On the Trail of (mostly) Women Mystics

I'm off to Europe this evening, for another "trip of a lifetime." I'll be joining 9 amazing, delightful women on a self-organized pilgrimage to sites of (mostly) women mystics. We will be teaching each other about the mystics and their key writings as we journey to Amsterdam, Norwich (England), Ávila (Spain), and Mount Ste. Baume (Provence). These are the mystics we will be learning about:

• Margarite Poerte (1258-1310) and the Beguines

• Julian of Norwich (~1343-1416)

• Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941)

• Anonymous - The Cloud of Unknowing (latter half of the 1300's)

• Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582)

• John of the Cross (1542-1591) (Teresa's buddy in reforming the Carmelites)

• Mary Magdalene - a woman whose prominent role as the "Apostle to the Apostles" in the early Jesus movement (before Christianity) is being re-discovered. This link gives an account of the legends of her time in Provence. We will be walking through an ancient forest, dedicated to Artemis for 700 years before Mary Magdalene arrived, to her grotto, which is one of the oldest Christian pilgrimage sites. The Dominican friars, who are the "guardians" of the site, have a fascinating website that includes information about the history of the cave.

These Christians (though there was no "Christianity" in Magdalene's time) seem aligned with Buddhism to me, emphasizing direct experience of inner quiet and a connection with something larger than the egoic self. In his recent book, Mysticism, the philosopher Simon Critchley quotes Evelyn Underhill's definition of mysticism as "experience in its most intense form." He defines it as "the cultivation of practices which allow you to free yourself of your standard habits, your usual fancies and imaginings and see what is there and stand with what is there ecstatically" (p. 1), though he continues to grapple with other ideas about what mysticism is throughout the book. He is especially interested in how mysticism can be found in everyday aesthetic experiences of art, poetry and music (especially).

Interspiritual teacher Mirabai Starr grounds mysticism in our everyday lives in her book, Ordinary Mysticism: Your Life as Sacred Ground. For Starr, all of us are presented with "zillions" of opportunities in our everyday lives to step outside our small selves and feel connected to something bigger. She says, “All you have to do to walk the path of the ordinary mystic is to cultivate a gaze of wonder and step onto the road. Keep walking. Rest up, and walk again. Fall down, get up, walk on."

Maybe it is not surprising I didn't learn about the Christian mystics (mostly Catholic) in my Catholic upbringing. Mystics of whatever tradition (Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu) are threatening to the status quo; mystics don't operate according to the rules. The mystics that I've been studying, to "teach" my sister pilgrims, Teresa of Ávila and John of the Cross, lived and taught during the Spanish Inquisition, when personal or silent ways of communicating with the divine was considered dangerous, outside the bounds of ecclesiastical authority. About 150,000 people were prosecuted during the Spanish Inquisition and perhaps as many as 5000 were burned at the stake in Spain. (This was Marguerite Porete's fate in Paris, in 1310). I have no idea how Teresa escaped the Inquisitors; certainly, she was in constant danger. It is a testament to her intelligence and charm that she and her writings survived. Some might say it was a miracle.

I decided I will post photos and write a travelogue on FindPenguins, which I haven't done before. It has been delightful to follow a friend who posts on it when she travels. Once I do my first post, my trip "Women Mystics in Europe" should be available on the FindPenguins app - and I think I can invite everyone from the app. Stay tuned!

Oh - and I'll be awakening in Norwich on my 65th birthday and falling asleep in Ávila! How lucky am I??!! This will be a wonderful bookend to turning 21 in France, all those years ago - though this time I will be with beloved companions, instead of being on my own.