In today’s society, being a mystic sounds about as respectable as being a vampire slayer, but that’s because most people don’t know what a mystic is, and they also don’t know that there’s a good chance they can do it themselves. be considered a mystic. There is a natural word association between mystical and magical that stereotypes the great mystics of our time as someone who has been granted special powers from some source, magical or spiritual. However, some of the best known mystics would say that being a mystic is really just the search and search for truths that go beyond the limits of the physical or the logical. There is nothing magical or secret about it, but certainly a quest down a mystical path can create some magical and mystical experiences.

Who among us has not experienced some event that could be described as unbelievable (meaning truly amazed, as opposed to the jargon usage where almost everything is unbelievable), marvelous, or mysterious? Some common examples of these types of experiences might be a beautiful sunrise or sunset, star gazing, the birth of a child, a chance encounter with a wild animal, a touching human moment. These experiences can sometimes leave us speechless or dumbstruck for a moment as we make room for them in our pre-existing notions of reality. These experiences challenge our notions of daily reality and thus raise our awareness to a new level, at least for a moment or two.

The real word, mystic, from the Greek word mystikos, means initiated. Being an initiate can also have some sinister undertones, such as being an initiate in an occult scare cult (I really think we all watch too much TV). But being an insider simply means that you “just started” or are new to something. And for those of us who find life a constant learning experience, being an insider is a perfect description. I certainly don’t think many of us can claim to be teachers.

Mysticism in its most basic sense is simply the idea that truth and knowledge can come to us in many different ways and forms. Mysticism is the acceptance that everything cannot be explained logically and being excited to understand the gap between logic and the unknown. You don’t need to pledge yourself as a mystic or sign up for any mystic registry, but being a person who ponders the imponderable could certainly qualify you, if you so choose. Here are a couple of other indicators that you might be a secret mystic:

• You are curious by nature and find new learning about non-material topics interesting.
• You believe that reality can be a combination of direct experience, intuition, and insight.
• You are imaginative, creative, or even fanciful at times.
• You find theories and stories about myths, folklore, Greek gods, aliens, bigfoot, etc. – fun, interesting, debatable and possible.
• You love movies like The DaVinci Code, Angels & Demons, The Matrix, Peaceful Warrior or The Truman Show.
• You question your own ideas about God, Jesus, religion, and social and cultural norms.
• You like to debate or talk about concepts such as paradox, reality, morality, dreams, origin of man/universe/cosmos, consciousness, superhuman phenomena.

I enjoy adding to my basic general quest for knowledge the element of mysticism in my life. Sometimes when I watch a movie or play in nature, I transcend to a mystical place to feel or experience what that person in the movie might have felt, or what it would feel like to fly like a bird. These feelings of a transcendent nature, where you may feel weightless, lose time, be detached from your body, experience a je vu’, or have a compelling synchronicity or even a clairvoyant experience, indicate that something more than daily life such as we know is happening. us. For me, I want to know more about these kinds of experiences and what they mean. Many dismiss these types of experiences as coincidences or simply don’t want to entertain the idea that life they can be more than what the five senses normally tell us.

I try to look beyond the limits of everything I contemplate. I look to see the MUCH larger metaphorical picture of what is going on. This perspective on things sometimes drives my family crazy, but I can tell you this, it sure has added layers and layers of new experiences and feelings to my life. Often times, taking a mystical approach to problems or issues provides solutions that could never have been thought of without this mindset, and they work! To say that sometimes my life feels like I’m in a dream or in a movie is very true, because I make it happen by opening the situation to live the moment to the fullest. I am the director of my own life movie and I love the special effects that I add to my life movie because the mystical “unknown” questions that are truly a part of every life experience offer me so many possibilities.

So, do you have mystical tendencies? Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone, but if you do, I invite you to join me and many other wise mystics who not only use empirical evidence to create our experiences, but go beyond the limits of time, space and the mind to explore the incredible possibilities that can enrich their lives. What could you discover?