More on Suffering

One of the greatest challenges to being human lies with the issue of suffering. It seems like the wrong people are suffering, and those we think should suffer, never seem to encounter it, or make sure that everyone else is suffering but them. History is rife with such examples, and our current real, specifically with the upheavals that we are witnessing on all levels, suffering both personally and through witnessing seems to be the theme of the day.

I my many posts on the internet as well as through blogs and YouTube, something I always find fascinating is the low “clic-bait” the word “suffering” engenders. In the West, particularly in the US, suffering is either ignored or given promise of instant relief through various products, food stuffs and medications. Years ago, I read with interest in (the now defunct,) quarterly magazine of Gnosis, on the subject of the Russian Orthodox Church. The main difference the author suggested between the Eastern Church and the Western Church was the path to salvation. In the East, particularly in the Slavic Church, salvation was obtained through suffering. In the West the article suggested, being happy and joyful was the goal of salvation and suffering was something to avoid. Suffering was basically taken care of through the passion of Christ, no need for humans to engage in such unpleasantries. As the Protestant theology of the United States of America in the 19^th century proclaimed; Gods favor was illustrated by wealth and prosperity, those who are poor and suffering must be doing something wrong. I see this reflected in some of the so called “New Age” philosophies, that suffering is simply a state of mind, or one is just not phrasing the requests in  proper sentence structures in order for the universe to fulfill the order by the applicant. 

Suffering is also the main reason that atheists reject the notion of supernatural divinity. How can there be a God when so much awful stuff happens? While I understand the question, it is interesting to me that those who deny the existence of God, seem to attribute all sorts of super hero power to him, and since he was not performing to their definition of god, the lack of action proves that he simply does not exist. 

A quality that one can notice in the majority of Black Madonnas is the seriousness of their faces. There only seems to be a couple of them who barely crack a smile. The other thing I find fascinating is the stories of their narratives. As I have said before, there are no artists associated with Black Madonnas. If there is, he is considered to be The Evangelist Luke. It is typical of the Middle Ages that most religious art has no named artist, this was due to many factors, mainly that the Spiritual World was seen as the author of religious art, that the art flowed through human hands under the inspiration of Divinity. We see more artists being named starting in the very late Middle Ages and fully through the Renaissance. With The Black Madonnas, we have stories of discovery, of their tenures in their various shrines, of how they arrived and what they endured.  What is revealed through these many narratives, that to my knowledge do not seem to apply to other genre’s of art relating to the Madonna Mary, is how the stories tell tales of immense trial and injury. These Madonnas are hacked into pieces, they are slashed, they survive bombs, fires, revolutions. Black Madonna’s are hidden for safe keeping and forgotten in caves, in grotto's, or in underground pits. Black Madonnas survive ship wrecks and are washed ashore. Numerous French Black Madonnas are replicas of ancient ones, that were burnt at the stake by anti religious hordes during the Revolution under Napoleon. These Madonnas are recreated lovingly from people’s memory and artistic renditions such as paintings.

Arguably the most famous Black Madonna of Czestochowa Poland has a typical Black Madonna legend associated with this image. She is considered to be the handiwork of St Luke the Evangelist, who painted the image on the dining table of the Holy Family, while listening to Mary give her account for the Gospel. The image survived until St Helen of the Cross came to the Holy Land in search of relics of Christ’s Passion. In addition to finding the True Cross and other treasures, St Helen found the  Czestochowa image and brought it back to the Court of Constantine the Great, where it was subsequently given to a series of royal families until landing in what is now modern Poland. During the ages where the onslaught of Islamic invaders, the Madonna suffered various attacks and defacement. She was hacked into three pieces and miraculously mended herself. Her signature cheek slashes were inflicted by a vandal who struck her three times, and the legend states on his fourth attempt he fell down dead. What I find particularly interesting about this legend is that the scars on her face refuse to be healed. We are told that each time priests tried to cover the marks, the next day they reappeared through the coat of paint. One can see the scars on the original, but it is significant to me that the scars are prominently displayed on all reproductions of the Madonna.

Another consideration comes to us from St. John of the Cross, who wrote about "The Dark Night of the Soul." He wrote that through intense suffering, one can actually feel the Divine most acutely. It does not mean we should seek suffering, and many might have in the Middle Ages, but that we are held quite closely when we do, that we are not abandoned, but companioned on our journey through our trials.

