Erotic Culture: Erotic Ecstasy in Mystical Theology
Mystical writers from Hildegard of Bingen to Saint Teresa of Ávila described union with the divine in intensely erotic terms—using metaphors of penetration, surrender, and pleasure. These accounts blurred the lines between spirituality and erotic rapture. Such texts demonstrate how human longing—sexual or spiritual—is rooted in the desire for dissolution, union, and transcendence. Erotic and religious ecstasy are not always distinct experiences.
Hildegard of Bingen's Scivias uses sensuous language to describe her visions of heaven. She describes feeling "overwhelmed" by "the sweetness of God," which she compares to the taste of honey and "a most exalted joy." In another passage, she writes about being drawn into a "wonderful abyss of love" that is "so high above all created things that no creature can conceive it," likening it to the feeling of falling through space without any sense of motion.
The writings of John of the Cross suggest that sexual and mystical experience share a common goal—union with God. He describes this union as an act of complete surrender, where one gives oneself fully to the object of their desire, saying, "I am so absorbed in you that there is nothing left of me but you." This idea echoes the theme of self-loss found in many romantic relationships, which also involves a fusion of identities.
St. Teresa of Ávila's The Interior Castle presents a vision of spiritual growth in which the soul moves from room to room within the castle, eventually reaching the central chamber, where God dwells. Each room represents a different stage of intimacy, culminating in the ultimate union with God. Her descriptions of this journey are filled with erotic imagery, such as "drinking" from the fountain of divine wisdom or entering the "sealed garden of paradise."
Similarly, Julian of Norwich's Revelations of Divine Love depicts a vision of Jesus on the cross, where he opens his side and invites her to enter. She describes the experience as both painful and ecstatic, writing, "It was not only sweet pain, but rather all sweetness in sweetness." These accounts blur the lines between bodily and spiritual pleasure, suggesting that human longing for connection is rooted in both forms of transcendence.
In conclusion, these texts demonstrate how erotic and religious ecstasy are intertwined, arising from the same underlying drive toward union and dissolution. They show that our desires for connection can take many forms—whether sexual or spiritual—and that we seek to lose ourselves in something larger than ourselves..