An introduction to religious and spiritual experience

Communal
For many, spiritual experiences take place within a communal setting, 
often in situations of worship, such as church services, where they feel 
part of a community united in worship. In some services, experience is 
encouraged or even induced and there is often an uplifting experience 
triggered by singing, processions or communal prayer.
In Taizé, in France there is a community where the monks, Catholic 
and Protestant, welcome visitors, mainly youngsters, from all over the 
world. Gentle, repetitive chants, often in Latin, are sung by candlelight 
and so many have found this a wonderful way of worship, that similar 
services are held all over the world, and the chants are frequently used in 
mainstream worship.
Something very interesting at Taizé is that this formula of calming 
repetition has been taken up in the liturgy, that is it is not only used in 
personal prayer, but also in prayer together or common prayer. Some 
young people who know almost nothing of mystery, are introduced to 
it here, and they begin to learn how to pray.
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The philosopher Paul Ricoeur described what happens there.
What do I come looking for in Taizé? I would say to experience in 
some way what I believe most deeply, namely that what is generally 
called ‘religion’ has to do with goodness. . . . goodness is deeper than 
the deepest evil. We have to liberate that certainty, give it a language. 
And the language given here in Taizé is not the language of philosophy, 
not even of theology, but the language of the liturgy. And for me, the 
liturgy is not simply action; it is a form of thought. There is a hidden, 
discrete theology in the liturgy that can be summed up in the idea that 
‘the law of prayer is the law of faith.’
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The 
Toronto Blessing
, which began through the preaching of Randy 
Clark, in 1994 at the Toronto Airport Vineyard Church is perhaps one of 
the most well-known communal religious phenomena in recent times. 
Also known as Holy Laughter, this phenomenon can be traced back to the 
preaching of Rodney Howard-Browne, who inspired Randy Clark. Effects 
such as hysterical laughter, dancing and even roaring occur regularly and 
are attributed to the effect of the Holy Spirit. Not everyone would be 
comfortable with this kind of experience, and of course there have been 
accusations of coercion and fraud. As usual, judgement has to be under-
taken over time, looking at what the long-term effects of the experience 
produce.
Visions
Some people see visions of religious figures or of dead relatives. Just how 
physical the visions are remains unclear in many cases, but the effect is of 
having seen the person. This may take place at times of particular need or 
stress but not necessarily.
Visions of the Virgin Mary seem to take place fairly frequently and she 
often seems to appear to children. Celebrated cases include appearances 
in 1917 in Fatima, Portugal to three children and between 1981 and 1993 
to six youngsters in Medjugorge, Bosnia-Herzegovina, some of whom 
continue to receive messages to this day.
Perhaps the best known of all is the case of the appearances in France 
to Marie Bernarde (Bernadette) Soubirous (1844–1879). In 1858, at the 
age of 14, near a cave at Massabielle near Lourdes, Bernadette witnessed 
the first of 18 apparitions of a Lady of incomparable beauty. Bernadette, 
a girl who all her life suffered from ill-health, was afraid, yet attracted by 
the figure. She took out her rosary and they prayed together, so she felt 

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reassured. When Bernadette returned with other children, the vision reap-
peared, but was only visible to Bernadette, whose face became radiant. 
Despite worried parents and sceptical neighbours, Bernadette obeyed the 
Lady’s request that she visit the grotto each day for the following fort-
night. The police became involved and a local doctor checked Bernadette’s 
pulse and breathing but could disprove nothing. No-one could shake 
Bernadette’s devotion to her Lady and the visits to the grotto continued, 
soon accompanied by crowds of onlookers.
The message from the Lady was one of repentance and she asked 
that a church be built on the site. During one appearance, Bernadette 
was instructed to drink at a spring near the grotto. There was no sign 
of water there, but as Bernadette scratched the earth, a trickle which 
eventually became a stream appeared. Bernadette had been asked by 
the Lady to bring a candle on her visits, and that tradition continues to 
this day.
There was much speculation as to the identity of the vision and 
when Bernadette asked her who she was, the Lady gave what was for 
Bernadette the incomprehensible reply of ‘the Immaculate Conception’. 
The words had to be explained to her by a priest. The final vision was 
more distant, and then the Lady came no more. But life could never be the 
same for Bernadette, who was now famous, or in the eyes of many, noto-
rious. There was a thorough investigation of her case and eventually it 
was decided that the visions were indeed genuine. Her family had not 
profited from the situation and Bernadette was affected only in becoming 
more drawn towards the life of a nun. She ended her days at the convent 
of Saint-Gildard, mother house of the congregation of the Sisters of 
Charity of Nevers and was canonized in 1933.
The grotto became a centre of pilgrimage, the first of three churches 
built there was consecrated in 1866. As it is believed that the water of the 
spring has healing properties nowadays more than 6 million pilgrims visit 
the shrine each year and many cures have been recorded, deemed miracu-
lous. There are strict guidelines for such claims, and in 1905, Pope Pius X 
asked that all cases of alleged miracles or cures recorded in Lourdes be 
analysed scientifically. There is an international committee of medical 
experts and patients have to satisfy criteria ruling out cures which are due 
to medication or natural causes. Cures are observed over several years 
and then the cases are submitted to the Catholic Church for verification. 
By 2004, 67 such cures had been accepted, although many medical prac-
titioners contest the findings, citing cases of normal remission and selec-
tive monitoring of patients. Whatever the truth of such miraculous cures, 
it is certainly a fact that pilgrimages to Lourdes are found to be spiritually 
uplifting and healing in a deeper sense.

