The Cloud of Unknowing & Book of Privy Counseling

The Cloud of Unknowing (Middle English: The Cloude of Unknowyng) is an anonymous work of Christian mysticism written in Middle English in the latter half of the 14th century. The text is a spiritual guide on contemplative prayer in the late Middle Ages. The underlying message of this work suggests that the way to know God is to abandon consideration of God’s particular activities and attributes, and be courageous enough to surrender one’s mind and ego to the realm of unknowing, at which point one may begin to glimpse the nature of God. William Johnston–an authority on fourteenth century spirituality and specifically on the writings of this unknown author–provides a substantive and accessible introduction detailing what is known about the history of this text and its relevance throughout the ages. Also included here is the author’s other principal work, The Book of Privy Counseling–a short and moving text on the way to enlightenment through a total loss of self and consciousness only of the divine.