Work by the mystic Saint John of the Cross on the union between the soul and God.
Although it was written before 1618, "The Spiritual Canticle" was not published until then, after the author, Saint John of the Cross, died, because his followers wanted to avoid him being associated with the mystical cult of the "Illuminated". The poetic text aims to combine the old "Song of Songs" with the Petrarch influences, resulting in mystical poetry. The author uses profane love as a basis, embodied by the figures of two lovers, used as resources to depict the mystical feeling of the union with God.
Because the content is so complex and inscrutable, the author published several explanatory texts in which he also modified some of his postulates. This work, together with "The Dark Night of the Soul" and "The Living Flame of Love", make up the so-called "major poems".
