Burning for God: The Mystical Rebellion of St. Teresa of Ávila

Poetic Disobedience Part 2

Hi! Here is Part 2 of my new series for paid subscribers. This one is on the world’s great mystics who defied the dogmatisms of their time and preached for a direct, personal experience of divinity: a poetic disobedience.

For each entry, we’ll be delving into the poems and teachings of one of these influential spiritual teachers.

My hope is this series will be like a wine barrel you can crawl into and emerge drunk with the same stars and benevolence that graced these great ones; that the truth in their teachings frees and makes us laugh; and that their rebelliousness encourages and sharpens the sensuous in us before we imbibe any doctrine that tells us we are not connected to everything.

This is in honour of those who set the world on fire.

To receive this Series directly to your inbox, you can upgrade your subscription below. If you are already a paid subscriber, well, sit back and “drink” :)

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New Series: Poetic Disobedience

On the Great Mystics Who Set the World On Fire

PART 2: St. Teresa of Avila

Saint Teresa of Ávila, pen in hand, capturing the fire of the soul on the page. By Josefa de Orbita, circa 1670-80. It’s worth noting a little here about Josefa de Óbidos. She was a Portuguese Baroque painter who was very unusual for her time because she gained real fame as a woman artist in the 1600s. Her work has a very intimate, devotional style — perfect for capturing the soulfulness of a mystic like Teresa. Her paintings often have a slightly softened, tender look that makes the religious subjects feel personal and close, rather than grand and distant. See more of her work here