Erotic Divine Darkness - The Transgressive Mysticism of Angela of Foligno
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 7 фев 2025
- The interiority of mystics is notoriously difficult to access - We will never really know about the inner life of mysticism from the outside. But in the 13th century mystical writings of Angela of Foligno we have one of the best glimpses imaginable. Having experienced a profound conversion in her mid-life, Angela takes us on step by step journey through the redemption from sin, the "game of love" as the souls pursues the divine, the depths of dejection and sorrow and the collapse into the divinely dark nothingness of the Trinity.
Consider Supporting Esoterica!
Patreon - / esotericachannel
Paypal Donation - www.paypal.me/...
Merch - / @theesotericachannel
Recommended Readings:
Angela of Foligno : Complete Works - 978-0809133666
McGinn - The Flowering of Mysticism: Men and Women in the New Mysticism - 978-0824517434
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
Consider Supporting Esoterica!
Patreon - www.patreon.com/esotericachannel
Paypal Donation - www.paypal.me/esotericachannel
Merch - ruclips.net/channel/UCoydhtfFSk1fZXNRnkGnneQstore
Making out with the corpse of the unrisen Christ in the tomb is some serious Goth girl cred.
Angela could certainly be the patron saint of goths
Or "Our Lady of holy shit you drank leper water"
Ooh that’s one for the quote book
Always a treat when Dr. Sledge talks about medieval women’s mysticism
My exact thoughts.
Agreed
Yeah❤
Everyone knocks on religion in the Middle Ages-certainly not without some very good reasons...but man. Their mystics were truly next level.
They just don't mystic like they use too
@@mikaeelmalik1724 We gotta bring back that old school heresy 😂
I was one of those rather sceptical of monastic contributions to human knowledge. To me, it was a way of life that might bring peace and purpose to those who engage in it, but hardly anything that could be helpful or useful to anyone else.
That is until I read Evagrius Ponticus. I was absolutely blown away by the depth of psychological insight of the man and completely changed my mind on monasticism and it's contributions once we decipher the mystical overtones of their language.
@@SC_eternal I just disrobed, flogged myself & lovingly fondled a huge crucifix. It ain't gay if you do it with Jesus.
To me this seemed like the most evil depiction of Christ ive ever seen
"Abyssated - Oh Unknown Nothingness"
Man this channel is amazing for death metal song titles
Yep band names are our side hustle around here
I was gonna say, "Erotic Divine Darkness" is a rather good black metal song title as well!
As a Third Order Franciscan myself, I thank you for making this video. Most of us Tertiaries are far from Angela's commitment to Christ. This is comparable to the lives of St Clare of Assisi and St Theresa Lisieux.
St Teresa of Avila too
I don't think she was committed as a Christian but more as a Aghori . Christs body was "prepared" to receive the Christ. What does prepared mean? It means to be fit in body soul and spirit and not to make a train wreck out of ones physical being . Judith von Halle is interesting however Stigmata seems incomplete as a Christian Initiation regardless of devotion.
@@TheSunship777this is what I thought too
Shaming the academic knowledge hoarders was a highlight of a great video.
One does not need to engage in extreme self-hating behavior in order to experience the ecstasies of the Mystic Saints.
Be A Lot Cooler If You Did
@@TheEsotericaChannellol
Bet she would disagree with you completely.
Suffering is a gift, but it’s a very difficult gift to understand. It wears away the ego and creates a void through which a penitent feels compelled to bare themselves in that darkness, to become completely yielded to Spirit to beg remedy. When Grace gives the bandages to bind up the wounds of the soul. Emotional pain and loss are effects that take coal and turn it into diamond, with each wound being a part of the revealing from base to brilliance.
I’ve called a similar process pealing a spiritual onion, each layer makes you cry, but in the end, there’s nothing left, whereas the spiritual pearl is created because of the grain of sand that makes the oyster so uncomfortable that it must secrete what becomes that pearl of great price.
I’m personally not masochistic enough to self-inflict pain.. but life has been more than adequate to provide.