As I have said before, these works of art came to the European Continent mainly through the age of the Crusades. Rudolf Steiner tells us that  the Crusades were a preparation for the Age of Consciousness Soul. The main mystery we must confront during our current age, that of the consciousness soul, is that of evil. The mystery we had to confront during the preceding age, that of the Intellectual Soul, the mystery was that of Death. The Christ Event happened during the Intellectual age, and showed us that their is triumph over death, that death is not the end. Our current mystery is evil, and confronting it involves all of our strength, courage and will. It also involves suffering. 

Through great trial, such as through fire, one can become refined, like gold does in the smelter. I think this is another image we have through The Black Madonnas, with so many of them burnt, or becoming blackened through centuries of candle smoke.

In artistic symbolism, the image of the Madonna is representative of the human soul and humanity. In essence the Madonna is us. The color of Cosmic Will transforming into Human Will is black. I think the Black Madonnas are a message from the spiritual world  through their narratives and through their somber and sad countenance is that suffering is a condition of humanity that will be transformed. We are being shown that we can indeed survive our ordeal, it may not be pleasant, and we may be scarred because of it, but we will indeed not only survive but thrive. I believe these images were brought to the European continent as a preparation for the era to come, this era that has been so rife with evil on so many levels.

We would like to escape suffering, but it really is a human condition brought about by human actions that are weak in the face of trials and temptations. But if we use our wills, along with compassionate hearts, we can confront our suffering, the suffering of others and transform it into a beautiful jewel.

Blessings on your journey!

The Black Madonna and Suffering

The Black Madonna and Lent

The Labyrinth at Chartres

 I want to thank you for spending your time with me as we explore the many aspects of the Black Madonna in Spirituality, History and Culture.

As I have often said, please understand that my insights, writings and speaking engagements are from my perspective and research. In no way to I claim to be the final word on what I personally am finding to be a “never ending story” of The Black Madonna. I hope that in my own small way, I inspire you to start your own journey of the soul with The Black Madonna.

The Black Madonna of Limoges

At the time of this writing, we are in the beginning weeks of Lent. In the Christian Community, we call this period leading up to Holy Week and Easter as Passiontide. In the Orthodox Christian Tradition, these weeks are referred to as “the great Lent.” In the northern Hemisphere, the weeks leading up to Easter usually fall during the last weeks of Winter. For many truly meaningful reasons, in Western Christendom, Easter is a movable festival that occurs on the first Sunday after the First Full Moon after the Spring Equinox. This date was decided in 325 AD at the Council of Nicea. Regardless of your personal beliefs, these last few weeks of Winter are really difficult on many levels. In some areas, people are just plain tired of the rigors of winter. In ancient times, these weeks before Spring are when the food was running out while people waited for Spring Planting and the new harvests. Some anthropologists think that this running out of food at the end of winter is a reason for so many culture’s tradition of fasting during this time. Depending on their tradition, Christians may abstain from all animal products during Lent, or simply refrain from all animal products on every Friday of Lent, eating only fish on these days. I know in my own experience, I am simply exhausted during these days, and seem to need extra sleep. This years late winter storms are not fun to say the least here in the Northern Hemisphere.

As Lent is a season of abstinence and inner journey towards Holy Week, I thought I would take one of the qualities I have noticed about The Black Madonna as a metaphor for Lent.

As I have said in previous segments, the Black Madonna is an artistic genre of the Madonna Mary and Christ Child, where the Madonna and Child have very dark or black skin tone. What is striking is that these images reside in Europe, and were brought to the Continent during the Middle ages. Many of the Black Madonnas are placed in Shrines and Cathedrals along the Camino de Santiago de Compostela. Another similarity of these Madonnas is that they are a very somber looking lot. Not only that, their hands tend to be quite large when one compares them to the scale of the rest of their bodies. When you compare Raphael’s Madonna’s with Black Madonnas, the difference is striking. What is also significant is that these Madonnas do not have artists associated with them, and if they do, the artistry is attributed to St Luke the Evangelist, who wrote the Gospel of Luke and The Acts of the Apostles.

So what do all of these qualities have to do with Lent? As I said before, Lent is a season of what I would call endurance. While Advent is an internal season of anticipation, Lent points us to abstinence, of journeying, towards Holy Week and the Cross. Not exactly a season of levity by any stretch of the imagination. When I was younger, I often purchased Lenten guide books, where each day there would be a thought and prayer on the subject and its relation to Lent. One book was on Labyrinths, another was being on a road called Santa Fe, but all these books had one thing in common: hang in there, it is tough but there is something at the end of the tunnel.

