Divine madness-
Divine madness, also known as theia mania and crazy wisdom, refers to unconventional, outrageous, unexpected, or unpredictable antinomian behavior linked to religious or spiritual pursuits. Examples of divine madness can be found in Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sufism, and Shamanism.
It is usually explained as a manifestation of enlightened behavior by persons who have transcended societal norms, or as a means of spiritual practice or teaching among mendicants and teachers. These behaviors may seem to be symptoms of mental illness to mainstream society, but are a form of religious ecstasy, or deliberate "strategic, purposeful activity,"[1] "by highly self-aware individuals making strategic use of the theme of madness in the construction of their public personas".[2]
Christianity Edit
The 6th-century Saint Simeon, states Feuerstein, simulated insanity with skill. Simeon found a dead dog, tied a cord to the corpse's leg and dragged it through the town, outraging the people, but to Simeon the dead dog represented a form of baggage people carry in their spiritual life. He would enter the local church and throw nuts on the congregation during the liturgy, which he later explained to his friend was him denouncing the hypocrisy in worldly acts and prayers.[7]
The interpretation of madness in Christianity, states Screech, adopted the Platonic belief that madness comes in two forms: bad and good, depending on the assumptions about "the normal" by the majority.[15] Early Christians cherished madness, and being called "mad" by non-Christians.[16] To them it was "glossolalia" or the "tongue of angels".[16] Christ's behavior and teachings were blasphemous madness in his times, and according to Simon Podmore, "Christ's madness served to sanctify blasphemous madness".[17]
Religious ecstasy-type madness was interpreted as good by early Christians, with the help of the Platonic framework. Yet, as Greek philosophy went out of favor in Christian theology, so did these ideas. In the age of Renaissance, charismatic madness regained interest and popular imagination, as did the Socratic proposal of four types of "good madness":[15]
Prophesy, the manic art
mystical revelations and initiations
poetic arts
madness of lovers
In theological context, these were interpreted in part as divine rapture, an escape from the restraint of society, a frenzy for freedom of the soul.[15]
In the 20th-century, Pentecostalism – the charismatic movements within Protestant Christianity particularly in the United States, Latin America and Africa – has encouraged the practice of divine madness among its followers.[18][19] The wisdom and healing power in the possessed, in these movements, is believed to be from the Holy Spirit, a phenomenon called charism ("spiritual gifts"). According to Tanya Luhrmann, the associated "hearing of spiritual voices" may seem to be "mental illness" to many people, but to the followers who shout and dance together as a crowd it isn't.[20] The followers believe that there is a long tradition in Christian spirituality, where saints such as Augustine are stated to have had similar experiences of deliberate hallucinations and madness.[21]