The Book of the Dove

or his 'way' begins with simple asceticism; then, the mystic light begins to dawn here and there, and finally, the reader is in a mystic atmosphere, which sometimes comes near to pantheism.

This statement may be verified by the lecture of the Book of the Dove, the value of which lies chiefly therein, that it means to be and is a handbook for the novice who wishes to become a mystic, and which consequently describes the methods, aims and spiritual experience of Bar Hebraeus; not only of Bar Hebraeus however, but of the whole mystical school to which he belongs.

Origin of Semitic mysticism

In the following pages this mystical system will be described in its outlines; then it will be found that Bar Hebraeus is closely akin not only to his Syriac predecessors, but also to Ghazālī and Muslim mystics of his type. So we are brought to the question of the origin of Semitic mysticism and asceticism. This question has been asked and answered several times and in different ways. It is of a very complicated nature and I do not imagine that my small contribution to the solution will be of a nature to answer the question in its entirety. I believe however that I am in a better position in view of it than many of my predecessors, because in the last years only the religious elements of the Hellenistic world have been studied and discussed in a thorough way. The name mysticism itself points to that Hellenistic movement which found voice chiefly in the many religions which are called the mystery-religions. Different descriptions and liturgical documents belonging to them have come down to us; their meaning and value have only become clear after the researches of men like Albrecht Dieterich, Reitzenstein and others.

We have a certain right to denote all these utterances with the term Hellenism, perhaps the best comprehensive denomination for these phenomena.

It can be compared with what Babylonian civilization has been for Semitic antiquity and it has served as a basis for