Saint Teresa of Avila, The Interior Castle

Metaphor of the Silkworm

The silkworm is like the soul.  And so when the silkworm is fully developed it begins to build a house where it will die.  

Let us do the work quickly and spin the silken cocoon, relinquishing our self-centeredness and personal willfulness and giving up our attachment to worldly things. Let's practice humility, prayer, purification, surrender, and all the other good works we're familiar with.  We have learned exactly what to do.  Let's do it! Let it die. Let the silkworm die.  This the natural outcome once it has done what it was created to do.  Then we will see God and see ourselves nestled inside his greatness like a silkworm in her cocoon. Everything I've been saying leads up to what becomes of the silkworm.  The soul in this state of prayer dies to the world and emerges a little white-butterfly. 

Metaphor of the Palmetto Fruit


Imagine a palmetto fruit.  Layer upon layer must be peeled away to reach the tasty part in the middle.  So it is with the interior castle. Many rooms surround the central chamber.  Always visualize your soul as vast, spacious, and plentiful.