What a year it has been this week! I often have melodies running through my head which I consider “theme-songs” for whatever I am experiencing at the time. When I was in India, I kept hearing “Stranger in Paradise,” when I was in the Austrian Alps, I heard “Climb Every Mountain.” The Beatles famous song “Yesterday” has been my current companion these days, and quite poignant theme music (I would say,) for what we are all currently enduring. I have the pleasure of knowing and loving people in many countries and many states in the USA. It feels unique at this time in our collective evolution, knowing each and every person in my very wide circle is experiencing the same level of collateral damage from this virus, the same uncertainty and tragedy that I personally am also enduring. I have loved ones diagnosed and in hospitals with the virus, stranded across the globe, quarantined, on the front lines as Federal disaster responders and health care providers, displaced, newly unemployed, furloughed, home from university, cancelled vacations, meetings, events and so on. No one across the globe is having a “novel” experience as everyone, everyone is affected by this global challenge in the same way.
During times of great crisis, the role of the arts and culture is crucial to the survival of the human spirit. I am always moved by human creativity, particular in times of great trial. I marvel to the point of tears how music, poetry, drawing and story telling are methods by which people cope and maintain their humanity when everything around them is the most bleak.
The Black Madonna has been a companion of challenged communities throughout the ages. These unique images of the Madonna have often been the symbol of solidarity, endurance and healing during the darkest days of human history. I will be doing my best to post more frequently on my Heart of the Black Madonna Facebook page, inspiring works of art that have sustained countless souls through the centuries of oppression, upheaval and plagues. The legends that surround these images I have always found significant, because they model grace under extreme pressure, endurance in the face of everything one can imagine - fire, floods, revolutions, war and disease. I will also be posting more content regarding these images on my Heart of the Black Madonna Youtube channel, and posting content on this Blog, so please make sure to subscribe or check out all of these sites during our shared confinement. The research and writing helps me to cope, and I also hope my discoveries and sharing can offer you all some respite from this difficult, unprecedented time.
I gained a love for history, music and ancient Christian spirituality from my father and grandfather, both from the Byzantine Balkan tradition. The major quality of the people and culture from this region and tradition is resiliency, resiliency in the face of overwhelming challenges. The Christians from this region maintained culture under extreme oppression for over 500 years, first by the Ottomans and then by stifling post WW 1 and WW 2 regimes. Many Black Madonnas come from this Byzantine tradition, and are symbols for us all on the triumph of human spirit during great trial. I hope you find my reflections, my explorations and research useful, and know I am thinking of you.
Please take care of yourselves, your loved ones and your communities. You are not alone, reach out if you need anything, we are all in this together and everyone wants to do something to help. Ours is a time of great trial, and for the most part what I am witnessing, the everyday person is rising to the occasion with grace, dignity and charity, because as we know, the greatest of all things on this Earth is charity.
With love and gratitude for your goodness,
Stephanie Georgieff
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