Day Sixteen

Blessings to you!

The deeper we journey the more challenging the practise becomes. Or maybe it
is that the deeper the practise the more challenging the journey becomes.
I decided to combine the posts for days 16 and 17 as they are so layered with
symbol and meaning.  You can take the two days of the weekend to disseminate
the information, to create a puja and to start with the collages.

The archetype for this week is a complex one with many veils of meaning
and subconscious content. 

Like many women I struggled to bring the idea of Mary as depicted in
Western religion together with my own direct personal experiences
of the Divine Feminine.  In my search I became a committed pilgrim and undertook many pilgrimages to sacred sites across the globe.  I visited temples to Kuan Yin in Thailand, many temples holy to the Divine Shakty Ma, Durga, Kali, Lakshmi in India; and sacred sites across Europe.
For me Mary was revealed as a powerful archetype of the Divine Feminine
both transcendent and personal.  Once I started looking for stories of Mary
outside the Bible, I discovered that Mary had her own mythology in fairy tales,
folk tales, channeled books, legend and religious books. The work of
Thomas Merton introduced me to Catholic and Marian mysticism.  I concluded
that Mary is not only the Biblical figure, but also the composite of the ancient
goddess, the Triple Goddess, the Jewish Mariam tradition as well as a
tradition exclusively her own. I have been met with a variety of responses through the years with regard to my devotion to Mary - from all sides.  My response has been to make the work available to others as direct experience speaks louder than words.

 III Distaff, the Annunciation of Anna

All alone, she (Anna) went into the garden and sat down

 beneath the laurel tree. Looking toward the heavens, 

she saw a nest of sparrows in the tree. Fresh tears welled up in her eyes. 

How she longed to have a child of her own. Anna entreated the Lord, 

saying” Woe is me! To what am I likened? 

I am not likened to this earth, for even the earth brings 

forth her fruit in its season and blesses you, O Lord.” 

And behold an angel of the Lord appeared, 

saying “Anna, the Lord God heard your prayer, 

and you will conceive and give birth, 

and your offspring shall be spoken of in the whole inhabited world.” – extract from the Infancy Gospel of Mary

Anna was barren and never conceived with child. The Archangel Gabriel announced to her that she will miraculously conceive.  

It is told that this is a miraculous conception of the Holy child Mary 

and it is an echo of the immaculate conception of Mary still to come.  

As Anna and Joachim, Mary’s father, was too old to physically conceive a child, this was regarded as a conception by Spirit.  

‘Promise them, that by the favour of our right hand they will receive the Fruit of benediction, and that Anne shall conceive a Daughter, to whom We give the name MARY…. were revealed to St Gabriel.’ 

And Gabriel said: ‘She shall be elect, exalted, powerful and full of the Holy Ghost; on account of the sterility of Anne her  conception shall be miraculous;’ – Mystical City of God

Anna is Greek for the Hebrew name Hannah and it means ‘grace’. 

Anna’s story is also in the Quran and she is revered in Islam.  

In Islam Joachim is called by the name Imran and he dies before Mary is born. The priest Zacharias predicted the birth of a male Messiah to Anna, 

but she gave birth to a girl and the culture of the day did not accept a woman as a saviour.  However,  She is revered as a mystic in Islam for her wisdom and the knowledge that Mary was a highly spiritual 

and special child to be dedicated to the Temple. 

In this shrine we see Anna sitting under the palm tree, working on her sewing. Gabriel is holding the red thread of the mystical message of love and good news which he delivered to Anna.

Soulcollage card by Hettienne

A puja is a ritual dedicated to the worship of one's personal deity.
(ishtadevata) As in all ritual there is a certain set of actions;

each one designed with a particular focus and effect

in mind.  In these Thirty Days with Mary we

are devoting our focus, intent, emotion,senses,

passion and vision to evoke our

spiritual selves and to connect with our

own divinity through our devotion to Mother Mary.
Our devotion and adoration invoke the sacred presence
of Mother Mary into the sacred space and the statue
and altar is blessed by Her Presence.

Through repeated entry into the spiritual realms

we shed the perceptions and projections of the mind

and access a wider vision, a deeper connectedness to

all of life and  transpersonal wisdom.

In preparation of the puja I shared a prayer with you.
You may want to use it for the puja to Holy Mary.

There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to doing

a puja.  It has certain elements that one always follows.

Usually it is done by a priest or priestess and in this

case you are the priest or priestess of your own temple.

An altar has to be prepared.  In the video you will see that

we are using the red altar of week two as I intended sharing it with

you during the past week.  The red ties in beautifully
with the red thread of the Suit of Distaff.

   

Please gather fresh flowers, incense or a smudging stick,

a bell, or a drum or a music instrument,

a glass of water and something to eat which you can

place on the altar.

We bring offerings through incense, fragrance, voice,
music and fresh flower petals.  At some point you will experience
the stillpoint within where the inner and outer meet
and where your actions are no longer a ritual, but you
become the ritual and the Divine Love within.

A puja by a solitary person is different to a group ritual, but the intent

is still to raise the energy and to invoke the sacred presence.

Repeating the mantra or prayer and keeping a rhythm with your

hands or musical instrument, adds to the shamanic state

of trance meditation.  You may want to repeat the puja in the days

to come if you do not feel confident at first.

The solitary puja on the video is done by

Kamala Maria Devi, a Flamekeeper in the Temple of Mary.

You will find her on Instagram as @terrykamala and

her retreat house page where she runs sound healing retreats,

is @littlesamadhikaroo.  

The mantra to be used is our thirty day mantra

Om Jai Mata Mary Ma

Jai Jai Ma

Prayer :

Hail Queen of Heaven

Hail! Lady of the Angels

Salutation to Three, root and portal

Whence the Light of the world has arisen

Hail Mary 

Ave Maria

I am the maiden of the joy

I am song in the wind and rain upon the rocks.

I am fair love and holy hope

and the flight of the dove.

I am earth, betrothed

I am Mystical Rose.

Hail Mary

Ave Maria

I am the Mother of mystery

I hold opposites together

I birth children and sever the cord with my teeth

Those I love I send away to their lives

I am the cauldron of fire and the cup of milk

I am the two-edged sword

Hail Mary

Ave Maria

In me Sophia speak :

I am the marriage of opposites

I am beauty,

right order in creation,

the balance of all being.

I contain all the secrets whose names are beads,

I am the cosmic necklace.

I am the daughter of silence and

I bring forth the word of truth.

I am the serpent and the dove.

I am the soul of the Christ

Hail Mary

Ave Maria

I am the flour and I am the hands

that kneed the dough.

I am the fire and the loaf.

I offer and I am offered.

I eat and am eaten.

I am food for the world and

I am the world.

Hail Mary

Ave Maria

Hail Queen of Heaven,

Hail! Lady of the Angels

Salutation to Thee, root and portal

Whence the Light of the world has arisen

Hail Mary

Ave Maria

Here is the link for the video recording :

https://youtu.be/IQkTbT4LWsw



blessings to you
Hettienne