Contrastingly, in Revelation and Religious Experience in 1995, Jonathon Webber describes an introvertive experience, as when ‘the introvertive mystic speaks of losing their identity and slowly merging into the divine unity.’ The mystic Madame Guyon provides an example of this both introvertive and extrovertive mystical experiences, ‘Whereas in the first of the three states she possessed God, in this last state she is possessed by Him; then God was united to the powers of her soul, but now He is united to its substance.’ Other classifications of mystical experience include ‘theistic mysticism’ and ‘monistic mysticism’.
Perhaps the most recognised classification of mystical experiences was given by William James in ‘The Variety of Religious Experience in 1902. He listed four distinctive features of a mystical experience. The first of these is the quality of Ineffability. This means that experience is so amazing and unique it cannot be expressed- it is beyond description. As William James describes, ‘There came upon me a sense of immense exultation and joyousness followed by an intellectual illumination impossible to describe.’ We can only truly understand the experience if we experience it ourselves- we cannot recapture it, or decide to experience it again.
William James also described a important Noetic quality in mystical experience. This is when the experience leads to an insight into the truths. These universal and eternal revelations cannot be gained through intellect- only through mystical experience. Although this new found knowledge is difficult to express, or to tell someone else, these ‘truths’ can often lead to the individual either converting to religion, or significantly changing their outlook and approach to life in a more spiritual and secure way.
The third distinctive feature of mystical experience is Passivity. This can be described as when the mystical experience takes over the person, and can often result in phenomena such as speaking in tongues and other languages. The mystic often feels in a state of a superior being taking over their body. An example of this is found in the mystical experiences of Madame Guyon, as described, “it is He who acts in her; she becomes like an automaton in His hands; she writes remarkable things without preparation and without reflection. Her own activity disappears, to be replaced by the action of God which moves her, and she now enters into the "apostolic state".” This passivity is perhaps one of the most powerful elements of a religious experience.
William James’ fourth quality is Transiency. The experience does not last long, normally approximately half an hour. As he describes, ‘the vision lasted a few seconds and was gone but the memory of it and the sense of reality of what it taught have remained.’ If mystical experiences occur in series, then it will have greater effect. Typically though the person cannot recollect the experience perfectly, though do recognise and remember another one if it occurs. This can relate to the idea of dreams, and mystical experiences are often described of falling between a dream and the experience, though the individual is in a state consciousness, they often do not feel conscious in the ‘ordinary’ world. An example of this is in the writings of St. Teresa of Avila- a famous Christian mystic, she says, ‘the soul is fully awake as regards God, but wholly asleep as regards things outside of this world.’
Visions are also often a feature of mystical experiences. St. Teresa of Avila’s experiences often included visions,- the most famous being a “small angel with a beautiful face holding ‘a long golden spear’ tipped with a ‘little fire’ which he thrust into her heart.” St. Teresa describes: ‘…it penetrated into my entrails. When he drew out the spear he seemed to be drawing them out with it, leaving me all on fire with a wondrous love for God.’ Due to the quality of transiency in mystical experiences, these visions are rarely accurately remembered.
As mystical experiences can barely be described and are often not remembered, it is difficult to provide many examples and distinctive features in mystical experiences, except that they are difficult to express, and have a clear sense or relationship with the divine. Though philosophers and theorists try to describe and classify these experiences, it is difficult to truly understand a mystical experience until we have experienced one ourselves.
