The interior life from the standpoint of the mystics. An address delivered before the London spiritualist alliance ... December 16th, 1890

soul’s flight toward God, and, finally, the transcendental union known as the Mystic Marriage. Concerning this ecstatic state of spiritual marriage, which is the crown of the process, I will present a short account translated from a secret source. The union of God with the soul is the principle of all mystic life. But this union—the fullness and final completion of which cannot be fully experienced until the ordeal of physical death has been passed and eternity has been reached—can be accomplished even on earth in a more or less perfect way. The entire literature of transcendentalism has no other purpose than to reveal to us, through a deep analysis of the different stages of the human spirit's evolution, the various successive levels of this Divine union.

Mystics have recognized seven distinct stages of the soul’s ascent toward God, which they have symbolically called the Likely a reference to "The Interior Castle" by St. Teresa of Avila. Castle of the Interior Man. These represent the seven positive processes of psychic transformation. The first link in this secret sequence is called the state of Aspiration. From the spiritual standpoint, this is the concentration of intellectual energies upon God as the object of thought. This state is commonly helped by the ceremonial appeal that religion makes to the senses. However, it has a higher aspect found in the second evolutionary process, called the condition of Mental Aspiration. Here, the deceptive phenomena of the visible world are seen as containing an inner spiritual significance; discovering this meaning is an important goal of Mysticism.

To progress and reach the third stage, the seeker must shape their entire practical life according to this theory. They should perform no outward act except with a view to its inward meaning, treating all things of time, earth, and man simply as figures and symbols of earth, Heaven, and God. As the candidate advances, they will perceive that the innermost

thoughts of their own conscious being are only a limited and individual reflection of the speech or Word of God. This Word is hidden even in its apparent revelation; it is itself a veil of Divine truth that must be removed or erased to contemplate the absolute truth behind it. When the Mystic reaches this point, they have entered the third stage of illumination. This is the most difficult of all. The Mystics call it the Obscure Night Also known as the "Dark Night of the Soul," a term popularized by St. John of the Cross.. Here, it is necessary for the seeker to be stripped in their inner self. They must empty themselves completely and give up all their normal faculties—renouncing their own preferences, thoughts, and will. In short, their entire self must be made empty. Dryness, weariness, temptation, desolation, and darkness characterize this period; these have been experienced by everyone who has ever made progress in the mysteries of mystical knowledge.

The fourth condition is called the Absorption of Quietism. Complete self-sacrifice and unreserved surrender into the hands of God result first in repose. Such Quietism, however, should not be confused with numbness or insensitivity, for it leads to the only real activity: that which is driven by God. The fifth degree in the soul's gradual spiritualization is called the state of Union. In this state, the human will and the Divine will become essentially the same. As a result, the individual is energized by the first flow of Divine intelligence, which carries out the eternal purpose. This is the "mystical irrigation" that makes the garden of the soul fertile. During this part of development, the now-regenerated being—filled with a noble disregard for all visible things as well as for themselves—carries out the will of God in peace, serenity, and spiritual joy, as it is made known by the Word of God speaking supernaturally within. At the very furthest limit of this condition, the Mystic enters the sixth state: Ecstatic