Our Lady of Justice

XI Seat of Wisdom
Sacred Mysteries of Mary deck

Notre Dame Sous Terre de Chartres
Our Lady Underground
The Black Madonna hidden below the Cathedral of Chartres.

I read a wonderful book by Sybil Dana Reynolds

called Honey and Ink which brings
Our Lady of Chartres vividly back to life.

Since then I have visited Chartres twice.
The background tapestry in this shrine
I drew and stitched myself.  It is a replica
of the one that hangs behind Notre Dame Sous Terre
in the underground chapel of Chartres.
The image of the hand seen here is also painted above the door
which leads to the chapel and it is called
'The Hand of God'

and it is as though you are being blessed

by merely entering the hidden chapel

of the Underground Madonna

The artist that did the original tapestry said

that it depicts the Source of all Life

and she sees the Black Madonna seated

at the centre of the chaos of creation.

The hidden Black Madonna under the earth

is seated on the throne of wisdom and justice.

One has to descend through the Chartres Cathedral

to access these underground passages and

chapels, all of which are dimly lit and often

only by candle light.  You can only visit

this chapel under the guidance of an appointed

tour leader and you are not allowed to linger in

the chapel to pray or meditate.

The Black Madonna in the upper Basilica is

no longer black, but has been repainted and

redressed in a more modern European style

as part of the renovation of the Cathedral.

Oh Lady of Justice,

Seat of Wisdom,

where will I find thee?

“There is a reason Mary is everywhere. I've seen her image all over the world, 

in cafés in Istanbul, on students' backpacks in Scotland, in a market stall in Jakarta, 

but I don't think her image is everywhere because she is a reminder to be obedient, 

and I don't think it has to do with social revolution. 

Images of  Mary remind us of  God's favor. 

Mary is what it looks like to believe that we already are who God says we are.”

― Nadia Bolz-Weber, Accidental Saints: 

Finding God in All the Wrong People

Blessings

Hettienne

Triumph

Triumph
Mary and her Child's return to Nazareth
Six of the Suit of the Holy Rood
in the path of Beauty
(traditionally Six of Wands)
Sacred Mysteries of Mary Deck
www.hergracesacredart.com

The return of Mary and her Son through the

gates of Jerusalem.

The traditional Six of Wands look like this :

and its meaning is victory, success or triumph.

Many people are familiar with the fact that Joseph and

Mary fled with the infant Jesus to Egypt at the threat

of the massacre of the innocents by King Herod.

This event is well covered by many artists

and it is seen as one of the seven sorrows of Mary.

However, what is not clear, is the amount of time that

was spent in Egypt and what transpired there.

The two accounts in the books of Matthew and Luke

do not correspond at all.  Luke mentions nothing about Egypt

and Matthew says nothing about a trip to Nazareth

soon after Jesus' birth whereas Luke describes in detail

how Jesus was taken to the temple in Jerusalem

'after Mary's purification according to the law of Moses.'

 And when they had performed everything

 according to the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, 

to their own town of Nazareth - Luke 2:39

The town of Nazareth is in the 'kingdom' of Jerusalem

and here we see Mary on the donkey riding

through the gate of Jerusalem.

In The Hebrew Goddess, a book by Jewish historian

and anthropologist Raphael Patai, we learn

that the Hebrew goddess Asherah was seen as the

mother of Yahweh.  

In the time of King Joshua the Hebrew goddess

had to go 'underground'.  The use of her name and images

were forbidden and her devotees replaced her with

the tree, a pole or rod and the branches of the menorah.

She was known as the Lady of Jerusalem;

the Gate of Jerusalem and the Eastern Gate.

The Lady of Jerusalem was also depicted as an arch.

According to the Dead Sea Scrolls and

The Mother of the Lord by Margaret Barker,

 the ancients

believed Mary to be the incarnation of

the Lady of Jerusalem.

In Christian iconography from the East

we see Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn.

Her image is above the city gates (in Lithuania

and Poland) to protect the city and its inhabitants

and many miracles have been ascribed to her.

In Ezekiel it is written that the eastern gate of

Jerusalem has been shut

and that it will only re-open for the divine One.

So here we have Mary returning victoriously

through the Eastern Gate of Jerusalem

into the light of a new dawn.

A marriage of eastern and western iconography

and cultures and more importantly,

a marriage of masculine and feminine values

for our world.

This card is a way shower of the return of Mary

and her hidden and lost meaning to our world.

