Category: art novena lady of lourdes

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Day 2 Walking with Mary 2020

Welcome to Day 2 of the thirty day online retreat
Walking with Mary as well as the
Nine Day Art Novena to Lady of Lourdes
This morning we step into our sacred space once again.
Over time you may become aware of how the energy
‘builds up’ and gather in your space.
The more often we repeat the same prayer and mantra, the more
powerful it becomes.
Yesterday we started with a mantra to invoke a blessing and sacrament from Mary on our sacred work
Should you want to, you can repeat this invocation daily.

Today, place your deck of cards on your altar for consecration.  
We will draw a card for the week.
If you own a set of Amulets of Mary, then place these onto your altar as well.

My deck of cards placed on altar

Today I also added my journal and will start writing down any insights
that flow to me.

Then repeat the  mantra of invocation to bless your deck of cards.



Mantra for blessing and sanctification of altar and cards

Ave Maria Sanctum Gloriae
Ave Maria Sanctum Gloriae
Ave Maria Sanctum Gloriae
OM

Repeat the full mantra 3 or 6 times.  You can keep count with your rosary
or prayer beads. Then place your hands on your shawl and move to the rosary
and all items on your altar.  Place your hands on the container with water.  If you choose
to drink the water afterwards, keep a small amount for the next day.  You can
daily add to the water and by the end of the thirty days you will have water
with powerful healing properties. 

You can add this healing (holy) water to your bath or food or drink it.

As always we start with a prayer to Mary

Daily Prayer

In the Mysteries of the Mother
all the opposites are joined
Hail Mary
Ave Maria


When you have said the prayer with intent and focus, pick up your rosary
 and repeat the daily mantra.
Please complete the rosary at least twice and a 108 bead mala at least once.
As you become more comfortable, or if you are already a seasoned meditator,
then repeat this mantra up to 6 times around the rosary.
For a mantra we use the rosary in the same way as we do a mala or prayer beads :
you move the beads one by one through your fingers,
repeating the line of the mantra on each bead.

The Mantra

Om Jai Mata Mary Ma

Sit quietly for a few minutes, just allowing yourself absorb the energy you have invoked.
Enjoy it …… feel the presence of the Sacred embracing you, flowing all around you.
We rejoice in our physical nature, appreciating this time to pause and remember the holy
purpose of our lives.  We feel gratitude for those travelling with us on this path of love
and freedom.  Feel a smile forming on your face.  You are happy to be here in this
peaceful inner place.  Let there be peace.  Gently refocus on the outer world and carry this peace
with you into the world.

Now pick up your deck of cards and choose one card. Place the card on your altar and leave
it there for the remainder of the week.  Do not interpret the card as you normally would,
but let her speak to you.  You may want to keep your journal or a piece of paper at hand
and make a few notes every morning.
Every morning when you sit down for your communion with Mary, gaze on the card
for a second and when you have completed your mantra, write down any 
thoughts, feelings, sensations, without judgement and analysis.
At the end of the seven days you will have a deeper understanding of not only the
card, but of Mary and of yourself.

Close your communion with repeating the prayer again.

As you feel your heart filled with peace and gratitude to the blessings received from
Mary, the Rose of the World, you can scatter some of your fresh flower petals, or sprinkle some
of your blessed water, over her image.

thank you
thank you
thank you

And so it is.

I invite you to participate in the Nine Day Art Novena
of Our Lady of Lourdes.  For nine consecutive years,
and for these nine days of the year I have created a piece
of art dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes.
You can read about this sacred practise and my previous
sharings on my blog Cloister of the Heart.
The second day of the Art Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes.
For these nine days of devotion and inspiration, I chose
to focus on the fairy tale aspect of this miraculous event
in our world.  One may be taken aback at first glance :
how is it possible to diminish the incredible power and
miracle of the apparitions of the Lady of Lourdes
to that of a mere fairy tale?  But I am proposing that
fairy tales are not mere childhood fantasies and bedtime stories.
They are a powerful collection of mythic and archetypal tales
as well as a secret and esoteric guide book for the wisdom
and understanding of a divine feminine path.
Aerial view of candles in procession at any night of the week
at the Lourdes sanctuary – these are people from all religious and spiritual
paths, drawn here by Mary
Fairy tales have certain characteristics in common which distinguish
them from other stories.
– Fairy tales take place in an enchanted world where
natural laws do not apply.  In this world animals can speak
and invisible beings of light become visible to the pure of heart.
– The heroine of the fairy tale understands that the miraculous
and supernatural is a natural part of our world.
– A fairy tale always starts in the ordinary world and the
main characters always return to the ordinary world, with new
gifts and understanding.
– Fairy tales always take place somewhere in nature, be it a valley,
a cave, or a field outside a village or city
– In many fairy tales the protagonist or heroine is set certain
challenges which she has to overcome in order to reach some goal
– in fairy tales both the helpers, guides and antagonists
are women :  we see mainly the young girl as the protagonist and
helpers and antagonists in the guise of old women, queens,
stepmothers, grandmothers, wise old women and witches.
– and in fairy tales good magic always triumphs over the bad. 


