Backstory

Evelyn Underhill was born into a middle-class family in Wolverhampton, United Kingdom. She was the only child and whilst born into an environment that fostered staunch pacifism there was no strong familial link to spirituality. Growing up at the cusp of the new century saw her captured by the romantic nature of that time as well as the burgeoning psychology and scientific breakthroughs that would change the world over the following 50 years of her life. As a woman, she was also emerging into her own sense of civic power as the suffragettes made massive inroads around the "empire" providing space for women to find their voice in previously domains that had excluded them; solo lay spiritual practice being one such area. Homeschooled initially, she read history and botany at King's College. Like so many of the women, we have studied for this project she was a polymath and a profound intellect.

Married to Hubert Moore in 1907, a successful barrister like her father, allowed Evelyn the financial freedom to travel Europe, investigating her passions for visual art, prose, poetry and mysticism. Her writing encompasses these interests as her prose work is lyrical, vivid and provides tangible metaphors to grasp what is often an amorphous concept for most of, providing a glimpse into the deep contemplative spaces to which Evelyn travelled.

"Mrs Moore" found her initial agnostic stance challenged through her study and experiences moving into Anglicanism and then, much to her protestant husband's horror, Anglo-Catholicism. In 1924 she took on Baron Von Hugel as her spiritual mentor, directing her into less theory and more practical explorations of her faith. She became a prominent mentor in the Anglican church herself after his death, lay leader of numerous spiritual retreats, radio presenter and spiritual director for hundreds of people.

3 Manifestations of Reality - Natural World of Becoming, the Metaphysical World of Being, the Divine Reality within which these opposites are found as one

Mysticism as the Science of Love

Throughout the text Underhill asks us to see the mystical in the experience of the everyday, in the moments that we take for granted. She provides numerous moments of lived experience in which the reader can notice God at work

Everything appears as it is

Through inspiring and sometimes confronting bluntness Underhill demands of the reader in the first 6 chapters to acknowledge the ego, acknowledge with honesty the "self", stop hiding from the separation we create between ourselves and others and instead "look with the eyes of love"

Search for Gnosis and Freedom of Thought

Evelyn was unbound from the ties of any specific branch of Christian faith, she was interested in whatever perspective gave her the best practice and insight into her connection with God. Her ever-present shifting from one denomination to another and her drive for ecumenical work are such clear practical evidence of this. However, it is also in the voices that she uses in her writing, which crossover from the eastern and western traditions without judgement or exception. She is only interested in the journey.

Sacred Flame

Although not spoken specifically, the reference to the interior divinity is clear throughout her text as she insights Divine Widom and perfect harmony. Underhill explores the writings of many prophets and voices in Christianity to explain this throughout the book however it is in her extolling of the every day as the means to the divine connection that it is most clear. She demands of us all to realise that this is not the purview of the select few but of anyone who puts their will to it.