When you consider the Black Madonna, there are several qualities that stand out in terms of metaphor. The color Black for instance. In Anthroposophical artistic and color theory, Black is the color of Cosmic Will being transformed into Human Will. We often hear the term “will power” and for those of us who try to abstain or fast from something during Lent, it certainly takes will power to do that. I was listening to a series of Lenten messages on line, and the Priest said that Lent is also a season of contributing, say doing acts of charity, which obviously are acts of will. We have to get up and do something to help others. One of the agents of our will is our hands, we use our hands in many ways to carry out our will, our work.

The theme of St Luke the Evangelist as the artist of the Black Madonna is also quite relevant. He is often pictured in art and icons as painting Icons of the Madonna. His symbol is the Bull., and he is also often pictured with a bull sitting next to him while he writes the Gospel. The Bull is considered in Anthroposophical Cosmology to be the symbol of the Will. The Heart and Feeling is associated with the Lion, Thinking and the Head is associated with the Eagle, and the Bull is associated with the “guts” and limbs. The Gospel of Luke is considered a healing Gospel, containing the most healing stories of all the four Gospels. Another quality of Luke's Gospel is that after the Nativity, the entire gospel is one long journey to Holy Week and the Passion of Christ. An aside note is that many of the narratives of the Black Madonnas is that they are discovered by Bulls, meaning that there is a mound of dirt and a bull stands next to it mooing incessantly until someone starts to dig the mound where a Black Madonna is discovered buried beneath. 

The Black Madonna of Olot in Spain is one such Madonna, and you see here she is accompanied by a Bull. 

What is also interesting is that parents bring their children to this Madonna for blessings as the children begin to walk. I find that so interesting because as I said before, bulls are a symbol of the will and our limbs, meaning legs and feet, and arms and hands, are the agents of our will.

It seems as if the Black Madonnas, in addition to looking quite somber, we can understand why. These works of art seem to endure everything, from fires and floods, revolutions, wars and vandalism. They are buried, wash ashore from ship wrecks, lie dormant in trees and caves, you name it. The Famous Black Madonna of Czestochowa’s legend states that she was chopped into several pieces but miraculously mended herself. She was also slashed by a thief on the cheek, giving her famous scars. 

One of her miracles is that the wound will not be covered, numerous attempt to paint over it, result in the scars reappearing. Her story is not unusual for Black Madonnas.

Camino Pilgrim with Staff and Shell

And finally, another interesting association of the Black Madonna and Lent is the fact that so many of them are placed along The Camino De Santiago de Compostela. This ancient “way of St James” or Way of the Stars, was a pilgrim route of initiation. In the Middle Ages, the Camino was seen as a substitute for those who could not make the journey to the Holy Land. Another use of the Camino was as a prescription for penance, meaning, if someone had committed a crime, their “sentence” was to walk the Camino. In either case, pilgrimage or penance, it certainly took a lot of will to finish the long walk, and to this day, people find the journey one of transformation, where one can become resurrected so to speak by the experience.

These days, we are actually living in times very similar to those of the Black Madonna. We are in the midst of cultural upheaval, of great suffering and instability. People are longing for meaning, for something new, and we are also finding that we must really work quite hard to bring about the transformation needed. The Black Madonnas had their height of influence during the age of the Crusades. This age, Rudolf Steiner tells us was an era of preparation for the age we are in now, that of The Consciousness Soul. The age of Consciousness Soul is one where we must learn to think clearly, discern truth from falsehood and use our wills to become fully free and fully moral.

It seems on may levels we have been going through a collective Lent, we are on an endurance course. The lies and falsehoods, evil and violence swirl around us on levels not encountered before in human history. We are wounded, we are exhausted, and yet we must persist. We are being called to create a beloved community on earth. For me, this Lent is hearkening to the Black Madonnas, who are showing us by their stories, to not only use our wills, but that we can and will endure, Their somber faces tell us it will not be fun, but that there is something more, the Easter ahead for us all, if only we can stay the course. I hope you know you are not alone during your Lenten journey, and also not alone during your life journey. The Black Madonnas with their Bulls, their stories and their placements along the Pilgrim Route of Santiago de Compostela, are loving reminders from the Spiritual World that we can do it, that the spiritual world believes in us, and is encouraging us on our respective journeys. Blessings to you on the Lent!

Coming in Summer of 2019

Coming in Summer 2019!