St Bernadette, Handmaiden of Roses
Mysteries of Mary Tarot Deck


Over the next six days we will explore how the story of
a young girl, Bernadette Soubirous, from the small village
outside Lourdes, fits into the frame work of the fairy tale.
And what does this mean for us?

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).


The Handless Maiden whose hands miraculously grew back
when she reached into the well to save her child
IX Roses in Mysteries of Mary Tarot Deck



“We are now, I believe, on the threshold of a third stage which I call the stage of the sacred marriage. This is the only position we could possibly take and still survive. This is a stage beyond both matriarchy and patriarchy. It involves the restoration to human respect of all of the rejected powers of the feminine. But it is absolutely essential that this restoration should be accomplished in the deep spirit of the sacred feminine. Not only should we invoke the sacred feminine, restore the sacred feminine, but this union between the matriarchal and the patriarchal, the sacred marriage, must be accomplished in the spirit of the sacred feminine for it to be real, effective, rich, and fecund. It must occur in her spirit of unconditional love, in her spirit of tolerance, forgiveness, all-embracing and all-harmonizing balance, and not, in any sense, involve a swing in the other direction.”


― Andrew Harvey, The Return of the Mother

Amulets of Mary Lady of Lourdes
The French Madonna @ etsy.com

Novena for Day Two :

I open myself to the spirit of the sacred feminine as embodied
and demonstrated by Blessed Mary and Bernadette Soubirous and the temenos
of Lourdes.  I invoke the sacred feminine
presence to cultivate the inner garden for the hieros gamos, 
the sacred marriage within myself and my world 
blessings
Hettienne
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Day 8 of Art Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes

Fire and Light

Fire and light are both powerful  symbols and alchemical agents
of transformation
and they play an important role in myth,
fairy tale and religious stories and rites.

I took this picture during a full moon on the Nativity of Mary
at the light procession at the sanctuary of Lourdes

In the story of Bernadette and the Soubirous family we
learn that Bernadette’s father, a miller by craft and trade,
had fallen on hard times and the family had lost everything.
To earn money he undertook to dispose of waste materials from
the local hospital.  He took the bloodied and putrid bandages
in a small wooden wagon and set off
to the grotto of Massabielles where he built a big fire

‘There arises an evil-smelling pyramid of
blood-soaked cotton, pus-stained bandages,
and filthy linen rags…quickly he tosses his box
of matches to set the heap on fire…The horrid
combustible pyramid flares up on the instant…
this strange sacrificial pyre, whose smoke, graciously
accepted by Heaven, rises in a straight line.
extract from The Song of Bernadette

a vestal virgin in Rome
A shrine of Bernadette Soubirous with the
candles of Lourdes

Fire is of great importance to us.  We use it to
cook our food and to keep warm in winter.
The hearth and its fire has always been a symbol
of the divine presence of the Deity who
provides and supplies us with what we need.
The candle is also seen as the flame of the Soul.
Those with mystical sight can see the flame that
is alit on the crown of the awakened ones.

The crown on top of the basilica of Our Lady of Lourdes

One can see the halo of a burning flame with the naked eye
and holy ones and awakened ones are often
drawn with similar halos.

Even though we understand how fire is created, it remains
a mystical ocurrence with miraculous abilities.
Similarly, as prana is ignited in the body (spontaneously
or through spiritual practice) and involuntary and
unexpected changes take place in both the mind, the body
and the heart, it is a wondrous mystical occurrence.
As inner sight develops and extra sensory perception
and a vast peace eventually settles in your being,
one feels drawn to make these events manifest in ritual
and practise.

