Beyond the Veil
“In mysticism, that love of truth which we see as the beginning of all philosophy leaves the merely intellectual sphere, and takes on the assured aspect of a personal passion. Where the philosopher guesses and argues, the mystic lives and looks; and speaks, consequently, the disconcerting language of first-hand experience, not the neat dialectic of the schools. Hence, whilst the Absolute of the metaphysicians remains a diagram—impersonal and unattainable—the Absolute of the mystics is lovable, attainable, alive.”
Everlyn Underhill
Mother Julian of Norwich
The woman known as “Mother Julian of Norwich” lived from around 1342 to 1416 and wrote the first known surviving book in the English language by a woman: Revelations of Divine Love. During a period of terrible health at age 30, where she was considered to be dying, Mother Julian had a series of 16 visions (or shewings) of God that ended up nurturing her for over 40 years. She recovered from her illness and lived as a hermit in a little dwelling affixed to the church of Saint Julian in Norwich, which had a viewing window so she could watch the masses. Locals would come to speak to her of their lives, troubles and needs. The shewings seemed to give Mother Julian a God’s-eye view of the world. “God is nearer to us than our own soul,” she wrote. She saw that the world and all its promises and problems were a “little thing” compared to the vast reality of Love. It was Love that contained everything, and anything outside of Love was small and not to be magnified. She also wrote of God’s Love as maternal: “He is our most magnificent Mother” and “Our true mother Jesus: he alone bears us into joy and endless life.” For Mother Julian, hell is empty, and while sin is the cause of all pain in the world, one is not to worry too much about it, for it is also a pathway to self knowledge, and ultimately, as she famously wrote, “All shall be well, and all shall be well, all manner of thing, shall be well.”
Sufi Whirling Dervishes
The Whirling Dervishes, as they’re known in the West, or in Turkish, are an order of Sufis (the esoteric branch of Islam) founded after the death of the famous Sufi and poet Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī in 1273. The word literally translates to “sill of the door,” and points to those who sit at the door of enlightenment. Inspired by Rumi’s habit of twirling in the streets when in a state of elation, the Whirling Dervishes dance in a whirling motion and typically wear camel (spoken prayer), “la illahah illa’llah,” meaning, “There is no god but God” and extend their right hand towards the sky (signifying a connection to God) and their left hand towards the Earth.
