Born of fire, possessed by darkness : mysticism and Australian poetry

This dissertation is structured around five Australian mystical poets: Ada Cambridge, John Shaw Neilson, Francis Webb, Judith Wright and Kevin Hart. It examines the varieties of Western Christian mysticism upon which these poets draw, or with which they exhibit affinities. A short prelude section to each chapter considers the thematic parallels of their contemporaries, while the final chapter critically investigates constructions of Indigeneity in Australian mystical poetry and the renegotiated mystical poetics of Indigenous poets and theologians. The central argument of this dissertation is that an understanding of Western Christian mysticism is essential to the study of Australian poetry. There are three sub-arguments: firstly, that Australian literary criticism regarding the mystical largely avoids the concept of mysticism as a shifting notion both historically and in the present; secondly, that what passes for mysticism is recurringly subject to poorly defined constructions of mysticism as well as individual poets’ use of the mystical for personal, creative or ideological purposes; thirdly, that in avoiding the concept of a shifting notion critics have ignored the increasing contribution of Australian poets to national and international discourses of mysticism.

John Shaw Neilson : 'something of a mystic'

Competing post-Federation representations of mysticism as bold or passive, masculine or effeminate, dogmatic or independent, Australian or foreign, drove the shifting critical notions of this era culminating in the generalist designations of John Shaw Neilson (1872–1942) as Australia’s all-purpose mystical poet. Neilson is a mystical poet; yet the basis for this has been subject to a number of distortions from Neilson’s time until the late 1990s. This article examines how an understanding of both Western Christian mysticism and its often erroneous critical applications in Australia might inform new studies of the mystical Neilson.

The mystical theology of Michael Ramsey

Explains the tradition of Christian mystical theology and ecndevours to highlight its contemporary importance and relevance. Michael Ramsey, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1961-1974, was seriously concerned with mystical theology and argued for its greater appreciation within the Church in the West.

The sense and non-sense of Rudolf Steiner's architecture

According to Rudolf Steiner, within the sensory world there exists a spiritual world that remains concealed from our consciousness to the extent that our perception is limited to our senses and sense bound thinking. He argued that ignorance of this supersensible realm was the result of a limited understanding of the senses. Rather than the usual five senses, Steiner differentiated twelve sense functions through which, he believed, human beings were capable of perceiving subtle dimensions of life beyond the immediately apparent physical realm of being. His theory of the senses elucidated the potentiality for an understanding of the way the spiritual world creates its image in the physical world and he saw artistic activity as a means of making this hidden union manifest. As such, Steiner advocated a multi-sensory architecture that articulated its spiritual presence experientially through an active engagement with its forms, colours, textures, light and sound. However, due to the esoteric overtones of Steiner's writing, his theory of the senses has received very little scholarly attention, particularly in relation to its relevance to architectural creation. This paper aims to peel back the layers of jargon and mysticism that Steiner employed in order to reveal how his unique insights into the nature of the senses informed his architectural products. Such an approach will provide a more comprehensive understanding of Steiner's distinctive architectural forms as well as the significant philosophical ideas that inform them.

The problem of spontaneous goodness: from Kierkegaard to Løgstrup (via Zhuangzi and Eckhart)

Historically, Western philosophy has struggled to accommodate, or has simply denied, the moral value of spontaneous, non-reflective action. One important exception is in the work of K.E. Løgstrup, whose phenomenological ethics involves a claim that the ‘ethical demand’ of care for the other can only be realized through spontaneous assent to ‘sovereign expressions of life’ such as trust and mercy. Løgstrup attacks Kierkegaard for devaluing spontaneous moral action, but as I argue, Kierkegaard too offers an implicit view of spontaneous moral response (‘second immediacy’) as a regulative ideal. In attempting to articulate the model of character-formation that such an ethics requires, we can see both Løgstrup and Kierkegaard as engaging with an ancient problematic, running from Classical Daoism to medieval mysticism, of achieving spontaneity through purgation rather than edification—not building the subject up, but demolishing personality in order to become a conduit for a transcendent normativity.