With The Drawing Of This Love And The Voice Of This Calling...

Mysticism is not a form of belief but of practice, experience, gnosis, and rapture.

The preparation for the mystical "event" is skepsis about the ability of the sensus communis to deliver reliable access to that which calls the mystic to her destiny.

Her skepsis is warranted, for that which draws and calls the mystic eludes empirical investigation and rational analysis.

Religious communities that require credal assent in order to be "a member in good standing" tend to alienate mystics; circumspection and reticence towards communal norms and a responsiveness to the lisan al-ghaib distinguish the mystic from her neighbors and co-religionists.

To be alone with the alone is the mystic's destiny--and a strange fate.