The Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius and Shifts in Images of God and Self: The Experience of Two South African Women

Abstract

This article explores shifts in image of God and image of self in women in the South African context making the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius of Loyola in the form of the Nineteenth Annotation Retreat. The women reported significant shifts towards more positively experienced self and God-representations and a marked lessening in defensive processes. These shifts appear to be facilitated by imaginal and dialogical processes in the Spiritual Exercises, in particular the use of imaginative contemplation. This article examines these shifts in God-image and self-image with particular reference to the experience of two of the women who reported a new sense of freedom from what they had experienced as oppressive aspects of their respective cultures.