The deck takes us on a journey through the 

life, the initiations and the mysteries of Mary

as the Sacred Feminine and what it means

to our natural world as well as our spiritual,

emotional and social health.

May the values of mercy, compassion, forgiveness and acceptance

of all diversity as embodied by Mary

return to a place of honour and respect in our world.

(the above is an extract from the Sacred Mysteries of Mary Deck -

a work in progress and to be published in 2016

Each tarot card is a handcrafted shrine)

Blessings

Hettienne

The Four of the Holy Rood - The Wedding of Mary and Joseph

The Wedding of Mary and Joseph

Four of the Holy Rood

(traditionally Four of Wands in the Tarot)

Sacred Mysteries of Mary tarot deck
www.hergracesacredart.com

The story  of Mary and Joseph's wedding and the miraculous

flowering of the rod that he carried,

is found in the Protoevangelium (New Testament apocrypha) 

and thence in the 13th century Golden Legend, 

which was an important source-book for artists.

It tells how Joseph was chosen from among a number of suitors by a sign,

 the miraculous flowering of his rod. The miracle was witnessed by the 

seven virgins who were Mary's companions during her upbringing in the Temple. 

Joseph's attributes as a saint and as Mary's husband 

are a Lily (for chastity); various carpenter's tools, and a flowering rod or wand.

The story of the miraculous flowering of Joseph's rod is as follows:

 According to St Jerome the suitors of Mary each brought a 

rod to the high priest of the Temple. 

Joseph's rod blossomed, a sign from heaven 

that he was chosen to be her husband. 

The apocryphal Book of James relates that a

 DOVE came forth from the rod and settled on Joseph's head. 

He is usually depicted with a flowering rod, 

sometimes with a dove on it. 

The theme was condemned by the Council of Trent

 in the mid-16th century 

though thereafter Joseph retains the rod as an attribute. 

It was seen as a symbol of the Virgin's state because 

it flowered without being fertilized.

 The story closely resembles the Old Testament account, 

of the flowering of Aaron's rod.

  -  extracted from the Sacred Mysteries of Mary Tarot Deck

It is said that the rod was a branch of the Hawthorn tree,

sacred to many goddesses in the ancient world and today

sacred to Mary.  And did you know that the hawthorn

rod that Joseph of Arimathea planted on WearyAll Hill 

in Glastonbury flowered every year during winter

and that a branch was sent to the Queen every Christmas?

Vandals cut the tree down a year ago and many people

mourned its loss and its symbol of hope and illumination.

There is also a hawthorn tree standing at Glastonbury Abbey

near the well of Mary and legend tells us that she was

taken to the safety of Glastonbury by Joseph of Arimathea.

This tree also inexplicably flowers in winter.

Can you imagine the sight of a white blossoming hawthorn

in the midst of the snow of Avalon?

(the mystical name of Glastonbury)

If you would like to hear more about the hawthorn and its

significance as the holy rood in the Mysteries of Mary

I write about it here :

 http://www.hergracesacredart.com/2015/10/some-of-themes-of-sacred-mysteries-of.html

blessings

Hettienne

Mary the Empress

Virgo Maria Potens
III The Empress
Sacred Mysteries of Mary Tarot deck

Today I bring to the Twelve Days of  Mary love
Mary as The Empress Virgo Maria Potens
in the Sacred Mysteries of Mary Tarot deck.

Here Mary is the strong,  powerful and positive Feminine, 

Empress and Mother of the World.

She is pregnant with Life and the absolute abundance of creativity

and beauty and she is the womb of potential 

for ever-returning life;  the possibility of birthing 

sustaining and fertile life both within the psyche,

the spiritual and the physical.

The Empress
The Mysteries of Mary tarot deck  www.hergracesacredart.com

Mary as the Empress embodies the powerful feminine force which is within

both the masculine and the feminine.  This strength is not limited to the masculine

action of this world. The receptivity of the feminine does not make

her only submissive and dependent and the activity

of the masculine does not make it only divisive and cutting.

The strong positive feminine power within the Soul and

within the person, is often regarded as wild and chaotic

and it is also mostly deeply feared and our culture

believes that she should be controlled and harnessed

for our own use and benefit.

In a simplistic fashion, mother nature is seen

as the pure expression of the powerful feminine.

