She is the Our Lady of the Tree, Rock, Sea and Cave
Beloved Mother of Wisdom, You are Black and Beautiful!
She is the Madonna of Fire and Water
Beloved Mother of Wisdom, You are Black and Beautiful!
She is the Madonna of High Places, and of places deep within the earth.
Beloved Mother of Wisdom, You are Black and Beautiful
She reminds us of cycles of the seasons, honoring the above and below
and the passages in between
Beloved Mother of Wisdom, You are Black and Beautiful
She is the Throne, the Seat of our Wisdom
Beloved Mother of Wisdom, You are Black and Beautiful.
She reminds us of the Earth as Source, of Female as source, Goddess as source.
She blesses us with her holy blood and sanctifies our own blood.
Beloved Mother of Wisdom, You are Black and Beautiful
She helps us find the Black Madonna within us all.
Beloved Mother of Wisdom, You are Black and Beautiful
She is fierce to protect us, compassionate to hold us and hear our prayers.
Beloved Mother of Wisdom, You are Black and Beautiful
She is Queen and Virgin, one unto herself. She is inviolate. She is rising up.
Beloved Mother of Wisdom, You are Black and Beautiful.
She unites opposites. She brings balance.
Beloved Mother of Wisdom, You are Black and Beautiful
She is the face of our First Mother, our Oldest Mother, our African Mother.
She reminds us that we are all Sisters, Brothers.
Beloved Mother of Wisdom, You are Black and Beautiful
She is Mother, Mother of All, Mother of All that is.
Beloved Mother of Wisdom, You are Black and Beautiful!
~ Litany of the Black Madonna – Praise Poem by Mary Beth Moser
This week on August 26 is the Feast of Our Lady of Czestochowa, a Black Madonna that is the Divine Mother of Poland and, perhaps, one of the most widely recognized Black Madonnas in the world. Her origin myth dates back 2000 years and contains to entrance and enchant as her icon has made its way to modern times. I thought a theme for our week of Black Madonnas was quite apropos.
Our Lady of Czestochowa was the first Black Madonna that I met. Pope John Paul II had recently been named Pope and since I went to Catholic school, this was a huge event. I was nine or ten years old and I remember standing in front of an image of Our Lady and looking very intently at her scars, the more Orthodox style of art, and her skin. She seemed so different from Mother Mary with her intense visage and the rich patina of her skin. She tugged at my heart and belly and I wanted to give her something. All I had was a tin of French hard candies in my pocket, so I left a candy in front of her image. That tug that I felt has continued to present day and manifests in my love for the Blessed Mother and Black Madonnas. And is it a coincidence that I am a Daughter of Oshun who syncretizes to a Black Madonna? There are no coincidences!
There are many magickal stories of the Black Madonnas coming to their places of patronage. Some statues were found just floating in rivers and some were preceded by visitations and appearances. Other stories tell of miracles, healing, dreams where the Black Madonna spoke to devotees. How interesting that all of this was so readily accepted within the Catholic church and they actually provided a container with the Black Madonnas for ancient Goddess magic.
But blackness wasn’t just about ethnic heritage to the Egyptians. It was also symbolic. Black was the color of fertility, the color of the rich, black silt that the Nile deposited on Egyptian fields during the Inundation. Black was the color of the healing statues that were carved with magical formulae and over which sufferers poured water, then drank the magically infused water as a medicine. Black is the color of the heavens at night, from which the Goddess descends to us as a Nubian. Black is the color of the dead, as the resins used in mummification turned dark over time. ~ M. Isidora Forrest
Explore the Black Madonnas and see if one or ten or all resonate with you. Search out her story, her miracles, and her possible connection to other Goddesses.
Open yourself to the mystery, the deep interiority that is the invitation of the Black Madonna. She carries the energetic signature of our primordial Mothers, ancient Goddesses of Africa and the Middle East, our Dark Mothers. Her gifts include radical healing and transformation. To her we may turn in the depths of suffering and find understanding and soul comfort.
The words spoken by Our Lady of Guadalupe to Juan Diego in 1531 echo today:
“Am I not here, I, who am your mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not the source of your joy? Are you not in the hollow of my mantle, in the crossing of my arms? Do you need something more?”
I will be sharing more about the Black Madonna in the MotherHouse Facebook Group this week! Come and join us!
