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Article: Sex and mysticism.
- Article from:
- CrossCurrents - The Journal of Addiction and Mental Health
- Article date:
- September 22, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Association for Religion and Intellectual Life. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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In one of his sermons on the Song of Songs, St. Bernard of Clairvaux spoke of being united to Christ the Lord in a holy kiss. (1) In a later sermon he explained: "When the beloved Soul shall have been perfected, the Bridegroom will make with her a spiritual marriage and they shall be two, not in one flesh, but in one spirit." (2) The sexuality of such mystical expressions is clear, but, as we shall see, such utterances are not reserved only to St. Bernard, nor are they peculiar to Christianity. In this essay I want to explore briefly the sexual imagery that appears in the writings of the great mystics of all major religions. I will also contrast this mystical ...
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Dictionary definition: John of the Cross
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions;
405 words
... ... Dark Night of the Soul expound the dark night , the Spiritual Canticle expounds the whole spiritual life through commentary on his long poem inspired by the Song of Songs , and the Living Flame of Love is concerned with ...
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