But mother nature, and our instinctual nature, is only a

part of the feminine power.  The soul is, and in earlier times,

the Holy Spirit was as well, most often depicted as a woman

and if the soul is only seen as a wild force of nature which

should be dominated and controlled, where does that leave us

as human beings?  And where does that put women

in this world of organisation and structure?  And

what happens to traditionally womanly values

and enterprises and to whom is the mothering of

the world relegated?   We end up with a world in

which the ideal and image of a
 positive nurturing mother and the powerful empress 

is completely absent.

She is surrounded by the symbols of the Mother of Nature
and the Mother as Earth as known to mankind

through the ages and throughout many cultures.
  She is standing in the stream of living waters, 

as they are eternally birthing through her.

She has the bee, the Queen bee, the sheafs of wheat, bunches

of grapes and is standing on a mountain covered in roses.

She is the Queen Bee surrounded by bees.
In the ancient world those who worshipped Demeter and Artemis 

were referred to as 'bees' or 'melissas'.

The bee was also a symbol of Potnia, also referred to as the

pure Mother Bee in the Minoan mysteries.

The priestess at the sacred site of Delphi was known as

the 'honey bee' and honey has many sacred and profound metaphysical

and physical properties and metaphoric meaning.

In Samuel 1 "Jonathan... put forth the end of the rod 

that was in his hand, and dipped it in a honey comb, 

and put his hand to his mouth; and his eyes were enlightened."

The Empress
The Mysteries of Mary tarot deck http://www.hergracesacredart.com

Mary as The Empress embodies the great positive

Mother of the World.  Through her courageous

acts of meekness and mercy she manifests

the positive feminine force in this world.

She is the icon and symbol of our own

positive feminine strength and courage

and of the great mothering power that we possess.

We are capable of great acts of kindness,

we are capable of staying present in life with an open

heart and being present to our own vulnerability

and allowing the infinite waters of compassion

to flow through us to all of creation and to all living creatures,

including ourselves.

(extracted from my work in progress
 Sacred Mysteries of Mary Tarot Deck
at www.hergracesacredart.com)

blessings
Hettienne

Four of Vessels - The Temple of the Dove

Mary has her own folk mythology unrelated

to the mainstream Christian myth.

In the mythological sense she is like the goddesses

in all cultures of the world.

The legends about Mary illustrate that Mary

is a force in people's lives.

 -  extracted from The Breath, the soul, the Divine female

by Rasa Luzyte

Mary's presentation in the Temple of the Dove
from the Suit of Vessels
Sacred Mysteries of Mary Tarot
www.hergracesacredart.com

My card from the Mysteries of Mary tarot deck 

depicting the young Virgin Mary as

Temple priestess in the Temple of the Dove

as told in The Mystical City of God:

Joachim and Anne set out from Nazareth, 

accompanied by a few of their kindred and bringing

with them the true living Ark of the covenant,

the most holy Mary,

borne on the arms of her mother in order

to be deposited in the holy temple of Jerusalem.

They arrived at the holy temple, and the blessed

Anne, on entering, took her Daughter and Mistress

by the hand, accompanied and assisted by Joachim.

All three offered a devout and fervent prayer

to the Lord, the parents offering God their daughter,

and the most holy Child.

She heard a voice saying to her :

Come my Beloved, come my Spouse,

come to my temple where I wish to hear they

voice of praise and worship.

The mystical city of God 

by venerable Mary of Agreda

blessings

Hettienne

The Two of Vessels - The Annunciation

I am Thy Handmaiden
The fiat of Mary's consent

The Angel said to her :

Hail full of grace,

the Lord is with you;

Blessed art thou amongst women

Two of Vessels in Tarot Deck
The Path of Compassion
Sacred Mysteries of Mary Deck

Rejoice, depth hard to contemplate even for the eyes of angels!

Rejoice, you who are the King's throne!

Rejoice, you who bear Him who bears all!

Two of Vessels in the Suit of Compassion
Mysteries of Mary Tarot Deck
www.hergracesacredart.com

Rejoice, star that causes the Sun to appear!

Rejoice, womb of the Divine Incarnation!

Rejoice, you through whom the creation becomes new!

                                                 -  Romanus Melodos, Akathist Hymn to the Virgin

Today I start the Twelve Days with Mary once again.

This is now my fifth year of participating with Rebecca

at Recuerda mi Corazon in A Virgin a Day

I share with you my shrine/card from the

Sacred Mysteries of Mary Deck

which is based on the Mysteries of the Rosary

and the Tarot Deck.

