Hadewijch was one of the mystics not profiled in the book "Mystics" by William Harmless. However, I'd come across her in some other reading, and thought she was very interesting. She belonged to the Beguines, a group of women who took vows of chastity, poverty, and service, but were not cloistered. Many notable women mystics come from the Beguines.
Hadewijch had some interesting philosophies-- she embraced "unfaith," proclaimed that the height of love was the depths of hell, and asserted that despair was better than hope. This topsy-turvy understanding of faith and spirituality reminds one of 1984, but makes sense when put in context. In a world where women were second-class citizens, an overturn of the natural order of things would put women on top.
Hadewijch was also renowned for her poetry. Here is "All Things":
All things
are too small
to hold me,
I am so vast
In the Infinite
I reach
for the Uncreated
I have
touched it,
it undoes me
wider than wide
Everything else
is too narrow
You know this well,
you who are also there
Personally, this poem gives me chills. In the beginning of his book, William Harmless talks about how his undergrad class on the same subject brought up the idea that everyone is a mystic, at least to some extent. Hadewijch's poem reminds me so much of some of my own experiences-- perhaps not with the divine, but with the infinite prison of my own mind. I'll certainly be reading more of her works in the future.
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Dogen-- a Zen Buddhist Mystic
Of the mystics I read about in "Mystics" by William Harmless, I particularly like Dogen, who was a mystic in the Zen Buddhist tradition.
He lived in Japan from 1200 to 1254, and founded the Soto sect of Zen Buddhism. A lot of his theologies stemmed from his "Great Doubt" that he experienced in his youth (which prompted him to leave a separate monastery.) However, he experienced a sort of enlightenment at Mount T'ien-t'ung in China, and started to write his grand work Shobogenzo, which translates to Treasury of the True Dharma Eye. It was a collection of writings that covered topics that ranged from the concept of time and being to the proper way to wash one's face. He delivered the essays as lectures, in Japanese, which was a big political move at the time.
He was an interesting guy, and responsible for much of the way that we think of Zen Buddhism today.
"Mystics"-- a Critique
Hildegard of Bingen was a renowned and respected mystic in her time, and was also an accomplished abbess, musician, and composer. In his book “Mystics,” William Harmless uses her as an example of the rich tradition of women mystics, choosing to highlight her because “she is interesting.” Certainly she is: she was the only medieval woman to be permitted to write theology, or to preach publicly before clergy and laity. She wrote the first morality play, and was remembered for both her compositions and theologies. But does she really represent the class of women mystics as a whole? Harmless repeats time and again that he dislikes the strange, psychological, otherworldly misconceptions of mystics, and so he chose mystics that were more down-to-earth, including Hildegard, who had many administrative pursuits. His other examples, all men, also reflect persons of stature and consequence, who are known for things besides their mystical experiences. Does this approach adequately capture and define the elusive trail of women mystics? Most women in this age, after all, were denied leadership roles within the church, and so could only contribute to Christianity through their experiences of mysticism and the divine. By operating under his rather narrow definition of mysticism as mystical theology—as thus mystics as theologians—Harmless discounts the rich and varied tradition of women mystics, and marginalizes women’s contributions to Christianity throughout the Middle Ages.
Teresa of Avila, Julian of Norwich, Birgitta of Sweden, Elisabeth of Schönau, Gertrude of Helfta, Mechthild of Madgdeburg, Hadewijch—the list goes on. In a time when women were prevented from taking a more active role in the church, they added a distinctly feminine flavor to the tradition of mysticism, often incorporating their sexuality into their accounts of their revelations. In church, a woman’s holiness and spirituality were closed—head covered, mouth shut, sexuality muted. Women were thought to be dangerous, open to interference with the devil; they had to be controlled. In contrast, the experiences that many women mystics had—of becoming one with Jesus, of experiencing nothingness, self-annihilation—carried an openness of faith and spirituality that was denied elsewhere. This experience of “nothingness” arose time and again in women mystical tradition—in her spiritual and physical need for Jesus, she disappears into him and becomes nothing. It is interesting to note that this concept is shared across many cultures and among other mystics and theologians—the Muslim Sufi’s concept of annihilation, Bernard of Clairvaux’s fourth definition of love—love of everything for the sake of God, and Schleiermacher’s later postulations on “Absolute Dependence.” From a woman’s perspective, however, this “nothingness” takes on further meaning—in a society where a woman is discounted because of her body, losing herself would seem freeing.
