What Is a Mystic? Visions and the Structure of Reality
Mystics often claim visions of a hidden order in reality, yet the language used to describe those visions reflects the intellectual traditions of their time.
A recent post on Hildegard of Bingen explored her music, natural philosophy, and the unusual language she created known as lingua ignota. Her visions occupy a distinctive place in the history of mysticism. Unlike many later visionaries who reported encounters with saints or divine figures, Hildegard often described luminous structures, cosmic order, and symbolic forms that seemed to reveal how creation itself was organized. Medieval readers interpreted these images theologically, yet they also resemble older philosophical traditions that imagined the universe as a harmonious system governed by proportion and order.
Several mystics across different cultures attempted something similar. Their visions did not remain private experiences. Instead they became attempts to describe the architecture of reality itself. When placed side by side, the pattern becomes clearer.
| Figure | Religion / Tradition | Visionary Style | Knowledge & Cosmology | Pythagorean Resonance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179) | Christian (Benedictine) | Symbolic cosmic visions of light, harmony, and structured imagery | Theology, music, natural philosophy, and cosmological diagrams | 80% – strong resonance with harmony of creation and musical cosmology |
| Zhang Zai (1020–1077) | Confucian (Neo-Confucian) | Philosophical insight into cosmic unity | Qi-based cosmology describing the universe as a dynamic material order | 25% – structured cosmos but not harmonic number theory |
| Ibn Arabi (1165–1240) | Islamic (Sufi) | Metaphysical visions of unity of existence | Philosophical cosmology integrating theology and metaphysics | 60% – Neoplatonic cosmology influenced by Greek philosophy |
| Jakob Böhme (1575–1624) | Christian (Lutheran background) | Visionary insight into divine structure | Symbolic cosmology influenced by alchemy and early natural philosophy | 35% – indirect influence through hermetic and Neoplatonic traditions |
| Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772) | Christian (Lutheran / Swedenborgian) | Visions of spiritual realms and correspondences | Systematic theological cosmology built on earlier scientific training | 55% – layered cosmos with harmonic correspondences |
| Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950) | Hindu (Integral Yoga) | Yogic visionary consciousness and cosmic evolution | Philosophical system linking consciousness and cosmic development | 20% – largely independent of Greek harmonic cosmology |
Mystical Vision and Intellectual Context ▪
The comparison suggests that mystical visions often generate cosmologies, yet the language used to explain those visions reflects the intellectual environment of the time. Hildegard’s visions resemble medieval cosmology and occasionally echo older philosophical ideas about harmony and proportion. Ibn Arabi expressed a similar sense of underlying order through Islamic metaphysics. Swedenborg interpreted his experiences using the scientific vocabulary available to the Enlightenment. In each case the visionary experience is translated into the conceptual framework already present in the surrounding culture.
One particularly striking comparison is between Hildegard and Emanuel Swedenborg. Both claimed visionary insight into the structure of reality itself. Hildegard expressed her visions through theology, music, and symbolic imagery. Swedenborg, writing six centuries later, described the same impulse in the language of systematic theology and Enlightenment science. Their works suggest that mystical experience may not change as much as the intellectual tools used to interpret it.
A cautious conclusion therefore emerges. Mystics in many traditions claim to glimpse an underlying order in reality. The form used to describe that order varies. Some traditions speak of unity, others of consciousness, and in the Western lineage influenced by Greek philosophy the language of harmony sometimes appears. Hildegard’s visions remain particularly striking because they combine theology, music, and symbolic cosmology in a way that still evokes the ancient idea that the universe itself may possess a hidden harmony.
Further Reading
Evelyn Underhill, Mysticism: A Study in the Nature and Development of Spiritual Consciousness -->
Sarcophagus of Emanuel Swedenborg in Uppsala Cathedral, Sweden. Photograph by FredDude45, 2025. Public domain (CC0).