This is the Two of Vessels, 

from the suit of Compassion

and the mystery of Mary as Virgin
Archangel Gabriel, divine messenger,
gives her the news that she is the chosen one,
the Godbearer.  This is a pivotal moment in
Mary's life and her response changes the course
of the world.

I am Thy Handmaiden

 Archangel Gabriel is standing on 

two vessels.  The vessels are mainly used for
water or wine and here they are  symbolic of
the living waters of consciousness .
And indeed Mary is to become the vessel
of the Holy Son.

We are reminded of our own individual roles
as vessels of consciousness and our own
birthing of the new, be it art
or hope or inspiration or consciousness.

And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; 

be it unto me according to thy word.

The fiat of Mary is Mary's consent to the divine plan.
Her acceptance and consent
has created a new world of grace and
it is within the potential of each one of us
 to birth such love and grace.

Down the side of the card are tiny forget-me-not flowers,

one of Mary's sacred flowers and the white lilies

in the background.

The flower garland on Mary's head shows

that she is a virgin. 

It is also predictive of her future

state as Theotokos and

Queen of Heaven and  Earth.

blessings
Hettienne

MARA - the first card in the deck

Mara, the holy fool
Card 0 Major Arcana
Sacred Mysteries of Mary tarot deck

Drink the poison and find the cure

Mara is the archetypal woman representing the self

on the inner journey of Self-Realization.

She is the holy fool who sets out on an unknown

journey towards an unknown destination, leaving

behind a limited understanding and perception

of the inner life and its manifestation into this world.

Mary had a little lamb 

Its fleece was white as snow

 And everywhere that Mary went 

The lamb was sure to go 

Here she is accompanied by the rabbit,

symbol of the goddess and the fertile nature

of the divine and nature as well as the

vulnerability and tenderness of all life

and all living beings.

Mara carries the Lamb, symbol of the Soul,

as well as the soul's purity, enduring innocence

and its incorruptibility.

She also wears the garland of the virgin

symbolizing a potent truth of 

the true metaphysical meaning of the virgin :

'one unto herself'.  

Behind her are the trees of the forest

that she is leaving behind as steps out on her journey.

On the tree top sits a dove, the Holy Spirit, or

messenger of the heavens, accompanying her on

this journey.

The tree represents the archetypal Tree of Life and the

Tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  This theme

is more fully explored in the Suit of the Holy Rood.

Here we see the fir tree for the first time and

we are reminded that this is the shape of the pineal gland, the

seat of consciousness and enlightenment in the human brain.

.

She is surrounded by the elements of the

Sacred Mysteries of Mary :

the white hawthorn blossoms,

the red berries, the black seeds

and the green branches.

Read here more about the symbolism of the hawthorn

in this deck.

Mara's story unfolds through the journey of Maryam,

the Jewish prophetess and the hidden Hebrew goddess;

through the wisdom of Maria-Sophia,

the three Marys, Mary Magdalene, the handless maiden

and finally, through the initiations of

Mary.

The name 'Mara' forms part of the word 'amara',

a medicinal plant called bitter-ash or bitter-wood;

the most bitter plant known to us with a characteristic black

elixer which is known to aid digestion and healing

for stomach disorders.  It is also known for its blood purification

properties and cleansing of the gallbladder and liver. 

'Mara' from the Hebrew means 'bitter' or 'strong' in taste.  

This first card introduces us to the sacred understanding

that our journey will lead us through the purification

of fire and flame.  And most importantly, 

Mara teaches that we have the 'cure' for our malaise

within ourselves, accessible by and through the self.

'Drink the poison and find the cure"

As she sets out on her journey she will move through

the lower and also the higher mysteries of initiation

towards self-realization.

Another important message that Mara delivers

is the unity and oneness of divine and nature,

as well as the sacred knowledge that all

paths lead to the same mountain.  It does not

matter which culture you belong to and which

myths guide your story, there is the One and the Many.

One Divine Being and many different names and traditions.

The Kingdom of Grace cannot be achieved.  

It arrives when the ego is surrendered.

When all desire and goals fall away

and when the fullness of life is truly experienced.

When all desire for perfection is no longer

existent and when innocence is born.

The symbol of the flowering cross, the Holy Rood

The Three of Holy Rood (Three Marys at the Cross)

The flowering crucifix is a symbol of Divine Love,

absolute forgiveness and rebirth.

It is also a promise of regeneration and a new vision.