Other concepts arose that became unique to the woman mystical tradition. Hadewijch in particular describes her spirituality in a rather counter-intuitive way—one is reminded of 1984 with her embrace of “unfaith,” her proclamation that the height of love was the depths of hell, and her assertion that despair was better than hope. Again, from a woman’s perspective, this strange understanding of the world, flipped from its natural order, may be very appealing. As a downtrodden class, women could only rise in a reversal of hierarchical order. The clergy were quick to spot this subversive movement, and even quicker to shut it down. Hadewijch belonged to a group of women called the Beguines, who took vows of chastity, poverty, and service, but who were not confined to a monastery. The group was formally expelled from the church, and some of its more unfortunate members condemned to death.
The oppression of women mystics is not new, and my guess is that the efforts to discredit them over the centuries have led to the “strange and otherworldly” portrayals of mystics that Harmless finds so distasteful. Women in power always represent a threat, especially when they are not part of the bureaucracy and are more difficult to control. Hildegard of Bingen was a worthy mystic, and worth noting, but her integration into the church hierarchy of the time makes her distinct from the large portion of women mystics who were marginalized by the church, and had no formal place within it. Harmless acknowledges that his introductory work is incomplete, and I agree. He needs at least one more woman mystic to make his summary complete.
Teresa of Avila, Julian of Norwich, Birgitta of Sweden, Elisabeth of Schönau, Gertrude of Helfta, Mechthild of Madgdeburg, Hadewijch—the list goes on. In a time when women were prevented from taking a more active role in the church, they added a distinctly feminine flavor to the tradition of mysticism, often incorporating their sexuality into their accounts of their revelations. In church, a woman’s holiness and spirituality were closed—head covered, mouth shut, sexuality muted. Women were thought to be dangerous, open to interference with the devil; they had to be controlled. In contrast, the experiences that many women mystics had—of becoming one with Jesus, of experiencing nothingness, self-annihilation—carried an openness of faith and spirituality that was denied elsewhere. This experience of “nothingness” arose time and again in women mystical tradition—in her spiritual and physical need for Jesus, she disappears into him and becomes nothing. It is interesting to note that this concept is shared across many cultures and among other mystics and theologians—the Muslim Sufi’s concept of annihilation, Bernard of Clairvaux’s fourth definition of love—love of everything for the sake of God, and Schleiermacher’s later postulations on “Absolute Dependence.” From a woman’s perspective, however, this “nothingness” takes on further meaning—in a society where a woman is discounted because of her body, losing herself would seem freeing.
Other concepts arose that became unique to the woman mystical tradition. Hadewijch in particular describes her spirituality in a rather counter-intuitive way—one is reminded of 1984 with her embrace of “unfaith,” her proclamation that the height of love was the depths of hell, and her assertion that despair was better than hope. Again, from a woman’s perspective, this strange understanding of the world, flipped from its natural order, may be very appealing. As a downtrodden class, women could only rise in a reversal of hierarchical order. The clergy were quick to spot this subversive movement, and even quicker to shut it down. Hadewijch belonged to a group of women called the Beguines, who took vows of chastity, poverty, and service, but who were not confined to a monastery. The group was formally expelled from the church, and some of its more unfortunate members condemned to death.
The oppression of women mystics is not new, and my guess is that the efforts to discredit them over the centuries have led to the “strange and otherworldly” portrayals of mystics that Harmless finds so distasteful. Women in power always represent a threat, especially when they are not part of the bureaucracy and are more difficult to control. Hildegard of Bingen was a worthy mystic, and worth noting, but her integration into the church hierarchy of the time makes her distinct from the large portion of women mystics who were marginalized by the church, and had no formal place within it. Harmless acknowledges that his introductory work is incomplete, and I agree. He needs at least one more woman mystic to make his summary complete.
