In Britain and the United States, relatively few people ever do any translating - because they know no foreign languages. This unfortunately gives translation - especially the literary variety - an aura of exoticism that it doesn’t deserve.

As Transubstantiation rightly points out, experience is crucial. You don’t get experience by going on a Translation Theory course and dissecting a few poems in the classroom. You get an adequate amount of experience by translating whole books. For several years.

For me, people like Hadewych, Simone Weil, the Sufis, Ruusbroec, etc., are mystics. But translation is alarmingly banal. You build up intuition, and a quick memory over the years. And you must have an excellent knowledge of the language into which you are translating (aka the target language, usually your native-tongue). This latter point is very important, as you will be no good as a literary translator if you are out of touch with the living version of the target language. Some language freaks forget this point and concentrate solely on the language out of which they are translating (aka the source language).

So, go easy on the mysticism and you will understand translation better. It is a craft, not a cloud of unknowing.