The Prayer and Mystical Theology of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite

Introduction

The author of The Mystic and Mystical Theology of Dionysius the Areopagite is an unknown figure in Christian history. Although he lived sometime around 500 AD and claimed to be the same Dionysius of Acts 17:34 who was converted by Paul in Athens, his true identity is a mystery. The fact that this person wrote in a time of high Christian asceticism in Syria and produced a body of work that profoundly influenced Eastern and Western Christian spirituality for over 1,000 years shows the great effect this person had on the course of Christianity.

The text is perhaps the most complete account of contemplation and the methodology of achieving unity with God (or to achieve God’s union with humanity), representing the most systematic way of approaching God through the intellectual process known as negative theology, or through the means of negative language ( “The Divine Darkness,” “The Unknowable One” etc.), which leads to a perfect union with God.

The Mystery of Authorship

The author’s true identity remains Christianity’s greatest literary mystery. Writing in late 5th or early 6th century (likely Syria), he pseudonymously claimed to be Dionysius the Areopagite—Paul’s Athenian convert who, according to tradition, became Athens’ first bishop. This literary fiction succeeded for centuries; medieval theologians from Maximus the Confessor to Thomas Aquinas accepted the apostolic attribution, granting these mystical writings enormous authority.

Modern scholarship definitively established the pseudonymous nature—the texts show knowledge of post-biblical developments, cite later liturgical practices, and employ Neoplatonic philosophy unavailable to the historical Dionysius. Yet the pseudonym wasn’t mere deception but literary convention—ancient practice of attributing works to revered figures, claiming spiritual rather than historical continuity with apostolic tradition.

For our purposes, the author’s anonymity proves fitting. He who wrote about transcending names and concepts appropriately disappears behind a pseudonym. He who taught that God exceeds all designation fittingly hides his own name. His contemplative vision emphasizes losing oneself in divine mystery—his lost identity enacts the self-emptying he advocated.

We shall call him “Dionysius” following tradition, remembering this name conceals rather than reveals, pointing toward the mystery that all names ultimately fail to capture—including names for the Nameless One who is Christianity’s God.

The Corpus and Its Contemplative Vision

Dionysius wrote a series of theological treatises that are composed of 10 letters and 4 treatises. These treatises all address mystical theology and how we ascend toward union with God. In addition, The Divine Names explores positive theology (how we describe God through positive attributes), while The Mystical Theology describes negative theology (how we must negate everything to reach God’s inexpressible reality). The Celestial Hierarchy and The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy describe the cosmic and ecclesiastical (what pertains to the Church) hierarchy that mediates God’s divine illumination.

Dionysius’s writings do not comprise an academic theology; instead, they contain the guidance for our contemplative journey toward God. These writings were written to lead others into an encounter with God rather than stating who God is or how we can comprehend God intellectually.

Dionysius’s main lesson: God’s nature exceeds the highest quality that we could possibly name. Therefore, God’s desire exceeds all of the positive attributes, including “goodness,” “being,” “light,” and even “God.” All of humanity’s affirmations regarding God’s nature must be negated. At the same time, all of those negations must be transcended. In other words, God exceeds the limits of our assertions and denials. They exceed all forms of existence and non-existence and every conceivable category of our minds.

Instead of arriving at an agnostic or nihilistic conclusion, the via negativa (or negative way) can lead to the union with God—not mentally knowing but experientially knowing and ultimately surrendering one’s will and thoughts to God through love.

The Three Ways: Purgation, Illumination, Union

According to Dionysius, there are three stages of the contemplative journey in Christianity: purgation, illumination and union with God. Purgation refers to purification from sin and attachment; illumination is enlightenment through divine knowledge and wisdom; and finally, union refers to a much closer relationship with God than that established through knowledge alone.

Moses’ ascent of Sinai provides an exemplary biblical illustration of the three-stage process: First, Moses begins his journey at the foot of the mountain (purification); Second, Moses goes into a cloud of light (illumination); and finally, Moses goes into the “thick darkness” that represents the dwelling place of God (Exodus 19-20, 24).

In his contemplation of this biblical passage, Dionysius saw the mountain journey of Moses as an analogy of the journey made by every soul toward union with God. Progressive ascent of the mountain represents the progressive dissociation from earthly reality, through various degrees of understanding and experience until finally, we arrive at the place of divine mystery, which is not to be understood but rather to be “experienced.”

