American Civil Mysticism

Summary

This chapter introduces civil mysticism, a tradition of nonsectarian transcendence in post-revolutionary U.S. society. It describes how political and social rituals—such as maypole ceremonies, presidential inaugurations, and literary pilgrimages—use embodied practices, sensuous objects, and cognitive states like enchantment to engender a unified people. Drawing on Hawthorne's "The Maypole of Merry Mount" and other depictions, the chapter argues that civil mysticism addressed the democratic challenge of being both plural and one.

Study at a glance

Abstract

This theoretical chapter introduces a largely overlooked tradition of mysticism in the politics, art, religion, and culture of post-revolutionary U.S. society. Civil mysticism refers to nonsectarian practices of transcendence that engender the people, namely political and social rituals such as maypole ceremonies, presidential inaugurations, and literary pilgrimages. This chapter elaborates on civil mysticism’s specific conditions and techniques, insisting that the sacred interval of ritual is indispensable—its embodied practices (e.g., dancing, chanting, reading), sensuous objects (icons, books), and cognitive states or moods (enchantment). Drawing on Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Maypole of Merry Mount” and other nineteenth-century depictions of maypoles and liberty poles, the chapter argues that civil mysticism managed the democratic representational conundrum of being plural at the same time as being one.