--- title: Mysticism & Spirituality description: Mysticism and Spirituality examines the history and practices of direct, personal experiences of the divine or transcendent. Learners will understand the esoteric traditions within major world religions, the psychology of mystical states, and contemporary forms of non-institutional spirituality. category: humanities subcategory: religious-studies difficulty: beginner, intermediate, advanced url: /subject/mysticism-and-spirituality --- # Mysticism & Spirituality Mysticism and Spirituality examines the history and practices of direct, personal experiences of the divine or transcendent. Learners will understand the esoteric traditions within major world religions, the psychology of mystical states, and contemporary forms of non-institutional spirituality. ## Available Resources 3 Books • 1 Courses • 3 Websites ## Websites ### 1. Theosophical Society The Theosophical Society (Pasadena) publishes free full-text editions of Blavatsky, Judge, and other theosophical writers, plus study aids and back issues of Sunrise magazine. A primary-source archive for reading nineteenth-century esoteric doctrine directly. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.theosociety.org **Tags:** theosophy, esotericism, primary-sources, occultism, spiritual-texts ### 2. sacred-texts.com Sacred-Texts.com is a free online library of public-domain sacred writings from many traditions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. It provides access to translations, original scriptures, myths, and related religious texts, plus historical notes and reference materials. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://sacred-texts.com **Tags:** websites, humanities-social-sciences, religious-studies ### 3. contemplativemind.org Contemplative Mind is a resource hub for contemplative practice and mysticism, offering articles, guides, and resources on meditation, mindfulness, and spiritual traditions to deepen inner awareness. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://contemplativemind.org **Tags:** websites, humanities-social-sciences, religious-studies ## Podcasts ### 1. The Mystical Positivist **Author:** Stuart Goodnick and Robert Schmidt The Mystical Positivist, with hosts Stuart Goodnick and Dr. Robert Schmidt, is dedicated to the application of reason in the pursuit of spiritual practice and development. It consists of commentary, book reviews, interviews, and discussion in and around the local and larger spiritual community. The thesis of the show is that rationality is in no way the antithesis of deep mystical experience, in fact, we assert that it is a necessary ally. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** en-us | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://mysticalpositivist.blogspot.com/ **Tags:** mysticism, spiritual-practice, interviews, contemplative-traditions, rationality ### 2. Emergence Magazine **Author:** Emergence Magazine Emergence Magazine is an award-winning magazine exploring the threads connecting ecology, culture and spirituality. Our podcast features exclusive interviews, author-narrated essays, fiction, multipart series, and more. We feature new podcast episodes weekly on Tuesdays. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** en-us | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.emergencemagazine.org **Tags:** ecology, spirituality, nature-writing, storytelling, interviews ### 3. DruidCast **Author:** Damh the Bard Monthly podcast of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, running since 2007 and hosted by Damh the Bard. Episodes combine poetry, story and song with interviews on the Druid tradition, seasonal festivals and Celtic mythology, introducing contemporary Druidry as a living practice. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** en | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.druidry.org **Tags:** druidry, modern-paganism, celtic-mythology, nature-spirituality, wheel-of-the-year ## Books ### 1. The Perennial Philosophy **Author:** Aldous Huxley Huxley assembles passages from Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, Sufi and Taoist mystics, arranged by theme with commentary, to argue that they describe one shared metaphysic. Readers gain a comparative vocabulary for reading mystical texts across traditions. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/0061724947?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** books, humanities-social-sciences, religious-studies ### 2. The Varieties of Religious Experience **Author:** William James James's 1902 Gifford Lectures treat conversion, saintliness and mystical states as psychological data, drawing on first-person accounts. Readers come away able to analyse religious experience empirically, and to separate its origins from questions of its value. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/1593080727?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** books, humanities-social-sciences, religious-studies ### 3. Mysticism **Author:** Evelyn Underhill Underhill's 1911 study maps the mystic life as a sequence of stages, from awakening and purgation through illumination to union, illustrated with Western Christian mystics. It gives readers a structured framework for comparing individual mystical accounts. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/1851680772?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** books, humanities-social-sciences, religious-studies ## Courses ### 1. The Science of Well-Being **Author:** Laurie Santos Yale course taught by Laurie Santos on the psychology of happiness, covering common misconceptions about what makes people happy, cognitive biases behind them, and evidence-based practices such as gratitude, savoring and exercise. Learners complete weekly rewirement exercises and build one sustained wellness habit. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.coursera.org/learn/the-science-of-well-being **Tags:** positive-psychology, happiness, well-being, habit-formation, behavior-change --- *This content is part of Dantes.io - Your Treasure Map to Knowledge* *Curated by humans at Dantes.io. Personal study use welcome; republishing this curation requires permission (team@dantes.io).* View this page online: https://dantes.io/subject/mysticism-and-spirituality