Introduction to Mysteries of Mary tarot deck

A card deck of 78 large size cards printed on 350 gsm card stock with an accompanying A5 book with glossy papercover and 160 pages of info on each card and its themes and background.  Packaged in a hand crafted tarot pouch, accompanied by a signed card from the deck and a rosary.  

The Mysteries of Mary Tarot Deck is a unique deck of cards and guide book published in Cape Town, South Africa.  The Mysteries of Mary Tarot is a mystical vision of the sacred mysteries of the Soul and its unsung feminine path. The Mysteries tells of a sacred marriage of the Bride and the Beloved : a new mythos of the Story of the Child Within and the Gospel of Love. A mystical vision of the religion of the Soul as reflected in the archetypal images of the story of Divine Mary in the Mariamic tradition.

Back of the Mysteries of Mary deck

Today we know the Blessed Mary as the Mother of Jesus who plays a small part in the story of Protestant Christianity and who plays an important part in the Roman Catholic tradition.  She is lesser known as a goddess in the feminine traditions and very few would connect her with the great Mother goddesses of the past or the Lady Sophia in the Wisdom traditions.

But to myself, and others like me, there is a connection, a red thread that connects the dots in the eye of the heart.  The ancient divine feminine had been demonised many moons ago and her stories had gone underground.  One has to rely on myth, folk tale, oral traditions, fairy tales and subtle clues and especially correspondences, to uncover Her story.  And today Mary is the Sacred Keeper of all Our Lady’s titles and Wisdom.

The Mysteries of Mary is a reweaving and a regathering of all these threads of Our Lady’s garment created from red wool and linen.  We look in the Bible, in the Koran, the Kabbalah and many other ancient and rediscovered lost books.  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.

In this deck the story starts with Mara, the bitter one.  Why is she called Mara?  We follow Mara, the holy fool through the stories of Maria Prophetissa, the Jewess and the first woman alchemist, to Sophia, Mary of the Gael onwards till we get to the Woman who stands on the moon with twelve stars around her head.

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 incorporates alchemical principles and as such it is a marriage of opposites, a living hieros gamos which follows the sacred journey of the Holy Fool through the mysteries of Mary. I focus on the mystical (hidden)  and inner meanings of the Mysteries of Mary. 

Historically and politically there are so many theories and ideas – none of them completely provable – thus it remains a Mystery. The teachings of Jesus and the Marys, are also open to various interpretations.  Many wars have been fought based on differences in interpretation.  I am not exploring the religion of the Mystery, but rather the message that I, personally see in this ancient story.

The four suits of the deck correspond with the four cycles of Mary's life :  Virgin and Priestess as the Suit of Vessels;  Beloved and Bride as the Suit of the Holyrood;  Mother and Sacred Woman as the Suit of Distaff and Wisdom as Suit of Roses.

It is my vision that this deck can be the start of a far greater vision : one that marries the mind and the heart; the feminine and the masculine.  It is my hope that you will glimpse the revelation that all religion contains Soul and that the veils of dogma and manipulation obscure the truth.  May you look in the mirror of Sophia and see yourself as Love Eternal. - extracted from the Introduction of the accompanying book.

The deck consists of 78 handcrafted shrines, each one made by  myself to 

represent one of the stories in the deck.  These were photographed and then professionally 

printed in a large card format on a good quality card stock.  

The style and colours used create a rich tapestry of imagery, symbol and colour.  

The accompanying guide book has a paperback cover.   

