Rating would be higher if there wasn’t a pivot towards becoming a “slave to god” at the end there. People who know me know I vehemently hate that aspect of theology. Anyways, St. Teresa of Avila is an interesting individual, writing down her method of attaining what could be described as deification or apotheosis, where the soul goes through seven chambers of a castle, navigating through trials, and ultimately uniting with the divine through holy matrimony. The language employed here is much more metaphorical and poetic in style, as opposed to the heavier vocabulary used in most theology texts. She does address this multiple times through this book, however, it is generally done in the context of her womanhood, and proceeds to denigrate and compare herself to the men. Like, give yourself some credit girl for real for real on god. 

To reiterate my point at the beginning, I would’ve rated it higher if she didn’t pivot the holy matrimony perspective into the slave to god narrative. I get the context of when it was written, and how women were seen, especially in the Catholic/ Christian traditions. It still felt a little jarring as she spends nearly the entire seventh dwelling chapter on the holy matrimony, only to again, pivot and point out that the soul will now become a slave to god for the last two pages, ending on that note. 

I read this because a classmate in college used this as their main source for their senior thesis, and felt that it would be the right time to experience this as my interest in non-Protestant traditions have increased post-deconstruction. It was alright. *thumbs up*