The Black Madonna
The Black Madonna is a powerful symbol of the woman as divine. She represents the archetype of the wise old woman, a conveyor of ancient wisdom.
I was travelling in Spain a few years ago and I felt compelled to visit the monastery town of Montserrat a few hours north of Barcelona. I was raised Catholic so I had been to an endless supply of churches and I had seen icons of the Madonna and baby all my life. So why did I feel the call to travel by bus up to this monastery town and wait in line for hours to visit the Black Madonna. This was after visiting the Black Madonna in Mexico and also the one in the Cathedral of Chartres in France.
Life has taught me that my intuition is a valuable aid; it helps me follow my life purpose. This ties in with one of my favourite books written by Clarissa Picola Estes, Women Who Run With the Wolves. (Estes 1992) Clarissa as a master story teller; she weaves her narrative of the many versions how we mature from naivety to be a good-enough-woman to finally becoming a crone. The essence of the old hag story is also the story of the girl, who is keen to please everyone and who gets lost and wounded in the process. The girl’s descent into the underworld, her numerous night sea journeys increasingly reunite her with her intuition, her wisdom and the power of her inner knowing. She can become the one, she was before the cultural norms shaped her. It is an awakening that reunites a woman with her instinctual Self, where she can “stand on all fours” and growl and bite, if need be (Elbrecht, 2018. p145).
The Intra psychic polarities of the too good woman and the instinctual woman need to merge for the healthful growth of the wise woman. This leads me back to the Black Madonna. I had heard vague stories of the Black Madonna and her links to the ancient chthonic goddess that belongs in the lower world (Qualls-Corbett. 1998). As the representation of the true female nature of fertility and earth. Here is one version:
“The Crone at the end of her life passes on her wisdom and stories to the next eligible woman by a kiss on the lips. As the story goes, a Crone was being burnt at the stake for supposed witchcraft. The woman had not yet handed over her wisdom and stories to another woman before she died. In her panic she cried out, and in the flames appeared the face of the Black Madonna who came forth and kissed her on the lips and took on the ancient knowledge and wisdom so that it didn’t die with the Crone”. (Qualls-Corbett 1988)
Erickson calls the 7th stage of psychological development the generative versus stagnation (Erikson, 1950). As we mature into old age the need arises to teach and pass on one’s own collective knowledge base, cultural traditions and wisdom. At this stage we generate concern for other people, usually younger ones, over whom we may have some influence. We seize the opportunity to guide them. Erickson’s theory posits that to stave off death one looks for purpose to maintain liveliness.
I am an experienced therapist and supervisor at the stage of my career where I want to pass on my knowledge and experience to the next generation of therapists. However, I am also a woman who has had an extraordinary life with extensive travel, exposure to multiple cultures, traditions, beliefs, paradigms, philosophies, love and loss. I believe it is this part of me that propels me forward to connect with the sharing of wisdom and story.
The wisdom of the divine female tells us of the importance of passing on our knowledge. Not the facts and figures but the knowing from our deepest parts, our intuition, our natural instinct, our groundedness, our healing, our strong friendship and sisterhood. I viewed and touched the Black Madonna in Montserrat. It was a profoundly moving experience.
References
Elbrecht, C. (2018). Healing trauma with guided drawing: A sensorimotor art therapy approach to bilateral body mapping. North Atlantic Books.
Erikson, E.H. (1950). Childhood and society. Norton.
Estes, C.P. (1992). Women who run with wolves: Contacting the power of the wild woman. Random House Books.
Qualls-Corbett, N. (1988). The sacred prostitute: Eternal aspect of the feminine. Inner City Books
MA, Bac.Soc.Sci, AThR
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