At the age of twelve, she tells us, she was "greeted" by the Holy Spirit-her expression for a special outpouring of divine favorand this continued daily for over three decades, well into the time when she was writing the FL. About 1230, as a young woman in her early twenties, she left the comforts of home to take up the life of a beguine in the not-too-distant town of Magdeburg, where she knew but one person; and even this one friendship she considered a spiritual liability, since she feared that, because of it, God might withdraw the spiritual divine love and contempt of the world that she sought (IV 2).
About 1250, in her forties, she revealed the extraordinary spiritual favors she has been experiencing to her confessor, probably the Dominican Heinrich of Halle. He urged her to continue her present way of life in cheerful confidence, and he commanded her to write the book "out of God's heart and mouth" (IV2).$ During the next ten years Mechthild completed the first five books of the FL, after which she may have originally considered her task com pleted. However, sometime during the following ten years (1260-70) she wrote Book VI, and still later composed Book VII.
Concerning the external details of Mechthild's life as a beguine in Magdeburg we know very little. We assume she lived in a house of beguines, and there is some evidence that she was, for a time, the superior of the community. She suffered through periods of sickness and reacted strongly to criticism of and threats against her book. She may have left Magdeburg occasionally because of sickness or hostility and returned to her relatives. But it is clear that she could count many supporters as well as detractors. The Lux divinitatis, the Latin translation of the first six books of the FL, reports that Baldwin, Mechthild's brother, was accepted into the Dominican order because of the merits of his sister.' Indeed, it was from the Order of Preachers, which she frequently singles out for special praise, that she seems to have derived much of her support.
It was in the Cistercian community at Helfta, however, that Mechthild spent her final years and wrote the seventh and final book of the FL. Under the guidance of its second abbess, Gertrud of Hackeborn (1250-91), Helfta was becoming known for its piety and learning. Here Mechthild retreated about 1270. There are signs that she felt ill at ease in this new environment, surrounded by women of whom many had enjoyed an education far superior to hers and could read and write Latin. This gave them direct access to the spiritual and theological traditions that Mechthild could only learn of secondhand. And yet these same nuns esteemed her and sought out her advice in spiritual matters (VII 21).
Two of these nuns themselves produced mystical texts that show clearly the influence of the FL. The first of these, The Book of Special Grace (Liber specialis gratiae), written down by two nuns after 1291, contains the revelations of Mechthild of Hackeborn (+1298 or 1299), sister of the aforementioned abbess. In the second book, known as The Herald of Divine Love (Legatus divinae pietatis), Gertrud of Helfta, "the Great" (+1301 or 1302), wrote an account of her interior life. Because these writings were in Latin, they enjoyed a wider readership than the FL and continued to be influential long after Mechthild of Magdeburg's vernacular work had disappeared, aside from anonymous bits that were here and there subsumed into manuals of piety. Here at Helfta, feeble and blind, which necessitated that she dictate the final chapters of Book VII, Mechthild finished out her life. The year of her death is uncertain-either about 1282 or about 1294.
3. The Flowing Light of the Godhead: a History of the Text
Since a manuscript of the FL was discovered in 1861 and became an object of scholarly investigation, the relationship of the text, as we have it, to the original document that Mechthild actually authored has been the object of much serious scholarship and debate. Understanding the problems and the degree to which they have been resolved is important for an intelligent reading of the text. The matter is perhaps best approached chronologically.
