St Teresa of Avila's famously orgasmic vision?

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Well, literarily it seems to tell the reader that it means Teresa's light from her eyes could make you orgasmic...
I googled Teresa of Ávila:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teresa_of_%C3%81vila#Excerpts
and found no such information there.
Would you like to introduce a little bit about it?

Context:

I made the comparison between falling in love and religion in
1993, when I noted that the symptoms of an individual infected by
religion 'may be startlingly reminiscent of those more ordinarily
associated with sexual love. This is an extremely potent force in the
brain, and it is not surprising that some viruses have evolved to
exploit it' ('viruses' here is a metaphor for religions: my article was
called 'Viruses of the mind'). St Teresa of Avila's famously orgasmic
vision is too notorious to need quoting again. More seriously, and on
a less crudely sensual plane, the philosopher Anthony Kenny provides
moving testimony to the pure delight that awaits those who manage
to believe in the mystery of the transubstantiation. After describing
his ordination as a Roman Catholic priest, empowered by laying on
of hands to celebrate mass, he goes on that he vividly recalls

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Type: Question • Score: 3 • Views: 14,455 • Replies: 121

View best answer, chosen by oristarA

@oristarA,

I think this is what you need to read.

http://canterburyatheists.blogspot.co.uk/2008/11/st-teresa-of-avila-patron-saint-of.html

0 Replies

@oristarA,

There is more than one meaning to vision:

VISION
ˈvɪʒ(ə)n/Submit
noun
1.
the faculty or state of being able to see.
"she had defective vision"
synonyms: eyesight, sight, power of sight, faculty of sight, ability to see, power of seeing, powers of observation, observation, perception, visual perception; More
the images seen on a television screen.
"the box converts the digital signal into sound and vision on an ordinary TV"
2.
the ability to think about or plan the future with imagination or wisdom.
"the organization had lost its vision and direction"
synonyms: imagination, creativity, creative power, inventiveness, innovation, inspiration, intuition, perceptiveness, perception, breadth of view, foresight, insight, far-sightedness, prescience, discernment, awareness, penetration, shrewdness, sharpness, cleverness

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Lordy seems to have got this one covered.

A vision, a dream. Here's another one:

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

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@oristarA,

oristarA wrote:

Well, literarily it seems to tell the reader that it means Teresa's light from her eyes could make you orgasmic...

1. Literally

2. It says that her 'vision' (i.e. her visual experiences during episodes of religious ecstasy, or hallucinations) had a sexual content.

1 Reply

@contrex,

contrex wrote:

oristarA wrote:
Well, literarily it seems to tell the reader that it means Teresa's light from her eyes could make you orgasmic...

1. Literally

2. It says that her 'vision' (i.e. her visual experiences during episodes of religious ecstasy, or hallucinations) had a sexual content.

Interesting.
And this sexual content leads up to orgasm?

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@McTag,

McTag wrote:

Lordy seems to have got this one covered.

A vision, a dream. Here's another one:

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

Thanks.
But the problem for my understanding is the word orgasmic.

1 Reply

@oristarA,

Quote:

But the problem for my understanding is the word orgasmic.

I thought it was with the word "vision".

Your dictionary will help with "orgasmic", a word that is rather misused today, usually in describing the pleasure to be had from eating exceptionally nice food.
It refers to a sexual sensual climax, extreme sensual pleasure.

3 Replies

@McTag,

McTag wrote:

Quote:
But the problem for my understanding is the word orgasmic.

I thought it was with the word "vision".

Your dictionary will help with "orgasmic", a word that is rather misused today, usually in describing the pleasure to be had from eating exceptionally nice food.
It refers to a sexual sensual climax, extreme sensual pleasure.

Cool. Thanks.
So "St Teresa of Avila's famously orgasmic vision is too notorious to need quoting again" refers to " St Teresa of Avila's famously orgasmic
dream is too notorious to need quoting again"?
That is: St Teresa (of Avila) was often in her dream to have experienced extreme sensual pleasure?

But if that was in dream, how could the dreams be known to others? How could they be notorious? Did Teresa tell the public?

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@McTag,

Quote:

Your dictionary will help with "orgasmic", a word that is rather misused today, usually in describing the pleasure to be had from eating exceptionally nice food.
It refers to a sexual sensual climax, extreme sensual pleasure.

