Book II, Chapter XVII Summary and Analysis

Here St. John expounds on the line of the "Stanzas of the Soul," which reads: "By the secret ladder disguised." The knowledge of divine things is considered secret because it comes to the soul by the Holy Spirit. No everyone is given the gift of knowing these things. This knowledge surpasses human understanding and human knowledge. The word secret also describes the ladder because even after the soul has been infused with love and understanding, there is no way for the soul to talk about what it has experienced. Jeremias and Moses experienced the inability to speak after they had been infused with the wisdom of God. After a person has traveled through a dark night, the experience is ineffable, a term often given to a spiritual/mystical experience that is beyond words.

Another reason...