被遗忘的声音
哲学史often讲——
像all male story：
Plato、Aristotle、Augustine、Aquinas、Ockham…
但中世纪有remarkable women thinkers——
多数通过mysticism表达philosophical insights——
因为其他intellectual paths对women关闭
Universities不admit women——
But mystical experience不需要official credentials——
直接from上帝
今天我们hear她们的voices
Hildegard of Bingen（1098-1179）
“Sibyl of the Rhine”
生平
出生于noble family（德国）
8岁：送到Benedictine monastery——
作为"tithe"（十一奉献，第10个孩子）
从小有visions——
但keep secret多年
1141（43岁）：
上帝命令她write down visions——
开始public prophetic career
1150：
建立own convent at Rupertsberg（near Bingen）
成为abbess
Correspond with：
- Popes
- Emperors（Frederick Barbarossa）
- Bernard of Clairvaux
- Other major figures
Preaching tours（罕见for woman）
1179：去世，81岁（长寿for中世纪！）
著作与思想
1. Scivias（“Know the Ways”）
她的major theological work——
26 visions关于：
- Creation
- Redemption
- Church
- End times
配有illuminations（她设计的illustrations）——
Striking visual theology
2. Natural science
《Physica》（自然史）
《Causae et Curae》（病因与治疗）
关于：
- Plants、animals、minerals
- Their medicinal properties
- Human health
Holistic medicine——
Body-soul connection
3. Music
Composer！
70+ liturgical songs
“Symphonia”——
Beautiful、unusual melodies
Music as path to divine
4. Theology
Viriditas（绿性、生命力）：
上帝’s creative power in nature——
Freshness、growth、vitality
类似道家的"生生"概念
Cosmic egg vision：
宇宙as interconnected whole——
Human=microcosm of macrocosm
God’s love贯穿一切
Authority问题
作为woman teaching theology——
需要justify authority
她的strategy：
强调visions来自上帝——
不是her own intellect
“I am only a poor little woman…But God has chosen the weak to confound the strong.”
自称"unlearned"（虽然clearly educated）
这是rhetorical strategy——
Necessary in patriarchal context
Prophetic authority>academic authority
Julian of Norwich（约1342-1416）
“All shall be well”
生平（mostly unknown）
我们知道very little：
她的real name=unknown
“Julian"可能来自St. Julian’s Church（Norwich，she lived as anchoress）
1373年5月（30岁）：
Severe illness——
以为要死——
Received 16 “showings”（visions）of Christ’s Passion
Miraculously recover
Spend rest of life（40+ years）——
As anchoress（隐修女）——
Enclosed in cell attached to church——
Contemplating the revelations
《Revelations of Divine Love》
First book written by woman in English！
Two versions：
Short text（soon after visions，1373）
Long text（20年后，约1393）——
With深思和theological reflection
内容：
详细describe 16 showings——
但more importantly——
她的theological insights
核心思想
1. 上帝’s love
Central theme：
上帝’s overwhelming、unconditional love
“The greatest honor you can give to God is to live gladly because of the knowledge of God’s love.”
Love不只是attribute——
是上帝’s very being
2. “All shall be well”
Famous repeated phrase from Christ：
“All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.”
不是naive optimism——
而是trust in上帝’s ultimate purpose
即使面对evil和suffering
3. Sin的意义
Radical view：
Sin=necessary（“behovely”）：
“Sin is behovely [necessary], but all shall be well.”
为什么？
Sin让我们：
- Know our weakness
- Value mercy
- Experience上帝’s saving love
没有sin→不会fully appreciate grace
Controversial！
但she insists这came from Christ
4. 上帝as Mother
Shocking imagery for中世纪：
“As truly as God is our Father, so truly is God our Mother.”
Mother Jesus：
- Gives birth to us（in redemption）
- Feeds us（Eucharist=mother’s milk）
- Nurtures、teaches、disciplines
不是说上帝有gender——
而是：maternal images reveal上帝’s love
Inclusive language（rare in中世纪）
5. Hazelnut vision
Famous image：
Christ show her something small as hazelnut——
代表all creation
三个truths：
- 上帝made it
- 上帝loves it
- 上帝keeps it
Everything’s fragility和preciousness
6. No wrath in God
Controversial claim：
上帝has no wrath（anger）——
Only love
Wrath=in us（sin’s effect）——
Not in上帝
Hell？
She困惑——
Church teaches hell exists——
但她的visions=only love
她的response：谦卑接受mystery——
Church’s teaching和her revelation both true somehow——
Though she doesn’t understand how
这是intellectual honesty
Theological sophistication
虽然没formal training——
Julian’s theology=sophisticated：
- Trinitarian
- Christocentric
- Nuanced on grace、sin、salvation
某些scholars认为——
她可能受过更多education than承认——
或通过reading学习
但official story：simple unlearned woman
Catherine of Siena（1347-1380）
Political mystic
生平
意大利Siena——
24个孩子中第23个！
从小visions
16岁：加入Dominican Third Order（lay order）
但live at home，not in convent
严格asceticism：
- Extreme fasting
- Little sleep
- Physical suffering
（Problematic by modern standards）
Public ministry
不只是私人mysticism——
而是active in world：
Nursing plague victims
Mediating feuds
Advising政治领袖
最著名：
Convince教宗Gregory XI——
Return from Avignon to Rome（1377）——
Ending"Babylonian Captivity”
Illiterate woman——
Advising Pope！
33岁去世（possibly from extreme fasting）
《The Dialogue》
她dictate to scribes——
“Dialogue” between灵魂and上帝
Theological themes：
Bridge image：
Christ=bridge from earth to heaven——