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This is a Christian vision received by a Jewish woman:
About ten years ago my husband and I went to Seefeldt [sic] in the 
Austrian Tyrol for a holiday. The hotel was comfortable, - furnished in 
the modern style, very bright and cheerful, and we felt at once that we 
were going to enjoy ourselves.
As I shut my eyes for sleep that night, I saw, beneath my closed 
eyelids, the distinct form of a crucifix. It was a white cross, – not very 
bright – but glowing and quite clear in outline. I felt little surprise, and 
I admit, no real sensation of revelation or religious fervour. Just a vague 
feeling of comfort and satisfaction before I fell asleep. The cross 
appeared to me almost every night for the eleven days we were there.
I cannot rationalize this incident away. The cross was there. But 
I was born Jewish. And though I believe unswervingly in the Almighty 
Spirit, I have no faith in organized religion, and have not practised my 
own since I was a girl. My belief – and I think I share this with a good 
many people, is that God makes Himself manifest in the wonders and 
beauty of nature.
However, there is one thing that may have a bearing on this 
‘vision’ – if you can call it that – two days before we left Seefeldt – we 
learned that the hotel was partly reconstructed from an old monastery.
I have never told anyone of this experience before. Not even my 
husband. But it 
was
real.
Light
Light has always been associated with perceptions of the divine in partic-
ular with regard to Jesus, from the star and angels in the birth stories to 
the accounts of his transfiguration. Holman Hunt painted Jesus as the 
Light of the World. The painting shows Jesus, holding a lantern, lighting 
up the dark night. He is standing at the door on which there is no handle 
as it can only be opened from within. First shown at the 1854 Summer 
Exhibition in the Royal Academy, the painting resonated with the public 
and became immensely popular and widely reproduced.
The Spanish mystic Teresa of Avila (1515–1582) had powerful visions 
of Christ and describes the light associated with this:
It is not a radiance which dazzles, but a soft whiteness and an infused 
radiance which, without wearying the eyes, causes them the greatest 

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delight; nor are they wearied of the brightness which they see in seeing 
this Divine beauty. So different from any earthly light is the brightness 
and light now revealed to the eyes that, by comparison with it, the 
brightness of our sun seems quite dim and we should never want to 
open our eyes again for the purpose of seeing it . . . It is a light which 
never gives place to night, and being always light, is disturbed by noth-
ing. It is of such a kind, indeed, that no one, however powerful his 
intellect, could, in the whole course of his life, imagine it as it is. 
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Here is an experience recorded on the Alister Hardy Trust website:
In 1956 at the age of 23 my husband and I were walking the cliff path 
from St Ives in Cornwall to Zennot. It was a bright sunny day in 
September, bright but not a garish mid-summer sun. My husband was 
walking his usual 40 yards ahead and disappeared over the prow of an 
incline, so to all intents and purposes I was entirely alone. Although 
there was no mist the light seemed suddenly white and diffused and 
I experienced the most incredible sense of oneness and at the same time 
‘knew what it was all about’ it being existence. Of course, seconds later 
I hadn’t the faintest idea what it was all about. However it struck me 
that the oneness was in part explained by the sensation that the air and 
space and light was somehow tangible, one could almost grasp it, so 
that there was not a space which stopped because my human form was 
there but that my form was merely a continuity of the apparently solid 
space.The experience was unbelievably beautiful, and I will never for-
get the quality of that bright white light. It was awesome. [0322]
This is a most comforting experience of light:
My father had had a severe heart attack and I laid him down in bed, 
semiconscious. Then I put out the light and let him sleep. Suddenly he 
turned his head and looked over to the corner of the room. There was 
a bright light shining, which on looking at my father, was reflected in 
his eyes. ‘I have seen the glory of God and I am not to die yet’ he said. 
He lived and walked about for another year. I am 69 and can see that 
light in my memory as if it were yesterday. Never have I seen a light 
which could compare with it. [2031]
An extraordinary, life-changing experience of light happened to 
Christopher (Kik) Woods (1943–2008). Despite a pedigree of clerics, he 
had no interest in things spiritual. Born in New Zealand, he spent several 