May Goddess bless you and keep you and yours this week!
xo Kimberly
Hold me in your embrace, as you hold the stars close in your dark skies,
Great Mother of the Void, O Brilliant Darkness!
I call to You, Dark Mother, Eternal Spring of Mercy,
And ask for your benevolence and comfort.
Sacred Black Madonna,
You who are the healing force of the well, of the sacred grove,
who causes sacred trees to weep tears of myrrh, be witness to our wounding
and heal us of illness and shame.
You who hear the cries of the world, Radiant and Compassionate One,
who is our mountain sanctuary against the storms of a troubled world,
I ask for your blessings of peace and liberation,
Shield the vulnerable from violence and greed,
Protect us from harm and malice, you who bear witness to the sorrows of the world.
Beloved Black Madonna,
as you hold all things of the flesh in your loving sight.
Your love is our refuge, always. Blessed Be.
Prayer to the Dark Madonna by Leni Hester on The Order of the Black Madonna (Mt. Shasta Goddess Temple)
A FEW OF MY FAVORITE BLACK MADONNAS
Black Madonna of Montserrat (Catalonia, Spain)
- Also called La Moreneta (“the little dark-skinned one”)
- Her hymn begins with the words: “Rosa d’abril, Morena de la serra…” (Rose of April, dark-skinned lady of the mountain…) and is sung at noon daily
- The mountain of Montserrat was the site of an ancient Roman Temple to the Goddess Venus
- Some believe that it is the location of the Holy Grail of Arthurian legend
- Syncretizes to the Orisha Goddess Yewa and sometimes to the Orisha Goddess OYA (Oya is also syncretized to Our Lady of Candelaria)
- Feast Day April 27
- More information here on Moreneta
Nuestra Señora de la Caridad del Cobre – Our Lady of Charity of Cobre (Cuba)
- Patroness of the People of Cuba and is also called La Virgen Mambisa (The Revolutionary Virgin)
- Her statue appeared as an apparition/visitation in 1621
- Feast Days: September 8
- Syncretizes to the Orisha Goddess Oshun
- Appears as white, black, and mulata
- More information here on Caridad del Cobre
- Oshun is also syncretized with Black Madonna, Our Lady of Aparecida (Our Lady Revealed) in Brazil. Her Feast Day is October 12.
Our Lady of Candelaria
- Black Madonna honored on Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands as Patroness of the Canary Islands.
- Her worship has spread to the Philippines, South America, and the Caribbean. She is also considered Patroness of cities in Bolivia, Colombia, and Puerto Rico.
- Candelaria is syncretized in Lukumi to the powerful Orisha Goddess OYA.
- In Andean regions, she is syncretized to Pachamama.
- Her Feast is 2/2 – corresponds with Imbolc and Brigid’s Day. Her Feast in Tenerife is August 14 – 15.
- More on Candelaria here
Our Lady of Czestochowa (Poland)
- Tradition says the Black Madonna of Czestochowa was painted by the Apostle Luke on a table made by Jesus with Mary sitting as the model. When Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 C.E., the painting was hidden and not rediscovered until 326 C.E. by St. Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantin.
- Her iconic scars were caused by thieves in 1430 and despite all attempts at restoring the painting, the scars remained.
- Syncretizes to the fierce Vodoun lwa Erzulie D’en Tort / Erzulie Dantor
- Her Feast Day is August 26.
- More on Our Lady here
Coda: Mi Guadalupe is a
Girl Gang Leader in Heaven
“Mi Guadalupe is a girl gang leader in Heaven.
She is unlike the pale blue serene woman.
She is serene, yes, like a great ocean is serene.
She is obedient, yes, like the sunrise
is obedient to the horizon line.
She is sweet, yes,
Like a huge forest of sweet maple trees.
She has a great heart, vast holiness,
and like any girl gang leader ought,
substantial hips.
Her lap is big enough
to hold every last one of us.
Her embrace
can hold us,
All . . .
And with Such Immaculate Love.”
“Aymen
(as my grandmother would say),
and a little woman.”
~ Dr. Clarissa Pinkola-Estes, Untie the Strong Woman: Blessed Mother’s Immaculate Love for the Wild Soul
Our Lady of Guadalupe
- Our Lady of Guadalupe is a Roman Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary associated with a venerated image enshrined within the Minor Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. The basilica is the most visited Catholic pilgrimage site in the world, and the world’s third most-visited sacred site (wiki).
