School of thought

Medieval Mysticism

Tradition

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Classification

Period
c. 1050-1500 CE
Regions
europe, middle east
Domains
Philosophy of Mind , Philosophy of Religion

Overview

Medieval Christian mysticism sought direct experiential union with God, going beyond the rational theology of Scholasticism. Thinkers like Meister Eckhart, Pseudo-Dionysius, and Julian of Norwich explored the via negativa (knowing God by what God is not), the practice of radical detachment, and the transformation of the soul through divine love.

Key ideas

  • Via Negativa: God transcends all human concepts. We approach the divine not by affirming what God is but by systematically negating everything God is not, entering the 'divine darkness.'
  • Gelassenheit (Releasement): Eckhart's key concept: letting go of self-will, attachments, and even the desire for God — creating an inner emptiness in which the divine can be born in the soul.
  • Unio Mystica: The ultimate goal: mystical union with God in which the distinction between the soul and the divine dissolves — 'The eye with which I see God is the same eye with which God sees me.'

Key figures

Meister Eckhart · Hildegard of Bingen · Julian of Norwich · The Cloud of Unknowing author · Pseudo-Dionysius (precursor, c. 500) · John of the Cross (successor, 16th c.)

Positions held

Influenced by

  • Neoplatonism
  • Patristics
  • Sufism

    Islamic traditions of divine union and apophatic theology reached Christian mystics through the shared intellectual culture of medieval Iberia.

References