Yes, that's the tricky part about suffering. Anything can be used by the untransformed ego to decorate itself and keep from doing the necessary work all while looking pious and saintly. For most human beings, especially in modern culture, self-inflicted suffering is a dangerous hubris for all but the most insightful, rigorously honest human beings. I have a spiritual director to keep me from conning myself this way. The safest way for me to work with suffering is to let life bring it on and be willing to walk through it and learn what I need to learn. I really benefited from your quite beautiful description of how suffering has such a potential for growth. During meditation, I was startled by an inner revelation: "Our task on earth is to turn suffering into love."
@@Ricca_Day oh well if that's all, I have perhaps the most painful infliction on the planet. Small fiber neuropathy and medications have made it worse and now I'm stuck on a synthetic pain medication because they won't give me the natural stuff. Can't get it on the street now either. I am about to undergo a rapid detox because the side effects are worse. Edema is not doable for someone who's small nerve fibers in their skin are disintegrating. Lopsided edema so it's clogging my lymph nodes. My gods. That's why they got rid of all the drugs except fentanyl and xylazine, to bottleneck everyone onto their drugs. The drugs that caused so many side effects, people left the program time and again. So they got rid of their competition. Natural drugs. The ones that work.
Prob one reason I am so damn psychic. Also been dancing w death for a very long time.
In the future people will be doing esoterica videos of Dr. Sledge's Esoterica videos.
metaterica
@@TheEsotericaChannel I'll pitch in for Mesoterica to fit the channel's chosen glyph logo! Metsoterica at the Met in the space colony station orbiting Jupiter!
It’s amazing how much light emanates from ‘the dark ages.’
the dark shows the light where to shine
Indeed. I've heard it said that it's the winners that write history, so it's no wonder that the middle ages has been labeled as barbaric and backward. Of course it is in part, like any age. But our post modern oppressve cult of materialism is what fuels the economic beast and so any kind of interior knowing is considered subversive and dangerous in a culture that requires slavish obedience to outer authorities. Isn't this a great RUclips channel??
I’d love to see a video about Julian of Norwich. No judgement if you have to reuse some pictures of Medieval nuns.
Wow... this is near disturbingly beautiful. It nearly brought me to tears when you talked about washing leppers... what a human being. I can't believe I'd never heard of this saint... beautiful.
So good! I LOVE the idea of the 4 women evangelists. Filing that away for a painting idea down the road.
They're really daring thing for him to suggest but I think it's an extremely powerful and why suggestion - I was very floored by it. Also who doesn't want to see more fantastic art of these amazing women?
Yes! That’s be a great series about this type of Christian mysticism 🙏🏼
I've actually done videos on the beguines generally and another one on Hadewijch
Thanks!
My mom just got me your mug for my birthday, I'm so happy!!
Such a cool mom :) Glad to hear from you!
@@TheEsotericaChannel Aww, mom is also happy now
Superbly written
Angela of Foligno and Bataille was the greatest crossover episode of all time
I went to Catholic School through high school and I'm learning about Catholic mystics on this channel that I never heard about before. I really appreciate the educational content on here.
Also so many of the videos on this channel fight the idea that the Middle Ages were a time of only dogmatic elites and superstitious peasants. There were brilliant, radical thinkers during this time.
And "Brother A" sounds like a secret agent's assistant.
I'm practically furious I'd never heard of this woman before. This so throughly vibes with the representation of suffering i was taught as a child that pushed me away from the church. Just hiding her fullness to further whitewash what they taught...
You're now aware of her
@@lancejohnson127 I was raised in the Roman Catholic Church, in America, you might be surprised to learn how sanitized the information we had was, and how much we were discouraged to learn about the history of the church.
Angela's descriptions really capture the absolute chokehold intrusive thoughts can have on someone suffering with OCD.
yeah if someone acted this way in modern times they would need to see a doctor lol
Brother you have outdone yourself with this one. I was captivated for 27 minutes, and added her complete works to my library. Well done Dr. !!
One of my professors is writing about mysticism and intimacy with Christ in the 15th century right now, this was fascinating both as background and in its own right!
