Taming the (Super)Natural: Negotiating and Appropriating the Powers of Heaven and Hades in Late Medieval Eastern Christian Monasticism

Abstract

Medieval Christian monasticism cultivated a particular kind of environmental imagination. The monastic vocation being devised as a spiritual path of redemption and inner cleansing often referenced the fall of Adam and Eve and the loss of the Garden of Eden. Therefore, nature was conceptually framed between the tamed habitation and the hostile wilderness. This paper discusses monastic environmental engagement in the context of the creation of a sacred place. Special attention is devoted to the relations between humans and nature as seen from the perspective of post-humanism and ecocritical theory. Hence, the paper is concerned with three particular issues: 1) the cleansing and sacralization of the landscape by ascetic endeavors; 2) the reaffirmation of the harmonious order; 3) the monastic attitude toward carnivorous beasts.