Sophia's Children

Coming up on the Feminine Mojo Show - December Guests

Tune in to The Feminine Mojo Show for these upcoming dynamic and inspired conversations on "The Mystic & the Leader" (transformation and leadership), the Divine Feminine & Your Creative Soul, and "Sophia, Gnosis & Restoring Sanity", all coming up in December -- starting tomorrow, December 8th.

Read on for the details and links. Shows are live as scheduled, and you can listen-in at a later time via the Feminine Mojo Show archives at BlogTalkRadio.

Wednesday, December 8th at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time (9:00 in New Delhi, India) -- The Mystic & the Leader - Transformation and Leadership with Indraneil Mukerjee. Listen in (and join the conversation) as I speak with Indraneil about his own journey on The Mystic's Path to sacred relationship with the Divine Mother, and how those encounters and experiences influenced (and influence) his own life and work as a transformation and leadership consultant and writer. What does leadership look like when it's sourced from and guided by Wisdom? Indraneil will join me from India to explore just that. Learn more about Indraneil, this show, and archived shows at the Feminine Mojo Show page.

Tuesday, December 14th at 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time (12:30 Pacific Time) -- The Divine Feminine & Your Creative Soul, with Kathy Crabbe. Join us for a conversation about the Divine Feminine, tuning in to Lunar wisdom, and cultivating your intuition and creative soul. Kathy is an artist and a creative soul guide who works with women to inspire creative soul. Learn more about Kathy, this show, and other archived shows at the Feminine Mojo Show page.

Wednesday, December 29th at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time (8:00 p.m. Andalucia, Spain & Euro Time) -- Sophia, Gnosis & Restoring Sanity through Ancient Mystery Teachings, with author & scholar, John Lamb Lash. John's book, Not in His Image: Gnostic Vision, Sacred Ecology and the Future of Belief, is one of my favorites. John will join me from Spain for a conversation on December 29th to discuss what the ancient Mystery teachings and the Sophia Myth teach us about the influences that divert us from our heart & wisdom (Divine Human), and how those teachings guide us to use our Divine gifts well, reconnect with Gaia-Earth, re-member Sophia, and restore heart and sanity. Learn more about John, this show, and check out the show archives at The Feminine Mojo Show at BlogTalkRadio.

Previous shows feature Ronna Detrick for Renegade Conversations, Lucia Rene on Unplugging the Patriarchy, David Hillman on the Ancient Greeks & Powerful Priestesses, and other fabulous people.

More on The Feminine Mojo Projects and other inspirations can be found at Ivy Sea Online.

Have a merry and magical holiday season!

FeMojo Blessings,

Jamie

Bottom image: detail from John William Waterhouse 'Circe'

The Black Madonna's Calling

The Black Madonna was calling to me today, so I thought I'd write her.

I knew nothing about the Black Madonna until October 2005, when my journey through the Dark Night and a series of synchronicities led me to her, literally, in France (I've written about this crucial meeting in previous blog posts).

Up until Autumn 2005, I had no context for the series of initiations I was in the midst of, and initiation without context or guides is sheer confusion.

What's feared is hidden, and what's powerful is hoarded, and both are true relative to the Black Madonna. She is Christianity's largely unknown Dark Goddess, drawn from much older pre-Christian traditions. She has come to symbolize what's hidden or marginalized, whether through suppression or oppression.

But just because we don't know about her doesn't mean her influence isn't present in our lives. As I learned, she was present. As I came to learn, hers was a profoundly dynamic and transformative influence, even ruthless as she separates us from false identities and attachments.

This is like Kali, the powerful Goddess of the Hindu pantheon who is shown holding a severed head and a bloody sword, with her foot on a lifeless body and wearing a skirt of skulls. Positively terrifying, right?

Well, it is terrifying, and horrifying, particularly without a clue of what's really wanting to happen when we experience Life's initiations without the wisdom-rich stories of the Black Goddess, or Black Virgin.

Kali, in her terrifying depiction, is the slayer of illusion, of false belief, the fake identity, the power-giveaways that keep us from living fully as we truly are. We wear all sorts of masks and armors in order to be accepted, to be loved, and to be invulnerable.

If you're on the transformation path, these masks and armors are all 'bulls-eye' targets. The masks are shattered, the false beliefs dissolved, and the armor is cracked open. It's about liberation of heart and soul, ultimately.

It is the quintessential 'trial by fire', with the fire burning away the dross to expose the Love that we, at our hearts, are.

Similarly, the Black Madonna -- the name and face that came to me to teach me through initiation -- wants to liberate our hearts and our minds so we can more fully and joyfully be ourselves, without the masks and heart-freezing armor.

She is our Initiatrix into the Mysteries of life and our own true nature; it is she who teaches us to dance through, rather than fear, uncertainty and the cycles of life, death, and regeneration. Her names are as varied as cultures: Kali, Pele, Black Madonna, Hecate, the initiated Persephone, Sophia...the list goes on.

The poet, author, and scholar Robert Graves (The White Goddess, etc.) wrote that in earlier times, 'black' and 'dark' was synonymous with 'wise' So Black Goddess was the wise Feminine. As a fear-centered culture spread, 'black' and 'dark' became associated with 'evil', as did anything else that wasn't understood.

