Home›Mystical Practices›TraditionBrowse ByTraditionThis page groups practices by the culture that gives them their inherited meaning. Wikipedia notes that Roman religious cultus was "an activity fundamental to Roman identity even when Rome as a political center had become fully urbanized." Browsing by tradition lets a visitor read every practice belonging to one culture together, rather than finding them scattered by category.FactsLearn MoreTraditionSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0)FactsOverviewWhat Defines This GroupingWell-attestedPractices aimed at a direct, unmediated apprehension of the divine or of ultimate reality. Whether such experiences form a single cross-cultural class is the central dispute in the study of mysticism: the perennialist claim of a common core has been answered by the argument that the tradition a practitioner is formed in shapes the experience itself, and neither position has carried the field. 2OriginsWhose Classification This IsWell-attestedMysticism as a single comparative category took its modern shape in the early twentieth century with William James in 1902 and Evelyn Underhill in 1911, and was reopened by Steven Katz's constructivist critique in 1978. It is a scholars' frame, not a term most of the traditions collected under it use of themselves. 3DirectoryCategoryWell-attestedPractices 1StatusStanding as a Comparative CategoryWell-attestedUsed, but its validity as a comparative category is disputed 2Learn MoreThe mystical practices This small group holds a mystical practice, a discipline directed at direct, immediate experience of the divine or ultimate reality, the inner heart of the contemplative traditions. The browser will find the practice the atlas classes here. The entry describes its technique and aim, noting the tradition in which it is transmitted.TraditionFilter Results4 entriesAdherents Today MaximumAll260,000,000 (1)Adherents Today MinimumAll220,000,000 (1)Basis of the Membership FigureAllIndependent Survey (3)Scholarly or Demographic Estimate (3)Church FamilyAllEastern Orthodox (1)Date of Separation End YearAll1204 (1)1975 (1)Date of Separation Start YearAll1054 (1)1975 (1)Defining Doctrinal PositionAllAn interior path (tasawwuf) pursued within the schools of law (1)Chalcedonian: two natures in the one person of Christ (Chalcedon, 451) (1)Rejects the Filioque: the Spirit proceeds from the Father (1)Satan or Set held to be a real being (2)Trinitarian: one God in three persons (1)Documented Accused CountAll5 (1)GovernanceAllA single central governing body over the whole movement (1)Authority through a shaykh and an initiatic chain (1)Episcopal: governed by bishops (1)No central authority (2)Self-governing churches under patriarchs, deciding in synod (1)How the Expectation Is EnforcedAllCustomary Norm (1)Liturgical LanguageAllChurch Slavonic (1)Classical Arabic (1)Greek (liturgical) (1)The vernacular (4)Membership Figure As OfAll1910-01-01 (1)1999-01-01 (2)2005-01-01 (1)2010-01-01 (1)2012-01-01 (1)2012-01-02 (1)2012-01-03 (1)2013-01-01 (1)OrdinationAllAuthority conferred by initiation rather than by ordination (3)Celibacy required of the ordained (1)Conferred by appointment from a higher authority (1)Married clergy permitted (1)Open to women and men (1)Restricted to men (1)Origin Period End YearAll1200 (1)1204 (1)1975 (1)1980 (1)Origin Period Start YearAll30 (1)750 (1)1974 (1)1975 (1)Position on MarriageAllMarriage is held to be monogamous, with remarriage after divorce sanctioned under specified conditions (1)Position on SexualityAllSame-sex sexual relationships are held contrary to teaching; LGBT individuals are welcomed as members but not ordained, and same-sex unions are not blessed (1)Relation to the StateAllVaries by Province (1)Settlement TotalAll500,000 (1)Status TodayAllLiving tradition, practised today (4)Show ResultsBrowseCompareEastern OrthodoxyTradition1 entryOrder of Nine AnglesTradition1 entrySufismTradition1 entryTemple of SetTradition1 entrySources1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Treetier 12. Mysticism and Philosophical Analysistier 1Steven T. Katz (ed.), Oxford University Press, 19783. The Foundations of Mysticism: Origins to the Fifth Centurytier 1Bernard McGinn, Crossroad, 1991Divinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptionstier 1Comments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.