# Awakening to God (continued in Session Nine) **Required Reading:** The Interior Castle: Study Edition, the Sixth Dwelling Places, chapters 1-5 **Additional Reading:** Interpretive notes **Explanatory note:** The sixth dwelling places breaks with the pattern Teresa followed in the other dwelling places. Over a third of the book’s chapters are in the sixth dwelling places. This is not surprising, given that these chapters refer to a large portion of Teresa’s life, lasting about fifteen years. The first subject Teresa discusses in these dwelling places is what St. John of the Cross calls the “dark night.” Though Teresa does not use the same term, the purifying reality of the mystical night (darkness, trials, the cross) is the first characteristic she addresses in the sixth dwelling places *(see Interpretive notes pgs. 229-232; second edition, pgs. 215-218).* Teresa observes that the trials and afflictions experienced at this stage, strengthen the soul so that it will have the courage to be joined to the Lord (see [[tj-ic-ccel-07|the-sixth-mansions-tj-ic-ccel]]). **Note:** The unitive experiences of the soul in the sixth dwelling places also take the form of visions, locutions, raptures, ecstasies, tears, flight of the spirit and jubilation. Teresa describes them in significant detail. Because they are treated only briefly in these two sessions, candidates may find it useful to read the descriptions with attention for their own enrichment. For further understanding of these communications, please refer to the Glossary: [[locutions|Locutions]], pg. 460 (second edition, pg. 431), [[supernatural]] and [[visions|Visions]], pgs. 464-465 (second edition, pgs. 435-437). ## Essential Points to Discuss •       “Oh, God help me, what interior and exterior trials the soul suffers before entering the seventh dwelling place!” ([[tj-ic-ccel-07|VI, 1:1]]). Teresa observes that perhaps not all souls will be led along this path (see VI, 1:2). •       Teresa describes the roller-coaster ride of a soul in the sixth dwelling places where it experiences the lows of many trials and the highs of mystical communications. The trials that she describes are of many kinds, including misunderstandings, ridicule, and being the object of gossip. Even being praised is a trial (see VI, 1:3-4). •       Teresa, however, notes that the soul is not troubled by these trials. “And when the soul reaches the stage at which it pays little attention to praise, it pays much less to disapproval; on the contrary, it rejoices in this and finds it a very sweet music. This is an amazing truth. Blame does not intimidate the soul but strengthens it” ([[tj-ic-ccel-07|VI, 1:5]]). **Note:** These are the characteristics of the transformed soul in the sixth dwelling places. They are not disturbed by external conditions. As St. Paul proclaims, “I know how to live in humble circumstances; I know also how to live with abundance. In every circumstance and in all things, I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of living in abundance and being in need. I can do all things in Him who strengthens me” (Phil.4:1213). •       Teresa also speaks about spiritual afflictions and sufferings that one cannot describe. The best aid to endurance is to “engage in external works of charity and to hope in the mercy of God” ([[tj-ic-ccel-07|VI, 1:13]]). •       By recalling the little moth, Teresa reassures the reader that these afflictions and sufferings do not affect the moth (soul) in any way at all. “Seemingly we have left the little moth far behind; but we have not, for these are the trials that make it fly still higher” ([[tj-ic-ccel-07|VI, 2:1]]). •       She further observes, the circumstances of life, no matter how painful, become a deeper “wound of love” for God ([[tj-ic-ccel-07|VI, 2:2]]). “This action of love is so powerful that the soul dissolves with desire, and yet it doesn’t know what to ask for since clearly it thinks that its God is with it” ([[tj-ic-ccel-07|VI, 2:4]]). •       Besides the “wound,” Teresa also speaks about the “fire.” “…a spark leapt forth and so struck the soul that the flaming fire was felt by it” ([[tj-ic-ccel-07|VI, 2:4]]). •       “These sixth dwelling places represent a region in which immense desires are experienced. Not arising from anything outside the soul, but coming from deep within it, the desires are as though produced by an arrow that wounds the soul. The wound, however, is both painful and delightful…Her many faceted desires are being strongly pulled now in one direction, toward Jesus Christ” (Interpretive Notes, pg. 240; second edition, 215). “The desires are not passing but remain…” ([[tj-ic-ccel-07|VI, 6:5]]). •       Mixed in with these trials, sufferings and desires are the ecstatic experiences of the soul — locutions, visions, and raptures. Teresa says that locutions can be from God, from the devil, or from one’s own imagination. She warns that the safest path is to pay little attention to them ([[tj-ic-ccel-07|VI, 3:2]]). “All the good comes from how one benefits by these words; and pay no more attention to those that are