Spirituality and Desire: Black Narcissus

I'm a classic film nut, and there's no better example of overblown, dramatic and romantic Hollywood storytelling than the movie Black Narcissus, starring Deborah Kerr. Based on the 1930s Rumer Godden novel, it’s a story that shows how women throughout history have so often buried themselves in service to others as they sublimate their own feelings and desires — or more likely, find those desires shamed, controlled and punished. So let's celebrate Women's History Month by enjoying stories where women conduct even the tiniest rebellions against the oppression of their true selves.
CW: explicit discussion of sex, desire and religious belief.

https://www.confessionsofaclosetromantic.com

My guest, Violet Grey, blogs about kinky sex and spirituality at Becoming Violet Grey. And she writes erotica for the sex positive site BloomStories: "Intimate audio stories designed for diving deep into your pleasure."

The trailer for the 1947 Black Narcissus movie.

And a slightly different, thrilling and sizzling angle on the convent of Saint Faith.

The enduring allure of erotic masterpiece Black Narcissus

The first edition book jacket of the novel is stunning.

And so is the classic 1911 perfume on which the title is based.

Rumer Godden was quite a woman.

Rumer Godden converted to Catholicism late in life, and a few of her 60 works of fiction and nonfiction, like Black Narcissus, explored the mystical, spiritual and practical aspects of religious life.