Dissident Women, Beguines, and the Quest for Spiritual Authority

Dissident Women, Beguines and the Quest for Spiritual Authority focuses on the responses of a group of twenty-first century women to the lives and writings of thirteenth-century beguine mystics. It will be of particular interest to scholars of mysticism and spirituality as well as practical, pastoral, and feminist theology.

Dissident Women, Beguines, and the Quest for Spiritual Authority focuses on the responses of a group of twenty-first-century women to the lives and writings of thirteenth-century beguine mystics, and reveals how the struggle to discover their own inner spiritual authority connects two groups of women across centuries.

For contemporary women who are disenchanted with the institutional church and who seek spiritual direction, models deeply rooted within the tradition may not be the most helpful. The author explores the value of exemplars from the fringes, ushering Hadewijch of Brabant, Mechthild of Magdeburg, and Marguerite Porete into the spotlight. The contemporary women studied developed a relationship with the beguines that transformed and influenced their own journeys. Their encounters underline the importance of re-membering the beguine mystics, the value of contemplative engagement with historical mystics, and the need for explicit validation of the richness of the edges of tradition within spiritual direction. *Dissident Women, Beguines, and the Quest for Spiritual Authority* will be of particular interest to scholars of mysticism and spirituality as well as practical, pastoral, and feminist theology.

Autorentext

Catherine Lambert (PhD Pilgrim Theological College) is a Uniting Church minister, spiritual director, and retreat leader based in Western Australia.

Klappentext

Dissident Women, Beguines and the Quest for Spiritual Authority focuses on the responses of a group of twenty-first century women to the lives and writings of thirteenth-century beguine mystics. It will be of particular interest to scholars of mysticism and spirituality as well as practical, pastoral, and feminist theology.

Inhalt

1. Introduction: 'Why Have I Not Heard of These Women?' 2. 'Finding My Own Voice': Spiritual Direction and Women's Discovery of Spiritual Authority 3. 'I'm Out of Here': The Relationship between Internal and External Spiritual Authority 4. The Beguine Movement 5. 'The Spring Gushes Forth': How to Read the Beguines 6. 'Nothing Less Than Love': Responding to Hadewijch 7. 'Living in the Flow': Responding to Mechthild 8. 'Without a Why': Responding to Marguerite 9. 'No Longer Alone': Engaging with the Beguines 10. 'A Hook to Hang My Experience On': Implications for Spiritual Direction Practice and the Church 11. Conclusion: Placing My Stone in the Divine Heart