The Stirrings (ܙܘܥܐ zawe) in the Spiritual Life according to St Isaac the Syrian (original) (raw)

In the present study is underlined the importance of mastering the original Syriac terminology of a spiritual author such as the Syrian Isaac. To illustrate this practically, the attention of the authors focuses on a term that has not been studied in detail by researchers of Isaac’s writings until now. The noun zaw‘e, stirrings’, is a key technical term in the language of the Syriac hermit. Based on the Syriac texts of Isaac, the paper shows that there are several types of stirrings. In terms of their origin and action, they are positives or negatives. Considered from an anthropological perspective, the stirrings may be classified into voluntary and involuntary. In the last part of the paper are presented various contexts in which the stirrings relate to various ascetical practices.