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ANIKÓ DARÓCZI
the mystic. Ihis kind of speaking is a speaking that shows" and that can only
be received with and by the soul. In the rest of Letter 22 this form of speaking
comes into force.
This speech mode, driven by the paradoxical force of mystical speaking,
results here in a four-part paradox that is traditionally expressed through
the elusive spatial image of the divine dimensions. Hadewijch uses the
language of seeing when she speaks of God’s nature, which is ‘a wonder to
contemplate’ (ane te siene van wondere). ‘Contemplate’ is followed by an image
that is incomprehensible, since it contains the four divine dimensions: ‘He is
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all to all things and in all things wholly’.
God is above all
and not high;
God is beneath all
and not low;
God is within all
and not shut in;
God is outside all
and wholly enclosed.
(Letter 22, 17-24)
... Ende dat hi alle dinc es te allen / Ende in allen gheheel. / God es bouen al /
ende onuerhauen; / God es onder al / ende onuerdruct / God es binnen al / ende
onghesloten / God es buten al / ende al omgrepen.
Hadewijch begins the letter with the ineffability of God that is the result
of His incomprehensibility. She now combines the ineffable with the
inconceivability of the divine space, giving form to the paradox of speaking
of God by using paradoxical spatial images. Through the repeated phrase
‘God is all’ she removes the paradox with which the speaker is confronted and
reduces the four dimensions into one. By using visual representation enclosed
in rythmical speech, she moves beyond all images.
8 The paradoxical spatial image is inspired by a hymn by Hildebert of Lavardin. On the
ingenious manner in which Hadewijch transforms Hildebert’s hymn — namely, with its
repetitive totus — and on the connection between this passage and Gregory the Great and
Isidore of Seville, see Daréczi 2007, .... The repetitive ‘God es ... al (ende)’ was added by
Hadewijch — God es does not appear in Hildebert’s hymn, while in Hadewijch the repetition
has an invocatory force.
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Daréczi-Sepsi-Vassänyi_Initiation_155x240.indb 130 6 2020. 06.15. 11:04:17