Images
Page VII
The Black Madonna
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I AM
Nature...
The universal
Mother, Mistress of all the elements, primordial child of time,
sovereign of all things spiritual, Queen of the dead, Queen also of
the immortals, the single manifestation of all gods and goddesses
that are. The primeval Phrygians call me Pessinuntica, or Cybele,
Mother of the gods; the Althenians, sprung from their own soil, call
me Cecropian Artemis; for the islanders of Cypress I AM Paphian
Aphrodite; for the archers of Crete I AM Dictynna, for the
trilingual Sicilians, Stygian Persephone, and for the Elusinians,
their Ancient Mother of the Corn, Demeter.
Some know me as
Juno, some as Bellona of the Battles; others as Hecate, others again
as Rhamnusia, Nemesis, But both races of Aethiopians, whose land the
morning Sun first shines upon, and the Egyptians who excel in
ancient learning and worship me with ceremonies proper to my
god-head call me by my true Name...
***
I have
this...fetish. I collect Black Madonnas. I never did the doll thing
when I was growing up, so this came as somewhat of a shock to
everyone. Dolls gave me the willies. Its a quasi-religious dogmatic
problem that I have no intention of getting any help for. ALL
of these statues and icons reside here at the house, making this one
of the largest personal collections of Black Madonnas in the United
States. When I get the second page done, I'll post some pictures of
the room they live in. It is however an expensive mentally aberrant
issue, so I thought I might as well share it with you. Don't you
love seeing people's neurosis spread all over the internet? I know I
do. So, for your consideration...

The
Woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might
fly to the place prepared for her in the desert, where she would be
taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent's
reach." ---Revelations 12:14.

The
original Virgin (1734) is placed in the Main Retable at the San
Francisco Church (Iglesia de San Francisco) in Quito-Ecuador. This
is completely done in hand carved polychromed cedar wood. And She's
one of the coolest Madonnas I own. :)

An
ancient statue of The Lady and Child was brought from Egypt to
northern France at the same time of the Crusades by three knights of
the Order who had been captured by Saracens and later released. It
was enshrined at Liesse, near Laon, in the diocese of Soissons
(France). The original statue was destroyed during the French
Revolution, but the medieval basilica at Liesse remained a center of
devotion to the Mother of God: a new statue was installed and
crowned there in 1857. Our Lady of Liesse is the patron of the
diocese of Soissons and the focus of pilgrimages, especially an
annual pilgrimage on Whit Monday.
***
This is
one of the few Black Madonnas I have from France. The rest are from
all over, but the one from France that I'm desperately searching for
is Notre Dame de Luminaires. If anyone has one, let me know what you
want for it. I'll gladly trade charts! Actually, I'd trade my
firstborn, but he's kinda big, and makes his own mind up about where
he wants to go. :)

Mary
Magdalene, the Woman that knew the All...This is the Mary
Magdalene of the Templars and Masons, the Apostle, the Companion and
the Wife of The Christ. She also appears VERY pregnant in this
picture. My allegiance begins here ~ This is a beautiful picture of
her that I have on my wall. It looks to have been done in the 30's
or 40's sometime. Maybe as late as the 50's, but I don't think so.
Anyway, this is also another aspect of the Black Madonna. She is the
Black Madonna of the Templar Knights.

Another
Mary Magdalene this one is an 'icon' which is supposedly a window
into the spiritual world or a window into the house of God.
Contemplating on an icon leads to some pretty freaky spiritual
experiences. :)


The
Carmelite Virgin ~ This statue is exquisite and REALLY hard to
photograph. She stands over 15 inches tall, another one with the
base. She is done completely in silver, with gold highlights around
the crown and hair. It is marked 800 silver, made in Italy. This is
definitely a Church piece. Since I do have such a thing about Black
Madonnas, I'm
letting Her go into the natural state of tarnish, and She looks
great. This is when She was all cleaned up for pictures.

This
is Notre Dame.
This
is a breathtaking wall niche, complete with gargoyles. It
doesn't get much cooler than gargoyles. Notre Dame, I know,
you're thinking "Good football team." But this is
much more than that...Proceeded by a Gallo-Roman temple to
Jupiter, a Christian basilica, and a Romanesque church,
construction of Notre-Dame de Paris began in 1163 during the
reign of Louis VII. Pope Alexander III laid the foundation
stone. The idea to replace the Romanesque church occupying the
site - the Cathedral of St. Etienne (founded by Childebert in
528) - was that of Bishop Maurice de Sully (who died in 1196).
(Some accounts claim that there were two churches existing on
the site, one to the Virgin Mary, the other to St. Stephen.)
Construction was completed roughly 200 years later in about
1345. It was the first huge building project dedicated to Our
Lady that the Templars started. However, they were outlawed
relatively shortly before in 1307, and it became a moot point.
The Catholic Church and the French king Phillippe went after
the Templars with a vengeance on October 13, 1307.