The Black Madonna, as any fiery, initiating transformation Goddess, is really about wholeness as well as wisdom, and so she is an energy and consciousness that leads us on a path of  recognizing the wholeness we already are, beneath the layers of fear and false belief that we're perpetually flawed 'sinners'. And through that path, we find our wisdom.

As a culture, we're being called to recognize wholeness, and we're called to wisdom, and this is the sacred ground of the Black Madonna, Sophia, by any of her names. And so as a culture we're experiencing a Dark Night of the Soul, an initiation of grand scale.

Remember that what's being birthed is wholeness and wisdom -- that we're able to bring the fullness of our hearts into life.

For those of you who've felt the call, or find yourself on the initiatory path, I've written other entries here at Sophia's Children about my experiences with the Black Madonna, and Sophia; and I'll be writing more.

And my friend Kim Gould and I will be sharing more about the 'Masks' and 'Descent & Initiation' (and Emergence & Integration!) cycles -- and the Black Madonna and others -- in our upcoming "Reclaim your Feminine Mojo & Express it in the World" tele- and eBook series. (Note: the response to our first Summer tele-series was so positive that we're scheduling another one.)

Blessings on the Way,

Jamie

Image: Painting of Our Lady of Częstochowska, the Black Madonna favored by the late Pope John Paul II, and used as a symbol of liberation by Lech Walesa and the Solidarity Movement.

The Way of Mary Magdalene

Who was Mary Magdalene, really?

And why is this question important at all given that we're talking about a woman who lived 2,000 years ago, and about whom we have only slender references?

Over the past several weeks, once again, Mary Magdalene has been coming up (along with Lilith), and that's usually a clue to pay attention to what's arising.

Such questions seem to arise in force when the answer is important to the times, it seems. And this seems a question whose time has come, if all of the movies and books offer a clue.

Mary Magdalene resurfaces in our collective consciousness as part of a general rise of the Feminine and the Goddess.

Most of us grew up with the notion that Mary Magdalene was a repenting prostitute, if we heard of her at all. More recently, we've learned that she was a very close companion of Jesus, one of his devoted disciples, 'the apostle of apostles', according to gospel references.

The bible doesn't actually say that Magdalene was a prostitute; we have a sixth century sermon by Pope Gregory 'the Great' to thank for that, and though it 'stuck' for centuries, it's since been debunked as lie or misinterpretation.

The film, The DaVinci Code, brought Mary Magdalene into even greater visibility, raising the possibility and stimulating conversation and debate about whether she was the wife as well as disciple of Jesus. While this is interesting, to me it seems a distraction from the more important question, and greater likelihood, that she was a spiritual adept, priestess, early church leader, and teacher in her own right.

In the preface of The Gospel of Mary Magdalene by Jean-Yves Leloup, David Tresemer, PhD, and Laura-Lee Cannon, write:

"...Mary Magdalene focuses on the inner worlds of initiation. We imagine that, not through outer pomp and pageantry, but through gnosis or direct knowing, she seeks union with the Divine. Hers is the path of the sacred marriage, accomplished within."

They continue, "Her path emphasizes inner preparation, introspection, and inner transformation. Perhaps, in addition, she also represents the feeling world; she carries the sensitivity of sensuality, in the truest meaning of the word, finding the divinity in the senses."

She's also seen, in the various gospels, as one who 'gets it' -- one who has truly understood and experienced the teachings of the wisdom master, the rabbi Jesus. The scholar John Lamb Lash has explored this indepth in his writings on Mary Magdalene and the resurgence of the Feminine.

Yet Mary Magdalene, according to the gospels and more recent scholarly writings about her, was one who, in addition to an emphasis on the inner Mysteries, engaged in the world.

She is portrayed as a teacher and adept, yes, but also as one who is devoted in action -- it is she, with two other women, for example, who don't flee the threats at the crucifixion.

They remain there, present, witnessing, and perhaps 'holding the space' through their attention and devotion. It is Magdalene who goes to the tomb with the sacred oils, and it is to her that the risen Jesus first appears and gives the instruction to 'go tell the others what you have seen'. Because Mary Magdalene is one who has seen.

Joan Chittester, OSB, in her book The Friendship of Women: The Hidden Tradition of the Bible, writes this of Magdalene:

"The Magdalene quality of friendship is what distinguishes those who walk with us through the shallows of life from those who take the soundings of our soul and follow us into the depths of them...Intimacy, the Magdalene quality, is about appreciation, affection, and warmth...it is about being deeply valued, reverently respected, lovingly tended, and warmly received." (p. 83)

In these reflections we begin to see why the question of who Mary Magdalene really was is important -- why these ways and qualities are so needed in our lives and in our world now. We see how the path of inner transformation and devotion to wisdom enlivens these beautiful qualities of sensuality, devotion, intimacy, dignity, wisdom, and deep respect and reverence for all as Divine expressions of sacredness.

Who was Mary Magdalene, and what does she offer us now? The explorations continue...

Wild & Beautiful Blessings,

Jamie

Join us in the The Academy of the Divine Feminine - Explore Magdalene and other Goddess-Feminine energies and archetypes, and reclaim & express your Feminine Mojo ... Learn more...

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Listen to the Feminine Mojo Show on BlogTalkRadio, with guests talking about Mary Magdalene, Sophia, the Mysteries, the Divine Feminine, and more.

* Image Credit: Leonardo Davinci's Mary Magdalene; Mary Magdalene by Richard Stodart (purchase the print here).