The complete title of this work of Christian mysticism is: The Mirror of the Simple Souls Who Are Annihilated and Remain Only in Will and Desire of Love. For these comments on divine love, Marguerite Porete was excommunicated and executed by the Catholic church in the early 1300's.
This book is a dynamic conversation between the personifications of Love, Reason, and Truth. The mystic states that she believes there is a sevenfold annihilation of various components of the soul. They are also graces, she claims. The first and the seventh are explained: The first annihilation is the removal of sinfulness in the human soul. The final stage is perfect oneness with God in love.
The entities go on discussing humanity from lofty heavens. Love discusses the important treatment of anxiety and shame which inhibit a human soul from its full potential. Love also frees the soul from the binds of legal morality, because after the soul has been purged of its wickedness, there is no need for strictures to bind them. She lists all the aspects of life that used to concern the human soul but will not: culture, wealthy, attraction, repulsion, honor, shame, and on and on.
Upon hearing Love's argument, Reason responds with skepticism. How could the soul be stripped of its moral goodness and still be good? Love responds that all of God's goodness can be enjoyed directly, without thoughts. She says that the truth of divine love is inaccessible through thought or philosophy and must be experienced directly as the soul purges itself of blinders.