Nuestra
Señeora Aparecida-- 
Also
known as the Madonna of the
Apparation from Brazil. I actually have two of them, this one and
another, much younger one formed of plaster. This appears to have
been a church or a private shrine piece since she was very lovingly
carved in wood, and has survived the last couple of hundred years or
so to finally arrive here---a resting place and haven for all of the
Madonnas, either Black or White...May the Ladies bless and keep all
of you ~ May the Morning Star shine gently on your face, and the
Evening Star show you the path home...may the Star of the Sea bring
you safely home with your nets full and your hearts free...
***
She
is between 300 -350 years old, believed to be originally from the
18th century, She stands 21 inches tall, and 5 inches across. This
one is not holding a child, and is standing, as are most of the
later era Black Madonnas...the Byzantinian Madonnas are for the most
part, seated with the Child placed centrally. It wasn't until later
that the Madonnas started standing, with the Child cradled in Her
arms.

As
you can see, there is a small amount of the polychrome left from
many Moons ago, when She was painted. This is the biggest tell right
here that not only was She always a Black Madonna, but She is
somewhat of a heretic, like me... According to the dictates of the
Church of Rome, The virgin was ALWAYS to be portrayed in blue, or
pink, or a rose colored red. Only in pictures of her at the cross
was she allowed to wear any other color in any painting or carving.
This one was at one time wearing a red crown. That would have been
forbidden, especially since the colors of the Esoteric Church were
black, red and white.
***

This
is another interpretation, or rendition of the Carved one right
above---This is Nuestra Señeora Aparecida. Our
Lady of the Apparition. The two don't look that much alike unless
you know what you are looking for. They both have the same crown,
hands folded in prayer, no child and there is a design down the
front of the gown that gives it away... Here is Her story---She is
one manifestation of "The Star of the Sea..."
In 1716,
three fishermen were working the Paraíba river. That day the nets
they hauled in do not contain any fish, but an artistic terra-cotta
figure of Our Lady of the Conception. Legend has it that once the
image was placed in the ship, the fish were almost jumping in the
boat. The fishermen, afraid of the abundance that started with the
Lady returned to port for fear that the small fishing boat would
sink under the weight of their miraculous fortune.
It is
not known how image arrived at the bottom of the river, but it is
known Her sculptor, Frei Agostino de Jesus, a Rio de Janeiro monk of
Sao Paulo that created The image, made Her around 1650, and
She remained submerged in the Paraía for many years until Her
glazing and polychrome wore off, and left Her a shining dark
color.
The Dark
Virgin is clothed in a rigid fabric mantle--- heavily and
richly embroidered, so that only Her Hands and Face are visible,
While Her hands are in set in continuous prayer. She wears the RED
imperial crown, of gold and precious stones, with which She was
crowned in 1904.
Pio
XII proclaimed the Lady a miracle, and sent Her a holiday and day of
celebration, October 12th has now been declared a National Holiday.
The Virgin Appeared to Juan Pablo in Her sanctuary, concediédole tíulo
of Basíica. Days before, someone intentionally tried to destroy the
Virgin by throwing Her to the ground. Although the
figure made in fragile clay was divided in many pieces, the love and
the careful work of several artists and experts managed to
reconstruct it perfectly and the repaired Virgin returned to her
niche in the basíica. She is another miracle working Black Madonna
that seems to populate the Earth...
You know
what's REALLY strange? You should see all the Black Madonnas that
are found or discovered by cattle or bulls. Harking back to Hathor,
perhaps?? Either that or they decided to blame it on the
livestock...shades of Gary Larson? BTW... I'm also an incorrigible
heretic.

This
is Notre Dame de Bonne de Deliverance ~ 
Our Lady of
Deliverance.
I have
absolutely NO clue...but She did come all the way from France to be
here. She needs a lot of repair work that I'll get to as soon as I
get the rest of my life straightened out. {Yeah...like that will be
real soon. Hope She's not in any hurry...}
I found
Her fascinating for several reasons---first, they DO NOT make Her
anymore, at all. She is also wearing the French National colors.
She's the only Blonde Black Madonna and Child I've ever seen--- She
is definitely something of an enigma...I have a bit more research to
do on Her---She has a marking on Her dating Her to at least the
1930's.

This
is another rendition of the Virgin Mary. This one has the Virgin
standing on the crescent Moon and crushing the serpent under her
foot. She is under going reconditioning. All the lacquer has been
stripped off and She is being conditioned with only the finest
essential oils, mostly Benzoin, Neroli, Vetiver, Jasmine,
Frankincense and Myrrh. She's looking good!

