My Favourite Mystic

This month, Biörn Tjällén joins AJ Langley to speak about the Christian mystic Margareta, a woman of Sámi origin who travelled through Sweden in the late fourteenth and early fifteenth century to gain support from Swedish religious authorities for the increase in pastoral care from those in the Northern regions of Sweden. We talk about the lack of information that we have, the letters of support, her connections with the Queen of Sweden (also Margareta), her life as a parallel to that of St Birgitta of Sweden. 

This week, AJ Langley s joined by dancer, choreographer, and theologian Sander Vloebergs to discuss the medieval mystic Lutgardis (c. 1182-1246). Turns out, she was an absolute boss! She returned God's gifts until she got the one that worked the best for her, she controlled their relationship and demanding God be as compassionate as He claimed, and saved souls from purgatory by demanding their release!

Fleshly Janglers and Pinchers be gone! The wisdom of this episode in not for you! Becky Field joins the podcast this week to speak about the Cloud Author. We talk about the frustration, confusion, and peace (?) that comes from becoming nothing, the best insults in the mystical theology game, random one-syllable words for meditative focus, and the questions raised by authorial anonymity. 

The wonderful Marisa Michaud joins the podcast this week to tell us about the fascinating St Colette of Corbie (1381-1441). We talk about Franciscan reforms, Valois Burgundy, the joys of artistic depictions of mystics, and cherry-picking religious vocations!

This week Elsa McDonald joins the podcast to speak about Marguerite Porete (c. 1250-1310), author of The Mirror of Simple Souls who was burned at the stake for heresy. We talk about why theology can be confusing, the contradiction between the views of the inquisitors and the spectators at her burning, careful reading of texts, and how impressive conviction is! 

Delphine Conzelmann joins AJ Langley to talk all about 12th century theologian William of St-Thierry (1085-1148). We discuss his "friendship" with Bernhard of Clairvaux, his conflict with Peter Abelard, the chest of Jesus, how we need to be better academic friends and reinstate academic infirmeries to deal with burnout and bound over our ideas.

CONTENT WARNING! This episode contains graphic descriptions of an image of a torture victim, as well as discussion of ableism, sexual assault, and self-harm.

Sean Hannan joins the podcast this week to tell AJ Langley all about Meister Eckhart (d. c. 1328). We talk about how little we know about him, even though we have a lot of his writings. We talk about the "now", becoming nothing, and sharing ground with God. We also talk about academics being honest about their agendas, how there is always room for academic disagreement, and how unfortunate it is to have mystics, and the medieval in general, co-opted by fascists. 

Erin Risch Zoutendam joins AJ Langley to discuss the German mystic and beguine Mechthild von Magdeburg (c. 1207-282). We talk about flowing light, getting on the Virgin Mary's level, poor girls getting nice clothes in heaven, and why being a human is better than being an angel. 

Follow us on Twitter:

This week AJ Langley is joined by Pablo Acosta-García to discuss the Franciscan abbess, preacher, and mystic Juana de la Cruz (1481-1534). We talked about her mystical preaching, God's voice speaking through her body (in a deep register), a reader scandalised by God being compared to things, and how entertaining a sermon would have to be in order to keep audience's attention for six hours! We also chat about the need to view the mystics of the late-medieval period as interconnected, rather than separating them along regional lines, and the complex issue of translating an experience into words. 

AJ Langley is joined by Ilona Gerbakher to talk about the Jewish philosopher (and mystic) Moses Maimonides (1138–1204). We discuss the influence of Sufi mysticism on his work, why he believed that Jews had lost the ability to achieve mystical connection, and how they could learn to get it back. We also discuss antinomianism and AJ's hypothetical reaction to public nudity. 

AJ Langley is joined by Sean Field to discuss the visionary Margherita Colonna (c. 1255-1280). We discuss her Franciscan influences, her family connections (for better and worse), the differences between her two hagiographies, three year old Jesus taking up space, and being a teenage rebel in the thirteenth century. Also, bonus woman of note: Isabella of France!

Host AJ Langley is joined this week by Joel Hecker to discuss the Zohar, an essential work of Jewish mystical thought. We discuss the complexity of its authorship, the concept of radiance, the difference between meditation and drugs, sex in mystical texts, and balancing an ascetic life with a wife and kids. 

CW: Mentions of SA, self-mutilation, and removing teeth from a corpse

This week AJ Langley speaks to Samuel Baudinette about Albert the Great (d.1280), a German Dominican friar, philosopher, mystic, and accused sorcerer! We talk about the difference between a philosopher's comprehension of the divine and the beatitude of the Christian, his massive corpus of writings, his time walking around as bishop of Regensburg, and how being a man of means sometimes means that you can travel the countryside doing experiments. 

