LOVE AND BEAUTY IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD: PATHWAYS THROUGH BEGUINE AND TANTRIC MYSTICISMS From: Magistra | Date: January 1, 2001| Author: Anonymous | Copyright Magistra Publications Winter 2001. Provided by ProQuest LLC.Copyright information

This essay will consider the special mystical experiences of two Beguines, Mechthild of Magdeburg and Hadewijch of Antwerp, who variously used erotic and gendered imagery to convey their yearning for union with God. The kind of feminine/masculine symbolism exhibited by them can also be found in the spirituality of the Indian Tantras, which is a religious system that focuses on the concept of shakti as the emblem of power in the universe. This force is conceived as feminine, and personified as...