The Purgative Way

Purgation involves the moral and spiritual purification of each person’s heart and soul. People cannot approach the All-Holy God in an acceptable manner unless they completely turn away from their sin, cultivate virtue and completely detach themselves from their earthly things.

Dionysius viewed purgation as essential preparation before a person can become a true disciple or follower of Jesus and be transformed into God’s son or daughter— as expressed in the beatitude of Jesus:

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God

Matthew 5:8

To have a pure heart means that one is going to be devoted to God, without any other competing desires. Divided desires will cloud the heart’s ability to see, which prevents someone from advancing in their contemplative journey.

Dionysius also taught that to achieve purgation, it is necessary to have grace from God, that is, it requires human cooperation with the divine initiative. A person cannot achieve purity through their own will alone, nor can a person be saved by the grace of God if they do not give their consent and cooperate with him. During this phase, the soul has to reject its sin proactively while simultaneously humbly relying upon the transformational work of God to help him or her fully achieve purgation.

This phase in the light of Evagrius Ponticus’s understanding corresponds with praktike (asceticism)—the ascetic activity of battling the passions and cultivating virtue. Evagrius understood praktike, however, as serving as a means to develop the soul’s contemplative capacity; Dionysius expected that purgation not only brings about moral improvement but also prepares the soul’s receptivity to divine illumination.

The Illuminative Way

Illumination is being enlightened by God, through receiving divine wisdom, understanding the theological truths, seeing and sensing spiritual things, and experiencing God’s self-revealing presence. Illumination corresponds with the Evagrian categories of Creation and Theological Existence through Creation and God’s Self-Revealing Presence with Body and Soul.

Regarding illumination, Dionysius referenced John’s words about the light of Christ:

The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world

John 1:9

Therefore, as people engage in contemplative prayer, they open their souls for the illumination of God.

Dionysius stated that illumination from God is experienced as being made up of light and darkness and is rather paradoxical in the experience of divine illumination. The excessive amount of God’s light blinds a person just as much as darkness. Thus, when Moses entered into the “thick darkness,” God’s overwhelming presence was abundantly experienced in him (Exodus 20:21)—this is not an absence of light but is God’s great essence experienced as exceedingly bright in the absence of sin or darkness.

Furthermore, Dionysius, through his meditative reflections, reconceptualises the traditional symbolism of light and darkness. Darkness is neither simply evil nor ignorance but it also points to the divine mysteries of God which transcended comprehension. A contemplative does not merely progress from darkness to light but also advances from the ordinary light of human existence to the divine darkness — the “luminous darkness” or “dazzling obscurity” where God dwells beyond all understanding.

The Unitive Way

Union with God represents the culmination of the mystical experience—the direct encounter with God without the necessity of mediation that occurs when one is experiencing God without concept; when one knows God without knowledge; when one envisions God through blindness. At this level of union, the soul transcends all mediation and all representations of God, and it experiences God directly.

Dionysius also reflected on Moses entering the thick darkness where God was. The darkness that Moses entered into was not an absence of God but an overwhelming presence of God; the reality of God transcended all comprehension and when it was comprehended, it was experienced by the direct action of God upon Moses.

Dionysius thought of union as an experience of ekstasis as he defined it—in this experience one leaves behind ordinary/human consciousness and rational thought and he leaves behind all distinctions between himself and God. While the soul does not comprehend God, it is, in fact, comprehended by God; while the soul does not possess what is known about God, it possesses God; while the soul does not know God, it exists through God.

In this union of contemplative prayer, the individual does not lose their individuality (pantheism), but through becoming a part of the divine essence of God, he/she is totally transformed; as iron in fire takes on the properties of fire but remains as iron, so a soul who is united to God is transformed into a divine soul by the participation in God through its own soul-essence.

Apophatic Prayer: Beyond Words and Concepts

So far, I’ve said that central to Dionysius’ vision of mysticism and the highest form of spirituality was one’d be an apophatic or negative theological view; it is a way of stripping away all concepts, images, and words from one’s understanding of God through a process of negation. Dionysius did not abhor the intellect or view it as something defective; in fact, a true apophatic theology represents the limit of reason but goes beyond reason through love.

In his very brief booklet entitled The Mystical Theology, Dionysius begins with a prayer asking:

Trinity!! Higher than any being, any divinity, any goodness! Guide of Christians in the wisdom of heaven! Lead us up beyond unknowing and light, up to the farthest, highest peak of mystic scripture, where the mysteries of God's Word lie simple, absolute and unchangeable in the brilliant darkness of a hidden silence.

