[Additional menu under "PLUS !" -- additions and revised pages]
This site presents the mystical pathways traced by our elders in the past, taking care to avoid anachronistic interpretations and religious or ideological prejudices.
From an "ocean of texts" it selects the rare testimony from men and women who, after reaching the goal of their spiritual quest, encourage the noble spiritual ambition to walk the path of divine love.
The corpus mysticus has no fixed limits. Bremond began between 1916 and 1933 to explore mysticism in seventeenth-century France, and this work was continued in the Dictionnaire de Spiritualité published between 1937 and 1995. It benefits from recent discoveries and a synthesis has now become feasible. Only mysticism is featured here.
in ENGLISH
informations and texts
Marie des Vallées
Monsieur de Bernières
Madame Guyon at the centre of a mystical transmission
in FRENCH
HISTORY
presents mystics with varying gifts, but who are equal in spiritual achievements.
It divides the essential figures who lived in Europe into five groups,
giving particular importance to seventeenth-century writers in French.
In CHRONOLOGY
the approach is broader, including mystics from non-Christian traditions
or who do not belong to any recognized group.
This "mystical tree" opens on several hundred authors.
For a mystic cited many times, a branch is attached to the tree in the form of a file
accessible via a table of links.
IMAGES
are available to give the reader some rest!
Our BOOKS, classified by author
offer the writings of major seventeenth-century French mystics,
including some who are less well-known.
Many DOWNLOADS
are available.
16 mystics!
suggests priorities chosen from among the hundreds of names which appear on the site..
PLUS !
contains less frequented bypaths and practical tools (links, email, user instructions...)
The various proposed access points are pathways which converge on texts that are available online or can be downloaded. This "mystical library" presents the discoveries we have made thanks to the help of religious communities and their libraries. The Thesaurus is valuable for distinguishing between the truly mystical and fabrications. The site makes no attempt to attract many visitors by means of attractive displays; it simply seeks to share beautiful texts between friends.