Visions and Longings

June 3, 1996
For readers who might avoid the complete, sometimes daunting works of the 11 women mystics included here, Furlong provides an excellent sampler. The cultural and physical conditions surrounding all these women are difficult for the modern mind to grasp; so also is the courage each employed in her rebellion against the prevailing social views of women and their proper status. From Heloise to the astonishingly clear and modern views of Julian of Norwich, we follow these women from the 11th through the 14th centuries. Being the first in medieval times to give voice to women, whose assigned role was that of silence, these mystics are noteworthy for the intellectual gifts they bring to their religious insights. The physical consequences, often manifesting as illness, of their actions is nowhere discounted by Furlong; nor does she evade the possibility that some of them suffered from conditions that modern medicine would label as mental disorders. These circumstances do not minimize the impact of the women's ideas, but rather-at least in Furlong's presentation-allow us to see the humanity as well as the ecstasy in 11 remarkable women.