This prayer demonstrates apophatic spirituality. Even addressing God as “Trinity” requires immediate qualification—  “higher than any being, any divinity, any goodness.” Every name applied to God must be negated because God transcends all categories, surpasses all concepts, exceeds all designations.

Dionysius mentions Moses’ ascent. He states:

Moses breaks free of them, away from what sees and is seen, and plunges into the truly mysterious darkness of unknowing. Here, renouncing all that the mind may conceive, wrapped entirely in the intangible and the invisible, he belongs completely to him who is beyond everything. Here, being neither oneself nor someone else, one is supremely united to the completely unknown by an inactivity of all knowledge, and knows beyond the mind by knowing nothing.

This describes contemplative prayer’s highest form—abandoning mental activity, relinquishing concepts, surrendering knowledge itself. Not knowing God through thoughts about him but through immediate union beyond thought. Not grasping God mentally but being grasped by him personally.

The Divine Darkness

Dionysius’ unique contribution was his understanding of the divine darkness due to God dwelling in darkness above light, as God’s ultimate encounter requires one to step out of the unknown (dark) and that the mystical summit is achieved through unknowing, rather than knowing.

So Dionysius also looked at Scripture in his meditations about darkness. He mentioned two verses, one found in the Book of Exodus, which states that there was “thick darkness” upon Mount Sinai, concealing God’s presence from the people of Israel (Exodus 20:21). Also, in the Book of Kings, King Solomon declared:

The LORD has said that he would dwell in a dark cloud

1 Kings 8:12

Further, in Psalm 18:11, David stated:

He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him.

Dionysius believes the blackness or darkness of God does not mean that God is black. Instead, God is too overwhelming for the human mind to comprehend, just as God is too brilliant. God beyond every capacity for the human intellect. Thus, seeing God’s glory results in unknowing, as a person looking into the full sun becomes blinded, not enhanced in their perception, so likewise, the brightest light from God blinds the worshiper.

This blackness or darkness is an ignorance of all of God’s essence that is unknowable forever but knows more than all of man’s knowledge. The knowledge of God, therefore, is not a knowledge that is achieved through the understanding of God, but through an experience where the two become one, beyond all concepts.

As Dionysius states, the contemplative enters into this dark night of God by way of progressive negation. First, affirmative theology defines God through positive attributes as love, good, wise, powerful. Second, negative theology deduces the characteristics of the attributes as insufficient. Third, one must move past both affirming God and negating Him, or, beyond ‘being’ and ‘not being’ to ‘God’, because God has a relationship with and is beyond every definition.

Contemplation of the Trinity

In concluding, Dionysius viewed all things from the infinite possibilities of God as Father, Son, and Spirit, that is, the Source of every created thing, divine Wisdom who was made manifest in the flesh, and divine Love who draws all people into the mystical relationship with God through the agency of his Son. Furthermore, through prayer or contact with God, humans participate in the Trinity in an eternal conversation with God through the Holy Spirit’s presence.

Dionysius meditated on John 17:3, which states:

Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent

John 17:3

Knowing God—not intellectually but experientially—constitutes eternal life. This knowledge is mystical union, participation in Trinitarian life, sharing the eternal relationships among Father, Son, and Spirit.

Dionysius asserts that both the Son and the Spirit are also eternally engaged in communication with the Father; therefore, he teaches that prayer or communication with the Father is the same method that the Son uses to engage the Father, that is, the believer’s prayer is not a human speaking directly to God, but that the believer’s prayer is joining the conversation the Son is having with the Father through the agency of the Holy Spirit.

Dionysius continued his contemplation on the universe’s promise in 2 Peter 1:4:

Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature.

Participation in divine nature means sharing Trinitarian life through grace—becoming by participation what God is by nature (though infinitely less perfectly).

Yet even Trinitarian language must ultimately be transcended. “Father,” “Son,” and “Spirit” are revealed names that truly designate God, yet even these names fail to capture the divine essence. The Trinity transcends Trinitarian concepts, the Three-in-One surpasses all attempts to comprehend threeness and oneness.

Hierarchies as Mediating Divine Light

Dionysius had a hierarchical view of how the light of God comes to us, so that all created beings receive the light of God through a hierarchy. The created beings that are lower than angels do not participate in receiving the divine light directly but rather receive the divine energy through a hierarchy. In other words, the hierarchy is a way for God to communicate with the creation and therefore a medium through which the divine light shines down upon the lower beings in an orderly way.

