Shrine to the Goddess

Image: Elżbieta Podleśna :: [Image: The Black Madonna of Częstochowa [Poland]

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“Of all humankind’s betrayals of its liberators, its betrayal of Christ is the hardest to bear. To create a clutch of hierarchical, mysogynistic, homophobic, dogmatic churches in the name of ‘the lover of lovers,’ the one who Teresa of Avila called ‘the wild and broken-hearted prince of love,’ is an almost demonic enterprise and one that has blinded us for centuries.”

Andrew Harvey

+++🙏🏻God Bless🕊️+++

Icon of the Virgin Sophia – Wisdom of God (Novgorod)

MEMORIAL DAY AUGUST 28

Eternal Wisdom, Christ our God! Having bowed the heavens by Your divine providence, You were pleased to settle in the womb of a Pure Virgin, breaking down the barrier of enmity, You sanctified our nature and revealed Your Kingdom to us, therefore We glorify You, our Creator and Savior, and Who gave birth to You, who served as the mystery of our salvation, the Pure Virgin.

yap below bc I REALLY need to talk about this in seriousness

Orthodox Christian icons of Sophia (Lady Wisdom) side-by-side with modern depictions by Eileen McGuckin.

O Wisdom, Who came out of the mouth of the Most High, reaching from end to end, resolutely and sweetly ordering all things: come and teach us the way of prudence.

In the void, before all beginnings, when only was God, A darkness mightier than the light came into flame. It blew, as breath must from that mouth of the Highest One.

A breath so sweet as then it honeyed creations' stars And warmed the love that God was showing In the Word and Spirit blowing.

God thought: 'Is this a void?'

Then Wisdom spoke: 'Not this, it is a darling night, a spreading horizon, It is good, so good'.

'Let it be so!' said God, 'let it be so!'

And so it was, for She, Wisdom is the Christ to come, Who though in Word and Flesh descended, Still now is wanted in the haunts of humankind!

For we hesitate before the light, Fear the understanding and the truth, And yet we yearn for Her, Agia Sophia, Christ our Mother and our teacher!

Source: (x)

Salve, Regina, mater misericordiae Vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve. Ad te clamamus, exsules, filii evae. Ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes in hac lacrimarum valle.

Eia ergo, Advocata nostra, illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos converte. Et Iesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui, nobis post hoc exsilium ostende. O clemens, O pia, O dulcis Virgo Maria.

Salve, Regina, mater misericordiae; vita, dulcedo et spes nostra, salve. Ad te clamamus exsules filii Hevae. Ad te suspiramus gementes et flentes in hac lacrimarum valle. Eia ergo, advocata nostra, illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos converte. Et Iesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui, nobis post hoc exsilium ostende. O clemens, o pia, o dulcis Virgo Maria.

V. Ora pro nobis, sancta Dei Genitrix. R. Ut digni efficamur promissionibus Christi.

Mother Garis Edelweiss @garisedelweiss The Cosmic Mother as AUM

“Once the mind is interiorized, and withdrawn from its identification with the world and with the body, the inner light comes into clear and steady focus. The inner sounds become all-absorbing. Aum fills the brain; its vibration moves down the spine, bursting open the door of the heart’s feeling, then flowing out into the body. The whole body vibrates with the sound of Aum.

“Gradually, with ever-deeper meditation, the consciousness expands with that sound. Moving beyond the confines of the body, it embraces the vastness of infinite vibration. You realize your oneness with all existence as Aum, the Cosmic Vibration.

“This state is known as Aum samadhi, or union with God as Cosmic Sound. Aum is that aspect of the Christian Trinity which is known as the Holy Ghost, or Word of God.

“By still deeper meditation, one perceives in the physical body, underlying the Aum vibration, the vibrationless calm of the Christ Consciousness, the reflection in creation of the unmoving Spirit beyond creation.

“In ancient spiritual tradition, the Christ Consciousness is spoken of as the Son. For just as, among human beings, the son is a reflection of the father, so in cosmic consciousness the Christ–in Sanskrit called Krishna, or Kutastha Chaitanya–reflects in all things the consciousness of God, the Father, beyond creation.

“By ever deeper meditation, one expands his awareness of the Christ Consciousness beyond the limits of the body to perceive his oneness finally with the Christ Consciousness, which underlies the manifested universe.

