The word forever comes to the fore again in the quality of the diamond’s hardness, durability and endurance and holds a special place and fascination for us, who are creatures who had a beginning but are destined to live forever. There is no logical placement of the rooms which leaves it wide open for Teresa’s spontaneity. Each mansion seems to consist of an endless or forever possibility since each soul is so unique and the spaciousness of its journey so vast. In trying to explain the interior structure of the castle Teresa does not tell us exactly how many rooms she had in mind. In which there are many rooms, just as in heaven there are many dwelling To be like a castle made entirely out of a diamond or of very clear crystal, It was in ardent prayer that the basis for the writing was received. Already in her sixties, she stated that she did not even know how to begin this task nor were any thoughts coming to her mind. Teresa was not a young person when asked to carry out this obedience. Or the outer wall of the castle, that is, with these bodies of ours. Or who dwells within it, or its high value.Ĭonsequently, little effort is made to preserve its beauty.Īll our attention is taken up with the plainness of the diamond’s setting …we seldom consider the precious things that can be found in this soul, Since we are made in the image and likeness of God she revisits this comparison again in Chapter One of the First Mansions of the Interior Castle, commenting on the dignity and beauty of the soul, Present in the pure brilliancy of that light. So many things together in that brilliant diamond,Īnd a most piteous thing too, whenever I think of it, It was a fearful thing for me to see, in so short a time, Which is of such dimensions as to include everything, In a former vision, only in a way so high that IĪnd that all our actions are seen in that diamond,

Or a mirror like that to which I compared the soul Let us suppose the Godhead to be a most brilliantĭiamond, much larger than the whole world, In the story of her Life (Chapter XL, Par.

“Forever” was a well-chosen word because of the properties and symbolism inherent in the diamond. However, this company was not yet around in 1577 when she was ordered to write another book. The De Beers Jewelry marketing slogan of “Diamonds are Forever” might have been a perfect catchphrase for Saint Teresa’s “Diamond”, better known to us as the Interior Castle.

Teresa avila interior castle