Dionysius looked to the angelic orders described in Scripture: seraphim, cherubim, thrones, dominions, virtues, powers, principalities, archangels, and angels, which are arranged into groups of three—three triads of three. Each order of angels, therefore, receives the divine illumination and passes this illumination down through the hierarchy to the order below.

Dionysius’s hierarchical vision reflects the Neoplatonic view of emanation from the One (God) which radiates the reality of creation throughout the various levels of being. But Dionysius Christianized the Neoplatonic idea of hierarchy; the divine does not emanate to creation but instead reveals Himself to creation in a personal way; the hierarchy is present out of love and not out of necessity; and the descent of the divine upon lower levels of being does not mean a loss of perfection for God but rather shows God’s willingness to humbly accommodate Himself to His creation.

The ecclesiastical hierarchy corresponds to the celestial hierarchy. In the ecclesiastical hierarchy, bishops correspond to the higher levels of the angelic orders, priests correspond to the middle levels of the angelic orders, and deacons correspond to the lower levels of the angelic orders. The lower ecclesiastical order of monastics, laity, and catechumens correspond to the lower angelic orders.

The sacraments mediate the divine light of God to the created order. The Holy Baptism, which is the sacrament of illumination, and the Holy Eucharist, which is the sacrament of deification, are different from ordination, which is the sacrament of empowerment. Each of these sacraments mediates to the person receiving the sacrament the divine light and how God communicates that divine light to each created being through each level of the hierarchy, from the highest celestial order of angels to the lower ecclesiastical order of monastics, laity, and catechumens.

Dionysius, however, believed that the purpose of the hierarchy is to teach each created being how to unite with God through ascending to God above the levels of the hierarchies. Each person ascends through the mediation of the sacraments to the fullest measure of God’s divinity, i.e., Ultimate Reality; however, it is only through the misdirection of the sacraments that we can ascend into the divine presence of God.hierarchical levels.

Liturgical Mysticism

The liturgy of the church serves as a structure to teach us about the invisible realities of God, the spiritual dimension of reality, and ultimately the union of God with man. The ultimate goal of the liturgy is to provide a way to experience the union with God and to communicate directly with God.

Dionysius reflected upon Hebrews 12:22-23 where it says:

But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven.

Through the prayers and the offering of the Eucharist at the liturgy on earth, we participate together with each other and the entire church of heaven. We participate or are joined together in one common praise of God through the liturgy.

Dionysius reflected upon the Eucharist’s strikingly unique significance. He understood the Eucharist to be a sacramental process of glorifying a believer and uniting the believer to Christ. He viewed the Eucharist as theosis through sacrament. As the faithful receive the body and blood of Christ, they are transformed to the likeness of Christ, and by participating in the Eucharist they are incorporated into Christ as a member of His mystic body.

In addition, Dionysius saw the liturgy as a pedagogical means of providing the basic teachings of Christ. Through the visible and performed rites of the liturgy, the invisible truths of God are taught. The material symbols of the Eucharist represent the person of Jesus Christ and point to the truth of Christ’s spiritual nature that is expressed through the actions of the liturgy.

Also, even though Dionysius places great importance on the liturgy and the sacraments as a means of mediating God to humanity and uniting the faithful to the Trinity, he makes a point to emphasize that we ultimately must surpass the liturgy and the sacraments through ascendancy, or the ultimate realization of God in His divine presence.

Symbolic Theology

Dionysius developed sophisticated symbolic theology—understanding how material realities can reveal spiritual truths, how God accommodates revelation to human capacity through symbols, and how the contemplative reads creation as divine communication.

He meditated on Romans 1:20:

For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made.

Creation is theophany—manifestation of God. Every creature participates in divine being (not pantheistically but as effect participates in cause), reflects divine attributes, and can serve as symbol pointing toward the Creator. The contemplative sees through material forms to spiritual realities they signify.

Yet Dionysius emphasized both positive and negative aspects of symbols. Similar symbols (light representing God) work through resemblance—God is like light in illuminating, warming, giving life. Dissimilar symbols (God as rock) work through contrast—precisely because God isn’t literally rock, calling him “rock” forces recognition of symbolic nature, preventing confusion of symbol with reality.