not in close conformity with Scripture…; it’s necessary to treat them as if they were temptations in matters of faith, and thus resist them always” ([[tj-ic-ccel-07|VI, 3:4]]). (Refer to St. John of the Cross in the Ascent for further information: Ascent, Book 2, ch. 11.) **Note**: “Teresa brings to the reader two thematic lines of thought. In the first, she gives testimony that the Lord has spoken to her, and her first mission is to testify to this. In the second, she must explain how this comes about. How can we be sure that the words come from God?” (Interpretive notes, pg. 260; second edition, pg. 235). •       There are three signs that indicate locutions may be from God. Discernment and spiritual direction are essential; no one should trust their own judgment: a.         First is the power and authority the words carry with them. “... for locutions from God effect what they say... A soul finds itself in the midst of all the tribulation and disturbance…, in darkness of the intellect and in dryness, with one word alone of these locutions from the Lord (‘don’t be distressed’), it is left with calm and free from all distress…” ([[tj-ic-ccel-07|VI, 3:5]]). b.         “The second sign is the great quiet left in the soul, the devout and peaceful recollection, the readiness to engage in the praises of God” ([[tj-ic-ccel-07|VI, 3:6]]). c.          “The third sign is that these words remain in the memory for a very long time, and some are never forgotten… The certitude is so strong that even in things that in one’s own opinion sometimes seem impossible… there is an assurance in the soul that cannot be overcome.” ([[tj-ic-ccel-07|VI, 3:7]]). •       If the locutions come from the imagination, there are none of these signs; neither certitude, nor peace, nor interior delight (see VI, 3:10). •       “One thing very certain is that, when the spirit is from God the soul esteems itself less…; it has more awareness of its sins; is more forgetful of its own gain, and its will and memory are employed more in seeking only the honor of God…” ([[tj-ic-ccel-07|VI, 3:17]]). •       Teresa describes another kind of rapture that she calls a “flight of the spirit.” She says that while persons are very much in their senses, they can experience a sudden, swift movement of the soul: “With a powerful impulse, a huge wave rises up so forcefully that it lifts high this little bark that is our soul” ([[tj-ic-ccel-07|VI, 5:1]]-[[tj-ic-ccel-07|3]]). Consequently, the soul is left with great blessings: knowledge of the grandeur of God, self-knowledge and humility, and little esteem of earthly things. Teresa concludes by calling these blessings jewels that the Spouse begins to give to the betrothed (see, VI, 5:10-11). •       “…for Teresa, these [experiences] are not events that can be explained through one’s ordinary psychological experience — that is, reduced to the plane of one’s natural conscious or unconscious makeup; they come from another, superior plane and **are recognized by their effects:** ‘the favor brings wonderful benefits to the soul, the more customary of which are the determination to suffer for God, the desire to have many trials, and the determination to withdraw from earthly satisfactions and conversations and other similar things’” ([[tj-ic-ccel-07|VI, 2:6]]) (Interpretive notes, pg. 242; second edition, pg. 217). (emphasis added) *“O my powerful God, how sublime are your secrets, and how different spiritual things are from all that is visible and understandable here below. There is nothing that serves to explain this favor…” (IC. VI, 2:3).* **Summary**: In a way, Teresa’s experience of ecstasy as explained in the fourth and fifth dwelling places was an experience of going deeper within herself, where she went beyond herself and entered into the orbit of the Divine. Now in the sixth dwelling places, another kind of ecstasy takes place. The soul is taken out of itself and elevated to the Divine. This “flight of the spirit,” as Teresa names it, is substantially the same as ecstasy, but it is experienced differently (see Interpretive notes, pgs. 290-291; second edition. 264-265). This experience of prayer has the effect, ultimately, of allowing the love of God to enter the world — and touch humanity. *“Considering the origins of Carmel and the Teresian charism, the fundamental elements of the vocation of Secular Carmelites are 1). to seek a mysterious union with God; by way of contemplation and apostolic activity, indissolubly joined together for service to the church; 2). to infuse prayer and life with apostolic zeal in a climate of human and Christian Community; 3). to give importance to the commitment to evangelization; in the ministry of spirituality as the collaboration of the Secular Order, faithful to the Teresian Carmelite identity.”* *(OCDS Constitutions, Art. 9).* --- # Links [[tj-ic-guide-9|Awakening to God (continued from Session Eight)]] --- **Source:** Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, *Formation II Year B: The Interior Castle (The Seven Dwelling Places)* (US National Formation Program, 2024).