It symbolises the Life Force also known as the kundalini

or the Sacred Living Fire, which gives life to

all that is alive.  

An object of torture and death becomes a symbol

and an embodiment of the greatest power : Love.

Each human being has the power and the ability

to know Love and to become Love and the act of

forgiveness truly speaks of Love.

The crucifix theme is a continuation

of the theme of the sacred tree or tree trunk as

seen in the myth of Isis and Osiris where a tree

grows around the chest containing Osiris' corpse.

Isis through various tasks resurrects Osiris from the tree.

Death is a journey through the Underworld

in order to be born again.
In contemplating the hidden or esoteric meaning
of the metaphor of spiritual and religious stories
we enter the realm of sacred psychology.
The marriage of the personal life and the 
inner divine life, give birth to the divine
child of Love within.  
This marriage initiates one into an amplified
life, one that is more cherished and more cherishing.
It requires that we undertake the task of
dying to our habitual, reactive, personal selves
and being reborn to our eternal selves.

The flowering crucifix and flowering rod is a symbol of eternal life.

It is a reminder that we, as Spirit, live eternally and that

death is merely a transition and not the end.

Love is eternal and by embodying Love

we become One with the eternal.

The crucifix is the ultimate symbol of the Holy Rood,

the Holy Wand or Holy Rod.

We see an example of this miracle of the flowering branch

the first time

in the Old Testament with the flowering of Aaron's rod.

Then again at Mary and Joseph's wedding and

later with the flowering of the hawthorn rod planted

by Joseph of Arimathea in Glastonbury.

The story  of Mary and Joseph's wedding and the miraculous

flowering of the rod that he carried,

is found in the Protoevangelium (New Testament apocrypha) 

and thence in the 13th century Golden Legend, 

which was an important source-book for artists.

Four of the Holy Rood - The marriage of Mary and Joseph

It tells how Joseph was chosen from among a number of suitors by a sign,

 the miraculous flowering of his rod. The miracle was witnessed by the 

seven virgins who were Mary's companions during her upbringing in the Temple. 

Joseph, the husband of Mary's attributes as a saint 

are a Lily (for chastity); various carpenter's tools, and a flowering rod or wand.

The story of the flowering of Joseph's rod :

 According to St Jerome the suitors of Mary each brought a 

rod to the high priest of the Temple. 

Joseph's rod blossomed, a sign from heaven 

he was chosen to be her husband. 

The apocryphal Book of James relates that a

 DOVE came forth from the rod and settled on Joseph's head. 

He is usually depicted with a flowering rod, 

sometimes with a dove on it. 

The theme was condemned by the Council of Trent

 in the mid-16th century 

though thereafter Joseph retains the rod as an attribute. 

It was seen as a symbol of the Virgin's state because 

it flowered without being fertilized.

 The story was a borrowing from the Old Testament account, 

which it closely resembles, of the flowering of Aaron's rod.

  -  extracts from the Sacred Mysteries of Mary Tarot Deck

Some of the themes of the Sacred Mysteries of Mary Deck

Three of Holy Rood - The Three Marys at the Cross

The Mysteries of Mary deck

 is a reweaving and remembering of many stories and

themes.  It is inspired by the Lesser and the Higher Mysteries

of Mary.  Some of these are told in the Christian Bible, 

some in the Koran and many are retold through myth and

folklore.  There are also esoteric and apocryphal books

that tell the stories of Mary, the feminine counterpart

of the Divine Creator in the Western religion and myth

and many of these stories have been included to

create The Mysteries of Mary deck.

Woven into the tapestry of myth, metaphor and

inspiration, are fairytales and in particular, the

folktale of The Handless Maiden.  And so are

the Greek, Roman, Egyptian, 

pagan and especially the Judaic

history which is the precursor to the Christian mysteries.

The deck is a marriage of opposites, a living

hieros gamos which follows the sacred journey

of the Holy Fool through the nine lesser mysteries

and through the five higher mysteries.

 The four suits are based on the cycle of life

as embodied by the life of the hawthorn tree and by 

the four mysteries of the Rosary sacred to Mary.

The hawthorn tree has long been held as sacred

to the goddess in various cultures and history.

The tree was revered as the sacred tree of

the celtic Goddesses Olwen and Brigid.  The Hawthorn was 

also held sacred to the Greek Maia and the Roman Flora

and the list continues.