Mechthild originally wrote her book in Middle Low German, whereby Middle refers to the period in which the language was spoken and written-roughly 1050-1450-and Low refers to its geographical range-northern Germany.10 This original version has been lost, and there seems to be little hope of its recovery. Concerning this lost version, scholars have raised the question of how great a part Heinrich of Halle, Mechthild's confessor and spiritual advisor, played in its genesis. Heinrich, identified as lector" at the Dominican house in Ruppin after 1261 and member of the new Dominican community in Halle after about 1270, edited the first six books of the FL. He preceded Mechthild in death and seems to have had no influence on Book VII. Early scholarship gave him an important role in the genesis of Mechthild's book, claiming that he had altered greatly the content, style, and order of the text. More recently, Neumann has produced convincing evidence to show that Heinrich's influence on Mechthild's writing was minimal: that he confined himself to dividing the text into chapters while respecting Mechthild both as a person chosen by God to receive and impart special spiritual favors and as a talented writer. Some have suggested that Hein rich may have occasionally influenced the wording of sections dealing with difficult theological matters, where an orthodox formulation was a primary concern.' In general, however, there is now prevailing agreement that Heinrich let Mechthild's text speak for itself. And Neumann thinks there is good reason to believe that Mechthild herself participated in the editing process." just who is responsible for the chapter headings (which in the version we have are, with some inconsistencies, listed both at the beginning of each book and placed at the beginning of each chapter) is difficult to say. Because they differ in style from the rest of the text, they are probably not the work of Mechthild herself. Because they are at times misleading or less than apt, it is unlikely that they are Heinrich's doing. The headings of Book VII, because they differ markedly in style from those of the earlier books, must be attributed to sources other than the writer of the chapter headings of the first six books. Possibly they are the work of nuns at Helfta.
Books I through VI of the FL were translated into Latin, probably by two or more Dominicans in Halle shortly after Mechthild's death but, in any case, before 1298. The translators were apparently unaware of Book VII, composed at Helfta. This Latin version, the Lux divinitatis, changes the original order of the text, grouping material according to subject matter. The translators have toned down Mechthild's criticism of the clergy and some of her erotic imagery, and they occasionally offer an interpretation rather than a translation of a phrase or a sentence in the original. Otherwise, they demonstrate a solid understanding of the text and competence in translating it. The Latin translation is helpful in determining the meaning of Mechthild's occasionally obscure phrasing and serves as a welcome aid in correcting obvious corruptions in the vernacular version we possess.
What, then, in the absence of the original, is the nature of this surviving vernacular version, and what is its relationship to Mechthild's text? Somehow, a copy of Mechthild's work in the original Middle Low German14 fell into the hands of a secular priest in Basel named Heinrich of Nordlingen, confessor and spiritual advisor in many convents nearby. He supported mystical spirituality, was in contact with the Dominican John Tattler and possibly with Henry Suso as well, and corresponded with several mystically favored nuns. As we learn from a letter he wrote to the Dominican nun Margaret Ebner, to whom he is sending a copy of the FL, he was greatly moved by Mechthild's writing but, coming as he did from Bavaria and having worked first in Franconia and then in Swiss Basel, he found the German so strange that he realized it would have to be recast in Middle High German, the language of the German-speaking South, if it were to be read in that region with profit. Whether Heinrich did much of the translating himself or whether he delegated it to others in his circle in Basel, the task took two years. It is upon this version, existing in only one complete manuscript (ms E), discovered in 1861 in the library of the Benedictine monastery in Einsiedeln, Switzerland, that we must rely for access to Mechthild's lost original.
How close is this Middle High German version to the FL as it left Mechthil
d's hands? And is it possible to reconstruct the original from this version? To begin with the second question: Because the language of the area around Magdeburg was unstable at the time-admitting influences from several German dialects and forming no consistent internal linguistic unity-and hence, from the point of view of the present, unpredictable, scholars have never seriously considered attempting a full-scale reconstruction. This being said and despite Heinrich of Nordlingen's bafflement, one should not exaggerate the dissimilarities between these forms of medieval German. They are not different languages but rather different dialects of the same basic language and share to a large extent the same vocabulary. Most of the differences are in spelling and sound, the consequences of the second consonant shift. This and Mechthild's frequent use of rhyme enables philologists to ascertain the probable original forms of many words. Thus, though ms E must remain the basis for constructing a critical text-and one that must remain Middle High German-this is no cause for despair. As Neumann in his early study of ms E reassures us, the version originating in Basel shows that great pains were taken to render its source accurately." The translators were aided, he maintains, by the nature of Mechthild's language and thought, which transcends dialect and geography. Mechthild's modes of expression are often taken from the knightly-courtly world. The ideals and concepts of this world, drawn from a class culture spread throughout Europe, changed very little when transferred from a north German to a south German dialect. Neumann considers it an overstatement to call the Basel version a translation of its source. It is, rather, merely a "transplanting" or "transferring.""