  
On the
mountain named Montserrat, near Barcelona, in the Catalonia region
of Spain, a church now contains a 'miracle-working' statue of the
Madonna and Child known as La Moreneta, that is: the dark little
one. Legend relates that the miraculous image was first known as La
Jerosolimitana (the native of Jerusalem), since it is believed to
have been carved in that city during the early days of the church.
Another account, seemingly well-attested, indicates that the image
was moved to Montserrat in 718, to avoid the danger posed by
invading Saracens.
The
image disappears from the historical record at this point, to
reappear in a legend holding that shepherds found the lost statue
under supernatural guidance in 890: While tending their flocks that
night the shepherds were amazed to see lights and to hear singing
coming from the mountain. When this was repeated, the shepherds
reported the situation to their priest, who investigated. When the
priest also heard the singing and saw the mysterious lights, he
informed the Bishop, and he also witnessed the phenomenon. The
statue of Our Lady was discovered in a cave and was brought out and
placed in a small church that was soon erected. However, the statue
presently kept at the Montserrat shrine appears to have been
introduced in the twelfth or thirteenth century. Its Romanesque
style is consistent with this estimate.
Beyond
general style, the genre of the statue is certainly that of an
'enthroned virgin', typical of the earliest icons of Mary. On behalf
of Madonna and Child representations, Stephen Benko notes: It is
well known that the iconography of Isis and [her son] Horus was
basically adopted by Christians when they started to portray Mary
and Jesus as Mother and Child." Benko adds that Isis was
sometimes "pictured as black". These observations indicate
only a correlation, not a causal relationship. They do not answer
the question why the Montserrat figures or over 1,000 of the world's
better known Madonnas are black.
The
present copy could have reproduced the general style with
adaptations to accommodate Romanesque taste. However, no less likely
is the theory that the present copy was modeled on the Christian
genre of the enthroned Virgin. Why then the black color of the
figures? Perhaps it was done in imitation of earlier Christian Black
Madonnas the sculptor had seen. This sounds plausible, but is
unsupported by hard data. Maybe it was inspired by the commentaries
on the Song of Songs ["I am black but beautiful"] which
were popular at that time. Again, there is no evidence of this
beyond the temporal coincidence of events. On the negative side,
Montserrat is located in Spain, not in France where St. Bernard of
Clairvaux ( the nephew of one of the original nine Knight Templars)
and others produced well-known commentaries on the Canticles.
Perhaps the image was created black to represent some esoteric
religious symbolism. Ean Begg notes that the Shrine of Montserrat is
among the best candidates for former sanctuaries for the Holy Grail.
Further, in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries esoteric Christian
sects proliferated, though not primarily in Spain. Again, these are
correlations and speculations, not proofs.
The
statue has always been considered one of the most celebrated images
in Spain. However, like Our Lady of Einsiedeln in Switzerland, its
popularity is limited to a regional rather than a universal scope.
Also, the shrine has received innumerable pilgrims over the years,
currently at the rate of at least one million per year. This
multitude includes secular and ecclesial rulers as well as a number
of canonized Saints. The most notable of these was St. Ignatius of
Loyola, who laid down his sword and embarked on his religious
mission "after spending a night praying before the image",
a miracle in the order of grace.
This is
the Black Madonna of Montserrat. La Virgen de Montserrat or La
Moreneta. I actually have another one that no one is allowed to see.
Kinda like the president's invisible plane. However, the one that I
pay homage to is not for public consumption. Like my angel once said
when I asked him why he didn't appear to everyone so that I could
prove that I wasn't crazy, "If I wanted everyone to see me, I'd
rent a hall." This is a wall plaque, hanging on my wall that I
show to everyone that asks what's in the shrine. Note that She
is VERY Egyptian looking..

This
is another version of Notre Dame de Monserrat...Another one in the
collection. I would say *MY* collection, but I really have this
sneaking suspicion that they have collected me...

Vierge
Noir en Mejeste Tournemira
Another
French Black Madonna...This one is finished and dressed in gold,
richly elegant and formal...This one is a real stretch to call it
the Mother of Christ. At least, the Catholic Church
was hard pressed to have Her renamed as Mary, Virgin Mother of God.
But to save face, that is exactly what they did...This one is more
than likely another one from all over France that either symbolizes
Mary Magdalene, or has Her connections going back to Isis, or just
the very primal Mother of All.
Another
Madonna I have some research to do on. I was recently informed that
She is not who I thought She was by a very talented lady. You can
reach her website here:
www.majakbredell.com
So far,
it looks like She resides in chateau d'Anjony, which
is the ancestral home of Joan of Arc's sponsor, Rene de Anjou.
As soon as I get more information I will post it here. And do visit
Majak's site. She has some very deeply moving art.

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