Content Warning: Domestic Abuse

This week AJ Langley speaks to Subhasree Chakravarty about the mathematic and mystic Khona. We discuss her sayings, poetic couplets, and advice for all areas of rural life. We also discuss disguising mathematical brilliance as mystical inspiration and calling out your father-in-law for being bad at his job.

This week special guest host Robert Dickins interviews the regular host, AJ Langley about the mystic commonly known as Agnes Blannbekin. We discuss confession, anonymity of mystics, bodily reunification, and Christ's foreskin. 

In this week's episode, AJ Langley speaks to John Arblaster about Jan van Ruusbroec (c. 1294-1381), an Augustinian Canon and prolific mystical writer. We talk about finding the time to write, the fourth step on the path to God, the ease of being labelled a heretic, and the transmission of ideas through religious communities. 

In this week's episode, AJ Langley speaks to Jessica Barr about German nun, mystic, and author of The Herald of Divine Love, Gertrude of Helfta (1256-1302). We talk about the community of nuns at Helfta, her love of literature, her relationship with the Divine, how she decided to take her religious vocation more seriously (quite a while after she joined the convent..),  the devotion to the sacred heart, and how hard it is to write about the ineffable. 

In this week's episode AJ Langley speaks to Samantha Slaubaugh, PhD candidate in Liturgical Studies at the University of Notre Dame, about the complicated French beguine Douceline de Digne (1214-1274). We talked about Douceline's influential brother, Hugh of Digne, the strictness of her religious life, the importance of community, levitation during raptures, "testing" mystics, and changing up the liturgy when friars are singing the wrong song. 

CW: assault (woman and child)

Follow us on Twitter:

In this episode AJ Langley speaks to the Joseph Lumbard about Sufi mystic, writer, and preacher, Aḥmad al-Ghazālī. We talk about the metaphysics of love, getting ready for death, giving your older bother a crisis of faith and taking his job, and how hard it is to do research on people who think that your research is a waste of time. Also, near-death experiences, good teachers, and good books!

Follow us on Twitter:

In this episode AJ Langley speaks to the "Margery Kempe Lauras", Laura Varnam and Laura Kalas about the wonderous Margery Kempe, and their new volume Encountering The Book of Margery Kempe, out this month (November 2021) from Manchester University Press. We talk about how Kempe's work invites the reader in, her place among her mystical and religious contemporaries, toe fondling, pike-gate, and Jesus Christ breastfeeding within Margery's soul. We also get a complete run down of the table of contents of this exciting new volume!

AJ Langley speaks to Travis Stevens about the Cistercian nun Beatrice of Nazareth (c. 1200-1268). We talk about distrust of hagiographers, lovesickness, absence, saying "yes and" to ecstasies, the role of the "housewife" in Beatrice's text, and how everyone need to "werk it". We also talk about how great Amy Hollywood is, about making mysticism "sexy" for undergrads, and about Travis's podcast about the history of the devil. 

AJ Langley speaks to Dyan Elliott of Northwestern University about the spiritual marriage of the fourteenth-century couple Elzear (d. 1323) and Delphine (d. 1358). We talk about the intense bond of their relationship, their canonisation procedures (aided by nepotism), the risks of being very into poverty in the 14th century, and how some visions were not intended for an audience. 

Follow us on Twitter:

AJ Langley speaks to Louise Nelstrop about the fourteenth-century English hermit Richard Rolle. We talk about Rolle's popularity during the medieval period, his experiences of heat, sweetness, and song, his focus on calming the mind, and how true love is shouting it from the rooftops and forgetting when you first met. 

Follow us on Twitter:

AJ Langley speaks to Hannah Victoria Johnson about the thirteenth-century beguine and mystic Mechthild von Magdeburg. We talk about love, suffering, sex grass, and Mecththild's desire to be below the Devil's ass-crack, all while Hannah attempts to convince listeners that Mechthild is easy to understand. 

AJ Langley speaks to Alexandra Verini about the sixteenth-century Hindu mystic Mira Bai. We discuss her marriage to Krishna (and denial of her worldly husband), her poetry, the disapproval of her in-laws, and the connections to be found between medieval mystics of all denominations. 

Follow us on Twitter:

AJ Langley speaks to Georgia van Raalte about the British occultist, spiritual advisor, and author Dion Fortune (1890-1946). We discuss her construction of British spiritualism, her rejection of Indian "Masters" in favour of British "Masters", how novels can stimulate mystical experiences, and Christian esotericism. CW: racism/eugenics and how the people we study are often quite problematic. 

