The laudi of ecstasy
In the course of his mystical journey Jacopone had experiences of ecstasy, referenced in several of his laudi. But what is ecstasy?
Very different definitions of ecstasy exist. Some psychologists, not empathetic towards religious experience, classify ecstasy among mental disorders such as schizophrenia, hysteria and paranoia. Most dictionaries and encyclopedias, however, define it approximately as: “a state of isolation and escape from reality, in order to be absorbed in a single object; an internal and exclusive perception”.
This definition does not reflect the technical meaning of the word, which derives from Greek ex-stasis, “to be outside”, that is to stand outside of oneself – the very opposite of being closed up in oneself.
By far the most helpful definition for our purposes is that of the French philosopher Edgar Morin:
Ecstasy is the privileged state in which the cerebral lobes that operate the separation between the self and the world, between the ego and the other, between ‘I’ and ‘we’, are inhibited. Ecstasy is the paradoxical state in which one finds oneself lost... Ecstasy provides the feeling of fusion with the Absolute or with the All.
Ecstasy does not close us in on ourselves, but rather takes us out of ourselves, opening us to the world, to others, to the beauty of nature or art. In Jacopone’s case this definition is very fitting. Canceling out the interference of his own prejudices, Jacopone discovers a truth that is the opposite of what he had believed. In ecstasy he opens himself to the love of his brothers; he no longer has enemies, he forgives those who slander him and, losing the ego that dominated him, he rediscovers (or discovers) his true self.
Ecstasy in Jacopone’s poetry
Several laudi refer to experiences of ecstasy, but two are particularly important, written specifically to describe the perceptions and emotions of mystical ecstasy. These are Sopr'onne lengua Amore (no. XC) and Amor de caritate (no. LXXXIX).
Jacopone does not write to vent or to present a theory: he writes to involve us and speak to our hearts. In the first of these laudi he describes as neatly as possible the perceptions that ecstasy aroused in his mind and heart. It is a detailed, complex, systematic laude. In the second, he expresses the emotions of love that involve him – or rather overwhelm him – in ecstasy.
Of these laudi Evelyn Underhill wrote in 1919:
That wild rapture which had in its earlier phases produced the excesses of the santa pazia [holy madness] and the jubilus, and persuaded him that the highest wisdom was found in the folly of love, now seems to have inspired a group of poems in which his genius appears in its full splendour, and lifts the religious poetry of Italy to a level which has seldom been surpassed...
And in 2013 Estelle Zunino said this about them:
The experience of mystical union could have plunged Jacopone into contemplative withdrawal and silence. Instead, after the poet becomes aware of the inadequacy and insufficiency of human language, the experience gives rise to a total reversal that transformed writing into a spiritual exercise that can accommodate the narration of mystical experience with completely unexpected expressive solutions...
Thus this is not only great poetry, but a completely new form of Italian poetry.