Today the Hawthorn tree is one of the trees and plants
that are sacred to the

Blessed Virgin Mary.
There was a time when the

tree was called the 'May'.  The month of May is

regarded as the month sacred to Mary and there

are special Marian devotions held in the Roman

Catholic Church during the month of May.

These include the symbolic crowning of Mary

with a head garland of flowers.

A large part of Mary's story takes place in Glastonbury

and here we find the magical Hawthorn tree on

Wearyall hill  (This tree has recently been cut down

by vandals and thus eradicated a part of history)

The Hawthorn carries the symbolism of the three stages of

life, also seen as the Three Fates, or the Divine Trinity
or the Triple Goddess
 in its natural stages

of white blossom, red fruit and black seed.

During Spring the tree is covered in fine white blossoms

and appears like a bride in her white gown.  Maybe

this is why the Hawthorn tree also represents

The White Goddess in pagan belief.

The white blossom of the tree has five distinct

petals.  The shape of five petals are linked to the

divine feminine and specifically to Venus as it

imitates the planet's course through the heavens.
We also find the five petals in the rose,
a flower seen as a living embodiment and
metaphor of the feminine and the
divine feminine.

When you cut open an apple, you find
the same configuration of five in the
centre housing of seeds.

Both the rose and apple are very
important themes in the Mysteries.

The juicy red berries of the Hawthorn follow
after the white blossoms and the tree

is a mass of the red fruit, shimmering in the

summer sun.  This represents the summer of one's life

and the manifestation of one's creativity and the fulfillment

of the potential of the white bridal blossom and 

ultimately the fruit that your life bear.

While the last of the red berries are still on the tree,

they become the black withering berry which contains

the seed but also is the death of the berry - life and death
deeply entwined.

Seeing the red fruit and the black seed together on the tree,

reminds one of the bitter-sweet nature of life.

In these three seasons and cycles we have the

red, white and black threads of life :

attributes of the Great Goddess and the three

cycles of VirginBride, Mother and Wisdom.

The sacred tree and its Holy Rood (rod or branch)
became the Suit of Wands in the
Sacred Mysteries of Mary.

The symbolism of the sacred tree is seen in
the holy wood of the cross,
the Tree of Life,
the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil,
the second tree in Paradise,
the Holy Rood planted by Joseph of Arimathea
in Glastonbury and which flowered every Christmas
and more.  All of these form part of the weave
of the tapestry of insight and knowledge
into the guideposts on our journey as
depicted in the
Sacred Mysteries of Mary tarot deck.


blessings

Hettienne

III Empress - Virgo Maria Potens

The Empress
The Mysteries of Mary tarot deck http://www.hergracesacredart.com

In the Mysteries of Mary Tarot deck the Empress is

Virgo Maria Potens :  

Mary as the powerful and positive Virgin*.

Here is the Virgo Potens as  

the strong, powerful and positive Feminine, 

Queen and Mother of the World.

She is pregnant with Life and she is the womb of potential 

for ever-returning life;

 the possibility of birthing sustaining and fertile life, 

both within the psyche,

the spiritual and the physical.

The Empress
The Mysteries of Mary tarot deck http://www.hergracesacredart.com

Mary as the Empress embodies the powerful feminine force which is within

both the masculine and the feminine.  This strength is not limited to the masculine

action of this world. The receptivity of the feminine does not make

her only submissive and dependent and the activity

of the masculine does not make it only divisive and cutting.

The strong positive feminine power within the Soul and

within the person, is often regarded as wild and chaotic

and it is also mostly deeply feared and our culture

believes that she should be controlled and harnessed

for our own use and benefit.

In a simplistic fashion, mother nature is seen

as the pure expression of the powerful feminine.

But mother nature, and our instinctual nature, is only a

part of the feminine power.  The soul is, and in earlier times,

the Holy Spirit was as well, most often depicted as a woman

and if the soul is only seen as a wild force of nature which

should be dominated and controlled, where does that leave us

as human beings?  And where does that put women

in this world of organisation and structure?  And

what happens to traditionally womanly values

and enterprises and to whom is the mothering of

the world relegated?   We end up with a world in

which the positive nurturing mother and the powerful empress 

is completely absent.

She is surrounded by her symbols as known to mankind

through the ages and throughout many cultures.  She is standing

in the stream of living waters, eternally birthing through her.

She has the bee, the Queen bee, the sheafs of wheat, bunches

of grapes and is standing on a mountain covered in roses.

More on these symbols later.

