ABSTRACT
This chapter suggests an interpretation of G. W. F. Hegel's distinction between the terms mystisch and symbolisch as presented in The Spirit of Christianity and its Fate. It argues that Hegel's early attempts to deal with the connection and with the distinction between these terms lead to a very subtle but at the same time crucial differentiation. Indeed, a close reading of selected pages from The Spirit of Christianity shows that Hegel repeatedly focuses on the defining characteristics of the adjectives mystisch and symbolisch and in doing so differentiates one from the other. This leads to an important result: the term mystical acquires a meaning of its own, not dependent on the symbolical and not equivalent to the vague, 'standard' definition given for instance by the Grimm brothers' dictionary, according to which 'mystical' is, in a religious context, simply something obscure. The chapter sketches the meaning of mystical and symbolical action and the role they play in The Spirit of Christianity.