He taught that dissimilar symbols paradoxically communicate better than similar ones. Calling God “light” risks thinking we understand what we’re saying. Calling God “rock” or “worm” (Psalm 22:6) immediately signals metaphor, preventing literalism and encouraging contemplative transcendence of the symbol.

All symbols ultimately fail—even the most exalted. God isn’t literally Father, Son, Light, Love, or Being. These names truly designate God yet inadequately capture divine reality. The contemplative uses symbols as springboards, launching from them into the darkness beyond symbols.

The Prayer of Unknowing

The concluding part of Mystical Theology by Dionysius the Areopagite includes the “prayer of unknowing,” which represents a contemplative interaction with God. The purpose of the prayer of unknowing is to express our relationship to God through directly confronting his essence that has never been perceived and to describe a loving union with God outside of all forms of knowledge.

Dionysius states:

Unto this Darkness which is beyond Light we pray that we may come, and may attain unto vision through the loss of sight and knowledge, and that in ceasing thus to see or to know we may learn to know that which is beyond all perception and understanding.

There exists an intrinsic contradiction in the statement, “to see the blindness” and “to learn from that which we do not know” and “to have a vision of God beyond the limits of any and all knowledge and understanding.” There exists perplexity in the belief that the only manner through which an individual can obtain knowledge of God in the divine sense is through the means of an extraordinary manner of knowing God; in this case, an individual must no longer rely on the normal modes of intellect to obtain such an experience.

Dionysius cited the example of St. Paul when he wrote that in the Second Letter to the Corinthians:

I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven... was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell

2 Corinthians 12:2-4

In the Second Letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul describes his mystical ascent to the third heaven, where he experienced a God who transcended all humanity and who possessed no language of understanding.

Dionysius does not reject the use of the human intellect; he affirms the use of the intellect until it no longer gives us an understanding of God. At that time we no longer need to use the intellect to understand God; rather, we may jump over the intellect into the divine intellect through love. In addressing this aspect of love, he said,

For what is more divine than the divine Knowledge? And yet it is necessary to leave even this behind.

Yearning and Love

While Dionysius emphasized the concept of unknowing in relation to the experience of God, he did not presume to become an intellectual mystic who has lost all passion for God; he holds in his teachings that the desire for God, the love of God, and the union to God form the foundation of the soul’s function and represent the culmination of the soul’s action culminating in one unit of sacred love without the knowledge of God.

He meditated on the soul’s eros for God—holy desire, sacred longing, passionate yearning for union with the divine Beloved. This eros isn’t sinful passion but purified desire redirected toward its proper object—the supremely desirable One who alone satisfies.

Dionysius also viewed Song of Solomon as an illustration of the soul’s mystical relationship with God. The bride’s desire for God is an example of a burning desire for the object of this sacred love— “I am faint with love” (Song 5:8). The search for God— “I looked for the one my heart loves” (Song 3:1)—illustrates the spiritual journey toward God the Bridegroom. The union— “My beloved is mine and I am his” (Song 2:16)—pictures mystical marriage.

Dionysius teaches that the expression of the ineffable is what enables us to unite beyond the realm of knowledge of intellect; therefore for the soul to unite with God is through the way of love and through the way of ineffable.

The value of love and an intimate relationship with God illustrate St. Paul’s teaching found in 1 Corinthians 13:12:

For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

The ultimate knowing is personal—being known and knowing in return, the intimacy of love rather than impersonal comprehension.

Ekstasis: Standing Outside Oneself

Dionysius employed the Greek term ekstasis (ecstasy) to describe mystical union’s character—standing outside ordinary self, transcending normal consciousness, and being drawn beyond oneself into God.

He wrote:

For the perfect and singular and supreme Cause of all must transcend all things... beyond reason and intelligence, having neither being nor essence; dwelling in no place, having no form, no figure, no limit; beyond all size and quantity and quality; not dwelling in any place; having no condition and no name.

To accomplish this requires that the human soul be free from the sleight of the physical; that is, man must prepare; that is, the human cannot remain in the same state of existence, must change in order to meet God; and we must be transformed; therefore, one is no longer in the world of ordinary existence, nor will we be the same after being transformed. This union with God will profoundly change how one sees the world, sees existence as having a purpose, and sees existence as having meaning.

