The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa
The religious experience is shocking. And its very very real. You can feel it.
But the majority of people who are not religious or spiritual would be extremely hard pressed to ever notice or understand it. That's why very often the experience is described in very sexualized terms. I wan't comment on why this is done. But I find this theme very common to not only some of the Christian religious poetry, but also to some of the Bhakti poets of medieval India, as well as the sufi saints in Islam, in particular Jalal ud din Rumi.
Just to confirm my views, I had emailed Sister Ananda, my literature teacher, as well as a nun.My email was thus:
"I am not sure if you are aware or not, but my plans for MA didn't work out as I planned, (actually hardly anything in my life works out according to PLANS). So, now I'm studying fashion designing.We have a module called costume studies, which is basically art and culture of the world, or history of art, its one of my favourite subjects, because it comes closest to literature and history. My latest assignment is to develop a mood board and colour board based on the paintings of Rubens. While I was researching his style, I came across the Baroque sculpture called The Ecstasy of St. Teresa. If you click here, you will be able to see it. If you aren't able to open the link, open the site
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecstasy_of_St_Theresa .
Sister, what I wanted to ask you was that, St. Teresa's expression of Ecstasy is often described as one of almost physical fulfillment. Now, is this somewhat similar to what the Bhakti Poets were talking about? The sense of being filled with the Holy Spitit? And the Mystic Union? I don't know why this thought just popped into my head while I was reading about the statue. Though Ms. Kanoria taught us this section, I don't know why I thought you were the best person to ask this.
Please let me know what you think."
Sister Ananda replied:
"Yes, you're spot on - the mystical experience is indeed very close to physical fulfilment, and whether we are speaking of the Christian mystics, or the Bhakti poets, the experience is often articulated in physical, even sexual terms. The experience is indeed one of being filled with the Holy Spirit, and one of Mystical Union, where all boundaries of self and other fall away and the divine and the human become one.
I'm sorry it's taken me so long to reply, but I've been run off my feet recently and haven't even had the time to check my mail properly."
FROM WIKIPEDIA: Description from St TERESA's Autobiography
The two central sculptural figures of the swooning nun and the angel with the spear derive from an episode described by Teresa of Avila, a mystical cloistered Discalced Carmelite reformer and nun, in her autobiography, ‘The Life of Teresa of Jesus’ (1515–1582). Her experience of religious ecstasy in her encounter with the angel is described as follows:
“ I saw in his hand a long spear of gold, and at the iron's point there seemed to be a little fire. He appeared to me to be thrusting it at times into my heart, and to pierce my very entrails; when he drew it out, he seemed to draw them out also, and to leave me all on fire with a great love of God. The pain was so great, that it made me moan; and yet so surpassing was the sweetness of this excessive pain, that I could not wish to be rid of it. The soul is satisfied now with nothing less than God. The pain is not bodily, but spiritual; though the body has its share in it. It is a caressing of love so sweet which now takes place between the soul and God, that I pray God of His goodness to make him experience it who may think that I am lying."
Given the sexualized imagery of St. Teresa's written account of the experience, some critics have seen in the statue a depiction of physical orgasm; in particular, the body posture and facial expression of St. Teresa have caused some to assign her experience as one of climactic moment.Jacques Lacan, for example, whilst discussing the female orgasm, said that "you only have to go and look at Bernini's statue in Rome to understand immediately that she's coming, there is no doubt about it."
But the majority of people who are not religious or spiritual would be extremely hard pressed to ever notice or understand it. That's why very often the experience is described in very sexualized terms. I wan't comment on why this is done. But I find this theme very common to not only some of the Christian religious poetry, but also to some of the Bhakti poets of medieval India, as well as the sufi saints in Islam, in particular Jalal ud din Rumi.
Just to confirm my views, I had emailed Sister Ananda, my literature teacher, as well as a nun.My email was thus:
"I am not sure if you are aware or not, but my plans for MA didn't work out as I planned, (actually hardly anything in my life works out according to PLANS). So, now I'm studying fashion designing.We have a module called costume studies, which is basically art and culture of the world, or history of art, its one of my favourite subjects, because it comes closest to literature and history. My latest assignment is to develop a mood board and colour board based on the paintings of Rubens. While I was researching his style, I came across the Baroque sculpture called The Ecstasy of St. Teresa. If you click here, you will be able to see it. If you aren't able to open the link, open the site
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecstasy_of_St_Theresa .
Sister, what I wanted to ask you was that, St. Teresa's expression of Ecstasy is often described as one of almost physical fulfillment. Now, is this somewhat similar to what the Bhakti Poets were talking about? The sense of being filled with the Holy Spitit? And the Mystic Union? I don't know why this thought just popped into my head while I was reading about the statue. Though Ms. Kanoria taught us this section, I don't know why I thought you were the best person to ask this.
Please let me know what you think."
Sister Ananda replied:
"Yes, you're spot on - the mystical experience is indeed very close to physical fulfilment, and whether we are speaking of the Christian mystics, or the Bhakti poets, the experience is often articulated in physical, even sexual terms. The experience is indeed one of being filled with the Holy Spirit, and one of Mystical Union, where all boundaries of self and other fall away and the divine and the human become one.
I'm sorry it's taken me so long to reply, but I've been run off my feet recently and haven't even had the time to check my mail properly."
FROM WIKIPEDIA: Description from St TERESA's Autobiography
The two central sculptural figures of the swooning nun and the angel with the spear derive from an episode described by Teresa of Avila, a mystical cloistered Discalced Carmelite reformer and nun, in her autobiography, ‘The Life of Teresa of Jesus’ (1515–1582). Her experience of religious ecstasy in her encounter with the angel is described as follows:
“ I saw in his hand a long spear of gold, and at the iron's point there seemed to be a little fire. He appeared to me to be thrusting it at times into my heart, and to pierce my very entrails; when he drew it out, he seemed to draw them out also, and to leave me all on fire with a great love of God. The pain was so great, that it made me moan; and yet so surpassing was the sweetness of this excessive pain, that I could not wish to be rid of it. The soul is satisfied now with nothing less than God. The pain is not bodily, but spiritual; though the body has its share in it. It is a caressing of love so sweet which now takes place between the soul and God, that I pray God of His goodness to make him experience it who may think that I am lying."
Given the sexualized imagery of St. Teresa's written account of the experience, some critics have seen in the statue a depiction of physical orgasm; in particular, the body posture and facial expression of St. Teresa have caused some to assign her experience as one of climactic moment.Jacques Lacan, for example, whilst discussing the female orgasm, said that "you only have to go and look at Bernini's statue in Rome to understand immediately that she's coming, there is no doubt about it."
Labels: Poetry, spirituality
posted by this is me | Wednesday, May 23, 2012
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