Yesterday we interrupted our meditations on the Dark Night to meditate on the news from Avignon, and aboriginal peoples in Australia, and Washington D.C. about Patriarchy on trial. Today we return to the theme of the Dark Night we find ourselves in.
The darkness of the solstice season and of Advent and of global warming and democracide in our time invite us to meditate on the Dark Night of our species.
The darkness of the solstice season and of Advent and of global warming and democracide of our time have urged us to meditate on the Dark Night of our species.
Here I call on our ancestor from the thirteenth century, Mechtild of Magdeburg. She was a member of the Beguine movement which was the women’s movement of the Middle Ages. She underwent a Dark Night and talks about it this way.
There comes a time when both body and soul enter into such a vast darkness that one loses light and consciousness and knows nothing more of God’s intimacy.
At such a time when the light in the lantern burns out the beauty of the lantern can no longer be seen.
With longing and distress we are reminded of our nothingness.
For many people November 5 was such a time. And even before that, the news of global warming and humanity facing its own extinction is like that.
Mechtild continues:
At such a time I pray to God: ‘Lord, this burden is too heavy for me!’ And God replies: ‘I will take this burden first and clasp it close to Myself and that way you may more easily bear it.’
But still I feel that I can bear no longer the wounds God has given me, unanointed and unbound. I am hunted, captured, bound, wounded so terribly that I can never be healed. God has wounded me close unto death…..
I receive correspondence these days that many people are having experiences like this today. Mechtild goes on:
Lord, I will tear the heart of my soul in two and you must lay therein. You must lay yourself in the wounds of my soul.
I am ill and I long deeply for the heath-giving draught which Jesus Christ himself drank. And he drank of it so deeply that he was on fire with love.
God replied: I wish always to be your physician, bringing healing anointment for all your wounds.
Mechtild continues:
From suffering I have learned this: That whoever is sore wounded by love will never be made whole unless she embrace the very same love which wounded her.
Life without sorrow would be fool’s folly. That is why God Himself took this path, one of sorrow and pain. God shows us that it is still a wonderful, noble, and holy way. Only one without great guilt or sin suffers pain.
Having befriended nothingness, Mechtild, like Gandhi, links it directly to the service of neighbor. The darkness taught her this lesson:
Love the nothing, flee the self.
Stand alone, seek help from no one.
Let your being be quiet,
be free from the bondage of all things.
Free those who are bound,
Give exhortation to the free.
Care for the sick, but dwell alone.
When you drink the waters of sorrow
you shall kindle the fire of love
with the match of perseverance—
this is the way to dwell in the desert.*
Sue Woodruff, Meditations with Mechtild of Magdeburg, pp. 60-70.
See Matthew Fox, Original Blessing, pp. 27, 43, 48, 58, 64, 69, 88, 108, 115. 139f., 142, 145, 148f., 151, 155, 162, 178, 198f., 203, 205, 213, 221f., 233, 242, 248, 271, 274, 278, 283, 287, 291, 293.
See Matthew Fox, Christian Mystics, pp. 61-74.
See Matthew Fox, “Liberated and Liberating Sisters: Meister Eckhart Meets Dorothee Soelle, the Beguines Mechtild of Magdeburg and Marguerite Porete, and Julian of Norwich,” in Fox, Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior for Our Times, pp. 77-96.
Banner image: Dark Night with Moon. Photo by Cynthia Greb.
Queries for Contemplation
Do you find insight and support for traversing the Dark Night and “dwelling in the desert” and doing service from these teachings from Mechtild? What especially speaks to you?
Recommended Reading
Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality
Matthew Fox lays out a whole new direction for Christianity—a direction that is in fact very ancient and very grounded in Jewish thinking (the fact that Jesus was a Jew is often neglected by Christian theology): the Four Paths of Creation Spirituality, the Vias Positiva, Negativa, Creativa and Transformativa in an extended and deeply developed way.
“Original Blessing makes available to the Christian world and to the human community a radical cure for all dark and derogatory views of the natural world wherever these may have originated.” –Thomas Berry, author, The Dream of the Earth; The Great Work; co-author, The Universe Story
Christian Mystics: 365 Readings & Meditations
As Matthew Fox notes, when an aging Albert Einstein was asked if he had any regrets, he replied, “I wish I had read more of the mystics earlier in my life.” The 365 writings in Christian Mystics represent a wide-ranging sampling of these readings for modern-day seekers of all faiths — or no faith. The visionaries quoted range from Julian of Norwich to Martin Luther King, Jr., from Thomas Merton to Dorothee Soelle and Thomas Berry.