Dionysius used Moses to illustrate this principle. Moses entered into a relationship with God on Mt. Sinai apart from those whom he had been with, distance from the world of man in order to return to the same people who could not enter where he had been. Thus, he left the life of the ordinary and entered into the depths of the divine, where the human merging into the divine preserves one’s individual identity but does not leave one in himself as before. Just as iron has been heated does not lose its characteristics but reflects the characteristics of the flame, that is, the removal of iron into fire merges it completely into it through the grace of God, yet the iron does not lose its identity after becoming divine through the grace of God.

Contemplation of Christ

Christ is the main focus of the mysticism of Dionysius. He teaches that Christ is both God and Man, and that he can be used as a way to elevate yourself back up towards God.

This mysticism involves meditating on the words of Jesus in John 14:6 that states “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” As you ascend with contemplation towards God, you will always have to go through Christ. In fact, every time you go above and beyond all of your thoughts of God, you do not abandon Christ, but rather enter further into the mystery of who he is.

Dionysius taught that the supreme accommodation of God to his human creations, as demonstrated through the Incarnation, was when Christ became flesh. Through the Incarnation, God became both a transcendent being and an immanent being; the invisible became visible and the unknowing became known, but always exceeded knowledge.

Dionysius also meditated on the depths of divine love revealed in Christ’s crucifixion. Through Christ’s self-emptying death as described in Philippians 2:5-8, we see the ekstasis of God; he, as the consummate lover, serves as the base for true love towards humanity; through his ultimate self-emptying and descent into death, the consummate lover elevated the object of his love back up to himself.

Even though the mystery of the Incarnation and death/resurrection of Christ both transcend the human body, they both will continue to transcend all concepts we may have regarding Christ; we will begin with our knowledge of Christ in the flesh, but we will ultimately learn about Christ through our own personal experience of knowing him.

The Role of Scripture

Dionysius stated that scripture is the ultimate basis for the authority of God; however, he read and interpreted scripture mystically through the lens of other biblical texts. He recognized four levels of meaning in the scriptures: the literal/historical meaning, the moral meaning, the allegorical and typological meaning, and the anagogical/mystical meaning.

In particular, Dionysius focused on the ascent of Moses to Mt. Sinai as a model of the contemplative experience. Every aspect of this event has a deeper meaning. Mountains represent the idea of transcendence; the clouds above them represent divine mystery; and the companions left behind, which represent ordinary consciousness, are absent from the experience of God.

Dionysius contemplated how the scriptures utilized symbols to describe God through both analogous and dissimilarities. Analogous symbols for God such as light, father, and shepherd work through resemblances. The images utilized to describe God in dissimilar or contrary ways, such as the rock, fire, and lion. Although they describe characteristics of God, we should transcend both of these types of symbols to understand the greater reality that the symbols are trying to point us toward.

In his mystical reading, Dionysius sought to interpret the scriptures at their highest level—an anagogical interpretation through which the reader is led upwards to a higher level of consciousness. Secondly, he read historical accounts as containing deeper mystical meanings.

Dionysius believed in the connection of the spiritual/readings alongside of the historical/literal readings of the scriptures; therefore, the historical/literal account of Moses emerging at Mt. Sinai after he ascended toward God must be seen as he literally did ascend to the top of the mountain and as he ascended spiritually toward the divine.

Silence and Stillness

The process of developing a connection to God requires establishing silence within your life in order to be prepared to enter into a relationship with divine darkness. Silence and stillness within your interior allow you to cease from your intellectual activity and conceptually enter into restful contemplation.

For example, Psalm 46:10 states:

Be still, and know that I am God.

The stillness required for contemplation and experiencing God is not merely the absence of external distraction; it includes mental activities as they are quieted by the presence of the Holy Spirit of God. By ceasing to mentally dwell upon our own thoughts and distractions, we create an internal stillness where we can receive God through His presence.

As such, silence is a means through which we prepare ourselves to hear something that exceeds all forms of articulation; therefore, as we experience deep contemplation of God and hear “his voice”, we do not hear the voice audibly, but rather hear an experience that transcends words; we receive immediate knowledge beyond language, therefore bypassing conceptual thought.

Dionysius valued the liturgical silence that is established in all forms of divine worship. The periods of silence allow for reflection and space between words to absorb, and the stillness that occurs after we have received the sacrament permits integration into our daily lives.

Dionysius recognized that silence and stillness must co-exist in both; therefore, the “silence” that we may feel in our corporate congregation is not “empty” silence or “void” silence, but “saturated fullness” . It’s the fullness of the presence of God exceeding all limitations of human thought.

