The Controversial Ecstasy of Sor María Teresa Aycinena
Brianna Leavitt-Alcántara
Alone at the Altar January 9, 2018 DOI: 10.11126/stanford/9781503603684.003.0006 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Historical analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | MDMA |
| Key points | Argues that the case of Sor María Teresa Aycinena shows how religious motivations, not just political conservatism, drove clerical support for the mystic nun, and that the Church's weakened state during the Independence wars enabled women to assert spiritual authority and revive devotions popular among laywomen. |
Abstract
Chapter 5 explores the devotion and controversy surrounding Sor María Teresa Aycinena, a Carmelite nun, who in 1816 in the midst of the Independence wars, reportedly began to experience the stigmata, visions, mystical crucifixions, and miraculous images formed with the blood of her wounds. The powerful archbishop, priests, and lay devotees, many of them women, supported the Carmelite nun as a holy woman, but her divine revelations fueled controversy and political conflicts. Modern scholars treat the case only in passing, accepting the liberal nineteenth-century view that Sor María Teresa and her lay devotees were conservative political pawns. This case certainly highlights the early politicization of networks between priests and laywomen, but it also reveals how religious motivations significantly shaped clerical support of the mystic nun, while the Church’s weakened position created openings for assertive female claims to spiritual authority and a renewal of devotions long popular with laywomen.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on MDMA, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Differences Between the Mechanism of Action of MDMA, MBDB, and the Classic Hallucinogens. Identification of a New Therapeutic Class: Entactogens | 1986 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The Background and Chemistry of MDMA | 1986 | Historical analysis | |
| The origin of MDMA (ecstasy) revisited: the true story reconstructed from the original documents* Original documents in Merck's historical archive in Darmstadt, Germany, years 1900–1960 | 2006 | Historical analysis | |
| Distinct neural mechanisms for the prosocial and rewarding properties of MDMA | 2019 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How could MDMA (ecstasy) help anxiety disorders? A neurobiological rationale | 2009 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |