Julian of Norwich had a deep impact on religious thought that has continued centuries past her time as a mystic. Even when she was alive, she was well regarded as a powerful person, who people of the Catholic church looked to for religious and everyday life advice. In her cell attached to the Church of Norwich, there was a window in which people of the bustling city of Norwich would come to ask Julian questions. Since she spent decades alone in this cell reflecting on her revelations, Julian become known as a wise and trustworthy person. After her death, her writings, particularly the long text, have been studied for generations. Her revelations all give advice and deep thought on religious ideas such as how to pray (chapter six in the long text), understanding that the Lord our God is supreme (chapter 26 in the long text and the twelfth revelation), and that everything will be well (chapter 32 in the long text). Her writings have inspired thinkers such as poet and prose writer William Butler Yeats along with T.S. Eliot, a poet who studied mysticism. Julian herself might have been inspired by the mystic Meister Eckhart due to their shared belief that there was “an eternal divine spark within every man, which never sinned” (Norwich, 37).
In the way of higher education, Julian has worked her way into classroom and religious discussions. For example, a Duke University associate professor Amy Laura Hall specializes in Julian of Norwich and has taught courses around the mystic and led discussions at religious conferences for years to spread the history and mystical knowledge of Julian. The Episcopal Church has even dedicated May 8th to the Mystic, in honor of the day her revelations started to occur to her. Julian’s teachings are talked about to often because she was one of the first to propose and discuss the feminine, gentle, mother aspects of God, rather than the harsh, father aspects of God usually thought of by Christians, and I believe that is why she is still studied. Her beliefs allow for a feminine understanding of God, something half the world can look to and find their place in Christianity with, separating the religion from the fear-pushing side of masculine Christianity.
Lalleshwari
or Lal Ded did not have as much of an impact of ad Julian during her lifetime,
however, after her death she (Lalleshwari) become regarded as one of the greatest
Kashmiri thinkers. Her chants and songs were never written down, but they were
taken in by passersby who passed her work on orally from generation to
generation. This oral tradition was written down hagiographically by writer
Raina who in 1587 merged the “teachings” of Lal Ded with Nund Rishi, a thinker
who saw themselves as the spiritual successor to Lal Ded. Following that first hagiographical
account, three more were written in 1588, 1631, then 1653. In 1920, Goerge Grierson
and Lionel D. Barrnett translated these hagiographical accounts and the oral
traditions into the book “Lalla-Vakyani” which was a collection of her “teachings
and poetry”. Following that publication, the “Descriptive Analysis of the Kashmir
Series of Texts & Studies” was published in the 1950s which discussed the
accuracy of the Grierson and Barrnett text along with other texts said to
contain Lal Ded’s “work”.
Today, Lal Ded is seen as a literary great, due to her
ability to transform and so beautifully use the Kashmiri language. Her vakhs
are studied to this day and are still passes down orally in Kashmiri and Indian
households and schools, and their treatment and love by the people could be
compared to the love found of other sacred texts such as the Bible or the
Quran. In modern day Kashmir, there is a cultural split between Hindus and
Muslims, but both groups admire her work and look to her work for spiritual advice.
One of her most impactful vakhs speaks of a unity among all people, regardless
of cultural or religious differences, and I personally think this could be one
of the main reasons the divide in Kashmir has not completely gone off the deep
end, both groups have learned their whole life that Lal Ded stands and advises
a land of peace and unity despite differences. Her desire for humans to become
fully devoted to the divine while maintaining unity and harmony with humans and
nature is the reason she has been so impactful and held onto after all these
years.
Both
of these two mystics changed religious outlooks of parts of society through
their teachings and writings. Julian’s revelations have been studying for centuries,
while Lal Ded’s vakhs have been passed down through the generations orally and were
also written out and studied just as Julian’s teachings were studied. However,
there is a major difference in their impact, for Julian mainly has influenced
other religious thinkers while Lal Ded has influenced a whole widespread culture
that actively speaks of her vakhs in their day-to-day lives.
Sources:
“Julian of
Norwich.” The Episcopal Church, www.episcopalchurch.org/glossary/julian-of-norwich/.
“Lal Ded: The
Mystic of Kashmir | Kashmirica.” Www.kashmirica.com, 16 Jan. 2021,
www.kashmirica.com/blog/lal-ded/.
Norwich, Julian of. Revelations
of Divine Love. Edited by Baldick Robert, Middlesex, England, Penguin Books
Ltd., 1966.
Shah, Aditi. “Lal Ded: Kashmir’s
Rebel Poetess.” PeepulTree, 15 Dec. 2019,
www.peepultree.world/livehistoryindia/story/people/lal-ded-kashmirs-rebel-poetess.
Accessed 14 Apr. 2024.
“Viewing
Today’s World through the Visions of Julian of Norwich.” Simpson
College,
simpson.edu/news/viewing-todays-world-through-visions-julian-norwich. Accessed
14 Apr. 2024.
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