For thousands of years mysticism has been regarded or disregarded as a pursuit or calling for the ``fringe of the fringes.'' Out of the fractional percentage of persons who felt a call into the deep disciplines of any tradition (religion, science, music and athletics among others), only a miniscule percentage of that small group ever manifested the state of being that marks the true mystic. And though that select group often left volumes of written work behind them, the truths in them have remained impenetrable to the common person in the mainstream of any society.

Until now, that is. In 21st century western culture, mysticism has indeed hit the mainstream, taking what at times is a rather awkward place in the ranks of other ``self-help'' programs and agendas. Mysticism is deeply concerned with ``enlightenment,'' and yet ``enlightenment'' has become a buzzword; ``the path to enlightenment'' is a sound-byte clichè which, like all clichès, does an admirable job of shutting down thought in the mind of the hearer. And so, when the average person who is shopping around for clues or help for their own struggles sees Mysticism right alongside 12 Step Programs, Life Coaching, Astrology, Shamanism, Clairvoyance, Channels, Crystal Entities, Space Entities, Magick, Archangels, Intentional Communities etc., it's easy to understand the basic confusion.

Essential Mysticism

In its simplest sense, mysticism is a quest, the ultimate goal of which is total Union with the Absolute (God, by whatever name). It is an organic, whole-life process which results, when practiced assiduously, in the consummation of the Love of that God. It is the art of establishing a conscious relationship with the Divine.

As Evelyn Underhill said, it's about being. Being in love with All That Is, being still and knowing you are God, being the peace which manifests in the world, being abundant, healthy, wise, powerful. It is a level of beingness that transcends mere existence -- it is a conscious, statement of one's total relationship with All That Manifests, and All That Does Not.

Mysticism is the state where the personal will is united with emotions in an impassioned desire to transcend the world of the five senses, the world of ``doingness.'' Our souls, the parts of us that never forgot our divine heritage, use emotions to speak with us. True emotions come directly from Divine Source, they are the true universal language. When we link our emotions with our personal will, the will becomes completely surrendered, or suffused in, the Will of the Divine. We transcend the illusion of ``self-hood'' or separation. There is Only One.

A mystic lives in that Truth.

What It's Not

Mysticism is not a thing about which mystics merely hold an opinion. It's not about adding, subtracting, rearranging or improving anything in the physical world. It's not about ``doing'' anything, except when that ``doingness'' springs spontaneously out of the finer levels of ``beingness'' a mystic inhabits.

It's not about praying for rain, getting someone to fall in love with you, casting circles, or winning the lottery. It doesn't even pertain to the laying on of hands for healing, evoking angels, or any other kind of miracle, for that matter.

In mystical parlance, these pursuits are labelled ``occultism'' in that the will is working in tandem with intellect in an impassioned desire for ``supersensible'' knowledge, power, or control. It is the deliberate exaltation of the will until it transcends its usual limitations, and obtains for itself or others something which it/they did not previously possess.

Making Sense Of It

There's nothing inherently wrong with occultism, of course. Nor mysticism, nor is there anything intrinsically ``right'' about either. Mystics themselves do sometimes engage in what might seem to be ``occult'' practices in the courses of their daily lives. It is worth noting that the typical mystic does these things in an ecstasy of surrender while the occultist engages in them for worldly power and/or control.

The confusion arises in that the starting point for both is the same: an inextinguishable conviction that there are other planes of being than those which our five sense can report, that there is something more to life than what sensory indulgences can provide. It is this firmly held conviction that impels mystic and occultist alike into the avid search for those otherworldly planes, those supersensory experiences. Both desire to tear aside the veil that separates them from Truth; they differ only in intention, not in their conviction that such Truth does exist.

They are also alike in that both mysticism and occultism require extraordinary discipline and focus to achieve that end, i.e., to tear aside that veil. Success in either method bespeaks a superior human being, one who has mastered baser appetites, transcended limitations, and arrived at a level of consciousness not shared by the majority of fellow beings on this planet. If a mystic and occultist were engaged side by side in their labors for the world to see, it would indeed be difficult to tell from simple outer examination which is which!

An easy example: The distance runner who runs because he knows that after miles of agonizing pains in chest, legs, and arms the veil will drop away, and for an eternal moment he will be enrapt in Oneness with all creation . . .

And the distance runner who runs to win the Olympic Gold Medal.

Both run. Both endure the same agonies, the same privations. Both invoke inhuman levels of discipline and focus to achieve their ends.

The first is a mystic by definition. The second, admirable as he may otherwise be, is an occultist. From an exterior viewpoint, the two are indistinguishable.

Mystic Is As Mystic Does . . .?

In reclaiming the word ``mystic'' from its current associations with magic(k), occultism, New Age occlusion, and overall cultural obfuscation we have to reassert its ties to the Goal: living in the Unitive state of awareness. One may at times use occult techniques, trance states, channeled guidance, hands-on healing, astrological forecasts etc. in order to live actively and practically in this modern world, but it is always that unity with the Beloved which is the ultimate proving ground of the mystic.

Rev. Matson is co-founder of Church of the New Renaissance, a Home for Modern Mystics. She is the author of Seven Steps to Higher Consciousness, A Modern Mystic's Meditation. Her Doctorate of Divinity was granted by the church for her work on modern mysticism. Her current work includes spiritual counseling, lifepath mentoring, and teaching classes on the many facets of mysticism.