I’ve started a Substack! If you’re not familiar with Substack, it’s like a blog that you read through email. My Substack is called “Mystical Journey” and will include a variety of posts, all designed to help you go deeper and further on your unique mystical passage. The Substack has both free and paid options, but you do need to subscribe to receive the new posts. Click here to subscribe to “Mystical Journey.”
If you’d like to learn more about my new Substack, then read on. I’m exploring the theme of “Mystical Journey” with seven different types of posts/emails. Here’s a quick introduction to the types of emails you can expect to receive from me…
“I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your children shall prophesy, your elders shall dream dreams, and your youth shall see visions.” The prophet Joel suggests that visionary experiences can be a normal part of the spiritual life. Many of the great mystics have been visionaries — Hildegard of Bingen, Julian of Norwich, Teresa of Ávila, Caryll Houselander and Thomas Merton were among those who recounted their own visionary encounters with the Sacred Mystery. But these Substack posts will have a humbler purpose: they will consist of short reflections I’ve written to invite and encourage you to go deeper in your prayer and meditation practice. We cannot force ourselves to be visionaries, but we can calibrate our spiritual practice to a visionary way of life, and these meditations are meant to support just that.
The heart of mysticism is prayer, but what is prayer? How can we pray when our experience of God (Spirit) is shrouded in mystery and unknowing? Mystical prayer is a lost art — too many of us don’t pray at all, or we are biased against prayer because of how some people see it as a type of magic, a way to “name and claim” blessings from God, as if God were our cosmic butler. These “Mystical Orison” posts seek to reclaim and envision a new way of prayer that is steeped in mystery, respectful of silence and awe, and oriented toward contemplation: in short, a mystical way of praying. Following Jesus’s caution against lengthy prayers, each orison will be short and concise, designed to foster a sense of intimacy with the mystery that can invite us deeper into our own mystical adventure.
One of the best ways to explore mystical spirituality is through the wisdom of the mystics themselves: great spiritual teachers and guides from throughout history and around the world. Mystical Wisdom emails will bring selected quotations from the writings of the great mystics to your inbox. Each one will be short, designed to read quickly — or to savor slowly by using these quotations as part of your lectio divina practice. Look for mystical wisdom from Howard Thurman, Teresa of Ávila, Thich Nhat Hanh, Pema Chödrön, Thomas Merton, Julian of Norwich, Meister Eckhart, Evelyn Underhill, and many other great voices. Each quote will come to you in an email, and if you are a paid subscribe you’ll have access to all the previous quotes, archived on the Substack website.
In ancient Celtic literature, a triad was a short poem or proverb designed to communicate insights and inspiration from mythology, folklore, and traditional history. They are called triads because the content is always presented as a set of three. The ancient Celtic triads tended to focus on historical figures and their legendary exploits. I love haiku (and short poetry in general) and this triadic/trinitarian form of poetry offers a wonderful format for exploring some of the paradoxes and other dynamic tensions found in the mystical life. Each post will include one or more short poems that will invite you into the mystical way of seeing and thinking, through a set of three thematically-linked ideas or teachings.
Grace has a rather specific theological meaning — but in a general sense, grace is related to gift — when we speak of God’s grace, we speak of the freely given love and favor of God. In terms of the mystical tradition, we receive “grace” from the many books, poems, memoirs, stories, sermons and treatises that mystics down the ages have left for us to read and study. The heart of mysticism is the unnameable experience of God’s presence, which goes far beyond anything we can ever glean from a book or a poem. But that is not meant to suggest that the literary treasures of the great mystics are unimportant. Far from it! So these posts will review, endorse, and celebrate some of the great writings of the historical mystics, as well as the best contemplative writing of our time. Looking for a new book to read? We’ve got you covered!
It has been said that the three great branches of theology are dogmatic or systematic theology, moral or ethical theology, and mystical theology. Systematic theology tries to discover and express what is true about God and the spiritual life; moral theology seeks to understand what is good about a conscious spiritual life, and mystical theology seeks to celebrate what is truly beautiful about the contemplative path. To this end, these “Mystical Beauty” posts will celebrate the many ways that the spiritual life communicates beauty to us: through mystical art, music, and nature, to name three obvious portals into deep beauty. Spirituality isn’t just about being good or understanding truth: it is to manifest beauty, and so these posts will celebrate the many ways that mysticism and beauty come together in our lives.
A recurring theme of my “Mystical Journey” posts is that most of them will be short — and by design. Most of us live full, active, busy lives, and we don’t have a lot of time to orient ourselves toward spiritual nurturance each day. I know that if I had to choose between readying about meditation and actually meditating, the books would have to wait on the shelf. So for the most part, these posts won’t place a huge claim on your time. But once in a while, it’s fun to write (and read) something that can go a bit more in-depth. So the “Mystical Insight” posts will consist of longer articles and essays, that invite you to reflect on a particular teaching, practice, or perspective through a more nuanced and (hopefully) comprehensive treatment.
As you can see, I’ve used the colors of the rainbow to differentiate the seven types of emails I’ll be sending out, so the overall logo for this Substack features a rainbow design, of course! I do hope you’ll subscribe (or join my Patreon page at the standard or higher level, which will include a complimentary upgrade to a paid Substack subscription). Click here to subscribe to “Mystical Journey” or click here to join Patreon.