Each limited edition deck will be signed by myself and each deck 

will come in a unique pouch in the style of the deck

- 78 tarot cards printed on 350 gsm card stock with thick glossy varnish

- 160 page A5 paperback tarot book signed by myself

- Unique handprinted tarot pouch

- Extra signed tarot card

I ship registered airmail with a tracking number

Here is a link for reviews received from those who purchased

the deck :

 http://www.hergracesacredart.com/p/feedback-and-reviews-of-mysteries-of.html

Here is a link to the review by Arnell Ando on her website :

http://www.arnellart.com/mary-tarot.htm

The deck is available in my shop The French Madonna

www.etsy.com/shop/thefrenchmadonna

blessings

Hettienne

The Blessing Amulets of Mary Oracle Set

Blessing Amulets of Mary Oracle Set

The Amulets of Mary Oracle is a two-fold oracle, blessing and healing set incorporating various ancient traditions including the Benedicaria, the sacred path of the pilgrim and priestesshood in the Temple of Mary and the sanctification of the ordinary through the blessing way.

The Amulets of Mary Oracle and the Mysteries of Mary Tarot Deck are a culmination of my own conscious spiritual journey of the past 25 years.  It incorporates the practise of Sacred Altarmaking, the devotion of the pilgrim to sacred places, the use of holy waters and relics, the creation of sacred oils and elixers and my work as Diksha giver (Blessing giver) and Guru in the Shaktipat tradition of the Great Mother and my devotion to the Blessed Mary.

Recently, through various books (all listed in the Bibliography of the accompanying booklet) 

I learnt about the ancient tradition of Benedicaria and the work of a Benedetta.  Although I am not born into the Italian culture, my journey as pilgrim did start in Italy with the call issued by Archangel Michael to visit his grotto in Mont Sant’Angelo and I see myself as a modern Benedetta, continuously uncovering more.

The Amulets can be used with and alongside the Mysteries of Mary Tarot cards.

Benedicaria, the Blessing Way, is an ancient

Catholic and domestic folk tradition practised by the Italians in Southern Italy.  This tradition is fast fading from modern society, but many of its practises are still part of syncretic worship and devotion.

One who practices the Benedicaria, is known as a Benedetta, or a Wise Woman and a Benedetto, a Wise Man .  Benedicaria is a private form of practising your religion and it blends with many domestic practises, such as the blessing of animals and herbs, infusing oils and elixers, creating an altar, using flowers and holy cards for blessings and wisdom.

Benedicaria is predominantly a woman’s practise.  A Benedetta has much in common with the goddess archetypes of Demeter, Hestea, Bridgit and even Athena.   She is the homemaker, mother, herbalist, gardener, chef and healer.  This role is not regarded as of any importance in modern society, but for one who is spiritually aware and who undertakes these tasks with great intent, she understands the spiritual force that is being wielded.  The preparing of food is not only a physical act, but a spiritual one.  If this is done in love it will bless the family;  if done in anger and ignorance, it will curse the family.  The motto ‘cleanliness next to godliness’ means much more than meets the eye.  When you keep your spiritual space, ie the home clean, you also keep your spirit and its physical space clean.

The physical life and its objects are manifestations and representations of the life and existence of the spirit.  Taking care of our physical life is a sacred task and when performed with intent and awareness we realise that the ordinary is indeed sacred.

Every Benedetta will have a home altar and a personal altar.  The Amulets of Mary Oracle set can be placed on your altar along with the Mysteries of Mary Tarot Deck.

With the Amulets of Mary blessing set you will receive guidelines for

creating an altar, using coloured candles, how to use the casting cloth,

the holy cards and more.

The novena prayers are an important part of the Benedicaria.  A novena is a prayer that is said for nine days consecutively.  It is said that the first Apostles prayed for nine days between Jesus’ Ascension and the descent of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost.  The number 9 is a very powerful number in numerology (the science of numbers).  Usually a novena is accompanies by candles, rosaries and ritual such as sacred shrine making (see my blog http://pathofdivinelove.blogspot.com) for my art novenas to Our Lady of Lourdes.  The ancient novena prayers are used in conjunction with all of the above as well as an image of the Saint and those who you are praying for.

It is also practise to include the colour of the Saint or Holy One that you are asking for help.

