noun

• 1Belief that union with or absorption into the Deity or the absolute, or the spiritual apprehension of knowledge inaccessible to the intellect, may be attained through contemplation and self-surrender.

  ‘St Theresa's writings were part of the tradition of Christian mysticism’

  More example sentences

  • ‘For some, mysticism implies that subjective knowledge of the true nature of the universe can, in fact, be obtained.’
  • ‘This leads us into mysticism as the spiritual quality of staying in pure contemplation in the divine presence.’
  • ‘Does one then conclude that mysticism and the mystical experience is universal in its experience?’
  • ‘But this intellectual empiricism was joined with an emotional and spiritual mysticism which he got from his parents.’
  • ‘I've got no problem with you if you aren't, so long as you don't confuse what you're doing with spirituality or mysticism.’
  • ‘He said that mysticism was a spiritual way of getting closer to God.’
  • ‘He's a New Believer of a different kind, drawn to mysticism and the Bible, but not to belief in dogmas or religious institutions.’
  • ‘All of us that live in the house share an interest in eastern Christian spirituality and mysticism of the Orthodox faith.’
  • ‘Jewish mysticism teaches that non-kosher food blocks the spiritual potential of the soul.’
  • ‘Here is an article about mysticism and devotional practices with a chaotic slant.’
  • ‘Like them he favors a mysticism which maintains that the astral body - a duplicate of the physical body but composed of a finer substance - is what needs to be treated when one is ill.’
  • ‘This is not the mysticism as an acceptable form of religion that is based on an intellectual mystical union.’
  • ‘Through visual art, he tried to express a transcendental mysticism that he felt he could not fully communicate through music.’
  • ‘Though most religions, myth and mysticism is concerned with the idea of the spirit, the spiritual or the spirit world, could there be a physical or material component to spiritual existence?’
  • ‘This inclination was supported by his decision in 1909, to join the Theosophical Society, where the religious mysticism encouraged him to turn inward to spiritual life.’
  • ‘His post-war work - which was much more loosely handled and often inspired by religious mysticism - did not compare in originality or strength with his great achievements of the 1920s.’
  • ‘I don't know how you feel about metaphysics or religion or mysticism, but we can feel the presence of life and, sometimes, how close someone's come to death.’
  • ‘This is because he encompasses every aspect of religion and mysticism in his life and teachings.’
  • ‘So therefore in different religions we have the special way for mysticism of that religion.’
  • ‘For mysticism is most often associated in both East and West with monasteries.’

• 2Vague or ill-defined religious or spiritual belief, especially as associated with a belief in the occult.

  ‘there is a hint of New Age mysticism in the show's title’

  More example sentences

  • ‘Much of it is reminiscent of occult and eastern mysticism.’
  • ‘However, what we are witnessing is not an increase of interest in the Bible or its teaching, but an upsurge in speculative religion and mysticism.’
  • ‘The popular Star Wars trilogy is a prime example in which much of the occult and Eastern mysticism can be seen.’
  • ‘I try not to call anyone's religion loony mysticism, even if they believe that a great lavender baboon ass flies about the sky and poops out blessings.’
  • ‘Sorcery, miracle, witchcraft, mysticism, idol-worship, etc. are satanic acts and people accused to be involved in them would be killed.’
  • ‘The books he reads are about death, magic, mysticism, the occult, and torture.’
  • ‘Books on mysticism and the supernatural abound, in a way that would have been unthinkable even a few years ago.’
  • ‘My second catalyst was also well acquainted with various forms of mysticism, occultism and meditation.’
  • ‘The mysticism and its occultism are interpreted in every detail of the idol.’
  • ‘He served in the Second Boer War, and in 1903 was posted to India, where he was able to indulge a passion for mysticism and the occult.’
  • ‘Both my husband and myself have had to help people whose lives have been affected by being involved in both the occult and mysticism.’
  • ‘If this is the case, instead of putting faith in the here and now, the Libra-Gemini will often search out otherworldly experiences through mysticism and the occult, or through bizarre imagination.’
  • ‘Although its origins can certainly be traced to a mystical tradition, alchemy differs from mysticism and other occult arts in its combined focus on precision in both chemical and spiritual processes.’
  • ‘But sober, academically exacting attempts to deal with modern mysticism and the occult as an important part of that intellectual and cultural life are comparatively recent.’
  • ‘They show Antin's growing passion for mysticism and the occult.’
  • ‘From her he had inherited his mysticism and his occult powers.’
  • ‘There she created her own brand of Surrealism, bringing to it a passion for alchemy, mysticism and the occult.’
  • ‘The end of the twentieth century was marked by a boom of astrology, mysticism, and occultism in many countries.’
  • ‘Watkins specialises in philosophy, mysticism and the occult and has books on these subjects from around the world.’
  • ‘But like all religious doctrine there is plenty of mythmaking and mysticism that goes with this.’

  Synonyms

  the supernatural, the paranormal, supernaturalism, magic, black magic, witchcraft, sorcery, necromancy, wizardry, the black arts, Kabbalah, cabbalism, occultism, diabolism, devil worship, devilry, voodoo, hoodoo, white magic, witchery, witching, orenda, mysticism