- Urban Mystic
Urban Mystic (born Brandon Williams in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 1984) is an American R&B singer. The son of a minister, Urban Mystic had a Billboard R&B hit with both the KayGee Produced singles "Where Were You" and "It's You" and the Scott Storch produced "I Refuse", in 2005 & 2006. Shortly thereafter, Scott hooked him up a deal with both the Roots and $tacks, a.k.a Yannique Barker. After this time, Brandon joined the newfangled Spitkicker collective. - William Blake
William Blake was an English poet, visionary, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognized during his lifetime, Blake's work is today considered seminal and significant in the history of both poetry and the visual arts. He was voted 38th in a poll of the 100 Greatest Britons organized by the BBC in 2002. According to Northrop Frye, who undertook a study of Blake's entire poetic corpus, … - Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley, born Edward Alexander Crowley, (12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947; the surname is pronounced // i.e. with the first syllable sounding like "crow" in English) was a British occultist, writer and mystic. He is perhaps best known today for his occult writings, especially "The Book of the Law", the central sacred text of Thelema. Crowley was also an influential member in several occult organizations, including the Golden Dawn, … - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American essayist, poet, and leader of the Transcendentalist movement in the early nineteenth century. - John Of The Cross
Saint John of the Cross (June 24, 1542 - December 14, 1591) was a major figure in the Catholic Reformation, a Spanish mystic and Carmelite friar born at Fontiveros, a small village near Ávila. He is renowned for his cooperation with Saint Teresa of Avila in the reformation of the Carmelite order, … - Francis Of Assisi
Saint Francis of Assisi was a Roman Catholic friar and the founder of the Order of Friars Minor, more commonly known as the Franciscans. - Carl Jung
Carl Gustav Jung (July 26, 1875, Kesswil – June 6, 1961, Küsnacht) was a Swiss psychiatrist, influential thinker, and founder of analytical psychology. Jung's unique and broadly influential approach to psychology has emphasized understanding the psyche through exploring the worlds of dreams, art, mythology, world religion and philosophy. Although he was a theoretical psychologist and practicing clinician for most of his life, … - Edgar Cayce
Edgar Cayce (March 18, 1877 - January 3, 1945) was an American who claimed psychic abilities. He claimed an ability to channel answers to questions on subjects such as health, astrology, reincarnation, and Atlantis while in a self-induced trance. Although Cayce lived before the emergence of the New Age movement, he remains a major influence on its teachings. - Thomas Merton
Thomas Merton was one of the most influential Catholic authors of the 20th century. A Trappist monk of the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani, in the American state of Kentucky, Merton was an acclaimed Catholic spiritual writer, poet, author and social activist. Merton wrote over 60 books, scores of essays and reviews, and is the ongoing subject of many biographies. Merton was also a proponent of inter-religious dialog, … - Meister Eckhart
Johannes Eckhart O.P., also known as Eckhart von Hochheim and widely referred to as Meister Eckhart, was a German theologian, philosopher and mystic, born near Erfurt, in Thuringia. "Meister" is German for "Master", referring to the academic title he obtained in Paris. - Sri Aurobindo
Sri Aurobindo (Bangla: শ্রী অরবিন্দ "Sri Ôrobindo", Sanskrit: श्री अरविन्द "Srī Aravinda") (August 15, 1872–December 5, 1950) was an Indian/Hindu nationalist, scholar, poet, mystic, evolutionary philosopher, yogi and guru. After a short political career in which he became one of leaders of the early movement for the freedom of India from British rule, … - Julian Of Norwich
Julian of Norwich is considered to be one of the greatest English mystics. Little is known of her life aside from her writings. Even her name is uncertain, the name "Julian" coming from the Church of St Julian in Norwich, where she was an anchoress, meaning that she was walled into the church behind the altar during a mass for the dead. At the age of thirty, suffering from a severe illness and believing she was on her deathbed, Julian had a series of intense visions. - George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856-2 November 1950) was an Irish dramatist, literary critic, and socialist. During his career Shaw wrote more than sixty plays. He was uniquely honoured by being awarded both a Nobel Prize (1925) for his contribution to literature and an Oscar (1938) for "Pygmalion". He was a strong advocate for socialism and women's rights, a vegetarian and teetotaller, and a harsh critic of formal education. - Ibn Arabi
Ibn Arabi, was an Arab Muslim mystic and philosopher. He was born 1165 in Murcia and died 1240 in Damascus. - John Steinbeck
