{{Short description|Christian spiritual practice}} '''Affective meditation''' is a [[Christianity|Christian]] [[spiritual practice]] originating in [[Middle Ages|Medieval]] [[Europe]]<ref>Southern, R. W., The Making of the Middle Ages. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1953.</ref><ref> Bynum, C. W., Jesus as Mother: Studies in the Spirituality of the High Middle Ages. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982.</ref> by which a [[pilgrim]], [[worship]]per, or other follower of Christ seeks to [[Imagination|imagine]] the [[Visual perception|sights]], [[sound]]s, [[taste]]s, [[Olfaction|smells]], [[Animal locomotion|movement]], and [[Somatosensory system|tactility]] of specific scenes from [[Gospel|canonical Gospels]] and their characters, with particular emphasis on empathising with the [[compassion]] and [[suffering]] of [[Jesus]] and the joys and sorrows of the [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|Virgin Mary]], leading to the authentic and spontaneous expression of [[emotion]].<ref> Hennessy, M. V., Passion Devotion, Penitential Reading, and the Manuscript Page: 'The Hours of the Cross'. in London, British Library Additional 37049. Mediaeval Studies, Vol. 66, 2004, pp214–216.</ref><ref>Bartlett, A. C., and Bestul, T. H., Cultures of Piety: Medieval English Devotional Literature in Translation. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1999</ref>
== History ==
=== Middle Ages === Affective meditation is the [[spiritual practice]] around which the tradition and [[philosophy]] of [[affective piety]] revolves, and was initiated by [[Saint]] [[Anselm of Canterbury]], subsequently by [[Bernard of Clairvaux]], and latterly by [[Francis of Assisi]], who are credited with spawning an expressive form of [[worship]] through which members of the [[clergy]], [[Monasticism|monastic orders]], and [[laity]] [[Creative visualization|visualized]] and envisioned scenes from the life of [[Jesus|Christ]] with which they [[Empathy|empathized]] to such degree that their [[compassion]]ate [[Imitation of Christ|identification]] with the suffering of him and his mother [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|Mary]] manifested in emotive vocal sounds and physical movements.<ref>Bestul, T. H., St. Anselm and the Continuity of Anglo-Saxon Devotional Traditions. Annuale Mediævale, Vol. 18, Issue 20, 1977.</ref><ref>Southern, R. W., Saint Anselm: A Portrait in a Landscape. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990.</ref><ref>De Gregorio, S., Affective Spirituality: Theory and Practice. In Bede and Alfred the Great. Essays. In Medieval Studies Vol. 22, Issue 130, 2005, pp129–139.</ref>
The following excerpt from a work by English writer, [[Abbot]] and [[saint]] [[Aelred of Rievaulx]] is indicative of instructions provided by Christians in the tradition of affective piety.<ref>McNamer, S., Affective Meditation and the Invention of Medieval Compassion. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010).</ref><ref>Lewis, A., Discerning Devotional Readers: Readers, Writers, and the Pursuit of God In Some Late Medieval Texts. University of Ottawa Doctoral Thesis, 2007.</ref>
{{blockquote| ...follow her [the Virgin Mary] as she goes to Bethlehem, and turning away from the inn with her, help and humor her during the birth; and when the little child is placed in the manger, burst out words of exultation, crying out with Isaiah: A child is born to us, a son is given to us...Embrace that sweet manger, let love conquer bashfulness, and emotion drive out fear so that you fix your lips on those most sacred feet and repeat the kisses.<ref>Aelred of Rievaulx, "Rule for Recluses". In Aelred of Rievaulx: Treatises and Pastoral Prayer: On Jesus at the Age of Twelve. Rules of Life for a Recluse, and the Pastoral Prayers. (Cistercian Fathers). Spenser, MA: Cistercian Publications/Liturgical Press. 3rd Edition. 1971).</ref>}}
A further example comes from the writings of English [[hermit]], [[Mysticism|mystic]], and religious writer [[Richard Rolle]], who expresses his empathy with the suffering of Christ in his work ''Meditation on the Passion''.
{{blockquote| Ah, Lord, your sorrow--why was it not my death? Now they lead you forth as naked as a worm, with torturers around you and armed knights. The press of the crowd was incredibly intense as they threw things and harried you so shamefully, kicking at you as if you had been a dog. I see in my soul how ruefully you walk, your body so bloody, so raw and blistered. The crown on your head is so sharp, and your hair, blown in the wind, is all matted with blood. Your lovely face is so pale and swollen with the blows and the beatings, and covered with spittle and phlegm. And down runs your blood; it horrifies me to see it.<ref>Lyle, D. J. (Ed.), English Spirituality in the Age of Wyclif. Vancouver: Regent College Publications, 2000.</ref>}}
=== 20th century onwards === The experience of affective meditation is most often precipitated by [[Meditation|meditating]] or [[Concentration|concentrating]] [[Attentional control|attention]] on [[Christianity|Christian]] [[Christian art|drawings or paintings]], [[Christian music|music]], or [[Christian literature|literature]] depicting the experience of [[Jesus]] and the [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|Virgin Mary]], until the [[Meditation|meditator's]] [[empathy]] with the subjects of those depictions becomes sufficiently intense to precipitate [[Emotion|emotive]] expression that may include tears and crying, vocal sounds and [[prayer]], as well as bodily movements.<ref>McNamer, S., Affective Meditation and the Invention of Medieval Compassion. University of Pennsylvania Press, 210.</ref><ref> Karnes, M., Imagination, Meditation, and Cognition in the Middle Ages. University of Chicago Press, 2011.</ref><ref> Shoemaker, S. J., Mary at the Cross, East and West: Maternal Compassion and Affective Piety in the Earliest Life of the Virgin and the High Middle Ages. Journal of Theological Studies, 2011, flr135.</ref>
During the late 1970s, [[psychologist]], [[Yoga]] teacher, and organist at [[Culbone Church]] [[Joan D'Arcy Cooper]], began to explore using the stories told by and about [[Jesus]] as spoken scripts with which to lead members of the [[parish]] through [[Creative visualization|visualizations]] and [[guided meditation]]s in the tradition of affective meditation.<ref> Welshman, M., A Tiny Church Called Culbone, Near Porlock. In Somerset Life, 4 November 2011.</ref>
In 1982, Cooper published ''Guided Meditation and the Teachings of Jesus'' in which she suggests that the words of [[Jesus]], as recorded in the [[Biblical canon|canonical]] [[gospel]]s, may perhaps have been intended to be considered, and are enriched by hearing or reading them as guided meditations, through which the reader or listener can [[Meditation|meditate]] upon the message and meaning inherent in the text, and thereby come to know [[God]].<ref>Cooper, J. D., Guided Meditation and the Teaching of Jesus. Salisbury: Element Books, 1982.</ref>
While affective meditation is a marginal practice, Cooper's books and teachings, and the creative approach to [[Christianity|Christian]] [[Meditation|meditative]] practice that she encouraged, was acknowledged as making an important contribution to the [[New Age]] era and movement, characterized by a personal and [[Individualism|individualist]] exploration of various meditative and [[Contemplation|contemplative]] traditions outside the boundaries and purview of formal [[doctrine]] and religious organizations, including those originating in [[Christianity]], [[Hinduism]], and [[Buddhism]].<ref>Murphy, M., Donovan, S., and Taylor, E., The Physical and Psychological Effects of Meditation: A Review of Contemporary Research. Institute of Noetic Sciences, 1997.</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
[[Category:Christian worship and liturgy]] [[Category:Christian mysticism]] [[Category:Meditation]] [[Category:Imagination]]