Your dictionary, Ori, actually any dictionary, will quickly reveal to you that McTag is, once again, verbalizing from his behind. His description of ORGASMIC as it is used in English today is wrong.

The figurative meaning is alive and well, and very frequently used. This is the same with untold numbers of words in English.

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@McTag,

Well, at least in the German translation it's just the figurative meaning - actually, in German the equivalent orgasmic is mostly used figurative.

1 Reply

@Walter Hinteler,

Gee, imagine that, those damn Germans are misusing words too!

McTag often just blabs without thinking, Walter. That's the sign of a true prescriptivist, rote memorization and no thinking.

1 Reply

@JTT,

Prompted by this strange, aggressive and nasty response, I did finally consult my dictionary, and I find that I was correct.

Strange, aggressive, nasty....and wrong.

2 Replies

@McTag,

That'd be another of your nutty English language sources, McTag. Note the absence of anything but your "word".

1 Reply

@JTT,

I did not think it necessary to state obvious and simple facts to one so learned.

Oxford Concise English.

1 Reply

@McTag,

So I've looked it up in the very English Oxford Dictionary:

Quote:

1. Relating to orgasm:
orgasmic shudders
1.2 INFORMAL Very enjoyable:
'an orgasmic new drink'
'Grab a slice of orgasmic pizza at Alpine Pizza, before a brew at Murphy's or the Arizona Brewing Company.'
'Yes, the food at Kolu's is orgasmic!'
'That would be amazing and orgasmic and heavenly!'

1 Reply

@Walter Hinteler,

So Walter and his dictionary agree too. I think calling the modern misuse "informal" is a bit lax. It's over-the-top trendy-speak in my book.
(And nothing to do with female saints' visions)

2 Replies

@McTag,

To call it a 'modern misuse' is - at least for the use of it German - a bit exaggerated.
Already in the 19th century, Goethe's description of the the blue Italian sky was described as "orgasmic" (orgastisch) (Source: Conversations-Lexikon der neuesten Zeit und Literatur, Leibzig, 1833)

0 Replies

@McTag,

McTag: Your dictionary will help with "orgasmic", a word that is rather misused today, usually in describing the pleasure to be had from eating exceptionally nice food.
It refers to a sexual sensual climax, extreme sensual pleasure.

--------------

McTag: So Walter and his dictionary agree too.

/////////

No, neither Walter or the dictionary agree with you. They both note that it is used figuratively and a know nothing like you doesn't have near the credentials or requisite knowledge to decide how people will use it figuratively.

0 Replies

I always thought she was like those nuns in Ken Russell's "The Devils", who frigged themselves with crucifixes, and that there is therefore nothing 'figurative' about calling her visions orgasmic. She was called the "patron saint of hysteria' by a colleague of Freud. In her autobiography she wrote “During ecstasy the body stops moving, breathing becomes slower and weaker, you only sigh and pleasure comes in waves…”. For all intents and purposes, she is describing an orgasm. Many interpret her most famous vision as having strong sexual connotations, and the angel's golden spear to be phallic symbolism:

"I would see beside me, on my left hand, an angel in bodily form ... He was not tall, but short, and very beautiful, his face so aflame that he appeared to be one of the highest types of angel who seem to be all afire ... In his hands I saw a long golden spear and at the end of the iron tip I seemed to see a point of fire. With this he seemed to pierce my heart several times so that it penetrated to my entrails. When he drew it out, I thought he was drawing them out with it and he left me completely afire with a great love for God. The pain was so sharp that it made me utter several moans; and so excessive was the sweetness caused me by the intense pain that one can never wish to lose it, nor will one's soul be content with anything less than God.".

I would hazard a guess that Bernini thought so (the sculpture represents the vision described above):

http://cdn.sinfinimusic.com/assets/201406101809/media/2633679/the-ecstasy-of-st-teresa-of-avila-by-gian-lorenzo-bernini-1598-1680-a-sculpture-in-marble-and-gi-658x325.jpg

She's a bit flushed, isn't she?

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_uuEaCUoipUg/SSULlUxz2ZI/AAAAAAAAAXw/8sS4A-_8__o/s400/sT+Teresa+2.jpg

On a personal note, I really love religious art of that period.

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St Teresa of Avila's famously orgasmic vision?

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