Interior Castle
Interior Castle- Teresa of Avila
Themes
Forsaking the Things of This World
The entire book contains themes of turning away from and leaving behind the priorities of earth. Prayer is the first step toward no longer trusting the world to satisfy one's soul and turning toward the eternal, which contains those things God intended to feed eternal souls. The vile creatures outside and in the exterior dwellings of the castle symbolize the appetites and material distractions of the world, all of which are temporary and without the ability to satisfy. It is the soul's responsibility to turn away from the things she recognizes as pulling her attention from her God, and to retrain her appetites to crave the things of God. Even in the deeper dwellings, closer to God, Teresa talks about the human temptation to grow prideful at observing one's progress,.....
Plot Summary
St. Teresa of Avila's The Interior Castle was written in obedience to an assignment given her by the spiritual leaders in her monastic order, and was completed in 1577. It was to be a work on the subject of prayer, and throughout the book, Teresa talks about how intimidated she is to be writing on such an expansive topic. She is, however, given a vision of how such a thing might be explained, and so uses the analogy of a castle to describe the depths of intimacy with God that the human spirit passes through over a lifetime dedicated to prayer and contemplation. There are seven levels, referred to as dwellings, each one closer to the heart of God and further from attachment to the things of this world, each one involving both blessing and struggle.
The first dwelling is the one in which the individual first recognizes there is a castle to be explored and enters its doors by beginning prayer and self-examination. She describes the value of moving beyond rote, prescribed prayers written by other people and beginning a soul-revealing conversation with one's Creator. She also talks about
Themes
Forsaking the Things of This World
The entire book contains themes of turning away from and leaving behind the priorities of earth. Prayer is the first step toward no longer trusting the world to satisfy one's soul and turning toward the eternal, which contains those things God intended to feed eternal souls. The vile creatures outside and in the exterior dwellings of the castle symbolize the appetites and material distractions of the world, all of which are temporary and without the ability to satisfy. It is the soul's responsibility to turn away from the things she recognizes as pulling her attention from her God, and to retrain her appetites to crave the things of God. Even in the deeper dwellings, closer to God, Teresa talks about the human temptation to grow prideful at observing one's progress,.....
Plot Summary
St. Teresa of Avila's The Interior Castle was written in obedience to an assignment given her by the spiritual leaders in her monastic order, and was completed in 1577. It was to be a work on the subject of prayer, and throughout the book, Teresa talks about how intimidated she is to be writing on such an expansive topic. She is, however, given a vision of how such a thing might be explained, and so uses the analogy of a castle to describe the depths of intimacy with God that the human spirit passes through over a lifetime dedicated to prayer and contemplation. There are seven levels, referred to as dwellings, each one closer to the heart of God and further from attachment to the things of this world, each one involving both blessing and struggle.
The first dwelling is the one in which the individual first recognizes there is a castle to be explored and enters its doors by beginning prayer and self-examination. She describes the value of moving beyond rote, prescribed prayers written by other people and beginning a soul-revealing conversation with one's Creator. She also talks about