A closer look
Saint Teresa of Avila was a sixteenth-century Spanish mystic and Carmelite nun who frequently experienced intense spiritual raptures that supposedly caused her to float violently into the air against her will. while most people would be absolutely thrilled to discover they had the power of spontaneous levitation, she found the whole ordeal incredibly embarrassing and begged God to stop lifting her up in front of her colleagues. whenever she felt a mystical float coming on during mass, she would actively order the other nuns to physically sit on top of her to keep her anchored to the ground so she would not make a scene. she even wrote extensively about how frustrating it was to have your spiritual ecstasies interrupted by the sheer awkwardness of hovering a few feet above the pews while trying to maintain your monastic humility. nothing screams holy devotion quite like treating your supernatural ability to defy gravity as an annoying inconvenience that ruins your daily prayer schedule
