The Cloud of Unknowing

A marvelously readable translation of the great Middle English classic of Christian mysticism—now part of the beautifully designed Shambhala Pocket Library collection

This anonymous fourteenth-century text is the glory of English mysticism, and one of the most practical and useful guides to finding union with God ever written. Carmen Acevedo Butcher’s new translation is the first to bring the text into a modern English idiom—while remaining strictly faithful to the meaning of the original Middle English.

The Cloud of Unknowing consists of a series of letters written by a monk to his student or disciple, instructing him (or her) in the way of Divine union. Its theology is presented in a way that is remarkably easy to understand, as well as practical, providing advice on prayer and contemplation that anyone can use. Previous translations of the Cloud have tended to veil its intimate, even friendly tone under medieval-sounding language. Carmen Butcher has boldly brought the text into language as appealing to modern ears as it was to its original readers more than five hundred years ago.

CARMEN ACEVEDO BUTCHER, PhD, teaches at the University of California, Berkeley, as a full-time lecturer. She was a senior Fulbright lecturer at Sogang University, Seoul, Korea. She has published a number of translations of Christian mystical classics from Latin, Middle English, and other languages.