The idea of the ‘Free Spirit’ is may be a relatively new concept in the contemporary Christianity. However, this movement has existed for almost a millennium has it was started in the. In the 13th and 14th century, these movements were even more common than maybe they are now. During this period, there was great turmoil in Europe and many people considered this the beginning of the end of the world. This created a fertile ground for any gospel solution that would offer a better promise to man’s spirituality in bid to save the soul or rather have eternal life. Consequently, the Free spirit movements started and spread across Europe. In general, these groups had alternative gospel from that reached by the dominant church then, the Roman Catholic, as they conflicted with their teachings.

One of the most studied people who were influential at this time was Marguerite Porete. Most of her writings were condemned and destroyed by the catholic Inquisitors on account of heresy. She was then burnt at stake in 1310 for failure to confess and recant her information in one of the books, ‘The Mirror of the Simple Annihilated Souls’ in which he posited different levels of man’s relationship with God (Porete, 1993, 25). This book forms the basis of my thesis, which is, to describe the strategies advocated by Porete for relating with God. To do this, I will analyze the seven stages of mystical itinerary as found in her book and expound on the peculiar nature of these stages.

Porete described seven stages that were critical in one’s ascent to God. The first six stages were achievable by terrestrial man while the last one could only be attained by the everlasting soul after man’s demise and separation of his soul to ascent to eternal life. This last stage, therefore, cannot be described by a living human being because its state is only known by those who have already died (Porete, 1993, 27). What then is peculiar to these states as described?

In the first stage, the soul is touched by grace. At this stage, the soul wills to follow every command and strives to please God. This is the stage where most Christians begin. This stage opens the soul to the second stage where the soul develops such a love for God that irrespective of the command the soul does it. In this stage, the soul leaves self in the annihilation of the nature. The soul, therefore, can do anything that God commands.

The third stage involves the soul’s complete detachment from her delights in the pursuit of perfection. This leads to deliberate acts to do works of goodness. In this state, Porete writes

“the Soul … renounces those works in which she has this delight and puts to death the will that had its life from this”. (Critchley, 2006, 145)

This is the beginning of suffering in bid to annihilate the soul and create a greater space for God to take control. She says,

“One must crush oneself, hacking and hewing away at oneself to widen the place in which Love will want to be.” (Critchley, 2006, 145)

This stage gives room for the next stage where, the soul is completely consumed in an ecstasy of love from God. The soul thus is fully separated from herself to the delight of the love from God.

In the fifth stage, the soul sees herself separated from God by an abyss. The love that was there is gone and the free will of the souls is no more. At this stage, the soul sees God has the origin of everything and self as origin of nothing. This creates a paradox because this abyss cannot be filled to help the soul unify with God. The soul seeks to annihilate herself so she can be unified with God (Porete, 1993, 27). In the sixth stage, the soul finds rest in understanding the gap created in the fifth stage cannot be filled by any act of will. It is, therefore, for the Lover (God) to come and fill this abyss. God thus sees himself in this soul. This is the ultimo point where the Soul ascents to the creator.

These stages provide porete’s description of her ascent to God. The seventh stage is only experienced after rejoining with the creator

In conclusion, Porete description provides Christians with a dilemma of what ought to be done to please God. It remains a subject of discussion among the Christian circles as this separation deems the authority, political or religious worthless as man is under direct control of God.

Works cited

Porete, Marguerite. The mirror of simple souls. Paulist Press, 1993.

Critchley, Simon. “Mystical Anarchism1.” Critical Horizons 10.2 (2009): 272-306.