Since ancient days a candle was kept alit in the temples and cities
as an offering to the heavens and as a sign of the unwavering spirit.
This is still the practise at Lourdes and also at Kildare where
the Brigidine nuns keep the flame lit.

The candles at the sanctuary of Lourdes are
kept burning 27 hours a day
Radiant Mary, shine radiantly upon me.
Bright Lady who illuminates my inner darkness
Yours is the incorruptible fire;
As it is clean, it cleanses; as it is pure, it purifies.
Taken in my garden in the most eastern corner
at dawn

blessings

Hettienne
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Day 28 and Day 5



Blessings to you and welcome to Days 28 and 5 of this dual
devotion and ritual.

When we read that the Radiant Lady at Lourdes stands over the wild rose bush
and that she has golden roses on her bare feet, we realise that she is deeply identified with roses, as was Our Lady of Guadalupe. The rose just seems to be the most easily recognizable symbol for the flowering of differentiated consciousness or the unique divine spark. 
The Lady of Guadalupe brought forth roses in cold December and wrapped them tenderly in an ordinary tilma worn by an old Indian peasant. This is an image of wrapping consciousness in the outer cover of our human body, something that a mother does when she conceives a human life. It is something that the earth does when she provides us with the material for a human body. Or, another way to look at it, is that creation itself – the material world – is a wonderful cloak that covers the radiant divinity.
Juan Diego had something in common with the Lady who came to him on the hill of Tepeyac. They each had a cloak that was made of the fabric of created reality. She gave him a visual aid in order to teach him and us about this. She imprinted her picture graphically so that Her cloak – the entire cosmos – can now be seen upon his rough one.  This Lady is not interested in dogma or ideologies; she interfaces with us to teach us about our personal rose – our inner divinity – which is trying to become incarnate here.



The woman at Lourdes refuses to give any other name but to say “I am the Immaculate Conception.” She does not say, as the Church would have Jesus’ mother say, “I am the virgin Mary who has been immaculate from the moment of my conception.” (conceived and born without sin of any kind) She says that she IS the Immaculate Conception. The Lady of the Grotto is the embodiment of the cosmos speaking to us as an aspect of God’s own Being. She shows us the breathlessly beautiful immaculate plan – God’s conception of materiality. She is telling us that she is an image of our created, material nature, which is nothing less than a cloak that covers divinity. She uses every means available to communicate to us about who we are and what will help us.
At Guadalupe she used symbolism that the Aztecs would understand. It spoke instinctively to the Spaniards, as well. She uses symbols and language that will help her immediate hearers to understand for their own purposes. As the late mythographer Joseph Campbell has pointed out, different religious traditions are like software that helps the “computer” to function. It is usually best for people to stay within their tradition, if it is helping them to function. So this woman relates within those belief systems, but is not at all confined to them.

The Pre-Christian Apparition of Queen Isis

Painting of Isis by Hettienne


In conjunction with Lourdes, it is necessary to speak more about Queen Isis whose lore is still embedded in the Christian mythology from its ancient roots in Judaism while it lingered in Egypt. The Lady of the Lourdes grotto asked specifically for processions. Queen Isis loved grottoes and processions. Processions to the goddess are as old as recorded history. What child of the pre-Vatican Catholic Church does not recall the May processions and the joy of strewing flowers in the path of the statue that represented Mary? It was a way of showing our deep devotion to our “Queen of Heaven.” She was “Queen of the angels and Queen of the May!” Bernadette referred at times to the Lady as  “The Queen of Heaven” or “The Beautiful Lady.”

We have an account, still extant, of an apparition granted by Queen Isis in ancient times that further points to the identity of the marvelous woman still appearing today. It comes from the book “The Golden Ass” written by Apuleius, an initiate of Isis, the night before he walked in her procession in 150 A.D. Here is his testimony that records the words spoken by the apparition that stood before him then:

“I am she that is the natural mother of all things, mistress and governess of all the elements, the initial progeny of worlds, chief of the powers divine, queen of all that are in hell, the principal of all that dwell in heaven, manifested alone and under one form of all the gods and goddesses. At my will the planets of the sky, the wholesome winds of the seas, and the lamentable silences of hell are disposed; my name, my divinity is adored throughout the world, in divers manners, in variable customs, and by many names.