Purification of Desire

Desire purification is Dionysius’ teaching that when we contemplate God, we need to purify our desires. We do this by “re-directing” our eros, or love, to God rather than to other created goods and blanketing all worldly attachments with a holy longing. Our desire must flow from things finite to things Infinite; therefore, Dionysius emphasised Augustine’s statement that our hearts are restless until they rest in God.

Created goods may satisfy us temporarily but they can never ultimately fulfil our infinite longing; only the Infinite can fulfil this longing, or God Himself will fill the “void” in our God-shaped hearts. Hence, to emphasise: purification of desire does not eliminate desire, rather it is to redirect our desires to the supreme good.

The contemplative will progressively detach from created goods, however, this does not mean that they are considered evil, rather; created goods are ultimately non-ultimate, therefore, in perspective. For example; the beauty of nature is a pointer to divine beauty; the love of person to person reflects divine love; the truth in philosophy is a representation of divine truth. Thus, if we love God’s creation, we must love God’s creation out of love for God rather than as a replacement for God.

This `purification of desire’ will take place through a process of grace-enabled-discipline, which includes; prayer, fasting, almsgiving, meditating upon the Scriptures, and participating in the sacraments. The process of these disciplines will cultivate our desires, educate the affections, and thus re-direct the love of one’s desire to God as the highest and supreme good.

The Via Negativa in Practice

The via negativa can be practised; Dionysius’ negative way is not merely theoretical, rather it is practical. It involves the method of prayer, progressively eliminating concepts until we are left with a “wordless” communion with God.

Therefore, when beginning the prayer, it is essential for us to confess God; i.e., God is good, wise, powerful and loving. These attributes must be negated as God is not ‘good’ in our understanding of goodness; for He transcends all creaturely goods and has no ‘goodness’ that can be found in the created order.

This progressive stripping parallels interior journey. Initially the mind actively thinks about God, employing concepts and images. Gradually thoughts quiet as presence replaces representation. Finally even presence-consciousness fades as the soul is drawn beyond itself into God—union transcending subject-object distinction.

Dionysius wrote:

We must dare to add that God, the Cause of all, is not soul or mind, nor does He possess imagination, opinion, reason or understanding; nor is He speech or thought; nor can He be uttered or grasped by understanding... He is no one of the things that are not, nor any of the things that are... We cannot affirm or deny anything of Him; for both affirmation and denial belong to things below Him.

This radical negation doesn’t end in agnosticism but in mystical union—knowing God through unknowing, grasping through being grasped, comprehending through surrendering comprehension.

Influence on Christian Mysticism

Dionysius heavily shaped the Eastern and Western Christian mystical traditions. In the East, Maximus the Confessor (580-662) is an excellent example of one who developed Dionysian themes, as well as John of Damascus and Gregory Palamas. The via negativa became a central doctrine to the Eastern Orthodox hesychasm (a prayer of silence) to seek God beyond concept.

In Western Europe, Dionysius has been a major influence on; Medieval mystics such as John Scotus Eriugena (who translated Dionysius into Latin), Meister Eckhart, the anonymous author of The Cloud of Unknowing and John of the Cross. The via negativa created the foundation for the apophatic dimension of the Western mystical theology.

Dionysius also deeply influenced Thomas Aquinas, even though he and Aquinas had significant philosophical differences. Dionysius taught that God is not knowable; that all human language concerning God is analogical, and therefore, God’s union with humanity is beyond the capacity of rational comprehension.

Many of the later contemplatives drew from Dionysius to help them explain how the experiences they had, which were beyond human language, could be qualified as spiritual experiences. The experiences appear to involve darkness, but they are actually an experience with divine light so brilliant that comprehension is impossible.

Critiques and Cautions

Dionysius’s mystical view raises valid issues. His significant Neoplatonic perspective could lead some to think that the material world is inferior to the spiritual world. Some of the concepts associated with salvation might give the impression that salvation entails leaving behind one’s body, and that one’s goal isn’t communion with God but rather absorption into God.

Nevertheless, a careful reading of Dionysius reveals that he upholds the created order as “good,” places emphasis on the importance of the Incarnation, and believes that “persons” are to be preserved through union with God. It should also be noted that hierarchies of being established by Dionysius cannot be understood to define ontological levels of being-qualitative, but rather as structures provided for pedagogical purposes (teaching) as a means to facilitate communication between humans and divine.