Until quite recently all work on Mechthild and all translations of the FL were based on an edition of ms E done by Gall Morel, the Benedictine librarian at Einsiedeln, and completed in 1869. This edition was reprinted three times (1963, 1976, and 1980) despite its many shortcomings. The desperate lack of a critical edition was finally ended with the publication of Hans Neumann's edition in 1990 (Vol. 1: Text) and 1993 (Vol. 2: Investigations), brought to completion by Gisela Vollmann-Profe. Neumann corrected the many misreadings of Morel's edition and made other emendations based on manuscripts containing fragments of the FL found since the publication of the Morel edition, on comparisons with the Lux divinitatis, and on the wealth of scholarship on Mechthild that has appeared during the past 130 years, to which Neumann himself is, perhaps, the foremost contributor." The translation presented here is the first in English based on the new critical edition.
4. The Flowing Light of the Godhead as literature
The FL has often been described as a unique document with no obvious antecedents or descendants whose singularity defeats all attempts to categorize it. The frequent medieval term for similar texts is revelationes (revelations) ; but if we take the term seriously, or a related description sometimes applied to it in German: Visionsbuch or Visionenbuch (visionary book or book of visions), we seem to be excluding much of the content of the FL from our definition. Many chapters deal with revelatory material only by the widest stretch of the imagination." Mechthild's first direct description of something she says she experienced in a vision (as opposed to ecstasy) does not occur until 11 3. Thus, categorization of her book remains a problem.
Compared to other mystical and religious writings in the vernacular, Mechthild's efforts are remarkable for how literary they are. Mechthild is not alone in turning her experiences into literature. One might well have to admit, for example, that Hadewijch writes more consistently at a high poetic level. What distinguishes Mechthild's book from the others is the variety of genres-literary as well as those less literary in nature-that she employs in formulating her thoughts. Most visionary writers of her time and in the generations after her seem to be passive in formulating their experiences. They wish simply and unadornedly to report what they have seen and heard, risking no changes that might contaminate the experience. Mechthild, on the contrary, seems to consider the experience as raw material that needs to be reflected upon, formed, and fashioned before it can become part of her book.
In her search for suitable forms she ranges far and wide, employing most genres available to an author of her time. Their number and variety are remarkable. Among the studies devoted to this, that of Wolfgang Mohr has been the best received.' His list spans the spectrum, from the genres and sub-genres of courtly literature to forms originating in folk culture and, of course, many forms drawn from religious sources. Simplifying Mohr's list, one can note the following major forms in the FL: 1. Religious genres: the vision," hymn, sermon, spiritual instruction and tract, prayer, liturgy, litany, and prophetic literature. 2. Courtly genres: courtly-love poetry, allegorical dialogue, dialogue between the lovers, the messenger's song (Botenlied), and the exchange (Wechsel). 3. Other genres: autobiography, drama, epigrammatic poetry and wisdom literature, anecdote, letter, parody, nursery rhyme, and polemics.
While it would be rash to assume on the part of Mechthild in the case of each chapter a conscious effort to exploit a well-established genre, the presence of a wealth of traditional forms, which is the distinguishing characteristic of the FL, can hardly be accidental. Intentionally or not, Mechthild, through her extensive absorption of the many kinds of writing to which she was exposed, wrote a book whose paradoxical nature is that its unity consists, in part, in its diversity of forms.
