"
The treatise _Thoughts of the Love of God on some Words of the Song of
Songs_ is crowded with purely sensuous passages. In accordance with the
general custom, she interprets this naively sensual Semitic poem
allegorically, becomes tremendously excited in meditating on the kiss of
the beloved and discusses the question of what the soul should do to
"satisfy so sweet a bridegroom."
In the pamphlet _The Fortress of the Soul and its Seven Dwellings_, St.
Teresa describes similar states of mind: "The bridegroom commands the
doors of the dwellings to be closed and also the gates of the fortress
and its surrounding walls. In freeing the soul from the body, he stops
the body's breathing so that, even if the other senses are not quite
deadened, speech is impossible. At other times all sensuous perceptions
disappear simultaneously; body and hands grow rigid and it seems as if
the soul had left the body, which is scarcely breathing. This condition
is of short duration. The rigidity passes away to some extent, the body
slowly regains life, the breath comes and goes, only to die away again
and thus endow the soul with greater freedom.
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