But the purity of the virgin side must be intertwined with the fruitfulness of the wife, with a life of works and with all the accompanying trouble of giving birth. The soul as virgin has an inner purity of intention; the soul as wife has an outer fruitfulness born of an intercourse with the world. The soul must work like Martha, like a busy and fruitful wife, while also and at the same time being pure of attachment to its own works.