The Amulets of Mary Blessing set consists of a blessed casting cloth, a set of 45 charms in a small bag, nestled in a tin;  a set of holy cards in a linen scapular bag;

an accompanying spiral bound guide book; a small statue for the altar and other options.

Each set is completely unique and one of a kind and cannot be replicated exactly as I use vintage charms, hand cast silver charms and vintage holy cards amongst others.

There are various sets available :  some are dedicated to a particular saint or saints; others to Mary and Her apparitions or a specific apparition, etc. 

You will find more information on the various available sets at The French Madonna on Etsy.com or on my blog.

The casting cloth has been blessed by touching it to the second and third holy relics of Mary’s sacred chemise and roses from St Terese’s sacred garden, as well as roses from the garden of St Francis and other holy relics.  It has also been sprinkled with holy water from Lourdes and Ngome.

On the casting cloth is a hand drawn diagram.  

Hail Mary, full of grace,

The Lord is with thee

Blessed art thou among women

and Blessed is the fruit of thy womb

Holy Mary,  Mother of God,

oh Rose Queen

Bestow your Blessing upon us

Now and Forever

Blessings

Hettienne

The French Madonna

www.etsy.com/shop/thefrenchmadonna

Marrying East and West

Sleeping Beauty
IV Distaff (traditionally Swords)
Mysteries of Mary Tarot Deck www.hergracesacredart.com

The Mysteries of Mary Tarot deck is a marriage between

East and West.  In the spiritual journey which takes you back towards the

True Self and Oneness, it is vital to make the 'two into one'.

In fact, this is the crux of both the Western and Eastern spiritual

traditions.  And in this deck, and on this path of wholeness,

the myth of the Western religious traditions are married to the

spiritual practices and understanding of Sacred Embodiment of

the Eastern religious traditions.  The Mysteries of Mary is the Divine Path of Love

and it takes you step by step through the three aspects of Embodied Soul,

the physical, mental and emotional and then culminates in the fourth suit

of Roses, in the marriage of heart and mind, Soul and Spirit,

and ultimately awakened embodied kundalini with your Source.

The name of the deck tells you everything that is important to know about the cards.

The word 'mysteries' has more than one meaning and interpretation, all of which

describe the purpose of these 78 shrines and the stories that they tell.

Mysteries refer to myth, initiation, esoteric (inner), secret and hidden, and knowledge to be

revealed.  The Mysteries of Mary is a spiritual path to our True Self, to your own unique being

and its unfoldment in the details of your life.  It is a step by step path which unfolded to me and as my

own journey, over 40 years.  Obviously, in hindsight, it unfolded from the day I 

was born, but I consciously started working with it when I was older.

 This path I set out to share with others

as The Path of Love and then later as the Temple of Mary and then

eventually it called for a work of art, each shrine depicting a story,

your story.

If you work with the cards regularly and you immerse yourself in these

mysteries, you will find that the meaning of your own unique path is revealed and made obvious

 around these universal secrets.  Mysteries, amongst other meanings,  

refer to myths and myths are universal stories

of great importance and potency in our collective subconscious.  Fundamentalist

religious persons (and conversely those against religion as well) read the myths 

of religion as literal.  This is not the case on this spiritual path.  

There is much confusion about the religious stories and

the historic events and the facts around them.   You can lose yourself and the true

purpose of these stories and myths when you get involved in that way of thinking and

thus lose the profound Mystery of esoteric (hidden inner) religion or spirituality.

Joseph Campbell, and others, have done extensive research on worldwide myths 

and have shown how these are all connected despite culture and tradition.  All myths

have a universal thread and message.  It is obvious that our subconscious self knows and

understand what it is that we are living, and it births stories which reflect back to us

what is hidden in our inner depths.  We cannot make sense of ourselves, our reactions, our feelings

and their consequences, without a mirror reflecting Life (God) back at us.

The shrine of Sophia holding the mirror of existence
II Mary Sophia
The Mysteries of Mary Tarot www.hergracesacredart.com

 When I started to work with my own dissatisfaction and resentment of life, 

I discovered a deep aversion

to any Christian story and especially to patriarchy and the way that all spiritual teaching

had been removed from religion.  I tried to eradicate the idea of the Christian-Judaeo

God from my mind and especially the story of Jesus.  I found wonderful revelations

in the works of Marion Woodman, Barbara Walker, Marina Warner and many other

powerful feminist authors and slowly but surely I started to see that there is a different

way of interpreting the world and that I do have the power to make my own choices.

I immersed myself in mystical Catholicism of contemplation and self-knowledge

and Thomas Merton and other great Catholic saints and mystics became my guides.

However, my search was still not over as I yearned for a deeper knowing and 

understanding of a Divine Woman and I continued to search for that mirror

of my own feminine nature.  Thus I discovered the new Goddess movement 

where I really came to understand the power of myth and how our myths have been

sanitized and changed and distorted in order to cut out the feminine and all things

'un-masculine'.  But once again I found the tendency to make things literal present here as well..

Feminine does not only refer to gender, but also to a way of being, an inner principle

that is alive in e very human being.  It is a complex area which does not always

fit into a box of rational logical thinking and one which is often denied or avoided

for that very reason.  However, we need both principles, that of feminine and

masculine, to truly make inner and outer progress on the spiritual journey.

From coming to know the Goddess tradition, it was but a short step to

the esoteric Hindu path of Shakty Tantra. The Eastern path of spirituality

has the most powerful practices essential to a path of truly waking up to

the True Self.  Nowhere in the Western world did I come across such depth

of understanding and embodiment of Spirit and such fearless pursuit of the depths

of thought and energy, as in India.  Here I came to know Kundalini Ma,

the divine feminine in her three aspects of Being, and the three aspects of

Being that is available to and present in us.  This was the final step for me as I could

completely surrender to the Eastern path of submitting to a guru combined

with my contemplative path of self-knowledge from the West.

But eventually I found that I do not have the deep seated understanding

and emotional connection to the Hindu stories and myths.  When I used

the word 'God' it still harped back to the figure in my children's Bible

and I still had a mental block against all the Bible Stories.  I could not

access a large part of my inner self and my subconscious because I could

not enter into the sacred heart of the christian myths.  And so I had to go back to

my roots and unpick the lies and distortions of the mind and enter

the heart of the myth of Mary and Mary Magdalene and Jesus and all

the other great characters of these stories.

The stories that Mary and Joseph and Jesus and Mary Magdalene

live are the stories that we live.  When we read these powerful

mysteries as myth, then we can enter the heart of God and understand

how God is our very Being and that our lives are the very unfolding

of Being.  When these mysteries are read as literal, then all that power

which is available to us, is lost. Then it becomes a rigid, empty doctrine

filled with ritual which has to be repeated continuously to simulate real Power and

the word God becomes a stagnant idea and concept of a Being outside of ourselves.

Shrine of St Sara la Kali
V Vessels
Mysteries of Mary Tarot Deck www.hergracesacredart.com

Let's take for instance the myth of Sara la Kali.  There are many different 

versions of the story of Sara la Kali.  Each story has different implications

and different outcomes.  When we accept that it is a myth, it opens up

a new world of possibilities for oneself.  It demonstrates that there are many

options and possible outcomes in life and that we are not limited to

one story and a perfect outcome.  When we can let go of the fearful and

limiting mind and rather 'keep an open mind' and a willingness to see

things differently, then we create the inner space to be with and

to hold the ultimate mystery of life.  When we do not hold on so tightly to

our own version of events and the meaning of events, then our life

stays fresh and alive, each moment alit with the potential and possibility of

new experiences and the amazing creativity of life and being alive.

When we try to throttle life and its many changes and cycles, into a

neat and tidy story with a specific message or lesson, then soon

everything stagnates and there is nothing new to be gained.  Powerful symbols

of deeper and ever-birthing realities become jaded and ignored and the

mind does not even register the true in-the-moment message any more.

Every symbol and every story has a new message for you, centred  in your being,

in this moment.  Thus you can use these cards over and over and everytime hear

a new message and receive new guidance and see in the mirror clearly.

blessings

Hettienne

Feast Day of Blessed Mary Magdalene

Queen of Vessels :  The Mystery of the Bridechamber
A tantric ritual, the anointing of the Bridegroom

'The Coptic Gospel of Mary, found in the fifth-century papyrus codex,

is the only known gospel to have been written under a woman's name, that

of Mary'.*  There are those that interpret this Gospel to have been

written by Mary Magdalene, others say it is Mary, the mother of Jesus.

'As a controversial saint now emerging for the first time from the

shadows of Church history, the Magdalene has become today even

more important as one of Jesus' closest disciples and arguably

the most magnetic and yet problematic character in the whole of the

Christian story.  It is becoming apparent that her importance

to the development of early Christianity's mysterious bridechamber

sacrament has been greatly underrated.'

Mary Magdalene, as priestess of the Mysteries of the
Bridechamber,  re-enacting the tantric ritual of the Bridalchamber
Anointing the King -  www.hergracesacredart.com

'Mary's gospel is an exercise in first-century equality....

Clearly, Mary was a woman of wisdom possessed of many

such occult secrets, and in a time of terrible crisis after the master's

death she showed herself well able to lead the group.  Yet,

as a leader, Mary is handicapped by her gender and must

plead for understanding and acceptance of her fellow male

disciples. Yet, this undeniable female imprisonment has not

always existed, a fact of which spiritual leaders like Jesus, versed

in the doctrines of the Old Religion, must have been well aware.

For almost four thousand years - from about 7000 BCE to 3500 BCE, 

in the depths of the Neolithic age - an advanced culture

complex existed in which women were truly free and responsible

equally with men for the building and creative organisation of their society.'

'With the fall of Jerusalemn, both the Pharisees and the Judaeo-Christians were

freed from political constraints to pursue their own course.  In the same period

Christians launched into the production of both the New Testament gospels

and a large corpus of Gnostic gospels, such as the Gospel of Mary,

the Pistis Sophia, the Gospel of Truth, the Dialogue of the Saviour, and others.

All these apocryphal documents betray Qabalistic themes centred on 

the rite of the sacred marriage and the new role of the feminine

principle as an essential subtext in Christian discourse.

Yet apart from Jesus' occasional references to himself as bridegroom

the sacred marriage theme is noticeably absent from the

Christian scriptures, and the disappearance of the Gnostic texts

themselves for nearly two thousand years has reinforced the 

common assumption that Jesus' embrace of the messianic function

meant that women and tantra had no place in his life.'

The symbols of Mary Magdalene as priestess of the

Mysteries of the Sacred Bridechamber

In the Queen of Vessels (traditionally Cups)

Mary Magdalene is seen dressed in the colours gold

and purple depicting alchemical transformation and

wisdom.  She is surrounded by symbols of alchemy

and the trantic principles of death and rebirth.

In the background is the jar of sacred spikenard oil.

A very rare and precious oil traditionally linked to the ancient

mysteries of anointing the sacrificial King and the tantric ritual

to take place between the King and his Lover in the Sacred Bridal

Chamber.

Mary Magdalene holds a chalice or the Holy Grail which contains

a living fish.  The symbol of the fish was a symbol of the Goddess

which was appropriated by the Christians.  The old religion explains

that we come from the waters and it can be linked to the ancient myths

of when fish grew legs.  This myth is also linked to the story of

Quetzlcoatl and the plumed serpent.  The name Mary can be linked

to Mares, the Ocean or Sea of Consciousness and Existence and

Isis (whom preceded Mary in the Egyptian myths) were depicted to

travel in her boat across the sky.

