Mysticism Unit

Back to the Future: Mysticism, Apocalypse, and Innovation

Co-Sponsors: Religion in Europe, and Religion in Premodern Europe and the Mediterranean

This panel invites papers that explore how mystic literature and visual culture approach the theme of apocalypse. Of particular interest are historically grounded approaches to apocalyptic mysticism that consider premodern frameworks. Additional areas of focus include comparisons across traditions and between Eurocentric and non-Eurocentric perspectives, apocalypse and social reform, trans panic and apocalyptic futures, and apocalypse and the colonial imagination. Specific paper topics might include, but are not limited to:

• Repurposing of premodern frameworks in our contemporary moment
• Historical and contemporary theorizations of apocalypse and millenarianism
• Apocalyptic mysticism, neo-fascism, and accelerationism
• Decolonial interventions and apocalyptic narratives
• Imaginative reconfigurations of apocalyptic mysticism
• Technological visions of apocalypse (singularity, AI, and the posthuman)

Mysticism after Modernity: Contemporary Adaptations of Classical Themes

This panel considers contemporary adaptations of classical mystical themes, particularly those reemerging or re-visioned among modern – and potential future – practitioners.  Relevant themes might include mystical itineraries of ascent and descent; tripartite trajectories of purgation, illumination, and union; knowing and unknowing; dissolution and reintegration; deity practices and/or guru yoga; and neo-tantric kundalini awakenings. Specific paper topics might include, but are not limited to:

• The commodification of mystical praxis among contemporary “Spiritual But Not Religious” (SBNR), with an emphasis on consumerism and “spiritual materialism.”
• Contemporary appropriations of tantric/yogic practices vis-à-vis modern yoga and/or retreat center cultures.
• The “therapizing” of classical mystical categories (e.g., “dark night of the soul”) among psychotherapeutic or psychospiritual professionals.
• Appropriations of mystical schemas in contemporary trainings, handbooks, and manuals (e.g., meditation, yoga, or psychedelic subcultures).
• Embodiment culture and appropriations of mystical practices among wellness industry “influencers,” including uses of “mysticism” among the “manosphere.”

Mysticism and Vulnerability 

Co-Sponsor: Religion & Disabilities Studies Unit

This co-sponsored session invites proposals reflecting on the intersection/s of vulnerability and mysticism through lenses of disability, race, gender, sexual orientation, and other forms of social marginalization. Mystics have traditionally sought out mystical states not for the experiences in and of themselves, but for the knowledge of reality gained from these experiences. In response, mystics embody transformation, seeking to live a life aligned with knowledge encountered in a mystical state. Popular perceptions of mystical knowledge often correlate such states with power and efficacy. But paradoxically, accounts of mystical experiences often also entail a state of openness, vulnerability, and interdependence. While unsettling, this vulnerability can transform understandings of openness and interdependence as positions of personal strength. For example, reflection on one’s vulnerability may be a part of a mystical encounter, especially where one is known by a power greater than oneself. Likewise, mystical states where one has a loss of a sense of self may result in ongoing vulnerabilities after the experience.