How People Describe Their Mystical Experiences: Analyzing Language, Narrative, and Digital Expression
Daniel Zhu
Transactions on Social Science Education and Humanities Research July 2, 2026 DOI: 10.62051/01rs4b13 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Mixed-method analysis Qualitative Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Posts from five religion-focused subreddits on Reddit |
| Topics | Mysticism Mystical experience |
| Keywords | Narrative Social media Expression computer science Identity music Qualitative research Experiential learning Product mathematics Epistemology Social identity theory Aesthetics Social network sociolinguistics Materialism Anonymity Grounded theory Sociocultural evolution Quality philosophy |
| Key points | Social media users articulate mystical experiences in detailed narratives shaped by community identity, challenging the traditional view that such experiences are inherently ineffable. |
Abstract
This study investigates how mystical experiences are articulated in digital environments, especially in religion-focused communities (“subreddits”) on Reddit, a popular social media platform. Classical theorists like William James argued that mystical experiences resist linguistic expression; in other words, according to the traditional scholarly view, these phenomena are inherently “ineffable.” However, this study finds that social media users share detailed narratives of their mystical experiences through a blend of metaphor, emotion, and storytelling. Using the Reddit API, data are retrieved from five subreddits representing different faiths and religious emphases: r/religion, r/Christianity, r/spirituality, r/Buddhism, and r/DebateAnAtheist. Mixed-method analyses were then conducted, combining computational text analysis, including VADER sentiment analysis and Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic modeling, with qualitative techniques, including narrative and cultural analysis. In addition to the abundance of effable expression of mystical experience, it is also revealed that community identity significantly shapes how mystical experiences are framed. For instance, r/Buddhism emphasizes meditative mechanics and doctrine; r/Christianity mostly relies on language derived from the Scripture and the Church; r/DebateAnAtheist focuses almost exclusively on epistemology and materialist inquiry with little experiential description. Thus, the study argues that “ineffability” may be a product of social environment rather than an inherent quality of the experience. When digital anonymity and community-specific “scripts” provide individuals an opportunity to escape the confines of the traditional social environment, their subjective religious encounters are translated into detailed, though socially negotiated, narratives. This study demonstrates that digital environments, such as social media, are a crucial platform where individuals can seek meaning, validation, and identity.
Comparable studies
Other qualitative studies on mystical experience, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The nature of peak experience in wilderness. Participants who had visited wilderness areas in Victoria, Australia, recruited via a... | 2009 | Qualitative study | n = 39 |
| Qualitative and Quantitative Features of Music Reported to Support Peak Mystical Experiences during Psychedelic Therapy Sessions Individuals with extensive experience administering psilocybin or psilocybin-containing... | 2017 | Survey and qualitative/quantitative analysis | n = 10 |
| Cannabis as entheogen: survey and interview data on the spiritual use of cannabis. Participants recruited from seven online communities, median age 33, 81% male | 2020 | Mixed methods (qualitative interviews and quantitative survey) | n = 319 |
| Clarifying and measuring the characteristics of experiences that involve a loss of self or a dissolution of its boundaries. Adults who reported an experience involving dissolution of self-boundaries or loss of... | 2024 | Cross-sectional survey with confirmatory factor analysis and qualitative thematic analysis | n = 386 |
| The developmental impact of not integrating childhood peak experiences Adults recalling their childhood peak experiences | 2007 | Qualitative study | n = 12 |