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Charivari or the Historicising of a Question |
75www.jrfm.eu
2018, 4/2, 67–79
his or her old existence – classically this is called the mystical death, which
means the dying of willfulness and total surrender to the divine that can be
traced in Moravian songs as well33 – and introduced into the status of divine
bride. The depiction of the soul as bride evokes much more positive allusions,
the choice of language becomes creative and playful. The soul becomes –
these semantics were used in the time of sifting – a little dove (diminutive TäuÂ
blein) and a little bee (diminutive Bienlein34) but most prominently the idea of
the Creutzluftvöglein35 and creutz=luft=täubelein (little dove in the air of the
cross) emerges:
What does a creutz=luft=täubelein do if it wants to get out of its little hut? the limbs
are a little sick: sooner or later the soul wants to see the bridegroom; thus she soon
sees him stand there, she sees the side, hand, and foot, the little lamb plants a kiss
on the faint heart. The kiss of peace pulls out the soul and takes it home in his mouth:
the kiss is seen right in the hut … and if it’s finished, the soul gets it to join it in the
cave of the wound.36
Thus playful motifs show the cordiality of the interaction between Christ and the
soul, which will be exemplified through the correlation of the motifs of bride/
bridegroom, stigma, and dress and their religious and gender implications.
BRIDE/BRIDEGROOM, STIGMA, DRESS –
THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE BRIDE
The stigmata are central to worship in the Moravian community, in which after
recognizing his or her own sinfulness the individual searches for his or her divine
bridegroom and the path to righteousness within the virtual marriage. The singing
congregation wants to be washed in the blood of Christ and “anointed with your
wound”,37 so that “the body as it was can go to heaven, still undecayed, completely
[mit haut und haar, with skin and hair] into the beautiful wounds [wunden=schön,
a wordplay]”.38 The essential impulse of worship focused on the stigmata is justi-
fication: the sinful individual “finds forgiveness for all sins in the wounds”39 and
33 Beyreuther 1978, Von der Fröhlichkeit in der Hoffnung, 8.
34 See Beyreuther 1978, Von der Ablegung unsrer HĂĽtte, 13.
35 For this motif and its temporal emergence in 1745/46 see Peucker 2002, 78.
36 “Wie machts ein creutz=luft=täubelein, wenns ’raus will aus dem hüttelein? die glieder sind ein wenig
krank: der seele wirds kurz oder lang, den Bräutigam zu sehn; so sieht sie Ihn bald stehn, sie sieht die
Seite, Hand und Fuss, das Lämmlein gibt ihr einen kuss, aufs matte herze. Der frieds=kuss zieht die
seele ’raus, und in dem munde mit nach hause: der hütte sieht man den kuss an … wenns gar ist, hohlt
die seele sie nach zur Wun-den=höhle!”, Beyreuther 1978, Von der Ablegung unsrer Hütte, 8.
37 “[D]er Leib, so wie er war, kan in den himmel gehen, noch unverwest, mit haut und haar, und in der
Wunden=schön”, Beyreuther 1978, Von der Ablegung unsrer Hütte, 9.
38 Beyreuther 1978, Anhang, 22.
39 Beyreuther 1978, Worte unsers Zeugnisses, 5.
JRFM
Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 04/02
- Title
- JRFM
- Subtitle
- Journal Religion Film Media
- Volume
- 04/02
- Authors
- Christian Wessely
- Daria Pezzoli-Olgiati
- Editor
- Uni-Graz
- Publisher
- SchĂĽren Verlag GmbH
- Location
- Graz
- Date
- 2018
- Language
- English
- License
- CC BY-NC 4.0
- Size
- 14.8 x 21.0 cm
- Pages
- 135
- Categories
- Zeitschriften JRFM