> From: Maeve B. Callan [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
>
> Some rambling thoughts on the history of the practice, which is often
> called syneisaktism.
>
Thank you for so generously sharing your "rambling thoughts," for
putting a name on the practice, and for the suggested sources. I agree that
this was quite different from an intentional spiritual marriage ("married
continence"). I'd also suggest that the Irish sources, at least, do not see
the association as a supportive companionship. I agree that the women--and
it's almost always two--seem to be more like props in an exercise of ascetic
athletics. You wrote:
> Ireland seems to offer the widest perspective on the practice, for,
> against, and indifferent [....]
>
Why do you think it assumed such apparent importance in Ireland?
It's as if the monkish saints, vowed to celibacy, had to be as angelically
detached as their secular heroic counterparts were required to be potent.
Francine
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