ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the question of mysticism as a construct and offer some suggestions for approaching it in its historical context. It addresses the evidence that early medieval worldviews were founded on an essentially mystical understanding of nature. The chapter utilizes the Anglo-Saxon tradition as an example of the emerging views. The large body of vernacular literature in Anglo-Saxon England affords us a unique view of this nature-mysticism blending Germanic traditions into Christian ones. The ceremony for healing the land calls on both God the Father and Mother Earth, and expresses a mystical view of nature produced by the early medieval synthesis between Germanic and Christian culture; it stands on the brink of a radical change in European thought that arose in the twelfth century. The “Field Ceremonies” quoted at the beginning is the most famous example of this mixture of liturgy and charm-remedy, calling on both Father God and a subordinate Mother Earth.
