religions Article What Julian Saw: The Embodied Showings and the Items for Private Devotion Juliana Dresvina History Faculty, University of Oxford, 41-47 George St, Oxford OX1 2BE, UK;
[email protected] Received: 28 February 2019; Accepted: 29 March 2019; Published: 2 April 2019 Abstract: The article traces potential visual sources of Julian of Norwich’s (1343–after 1416) Revelations or Showings, suggesting that many of them come from familiar everyday devotional objects such as Psalters, Books of Hours, or rosary beads. It attempts to approach Julian’s text from the perspective of neuromedievalism, combining more familiar textual analysis with some recent findings in clinical psychology and neuroscience. By doing so, the essay emphasizes the embodied nature of Julian’s visions and devotions as opposed to the more apophatic approach expected from a mystic. Keywords: revelations; mysticism; ekphrasis; neuromedievalism; neuroarthistory; psychohistory; Julian of Norwich; visions; sleep paralysis; psalters; books of hours; rosary beads 1. Introduction This paper has a very simple thesis to illustrate: that a lot, if not most of theology, found in the writings of Julian of Norwich (1343–after 1416)—a celebrated mystic and the first English female author known by name—comes from familiar, close-to-home objects and images. Images are such an integral aspect of our existence that the famous neuroscientist Rodolfo Llinás, and many after him, claimed that our brain is about making images (Llinás and Paré 1991; Damasio 2010, pp. 63–88). However, such complicated private visual experiences as dream-visions or mystical revelations are insufficient to synthesise knowledge per se, particularly if understood as aimed at a broader community.