Our Lady of the Good Death

 

Our Lady of the Good Death, Clermont Ferrand, France

It is hard to know when exactly death started to terrify humans. In Medieval times, the common person's birthdate was not recorded, but their death date was, because it was seen as when the person entered "Real Life" in the hereafter.

In these times, it was important to have a good death, which meant being surrounded by those who one loved, and praying constantly for a good and holy transition. There is an order of Nuns in Brazil who are actually called The Order of Our Lady of Good Death. When someone in the community passes, these women sing and dance in order to accompany the soul into the next life.

There are many Black Madonnas associated with the underworld, with death, with transitions. For the next few days, from October 31 through to November 2, it is considered Allhallowtide Triduum, a time for honoring those who have passed. Dios de los Muertos is Mexican evolution of this tradition. Allhallowtide is a "time to remember the dead, including martyrs saints  and all faithful departed Christians." The present date of Hallowmas also known as All Saints' Day and thus also of its vigil (Hallowe'en the night before Hallowmas) was established for Rome perhaps by Pope Gregory III (731 - 741)  and was made of obligation throughout the Frankish Empire by Louis the Pious in 835. So the origins of Halloween are actually quite sacred, and it is odd to me it has been made such a scary secular production, while simultaneously being feared and avoided by many Christian sects. 

Halloween, All Saints Day and All Souls Day are sacred times within a community. Those who have passed before us, gave us so much. They are often still with us in many ways.

The Church Triumphant, Fresco by Andrea da Fierenza in Santa Maria Novella, Florence, Italy

I wish you all a sacred and reflective time this year as we begin our festival season leading up to Christmas and the New Year

Blessings!

The Modern Black Madonna

Oil Painting by Leanne Oliver

 The Black Madonna is an ancient artistic form. It seems that in cultures across the globe, some form of a dark mother has been part of the imagination since the dawn of time. During the age of exploration, manly from the renaissance on, there has been a retreat from the dark virgin. It is odd, since most of the world has people who are not pink skinned, regardless, the dominant focus has been on light skinned women in many aspects of religious art. These images are quite beautiful in and of themselves, but are also a bit alienating to those whose physical appearances differs greatly from the artistic presentation before them.

If one has ever been to a shrine honoring a Black Madonna, the mixture of intimacy with reverence is unique. These images invoke a profound response in many of the worlds peoples. Obviously Divinity does not have a specific skin color, nor gender actually. Divinity is supra sensible, and beyond much of our ways of understanding reality. Limiting Divinity can be, well limiting. But we must have a way to comprehend and understand Divinity, to feel as if we belong to these beings in some way. 

Humanity is reorienting itself in this great period of transformation. We have run the gamut of materialism and it is literally killing us and the planet upon which we depend. 

The Black Madonna is calling us back into the primordial velvet that once was our constant companion. We are more awake now, so the Black Madonna has deeper lessons for us.

May we hear and comprehend what it is the Madonna wants us to know.

We are one, yet individuals within the embrace of the cosmos. She has missed us, and await our fully conscious return.

Black Madonna Resources

Our Lady of Jasna Gora, Czestochowa Poland

 It is hard to believe, but all of my efforts, relationship and writing with The Black Madonna are coming on to 20 years! Starting when I was a student enrolled in Sofia Institute through then Holy Names College in Oakland California, and now flourishing into a series of books, a podcast, active speaking schedule, I am somewhat of an expert in a now, in a newly joyously crowded field of amazing creators, authors and poets!

Starting in November, I hope to figure out how to change all of my Social Media "handles" to reflect the podcast. Everything takes me quite a while to figure out, as I am a staff of one along with being notoriously low tech. 

What I hope to convey through this blog post is a few of the resources I enjoy as a researcher and I hope you are enriched by them as well!

