Happy New Year!

I pray that everyone has a safe and happy new year!!

See you in 2009!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I meant to post before Christmas, but i was on a sewing marathon lol. I hope that everyone had a good and safe Christmas. Someone at church said this and it was so cute:

"I hope you get what you want, and want what you get!" lol

My project this year was to make blankets. I made some for my little cousins, my sister, my mom and dad, my grandma and my uncle. So 8 in total.

So there are the pictures of four of them.

I hope that everyone has a happy and safe new year!

Eric Wade Berkseth

December 22, 1984- November 21, 2008

Mr. Eric W. Berkseth, age 23 of Casco Township, passed away unexpectedly on Friday in his home.
He was born on December 22, 1984 in Detroit, Michigan, a son of the late Robert B. and Shirley A. (Stewart) Berkseth. Eric lived in New Baltimore and at his present address for the past two years.
Eric enjoyed body building and had competed for Worlds Strongest Man Contest. He attended Anchor Bay High School and served in the United States Army. Eric was employed as a personal trainer at Power House Gym and worked security at Mount Clemens area night clubs.
Mr. Berkseth is survived by his sister, Stacy, nephew Owen of Sterling Heights and best friend Mary. Eric was predeceased by his brother, Clifford Berkseth.

(this is the Obituary, I have omitted some things for safety of the family and the service times, which have already occurred)

You are loved and will be missed!

Medieval History Paper

A Review of:
Mystics, Demoniacs, and the Physiology of Spirit Possession in Medieval Europe
Nancy Caciola
(Please see citation at the end of the review)

