“Two-thirds of atheists who have a hero’s dose of mushrooms and have a transcendent experience—afterward, they don’t call themselves atheists. And it’s not because they go back to religion. It’s because they just feel like sometimes, in secularism or atheism, there’s not enough language to talk about and value these kinds of experiences because we’re so allergic to religion.”
An atheist mystic is an oxymoron….or so I thought.
Meet Britt Hartley. An ex-Mormon turned atheist who, through her continued fascination and love for awe and transcendence, finds herself in an improbable position: a secular spiritual educator hell bent on critiquing religion while also leaving space to acknowledge some of religion’s most helpful and life-giving teachings.
And yes, Hartley has studied these topics thoroughly: she has a Master’s Degree in Theology. But she doesn’t simply study religion, she also partakes. To the surprise of some, she’s an ordained practitioner in Sufism, the mystical branch of Islam.
In 2024, Hartley put her worldview and life story into a best-selling book: No Nonsense Spirituality: All the Tools, No Faith Required. The book aims to bridge the gap between secular thinking and spirituality and provides tools for how to combine the two worlds and strive towards well-being.
Her effectiveness as a communicator has led to a successful secular spirituality coaching business. It turns out there’s a huge desire among spiritually homeless or nihilistic people to seek purpose. And online, Hartley’s a rapidly growing content creator. Across social media platforms, she educates hundreds of thousands of followers’ thinking on religion, atheism, nihilism, gender and more.
All told the work aims to, as Hartley puts it, “rebuild meaning, identity, connection, and spiritual depth after or outside of religious dogma, pseudoscience, or forced belief.” It’s a noble agenda and one I wholeheartedly endorse.
There is much I WANNA KNOW from an atheist mystic. From Sufism, to combating nihilism, to transcendent experiences, to a frank conversation on suffering, we cover it all!
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