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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 ? 18 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. + 130 ¢ Daréczi-Sepsi-Vassänyi_Initiation_155x240.indb 130 6 2020. 06.15. 11:04:17
