Mechthild's

eroticism

is

best

understood

as

an

inherently

positive

and

straightforward

category,

an

intentional

union

of

the

spiritual

and

sexual

to

express,

in

the

words

of

Caroline

Bynum,

the

way

in

which

"a

male

Christ

[is]

handled

and

loved."7

Moreover,

it

is

acknowledged

the

consistent

use

of

erotic

language

is

evidence

of

Mechthild's

ambivalent

relationship

to

the

body,

in

general.