On Mysticism

Interest in mysticism/occultism has been growing in recent years. Some reasons are for clarity in economically uncertain times—nobody in power knows (or cares) about anything that is happening, and the world has been getting steadily worse on their watch, so young people are turning to mystic and occult pursuits to try to gain some understanding of what’s going on in the world, and what their futures might be. There is no longer a coherent future that makes any sense for any young people (there hasn’t been for close to two decades probably), so old methods of figuring out what the future might hold are gaining ground. I think it’s easy to see why—it’s fundamentally self-centered, vaguely about self-help/improvement, and has a tinge of thinking and learning to it. These are qualities that make it well-suited to today’s culture, of being interested in the self, but in a way that makes it seem like there’s more to it than that—and about being interested in “intellectual” things, to set you apart from the slobbering masses, but without any real intellectual content. Mysticism (as opposed to philosophy) is about you, your journey deeper into yourself, just as any kind of wellness/generic narcissistic millennial pursuit, but with a deeper tradition to make it seem more substantial than that.

Unlike philosophy, which is all about thinking, learning, finding new angles on the world, mysticism is about divine union—merging yourself with the divine, to gain the power of the divine; it’s about emptying yourself out, so that the divine can enter into that empty space. This is another reason why mysticism is popular now—it makes emptiness seem like it has some higher purpose. The world (and the people in it, culturally, politically, socially, etc.), are emptier than ever now—and instead of trying to fill it with some kind of thinking, learning, or content (which philosophy seeks to do), mysticism celebrates the emptiness as some kind of cool, smart tactical choice.

Mysticism is about thinking and learning only incidentally, because it is an internal activity, so it has, by its nature, some proximity to the centers of thinking and feeling (mind and spirit)—but it isn’t about using or even training mind and spirit, it’s about emptying those things out, so that ancient divine powers can fill you up. It’s a path to divine power, through emptiness—what could be more appealing in our empty age than this?

The proximity to thinking is also alluring today, when so much of life is posturing online to seem like you’re something more than you are—mysticism is all about dropping some names and concepts to make your inward journey seem like more than solipsism.

Philosophy is close to this, of course—you could probably say the same about philosophy. But I think philosophy is different in that it is solely about thinking, and not at all about you, your journey towards divine union, or even trying to gain some kind of tangible worldly success. Mysticism is more related to this (and its occult cousins, like astrology and tarot, are pursued largely along the lines of trying to improve aspects of your life). Philosophy is about developing a perspective on the world—mysticism is about developing a perspective on the self.

Self-centeredness in the guise of divine depth; emptiness in the guise of thoughtfulness—a trend perfectly suited to the current moment…