In particular, medieval Jewish male mystics increasingly emphasized that the changing states of the female body between ritual purity and impurity disqualified women from the quest for mystical ...

Many medieval mystics were women, at a time when only men were theological leaders. Mystics were religious entrepreneurs of their era, rivalling the incumbent powers. It was dangerous work.

The travails of Christina the Astonishing, a Belgian Christian in the 12th century, were astonishing indeed. At her funeral, Christina, just 21 years old, revived and levitated. She then fled into the ...