Clad in Goodness
"For as the body is clad in the cloth, and the flesh in the skin, and the bones in the flesh, and the heart in the whole, so are we, soul and body, clad in the Goodness of God, and enclosed." (Chapter VI)
In this analogical simile, Julian is describing how God's love encompasses a person completely and serves to redefine their appearance. To do so, she uses four images: the cloth around the body, the skin around the flesh, the flesh around the bones, and the whole around the heart. By doing so, she describes the metaphysics of the concept quite simply while also drawing a connection to the physical body, emphasizing the complete transformation down to the very physical matter of the Christian.
Blood Like Rain
“...the plenteousness is like to the drops of water that fall off the eaves after a great shower of rain, that fall so thick that no man may number them with bodily wit” (Chapter VII)
In this chapter, Julian is writing about one of her visions, in which she saw an image of the dying Christ with the crown of thorns on his head, digging into his flesh and causing his head to bleed profusely. To aptly convey the volume of this blood, Julian uses the simile of water falling off tree leaves after heavy rain, so thickly concentrated that individual drops are no longer visible. This is how badly Jesus's head was bleeding in Julian's vision: it's a striking image.
A Dry Board
“The skin of the flesh that shewed (of the face and of the body), was small-rimpled with a tanned colour, like a dry board when it is aged; and the face more brown than the body.” (Chapter XVII)
In this chapter, Julian is describing yet another of her visions, this one being of Christ's crucified body. In describing the state of his body, she says that his skin looked 'like a dry board when it is aged,' painting an unpleasantly vivid description of the scene. His face in particular was dry and lined, making the scene even more striking.
Dark as Night
“After this my sight began to fail, and it was all dark about me in the chamber, as if it had been night, save in the Image of the Cross whereon I beheld a common light; and I wist not how.” (Chapter III)
In Chapter III, Julian describes how her sickness affected her body, as well as how these enlightening visions were bestowed upon her in the first place. When her sight began to fail as a result of her sickness, everything began to grow dark except for a single image of a Cross, which glowed with light. This simile, likening the darkened room to night, is theologically appropriate: the darkness of the world in which we live can be overwhelming, and darkness is its predominant characteristic. The cross of Christ provides hope to escape this world, and its brightness highlights the importance of redemption in the grand scheme of reality.
Seven Nights Dead
“This long pining seemed to me as if He had been seven nights dead, dying, at the point of outpassing away, suffering the last pain.” (Chapter XVI)
In this chapter, Julian again talks about the image of Christ dying on the cross. After hanging there for a while, she says that his body decays, making him look as if he has been dead for seven nights instead of having died only recently. This image makes the story of Christ seem all the more compelling; not only did the Savior of the world die, but he died in such a way that made him seem weak and powerless.
