Depth Psychology and Mysticism

Since the late 19th century, when the “new science” of psychology and interest in esoteric and occult phenomena converged – leading to the “discovery” of the unconscious – the dual disciplines of depth psychology and mysticism have been wed in an often unholy union. Continuing in this tradition, and the challenges it carries, this volume includes a variety of inter-disciplinary approaches to the study of depth psychology, mysticism, and mystical experience, spanning the fields of theology, religious studies, and the psychology of religion. Chapters include inquiries into the nature of self and consciousness, questions regarding the status and limits of mysticism and mystical phenomenon, and approaches to these topics from multiple depth psychological traditions.

Thomas Cattoi is Associate Professor of Christology and Cultures, Jesuit School of Theology at Santa Clara University and Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, CA. He co-edits the journal Buddhist-Christian Studies and is the author of Divine Contingency: Theologies of Divine Embodiment in Maximos the Confessor and Tsong kha pa (2009) and Theodore the Studite: Writings on Iconoclasm (2014). 

 David M. Odorisio  is Director of The Retreat at Pacifica Graduate Institute, Santa Barbara, CA, and teaches in Pacifica’s Mythological Studies graduate degree program in the areas of methodology, psychology and religion, and comparative mysticism.  He has published in numerous journals at the intersection of depth psychology and religious studies.