#Mechthild of Magdeburg

[wishicouldcrossthesea]

Mechthild of Magdeburg, The Flowing Light of the Godhead II.25, translated by Frank Tobin

[headknight-oh]

Harrowhark Nonagesimus is the Mechthild of Magdeburg of space necro-catholicism. Gotta love divinity so much you wanna fuck it then become one.

This joke is meant for approximately three (3) people

[iscariotapologist]

Julian of Norwich/Rainer Maria Rilke/Mechthild of Magdeburg

[apesoformythoughts]

“I cannot dance, O Lord,

Unless You lead me.

If You wish me to leap joyfully,

Let me see You dance and sing—

Then I will leap into Love—

And from Love into Knowledge,

And from Knowledge into the Harvest,

The sweetest Fruit beyond human sense.

There I will stay with You, whirling.”

— Mechthild of Magdeburg (transl. from the Middle Low German by Jane Hirshfield)

[theridgebeyond]

How the Soul Speaks to God

Lord you are my lover,

My longing,

My flowing stream,

My sun,

And I am your reflection.

— Mechthild of Magdeburg, as quoted in Visions and Longings: Medieval Women Mystics by Monica Furlong

[tiaochan]

God Speaks to the Soul by Mechthild of Magdeburg, trans. Oliver Davies

[atheologica]

VII, 16:

For a long time a person desired more than all gifts and suffering that God release her soul with a holy end. And our Lord said: "Wait for me."

The person said: "Dear Lord, I cannot control my longing; I would so dearly like to be with you."

Our Lord said: "I longed for you before the beginning of the world. I long for you and you long for me. Where two burning desires meet, there love is perfect."

Mechthild of Magdeburg tr. Frank Tobin, The Flowing Light of the Godhead (Classics of Western Spirituality)

[orchidbutch]

ooo got another interesting vid from Esoterica!

[santmat]

“A Light of utmost splendor glows on the eyes of my soul. Therein have I seen the inexpressible ordering of all things, and recognized God’s unspeakable glory — that incomprehensible wonder — the tender caress between God and the soul… the unmingled joy of union, the living love of eternity as it now is and evermore shall be.” (Mechthild of Magdeburg, Flowing Light of the Godhead)

[differenceetrepetition]

– Mechthild of Magdeburg, trans. Jane Hirschfield

[valkyries-things]

MECHTHILD OF MAGDEBURG // MYSTIC

“She was a Christian medieval mystic, whose book Das fließende Licht der Gottheit (The Flowing Light of Divinity) is a compendium of visions, prayers, dialogues and mystical accounts. She was the first mystic to write in Low German.”

[wishicouldcrossthesea]

Emily Hunter McGowin, "Eroticism and Pain in Mechthild of Magdeburg’s The Flowing Light"

[headknight-oh]

No, I didn’t lie to you. We are having sex. Keep your clothes off. But we’re talking about the erotic emanations of divinity as written by Mechtild of Magdeburg, 13th century German Christian Mystic

[iscariotapologist]

okay hi i was wondering if i could ask a super specific question connected to faith? i was raised in non denominational/non religious Christianity but sorta drifted from that in my teen years and was more or less agnostic, and now that I’m 22 I’m returning back to spiritual Christianity and trying to form a personal connection with God. while I was raised to love everyone and treat everyone with kindness, some parts of my community are pretty homophobic/racist, and sometimes it’s very hard to separate my own beliefs with theirs, its so exhausting. there are lots of things im interested in writing about and exploring as I grow as a person. I realized I’m she/they and that those pronouns fit me well, i enjoy quite a lot of straight ships and gay ships and write about both of them, and to express my sexuality i want to write smut and stuff for some self indulgence. I was raised knowing questioning gender and expressing sexuality is a normal human thing. But due to my towns culture and toxic view on gender expression and sexuality I can’t help but feel…guilt? Like on one hand I know it’s normal but on the other hand there’s this level of paranoia and guilt, thinking that God will smite me for writing about sex and gay ships. anyways what I’m asking u is if you’ve ever had that guilt before, and are there ways to challenge that paranoia? If you don’t feel comfortable responding to this that’s fine! If you’re able to thanks so much! Have a good day :)

hi! congrats on the pronouns. yeah in my experience feeling this way about sex/sexuality is extremely common if not ubiquitous among people with a background like this. i'm repressed as hell personally and got a lot of purity culture bullshit as a teenager so i'm definitely familiar with this kind of guilt, and can't say i've worked through it all either. i honestly think the most effective way to combat this is to spend time with people who are not stuck in that mindset, but it sounds like that might be difficult in your situation. until you can do that i would recommend spending time with theology that can help you adjust your perspective; some body-friendly and accessible (as in easy to read) authors i'm fond of are sarah bessey, nadia bolz-weber (specifically her book shameless), and rowan williams (specifically the body's grace essay). if you want to get a little more intense with concepts of sexuality/eroticism and christianity i would recommend closet devotions by richard rambuss and the works of mystics such as mechthild of magdeburg, catherine of siena, and julian of norwich. also song of songs in the bible. also in my reference tag there are some posts with reading lists of a similar theme. i will drop the tags for these authors below so you can check out some excerpts from their work that i've posted or reblogged if you want. good luck!

[itsaskingquestions]

How Understanding and the Soul Speak Together

[d-i-x-i-t]

The day of my spiritual awakening was the day I saw and knew I saw all things in God and God in all things.

Mechthild of Magdeburg