The short answer
“Spiritual” is the broader word. It refers to the inner life, the sacred, or matters not purely material. “Mystical” is narrower. It usually refers to direct experience of ultimate reality or the divine, or to something with a deep, hard-to-grasp mystery. Something mystical is nearly always spiritual, but many spiritual things are not mystical.
“Spiritual” as a word
People use “spiritual” for prayer, meditation, a sense of meaning, concern with the soul, or a personal outlook that may or may not be religious. It does not necessarily require belief in God; some people use it for awe, ethics or connection without any deity. For a longer discussion, see mysticism vs spirituality.
“Mystical” as a word
“Mystical” has two common senses:
- Technical: relating to mysticism, the pursuit of direct union with or knowledge of the divine. See what mysticism is.
- Everyday: mysterious, enchanting or beyond ordinary understanding, as in “a mystical forest.”
The second sense is looser and can be unrelated to religion.
Examples side by side
- Attending a service, volunteering out of faith, or keeping a gratitude journal might be called spiritual.
- Hours of silent contemplation leading to an overwhelming sense of oneness might be called mystical. See what a mystical experience is.
Lutheran mysticism
Lutheranism is sometimes thought to be opposed to mysticism, but the picture is mixed. Martin Luther admired some medieval mystical writings, such as the Theologia Germanica, while distrusting forms of mysticism he thought bypassed scripture. Later Lutheran and Pietist writers cultivated an inward, devotional piety, and some used mystical language. Exact characterizations vary among scholars, so treat summaries with care. More on the wider Christian tradition is in Christian mysticism.