I LOVE learning about the female mystics of the Middle Ages. It’s remarkable how women have been washed from the Christian tradition, when research into the historical Jesus shows women were a prominent part of his ministry. Often taking equal footing with the men. Female evangelists were part of Christianity before “Christianity” existed. Which makes the female mystics of the Middle Ages more closely tied to the origin of the largest religion in the West than the majority of it’s male leadership over the last 2000 years.
Yet, it’s only through academic conversations through channels like yours that Christians are even made aware of their contributions. Which are fascinating in theirselves, but even more so when understanding the status and deference their teachings were given at the time.
It’s also fascinating (and troubling) that the time prior to a male-dominated Renaissance is referred to as the “dark ages.” When it’s clear how many boundary pushing contributions to literature, art, and spiritual cannon existed in the centuries before. Many of which happened to come from women.
Thank you for your dedication to scholarship and sharing these amazing stories on your channel.
Very few medieval (& ancient) women in Europe were allowed to make any contributions at all to literature & the arts in general, let alone "boundary-pushing" ones...
@@joejohnson6327Women's contributions to science too, often not acknowledged such as physicsist work for their male counterparts.
Stigmata is such an amazing phenomenon
Great Video!! didn’t know how much people really scarified for the divine
Yeah these mystics went hard
It cant be described how profoundly impactful your channel can be
Yes it can.
It is my hope that someday in the future, someone as brilliant as you will be reading my books and trying to figure out what the hell, I was talking about. You Rock.
Wow. This was amazing. Her account offers a mirror to middle ages and beyond. You have shed a light into something that most of the cushy modern people can never dream of grasping. Not that they would even want to, sadly. I also love how once again the church took a rational position while acknowledging that this woman could be onto something. Thank you.
Wow it's so refreshing to hear someone giving such honest information like saying "listen she wrote in umbrian dialect and it was translateted in Latin, which she found would at best give her intentions, and then it was translated from there again" etc. - I feel like every ancient text/book should have such a beautiful honest intro.
She didn't write it but dictated it. But yeah, being honest about the source is vital.
@@TheEsotericaChannel Well then you, my friend, are vital ^^🙏❤️
SAINT ANGELA!!! Lets goo I'm legit emotional over this! I want to thank you so much for sharing the deep mystical tradition of the catholics. So over looked so moving and beautiful. As a catholic who also loves exploring the ideas displayed on this channel, I thank you for not having Catholic fever. Love you so much doc.
Angela of Foligno!! 👀 🕳 🌠 My goodness!! Medieval mysticism is no-holds'barred breathtaking, I'm gobsmacked! The badassness of Esoterica truly lives up to the channel's name! It's practically Esoterica obscura! 🕳 👀 🌠!
Yeah I don't get why she's not more widely known
@@TheEsotericaChannel well after the episode, I kinda get why now she's been obscured, on top of the already patriarchal society then and now...kinda like a "we don't talk about Foligno*?
@@TheEsotericaChannel I am thoroughly shell-shocked even in attempts to kinda have it on in background in ear....
@TheEsotericaChannel in fact, I'm gonna simply like all 👍the community posts, leave a like and kudos on the episodes themselves, but seems like I had an entirely different harrowing version this ep than everybody else in comments! So I'm steering clear of obscure women of Christian mysticism and stick to and dive deep into Jewish mysticism and even the Qlippoth/Klippoth until The Divine Feminine Shekinah features in episodes of Jewish Mysticism, or until The Desert Fathers come along in Esoterica or a followup to Hildegard of Bingen and the many mansions, and the Beguine women! 🎉 Other than that, I'll be dodging dark obscure medieval Christian mystic women like Neo in the Matrix dodging...
Dear Dr. Sledge, it always blows my mind all the love and passion you put in your work. I truly love being your patreon, please keep producing these marvellous pieces.
You are amazing. Truly a gifted teacher and storyteller. Thank you for your talent. I was captivated the whole video !
I guess we are continuously chasing to grasp that fish like in your logo. Some harder than others. Thanks for another great video. 🙏
Trying to, brother - hope you're well!
@@TheEsotericaChannel Im great. Thank you. I wish you the same. ❤️
Thanks to you i recognized and bought Hermetic Mysteries by Mary Anne Atwood at Half priced books on a whim and it has become my guide for the past year. I am so grateful for your education.
