AJ Langley speaks to Meagan Khoury about the lay Dominican mystic and holy woman Catherine of Siena (1347-1380). We talk about the "Miracoli", Catherine's "projects" (including her prolific letter writing campaigns), and her fixation on breasts and hearts.

Plus, as an added bonus, Meagan shares a bit about Saint Sarah (also called Sara la Kali) and her veneration in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer. 

Meagan Khoury is a doctoral student in Art History at Stanford University with a focus on female mystics, single women, and late medieval medical humanities. In her work, questions of queer embodiment, interiority, and female utopias are interrogated with the assistance of French feminist philosophers Simone de Beauvoir and Simone Weil.

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My Favourite Mystic: @myfavmystic

Meagan Khoury: @ArtemisiasJ

AJ Langley: @medievalmystics

AJ Langley speaks to Lieke Smits about the Cistercian mystic and scholar Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1139). We talk about his Sermons on the Song of Songs, the Cistercian Order, the balancing of austerity and humility, and the desperate need for a feature film on Bernard himself (don't worry, we have already taken care of the casting). 

For more of Lieke's work on Bernard, you can read her recent article: "Practice, Process, and Performance: Shaping a Devotional Habitus in the Margins of Bernard of Clairvaux's Sermons on the Song of Songs" 

Follow us on Twitter:

My Favourite Mystic: @myfavmystic

Lieke Smits: @Lieke_A_S

AJ Langley: @medievalmystics

AJ Langley speaks to Laura Saetveit Miles about the works of late-medieval Carthusian monk Richard Methley (c. 1451-1527/8). Topics include writing about the inability to continue writing while writing, life in a Carthusian monastery, and the newly published translations of Methley's texts. 

To purchase a copy of the new translation of Richard Methley's work visit https://litpress.org/Products/CS286P/The-Works-of-Richard-Methley

Laura Saetveit Miles is associate professor of British Literature in the department of foreign languages at the University of Bergen, Norway. She was trained and worked in the US and UK. She works on medieval religious culture in England, especially devotional, visionary, mystical, and monastic literatures. Her monograph The Virgin Mary’s Book at the Annunciation: Reading, Interpretation, and Devotion in Medieval England came out in 2020 with Boydell & Brewer, and she has also published articles on Julian of Norwich, Syon Abbey, the Carthusians, Richard Methley, and Birgitta of Sweden. Her current project is on Birgitta of Sweden’s influence in late medieval England.

AJ Langley speaks to Professor Carolyn Muessig (University of Calgary) about the fourteenth-century English mystic and anchorite Julian of Norwich. We discuss hope, Julian's faith in humanity and belief in a compassionate God, and the benefits of The Revelations of Divine Love as a teaching tool. 

Professor Carolyn Muessig is the Chair of Christian Thought in the Department of Classics and Religion, University of Calgary. She specializes in Medieval Christianity, with particular emphasis on its devotional dimensions and the contribution of female teachers and preachers in Western Europe. Among her publications are The Faces of Women in the Sermons of Jacques de Vitry and The Stigmata in Medieval and Early Modern Europe. She enjoys teaching undergraduates, MA and PhD students. She has supervised to completion over four dozen graduate students. She is presently assessing the activities of medieval and early modern female preachers. Professor Muessig is committed to bringing together diverse communities from within and outside academe to explore the significance of Christianity in art, history and culture.

Host AJ Langley speaks with Pavlina Kulagina about the fourteenth-century German mystic and nun Margareta Ebner. We discuss liturgical practice in mystical texts, whether the baby Christ was wrapped in Joseph's pants, and using the image of Christ on the cross as a pillow. Some disturbing scenes discussed including the brief mention of violence towards a pregnant woman within Margareta's text.   

AJ Langley speaks to Robert Dickins (Twitter: @Cofgodas and @PsypressUK) about the nineteenth-century, English medium Juliana Fawcett. We touch on spiritual pregnancy, Emanuel Swedenborg, psychedelics, and middle-class heaven.

An introduction to My Favourite Mystic: a Podcast about the Weird and Wonderful World of Mysticism. Hosted by AJ Langley (@medievalmystics on Twitter).