A
Yes. Mysticism can occur in a non-religious, nature-related setting, and this is often described as nature mysticism or a mystical experience of nature.
Key points
A person does not necessarily need to believe in God or belong to a religion to report a mystical experience.
Being in nature can produce experiences of awe, unity, timelessness, interconnectedness and loss of the usual sense of self.
Someone might describe feeling that they are part of nature rather than separate from it.
The experience can be intensely meaningful even when the person interprets it psychologically, environmentally or philosophically rather than religiously.
Examples might include standing alone in a forest, watching the ocean, being in mountains, or experiencing a powerful sunset and suddenly feeling a profound sense of connection with everything around them.
Importantly, not every powerful or emotional experience in nature is mystical. A mystical interpretation usually involves some significant alteration in the person's sense of self, reality, connectedness or insight.
Nature can therefore function as the context or trigger, while the mystical dimension concerns the person's experience of consciousness, self and reality.
Simple distinction
| Experience | Possible description |
|---|---|
| Beautiful sunset | Aesthetic experience |
| Feeling amazed by mountains | Awe |
| Feeling deeply connected to the natural world | Nature spirituality |
| Feeling that the boundary between “self” and nature has disappeared | Possible mystical experience |
| Feeling that this experience revealed something fundamental about reality | Mystical/noetic experience |
So, mysticism does not necessarily require religion. The crucial question is less “Was there a religious setting?” and more “What happened to the person's experience of self, reality, connectedness and meaning?”
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