MYSTICISM. — By this term, derived from *mistica*, a word proper to the mysteries (q.v.), are designated those philosophical-religious currents which place the knowledge of God in intimate illumination (by which they experience spiritual union with the divinity) rather than in rational inquiry. All religions have their own mysticism, and all recommend solitude and silence as indispensable conditions, for these above all enable one to perceive the ineffable word. Hence, in solemn moments, liturgies enjoin silence, since this, like the darkness that prevails within the sanctuary, serves to intensify religious emotion.
To attain the mystical state, various religions prescribe norms governing both external and internal life. For external life, rules are laid down regarding food, daily schedule, and sometimes even dress: thus among the Essenes (q.v.), the Orphics (q.V. ORPHIC MYSTERIES), the Pythagoreans (q.V. PYTHAGORAS), and the Ṣūfīs (q.V. ṢŪFISM). All the more must internal life conform to the model of perfection to which the mystic aspires; indeed, the external rules of life, even those marked by the harshest asceticism, are not ends in themselves but serve precisely to facilitate this inner assimilation.
The path of mystical ascent is long and unfolds in stages, varying in number according to different mystical traditions, but always progressing from an initial, pleasing spiritual experience, through trials that may even be painful—these serving to test the candidate’s capacity and refine his spirit—toward perfect union with the divinity. Mystical ascent is thus truly an exercise (*áskēsis*) that aims to strip the individual of all that constitutes his personal ego in order to fill him with God. This is the highest degree of mysticism: the suppression of the distance between the object, which is God, and the subject, which is man. In Catholic mysticism, this union never surpasses the proper limit of separation between Creator and creature, nor does it ever forget the vital relationship of dependence that the branch must maintain with the vine; whereas in non-Christian mysticisms (Ṣūfism) and in some mystical currents, it tends toward an identification between man and the divinity so complete that the individual almost feels himself to be God and no longer has need of rites or symbols.