1. MedievWorld1_fm_4pp.qxd

mysticism, Jewish 511

Christ, who had abandoned civilization to contemplate
God and salvation in the wilderness. ORIGENand GRE-
GORYof Nyssa encouraged meditation on the Scriptures.
Its spiritual themes were about the earthly life as a pas-
sage from the visible to the invisible world, a passage on a
ladder ascending to heaven during which God slowly
revealed himself. Byzantine mysticism was in part related
to spiritual combat against demons for knowledge and
control of the human heart.
See alsoANGELA OFFOLIGNO;BIRGITTA OFSWEDEN,
SAINT;CATHERINE OFSIENA, SAINT;ECKHART,MEISTER;
HADEWIJCH OF ANTWERP;HENRY SUSO;JOHNTAULER;
KABBALA;MECHTHILD VONMAGDEBURG;RUYSBROECK,JAN
VA N;SUFISM.

Further reading:Ray C. Petry, Late Medieval Mysti-

cism (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1957); Bernard

McGinn, The Flowering of Mysticism: Men and Women in

the New Mysticism (1200–1350)(New York: Crossroad,

1998); Elizabeth Petroff, Body and Soul: Essays on

Medieval Women and Mysticism(New York: Oxford Uni-

versity Press, 1994).

mysticism, Islamic SeeRUMI; SUFISM.

mysticism, Jewish See KABBALA;NACHMANIDES,

MOSES.