Looking at my tradition of a pink Christmas

The Chapel of the Miraculous Medal in Paris

I am re-posting these Christmas posts from my blog The French Madonna

http://hergracedevata.blogspot.com

Crowned by Grace

Stella Maris

Star of Bethlehem

Chapel of the Miraculous Medal on Holy Night in miniature

Vintage Miraculous Medals

Christmas night in miniature

under the tree

The angels sing in heaven

Holy card of Catherine Labourre on the back

Sacred Altar ready to hang

Blessings

Hettienne

A Christmas past

Angels relate to our capacity to love,

to accept ourselves fully,

and to embrace life.

Reigning above the heavenly host
is the spirit of the Shekinah,
the feminine face of the Divine,
through whom all creation is made manifest.

The heavenly realm interacts with the physical
world, and the two become one, in the incarnation
of the Divine in a human being.

The Higher Principles thus find expression in
flesh and spirit.

In Judaism, the manifestation of the Divine Presence

in human life takes the form of a created being of

light called the Shekhinah.  

Meaning literally the 'indwelling' this is the feminine

aspect of God that brings peace and blessing

to the home.  In biblical times it referred to the glory

emanating from the Source.

Then Shekinah was then seen as a heavenly messenger,

and later as the Holy Ghost.  In the Kabbalah,

she is the mystical Bride of the Lord, who channels

grace to the lower worlds.

Because we contain the Divine Spark within us,

our actions resonate throughout creation. - The

Angelic Year, Ambika Wauters

In this shrine the blessings and healing energies

and powers of the birth of the Christ within the personal

self and and within humanity, the Guardian Angel and

the Queen of Angels all come together in a beautiful

altar.

The Blessed Virgin Mary, mother of Christ,

is our link with the eternal feminine principle within us.

She is the embodiment of truth, love, surrender and

miraculous healings and manifestations.

Her litany describes her as

Queen of Angels,

Mother of God,

Mother Inviolate,

Tower of Ivory,

House of Gold

 Mystical Rose

and

Gate of Heaven

This shrine captures the colours and names

of the Holy Litany

and here Mary is seen as the Queen of Angels

protecting the child within us against

the pitfalls, physical, mental, emotional and spiritual,

on the personal journey in this world.

The trees and fir garlands and small berries

are all symbols of the regenerative energy and the power

of renewal and Grace

of the Christmas tide and of the good news that

Love can and will be born within the heart

of humanity.  The traditional Christmas tree

has the shape of the pineal gland, known to be

the seat of consciousness and enlightenment

in the human brain.

In the centre of the shrine is the Stag,

an ancient symbol of the Christ.

The small child is stepping onto the angel

wing stretching out in front of her.

They will carry you lest you should knock

your feet on a stone or rock

The shrine forms part of my special Christmas

Guardian angel series.

Here are links to some of the other stories :

http://hergracedevata.blogspot.co.za/2015/11/it-is-pink-christmas.html

Meditation

Feel your heart expand and contract with each breath that you take.

Let it soften and ease as you affirm life.

As you do t his, be conscious that you are opening up to your

life force with each breath.

This is how you experience renewal at all levels.

As you feel this happen, ask yourself

where you need to renew your commitment to life,

to be the best that you can be.

Renewal comes when you affirm your desire to

accept life on its terms.

Prayer

Blessed and Beloved Mother of us all,

you surrendered to the will of God

to bear the fruit of our salvation.

You accepted a higher will than

your own so that all humanity can be raised up.

We open our hearts and minds to

receive your grace, love and courage

blessings

Hettienne

- repost from http://hergracedevata.blogspot.com - The French Madonna

Looking at Christmas past

It is a pink Christmas

filled with roses and crowns

feathers

angel wings

and guardian angels to protect 

little voices

filled with happiness and joy

one wandering off into a hedge of roses

but not to fear

the Queen of Angels is close by

It is a pink Christmas

filled with roses and shimmering Christmas trees

angel wings and pink feathers

blessings
Hettienne

The Witch, the fairy godmother, the princess and goddess

Fairy tales evoke images of childhood, magic, miracles, supernatural events and dreams coming true. 

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.

Princess/heroine

In most fairy tales the main character is a young girl or princess.  Think of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Ariel and Snow White.  Sometimes she is a princess and at times she is reduced to a cleaning girl or servant. The focus in the fairy tale is always on the young girl, the mother and step mother and the fairy godmother or thirteenth fairy or some interaction with a supernatural Blessing Lady.  Where is your inner princess?  Pay attention to which part of the casting cloth she appears on and see what she needs from you by looking at the nearby amulets.  The amulets tell a story and by paying attention to the pattern that they form, you can read the story for yourself

For many of us the journey towards wholeness starts with the impulse and desire to heal the Inner Child.  The inner child carries the openness and vulnerability of the soul and during our growing up years, these qualities become suppressed and hidden away. And the feminine qualities of the inner child gets conditioned away from an early age, as we grow up in a patriarchal culture with masculine values of goal setting, achievement, physical beauty, material gain and advancement. These are all positive and essential qualities,  but without their counterpart feminine attributes, such as inner appreciation, imperfection, chaos, individuality, compassion and nurturing, the inner world can become one of deprivation, depression and burn-out.

No-one knows for certain how old fairy tales are but the experts who have written on the history and meaning of fairy tales agree that fairy tales started to appear at more or less the same time that Christianity started to oppress pre-Christian beliefs and religions which developed into the horrific Inquisition and eventually the witch hunts. Unfortunately fairy tales have been mangled and their
original stories changed to fit in with patriarchy - many of the magical and supernatural women characters have obviously also been demonized, as has the meaning of fairy and witch. But there are still some amazing resources and research available for those who are interested in exploring this fount of wisdom Many, myself included, regard fairy tales as secret bibles of feminine wisdom and divinity. 

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.

The fairytale has certain predictable elements, the heroine or young girl or princess;  the witch that tries to stop her; the queen mother or fairy godmother and magical animals and elements.

 

Amulets from the Fairytale Amulet Sets

I created the Fairytale Amulet sets which contain elements of the fairytales that are in the Mysteries of Mary tarot deck and specifically the story of Our Lady of Lourdes.  It contains a printed casting cloth

Casting cloth for Fairytale sets

The casting cloth has the image of my painting entitled "Sophia" and the Witch, Goddess, Fairy Godmother and Holy Child layout.  It also includes 30 amulets with ones coloured lilac, pink and blue.  Each set comes in pink, lilac or blue.  It includes a Virgin mary statue with matching Christmas tree, matching tin, rosary, a set of mini tarot cards from the Mysteries of Mary deck and a full booklet, explaining the art of casting, the practise of Benedicaria and explanations for each charms.

blessings

Hettienne