‘St John of the Cross’s Visions in the Night’

The ecstasies and visions of the Iberian 16th Century siglo de oro are well known and described. This article analyses St John of the Cross’s forensic approach to these phenomena and how his notion of the ‘dark night’ set a bench-mark for later caution regarding how they should be approached. In particular, the article analyses his notion of ‘three nights’ and how they might make sense in a contemporary psycho-spiritual setting.