三个stages（feet、side、mouth of Christ）——
代表spiritual progress
上帝’s providence、mercy、justice
Self-knowledge的必要性
平衡行动与默观
Catherine=active mystic——
不只是contemplative
她show：
Mystical experience→推动social action
不是escape from world——
而是transform it
Mechthild of Magdeburg（约1208-1282）
《The Flowing Light of the Godhead》
German Beguine（semi-religious woman）
Erotic mystical poetry：
灵魂and上帝=lovers
“Bride of Christ"传统——
但explicit、passionate language
“Lord, you are my lover, My longing, My flowing stream…”
Not prudish——
Celebrates divine love in sensual terms
Influencing later mystics（including Eckhart）
Teresa of Ávila（1515-1582）
（Technically Renaissance，但延续中世纪mysticism）
Reformer和mystic
Spanish Carmelite nun
Reform Carmelite order——
Return to stricter observance
建立17 convents
同时：
Deep mystical experiences
《Interior Castle》
Classic of mystical theology：
灵魂=castle with seven mansions（dwelling places）
Spiritual journey through mansions——
Toward innermost（union with上帝）
Stages：
1-3. Active purification
4-5. Passive purification、supernatural experiences
Spiritual betrothal
Spiritual marriage（perfect union）
Detailed、phenomenological descriptions
区分：
- True mystical experiences
- Imagination
- Demonic deception
Practical、psychologically acute
平衡
Teresa=both mystic和practical administrator
Her advice：
“Teresa and three ducats can do nothing; but God, Teresa and three ducats can do everything.”
Mysticism不oppose practical work——
Complement each other
为什么通过mysticism？
女性哲学家often choose mystical mode——
不是just personal preference——
而是strategic：
1. Authority
Universities、Churches禁止women teaching——
但mystical experience=direct from上帝——
无法否认（if accepted as genuine）
Prophetic authority bypass institutional gatekeepers
2. Embodiment
女性often emphasize bodily experience——
Visions、physical suffering、Eucharistic devotion
这valued in mystical tradition——
虽然devalued in academic philosophy
Embodied knowing vs purely intellectual
3. Relational
Mysticism emphasizes relationship（灵魂-上帝）——
Less abstract、impersonal than scholasticism
可能reflect gendered socialization？
（虽然危险to generalize）
4. Vernacular
Many women mystics write in vernacular（non-Latin）——
Accessibility
不需要formal Latin education
共同themes
Across diverse women mystics：
1. Divine love
Central、overwhelming experience
2. Union with上帝
Goal=不只是knowledge——
而是intimate union
3. Suffering
Identification with Christ’s suffering——
Redemptive meaning
4. Humility和authority的tension
Claim authority（from上帝）——
While professing humility
5. Maternal imagery
上帝、Christ as mother figures——
More than male mystics
6. Embodied spirituality
Body不只是obstacle——
也是path to divine
现代意义
1. Feminist theology
Recovery of women’s voices——
Alternative to male-dominated tradition
不同perspectives on：
- 上帝
- Spirituality
- Authority
Female imagery for divine=重要for many
2. Embodied knowing
Challenge mind-body dualism——
Knowledge不只是cerebral——
也通过bodily experience、emotions
Relevant beyond theology：
Phenomenology、feminist epistemology
3. Mysticism和activism
Not contradiction：
Catherine、Teresa show——
Deep spirituality→effective action
Contemporary：spiritual activists
4. Alternative authority
在institutions exclude you——
如何claim voice？
Mystics’ strategy：
Appeal to higher authority（direct experience、divine）
Relevant for marginalized groups today
批评
1. 强化stereotypes？**
Women=emotional、irrational、body-focused——
vs men=rational、intellectual
Mysticism reinforce this？
Counterpoint：
女性mystics=highly intelligent、theologically sophisticated——
Choice of mode不mean lack of intellect
2. Asceticism’s dangers
Extreme fasting、self-harm——
（Catherine、一些others）
Anorexia？Self-hatred？
需要critical examination——
不只是romanticize
3. Still within patriarchy
即使rebel against某些aspects——
仍accept basic Christian patriarchal framework
可能内化oppression
但也：work within constraints brilliantly
实践意义
1. Value diverse voices
哲学、theology不只是one type of discourse——
Mystical、poetic、experiential也valid
Don’t dismiss因为not academic style
2. Trust experience
Direct experience有authority——
不只是书本learning
Your lived experience=valid knowledge source
3. Find creative paths
如果traditional paths blocked——
找alternative routes（like mystics did）
限制can inspire creativity
4. Integrate action和contemplation
Teresa、Catherine model：
不是choose between inner life和outer service——
Both essential
她们的声音——
Long silenced——
Marginalized——
Now being heard
Hildegard、Julian、Catherine、Mechthild、Teresa——
和countless others
Wise、courageous、creative——
在constraints下——
找到ways——
To speak、
To teach、
To transform
她们remind us：
哲学不只是——
在universities——
在books——
也在visions、
在prayers、
在lived experience
“All shall be well”——
Julian whispers——
Across centuries——
给我们所有——
Seeking wisdom——
In unexpected places