Mysticism and Space: Space and Spatiality in the Works of Richard Rolle, The Cloud of Unknowing Author, and Julian of Norwich (review)

Mysticism and Space is a treatise on the role of space, of the physical and spiritual kinds, in the mystical teachings of three major Middle English writers. Beginning with general discussions of physical space, social space, and the intersections of space and text, it concludes with separate discussions of Richard Rolle's works, The Cloud of Unknowing, and Julian's Revelation of Love.

Much of the merit of this book lies in its close reading of the three authors, with attention to their deployment of space as a metaphor and their descriptions of physical and mystical space. This includes an exploration of the detailed descriptions of physical objects and experiences, and their role in the crossover into mystical experience. Detailed consideration is given to the use of physical spatial indicators to describe spiritual experiences. Davis's teasing out of the varied and sometimes apparently contradictory spatial terms, such as up and down or empty and full, provokes a thoughtful realignment of our readings, providing an added dimension and richness.

The groundwork for this close reading is laid in the opening chapters, where there is some heavy-duty theory: but this forms a solid basis from which to reappraise the texts. Davis makes much of the 'mise-en-abîme', the visual illusion where a picture contains a smaller version of itself, which contains another, yet smaller, version, repeated infinitely: this is an apt spatial metaphor for the infiniteness of God's love, but she perhaps overstates its presence in the texts.

Although many threads are teased out in the book, Davis seems to find one key theme in each author. For Rolle, this is the tripartite nature of the mystical experience, as in the Trinity, the relationship between Christ, the reader, and Rolle as mediator, his experience of canor, calor, and dulcor, and his afterlife division of those who have loved God much, more, and most.

For the Cloud author, the theme is enclosure. The contemplative is enclosed between the clouds of forgetting and unknowing, echoing the physical enclosure of contemplatives in their earthly lives. Davis discusses the Cloud author's presentation of the contemplative as both enclosing contemplation and being enclosed by it.

The theme that Davis finds in Julian is translocation and liminality. She draws out the way in which the entirety of Julian's revelation takes place while she is confined, unmoving and deeply ill, to a bed in a room adorned by a crucifix, and this physical reality is never quite left behind in her account of the revelation. It juxtaposes with the 'world in a walnut' image to constantly remind the reader of the presence of space in the mystical experience. This intelligent and sensitive book has something to offer anyone with an interest in Middle English texts, mysticism, or spirituality.