RAMON LLULL, COSMOS & MYSTICISM AT PUIG DE RANDA

One of the most mystical experiences you can have in Mallorca is to climb Puig de Randa at night and contemplate the stars with the same gaze as Ramon Llull did it more than seven centuries ago.

Knowing Llull's works, reading them, analyzing them, delving into his thoughts is to delve into the most elementary of the human condition: asking ourselves where we come from, what we are doing here and what will become of us.

In her last days in Mallorca, The Grandma, who always used to have Joseph de Ca'th Lon as her astronomical advisor, wanted to enjoy this mystical experience of contemplating the sky, which she often did years ago from the Costitx observatory, now dismantled.

On the summit of Puig de Randa, Ramon Llull did not merely contemplate the landscape of Mallorca; he contemplated the hidden order of the universe. Nature became a mirror of the divine attributes, and the cosmos a language leading toward God.

Around 1274, after a profound spiritual conversion, Ramon Llull withdrew to Puig de Randa, in Mallorca, seeking silence, prayer, and contemplation. According to the Lullian tradition, it was there that he received the inspiration that would give rise to his Ars Magna, the intellectual system that would shape the rest of his life.

For Llull, the universe was not simply a collection of physical objects, but a harmonious and interconnected reality reflecting the qualities of its Creator. The cosmos revealed the divine attributes -goodness, greatness, wisdom, power, truth, and glory- which were present throughout creation in different degrees.

From the heights of Randa, Llull perceived nature as a living book written by God. Every creature, every element, and every relationship within the world pointed beyond itself toward a deeper spiritual reality. Humanity occupied a unique place within this cosmic order, standing between the material and the spiritual realms.

Symbolically, the mountain itself became a bridge between earth and heaven. Through contemplation of the visible world, one could ascend toward understanding the invisible. In this sense, Puig de Randa was not merely a geographical location, but a place of revelation where the unity of God, humanity, and the cosmos became profoundly apparent.

More than seven centuries later, Llull's vision continues to inspire. His contemplative experience reminds us that the universe is not only something to be observed, but also something to be understood as a web of meaning, connection, and wonder.

At Puig de Randa, Ramon Llull discovered that the cosmos was more than a physical reality -it was a sacred language through which creation spoke of its Creator.

One of the challenges when studying Ramon Llull is that he never wrote a single treatise devoted exclusively to cosmology. Instead, his vision of the cosmos is woven throughout many of his works. For Llull, the universe, humanity, and God form an intelligible unity that must be understood as a whole.

Llibre de contemplació en Déu (1273–1274) is perhaps the work that best reflects the contemplative spirit of Llull's period at Puig de Randa. Here, Llull contemplates the world as a manifestation of God. The stars, the elements, plants, animals, and human beings become objects of contemplation because they reveal the divine order. His central idea is that creatures are signs that lead to the knowledge of the Creator. The cosmos appears as an immense symbolic book that can be read spiritually.

Ars Magna is developed from the inspiration Llull received at Randa, this work presents a more abstract cosmology. Rather than simply asking What is the cosmos?, Llull proposes that all realities within the universe are connected through universal principles derived from the divine attributes. It is an extraordinarily relational vision of reality, centuries ahead of its time. It is a matter to explain how all things are related to one another

Llibre de meravelles (1287-1289) includes the famous Llibre de les Bèsties, but the entire text is structured as a journey of discovery. Its protagonist, Fèlix, travels through the world in wonder at creation. The contemplatio n of nature becomes both a philosophical and a spiritual path. The cosmos is presented as an ordered reality whose beauty and harmony inspire awe and lead to wisdom.

Arbre de ciència (1295-1296) organizes all knowledge through a series of interconnected trees:

-The Elemental Tree

-The Vegetal Tree

-The Sensual Tree

-The Human Tree

-The Celestial Tree

-The Angelic Tree

-The Divine Tree

This structure reveals a hierarchical yet interconnected universe in which every level of reality is linked to every other. The work represents Llull's grand intellectual map of the cosmos. For Ramon Llull, the universe is a living network of relationships that reflects the divine perfections and enables human beings to ascend from the visible world toward the knowledge of God.

This insight emerges directly from his contemplative experience at Puig de Randa. For Ramon Llull, contemplation of nature was not an escape from the world, but a way of discovering its deepest order and meaning because for him, contemplating the world was learning to read the language with which God had written the universe.

More information: Quis est Lullus?

If understanding followed no rule at all, 
there would be no good in the understanding 
nor in the matter understood, 
and to remain in ignorance would be the greatest good.

Ramon Llull