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This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from the King’s Research Portal at https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/ Sexual Imageries in Meister Eckhart Garwood, George Awarding institution: King's College London The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without proper acknowledgement. END USER LICENCE AGREEMENT Unless another licence is stated on the immediately following page this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ You are free to copy, distribute and transmit the work Under the following conditions: Attribution: You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Non Commercial: You may not use this work for commercial purposes. No Derivative Works - You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. Any of these conditions can be waived if you receive permission from the author. Your fair dealings and other rights are in no way affected by the above. Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact [email protected] providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 26. Sep. 2021 This electronic theses or dissertation has been downloaded from the King’s Research Portal at https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/ Title: Sexual Imageries in Meister Eckhart Author: George Garwood The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without proper acknowledgement. END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ You are free to: Share: to copy, distribute and transmit the work Under the following conditions: Attribution: You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Non Commercial: You may not use this work for commercial purposes. No Derivative Works - You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. Any of these conditions can be waived if you receive permission from the author. Your fair dealings and other rights are in no way affected by the above. Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact [email protected] providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Sexual Imageries in Meister Eckhart George Samuel Garwood A thesis submitted to King‘s College, London for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Arts and Humanities Department of Theology and Religious Studies King‘s College, Strand, London, UK. August 2013 The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without proper acknowledgement. Abstract This study about sexuality in Eckhart‘s works contains two major parts. The first division of the study (the first two chapters) treats sexuality, which is also to be understood as body from a universalistic perspective, while the latter part of this work (four chapters) deals with sexuality (as soul) from a particularistic or Eckhartian perspective. Furthermore, the universalistic part of this study deals with sexuality from a historical, philosophical, biological, sociological, and psychological point of view, while the latter part focuses on sexuality as seen through the theological and metaphysical lenses of Eckhart. However, there is harmonisation between both models – the universalistic and the particularistic models of sexuality – and this is where Eckhart brings about a reconciliation or synthesis between, on one hand, the traditional model which is often conflicted or dualistic in itself, and on the other hand, his model, stripped of, or detached from its historical sexual angst is a model which no longer views sexuality as a deterrent, or an impediment in the path of the soul in her assent towards the divine. Because of this, he offers us a dynamic, a relevant, a progressive and a systematically coherent sexual theology which shows the necessity, the efficacy, and the meritoriousness of sexual relations between the soul and the divine. Furthermore, Eckhart‘s language of sexuality is really an allegory about the sacredness of human sexual relationships. He, also by his sexual doctrine, shows that there is essentially no divide between God and humans. That is to say, God‘s divinity is the ratio of humanity‘s existence, and this existence is mediated through imageries of birth and procreation. Moreover, these imageries mirror the nature of the Divine which is the totum of all that is animate and inanimate, visible and invisible. 2 Table of Contents Title and author.....................................................................................................1 Abstract..................................................................................................................2 Table of contents....................................................................................................3-4 Acknowledgement and thanks................................................................................5 Introduction.............................................................................................................6 Conceptual framework............................................................................................6-13 The divine through bodily language.......................................................................13-14 Chapter One: Post-Modernity of Eckhart's Language 1.1 How does his language of love differ from his medieval contemporaries? ......... 15-23 1.2 Eckhart‘s inclusiveness......................................................................................... 23-32 1.3 A few elements of desire………………………………………………….32-34 1.4 Desire in Eckhart and Lacan………………………………………………34-36 1.5 Lacan‘s desire vs. Eckhart‘s desire..............................................................36-40 1.6 Lacan's stages and Eckhart's stages………………………………………..40-44 Chapter Two: Radically Embodied Hyper-Sexuality as Sublime Spiritual Mimesis - the Historical Stage 2.1 The semantic contours of the body........................................................................ 45-48 2.2 Asceticism.............................................................................................................. 48-53 2.3 Sexuality: a religious experience........................................................................... 53-55 2.4 Amor Vincit or the language of courtly love.......................................................... 56-62 Chapter Three: Courtly Love in Eckhart and Porete............................................ 63-66 3.1 Porete and Eckhart‘s steps via Augustine.............................................................. 66-66 3.2 Stages towards union............................................................................................. 67-71 3.3 Courtly love in Augustine, Porete, and Eckhart‘s steps......................................... 71-74 3.4 Sexual imageries in Augustine, Porete, and Eckhart‘s steps.................................75-78 3.5 Porete and Eckhart: Theological, metaphysical and sexual points of contact...................................................................................................................... 78-82 3.6 Meaning of soul for Porete and Eckhart................................................................ 82-84 3.7 Eckhart and Porete‘s language of love................................................................... 84-92 3.8 Song of Songs........................................................................................................ 92-99 3 3.9 Eckhart‘s little bed................................................................................................. 99-101 3.10 Eckhart's Son.......................................................................................................101-107 3.11 Eckhart‘s ‗quoniam ex ipso‘, etc.........................................................................108-109 3.12 Sexual significance of Eckhart‘s ‗quoniam ex ipso‘, etc....................................109-119 Chapter Four: The Nobleman..................................................................................120-122 4.1 Sexual imageries....................................................................................................122-130 4.2 The noblewomen’s sexuality: Eve, the Bride of the Song, Mary and Martha, Rachel and Leah.....................................................................130-139 4.3 Brown, birth and breast..........................................................................................139-143 4.4 Mary and Martha iconic symbols of sexual detachment........................................143-152 4.5 Mary and Martha (deeper insights).........................................................................152-159 4.6 Mary, Martha, Rachel and Leah‘s sexuality............................................................159-166 Chapter Five: Botanical and Agricultural Themes..................................................167-168 5.1 Real significance of floral imagery..........................................................................169-173
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