John Ernst Steinbeck (February 27 1902 - December 20 1968) was one of the best-known and most widely read American writers of the 20th century. A winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962, he wrote "Of Mice and Men" (1937) and the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel "The Grapes of Wrath" (1940), both of which examine the lives of the working class and migrant workers during the Dust Bowl and subsequent Great Depression. - Emanuel Swedenborg
Emanuel Swedenborg (born Emanuel Swedberg; January 29, 1688 - March 29, 1772) was a Swedish scientist, philosopher, Christian mystic, and theologian. Swedenborg had a prolific career as an inventor and scientist. At the age of fifty-six he entered into a spiritual phase, in which he experienced dreams and visions. This culminated in a spiritual awakening, where he claimed he was appointed by the Lord to write a heavenly doctrine to reform Christianity. - Hildegard Of Bingen
Selected English translations of Hildegard *Atherton, Mark, trans. "Hildegard of Bingen: Selected Writings". London: Penguin, 2001. *Baird, Joseph L. and Radd K. Ehrman, trans. "The Letters of Hildegard of Bingen". Vol. I. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994. *—, trans. "The Letters of Hildegard of Bingen". Vol. II. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. *—, trans. "The Letters of Hildegard of Bingen". Vol. III. - Evelyn Underhill
Evelyn Underhill, born in Wolverhampton, England, was a mystic, controversial Anglican writer on mysticism, novelist, pacifist and metaphysical poet. She was formally educated at King's College for Women in London, where she was later elected as a Fellow. Underhill was one of the most widely read writers on the spiritual life in the first fifty years of the twentieth century, and with her book "Mysticism", published in 1911, … - Al-Ghazali
Al-Ghazali contributed significantly to the development of a systematic view of Sufism and its integration and acceptance in mainstream Islam. He was a scholar of orthodox Islam, belonging to the Shafi'i school of Islamic jurisprudence and to the Asharite school of theology. Ghazali received many titles such as "Sharaful A'emma", "Zainuddin" (Arabic: زین الدین), "Hujjatul Islam", meaning "Proof of Islam" (Arabic: حجة الاسلام). - William Butler Yeats
William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet and dramatist, and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival, and together with Lady Gregory and Edward Martyn founded Abbey Theatre and served as its chief playwright during its early years. Yeats was a pillar of the Irish literary establishment and was as an Irish Senator for two terms. - George Fox
George Fox was an English Dissenter and a major early figure — usually considered the founder — of the Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as the Quakers. Living in a time of great social upheaval, he rebelled against the religious and political consensus by proposing an unusual and uncompromising approach to the Christian faith. His journal is a text known even among non-Quakers for its vivid account of his personal journey. - Pythagoras
Pythagoras of Samos was an Ionian (Greek) philosopher and founder of the religious movement called Pythagoreanism. He is often revered as a great mathematician, mystic and scientist; however some have questioned the scope of his contributions to mathematics or natural philosophy. His name led him to be associated with Pythian Apollo; Aristippus explained his name by saying, … - Nina Hagen
Nina Hagen (born Catharina Hagen on March 11, 1955) is a singer from Berlin, Germany. - Simone Weil
Simone Weil (February 3, 1909 - August 24, 1943) was a French philosopher and mystic. - Naropa
Naropa (Tibetan; Sanskrit: "Nadaprada", 1016-1100) was an Indian Buddhist mystic and monk, the pupil of Tilopa and brother, or some sources say partner, of Niguma. Naropa was the main teacher of Marpa. Naropa is part of the Golden Garland, meaning a lineage holder of the Tibetan Buddhist Kagyu lineage, and was considered an accomplished scholar. A great meditator, he is best known for having enumerated and developed the six yogas of Naropa. - Khalil Gibran
Khalil Gibran (also known as Kahlil Gibran; born Gibran Khalil Gibran, Arabic: جبران خليل جبران, Syriac: ܓ̰ܒܪܢ ܚܠܝܠ ܓ̰ܒܪܢ) (January 6, 1883 - April 10, 1931) was a Lebanese American artist, poet and writer. He was born in Lebanon and spent much of his productive life in the United States. - Gregory Of Nyssa
Gregory of Nyssa غريغوريوس النيصي was a Christian bishop and saint. He was a younger brother of Basil the Great, and a good friend of Gregory Nazianzus. His significance has long been recognized in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Roman Catholic branches of Christianity. Some historians identify Theosebia the deaconess as his wife, others hold that she, like Macrina the Younger, was also a sister of Gregory and Basil. - Colin Wilson
Colin Henry Wilson (born June 26, 1931) is a prolific British writer. Wilson was born and brought up in Leicester. He left school at 16 and worked in factories and numerous other jobs while reading in his spare time. In 1956, at the age of 24, he published "The Outsider", which examines the role of the social "outsider" in seminal works of various key literary and cultural figures (notably Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, Ernest Hemingway, Hermann Hesse, … - G. I. Gurdjieff