In medieval Europe an important debate of Christianity was the significance and meaning of spiritual possession. Spiritual possession could be viewed as divine from the Holy Spirit or demonic. In the article “Mystics, Demoniacs and the Physiology of Spirit Possession in Medieval Europe” author Nancy Caciola applies a different approach to examine the religious women of the middle ages. The approach that Caciola utilizes is different in the respect that she examines the way that the issue has been dealt with previously, and asserts her own conclusions. Her approach includes what she refers to as an internal and external approach. The internal includes the internal devotions and the mystics’ self-representations, and the external includes the communities and church representatives’ evaluations of the women. The ultimate aim of the article is to explore the process in which to determine if a woman is possessed divinely or demonically.
In the introduction of the essay Nancy Caciola starts with an illustrative example from the middle ages about a woman, Ida of Louvain. The woman was from a wealthy family, however she refused marriage and became a recluse. Ida saw a vision, in which a pauper entered her heart and lived there. This affects her demeanor, she began to dress in rags and covered with a mat and then goes out in the community that she lived, and paraded the town. Caciola uses this story because it exemplifies the issue that she is to deal with in the essay: was Ida divinely or demonically possessed? Caciola explains to the readers that the issue is internal/external dichotomy that is how the external behaviors, seen by others reflects the internal spirit that possesses the individual. This story also introduces Caciola’s purpose of the paper, dealing with the fact that there was an issue of confusion in the middle ages as how to interpret the increasing amount of women in the religious vocation.
Nancy Caciola endeavors to achieve the answer to this question in four parts of examination, which she outlines clearly in the beginning of the article. The first part of the article, under the heading of “A Protracted Disputation” deals with the issues of women who aspired to mystics were not always considered divine and that there was an increasing view that these women were considered increasingly to be demonically possessed. The second part of the article addresses the views of those living and writing in the Middle Ages and how they dealt with the issue of possession, named in the article “The Physiology of Possession”. The third part of the article “A Theoretical Excursus: Spirit Possession as Identity Formation” examines how social dynamics affect the discernment of spirits and describes the identity of a possessed person. The forth part of the article titled “Constructing Social and Religious Categories in the Middle Ages” addresses how the discretion of the mystics was actually used in their careers.
In the first section of the article titled “A Protracted Disputation”, Nancy Caciola lays out examples of women in the Middle Ages who claimed divine inspiration and super natural powers. She first qualifies her approach to examining these examples with three guidelines that she uses to interpret them. The first guideline of examination deals with how to read the hagiographical resources. The hagiographies address the accusations against the women, and emphasized the tendency of the meekness of their subject. The significance here is that there are clear examples of people questioning if the women are divinely or demonically possessed. The second guideline states that there are other sources that are important to look at such as preaching handbooks, encyclopedias and treatises that give alternate views. The third guideline given is to abandon the categorizing given to the women, and look to that only for evaluation of the source and not the individual being examined. This is why Caciola states that she will refer to the women as “inspired women” instead of “mystics” or “demoniacs”.
In this part of the article Caciola examines the women by using several examples, dividing geographically between the Low Countries or Northern Europe and the women of Italy and France, particularly from the Mediterranean. The first example of the women of Northern Europe is the Life of Christina Mirailis. The significance of this example is she did not have local reverence, and the fact that she was captured and bound shows that they did not believe that she was divinely possessed. In the examples given there are other signs that an individual was perceived to be demonically possessed such as fasting, insanity, exorcism and claims of being inhabited by a fetus. Caciola gives a pointed example of a woman named Sibylla was inspired and even generated a following after her. However, she was claimed to be a fraud, after being examined because of her fasting, and died in prison.
Caciola also gives examples of women from Italy and France such as Clare of Montefalco. Clare was accused of demonic possession because she associated with heretics and that the evidence of her heart bearing the passion of Christ was falsified by the nuns who examined her heart. Another example given, Catherine of Siena, who although showed charity to others, was accused by those she tried to help. Another example given is Angela of Foligno which shows the level of the accusations on the women, to the point that Angela began to believe and repeat the accusations. The intention of these examples is to show that the hagiographers of the women were themselves trying to discern the possession of the women.
The point of this section of the article is described by Caciola is to show that although it is perceived that these women were generally accepted by the people of their day and inspired followings and cults that actually these women were scrutinized. They led controversial lives and incited feelings of contempt and distrust among the people. The reason for this is that these women were living in urban centers and because they lived among the public they were scrutinized. These were women who did not live in convents, and the same characteristics that made them mystics also made the people suspect them.
The second part of the article titled “The Physiology of Possession” Caciola addresses questions about the discernment of spirits by medieval scholars and writers. It is an attempt of these scholars to distinguish divinely and demonically possessed. The first issue addressed concerns how possession occurred. The Medieval belief was that spirit possession occurred with entry into the body that was literal. From the point of literal entry, the spirit would then affect internal physiology and senses and eventually the spirit of the individual. Caciola then explains the common view of medicine and the different spirits. There is the “vital spirit” which maintained the functions of the heart. The “natural spirit” which based in the liver controlled the involuntary actions. The last of the spirits was the “animal spirit” which was the soul and resided in the brain.
Caciola points to the exorcism to understand the medieval concepts of possession. They believed that during the exorcism the demon leapt out of the individual being possessed through the mouth. This is similar to the belief of when an individual dies that their spirit leaves through the mouth also. Caciola points to a wrong assumption from these two beliefs which was demonic possession meant that the human spirit was replaced by the demonic spirit. This is proven wrong by the fact that entrance through the mouth had two destinations the heart or the digestive system. It was believed that only the Holy Spirit could enter the heart.
Caciola then describes the theories of different scholars of the medieval times. The first is Hildegard of Bingen who stated that the soul was off limits to demons but that they could confuse the soul. Rupert of Deutz stated that demons could enter the cavities of the body but only the Holy Spirit could enter the soul. Guillaume d’Auvergne asserted that although demons could not enter the soul they could control the senses and disconnect the soul from the body. All of these ideas were summarized by Thomas Aquinas who stated that the Holy Spirit worked from the inside, while demons worked from the outside of the soul, but could inhabit a person. Caciola also summarizes the beliefs by stating that the Holy Spirit enters the heart of an individual and joins with or replaces the human spirit, while the demons that possessed could only disrupt the spiritual system. This section of the article is ended by stating that although these theories seem systematic and an answer to the problems that the last two sections of the article will address why they were only partially successful.
The third section of the article titled “A Theoretical Excursus: Spirit Possession as Identity Formation” Caciola steps aside from the historical texts and patterns that they establish to look at the cultural dynamics of possession. First addressing the question of why women are predominantly the ones strongly possessed. Caciola first presents three different theories given by other scholars and then asserts her own opinion. The first two theories that she identifies are similar. The theories are offered by I.M. Lewis and Michel de Certeau views the predominance of women possession as a form of transgression or resistance because women are subordinate in society. Where the two men differ in their theories, Caciola asserts is that Lewis focuses on the elevated status of the possessed women, while de Certeau states that spirit possession was a way for women to establish themselves, especially concentrating on the voice of possessed spirit to speak through the woman. Mary Douglas asserts another theory which stated that the explanation of spirit possession is an issue of body control which in turn is a function of social control.
