Includes bibliographical references (p. 237-248) and index.

Part I: Theory and historical background -- Introduction: Low places where grace pours in -- Mysticism and feminism : academic foundations -- Goddesses, mother Jesus, and the feminine divine -- Contemplative feminism : transforming the spiritual journey -- Part II: Women mystics of medieval Europe -- Women mystics and a feminism of the inner way -- Julian and Teresa as cartographers of women's soul -- The soul of woman and the dark night of the feminine -- Subversion in contemplation : resistance, resiliency, and women's dignificaton -- Part III: Embodied and engaged contemplation -- Women's body as mystical text -- Seeing through God's eye : women's spiritual rights -- Love of the world : an ethic of ultimate concern -- Hymn to Hagia Sophia.