Ygraine's Reviews > The Showings of Julian of Norwich

medieval mysticism and the movement towards becoming one with divinity, losing the self in god and finding god in the self, is something both fascinating and unsettling; these are works of vast intimacy, calling upon god as father in his divine creation, and mother in christ's self-sacrificing nurture of humankind, as son in the images of the virgin mary's pain, and as lover in the burning, all-consuming nature of his love, as teacher, as brother, as spouse. this is a vast, all-encompassing yearning for closeness, a spirituality that contains as much romantic, sexual and familial devotion as religious devotion.

and this yearning for closeness manifests itself in an invasive, penetrative sense, the manifestation of christ's wounds as a gateway to heaven, the spiritual meaning of the passion made physical; unity with god is more than a purely metaphysical concept, here it is often literal - the spear wound in christ's side becoming a vaginal image in medieval art, and further, becoming womb-like in julian's visions, its capacity to hold mankind and nurture them there, in love and peace for all eternity. jesus' suffering leaves him bloody and open, a highly feminised figure, and there is something in that that seems highly resonant with women such as julian, or margery kempe, who see the wounds of christ as a way of entering his being, who recognise some sense of womanhood and motherhood in the symbol of god.