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"Brings together St. Francis of Assisi, St. Hildegard of Bingen, Julian of Norwich, Richard Rolle, and Margery Kempe for dinner and lively conversation in a modern home setting"--
When a young, unidentified woman is pulled alive and well from Sydney Harbour in 2013, the connections to another woman - found in similar circumstances forty years earlier - present psychiatrist Kathryn Brookley with a terrible decision as the events of the present and past begin to mirror each other and the gap between truth and illusion shrinks. When the young woman goes further and declares that she has lived continuously since coming to 'understanding' in the 14th century, her vivid accounts of life, love, childbirth, and loss in the Middle Ages seem so authentic that they test Kathryn's scientific objectivity to the limit. As Kathryn delves she discovers that she is not the only one whose habitual assumptions about life have been torn asunder by an apparent experience of the miraculous in relation to the mystery woman. But it is the emotional, spiritual and mystical insights that emerge from the linking of all the facets of this mystery that affect Kathryn and others most profoundly, reflecting the commonality of human experience across the ages and the deep yearnings within all of us.
This distinctive comparison of Islamic and Christian mysticism focuses on the mystic journey in the two faith traditions.
Ecocritical thinking has sensitized us more than ever before to the tremendous importance of water for human life, as it is richly reflected in the world of literature. The great relevance of water also in the Middle Ages might come as a surprise for many readers, but the evidence assembled here confirms that also medieval poets were keenly aware of the importance of water to sustain all life, to provide understanding of life’s secrets, to mirror love, and to connect the individual with God. In eleven chapters major medieval European authors and their works are discussed here, taking us from the world of Old Norse to Irish and Latin literature, to German, French, English, and Italian romances and other narratives.
From beloved spiritual teacher Carl McColman comes a book about big possibility: the hope of achieving authentic, blissful, experiential union with God. He reveals the various ways Christian mysticism and contemplation have been in dynamic practice through the centuries, proving inspirational for today's seekers, regardless of faith tradition.