Hearing Spiritual Voices: Medieval Mystics, Meaning and Psychiatry

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Unusual perceptual, or perception-like, experiences, often meaningful to those who have them, may be sympathetically or unsympathetically interpreted by others. One interpretation, especially when voices are associated with unusual behaviour, is that they are evidence of mental disorder. Ostensibly such interpretations are sympathetic (showing concern for someone who is ill) but in practice they are used to deny the meaning and value of the experiences for those concerned, thus depriving them (and others) of creative and innovative ways of understanding the human condition. The question is thus one of the meaning. Are such experiences meaningful only as indicators of a diagnosis, or are they meaningful in other ways, shedding light on human self-understanding and perhaps even a wider spiritual reality Psychiatry has tended to see such phenomena as diagnostically meaningful but not as sources of deeper insight into the human condition. This book takes three 14th century examples of women who heard spiritually significant voices: Margery Kempe, Julian of Norwich, and Joan of Arc. Each of these women, in different ways, has left an enduring legacy in literature and history. Modern psychiatric commentary on the voices that they reported has generally focussed on diagnosis rather than on wider questions of meaning. These commentaries will be used as a lens through which to consider how contemporary psychiatric practice might be enriched by the humanities and enabled to find a more spiritually empathetic, if not also sympathetic, enriching and meaning enhancing perspective on unusual mental phenomena. The eBook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by The Wellcome Trust.

Reviews

The question of precisely how we should frame voice hearing is a source of great interest and controversy. Some assume that there is no meaning to peoples voices beyond their significance as a symptom of underlying pathology. Others want to push in a different direction by acknowledging the possibility that voices have not only personal meaning for the voice hearer, but also wider meaning which reaches into the lives of others. In this book Chris Cook urges us to consider the latter perspective, arguing that spiritual wisdom may be discovered if we learn to listen properly. Through a fascinating exploration of the voices heard by medieval mystics, Cook opens new conversations and fresh perspectives that reveal challenging and intriguing possibilities for contemporary psychiatric practice and knowledge. This book is an invaluable contribution to medical humanities and the compassionate practice of psychiatry. * John Swinton, Professor in Practical Theology and Pastoral Care, Kings College University of Aberdeen, UK. *
This remarkable and risk-taking book addresses a phenomenon most often understood as a symptom of psychosis hearing voices without external stimuli. Chris Cook draws on many years of research in both theology and psychiatry, to challenge this assumption and to ask what meanings experiences voice-hearing might have beyond the diagnostic. How might they illuminate understandings of the self and of the spiritual To address these questions, he turns to three celebrated medieval visionaries Julian of Norwich, Margery Kempe and Joan of Arc. Radically different from each other Julian, an recluse and mystic whose extreme illness in 1473 opened onto a series of visions recorded in her Revelations of Divine Love; Margery, married, bearing 14 children, playing a part on the public stage and travelling as far as Rome and Jerusalem, but whose inner life, visionary experiences and conversations with the Lord shapes the book which is often described as the first autobiography in English; Joan, the prophetic leader of armies whose intervention changed European history the voice-hearing experiences of all these women shifted their own ontological boundaries, opening onto new and profoundly personal knowledge of the divine but also transforming the lives of others. All also experienced doubts concerning the origins and truth of their voices: the challenge of faith, of believing visions were not ravings; but also, the derision of others and danger of being accused of heresy as were Margery and especially Joan, ultimately burned at the stake. To be a voice-hearer could also be to be at odds with clerical and secular authority. The gamut of their experiences resonates with the stigma attached to voice-hearing today, the challenges which voice-hearers experience in being taken seriously. But the deep connection between voice-hearing and spiritual experience is also key, for in todays secular world the spiritual dimension of many voice-hearing experiences is often trivialised or misunderstood. For voice-hearers today, the lives of voice-hearers of the past can be inspirational, evidencing a thought-world in which voice-hearing was understood as potentially divinely inspired and even sought after, and in which visionaries had their own special authority. The unique voices of these three women, shaped by their voice-hearing experiences, have the potential to reach across the ages to touch the present. This elegantly written, sensitive and thoughtful book will allow that potential to be realised. For those who treat and care for voice-hearers, for researchers across the humanities and in psychology, for readers engaged with the history and nature of spiritual experience, and for voice-hearers themselves, this book will be a rich resource, revisited many times. * Corinne Saunders, Co-Director, Institute for Medical Humanities, Durham University, UK *
Professor Christopher Cook is an internationally leading guru in the field of religion, spirituality and psychiatry. In Hearing Spiritual Voices, he has presented a ground-breaking study on spiritually significant voices which has vividly illustrated that contrary to the commonly held view of the pathognomonic nature of such voices to psychopathology, these experiences may actually help one positively cope with adversities. Through the studies on three Christian women from medieval Europe, Cook has ingeniously synthesized learning lessons relevant for todays psychiatrists worldwide especially on the importance of entangling psychiatry with the humanities, and the important role of meaning in psychiatry. This book is a must-read for all who want to become a better psychiatrist (or mental health professional) by not only being an astute diagnostician or clinical neuroscientist but most importantly, by being an empathic healer eager to support patients in finding meanings in their experiences. * Alan Fung, Chair, World Psychiatric Association Section on Religion, Spirituality and Psychiatry *

Author Bio

Christopher C.H. Cook is Professor of Spirituality, Theology & Health, Department of Theology & Religion, Durham University, UK.