Ascent of Mount Carmel is a 16th-century spiritual treatise by Spanish
Catholic mystic and poet Saint
John of the Cross. The book is a systematic treatment of the
ascetical life in pursuit of mystical union with
Christ, giving advice and reporting on his own experience. Alongside another connected work by John, entitled
The Dark Night, it details the so-called
Dark Night of the Soul, when the individual Soul undergoes earthly and spiritual privations in search of union with
God. These two works, together with John's
The Living Flame of Love and the
Spiritual Canticle, are regarded as some of the greatest works both in Christian mysticism and in the
Spanish language.