“By deeper meditation still, one goes beyond creation and unites his consciousness with that of the Father, Satchidananda, the vast ocean of Spirit.

“In these progressive stages of realization are discovered, in reverse order, the three aspects of the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

“Jesus was called the Christ. Most people are not aware that Christ wasn’t the name given him at birth. It was a title signifying ‘the anointed of God,’ or, ‘chosen by God.’ (Luke 23:35)

“In the same way, Krishna in India was really Jadava the Krishna–or Christna, as it is sometimes written to show that the meaning is the same.

“Jesus was a master. He had attained Christ Consciousness. Anyone who attains that state of consciousness may justifiably also be called the Christ, for he has dissolved his ego in the infinite consciousness.

“Aum, the Holy Ghost, is also referred to in ancient traditions as the Mother, for it represents the feminine aspect of God.

“The Roman Catholic Church teaches that one must go through the Mother to reach Christ. To them, of course, the Mother signifies Mary, the mother of Jesus. For all that, the truth is there, though far deeper than the generally accepted understanding of it.

“For, to reach Christ Consciousness, you must first unite your consciousness with Aum, the Cosmic Vibration.

International Women's Day :

The Divine Feminine is indeed international, superseding foolish borders created in man's imagination then forged in real blood. The apparition of La Virgen de Guadalupe unto “Juan Diego” is such an example. Her words in native Nahuatl to a humble Aztec man on the slopes of Tepeyac, the site of a destroyed Aztec goddess temple, bolstered the spirit of a brutalized Indigenous population who yet persists through continued colonization today, allowing original peoples of Mezoamerica to continue traditions and pass knowledge under the mantle of Her protection/disguise. The Florentine Codex of 1590 written in part by Catholic occupiers blatantly complains how after the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe the native Mexican people were still worshipping Mother Mary by the title Tonantzin (an honorific similar to “Our Lady” in the Nahuatl language) and with many of their same ancient rituals.

Although Mary mother of Jesus was internationally used as a tool of obstruction in hopes to be a replacement, She often became more co-conspirator with, rather than destroyer of, the people wherever She was taken by Europeans. Caribbean Vodun is perhaps the most famous example of such specific syncretization. Mary was already an international phenomenon for Europeans before their own international plunders, originating from a Middle Eastern Jewish tribe. The Gospel story itself tells how Mary had to flee empires within empires in Her lifetime as a refugee from one land to another to protect Her child. This intuitive, courageous resolution to move about is part of the actual divine meaning in the ancient etymology of the word “Virgin” which you can read more about on Patr3 on. The Roman Empire who executed the son of the Virgin Mary by their extremely common method of crucifixion is the same responsible for the creation of the Catholic Church who would then be in charge of crowning European rulers for centuries. They twisted the story of the Virgin and the meaning of Virginity from wild and free, unmarried, untamed, unclaimed by any man, controlled by no man, to the shameful sexual shit we know today.

Continuing my musings on international Goddesses via my visual work is Kali Ma of the Hindu pantheon. This brilliantly fierce Mother of Time, slayer of ego, recycler of souls, originates from the Indian peninsula of South Asia. Kali is still found in name and visage among the Romani people across Europe, a testament to their heritage. These nomadic folks have mistakenly been called “gypsy” (widely considered derogatory) with the incorrect assumption that their heritage lies in Egypt. See my previous Kali post about the theory that the term “calendar” was appropriated in ancient Rome from from the Romani people and their lunar “time calling” rituals with Kali. These histories truly make Kali an international divine feminine figure.

Although the compassionate Guan Yin (also spelled in the Roman alphabet as Quan Yin or Kwan Yin) is famous for hailing from China, She actually came from India originally as well. She was first honored as the male bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara as a personification of empathy and mercy prior to transforming to Her feminine form during the Song Dynasty in China. In the time between the deity had attributes of both genders but became increasingly associated with mother goddesses in Chinese culture. By the 12th century, She was interpreted as a female form in flowing robes as far as Japan where She is known as Kannon. If you Google search “Kannon” you will likely be first served the Wikipedia article for Guan Yin. Her transformation is well documented. She is a spirit who has traversed the distances and time and through gender as well making Her not just an international Goddess but also effectively a Trans Goddess. May we embody the empathy and compassion for all our sisters internationally no matter how they started life!

Goddess Art by PJ Superior: available as fine altar sized prints: