Virgin a Day - #6

(Image from here - click to enlarge) 

In an impressive and stirring way Christianity has consecrated the following legend to the Mother of God:

The Apostle Peter, sacristan of Paradise, was disturbed. And he said to the Lord God: “All day long I watch the gates of Paradise; I do not let anyone in, yet in the morning there are newcomers in Paradise.”

And the Lord said: “Let us make the rounds at night, Peter.”

So they went in the night and they saw the Holy Virgin lowering along the wall Her snow-white scarf, up which souls were climbing. Peter took this to heart and wanted to interfere, but the Lord whispered: “Sh... let be…”

Nicholas Roerich. To Womanhood. 1931

Here is more of what follows the above story:

... 

  The cult of the Mother of the World has been discovered in the ancient city of Kish, and the oldest literature of China has greeted the Mother of the World in inspired hymns. She is the Quick-to-Aid, She-of-the-Hundred-Hands and Of-the-Thousand Eyes, She Who protects by Her Veil all those who come for help. She, the Mother of the World, whether in the image of Kwan-Yin or in the bright colored mantle of the Madonna. 

     The marvelous Russian artist Maria Germanova, the Russian Duse, sent me last summer the following stirring and appealing letter which I am citing as a remarkable monument of the fiery heart of a woman.  

     This letter was the more appealing to the aspirations of our hearts, since the thought of a Woman’s Unity had crystallized itself with Mme. Roerich and myself into the forms of new organizations which, in the broadest measure, could summon the world to new constructions. In March, 1930, Mme. Roerich wrote to America of the need to organize a Woman’s Unity. And long before, the idea was formulated for the Altai Sisters—Sisters of the Golden Mountain. Frequently I hailed the women’s organizations. I also had written of the Great Mother of the World and the mysterious veil of Woman, and in this article, I asked, “Why, since antiquity, has the wreath been the true adornment of the woman’s brow? The wreath—that crown of achievement!” 

… Hence, in the name of this crown of Achievement, the letter of Mme. Germanova responded so greatly to our previous decisions. I quote it:

 “We lift our hearts to the Mountains… “There is an old proverb: ‘When the children are small, they are a burden for a Mother’s knees; When they grow up, for her heart.’ And, verily, children grow up, they outgrow us, they fly away from the nest; there is no more need to bathe, feed, clothe them; yet a Mother’s heart is just as full of cares, worries and prayers for her beloved ones. 

     “A Mother’s heart, a woman’s heart, is a great treasure. It kindles us, it lights up the family. Who taught you to pray? Who will understand and forgive? The Mother. The Woman. Who will inspire to a great task?—The Beloved One, The Friend—The Woman. 

     “Oftener and oftener, firmer and firmer, it is now being realized that the Era of the Woman has come, and many glowing lamps of the women’s hearts are kindled in solitude, in secrecy, and often in the bondage of darkness; but they are kindled by one fire—Love, by the beauty of Motherhood, of Womanhood. 

     “If only we could unite in the time of this Fire, if only we could know that we are not alone!—how lightly and joyously the flame of our hearts would rise. 

     “We, the Women, old, young, mothers, wives, friends, the happy and the lonely ones, if we were to gird ourselves by the might of Love, what a divine power would be erected, what resplendent harmony would take up arms against darkness and evil, to help all humanity, which at present is in unprecedented danger. 

     “We shall save the earth. We shall transform life. In the Unity of our hearts we do not have to gather in clubs and societies; read reports, give lectures; and abandon for these our dear ones and our homes. No. Verily in the Home we shall carry our Light. 

     “How much we can do! We shall cast ugliness, vulgarity, out of our everyday life, and we shall invite Beauty to come as a Guest into our homes. 

     “We shall sweep away the dust and the spider-webs, not only from the corners of our houses, but also from our relationships, words, thoughts—in order that our spirits may breathe easily; we shall think not only of the meal but also that there should be no poison for the spirit. Let us cast out the poison of quarrels, gossip, slander, and give the honored place at our table to the laughter of joy.

     “When departing on a journey, or to work, let us not only take care of trunks and expenses, but also send forth pure, benevolent thoughts and prayers. 

     “Yes, one cannot enumerate at one time all the possibilities of achievement which as a Promised Land lie before the Woman. 

     “We shall lay down our souls for our beloved Ones.

     “Jeanne d’Arc saved her country.

     “We, if united, shall save the earth..."  

Please visit Rebecca, who is hosting Virgin a Day for these first 12 days of December.

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From Matthew Fox's essay on the Black Madonna:

6. The Black Madonna calls us to our Divinity which is also our Creativity.

First, our Divinity. Because she is a goddess, the Black Madonna resides in all beings. She is the divine presence inside of creation. She calls us inside, into the “kingdom/queendom of God” where we can co-create with Divinity and feel the rush of Divinity’s holy breath or spirit. But to call us to Divinity is to call us to our responsibility to give birth.

If Carl Jung is correct when he says that creativity comes “from the realm of the mothers” then the Black Madonna, who is surely a realm of the mothers, calls us to creativity. She expects nothing less from us than creativity. Hers is a call to create, a call to ignite the imagination. What but our collective imaginations can succeed in moving us beyond our energy dependence on fossil fuels to an era of self-sustaining energy based on solar and renewable, clean fuels? What but an education in creativity can reinvent learning so that the joy and wonder and enticement of learning displaces our failing and boring educational systems? What but moral imagination can move us beyond the growing divide between materially impoverished nations and materially sated but spiritually impoverished nations?

The Black Madonna would usher in an era where more and more artists will get good work and thrive on good work and reawaken the human soul by way of moral and political imagination. [11]