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years of his youth in England, where his father was a vicar. As a young 
man, he enjoyed a life of hedonism and adventure, partying so hard that 
a scholarship to Dartmouth College, New Hampshire was summarily 
cancelled after five terms. Eventually he took to working in publishing. 
It was at the age of 31, when he was back in New Zealand, leading the 
life of a truck-driver, that everything changed. One day his cab suddenly 
became flooded with light and Kik was overwhelmed by the conviction 
that he should become a priest.
He stopped at his sister-in-law’s and announced that he was to be 
ordained. Astonished, she asked him if he perhaps needed a drink. He 
took one, but despite having had no previous interest in religion and not 
having set foot in a church for years, Kik was obedient to the call. He 
went to the United Kingdom and trained in Birmingham. After ordina-
tion, he took over a tough parish in Liverpool, where he remained for a 
quarter of a century. He also taught at Risley Prison and became a Canon 
of Liverpool Cathedral, and in fact died of a massive stroke while con-
ducting a service.
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The following experience of light encompasses a feeling of unity often 
found in mystical experiences:
I was in my car travelling through the Usk Valley in Wales. It was a 
beautiful day – clear and sunny and it was about 10 in the morning. 
I was aware of the houses in the hills and the beautiful view they would 
have over the valley and wondering how it would be to have a house 
in those hills with a spacious room with huge windows. My imagina-
tion conjured a studio (I am a fabric artist) in the spacious room with 
a large table and lots of fabrics and never-ending inspiration from what 
would be an awe-inspiring vista.
As I drove on thinking the above thoughts could never be I was sud-
denly surrounded by light that was far brighter than the prevalent sun-
light. It was profound . . . I was aware of being in a silent place of 
pulsating energy and at the same time being at the source of the light 
and quiet energy. I had to stop the car as the experience was over-
whelming – I was connected to a profound, huge Presence. I felt tears 
pouring down my cheeks and I also knew they were tears of joy at the 
experience of this connection.
I knew deep in my soul that I was experiencing a feeling of whole-
ness, a feeling of rightness and of being held in pure light. I was aware 
of being part of the Universe in a way that I would never be alone 
again. [005438]

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Experiences of light often seem to include a feeling of being loved.
I heard nothing, yet it was as if I were surrounded by a golden light and 
as if I only had to reach out my hand to touch God himself who was 
surrounding me with his compassion. [183]
This is another account of an experience of light and love:
I found myself floating in an ocean of golden light. From every thing 
within my vision this golden light radiated to every other thing, in 
continuous pulsating streams of living vibrations. These streams of 
living light were visibly flowing along pathways of lasting, dynamic 
movement, outflowing and inflowing from and into every thing within 
perception, connecting every thing to every other thing. And I, too, was 
the golden light, and I, too, pulsated with the streams of living 
energy that outflowed and inflowed, inflowed and outflowed. I was 
infused with an indescribably beautiful sense of tranquillity and 
well-being; a deeply felt state of connectedness and wonderment, 
and bliss, and above all, LOVE. Only it was a million times more pow-
erful than any previous experience of love, because I AM love, and the 
golden light that unites everything IS love and everything that is, is 
love; living vibrating love; and love is a golden light that unites every-
thing in existence in a never ending dance, a joyful interplay of bliss 
and union.
In physical reality I was sitting bolt upright in bed, having woken 
suddenly and unexpectedly from a deep sleep. During the weeks previ-
ous I had been moving increasingly to the edge of burn-out due to 
physical exhaustion and emotional pressures. To the eyes of the world, 
what I was going through would most likely be called a breakdown, 
only that could not be further from the truth of what I was experienc-
ing. Never before had I felt so alive, so clear, so awake, so calm, so safe. 
The bliss I felt was not euphoria – there was no sense of the excitement 
and restlessness that accompanies euphoric states. I was not feeling