Caciola states that although these are good theories they do not address all the issues or fully explain the problem. Caciola then asserts her own theory to solve the problem which she calls the performative view. She explains that spirit possession can be explained as a form of identity formation that is dependent on three factors. The first is how the construction of the culture in which an individual exists forms identity and roles. The second factor is the self-representations of an individual and how they perform in the roles. The third factor is how the individual is observed by people, their “audience”. These three factors lead Caciola to a fourth element which concerns the surface of the body which identifies a person and affects their relationship with other people. As evidence of this, Caciola points to the fact that women were perceived as being more porous and easier to possess then men.
The fourth part of the article titled “Constructing Social and Religious Categories in the Middle Ages” is where Caciola looks at the careers of the spiritually possessed women and attempts to answer some questions. The first of these questions addressed how women, desiring to have an important role in the church, and as suggested to become a mystic, perceived the possession. Caciola believes that women fully understood that the possession was divine possession. The second question deals with the issue of medieval conceptions of differences between divine and demonic possession. The answer to this question evaluates the response of a woman to possession in order to determine the source of the possession. There are certain signs that effects of divine possession such as greater emotionalism, visionary focus, prophesy and somatic change.
The third question addresses the intellectual effect of the discerning of possession which in answer looks to the many theories given by medieval thinkers. However the practical use of the theories has little use in the actual cases. That is because there is not a clear system of discernment. There is not a clear way to internally discern and therefore being forced to evaluate externally led to problems. In the conclusion of the article Caciola addresses the fact that her final statement is a failed initiative, that although theories and methods were formulated to discover the source of an individual’s possession that they were not effective. She explains that the importance of this point is the debate and discussion of it, and not so much trying to come to a definite conclusion.
There are a few weaknesses in the article however they do not weaken the argument. The first of the weaknesses is her tendency to repeat herself in the article. Although this helps the reader to know what each section will be about, however excessive repetition could be avoided. While the outlining included in the article was helpful, there are some parts in which a point could be established then explained, without the need to summarize first. Caciola instead addresses all factor or questions, summarizes them, and then continues by explaining them in greater detail.
Another weakness, as previously mentioned, is contained in the last paragraph before her conclusion of the article explains that although there are theories that address the methods for the discretion of spirits, they are ineffective. Caciola then explains in the beginning of her conclusion the importance of the discussion. This could be better achieved if the explanation of the failed theories and the reason for their inclusion was contained in one section of the article. She would then be able the focus her conclusion on summarizing her argument and evidence presented in the article.
Caciola begins the article strongly with an example of a woman in the middle ages, possessed and bring the readers to the focus of the article. She then explains that most women who claimed to be possessed divinely in the middle ages were suspected to be demonically possessed. The use of the detailed example grabs the reader’s attention. In the introduction Caciola clearly lays out the purpose of the article and how she will address it in the article. The purpose of the article is to examine how to determine if a woman claiming supernatural powers is divinely or demonically possessed. Each of the sections of the article also in the beginning explains their issue to address and outline how Caciola will address the issue. The direct statement of purpose and the outlining help organize the article for the reader and provide a better understanding.
Caciola use of direct and specific examples strongly provides proof for her argument. One way that she achieves this is by using the hagiography of the women claiming supernatural powers in the middle ages. Beginning with Ida of Louvain, where she tells how the woman claimed to possessed and the reaction of the people around her. She uses the Life of Christina Mirabilis as an example of low local reverence for her, and signs that the people surrounding her thought that she was possessed because they bound her. Caciola explains how Christina first attracts attention by being resurrected at her funeral. Christina was obviously changed by this experience and exhibits strange behavior. Not only is this behavior observed by those immediately near her, but she wanders through the town, and eventually is hunted down and bound by her sisters.
Caciola uses other examples such as the example of Alpais of Cudot as an example of the perception of fasting as a sign of demonic possession. Other examples of women who were considered to be demonically possessed because of their fasting are Lidwina of Schidam and Catherine of Siena. To further establish this she quotes a writer of the fifteenth century Jean Gerson, who believed that these women were deluded by the Devil. This is the approach taken in the first section of the article, with many examples of women with claims of possession listed, and description of their lives as strength to her argument. The hagiographies intentions were to examine the women and give justification to their inclusion as a saint.
Caciola uses other sources besides hagiographies in the article. She also uses encyclopedia and treatises as well as preaching manuals. An example of this a passage from the encyclopediest Vincent of Beauvais which explains that there are three spirits contending for the soul of a person, angel, Holy Spirit and demons. This passage also asserts the point of the article that states that only the Holy Spirit can enter the soul. Caciola quotes an anonymous preaching manual states that the Holy Spirit lives in the heart while demons live in the intestines. She supports this quote with another source from Caesarius of Heisterbach called Dialogue on Miracles which also states that demon can enter the body. Caciola quotes further passages to prove this point. The use of these sources provides examples of who the issue of possession and discernment of spirits was a debate involving not only those petitioning for the women in the hagiographies, but also for secular Christian teachings.
Another source used by Caciola in the article is theological treatises in which she reveals theories of possession. Hildegard of Bingen maintained that the soul was always off limits to demons. While Rupert of Deutz theorized that demons could possess the caverns of the body and maintained the fact that only the Holy Spirit could enter the soul. Guillaume d’Aauvergne expands the theories of the previous mentioned by explaining why it appeared that a demon could control the soul of the possessed. He stated that a demon could take control of the individual’s senses and the connection between the soul and the body. Furthering this explanation is the example in the Summa by Alexander of Hales that demons tempt the soul of a person by relaying false information. The discussions of these treatises are important to Caciola’s argument in the following way. By discussing the theories for explaining spiritual possession, it is shown that this was an urgent matter in the Middle Ages. Also important is that though many were writing and discussing the issues they could not come to an definite or absolute answer.
In the conclusion of the paper Caciola uses the inability of answering the question of possession in the view of the Middle Ages by revealing that writers of the later Middle Ages will make a further attempt to further outline the discernment of the spirits. Writers Henry of Freimer, Henry of Langenstein , Pierre d’Ailley and John Gerson were able to make the connection between the external and internal manifestations of possession. These later writers of the Middle Ages theorized that one who was divinely possessed would behave and act in a certain manner, and this was the outward evidence. They claimed that one who was divinely possessed would demonstrate calm behavior and there would be openness to their heart and free access to the soul. Caciola asserts that these theories ushered in the appearance of manuals of exorcisms because they had a systematic way of discerning spirits. She continues in explaining that the exorcisms again focused on woman and that demonic possession was more closely associated with the female body. This ties the later theorist to the earlier theorists of the Middle Ages and the focus of women in spiritual possession.
In examination of the debate of spiritual possession and discerning the spirits of the possession, the article explains that there is not a complete answer to the problem. The inability to answer was experience by the writers and thinkers of the Middle Ages as well as contemporaries. Caciola examines the issue with the use of many different types of sources. She emphasizes that there is great importance in the debate of the problem, even if an answer could not be found. In the article Caciola attempts to look at the issue with a different approach, realizing that there are two methods of examination, an external and internal.