She is the Queen Bee surrounded by bees;  in the ancient world

those who worshipped Demeter and Artemis were referred to as 'bees'.

The bee was also a symbol of Potnia, also referred to as the

pure Mother Bee in the Minoan mysteries.

The priestess at the sacred site of Delphi was known as

the 'honey bee' and honey has many sacred and profound metaphysical

and physical properties and metaphoric meaning.

In Samuel 1 "Jonathan... put forth the end of the rod 

that was in his hand, and dipped it in a honey comb, 

and put his hand to his mouth; and his eyes were enlightened."

The Empress
The Mysteries of Mary tarot deck http://www.hergracesacredart.com

When we split the world into two we become wounded
creatures.  When we turn women into Holy Mary and
Sinful Eve, or the penitent Mary Magdalene,
women become wounded and lost.

When we only see the negative feminine we separate
men from their positive feminine expression
and they become burdened and wounded as well.
When we turn God into feminine and masculine, the world
becomes wounded and separate, filled with fear,
eternally cast out into the darkness.

Through the union of the opposites, that is, through the marriage
of two opposing forces, a magical child of love and hope
is born.

The feminine is often referred to as the negative
and the masculine as the positive, but in our psyche
and our consciousness, there is no separation and no divide
between these two.  The one contains the other.

The feminine has a negative and positive pole as does the
masculine.  And as we dance and weave with the tension
of desire and repulsion between these two opposites,
we discover new potentials, new experiences and we
weave a new story.  The braid of life contains three
strands which can be symbolised by the white, red
and black.  In the ancient cultures
the hawthorn tree was regarded as a sacred tree.
Today the hawthorn tree is sacred to Mary and the goddess as well.
This specific tree contains all three elements of the
thread of life and even more importantly, they overlap.
The white blossoms start to form whilst the red
berries and black seeds are still hanging on the thickly leaved branches.
 The white is regarded as the 'virgin', the
cycle of spring and new beginnings;
the red berries represent summer and the fullness
of the season and the action of
mothering and the black seed contains
the potential of fathering the new life and it also
is the end of the life of the berry.

In the symbol of the trinity, or the triple goddess
or the triple spiral or triskele often seen in celtic
and other ancient cultures, this overlapping
is clearly visible.
In the same way can we move from the receptivity of the feminine
to the activity of the masculine without getting stuck
in either corner and without losing perspective of the
bigger picture.  For instance,  the feminine act of receptivity
is an act and a choice;  it is an application of the personal will.
It is not only through weakness that someone becomes receptive.
It often takes great courage and strength to stay open
and true to your vulnerability and to stay
without defences in the face of change.

When Mary says "I am Thy Handmaiden" it is a great
act of personal will and courage.  To accept the challenge
that life deals you is an act of inner strength and a willingness
to stay open to learn from an experience and to
allow Life to guide you towards the unknown.

Receptivity does not automatically imply submissiveness.
That which is regarded as weakness are often great acts
of strength.  Closing down and putting one's armour up
are not acts of strength, but resistance.

Mary as The Empress embodies the great positive

Mother of the World.  Through her courageous

acts of meekness and mercy she manifests

the positive feminine force in this world.

She is the icon and symbol of our own

positive feminine strength and courage

and of the great mothering power that we possess.

We are capable of great acts of kindness,

we are capable of staying present in life with an open

heart and being present to our own vulnerability

and allowing the infinite waters of compassion

to flow through us to all of creation and to all living creatures,

including ourselves.

The strong positive feminine does not fall into self-pity

and narcissistic self-gratification.  The strong positive

feminine is an archetypal virgin force, one unto herself,

not dependent on the opinions and actions of others,

but one that lives detached from the projections

and expectations of the world.

The Empress Virgo Potens is the powerful act

of surrendering the fearful will to the sacred

will of the Heart.

The number three also represents creativity and a weaving

of the third possibility and the various manifestations

of The Empress in our lives are seen in the Three

of the deck, that is the 3 of vessels, the 3 of lilies and 

the 3 of roses.  I will share these in upcoming posts. 

*virgin is not a term denoting sexual innocence - it a term

indicating one onto herself - a woman who is free from

psychic and emotional co-dependence

II High Priestess

II High Priestess - Mysteries of Mary Tarot deck

She who Priestesses the Holy in the Ordinary

'To seek God without already having Him, is of all things the most impossible'

The Mysteries of Mary and the Christian mystery of the incarnation

of the Divine into earthly matter, is the ultimate sacred marriage,

the hieros gamos, the marriage of the greatest opposites,

that of heaven and earth.

