1. the view that there are real sources of knowledge and truth other than sensory experience and rational deduction. It is held that such knowledge comes through inspiration, revelation, or other experiences that are not strictly sensory, although there may be a sensory component. A common implication is that such knowledge cannot readily be shared with or conveyed to others but must be individually achieved. Mysticism thus carries a connotation of subjectivism.

2. the belief that an immediate knowledge of, or union with, the divine can be achieved through personal religious experience. Accounts of mystical experiences in the writings of various spiritual traditions typically describe a state of intense, trancelike contemplation in which a sense of profound insight is accompanied by feelings of ecstatic self-surrender. —mystic n., adj. —mystical adj.