Our Lady of the Good Death, France

The two websites I find invaluable are

Black Madonna Index, Interfaith Mary Website

https://www.interfaithmary.net/black-madonna

University of Dayton Ohio Marian Library Website

https://udayton.edu/marianlibrary/index.php

Longing for Darkness Tara and The Black Madonna by China Galland

https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780140121841

This was my first book on the subject, as part of the module on Feminine Spirituality through the Sophia Institute. It is a wonderful introduction to the subject, part travel journal, part historical review, part personal evolution of the author. While there is, obviously from the title, attention played to Tara a Hindu Goddess, there is much about the culture and history surrounding the Black Madonna.

The Cult of the Black Virgin by Ean Begg

https://www.sandmanbooks.com/book/9781630512705

There are two editions of this book. One is 2006 and the other which is often available through eBay, Goodwill, Thrift Books, and Abe Books and Amazon as a used book are editions from 1985 and 1996, I suggest hunting for these editions. I have both the 2006 and 1996 edition, as I see both as vital. The older version is an incredible resource as half the book is essentially an index of locations and folk lore about quite a few European Black Madonnas. I do not understand why the newer edition does not have this valuable resource, but there you have it.

The Black Madonna in Latin America and Europe: Tradition and Transformation by  Malgorzata Oleszkiewicz-Peralba

https://unmpress.com/books/black-madonna-latin-america-and-europe/9780826341037

This is an excellent scholarly overview of Black Madonnas, as the title conveys, in Latin America and Europe. It is scholarly however, and may be a bit dry to read, but he information is quite valuable, well researched and a broad overview of the cultural implications of Black Madonnas in these regions. 

These are my go to sources, and I will add more, as more amazing titles, sites and artists are worthy of exploring! I suggest that these books and website are a good start for those wanting to delve into the subject matter a bit more.

Blessings on your Journey!

The New World

Our Lady of Regula, Spain

 

As we mark the 530th anniversary of the Columbian Voyage, the world is eerily similar to the turbulent days surrounding the time of that fateful event. I sometimes wonder if at the time, everyone knew how significant and world altering such a journey would become, or they were just interested in immediate results.

It has fascinated me for awhile now, the inherent discontent humanity has with its situation and surroundings. A casual observation of the entire history of humanity is one of constant relocation. I wonder if this tendency is a subliminal nod to our spiritual nature, that we are made up of the stuff of stars, and being earthbound temporary and  uncomfortable for us. We always seem to want something else, something new, over there has more of what we need, and the people living where we want to go are this great problem we must somehow solve often to the destruction of the other.

Unfortunately, every place on earth has certain drawbacks and limits, and humans constantly try to bring the familiar to the new. This tendency is odd, since one could have the familiar where they left, but it is the tendency to move about. This was certainly done with the Spanish expansions in the 16th century. Affectionately called "The Columbian Exchange" it was the greatest and swiftest transformations of ecologies and relocations of peoples at that point in global history. It id not occur to the Spaniard that there would be food in the new world, so they brought their plants and animals with them, destroying native ecologies along the way. It was also a time of great transformation and expansion of the Christian religion. Note the word "religion" and not necessarily The Christ Impulse.

Long strangled and stifled through politics and institutions, it is a miracle that any aspect of the universal love and intimacy Christ sought to bring into human awareness through his Incarnation ever seeped through the bloodied history of Christianity. One aspect of enhancing this awareness of the original intent was and is through the Madonna, particularly the Black Madonna. 

As Europeans dominated and oppressed numerous continents with the sanction of the Caucasian church deities, the Black Madonna became an image of inclusion and divinity to those who did not resemble or understand their conquerors ways. Our Lady of Regula is one of these images. She has her origins in Africa, traveled to Spain and then the rest of the world to become one of the most beloved images of divinity in the world. Is she sanitizing oppression, softening the blows of slavery and domination? Some may think so, I however do not. 

Our Lady of Regula is reported to have thwarted all attempts to whiten her skin. Her coloring allowed the Yoruba peoples transplanted to the Caribbean through the slave trade to find solace and strength in unimaginable circumstances, not to just obey but to endure with dignity the injustice of international corporate greed.

She still inspires to this day. May she inspire us to greater cooperation and recognition of divinity in all peoples.