- Guadalupe appeared four times to Juan Diego on the Hill of Tepeyac which was an ancient worship site of the Aztec Goddess, Tonantzin, she who is Mother Earth, Goddess of Sustenance, Snake, Mother of Corn, Great Mother.
- Her Feast Day is December 12.
Other Black Madonnas: Our Lady of Mount Carmel syncretizes to Orisha Nana Buruku), Our Lady of Sorrows (syncretizes to Vodoun lwa Erzulie Freda) Sarah La Kali, Our Lady of Algiers, Our Lady of Africa, and soooooo many more!
Black Madonnas in Various Countries
“Black is holy. It’s the mysteries of the night sky. We both come from and are contained somehow by this darkness.” ~ Meinrad Craighead
SUPERPOWERS/RULES OVER
Empowerment, Fertility, Grief, Healing, Independence, Miracles, Protection, Shadow Work, Sovereignty, Transformation, Transition (to Death), Working through Deep Trauma
WHAT THE BLACK MADONNAS LIKE – FOR ALTARS AND OFFERINGS
Create an altar to the Black Madonnas as a group or tailor your offerings to the individual Black Madonna that you choose. Keep in mind the region of the world that they are from and additionally what Goddess they may be syncretized to as well.
Animals: Bee, Snake
Colors: White, Black, Red, Honey/Brown, Navy, Bronze
Crystals: Black Moonstone, Bloodstone, Bronzite, Chiastolite, Garnet, Honey Calcite, Mahogany Obsidian, Palm Root Stone, Petrified Wood, Rose Quartz, Smoky Quartz
Flowers/Trees: Blackthorn, Blue Lotus, Hawthorne, Lilacs, Lilies, Roses, Wild Rose Thorn
Herbs/Oils: Black Frankincense, Black Myrrh, Frankincense, Mugwort, Myrrh, Palmarosa, Rosemary, Wormwood
**Plant allies that are known for dream and trance may also be used. Thank you for the plant consult from Renee Starr!
Foods: Honey, French Hard Candies (My Black Madonnas request these :)), Foods or sweets that represent the region they come from
Sacred Symbols/Offerings: Beeswax Candles, Container of dirt/earth, Eggs, Flaming Hearts, Hag stones, Holy Water, Icons, Labyrinths, Relics, River rocks, Rosaries
WAYS TO CONNECT TO THE BLACK MADONNAS
~ Create an altar to the Black Madonnas as a group or a favorite Black Madonna. Offer a candle, incense, and a prayer each morning and invite her presence more fully into your life.
~ See if there is a Black Madonna shrine near you and take flowers or an offering.
~ Volunteer or donate to causes that help women and children.
~ Undertake sacred study and a novena for the Black Madonna. A novena is a succession of devotional prayer totaling nine days. Traditionally, novenas are performed in Catholicism and some forms of Protestantism and usually are devoted to Mother Mary. These nine day vigils have been documented since the third century. Novenas may be performed for special intentions, requests of intercession, or to a particular deity or saint, such as Mother Mary. You could even make it nine weeks!
~ Make your own holy water, rose water, or lilac water as an offering.
RECOMMENDED READING
Divine Feminine Oracle by Meggan Watterson
Healing Journeys with the Black Madonna: Chants, Music, & Sacred Practices of the Great Goddess by Alessandra Belloni
Longing for Darkness: Tara and the Black Madonna by China Galland
The Black Madonna in Latin America and Europe: Tradition and Transformation by Malgorzata Oleszkiewicz-Peralba
The Cult of the Black Virgin by Ean Begg
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (fiction)
Untie the Strong Woman: Blessed Mother’s Immaculate Love for the Wild Soul by Dr. Clarissa Pinkola-Estes
BLACK MADONNA RESOURCES
Madonna of Black Butte from The Wild Empress
The Black Madonna Goddess Spray by Kim Murphy
WEBSITE RESOURCES
Black Madonnas in Various Countries
Black Madonnas – Origins, History, Controversy
Order of the Black Madonna ~ Mt. Shasta Goddess Temple ~ Priestess Yeshe Matthews
© 2020 – 2021 Kimberly F. Moore – MotherHouse of the Goddess. All rights reserved. No part of this course may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief, cited quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, please contact us.