Article Citation
Mystics, Demoniacs, and the Physiology of Spirit Possession in Medieval Europe Nancy Caciola Comparative Studies in Society and History, Vol. 42, No. 2 (Apr., 2000), pp. 268-306 Published by: Cambridge University Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2696607

A Break

I am done with school for the semester. I am so excited!

I had a good semester and I learned a lot. However, I was happy to see it end. This was a tough semester, well at least the last half of it. It just seemed like every other week something was happening.

I lost the sweetest woman that I knew and a mentor, Jean Foran. She will be missed. I think about her a lot, it is amazing the knowledge and wisdom that she possessed. The other day I found a little book that she got me for my birthday. She was an inspiration to me and my family. Her faith in God never wavered, which is so inspiring.

I also lost Eric, my cousin, in November. I am glad for the conversations that I had with him the last few weeks before his death. He was a strong and wonderful person, though he didn't want to believe me about that. He will be missed, though he probably wouldn't believe me about that either.

My last final was today, I hope that I did alright. I did meet with my adviser this semester and I should graduate in Fall of 2009. I am praying for a turn around in my life. It's hard to explain. But I am learning to trust more in God for the outcome. I'm trying.

Quote

A woman is like a tea bag- you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water. -- Eleanor Roosevelt


I love this quote!

In Loving Memory

God hath not promised

Skies always blue,

Flower strewn pathways

All our lives through;

God hath not promised

Sun without rain,

Joy without sorrow,

Peace without pain.

But God hath promised

Strength for the day,

Rest for the labor,

Light for the way.

Grace for the trials,

Help from above,

Unfailing sympathy

Undying love...