The big thing to do in Siena, besides watching the historic horse races in August (basically the Italian Appleby Horse Fair, but with less grabbing), is walk around its famous Duomo.
Inside the grand cathedral there's a mural of Catherine of Siena, who's one of Italy's patron saints (Can you name the other one? 100 points if you can! No Googling). When we got back to the hotel, Andy and I read her Wikipedia page.
This excerpt stood out:
In about 1368, aged twenty-one, Catherine experienced what she described in her letters as a "Mystical Marriage" with Jesus, later a popular subject in art as the Mystic marriage of Saint Catherine. "Underlining the extent to which the marriage was a fusion with Christ's physicality Catherine received, not the ring of gold and jewels that her biographer reports in his bowdlerized version, but the ring of Christ's foreskin."
Yeah.
At Gonzaga I took a class called 'Philosophy of Mysticism'. It was taught by an ancient Jesuit priest who was so old that he couldn't stand up. He would sit stooped in his chair at the front of the class, barely visible behind his desk.
We talked a lot about old religious figures and their mystical endeavours. I remember we learned about a lady named Julien of Norwich who actually chained herself to a small enclave in the wall of a church and LIVED IN IT (I was so appalled I blogged about it way back when).
The Jesuit told us that there's a possibility most of the mystics were actually just mentally ill. He also told us that he took LSD once and often wondered whether his experience (lying in the middle of the road and listening to the blood running through his veins) might be considered 'mystical'. Needless to say, even this old Jesuit was skeptical of medieval mystics like Cathy of Siena.
In other news, Rome tomorrow for two nights. The final hurrah! Over dinner this evening Andy and I agreed that we're going to say "When in Rome..." a lot while we're there. Glad we settled that upfront.
Cheers,
Margaret of Kenmore
