>'While theologians are preoccupied with analysis and reason, mystics are occupied with experience and self-transformation.' - Elvia Wilk Mystics are usually focused on self-transformation but this is usually done through a type of first-contact with other beings or the divine. It can involve faith but doesn't have to. It can be monotheistic, polytheistic, or even panentheistic. ## Identifying A Mystical Experience #Q #AOSR/5dk2c - **Ineffibility:** ::: A direct experience that cannot be transferred to others or explained. #AOSR/5dk2c/sf/1ck3 #AOSR/5dk2c/sr/2v4d - #Q - **Noetic Quality:** ::: A state that imparts knowledge or insight. #AOSR/5dk2c/sf/z696 #AOSR/5dk2c/sr/3bjc - **Transiency:** Fleeting. - **Passivity:** Cannot be induced or controlled by the person experiencing them. The mystic walks a tightrope between heretic and saint depending on how they are interpreted, their gender, religious background etc. The mystic is almost always an 'other' unless their experiences can be used to back up / reaffirm control of the majority religious group. ## Writing on Mystical Experience >*'According to the poet-essayist Anne Carson, the fundamental relationship between the mystic and the written word "is more than a contradiction, it is a paradox." Writing a mystical text is an inherently futile practice- as is reading one. The writer has no choice but to use language to express the failure of language, and the reader has no choice but to consent to the experience.'* - Elvia Wilk #Q #AOSR/207dm **Apophasis:** ::: The Rhetorical strategy of writing about a subject by denying their existence, or denying that they can be described to begin with. #AOSR/207dm/sf/ibpg #AOSR/207dm/sr/752e #Q **Cataphasis:** :::: The strategy of endlessly describing the subject in order to arrive at an attempt at an accurate description. ## Ways of Knowing Is mysticism a way of knowing or feeling outside of physical perceptions? The body as site of inscription, as site of the written corpus of experience. These types of knowledge are outside of systems of codified rational knowledge. ## Dissolution of the Self >*'The so-called insane person fights to retain ontological security out of fear. The mystic actively deconstructs the self in the name of love.' - Elvia Wilk ## Sources: - [[Wilk, Elvia (2022) Death By Landscape]] - [[Eco-Mysticism for Apocalyptic Times]] - [[Alien First Contact]] - [[Eco-Mysticism]] -