PMLA/Publications of the Modern Language Association of America
September 1, 1955
James E. Miller
Whitman's “Song of Myself” has long been considered a loosely organized, perhaps even chaotic poem which is held together, if at all, by his own robust personality. He himself may have contributed to this concept of the poem. Untitled when it appeared in the first edition of Leaves of Grass in 1855, it was called “Poem of Walt Whitman, an American” in the 1856 edition; “Walt Whitman” in the...
Life of the Spirit
November 1, 1952
John Corson
With the publication in America of the translation of Father Arintero's great work on Mystical Development in the life of the Church and of Dr Greenstock's work on Christian perfection (both from the Herder Book Company of St Louis) a very important and decisive stage in the journey towards the more realistic attitude to the study of mystical theology has been reached. Father Arintero died, a...
Blackfriars :
May 1, 1950
Conrad Pepler
First of all I must apologise for borrowing the striking title from Professor Gilson without intending to present the same pattern in the matter of mystical experience as he presented in that of the philosophical. In Gilson’s deservedly famous work, the author traces the swing of the pendulum in the history of philosophy from the pure rationalism which is willing to admit ‘two truths’ rather...
January 2, 2027
Aleksandar Uskokov
Abstract: This study examines the relationship between language and liberation in early Advaita Vedānta, focusing on Śaṅkara (early eighth century ce) as a key figure. Challenging modern portrayals of Śaṅkara as a mystic, the work presents him as a “theologian of liberation” who argued that the liberation from embodiment as the highest human good (paraṁ śreyas) is attained not through ritual or...
Journal of Linguistic Anthropology
December 1, 2026
Zia Khoshsirat
Abstract: This article traces the social life of medieval Persian poetry as it is repurposed within Los Angeles's Iranian diaspora. Based on 5 years of immersive ethnography in private erfān classes and mystical assemblies, I argue these gatherings function as contemporary diasporic courts, mobilizing core texts within a spiritual marketplace structured by economic exclusion. While historical...
Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science
December 1, 2026
Zinet Ritschel, Brady Wagoner
Abstract This paper develops a phenomenological account of the therapeutic significance of psychedelic-induced mystical experience, drawing on the philosophy of Maurice Merleau-Ponty. The central argument holds that the enduring therapeutic benefits of psychedelics emerge through a radical transformation in the structure of lived experience. Two prominent objections to the therapeutic value of...
November 30, 2026
Frances Clemente
Abstract The book investigates the notion of ecstasy in Italian culture and literature between 1861 and 1915. Combining historical and cultural investigation with literary analysis, it traces the circulation and spreading of ecstatic phenomena in a variety of different discourses, specifically, those related to religion, science, and ‘occulture’, and the ways they were portrayed by Italian...
Baptiste Fauvel
preprint
Psychedelic experiences can be meaningful and beneficial, including outside clinical treatment. They can also leave people distressed or vulnerable. Spiritual interpretations of these experiences therefore raise a practical question for drug policy: how can people be protected while preserving legitimate uses beyond psychiatry? Drawing on selected human studies and ethical and policy...
Mohammad Liwa Irrubai, Marham Jupri Hadi
preprint
Abstract Indigenous knowledge is increasingly recognized as a resource for culturally responsive education, yet traditions that carry mystical or supernatural associations are still commonly dismissed as folklore or superstition rather than treated as sources of pedagogical value. This study examines how Tuselak , a contested mystical tradition of the Sasak people of Lombok, Indonesia, is...
Jakub Schimmelpfennig, Ewa Tużnik, Anna Duszyk-Bogorodzka et al.
preprint
The study examined whether immersive virtual reality (VR) can non-pharmacologically induce psychedelic-like altered states and what predicts their intensity. Fifty-seven adults who had used classic psychedelic within the previous six months completed neutraland psychedelic VR conditions in randomized order. Relative to neutral VR, psychedelic VR elicited higher mystical-type experience...