For the Phrygians that are the first of all men call me the Mother of the gods of Pessinus; the Athenians, which are sprung from their own soil, Cecropian Minerva; the Cyprians, which are girt about by the sea, Paphian Venus; the Cretans, which bear arrows, Dictynian Diana; the Sicilians, which speak three tongues, infernal Proserpine; the Eleusinians, their ancient goddess Ceres; some Juno, others Belonna, others Hecate, others Ramnusie, and principally both sort of the Ethiopians, which dwell in the Orient and are enlightened by the morning rays of the sun; and the Egyptians, which are excellent in all kind of ancient doctrine, and by their proper ceremonies accustomed to worship me, do call me by my true name, Queen Isis.” (Occidental Mythology, p. 42-43 – from The Masks of God series).

 When she appeared to Apuleius she was crowned with the headdress of the moon and two vipers, with corn stalks woven in her hair. Her multi-colored robe was woven with flowers and fruit, and her black mantle embroidered with stars and the moon. There is much similarity between the vision of Apuleius and that of Juan Diego, the visionary of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The mantle of Isis is covered on the outside by the night sky – by stars. Like Our Lady of Guadalupe, she is dressed in the cosmos itself as if it is her robe. 

 Spirit “wears” materiality like a garment. 
This garment is Earth’s physical nature –  her Body. 
She/we are the Immaculate Conception!


Prayer for today :


I enter the Underworld as you pull me into your embrace, 
in every waking moment of living.
Contemplating on your Presence in the world,
opens me up to the poignant beauty and suffering
of all life in order and my  heart breaks open
over and over, over flowing with compassion.  
As my rigid mind dissolves in your
presence, all boundaries between myself and all living creatures
and the earth disappears and we are all one.
Ave Maria

Om Jai mata Mary Ma
jai jai ma

blessings
Hettienne
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Day 26 and Day 3 of Art Novena

Today is day 26 of Thirty Days with Mary and 
Day 3 of the Art Novena for Our Lady of Lourdes
Today we are reminded of the universality of Mary
and the mystery of who she is.
To some she is the literal figure in a Bible story;
to others she is a Western goddess;
some know her as Queen of Heaven and the Angels
and still others know as her Mama, Gaia,
Mother Earth and our nature.

‘I realized that all the powers of the Mothers, of Tara, Durga, Kali are in Mary.

She has Tara’s sublime tenderness;
Durga’s inaccessible silent calm force;
the grandeur and terribilta of Kali.
But Mary is also a woman,
a poor woman
and a human mother. – Andrew Harvey
Visionary or apparitional culture is no static force, a cultural ‘given’ 
that people can join as members.
It is dynamic, responding to contemporary political, social and religious realities
and shaping those realities, and is also shaped
by the individuals who identify themselves as Marian devotees
and visionaries.
Visionary culture is a confluence of Catholic devotions, symbols,
and traditions of innovative responses to modern
contexts of negotiations among social, religious and interpersonal
forces of the interactions of apparitions believers
and apparition doubters and of the loving
and guiding influence of Our Lady, who for believers is imminently present.
Visionary culture is a worldview, a palette of practices, an understanding
of the cosmos, a palette on which individuals paint
the stories of their lives.
              Extract from Out Lady of Emmitsburg by Jill Krebs




In her the full path of the sacred feminine is lived.
In her we have a complete image of the Divine Mother,
an image at once transcendent and immanent,
other-worldly and this-wordly,
at once mystical and political and practical.
In Mary the Divine Mother comes to earth and lives on earth
and lives, the passionate, strong, serious,
simple and transforming life that shows us all how to live.

Who is she to you?
What are the whispers in your ear? 
What are the winds stirring up in your heart?
It takes great courage to answer that call
and to step out of the comfort and security
of the unexamined room in which we live.
Has she been calling  you?
Then today is the day to answer.
 Today is the day to accept the call to step out
into the unknown
To do that which you have been avoiding,
to see and hear that part of yourself that has
been tugging on the hem of your coat,
begging for attention

Prayer for today :

Magnificent Mary may I remain open
to the impossible
May I remember not to ignore the very subtle
messages of Spirit;
and may I undertake each task as the sacred task that it is
Ave Maria
Om jai mata Mary ma
jai jai ma


blessings
Hettienne