Sixth Mansion — Spiritual Betrothal and Trials

The Sexta Morada is the longest and most tumultuous stage of Teresa's Interior Castle, where arrobamientos (raptures), locuciones (divine locutions), vuelos del espíritu (flights of the spirit), and the transverberación — the piercing of the heart by a seraph's flaming dart — alternate with severe bodily illness, persecution, and interior desolation. Teresa calls this the desposorio espiritual (spiritual betrothal), a foretaste of permanent union accompanied by purifying trials. The soul is refined as gold in fire; every consolation withdrawn reveals a deeper attachment that must be surrendered before the Seventh Mansion becomes possible.