In addition to the above-mentioned issues, there is a question of whether radical apophaticism (negative theology) makes the Christian tradition indistinguishable from other mystical traditions? If God is above and beyond all concepts, how does the Christian tradition maintain its distinctiveness?

Dionysius would have said that Jesus Christ is the answer. The via negativa leads to the Incarnation. Apophatic theology is the negation of all concepts that are not conforming to the revealed reality of God through the Incarnation. Therefore, all Christian mysticism is shaped Christologically, structured Trinitarianly, and mediated Ecclesially; thus, it should not be confused with philosophical mysticism even though it shares similarities with it.

Finally, some critics have asserted that Dionysius’s understanding of mysticism is too cerebral and only available to those who have served a long apprenticeship in philosophy. Such critics assert that Dionysius elevates “knowledge” at the expense of “love.” However, Dionysius asserts that love is greater than knowledge and teaches that “unknowing” is the “learned ignorance” that results from a preoccupation with one’s conceptual ability. Furthermore, simple believers can attain divine darkness through their simple faith in God.

A Prayer in Dionysian Spirit

In the spirit of Dionysius, we might pray to God:

“O God beyond all naming, beyond being and non-being, beyond light and darkness, beyond comprehension and mystery—we approach you through the darkness where you dwell. Lead us beyond all that we know, think, or imagine about you, into the silence where words fail and concepts cease.

Strip from us all false images, all inadequate understandings, all limited conceptions. Purify our desire, that we might seek you alone. Illumine our minds, that we might know you surpass knowing. Unite us with yourself, that we might experience the mystical darkness where you shine too brightly for our sight.

Through Christ who reveals you while remaining beyond revelation, in the Spirit who teaches us that you transcend all teaching, we ascend toward you who descend toward us in love. Draw us into the divine darkness, the luminous obscurity, the brilliant cloud where, knowing nothing, we know all; where, seeing nothing, we see you.

Beyond Father, beyond Son, beyond Spirit—yet Father, Son, and Spirit truly—Holy Trinity above all trinity and unity, receive our prayer that transcends prayer. Amen.”

Legacy of Apophatic Mysticism

Pseudo-Dionysius endowed Christianity with a complete and developed understanding of apophatic mysticism. Through his systematic approach to the science of negative theology, through his method of progressive negation in contemplation, and through his mystical vision of union beyond all knowledge of God in divine darkness, the influence of Pseudo-Dionysius on Christian spirituality cannot be calculated.

The influences of Pseudo-Dionysius can be seen in Eastern Hesychasm, Western Mystical Theology, Medieval Contemplative Theology and Contemporary Apophatic Theology. The terms and concepts that are already associated with Pseudo-Dionysius are omnipresent in mystical literature and have helped to form and shape and affect the practice of contemplation.

Conclusion

Dionysius shows how the Christianity of contemplative life is defined above and beyond as far removed from the understanding of God as can be imagined; he shows that mystical union occurs beyond all understanding through the darkness. God may be encountered most deeply in all names and ways.

As we seek to deepen our own spiritual lives through prayer, it is in the dark void beyond illumination that lies the place where God dwells. The darkness represents not absence; rather, it represents the profound presence of God. From unknowing, we can experience the fullness of God beyond and greater than all that we can imagine.

So, may we too follow the path of affirmation and negation to become greater in union with God. May we speak of God truly while admitting that all words concerning God fall short. May we know God truly while confessing that there is a limit to what we can know of Him. May we have a genuine experience of God while stepping aside, stepping back from Him, into the abyss of mystery. through silence to emptiness (inaudible to all) to receive God’s portally, God’s Power and Presence.

May we practice contemplative silence, interior stillness, and receptive waiting—ceasing our mental activity that God might act, quieting our thoughts that he might speak beyond words, emptying ourselves that he might fill us.

May we understand that the highest knowledge is unknowing, that the deepest sight is blindness to all but God, and that the most intimate union transcends subject-object distinction as we’re drawn beyond ourselves into the divine darkness.

And may we pray with confidence and humility that God who reveals himself remains forever beyond revelation, God who makes himself known transcends all knowing, and God who unites with us infinitely exceeds our comprehension—now and forever, beyond time and eternity. Amen.

To the Trinity beyond Trinity, the Unity beyond Unity, the God beyond God—be glory, honor, and worship beyond all glory, honor, and worship, forever beyond forever. Amen.