closed
I don’t normally venture into politics in this blog. I believe that contemplative prayer and Christian mysticism are for everyone, across the political spectrum. However, a blog post that I have just read, critiquing a prominent Catholic pundit who appears … Continue reading
Posted in Catholicism, Current events
Tagged Cafeteria Catholics, Current events, Politics, Pope Benedict XVI, George Weigel, Caritas in Veritate
1 Comment
Brad Culver on Mysticism
I’ve just stumbled across a pretty sweet looking blog by a guy named Brad Culver, Living Water From an Ancient Well. Of particular interest is his post on Mysticism.
Posted in Mysticism, Other people's blogs
Tagged Brad Culver, Mysticism, Other people's blogs
Leave a comment
Wendell Berry on Christianity and Creation
The following quotation landed in my email inbox this morning from my good friend and co-conspirator Phil Foster, who in turn found it on Facebook… I traced it back to a wonderful website run by a Zen Quaker organic farmer … Continue reading
A Call to Religious Life Worldwide
If you’re interested in the future of monasticism and other forms of consecrated religious life, read this article by Jose Maria Vigil, CMF: A Call To Religious Life Worldwide Father Vigil argues that the collapse of religious life in Europe … Continue reading
Dream wisdom
Last night I had a dream, and most of the details I now can’t recall. But I do remember that someone in the dream offered this nugget of wisdom: In marriage, when you keep score, nobody wins. Frankly, that also … Continue reading
Posted in Family, humor, spirituality
Tagged dreams, folk wisdom, humor, Marriage, spirituality
1 Comment
Mary and Martha Revisited
A friend of mine wrote me this note: I struggle at times to see the point of non-mystic relationships with our Abba. I don’t want to judge but it feels as if mystics connect with God and all else is … Continue reading