"Mystics" Book Review
For my book review, I read "Mystics" by William Harmless, which profiles ten mystics-- 8 Christians, Rumi (Muslim), and Dogen (Zen Buddhist). It was an interesting book, however Harmless works on the definition of mysticism as mystical theology, which I thought was slightly limiting. He only included one woman mystic, which is disappointing because the mystical tradition is rich with women contributors.
He did make some interesting points about how to read mystical texts-- to take note of their history and lives, not just their theologies, to take note of the genre of their writings, and to understand the role of scripture within the context of their revelations.
I'll do a few more posts specifically about bits that I found particularly interesting.
Monday, April 8, 2013
The Soles of Atheists
A German company has encountered some issues with the U.S. mail system. The company sells shoes, specifically shoes with "Atheist" or "Darwin Loves" written across the soles. They also emblazon their packing tape with their ATHEIST brand, and have recently started wondering if this had anything to do with the number of packages that went missing on the way to their U.S. customers.
They decided to devise an experiment-- send two packages to each of 89 customers in the United States, one with the ATHEIST packing tape and one with plain packing tape. Their results were astonishing: the ATHEIST packages took on average three days longer than the plain-packaged ones to arrive, and while only one of the plains went missing, nine of the ATHEIST ones did. (These are statistically-significant results.)
What does this tell us? Were U.S. postal workers deliberately sabotaging the ATHEIST packages? It's possible; atheists are one of the most distrusted groups in the U.S., according to this NPR article. The ATHEIST packages may be treated with more caution, or be vetted more fully, or the shipping differences may simply be due to the fact that one had emblazoned tape while the other did not. Who knows.
The full NPR article can be read here.
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Many Support Making Christianity a State Religion
In a new poll, 34% of U.S. adults said they favored making Christianity the official state religion in their state, though only 11% said they thought the U.S. Constitution allowed states to do so. Republicans were more likely to support a state religion, with 55% saying they favored a state amendment, and 46% saying they favored an amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
In perceptions of the separation of church and state, more people say they aren't mixed enough (37%) than too mixed (29%).
Of course, to me, this is pretty terrifying. Let's think about the other countries with religious governments: Saudi Arabia, Iran, several struggling countries in Africa. Do we really want to count ourselves amongst that number? Let's hope the good ol' U.S. Constitution remains strong in the face of this theocracy.
The full Huffington Post article can be found here.
In perceptions of the separation of church and state, more people say they aren't mixed enough (37%) than too mixed (29%).
Of course, to me, this is pretty terrifying. Let's think about the other countries with religious governments: Saudi Arabia, Iran, several struggling countries in Africa. Do we really want to count ourselves amongst that number? Let's hope the good ol' U.S. Constitution remains strong in the face of this theocracy.
The full Huffington Post article can be found here.
Jimmy Carter: Equality over Religion
In a recent essay, Jimmy Carter has stated that he has decided to sever ties with the Southern Baptist Convention, due to their stance on women's subservience to men. Carter, who is simultaneously one of the more religious and more liberal presidents we've had, said it was a painful decision, but "it was an unavoidable one."
He goes on to say that this discrimination against women based on the word of a Higher Authority is expressed across many cultures and religions, and is responsible for increased rates of violence, lack of education and health care, and generally inferior conditions for females. He explains that this type of thinking is detrimental not only to women, but to a society as a whole, which surely cannot prosper when it discriminates against half of its population. Investing in women's education benefits society; she earns more, and invests it in her family
Jimmy Carter is part of the Elders, a group of world leaders started by Nelson Mandela and designed to support peace building, help address major causes of human suffering, and promote the shared interests of humanity. The group has recently issued a statement which mirrors Carters': "The justification of discrimination against women and girls on grounds of religion or tradition, as if it were prescribed by a Higher Authority, is unacceptable.”
Carter does not back away entirely from religion. He states that this misuse of God's word is taught against by "Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul, Moses and the prophets, Muhammad, and founders of other great religions - all of whom have called for proper and equitable treatment of all the children of God."
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