The Creation Spirituality Lineage Calling All Social and Environmental Activists, Mystic Explorers, Justice Makers, Cosmic Thinkers, Earth Keepers Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox |
Living in Hell,
Purgatory, or Heaven By Gianluigi Gugliermetto 11/21/2025 |
Yesterday in my DM, I did not intend in the least to trivialize mental pain, or to suggest that it can simply be cured through a diet. I wanted instead to underline how our mental and physical health are inextricably linked. Our spiritual health is yet another dimension that is often undervalued, misunderstood, or separated from the other two. |
To talk about spiritual health, I ask the help of Mechtild of Magdeburg (1210-1297) (see my DM of Nov. 12). One of the chapters of her
book* is titled: How our home is now in Heaven, now in Purgatory, now in Hell. Being in heaven means being clothed with the virtues and adorned and penetrated by the holy love of God. Being in purgatory happens when we |
The Nine Circles of Hell. Illustration by Sandro Botticelli. Wikimedia Commons. It is likely that Dante derived the structure of his Hell from Mechtild's work, as she describes it as an inverted cone, with a similar disposition of categories of sinners, and Lucifer gnawing the worst of sinners at the apex of the cone. |
make mistakes (“sins”) and we ought to regain the status that we lost, by means of purgation or cleansing. Being in hell seems to be the final step down, an ultimate state, a condition that admits no cleansing or elevation of any sort. Yet Mechtild explicitly says that God’s compassion follows sinners there, so that they are there today, but perhaps tomorrow in the company of angels. The latter sentence could well be one of the reasons why Mechtild was accused of heresy. In the male-dominated theology of her time, hell was obviously a definitive state; otherwise, why would one even need purgatory at all? If hell and purgatory are not truly distinguishable, there would simply be a blessed condition and an unblessed one in different degrees from which, however, one can
escape. But what is especially interesting to me is that Mechtild claims that we are already living in those states, here in this life, and we move from one to another. That happens from hour to hour to the blessed who are still here, she writes. |
Dante Alighieri holds his epic poem, the Divine Comedy, pointing with his right hand to a procession of sinners to Hell. Behind him is Purgatory, and to his left the city of Florence. Above are indicated the circles of Heaven. Painting by Domenico di Michelino, 1465. Wikimedia Commons | This is a deep psychological insight that has become relatively common only today. There is nothing “wrong” about living between heaven and hell — emotionally speaking — on any given day, because indeed mood swinging happens for most people many times a day, even though
it |
remains often unrecognized. Yet one does not need to live on such rollercoasters without any hope of reaching a more stable condition. Mechtild also says that in each of the three states, we are in communion with the living souls of the departed. When we are in heaven here on earth, the blessed see us openly and
can trace all our progress, that is, our growth in nobility. When we are in purgatory here on earth, the souls who are purging are saddened by seeing that we fell with them, and can do nothing to help us, yet the blessed souls both in the otherworld and in this world help us regain our previous status. When we are in hell here on earth, being in touch with the souls of serious sinners, we may think that we are lost forever, but God’s love instead can make miracles. The most important sentence of Mechtild in all of the chapter is the following: Thus our home may be in or out of heaven, in purgatory or in unblessed hell, with whichever place we voluntarily associate ourselves. |
Is Mechtild saying that if we suffer mentally, to a lesser or a higher degree, it is simply our fault? This would be a superficial reading. I think she is saying that whatever mental state we are in, we should not think it to be final, even when it feels extreme. That we may aspire to live in |
Dante and Beatrice gaze upon the highest Heaven. “Paradiso,” Canto XXXI in the Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri; illustration by Gustave Doré, 1892. Wikimedia Commons. |
heaven here on earth — unburdened by “original sin” — and many good people are praying for us to succeed in our effort, communing with us to this aim. Ultimately, being in heaven or hell does not depend on external circumstances, and not even on God, but on our free
determination. I am not attempting here to equate spiritual health with mental health, but am convinced that they are deeply related, just as bodily health and mental health are. Mechtild’s whole message — it seems to me — is focused on the possibility of living a blessed life not just in the otherworld but here in this very body of ours. And this cannot mean simply being convinced of doing everything right, according to moral laws and God’s will. It must reflect in the state of our mind and its ability to fall under the line of its equilibrium and then regain its place over it, going even further up each
time. |
Queries for Contemplation What do you think of Mechtild’s affirmation about us living in heaven, purgatory, and
hell here on this earth? |
Responses are welcomed. To add your comment, or read other comments and enter into
dialogue, please click HERE to go to our website and scroll down to the Comments field. |
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