The first great writer of the desert mystics was Evagrius Ponticus (346–399), whose works were influenced by Origen. His writings show a clear distinction between the ascetic, or “practical,” life and the contemplative, or “theoretical,” life, a distinction that was to become classic in Christian history. His disciple, John Cassian, conveyed his mysticism to the monks of Western Europe, especially in the exposition of ideas that there are “degrees of prayer”. Gregory of Nyssa, the younger brother of Basil, sketched out a model for progress in the mystical path in his Life of Moses, he devoted a number of homilies to a mystical interpretation of the Song of Solomon, showing how the book speaks both of Christ's love for the church and of the love between the soul and the Divine Bridegroom. Obviously, this was a turning away from the power of the male/feminine love to the exaltation of the soul. One could expect it from monks but for heterosexuals, it is a pity.

Perhaps the most influential of all Eastern Christian mystics wrote in the 5th or 6th century in the name of Dionysius the Areopagite who was one of Paul’s convert at Athens. He was probably a Syrian monk. In the chief works of his Pseudo-Dionysius, Mystical Theology and the use of the Divine Names, the main emphasis was on the ineffability of God (“the Divine Dark”). Through a gradual process of ascension from material things to spiritual realities and an eventual stripping away of all created beings in the “unknowing,” the soul arrives at “union with Him - who transcends all being and all knowledge” The writings of this Pseudo-Dionysius popularized the threefold division of the mystical life into purgative, illuminative, and unitive stages. Later Eastern mystical theologians adopted much of this thought while changing it with to a greater Christological emphasis, showing that union with God is possible only through the action of the God-man. Obviously, this is the Church tacking on its interpretations to elaborate upon Jesus more straightforward messages. Eastern mystics distinguish between the essence of God and divine attributes, which they regard as energies that penetrate the universe. Creation is a process of emanation, whereby the divine Being is “transported outside of Himself . . . to dwell within the heart of all things . . .” The potential divinization of humanity is fundamental to Eastern mysticism.

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