I LOVE ESOTERICA I LOVE ESOTERICA LETS GO ESOTERICA
Compelling story-telling. I was captured by this - thank you, Justin! More on women mystics would be great.
Today is the day I took a look into Esoterica.
I hope to return here with some inspired content.
I've had a very similar experience. Well done, Sir.
Excellent, so well described, fascinating faith bordering on madness.
Very powerful episode - excellent job!
THANK YOU excellent as usual.
Many thanks and thank you especially for your generous donation to the channel!
Yo new drop from our favorite alchemist
This is a wonderful channel! Fascinating video, as usual.
Abyssating. I learned a new word from you! Thanks!
The divine darkness does fascinate, abyssate and abacinate me. Thanks Doc.
Brilliant stuff. Many thanks!
I have a strong stomach. I dont get grossed out, but that story with the lepers....ugh that got me. Needed a minute and a sip of water.
But great video! I'd heard of Angela but was not familiar with her story.
I'm guessing leprosy free water, right?
....sure af hope so. Lol
You are a great storyteller
I mean it's not hard with this kind of material
Thank you Dr. Sledge! L’shanah tovah!
Hear,hear for Dr. Sledge! Wonderfully executed episode. Thank you good sir.
Very intense and shocking.
Yeah Angela is pretty over the top
Great episode, friend! Nice to hear about a homonymous connational mystic! 🤓
If you all think Angela of Foligno was weird just wait until you read about Angela of Napoli ;) thanks for the kind words, friend - Hope you're well!
I remember reading about her in Inner Experience by Bataille and being utterly captivated by her experience. Thank you for this!
Thank you for introducing this fascinating woman !! Brilliant work as usual
Interesting I actually relate to this woman, in my own understanding, I’ve also been asking god to not abandon me please do not abandon, the things I get I can’t honestly put into words and I too should hold my tongue, but I’ve felt or tasted the abandonment of god it relate it to something like being in the freezing cold but knowing there’s no warmth to be found so you don’t go looking for it!
Because you know it’s not there, as if no pleasure nothing can replace it a complete loneliness with no solution, which one won’t feel until they’re judged and this is hell not even demons or devils can replace that feeling even if they wanted, but while alive they can make you feel as though they could, I feel the suffering of the world and I pray and I cry and I cry and it pours out like a river unto god and I shake and at times it has felt as if my mouth opens and this suffering pours out and sets the world on fire , and a great hate for sin and suffering and a love for all things , and it’s like angels come and touch me I feel it immediately and it’s just lifted from me and great wisdom is placed there and a peace come over me , it’s almost completely therapeutic…..
And I had this dream that seemed like it lasted all night and god showed me how all is one but they said something they made me understand completely but I can’t relay that message, but it is a great love for all things as one and how that fits …..
And this love is the cornerstone of all things that destroys pride or things of this nature.
I’m not worldly I just don’t care about worldly things, like it’s just nonexistent within me,
I only stand for love, and goodness and light.
Though I’ve been lost and my innocents stolen as a child , and I dived headfirst into darkness but it never fully corrupted me, I was a virgin for 30 years because I just don’t think or feel like normal people, I have no friends I don’t like humanity, but I love them lol
For awhile I denied this stuff, or thought maybe it’s crazy , but this thing that happened to me as a child actually intervened with reality…..
I’m sorry I can’t write very well and I just have no care to because whatever I know is between god and the angels, it’s just in my head and soul.
I’m sorry for bothering you , I know I write to much , honestly I can’t even explain half of this stuff in any coherent form , but it is a lot like peace and suffering all at once, I was like I’m not a saint or anything I’m not even good
I’m probably an idiot?
So why but if I try to ignore it or deny it , it just shows me stuff, like the feeling of abandonment, or signs stuff!
And honestly it’s kinda scary to be honest lol , I have no desire for money or power , just simple a little family, love and god and work , your debt of suffering is paid through hard work or it can be, I get annoyed at myself, people also call me arrogantly pious lol
Well I don’t know what to do lol , but then it’s like I’m literally sining if I’m like nah I’m not doing that sorry so I just go slow, it’s quite exhausting actually.