Georges Ivanovich Gurdjieff (Георгий Иванович Гюрджиев, "Georgiy Ivanovich Gyurdzhiev" (or "Gurdjiev"); (January 13 1866? – October 29 1949), was a Greek-Armenian mystic, a teacher of sacred dances, and a spiritual teacher, most notable for introducing the Fourth Way. At different times in his life he formed and liquidated various schools around the world to utilize his teachings. - Andrew Harvey
Andrew Harvey (born 1952) is a Shakespeare scholar and mystic who was born in India. He envisions true spirituality to be the divinization of earthly life through spiritual practice. These practices can take many forms and can be taken from any religious tradition. The process of divinization would result in the gradual elimination of ecological destruction and of all forms of prejudice, especially racism, misogyny, and homophobia. - Max Heindel
Max Heindel - born Carl Louis von Grasshoff in Aarhus, Denmark on July 23, 1865 - was a Christian occultist, astrologer, and mystic. He died on January 6, 1919 at Oceanside, California, United States. Among the students of his teachings, he is said to be the greatest western mystic of the twentieth century. - Jaggi Vasudev
"Sadhguru" Jaggi Vasudev is an Indian yogi and mystic. He is the founder of Isha Foundation which administers yoga centres around the world, including India and the United States. Jagadish Vasudev was born in Mysore, Karnataka and claims that he had a deep spiritual experience at the age of twenty-five. Sadhguru developed a series of programs called Isha Yoga Programs and started the Isha Yoga Centre and Ashram near Coimbatore in 1992, dedicated to that purpose. - Thomas Keating
Fr. Thomas Keating, O.C.S.O. (b. 1923) is a Cistercian monk and priest. He was born in New York City, and attended Deerfield Academy, Yale University, and Fordham University, graduating in December 1943. He is a founder of the Centering Prayer movement and of Contemplative Outreach, Ltd. - Brother Lawrence
Brother Lawrence was a Carmelite monk, who is today most commonly remembered for the closeness of his relationship to God as recorded in the classic Christian text, "The Practice of the Presence of God". Brother Lawrence was born Nicholas Herman in Hériménil, near Lunéville in the region of Lorraine, located in modern day eastern France. He received a revelation of the providence and power of God at the age of 18, … - Robert Fludd
Robert Fludd, also known as Robertus de Fluctibus (1574, Bearsted, Kent - September 8 1637, London) was a prominent English Paracelsian physicist, astrologer, and mystic. He was not a member of the Rosicrucians, as often alleged, but he defended their thoughts in the Apologia Compendiaria of 1616. He was the son of Sir Thomas Fludd, a high-ranking governmental official (Queen Elizabeth I's treasurer for war in Europe). - Anne Catherine Emmerich
Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich was a Roman Catholic Augustinian nun, stigmatic, mystic, visionary and ecstatic. She was born in Flamschen, a farming community at Coesfeld, in the Diocese of Münster, Westphalia, Germany and died in Dülmen, aged 49. She was beatified on October 3 2004, by Pope John Paul II. - Grigori Rasputin
Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin was a Russian mystic who is perceived as having influenced the later days of the Russian Tsar Nicholas II, his wife the Tsaritsa Alexandra, and their only son the Tsarevich Alexei. Rasputin had often been called the "Mad Monk", while others considered him a "strannik" (or religious pilgrim) and even a starets (ста́рец, "elder", a title usually reserved for monk-confessors), believing him to be a psychic and faith healer. - Idries Shah
Idries Shah, also known as Idris Shah, né Sayyid Idris al-Hashimi (Arabic: سيد إدريس الهاشمي), was an author in the Naqshbandi sufist tradition on works ranging from psychology and spirituality to travelogues and culture studies. - Walter Hilton
Walter Hilton (d. 24 March1396) was an English Augustinian mystic. Little is known of his life. He was the head of a house of Augustinian Canons at Thurgarton Priory, near Newark, in Nottinghamshire. He was closely in touch with the Carthusians, though not a member of that order. His spiritual writings were widely influential during the fifteenth century in England. The most famous of these is the "Scala Perfectionis", or "Ladder of Perfection", in two books, … - Richard Foster
Richard J. Foster is a Christian theologian and author in the Quaker tradition. His writings speak to a broad Christian audience. He has been a professor at Friends University and pastor of Evangelical Friends churches. Foster resides in Denver, Colorado. Foster is best known for his 1978 book "Celebration of Discipline" (ISBN 0-06-062839-1), which examines the inward disciplines of prayer, fasting, meditation, and study in the Christian life, …
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