Touch: Comfort or Pain
Hair shirts and metal cilice at the Can Papiol Romanticism Museum.
Religion has been alive for ages, probably as long as the five senses have been working in and with humans. Some of the five senses are obviously central in major religions: taste in the eucharist and Jewish Sabbath celebrations, the sound of Quran recitals and of modern instruments at a local megachurch, the beauty seen in Hindu and Roman Catholic temples, even the olfactory organs are stimulated with incense in religious ceremonies. But historically speaking, where does the sense of touch interfere with religion? Let’s dive into it.
The Deepest Sense: A Cultural History of Touch by Constance Classen is an overwhelmingly informational resource for understanding the historical and religious influence of somatosensory, or the sense of touch, the sense that allows us to feel pain, heat, cold, texture, etc. Classen argues that there is one aspect of touch that cannot be tampered by the status of a person, that is pain. A wealthier person has the advantage over others of purchasing warm layers for winter or the appropriate tools to survive a heat wave. But this same person can suffer from the same types of physical pain as the less financially advantaged. Pain is universal. Nor the old nor the young, the rich nor the poor are exempt from being affected by some pain during their lives. Whether this pain is a result of hunger or being overworked or health matters, pain is something all people encounter.
But where does pain tie into religion?
In antiquity, we find Moses fasting and praying for forty days and forty nights at mount Sinai. These methods of carnal sacrifices were common during Biblical times. Another common aspect of discomfort during the time were hair shirts. Hair shirts, also called cilice or sackcloth, were very rough and uncomfortable garments made usually of animal skin and hair. This was not worn for fashion and aesthetic purposes but for repentance. The shirts were very painful and were usually accompanied with extended fasts and a crown of ashes.
Cilice and sackcloth are not as common today as in Biblical times, but still roam around as practices to become holier in God’s eyes. I became familiarized with the term after hearing a group of Pentecostal Christians say they were planning to hold a nighttime cilice. I was very confused because I had no idea what this meant but was intrigued when they explained that although they do not have access to animal hairy skin, they were opting for sleeping on the bare floor, or on rough carpets seeking discomfort and thus a closer relationship to God. I even encountered a young woman who stated she will not sleep on a bed until she is married. The idea is that the more one is physically separated from earthly pleasures of feasting and comfort, the closer one can become to the spiritual where God dwells.
The linear relationship between discomfort and unity with God is very familiar to Classen. Classen argues that Western religions tend to classify holiness (especially in women) with disconnection from human needs and desires and wickedness with the excessive consumption of human pleasures such as feasting and intimacy. “While saints mystically suffered for others, witches magically inflicted suffering on others” (Classen, 92). Holy feminine bodies were soft, while witches were expected to have an evil touch. Holy women often had dreams where they denied food from demons, meanwhile witches dreamed they accepted feasts from demons in their dreams. Saints were known to be celibate, while witches were seductive and promiscuous who sometimes dreamed of having intimate relations with demons. A woman’s nurturing touch which she uses to soothe her babies and comfort her spouse is deeply connected to religion when this feminine touch can either be carried out by her holiness or withdrawn by her wickedness.
The Wizard of Oz. PHOTO: FILMPUBLICITYARCHIVE/UNITED ARCHIVES VIA GETTY IMAGES
The witch: long nose, pointy nails, rough skin. The Lady: soft and pale skin, pink cheeks, soft curls.
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