Journey of the Soul with

The Black Madonna

An Epic Pilgrimage on the

Camino de Santiago de Compostela

with Author Stephanie Georgieff

The Black Madonna, Mysterious

Soul Companion

Participants are invited to pick and choose where and for how long they wish to join The Journey of the Soul with The Black Madonna. Talks and discussions on relevant topics will be conducted on a daily basis, or in a retreat format. All “in-person” participants will be referred to Camino travel agencies for lodging, luggage transfers and meal plan options. Traditional Pilgrim travel, i.e. staying at dorms, purchasing food along the way arranged daily by the participant, cost is estimated at $280.00 per week,. Lodging at guest houses with luggage transfers and meals,  arranged by travel agencies, cost is estimated at $600.00 week. Participants will manage their own travel expenses and transportation, fees directly paid to agencies and businesses along the journey or at retreat facilities. Fees for the talks and workshops with Stephanie are as follows:

Three Levels of Participation

Retreats at major Black Madonna shrines on the Camino

$100.00 per retreat not including lodging, food and transportation

Walk on the Pilgrim Route visiting Black Madonna Shrines and Chapels

$50.00 per week not including lodging, food and transportation.

Join “In Spirit,” signing up to receive handouts and podcasts via email

$50.00 per retreat, $30.00 per week along the Camino.

Retreats

June 24 – June 27 Mont San Michel, France

June 28 – June 30 Cáceres Spain, Shrine of Guadalupe of Extremadura

July 2 – July 5 Montserrat, Spain

July 5 – July 7 Le-Puy-en-Velay, France
July 30 - Aug 6 Irun and San Sebastian, Spain

Sept 15 – Sept 18 Santiago de Compostela, Spain

Camino Walk

July 8 – July 29 Walk the French Camino

July 30 – September 15 Walk the Northern Spanish Camino

Watch on Youtube about The Journey of the Soul with the Black Madonna https://youtu.be/uT3SXjqUw7M

Glory Hallelujah

After quite a circuitous path, which actually deepened my own wisdom, The Black Madonna Mysterious Soul Companion is ready for release.

I was joking with a friend of mine that the impediments to publishing would be a great country western tragedy ballad, but I had no dog to die, and my Bible wasn't stolen. From fires to evictions, deaths and illnesses, bank account theft and car problems, it seems as if everything that could discourage me from publishing, happened with a ferocity that shocked those around me. At some points, I pondered if I should wear some garlic to ward off evil spirits or something. But my dedication to the message which I feel brings great context for our very turbulent time caused me to go forward.

The reasons I feel this book is important are three fold:

I think we are in an era of unprecedented challenges

There is a feeling of great unease in our transitional times

We are feeling abandoned and confused over the magnitude of evil that is present

The Black Madonna, Mysterious Soul Companion offers insights on how we can understand and meet the challenges of our age. As I have experienced all of the above issues, what has helped me personally was delving into the symbolism of the Black Madonna. My journey with this enigmatic genre brought a deep context and comfort for all the quandaries that face those of us who care for our world and her peoples. I feel my book will help others who are struggling with their faith and hope during these difficult times.

What I also found through my unexpected impediments was that one book could not completely do justice to the Black Madonna. There are several books that will follow this inaugural volume. The next edition will be on the Virgin of Guadalupe, and books on Byzantium, Africa, South America, and the Science of Black and the Cosmos will follow.

I hope you enjoy, and encourage you to help spread the word about The Black Madonna Mysterious Soul Companion to your friends, family and communities. 

There are many options to obtain a copy. There are paperback, Kindle edition, audio and print on demand versions available.

Go to the Book Launch page for a complete presentation 

https://booklaunch.io/blackstefka/black-madonna-mysterious-soul-companion

Books on Demand, through the Espresso Book Machine is an option for those of you living near one of the machines.

http://net.ondemandbooks.com/odb/lsi/9781478721758

This option will allow customers to order on line or in person and receive a book freshly printed in about 20 minutes. Book machines are available throughout the US, Canada, the Philippines, France and Egypt to name a few.

Please write a review on Amazon or Barnes and Noble, if you do, send the link to me and I will send you a thank you gift.

Your support has been vital to me these last few years, and I am asking for your support now. Please purchase The Black Madonna Mysterious Soul Companion, spread the word, link to this post, talk about it on social media. Every little bit helps, and not only will you help me personally, the book will be a lovely truly unique addition to any library of inspirational volumes.

The message of the Black Madonna is a healing balm for the souls of our times. It is up to you to help spread that balm on our very exhausted world. We are truly a beloved community of extraordinary beings, let's connect!

Blessings on your journey!