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This chapter and the next dwell upon the heart of Underhill's text, the five-stage series of mystical development. For reasons of systematic presentation, I have split this five stages into two main divisions: (1) the first three stages (covered in this chapter) – awakening, purgation, and illumination – and (2) the subsequent two stages of purification and union (reserved for the next chapter). "Light–darkness' appears to be the dominant dialectical binary that integrates the whole complex of mystical development. This chapter enumerates the relevant usages of the light–darkness metaphor in the context of mysticism and the various interpretations of the dialectical procedure of "negation of negation" as applied to this light–darkness metaphor. The third section contains an overview of Underhill's stage progression of mystical development. Her first three stages are characterized by an alternation of light to darkness and then to light again. Furthermore, within each of these stages, we see expressions of the light–darkness metaphor in the mystical context. Aside from dialecticism, Kantian sublimity is also deployed, especially analogically, in order to unravel the relevant elements that concern these three stages advanced by Underhill. I explore as well the many challenges to the validity and integrity of Underhill's stage schema. In spite of these challenges, I share Underhill's opinion that the five-stage series that she subscribes to provides us with a cogent yet flexible framework for conceiving mystical development.

DOI: 10.1007/978-981-287-484-9_4

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