Sometimes I just have to step away from it , but then I feel god displeased so I keep going lol , because it’s like oh rather me leave then ? No god please stay ok I am light and goodness and love for all things as one , they say when you’re with god you’re at peace this isn’t always so lol.
I don’t know sorry for talking I just want to tell someone who may understand or grasp this stuff and I asked god question and now I am here and they’re answered, that’s crazy ! Lol I feel completely insane like this woman lol just wow well ok , this is why like her I feel like just holding my tongue, not telling anyone, this is probably going to be the last time I even talk about it .
It weighs on you , and I haven’t completed my steps yet I am in the process.
Am I just stupid? Well then I would be a nonbeliever wouldn’t I.
A new one!!!! Thank you 🙏
Very passionate delivery Dr. Sledge. TY
Thank you for this channel
I haven't commented on here and years, but after THAT fascinating picture of someone's spiritual journey...
Damn, I got it so ridiculously good.
Thank you for real sizing my suffering.
I'll pass on the bathwater and decomposing flesh.😅
She was one of favorite mystic ...i was alway intrigued by her.
I can’t believe that, since I grew up Catholic, that I’d never hear of Angel of Fellinia until now. But I can clearly understand now, since most, if not all of her accounts are either redacted or mistranslated either on purpose or on accident, since she was a woman, and men were the ones who could translate any religious texts. A lot of her recounts are very poetic: “The earth is pregnant;” which is one of my favorite lines from her.
Well she is a canonized saint so it’s not like Catholicism continues to ignore her
what makes you feel good about this? I don't understand
@@andrewrichens5733Post when her feast day can be celebrated 🎉
Fascinating..thanks for the memory
Thank you.
Thank you for your input, Sir!
She reminds me of Margery Kempe! Great episode, thanks Dr. Sledge.
Great video. Thank you 😊
Talk about finding what you love and let it kill you.
I really do not mean to sound cynical (I promise I am not cynical about mystical experience), but is anyone else getting the sort of sado-masochistic sexual vibe from this woman's writings and experiences. I know that a part of many mystical practices aims at transforming physical lust into spiritual states, but this takes it to a whole new level--pretty extreme. Thoughts?
Often wondered about the artistic interpretation of relics of Monks and Nun's self fladuation whipping and robes with ropes, not to mention sandles with spikes all to inflict pain and suffering tormenting themselves into an ecstasy of trance like state to torment their souls.
Chill, Angela. Damn! 😂 Seriously though, thank you so much Justin for the work you do!
One of the most interesting and fascinating episodes!
Dr Sledge you need to do a video on Magdeline de la Cruz and her husband Balban .
Thank you for this presentation. It is most important.
Happy Rosh Hashanah!!! Dr. Sledge. Your videos on Medieval mysticism, are gems.
Thank you for another wonderful presentation Dr Sledge. Religious fanaticism can overwhelm the senses like it did for Angela.
The spooky season is upon us once again and it is our duty to all children to make this year's the best ever. Keep up the good work!
wow. I loved this. Thank you.
An excellent episode.
Have you made a video about Benedetta Carlini? Would love to hear your take on her story.
I consider this type of worship and connection the true meaning of "Left Hand" path. I used to think St Theresa in India an example, but this is a good one too.
The account of this woman is morbidly, extremely fascinating. This is the first of me hearing it and I don't think I've heard a medieval or religious account quite like it.
If you don't mind the relatively mundane comparisons, I feel some of the imagery and details in her life story are absolutely like something you would see or read about in a Soulsborne game, or hear in black/death metal lyrics.
yeah I find mysticism so disturbing at times. I'm a former atheist and not a very happy one
Divine darkness! My favorite current esoteric subject obsession; thank you doctor Sledge! Please cover more mysticism of darkness and nothingness, but thank you for this!!!
Thanks so much for this! I had certainly encountered Angela of Foligno in my previous studies, but had never gone into too much depth with her; my focus was more on Marguerite Porete, Meister Eckhart, and a few others. This is an excellent appetizer for studying her further!
