*Upon purchase, you’ll receive an email with a link to the google drive, which houses the readings, resources, audio recordings, and slide shows from this class, which was held in the winter of 2022.

What is mysticism? What is it not? What is the dazzling darkness beyond light? How to think through (un)mediated experience of the divine? How might mysticism teach us to read, write, and pay attention differently? The term mysticism is related to what’s secret, veiled, or mysterious. In Varieties of Religious Experience, William James suggests that mystical experiences are ineffable, transient, noetic, and passive. In this 5-week workshop, we’ll closely read various philosophical, poetic, mystical texts to locate entry points into this curious, paradoxical, and generative arena, as we read and respond to both medieval and modern texts.

Each 2-hour workshop will begin with a brief introductory lecture and slides, followed by discussion of the texts. Topics covered include: divine darkness; pandemic mysticism; eros; mystical speech and writing; and presence/absence. We’ll pay special attention to the formal and affective elements of mystical writings, their hybridity and complex engagements with mediation and communication. We’ll set aside about 20 minutes each class for free writing and reflection. No previous mystical experience or knowledge required – just a desire to read closely and find tunnels into mystical experience, speech, and dazzling darknesses. This class is especially for writers or artists of any sort, as we’ll be approaching mysticism primarily through the lens of creative process and form.

Texts will include some foundational texts of mysticism in the West (selections from Saint Augustine’s Confessions, Song of Songs, and Pseudo-Dionysius’s Mystical Theology), as well as texts from Byung-Chul Han, Michel de Certeau, Farid ad-Din ‘Attar, Fred Moten, Amy Hollywood, Marguerite Porete, Angela of Foligno, Anne Carson, Georges Bataille, and more.