Mechthild's imagery is rich and varied. As reflected in the book's divinely received title, images of flowing and light abound. Flowing is often an outpouring from God, and dazzling light radiates forth from God and the angels, surrounding the souls of the blessed. Other images point ahead to Meister Eckhart; for example, her play with iht (something) and niht (nothing), or her mention of the wiiestenunge (the desert). She takes her metaphors from simple things, such as wine, a sphere, the dew, or a mountain.
In her visions Mechthild is able to create a vivid chart of supernatural geography: heaven (111 1), hell (111 21), purgatory (11 8), and paradise (VII 57). She puts upon a stage before us the drama of the end of time, as the forces of good and evil enter their final struggle (IV 27). Through lively dialogue she makes the devils come alive (IV 2 and VII 39). It is this cosmic dimension of many of her visions that distinguishes Mechthild from the women visionaries to follow, who confine themselves to reporting visionary experiences of a personal and private world. Mechthild, too, describes many visions private and intimate in nature. She is, however, also able to put before our eyes scenes of great significance for the history of salvation; and she paints such scenes from a privileged point of view.
Besides allegorical dialogues, such as ones between Love and the soul (I 2 and 11 24) and between the soul and the senses (I 44), Mechthild, in the tradition of the bestiary, creates an allegorical animal that represents the truly spiritual person (IV 18). She also creates an allegorical house in which she dwells (VII 48), an allegorical convent (VII 36), and the allegorical crown Christ shall wear in heaven after the LastJudgment (VII 1). Especially striking in her depictions, whether meant literally or metaphorically, is the strong sense of order she evokes and how she expresses the worth of someone-whether angel, saint, or damned soul-by the place she assigns each in the space she creates.
5. The Flowing Light of the Godhead as an Expression of Mysticism
One could argue that the above heading is misleading if the following remarks are intended to address the religious content of the FL in its totality, and not just certain parts that are by general consensus mystical. Certainly there are sections of the book in which the subject matter and its treatment are so lacking in mystical dimensions that the term cannot be appropriately applied to the book as a whole. Consider, for example, the chapters in which Mechthild offers practical advice to religious superiors (VI 1) and canons (VI 2), or the chapter, enlightened perhaps at the time but an embarrassment to a present-day admirer of Mechthild, in which she counsels how one should conduct oneself in dealing with Jews (IV 11). In spite of this justifiable objection, I would like to retain the term because, once the term is under
stood as it is intended, I think it well describes the spirit in which the FL was composed.
If one thinks, as I do, that a most unfortunate aspect of many studies on mysticism has been the focus on it as an experience, and if one then chooses, with Bernard McGinn, the working definition of mysticism as a direct or immediate consciousness or awareness of the presence of God, then the term mystical seems apt to describe the whole FL.21 It is Mechthild's conviction that she has been favored with a special consciousness of God's presence that permeates the book and authorizes her. Without it she could not be its author. Without it she would have no authority to write about spiritual matters, whether the longing the divine Lover and the beloved soul feel for each other or a vision depicting the torments of the damned. As her description of God's greeting makes clear (1 2), this heightened awareness of God's presence is not and cannot be a lasting or constant state. Its impact, however, creates in Mechthild the ever-present conviction that she is divinely empowered to teach and to criticize; and this conviction informs not only the lyrical descriptions of her moments of special favor and the writing down of her visions, but every last bit of the book, even, or especially, when Mechthild finds writing a burden from which she would gladly be released.
Mechthild develops no system of theology or spiritual teaching of her own that one can easily summarize, though she does express a few thoughts that have a ring of originality. Her strengths lie elsewhere-in her ability to describe lyrically the relationship of God and the soul, or to depict vividly the heavenly heights or the infernal depths. Because, however, the FL is divided into so many discrete books and chapters with no immediately recognizable principle of organization, a brief presentation of some of her characteristic thoughts or themes is offered here to provide initial orientation.
The Flowing Light of the Godhead Page 4