Carl McColman's Blog, page 30

Julian of Norwich, Universal Salvation, and “All Shall Be Well”

A long-time reader of this blog emailed me recently with the following question about Julian of Norwich:

Lately I’ve been re-reading the Showings of Julian of Norwich and am struck by the number of times Julian implies that all will be saved.  While one can infer from her revelations that she is indeed a universalist, she never comes right out and says so.  I’m interested in hearing your opinion on this question of Julian’s universalism. Are there any books there that might shed some light on th...

Hildegard’s Mystical Vision of the Trinity

Today is the feast day of the medieval mystic, saint, and Doctor of the Church, Hildegard of Bingen. She died on September 17, 1179.

I previously wrote a column about Hildegard of Bingen, the “medieval mystic superstar” who, a mere 833 years after her death, was finally officially inscribed in the Catholic Church’s record of saints this past May. On October 7, 2012, Hildegard—along with a relatively unknown 16th-century Spanish mystic called John of Avila—was designated a “Doctor of the Church,”...

A Celtic Perspective on Abundance

A few days ago I posted the transcript of a talk I gave at a Celtic spirituality conference at Southern Illinois University, way back on May 1, 1999. Today’s post comes from that same conference — this is a reflection I shared at the Catholic Mass that evening. It was, to the best of my knowledge, the first time I ever spoke in a Catholic setting. The readings were from 1 Peter 2:4-9 and John 14:1-12. We also read a following passage taken from the book Celtic Fire, edited by Robert Van de Weyer...

Spirituality, Fantasy, and the Divine Imagination

On September 12 and 13, 2020, I directed an online retreat for the Monastery of the Holy Spirit on “the Spirituality of the Divine Imagination.” The retreat draws from three beloved fantasy authors: George MacDonald, J.R.R. Tolkien, and C.S. Lewis — using quotations from their writings (and the writings of others who have commented on their work) to inspire reflection on how the imagination can be at work in our spiritual lives today.

Participants of the retreat asked me for copies the quotation...

What are the gifts of Celtic Spirituality for our age?

Here is a blast from the past: a talk I gave at a Celtic spirituality conference at Southern Illinois University, way back on May 1, 1999. Public speaking was still really new to me at the time, and I was scared to death. Back then I only had one book published (Spirituality, which came out in 1997) and my (pre-blog) website was devoted to Celtic spirituality, which is why the organizers of this conference reached out to me. Recently I was going through some old files on my hard drive and found ...

Seven Secrets of the Christian Mystics — That Everyone Should Know

I had a conversation with several members of my Patreon circle the other day. We talked about the kinds of challenges people face when it comes to learning about contemplation and mystical spirituality. We talked about how so many people have had bad experiences with churches, or have a hard time relating to God, or have bought into the idea that Christianity is just a religion of judgment and fear.

In other words: there are plenty of reasons why people are either unable or unwilling to receive ...

Mystical Recital: Keren Dibbens-Wyatt’s Divine Prose-Poem

Some of the greatest mystics in history have written lyrical, imaginative poetry and prose in which they express the voice of God. From Catherine of Genoa’s Spiritual Dialogue to the poetry of Hadewijch and the Diary of Saint Faustina — not to mention the Showings of Julian of Norwich — numerous mystics over the centuries have written some or all of their visionary writing expressing the words that they have received as directly from the voice of Christ or God.

The popularity of Sarah Young’s Je...

Mysticism, Esotericism, Exotericism, Occultism… Sorting Through the Spiritual Wilderness

A reader posted this recently on my Facebook feed:

I have a question, have you covered the differences between exoteric vs. esoteric spirituality? thanks. huge and vast topic…

My reply: it is a huge topic! But I said I’ll see if I can pull together at least a few thoughts for my blog.

She went on to offer these thoughts:

Please address the spectrum, mysticism’s role and the occult tangent. I look forward to it. I see material on the internet, theosophical, occult…

Yep, there’s a lot here. In the...

Eternal Heart: The Mystical Path to a Joyful Life (Pre-Order Now)

St. Augustine said that the human heart is restless until it rests in God.

I certainly have a restless heart, and I suspect most people do. But what if the restlessness in our hearts is actually a gift — that helps us to live life fully, grounded in love, compassion and purpose?

This is the starting point for my next book, Eternal Heart: The Mystical Path to a Joyful Life, which will published next June by Broadleaf Books.

Eternal Heart weaves together wisdom from great saints and mystics to cel...

Imagination, Creativity and Spirituality (They Go Together Well)

Why did God give us the gift of imagination?

If the idea of God giving us imagination puts you off, then why did evolution, or the universe, give it to us?

It seems to me that, fairly early on in human history, the ability to visualize something other than what is front of us must have had marvelous implications for thriving in the world. The ability to imagine something different is what lies at the root of technology (“wouldn’t it be good if I could create something to ward off that hungry tig...