The Cloud of Unknowing (an anonymous 14th-century Christian mystical text often presented in modern editions with Evelyn Underhill’s introduction/editorial work) is a practical guide to contemplative prayer that teaches the seeker to move beyond discursive thinking and images in order to “know” God by love rather than intellect: because God is ultimately inaccessible to the mind, the contemplative accepts a “cloud of unknowing” between the soul and God, lets created things fade into a “cloud of forgetting,” and repeatedly directs the heart toward God with a simple, wordless intent—sometimes aided by a short word (like “God” or “love”)—persevering through dryness and distraction with humility, patience, and focused desire until the will is gently gathered into a deeper, quieter union.