Georgia van Raalte has recently finished her PhD at the University of Surrey and her work focuses on Dion Fortune's occult novels. 

Follow us on Twitter:

AJ Langley speaks to Lydia Shahan about the 13th-century mystic, poet, and holy woman Hadewijch. A woman of mystery, we talk about how little is known about her life, about paradox, about desire, and about the joy of rendering a category useless. 

Lydia Shahan is a second year PhD student in the Study of Religion at Harvard University. She looks are mysticism and devotional literature in the Low countries and Northern Europe. 

Follow us on Twitter:

AJ Langley speaks to Liam Temple about the mystical writer and Benedictine Augustine Baker (1575-1641). We discussed his conversion experience, his eagerness for a quiet life of contemplation, the repeated thwarting of that desire, his advise to nuns on achieving mystical contemplation, his understanding of the varieties of mysticism, and how anyone who criticises is a scholastic who just doesn't understand mystical experience.

AJ Langley speaks to Dr Laury Silvers about the Sufi mystic Shawana (9th century). We discuss the challenges scholars face when trying to find early Islamic female mystics, the impact of regional history on the articulation of mysticism, Shawana's weeping, and Laury's transition from academia to writing historical fiction. (CW: references to slavery and sexual assault)

Laury Silvers is a retired professor of early Islamic mysticism, specialising in gender. She received her PhD from SUNY Stony Brook in 2002. Her work on mysticism and 10th-century Bagdad is the inspiration for her historical fiction series, The Sufi Mysteries. The first book, The Lover, follows Zaytuna as she is "forced to face the suffering of the most vulnerable in Baghdad and the emotional and mystical legacy of her mother, a famed ecstatic whose love for God eclipsed everything" as she seeks justice for the death of a local boy.

AJ Langley speaks to James Roberts about the Russian Orthodox nun, social activist, theologian and writer Mother Maria Skobtsova (1891-1945). We talk about her theology and the mysticism of human communion, her mission to feed the poor (and her wheelbarrow full of vegetables),  her involvement in the French resistance, our pity for her housemates, and her chain-smoking, philosophy parties. 

James Roberts is, at time of recording, finishing up his PhD in modern theology at Oxford University, focusing on the theology of Mother Maria Skobtsova. He received both his Bachelors and Masters degrees in Divinity from the University of St Andrews. In addition to his academic work, he is currently involved in a number of interfaith projects. 

Follow us on Twitter:

AJ Langley speaks to Michael Hahn about the lay penitent (Franciscan) mystic Angela of Foligno (d.1309). We discuss her importance as a theologian, her fear of damnation, her spiritual sons, the abyss, lots of screaming and weeping, and how family can get in the way of a religious life (CW: death of family discussed)

Michael Hahn is a theologian and medieval church historian. While his research and teaching has covered different aspects of the historical study of religion and spirituality, his main focus is on early-Franciscan mystical theologies: its different expressions; distinctive nature; and reception. He is currently Tutor in Divinity at the University of London where he teaches ‘The History of Christianity’ and has previously lectured at York St John University – where he designed and taught a module on ‘Mysticism in World Religions’ – and St Andrews, where he taught church history.

Follow us on Twitter:

AJ Langley speaks to Einat Klafter about the one and only Margery Kempe (c. 1373- after 1436). We discuss her pilgrimages, her co-authorship of her text, her sacralising of the mundane, and how she was just... a lot. (CW: depression and self-harm are discussed)

AJ Langley speaks to Jane Shaw about the mystic, writer, and spiritual advisor, Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941). We talk about her quest for authentic spirituality, her letters of spiritual advise (which are very funny and worth a read), her work as a retreat leader, and her ability to find a balance between spiritual and domestic life.

AJ Langley speaks to Meagan Khoury about the lay Dominican mystic and holy woman Catherine of Siena (1347-1380). We talk about the "Miracoli", Catherine's "projects" (including her prolific letter writing campaigns), and her fixation on breasts and hearts.

Plus, as an added bonus, Meagan shares a bit about Saint Sarah (also called Sara la Kali) and her veneration in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer. 

Meagan Khoury is a doctoral student in Art History at Stanford University with a focus on female mystics, single women, and late medieval medical humanities. In her work, questions of queer embodiment, interiority, and female utopias are interrogated with the assistance of French feminist philosophers Simone de Beauvoir and Simone Weil.

Follow us on Twitter: