Amulets of Our Lady of Lourdes

The Amulets of Mary is a healing and blessing oracle based on the Mysteries of Mary tarot deck iconography as well as The Blessing Way, also known as Benedicaria.  They marry the ancient craft of charm casting with the use of holy cards, tarot cards, candle ritual and novena prayers. 

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 both 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) in Sakta Tantra tradition. The Amulets can be used with and alongside the Mysteries of Mary Tarot cards. You can read more about the Blessing Way and the Amulets of Mary on my blog here :  https://hergracesacredart.blogspot.co.za/2018/01/reading-amulets-of-mary.html

One of the casting sheets of the Amulets of Mary Sets

The past seven years I have offered an Art Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes on my blog Cloister of the Heart.  

Amulets of the Lady of Lourdes set

This year the theme was the feminine and sacred nature of fairy tales and in particular the correspondences between the fairy tale and the story of Bernadette Soubirous and the radiant Lady of Lourdes. You can find the nine days of the Art Novena of Our Lady of Lourdes 2018 here.

Fairytales are a font of wisdom, a secret book of Wisdom and Divine Feminine tales.  Fairy tales have certain basic structures, and in a nut shell one can describe them as stories in which the hero is always a woman guided by the supernatural, surrounded by magic and miracles and a wondrous healing tale for all!     The story of the Bright Lady in  shining white Light that appeared to the starving little girl of Massabielles, 

 has all the elements of a fairy tale.  At Lourdes you step into the Otherworld; into a Land of Enchantment where miracles are possible.Fairy tales can be regarded as mythical religious stories with the focus and emphasis on the divine feminine as a balancing contrast to the patriarchal Roman and Greek myths which we have come to know.  In other words, a thealogy (female deity) in contrast to an exclusive theology (male deity). In this year's Art Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes  I explored the feminine wisdom and guidance of fairytales and specifically as it pertains to the miraculous story of Our Lady of Lourdes.

So it was only fitting that I created a special Amulets of Mary Blessing Oracle Set based on the fairytale and miracle of Bernadette and Our Lady of Lourdes.  I have visited Lourdes annually for the past five years and have brought back holy medals, relics and some of the healing spring water. These limited sets contain amulets specifically pertaining to the story of Bernadette and the Grotto of Massabielles outside Lourdes, as told in the Art Novenas to Our Lady of Lourdes.  Some of these sets will include items that I collected during my Lourdes pilgrimages, hand made resin and clay holy medals, charms, holy cards, a miniature Lady of Lourdes resin statue, a tiny vial of the healing waters of the Lourdes spring, as well a set of 46 charms of the Amulets of Mary set and a beautiful Our Lady of Lourdes casting linen cloth. (All sprinkled with waters from the Lourdes spring and touched to the relic of the Chemise of Our Lady.)

Mother Goose

 The first two amulets in the special Lady of Lourdes set is the Flying Goose and Mother Goose on her broomstick.

Hannah or Anna as the Great Mother Goddess
also known as Mother Goose and her sacred goose
VI of Roses in Mysteries of Mary Tarot Deck

We are all familiar with Mother Goose and her nursery rhymes and fairytales. What better place to hide the Divine Mother Goddess in the guise of an old crone with a goose for a vehicle? The goose has many mythical connections in both Eastern and Western mythology. In Egyptian lore the sky was associated with the Mother Goddess. The goose is one of the most sacred animals in the ancient stories of goddess, along with the swan. Just like Mother Goose, the Greek goddess Aphrodite  rode through the air on the back of a goose. 

There are also artwork depicting Aphrodite with geese at her feet. In the Mysteries of Mary Tarot Deck, I include the hidden code and meaning in fairy tales and specifically Mother Goose.  Mother Goose is present in the card Hannah's Song.  Here is an extract from Mysteries of Mary tarot deck :

We also know the fairy tale of the goose that lays the golden egg. The egg has always carried the meaning of life and rebirth in ancient traditions. It also symbolises new life and transformation.  The shape of the egg also has connotations as it is similar to the vesica pisces. Goose is a partial anagram of goddess and Mother Goose hides the word mother goddess The mother aspect of the goddess is still present today in Mother Mary. Mother Goose is seen as the magical author of all the fairy tales, reminiscent of our understanding of the Shekinah or Sophia.

The heroine or young girl in the fairy tale

Iconography and amulets of the story of Cinderella is included in the Lourdes story as it corresponds with the story of Bernadette.  In many a fairy tale the protagonist is a young girl. Think of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Rumpelstilskin and Snow White.  Sometimes she is a princess and at other times she is a poor servant girl.  But the focus in the fairy tale is always on the young girl, the mother and step mother and the fairy godmother or the thirteenth fairy or some interaction with a supernatural Blessing Lady.

The miraculous story of Lourdes is as much about Bernadette Soubirous as it is about the Lady and the gift of the healing waters. The young Bernadette is the daughter of a poor family. 

The Holy Servant and Handmaiden shrine from the
Mysteries of Mary tarot deck
VIII of Roses (pentacles)
The fairy tale of Cinderella


The servant girl

The young girl Bernadette grew up poor and almost destitute.  She lived in an old broken down room of what used to be a prison, in squalor. She had to scavenge for food on the rubbish heap of the village.  In ordinary time Bernadette was poor, she had no status and she was a girl in the ashes, scavenging to help keep her family alive and warm. In the Mysteries of Mary it is explained that Holy servant and handmaiden are ancient titles for holy ones or Light Bringers.  In the esoteric Christian Bride chamber mysteries, the holy servant is the bride of the Christ.  

As in the Handless Maiden, Bernadette is the daughter of a miller

The Miller's daughter

The sacred tasks of the heroine

Today Bernadette and her story is famous and she is regaled for her vision, her faith, her commitment and the wondrous gifts that she brought back to our world from her meetings with Mary of Lourdes. But this was not the case in her lifetime. She was the only one who saw the visions of the Radiant Lady. No-one else believed her. She was ridiculed and thought to be insane. Her mother forbade her to go back to the grotto after being told about the visions. But Bernadette persisted. and she obeyed the Radiant Lady and took her messages back to the village and the local priest. She was taken in for psychiatric evaluation; she was arrested by the police and she was vilified by the villagers. In many fairy tales and myths as well, the young heroine has to overcome certain tasks until the ultimate challenge has been completed. The ultimate challenge for Bernadette was when Magnificent Mary of Lourdes told her to dig for water in a bone dry patch of land where there had never been water before. And Bernadette started to dig with her hands and nothing appeared.  The villagers

shook their heads at her and walked away. But she persisted and kept on digging away with her hands in the dirt. As in fairy tales Bernadette surrendered her fear, her free will and herself to the visions and the presence of the supernatural. As the innocent heroine of the story she acted in hope and belief in the impossible.

The Radiant Lady in White - fairy godmother, The magical element of fire and light, The miracles, The gifts of the sleeping woman and The gifts from the Otherworld are some of the amulets that are included in this set.

Each set comes with an explanatory sheet and all information regarding the Lady of Lourdes fairytale correspondences and the meaning and interpretation of the amulets.

blessings
Hettienne

Deeper meaning of amulets

The Amulets of Mary is accompanied by a small booklet that gives a short summary of each amulet's history, context and meaning.  Each amulet has many many layers of meaning which can be uncovered as you go.  An important step is to get to know the tarot cards of the Mysteries of Mary deck and their amulets that are part of the shrines; as you read the cards in readings you come to understand the various layers of meaning of the stories and how they apply in the different contexts. This is the first in hopefully regular blog posts on the deeper meaning of both amulets from the Amulets of Mary sets, as well as the tarot cards of the Mysteries of Mary tarot decks.  To find these posts, you can click on the labels 'amulets' and 'tarot cards' in the side bar under the 'label' section.

I love it when those who use the decks and sets send me questions.  It gives me an opportunity to know and understand what is wanted and required by you.

The Fleur-de-Lis

The fleur-de-lis in the Amulets of Mary and the Great Goddess set represents the Archangel Gabrielle.( In some sets an actual Archangel Gabriel charm is included ) Gabrielle is often depicted in iconography 

with three lilies reminiscent of the three leaves of the fleur-de-lis.  The fleur-de-lis is also said to depict the Tree of Life and to be similar to the lotus flower in Eastern tradition.

Traditionally Gabriel is the messenger of the Word of the divine.  He or she in certain traditions, are seen as a divine messenger and the patron saint of small children and looks after and nourishes the child in each of us. She guides us to release our inner child with words of tenderness of love according to Ambika Wauters' Angel Oracle. Gabriel is also regarded as the Christmas Angel as he is the Angel of the Annunciation who announced the good news to Mary.

The deeper and esoteric meaning of the fleur-de-lis is the triple flame of the awakened secret heart. The secret heart or the 'high' heart as it is also known, is an energetic heart above the physical heart of the body.  It has three flames : pink, blue and golden-yellow.  These are metaphysically regarded as flames of the awakened soul and reflects the inner sacred marriage between masculine and feminine and the final flame, the Christ Within.  In classic art saints are sometimes shown with a flame above the crown.  In the biblical scenes this is referred to as the descent of the Holy Spirit. Those with the 'sight' like myself, can see the flame above the crown of masters and teachers who have awakened. The energetic body has two main centres, the brain and the heart.  This is where transformation and awakening takes place through shakty/kundalini/goddess.

The casting sheet of the Amulets of Mary are traditionally divided into four sections representing the four quadrants of the heart, the four elements, the four seasons, the four suits etc.  Another ideal sheet is to use your astrology chart in its wheel format.  You can use your natal or progressive chart and cast the amulets onto this chart.  You can interpret the amulet in the context of your house, the planet and the sign on which it landed.  When you use the amulets and tarot on a regular basis, a pattern will start to emerge which will lead you ever deeper into the meaning and ultimately the matrix.  All is connected so every single amulet is connected to one another as well as to every tarot card.

blessings

Hettienne

Art Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes

Day One of the art Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes

at Cloister of the Heart

blessings

Hettienne

The Fairytale of Lourdes

Fairytales are a font of wisdom,;

a secret book of Wisdom and Divine Feminine tales.

In fairy tales the hero is always a woman

guided by the supernatural,

surrounded by magic and miracles

and a wondrous healing tale for all!

This year's Art Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes

will explore the feminine wisdom and guidance

of fairytales and specifically the miraculous

story of Our Lady of Lourdes

and the similarities with other fairy tales!

You are invited :  bring your spinning wheel and broom

and join me from Saturday 3 February 2018
at Cloister of the Heart.

be blessed

Hettienne

Art Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes 2018

Art Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes

Art Novena for Our Lady of Lourdes - an annual tradition on Cloister of the Heart starts

again on

3 February (the day after Candlemas or Imbolc and St Bridgid's feast day) and 

culminating on the feast day of Our Lady

of Lourdes, the Immaculate Conception on 11 February.

Seven years ago I started the tradition

of the Art Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes on my blogs.

This was part of my very first post :

A few months ago I visited the grotto of the Lady of Lourdes. An unforgettable

experience which has touched me deeply - beyond religion, beyond concepts, 

beyond labels. 

Nine Days for the Lady of Lourdes 

a novena 

('novem' the Latin word meaning 'nine') 

nine days of illuminating art, 

poetry, 

and sharing 

Starting on Friday 3 February 

till 11 February 

the feast day of the Lady of Lourdes. 

When one participates in a ritual (probably any ritual, but when you regard it as sacred, you add a certain 'light' to it) you are transported into a different time and space : colors are different; the light is different; everything has meaning and the ordinary become extra-ordinary. My art novena for Lourdes in particular, highlights my statement that our lives are the altar to the Divine and I strive to capture that numinosity of the sacred ritual in my photographs and altars. I only started creating sacred altars on my return from Lourdes. These small shadowboxes are vignettes, a moment in time in the life of ordinary human beings, lifted out of the mundane into the numinous, merely by seeing life as sacred.

You can read the previous seven years' novena blog posts here :

Art Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes on Cloister of the Heart

This year I am creating Our Lady of Lourdes Amulet Blessing Sets

based on the Benedicaria way.

The Amulets of Mary Blessing set 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.

I am creating only a few Our Lady of Lourdes Amulet sets for use

in the annual novena and for every day!!. All amulet sets

that I create complement the Mysteries of Mary Tarot Deck.

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 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.

The Lady of Lourdes amulet sets will contain

items that I collected during my annual visits to Lourdes,

hand cast resin holy medals (including

a cast of the Holy Chemise of Our Lady charm)

charms, holy cards, a miniature Lady of Lourdes resin

statue, a tiny vial of the healing waters of the Lourdes

spring, as well a set of 46 charms applicable to the story of Lourdes

and the Mysteries of Mary

(some of these charms will be the same as in the Amulets

of Mary set but some are completely unique)

and a Our Lady of Lourdes casting sheet with different

sections to the Mary and Goddess sets.

(All sprinkled with waters from the Lourdes spring and touched

to the relic of the Chemise of Our Lady.

The Lady of Lourdes amulet sets will be available in

my shop The French Madonna @etsy.com in the next fortnight.

Be sure to visit my blog Cloister of the Heart

on 3 February and follow the art novena to Our Lady of Lourdes

blessings

Hettienne

Reading the Amulets of Mary

Reading with cards, charms, tea leaves or any object

is an intuitive inner journey that takes practise.

It is a skill to hone your subtle senses and also a skill

to trust your intuition and your inner voices and prompts.

Life is a journey filled with markers and pointers for us.

Each life has a theme and certain archetypes and we can

create within those limits and parameters.  To become

really in touch with your subtle senses, demand a certain

amount of humility and your own personal shadow work

It is so easy to pretend to ourselves that 'all is as it should be'

and to shift all responsibility onto a Higher Power.

The truth is that we have been dealt a hand of cards, 

black and white and red and we are accountable

and responsible for getting to know both the positive

and negative of our own personal hand.

This is where amulets, charms and tarot becomes so valuable.

When you combine it with Jungian shadow work, you can uncover

your own projections and hidden perceptions - you can take 

the power back from unruly emotions and the pain

of dysfunctional personal relationships.

Skull of Mary Magdalene in procession at Sainte Maximin -la-Ste-Baume
France during feast day celebrations

The Amulets of Mary comes with a booklet describing the fundamental

tenets of Benedicaria, The Blessing Way, an ancient Southern Italian spiritual

path.  According to those who have made a study and practice of Benedicaria

it is the most pure form of Catholicism.  It restores many practices

which have been classified as 'occult' to its rightful place in a spirtiual

path that integrates both ancient traditions, folklore and modern

consciousness enlightenment work.

I suggest that you keep a book in which to record your readings

and also your own interpretation of the charms and their positions

on the charts.  With time you can create your own casting sheet as

you develop your own understanding of what it is that you

want to ascertain from these readings.

When you have followed the guidelines for creating your

own altar and you have asked the question, you can

take a handful of amulets from the pouch and drop

them onto the casting sheet.

The sheet has been divided into four quadrants.

These represent the four suits of the Mysteries of Mary Tarot Deck

or any tarot deck.  I have allocated the four sections of mind,

body, soul and spirit and the attributes

are handwritten onto the casting sheet.

You can add your own with a sharpie onto the linen cloth.

  You can allocate the four seasons, the four elements

of earth, air, water and fire. On the new sheets I have added

Past, Present, Future and Unknown.  You can do the same.

I have also added a YES and NO section

The section of the sheet that applies, depend on your question.  If

you asked a simple yes or no question, then look to see where the

charm fell. If you randomly picked some charms and you choose the

yes and no sections, then it is important to see which charms fell

on the yes and which fell on the no - then read their meanings, look

at their meanings and story in the tarot guide book and add your

own intuitive meaning to it all.  Sometimes one needs to allow

all the information to settle down into the unconscious and reveal

its deeper meaning to you over time.

Sometimes the answers are just so obvious and right there.

In the new sheets I have added key words to the four sections.

For instance, in Body you can add

earth, embodiment, physical, manifestation

When you want to see a bigger picture than Yes or No, you can

cast the charms over the entire sheet.  This will then show you

which areas of your life is affected and what your inner guidance

is trying to draw your attention to.

Sample reading :

Chalice fell in Mind (Suit of Distaff)

Star landed on Heart (Suit of Vessels)

Mermaid landed on Body (Suit of Roses)

The Chalice

The Chalice is seen as a sacred and holy object in ancient Grail legends, Arthurian myth, Mary Magdalen myth and in a Christian hymn Mary is called the Chalice.  The Chalice is also regarded as the holy grail and there are many theories :  some believe   that it is a physical cup in which Jesus’ blood was collected after the crucifixion by Mary Magdalene;  others believe that the the Holy Grail is a women or the strength of a woman.  In the Mary Mysteries, she is the Chalice and the Holy Grail.  She is the strength and compassion that floods our soul;  she is the Waters of Consciousness that flow everlasting from the Chalice.

Tarot Card :  Queen of Vessels : Mary Magdalene anointing the feet of Jesus

Meaning :  sacred vehicle;  when you get the chalice in a reading it indicates the vehicle in which your blessing will appear;  it also points to the direction in which you have to go;  it shows in which area of your life you have to pay attention to your dreams.

Add your own connotations and meanings to the chalice and even the

stories and legends in which it appear.  Chalice fell on

the Mind section.  Mind is thinking, thoughts, ideas, conscious mind,

rational mind, logic, neural pathways

This placement could mean that you have to pay more attention

to your ideas  and thoughts:  they will take you to the Chalice and Holy Grail of

your search.  The Queen of Vessels card

is of the suit of the Heart and waters.  I interpret this as telling

you that your mind should be in service of your heart.

When you become aware of the way that your mind reacts

to the prompts of your heart and its inner whisper,

you will become aware of an important message.

 Let's see how the other charms relate to the reading.

Star

The tale of Esther (Star) is an allegory of a feminine majesty who once stood as equal to her spouse the king and was the instrument through which her own blood relatives and all of  the nation were saved. This echoes the place of Sophia who was present to God at the creation itself and helped it all come into being through her assent to the plan. This story of Esther may be a “fossil” that remains in the Bible and allows us to see how Israel first regarded the feminine, before the patriarchal powers purged the nation of all forms of the ancient Goddess known as the Shekina, partner to the masculine manifestation of God. “Esther” is another form of the Babylonian goddess Ishtar, (Star) who was also called “Queen of Heaven” as was the Egyptian Mother Goddess, Isis and as Mary is yet called today. “Esther” is another form of the Babylonian goddess Ishtar, (Star) who was also called “Queen of Heaven” as was the Egyptian Mother Goddess, Isis and as Mary is yet called today.

Tarot Card : Stella Maris and 2 of Holy Rood

Star landed in Heart and seen in the light of the placement and meaning

of Chalice, this makes it pretty clear that this querent is not

giving her heart and desires, equal status.  The emotions and the heart

is a feminine quality and often neglected or suppressed.

This is a reality of our modern culture and religion :  the feminine

is suppressed to benefit the masculine properties of 

achievement, logic, rational thinking, goal setting and so on.

To listen to our inner guidance, we need to make time to play,

to meditate, contemplate, spend time alone and more.

Mermaid

Mermaids are regarded as mythical creatures.  They appear in many folk and fairytales.  In the story of Ariel, the mermaid, many parallels can be seen in her story and that of the goddess and specifically the story of Mary Magdalen.  The mermaid is also symbolic of a woman’s ‘watery’ nature and her intense emotional body.  Through the ages the emotional and feeling nature of women has been demonised and women have been institutionalised for ‘hysterics’.  Her spiritual nature has been suppressed in many ways and many have made sure that women have lost their ability to have both a mermaid tale and a pair of legs to walk on land when needed.

Tarot Card :  9 of Vessels – Our Lady of Regla

Meaning :  you need to find a strong sense of balance within yourself;  get to know your own nature and you will be able to master the world around you;  pay attention to your feelings;  unknown waters;  value your own feeling nature;  feelings speak of your intuition;  inner wisdom;  

And Mermaid in Body sums it all up.  

p.s. This was a real reading for someone and these are extracts

from the booklet and additional information sheets. 

If you have bought a set of Amulets of Mary from me, feel free

to send me an email at hettienne@telkomsa.net and I

will send you jpegs of new and updated casting sheets

which you can print at home.

blessings
Hettienne

Recent pilgrimage and new Amulets of Mary Blessing Sets

I spent Christmas with my family in Prague and although I had

my own list of must-visits, Prague surprised with a few

hidden secrets of her own!

I discovered the Casa Loreto in Prague.

Although it is a copy of the shrine in Loreto in Italy,

this entire convent, shrine and grounds were beautiful
with amazing artwork and emanating

powerful Divine Feminine energies.

I will share the story with you in another post with many pictures.

I will also tell you about the incredible holy card exhibition that I also 

stumbled upon in Prague!  

I have returned filled with visions, dreams and new inspiration and

am working on amulet blessing sets based on the Benedicaria

way of living.

Each one of these sets are unique.

They are not simply a collection of mass produced charms

thrown together into a pouch.  Yes, there are mass produced

charms in as well, but there are also unique pieces

such as the hand carved skull, from a nun/s rosary;

tiny Mary statues collected on my many pilgrimages;

holy medals brought back from sacred places and dipped

into holy wells, sacred rivers and miraculous places of healing.

I also cast both in sterling silver and in polymer clay copies

of sacred relics and special statues. 

Each casting sheet is printed onto linen cloth by myself and

sprinkled with holy water and salts from many places

such as Lourdes, St Terese of Lisieux and the grotto of St Michael

in Mont Sant'Angelo.  You can read more about my pilgrimages

here :  http://pathofdivinelove.blogspot.co.za/p/sacred-journeys-pilgrimages-from-2000.html

The sets include a collection of new and old prayer cards;  each

set contains one very special and old prayer card

and some are copies of cards which are now in

private collections.

All the amulet sets correlate to the Mysteries of Mary tarot deck

and can they can be used together.

They can also be used in healing sessions.  I am working

on a set that can be used with a chakra reading as well as

an astrology and colour reading.

It takes days to create one amulet set and it is the result

of years of collecting relics and water from sacred sites.  Each set is prepared

on my sacred altar of dedication and devotion to the highest principles

of unity and oneness with the focus of restoring the principle of the

feminine to our consciousness and awareness.

I share many pictures and updates on Instagram @thefrenchmadonna.

blessings

Hettienne