We cannot fathom how does heaven and earth unite as one

and we cannot fathom that all of earthly matter is sanctified

by the divine essence that lives in all.

We cannot accept the open invitation that the Soul

does exist in this body and we cannot accept that all is

blessed by the Presence of God.

We continue to look for signs and manifestations and

confirmation that the God does exist and the God may

be present here and now.  But instead of looking within

and trusting the inner voice and the inner Self,

we look without.

We turn to others for their wisdom.

We look at the stars in the sky;  we turn to books,

to those in authority, we look at the tribe.

Sometimes we see what we think of as God

in the world outside of us, but mostly the God that

we seek we never find.  It does not look like God.

It does not act like God.

In the Mystery of the incarnation, no earthly matter

or place is too humble or too low or too ordinary

for divine presence.  Mary, an ordinary woman,

bears the Son, straw, stable and animals, the worthy

audience and guardians of this self-disclosure

of God among us.

Awake to the Inner Presence and you will

experience matter as matter and God as the

Mystery and the reality that these two both

co-exist here and now.

There is no separation between holy and ordinary.

The Mystery of the Incarnation of the divine into the ordinary

has been told through many aeons of time and through

many cultures and traditions.  It is not only now

in the new unfolding age that we are being reminded

that woman metaphorically and in human

consciousness, represent matter (mater) and that

woman (matter) mothers the Divine.  Isis held the suckling

Osiris to her breast as did Inanna and other ancient goddesses.

Awake to the Inner Presence by discovering your story that

lives within you.  In the High Priestess card in the Mysteries of Mary Tarot,

she has stepped off the wheel of fate (usually symbolised by your

astrology chart which has fixed your destiny in time and space) and

she has stepped off the half-moon.  Often the High Priestess,

the Virgin Goddess, the Queen of Heaven, stands on the half-moon,

symbolising amongst other things, the influence of the hidden

world of emotions.

The Soul within you is priestessing the healing balm for your own

personal story, but first you have to learn to let go of the ideas

of who you think you are and what life should be like, and

start to pay attention to the unlived story within.

'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water'

What is the myth that you are living?

Myths are alive in our consciousness and they reflect our cultural

understanding of the personal and transpersonal stories that 

are playing out in our time and in our personal lives.

There is an unconscious and preconscious myth 

which is forming you and unfolding through you as your life.

It dictates your reactions, your responses, your defenses

as it is rooted in an archetypal mythical story and 

until you uncover the story and find its healing balm,

you will not be able to truly become an autonomous being.

Mostly we believe that when we are acting in the opposite

way of our upbringing, or our wounding, or our parents, or our

tribe, that we are autonomous, but this is not true.  We are then

still being run by this script as we are not free to act

autonomously and holy (healed).

Each one of us is born into a personal myth.  We did not

choose the race, culture, place and time into which we were

born.  These factors make up the personal and historical myth

which will unfold in our life.  We have a choice what we will

do with this myth.  Through our growing up process we will

have many experience and we will have many learning

opportunities and these will all add to us - through the losses

that we had to endure and the victories that we may have claimed,

we will grow into adolescence and then we  no longer need

those experiences.

Sometimes we inherited a deep psychological and spiritual

wound.  We need to know what we were born into so that

we can wake up and realise that our perspective of the

world is not true, that it is skewed through our inheritance

or our upbringing or our experiences.

In order to cope with your early life experiences, you may

have created an anti-myth for yourself in which you became

someone other than yourself.  It is also important to uncover

this anti-myth because this is also not your true story that

wants to be lived.  This is a fantastical story that also

shapes the way that you see the world and which will

not serve you any longer after childhood.

These two aspects of your personal myth will overlap and

both have contributed to whom who you have become.

In order for the spell to be broken, you need to become

disenchanted.  Unless and even if, you do your inner work

and face the myths that you created about yourself, life

may still confront you with shattering life experiences in order

to shatter the mirror of illusions that you continue to stare into.

Once the disenchantment is allowed to take place and you step

off the wheel of fate, the High Priestess within will start to

pour the living waters from which you can continuously

drink.  She is in complete balance, the waters contained in two

sacred vessels, the hieros gamos of heaven and earth, 

alive within you.

'To seek God without already having Him, is of all things the most impossible'