McGinn is awesome, and one of the highlights of my time during my M.A. in Religious Studies was when he was an endowed lecturer in my program at Gonzaga (this was in '99, if I am not mistaken), where he gave a presentation on apocalypticism (which he was just beginning to do major work on at the time), but we also had a sort of graduate "ask me anything" session with him one day, and of course I asked him several things about mysticism and particular mystics (like Marguerite!). I have two of the volumes of his work on mysticism (including the one you referenced here!) on my shelves next to the "Marguerite Section" and various other Christian mystics and works on Christian mysticism. An amazing scholar, and a damn nice guy! :)
Thank you for the wonderful presentation and introducing me to a new dark mystic.
One cannot know GOD or divine light of the soul without the darkness. RISE✨UNITE✨SHINE✨
Another good one is, "we must travel through the darkness in order to get to the light."
Very insightful video, as usual, Dr Sledge.
Keep up the exceptional work 👏
You are seriously amazing. Thank you so much for your dedication, and allowing us to enjoy your words. You rock Justin.
For a moment Ithought this was a Esoterica style video devoted to Angela's Symposium.... now I want that haha
She gets it.
Great balance of denotative and narrative knowledge(i had to use big words, sorry:)). Great storytelling and imagery, very captivating.
You know, I've just recently joined the channel and don't know its inner workings, but it's strange that no one has mentioned the elephant in the cupboard. The divine darkness, the holy nothingness, the path of extatic love merging with pain, becoming one with the "abyss", descent into darkness. Also doing things society abhors, which weren't even described in full detail. It really reminds me another video from this channel - "On the operations of daemons" (obviously, that text was written by the opponent of all those rites). Here, we can see almost a textbook of black magic. Mind you, I'm not criticizing anything - I just wonder how this piece of mysticism and, frankly, philosophy within Christianity remains so obscure. This gives an absolutely new dimension to the whole Christian worldview, which has (to the best of my knowledge) always been associated with "light" and "fullness".
It's kinda obscure but this book was copied and has modern editions. So, yeah it's not totally obscure.
@@TheEsotericaChannel And how did the church react to these statements about a descent into darkness back then? What were the comments?
They were fine with it - there's a long tradition of such language. It's not edgey or anything.
My mother used to say "the darker it gets, the more you can see"
Another good one is, "we must travel through the darkness in order to get to the light."
This was the most accurate account of communication with the divine that iv ever heard, u most definitely have a stronger connection the closer 1 comes to death which is y u can't get lost always looking for messages and focus on what the messages r actually trying to convey otherwise u will be lost for good.
This is the first I heard of her. You told her story so beautifully. Thank you ❤
im catholic and im gonna have my confirmation soon. im looking for some female saints and patrons to choose for myself. shes my number 1 as for now ❤
she is the saint Urebetino is obsessed with the Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco my book club just discussed it last saturday
I'm frankly flabbergasted you got through that without using the word "masochism" once.
Didn't get those vibes from her
@@TheEsotericaChannel Now that is a very interesting point! I would love to know why.
@@TheEsotericaChannel There's a pretty explicit glorification of suffering and mortification of the flesh throughout. You pointed out a couple of examples of sublimated eroticism, but a lot of other bits suggested to me a powerful ... sensuality of suffering, if not overt eroticisation. That drinking the gross leper water bit immediately struck me as fetishistic.
But I haven't read the original text.
@@PaulHaesler thank you for pointing these things out. I'm former atheist and I'm still disturbed with the reality of God and becoome more disturbed when I hear these accounts, while catholics in comment sections all celebrate these stuff as poetic and misterious
This is the best Drunk Church episode ever 🙏🏽
(seriously, everyone here will love that podcast 🤩🤩🤩)
Drunk history?
@@JennySimon206 Nope! Drunk Church is a podcast about ecstatic rituals in western religion
L’shana Tova to you and yours!
To understand what it is about is to live that thing
There's an incredible song by Current 93 - Moonlight You Will Say, that quote Francis de Assisi and mentions that godly shriek. It's hard to say what genre it is, but it's mystical folk to me, you gotta check it out!