Many mystics, from Meister Eckhart in the 14th century to Pierre Teilhard de Chardin six centuries later, have been viewed with suspicion by zealous theologians or bishops who often as not simply did not understand that depth of their spiritual insight — or devotion to God. Fortunately, most of the time when mystics were challenged for their supposed lack of orthodoxy, the worst thing that would happen to them would be imprisonment.
But at least one important medieval mystic, the French Beguine (lay sister) Marguerite Porete (1258-1310), paid for her mystical wisdom with her life. She was burned at the stake at the age of about 52, accused of heresy for some of the daring ideas expressed in her book The Mirror of Simple Souls.
Any spiritual seeker today who is familiar with the teachings of the more daring Christian mystics — like Eckhart, or John Ruusbroec, or even John of the Cross — probably would not find anything in Porete’s writing that seems even remotely controversial. Indeed, her most daring idea — that the soul united with God shares in God’s perfection — is hardly unique to her. But even at her most explicit, Porete’s words seem today to be more poetic rather than scandalous:
That which burns has no cold, and the one who swims has no thirst. Thus such a Soul, says Love, is so enflamed in the furnace and fire of Love that she was become properly fire . . . For she is fire in herself through the power of Love who transforms her into the fire of Love. — Marguerite Porete
Yes, God transforms us into the very fire of the Spirit of Love. It’s a beautiful proclamation, and certainly can be surprising to anyone who has grown up under a theology that stresses human “depravity” and a sense of separation from God. But the thought that someone would be killed for ideas like this is, frankly, repugnant.
I once saw a bumpersticker that said, “The last time we mixed religion and politics, people were burned at the stake.” Marguerite Porete seems to be an unfortunate example of this: while I am not a scholar of church history, I suspect that a careful examination of Porete’s trial for heresy would reveal that her accusers were motivated by some sort of political agenda: if nothing more than the medieval sexist belief that women had no right to speak.
What can we learn from Porete? On one level, she reminds us that while we naturally may disagree with those who see God and life differently than we do, we have no business amplifying that disagreement to the level of demonizing or attacking our opponents. But strictly in terms of spiritual wisdom, we can reflect on Porete’s un-scandalous mysticism, and remember that we, too, are called to become so united with God that even our imperfections melt away.
Quotation source: Marguerite Porete, The Mirror of Simple Souls, ed. Ellen L. Babinsky (New York: Paulist Press, 1993), 107.