'The apocryphal texts give full support to Mary Magdalene's role

as Jesus' spiritual partner.  They frequently refer to Mary as

Sophia, Spirit of Wisdom, and claim that Jesus gave her the

title 'Apostle of Apostles' and called her Mary-Lucifer,

the Light-Bringer.'

De Voragine, the Dominican archbishop of Genoa,

called her Illuminant and Illuminatrix, both enlightened and

empowered to bestow enlightenment on others.

Of course there are many discussions, views and paths based on the

interpretation of the Mysteries of the Bridechamber.

The Gnostic gospels with their talk of images, metaphorical

garments, and symbols in general, seem to struggle continually

to make their multileveled and spiritualized worldview comprehensible

to their readers.  In a spiritualised view and understanding the

Hieros Gamos, the sacred mystery of the Bridechamber, takes

place in the inner Bridechamber, in the spiritual self.  It is a coming together

of the masculine and feminine inner self, the ultimate tantra, beyond

physical sexual intercourse.

In the bridechamber, death is annulled.  The true marriage, the living

marriage, is not to be found in this material world where death dwells.

This is the Gnostic teaching of the Sacred Bridechamber Mystery.

It also describes the interior union that is possible between compatible souls

who have been adequately purified. 

In the Gospel of Mary, she points out several times that the Master

has 'proclaimed the child of humanity' - that is, the divine

self-goverining principle - to be the Inner Guide

within each of them.  Here Mary indicates that the disciples

have achieved mastery of the higher cerebrospinal energy

centers critical to the birth of spiritual love.  That is the criterion

of a full individuated human being - that she be one who has

mastered the energic secrets of the higher chakras and no longer

needs the physical sexual act to establish a blissful

psychospiritual union with another human being.

Such a one meets the bridechamber of the heart,

where the true psychic marriage takes place.

blessings on this the feast day of Mary Magdalene, Beloved and Bride

blessings

Hettienne

*Extracts from Victoria LePage, Mysteries of the Bridechamber as well as

XI Our Lady of Justice

Notre Dame Sous Terre
XI Our Lady of Justice
Sacred Mysteries of Mary Tarot 

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

XXI Oneness

Card XXI Oneness
Sacred Mysteries of Mary Tarot Deck
www.hergracesacredart.com

I share the final card

in the Major Arcana of the Sacred Mysteries of Mary Tarot

Card XXI Oneness

traditionally The World

A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun,

 with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head -

Revelation 12:1

In the World card the archetypal journey of the Holy Fool

reaches its culmination.  Here we have the sanctification

of the ordinary world :  the sacred marriage between

spirit and flesh; nature and soul;  the ordinary and the sacred.

In the Oneness card of the Mysteries of Mary

we see the Virgin Mary, the immaculate

conception, as both the perfect, immaculate

idea of the world as well as the

incarnate embodiment of the very human mother.

She is the Queen of Heaven and Angels

as well as the Mother of all Living Beings

and nature itself.

We have Mary, the woman,

the stag, the lamb and the wings of angels

representing the four suits and the four paths.

The Virgin and the Stag are ancient symbols
of the World and the Christ.  Here the Virgin,
the Immaculate Conception, is symbolic

of the world as an idea, immaculate from all sin,

born from inspiration and a perfect idea, and the Stag

is symbolic of the incarnate Christ,

the sacrifice and redemption of the sin of

the physical and natural world.

The horns of the stag are like the branches

of the tree, the ladder of the world,

ascending through the various stages

of life, from the physical to the spiritual.

Beyond our physical and psychic being, we have

to discover our spiritual being, our eternal ground,

and there the mystery of love is fulfilled.

Some may come to this interior marriage by

way of exterior marriage, others are called

by the way of virginity, but all alike have to experience

the virgin birth, the marriage with God,

before they can reach maturity - Father Bede Griffiths

blessings

Hettienne