"Base, but Nevertheless Holy": Lessons in Liminality from Symeon the Holy Fool. (December 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Johnson, Christopher DL
• Is Part Of: Studies in religion. Volume 43:Number 4(2014:Dec.)
• Page Start: 592
• Page End: 612
• Publication Date: 2014-12
• Subjects: Symeon of Emesa -- Syrian Christianity -- holy fool -- eastern Christianity -- liminal -- Victor Turner -- trickster -- asceticism -- Leontius of Neapolis; Symeon d'Emesa -- le christianisme syrien -- le fou-pour-Christ -- le christianisme oriental -- liminal -- Victor Turner -- l'escroc -- l'ascétisme -- Léontius de Néapolis; Religion -- Periodicals; Religions -- Periodicals; 200.5
• DOI: 10.1177/0008429814548171
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0008-4298

Abstract

Victor Turner briefly mentions the liminality of "holy beggars" and "simpletons" (1969: 110) but this point has received little attention in existing literature on either liminality or holy fools. The seventh-century saint's life The Life of Symeon the Fool is often described as presenting Symeon as someone who challenges and inverts norms while ultimately remaining a "loyal, albeit restless, member" of Emesa's Christian community (Saward, 2000: 28). This paper will argue that Symeon's prolonged liminality in the narrative allows him to play both of these roles by blurring the lines between desert and city, compassion and aggression, and critic and caretaker.