“Our world is in crisis, and we need road maps that can ground us in wisdom, inspire us to action, and help us gather our talents in service of compassion and justice. This revolutionary book does just that. Matthew Fox takes some of the most profound spiritual teachings of the West and translates them into practical daily mediations. Study and practice these teachings. Take what’s in this book and teach it to the youth because the new generation cannot afford to suffer the spirit and ethical illiteracy of the past.” — Adam Bucko, spiritual activist and co-founder of the Reciprocity Foundation for Homeless Youth.
Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior For Our Time
While Matthew Fox recognizes that Meister Eckhart has influenced thinkers throughout history, he also wants to introduce Eckhart to today’s activists addressing contemporary crises. Toward that end, Fox creates dialogues between Eckhart and Carl Jung, Thich Nhat Hanh, Rabbi Heschel, Black Elk, Karl Marx, Rumi, Adrienne Rich, Dorothee Soelle, David Korten, Anita Roddick, Lily Yeh, M.C. Richards, and many others.
“Matthew Fox is perhaps the greatest writer on Meister Eckhart that has ever existed. (He) has successfully bridged a gap between Eckhart as a shamanistic personality and Eckhart as a post-modern mentor to the Inter-faith movement, to reveal just how cosmic Eckhart really is, and how remarkably relevant to today’s religious crisis! ” — Steven Herrmann, Author of Spiritual Democracy: The Wisdom of Early American Visionaries for the Journey Forward
7 thoughts on “Mechtild of Magdeburg on the Dark Night”
We are all living in a ‘dark night’ of ignorance that we can barely detect. It is when we are conscious of our ‘unknowing’ and then look and seek out the Mystery to reveal itself, do we come back into the light of awareness and soul consciousness. — BB.
Happy Birthday!! Matthew!! Your 84th turn around our earth star the sun!! Deep gratitude for the shining light you are for so many.
I leave this morning to lead a 24 hour sacred dance and ritual Art as Meditation where we will dance the four paths of Creation Spirituality. 18 folks have taken time out of this busy season to be still with the Sun. Rumi will lead our spiral dance Caravan, a favorite of yours “come, come whoever you are this caravan is not of despair”. At sunset we will light our lantern of hope, faith, love and joy as we dance for healing and wholeness for ourselves and the people, places and situations around the world in need of a touch of healing love, light and grace.
We will hold you Matthew in our circle with gratitude and love.
Yes! I personally continue reflecting on the mystery of Faith, Suffering, and Compassion during the Dark Night of the Soul, which includes Humanity and Sacred Mother Earth/Evolving Cosmos, with the Divine Presence of Our SOURCE~CREATOR’S DIVINE LOVE~WISDOM in Our Human Hearts/ETERNAL SOULS within, through, among Us in LOVING DIVERSE ONENESS in the Sacred Unfolding Process of the ETERNAL PRESENT MOMENT….
I pray the beautiful prayer of Mechtild of Magdeburg and turn to today’s headlines:
“Car plows into Christmas Market, at least 2 dead”, Magdeburg, Germany.
Dark Night calls us to fervent prayer for traumatized persons and for our world.
That even in this we must hold the Light
Teresa
Remember Mr. Fox, that the “Dark Night” is only the northern half of cosmology, and that the southern portion of the cosmos is “Light Day”.
We are not along. We live in the wholeness of God’s Creation and the Sacred Nature of Quaternity.
Blessed Be
Yes. Yes. Yes. This is what we need, Matthew, guidance on how to navigate these dark times. As Mechtild says and you quote, “At such a time I pray to God: ‘Lord, this burden is too heavy for me!’ And God replies: ‘I will take this burden first and clasp it close to Myself and that way you may more easily bear it.’ … I am hunted, captured, bound, wounded so terribly that I can never be healed. God has wounded me close unto death.” I said on November 6th, “I would rather die than live through the next 4 years.” (I have felt wounded almost to death.) I am trying to take back that wish I stated on November 6th so that I may do what work is required of me. Your words this morning give me some strength. Please keep these words coming. I watched the following sermon this morning on YouTube. It also puts things in perspective and reminds me of Meister Eckhart’s words, “What good is it if the Christ child was born in manger 2,000 years ago, if I do not birth the Christ child in my heart in my day.” Thank you, again, and apparently, Happy Birthday! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPmKMxQSF_Q
I have always been in a dark night: I have never experienced any consciousness of God’s nearness or love. I want to believe; I try to believe; but nothing seems to touch me. It is as if I am surrounded by a glass wall and although I have heard of God’s love, nothing can penetrate the barrier. For more than 70 years it has been like this and I feel bereft.