''Ascent of Mount Carmel'' ( es, Subida del Monte Carmelo) is a 16th-century spiritual treatise by Spanish
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
mystic and poet Saint
John of the Cross
John of the Cross, OCD ( es, link=no, Juan de la Cruz; la, Ioannes a Cruce; born Juan de Yepes y Álvarez; 24 June 1542 – 14 December 1591) was a Spanish Catholic priest, mystic, and a Carmelite friar of converso origin. He is a major fi ...
. The book is a systematic treatment of the
ascetical life in pursuit of mystical union with
Christ
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, names and titles), was ...
, giving advice and reporting on his own experience. Alongside another connected work by John, entitled ''The Dark Night'', it details the so-called ''
Dark Night of the Soul
''Dark Night of the Soul'' ( es, La noche oscura del alma) is a poem written by the 16th-century Spanish mystic and poet St. John of the Cross. The author himself did not give any title to his poem, on which he wrote two book-length commentari ...
'', when the individual Soul undergoes earthly and spiritual privations in search of union with
God
In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...
. These two works, together with John's ''
The Living Flame of Love'' and the ''
Spiritual Canticle
''The Spiritual Canticle'' (), is one of the poetic works of the Spanish mystical poet Saint John of the Cross.
Saint John of the Cross, a Carmelite friar and priest during the Counter-Reformation was arrested and jailed by the Calced Carmeli ...
'', are regarded as some of the greatest works both in Christian mysticism and in the
Spanish language
Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a world language, global language with more than 500 millio ...
.
Written between 1578 and 1579 in
Granada
Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...
,
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
, after his escape from prison, the ''Ascent'' is illustrated by a diagram of the process outlined in the text of the Soul's progress to the summit of the metaphorical
Mount Carmel
Mount Carmel ( he, הַר הַכַּרְמֶל, Har haKarmel; ar, جبل الكرمل, Jabal al-Karmil), also known in Arabic as Mount Mar Elias ( ar, link=no, جبل مار إلياس, Jabal Mār Ilyās, lit=Mount Saint Elias/Elijah), is a c ...
where God is encountered. The work is divided into three sections and is set out as a commentary on four poetic stanzas by John on the subject of the ''Dark Night''. John shows how the Soul sets out to leave all worldly ties and appetites behind to achieve ''"nothing less than transformation in God"''.
Text of ''Dark Night of the Soul''
Considered to be his introductory work on mystical theology, this work begins with an
allegorical
As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory th ...
poem, ''Dark Night of the Soul''. The rest of the text begins as a detailed explanation and interpretation of the poem, but after explaining the first five lines, John thereafter ignores the poem and writes a straightforward treatise on the two "active nights" of the soul.
The poem is as follows:
Influence
John's spiritual method of inner purgation along the 'negative way' was an enormous influence on
T. S. Eliot when he came to write the ''
Four Quartets
''Four Quartets'' is a set of four poems written by T. S. Eliot that were published over a six-year period. The first poem, ''Burnt Norton'', was published with a collection of his early works (1936's ''Collected Poems 1909–1935''). After a f ...
''. John's poem contains these famous lines of self-abnegation leading to spiritual rebirth:
To reach satisfaction in all
desire its possession in nothing.
To come to possession in all
desire the possession of nothing.
To arrive at being all
desire to be nothing.
To come to the knowledge of all
desire the knowledge of nothing.
To come to the pleasure you have not
you must go by the way in which you enjoy not.
To come to the knowledge you have not
you must go by the way in which you know not.
To come to the possession you have not
you must go by the way in which you possess not.
To come by the what you are not
you must go by a way in which you are not.
When you turn toward something
you cease to cast yourself upon the all.
For to go from all to the all
you must deny yourself of all in all.
And when you come to the possession of the all
you must possess it without wanting anything.
Because if you desire to have something in all
your treasure in God is not purely your all.
''Ascent of Mount Carmel'' became one of inspiration sources for
Alejandro Jodorowsky
Alejandro Jodorowsky Prullansky (; born 17 February 1929) is a Chilean-French avant-garde filmmaker.
Best known for his 1970s films '' El Topo'' and '' The Holy Mountain'', Jodorowsky has been "venerated by cult cinema enthusiasts" for his wor ...
's 1973 film ''
The Holy Mountain'', along with ''
Mount Analogue
''Mount Analogue: A Novel of Symbolically Authentic Non-Euclidean Adventures in Mountain Climbing'' is a classic allegorical adventure novel by the early 20th-century French novelist René Daumal. The novel describes an expedition undertaken by ...
'' by
René Daumal
René Daumal (; 16 March 1908 – 21 May 1944) was a French spiritual para-surrealist writer, critic and poet, best known for his posthumously published novel ''Mount Analogue'' (1952) as well as for being an early, outspoken practitioner of ...
.
References
*''John of the Cross: Selected Writings'' - translated & introduced by Kieran Kavanaugh OCD. Preface by Ernest Larkin, O. Carm. Paulist Press
*
External links
''The Ascent Of Mount Carmel''at ''
Christian Classics Ethereal Library
The Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) is a digital library that provides free electronic copies of Christian scripture and literature texts.
Description
CCEL is a volunteer-based project founded and directed by Harry Plantinga, a pr ...
''
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ascent Of Mount Carmel
16th-century Christian texts
History of Christianity in Spain
Catholic Church in Spain
Christian mysticism
1570s books
Christian devotional literature
Books by John of the Cross
Mount Carmel