Walking with Mary Day 2 December

 

                             Shrine with holy medals, water and soil that I brought back from Lourdes.

Welcome to the second day of Walking with Mary

I invite you to read the piece today that is devoted to Our Lady of Lourdes and the

powerful magic of the fairytale of Lourdes, its secret wisdom

and the hidden feminine in the tale of Lourdes.

You may want to add an image of Our Lady of Lourdes to your altar.

I took this picture during the rosary procession at full moon on the nativity of Mary

at Lourdes.

Fairy tales evoke images of childhood, magic, miracles, supernatural events and dreams coming true. For many of us the journey towards wholeness starts with the  impulse and desire to heal the Inner Child.  The inner child carries the openness and vulnerability of the soul and during our growing up years, these qualities become suppressed and hidden away.

And the feminine qualities of the inner child gets conditioned away from an early age, as we grow up in a patriarchal culture with masculine values of goal setting, achievement, physical beauty, material gain and advancement. These are all positive and essential qualities,  but without their counterpart feminine attributes, such as inner appreciation, imperfection, chaos, individuality, compassion and nurturing, the inner world can become one of deprivation, depression and burn-out.

No-one knows for certain how old fairy tales are but the experts who have written on the history and meaning of fairy tales agree that fairy tales started to appear at more or less the same time that Christianity started to oppress pre-Christian beliefs and religions which developed into the horrific Inquisition and eventually the witch hunts. Unfortunately fairy tales have been mangled and their original stories changed to fit in with patriarchy - many of the magical and supernatural women characters have obviously also been demonized, as has the meaning of fairy and witch. But there are still some amazing resources and research available for those who are interested in exploring this fount of wisdom. Many, myself included, regard fairy tales as secret bibles of feminine wisdom and divinity. 

'Magical beliefs were passed on by word of mouth,

behind ploughs, at spindles, on river banks and by hearths;

magical rituals were performed in kitchens, 

in bedrooms, by roadsides and on hillsides,

under cover of darkness'

                                          - Emma Wilby, Cunning Folk and Familiar Spirits

Hannah or Anna as the Great Mother Goddess
also known as Mother Goose and her sacred goose
VI of Roses in Mysteries of Mary Tarot Deck

We are all familiar with Mother Goose and her nursery rhymes and fairytales. 

What better place to hide the Divine Mother Goddess in the guise of an old crone with a goose for a vehicle? The goose has many mythical connections in both Eastern and Western mythology.  In Hinduism it is the 'hamsa' and the 'parahamsa' meaning wild ganders and supreme wild ganders or swans; in Egyptian lore the sky was associated with the Mother Goddess. The goose is one of the most sacred animals in the ancient stories of goddess, along with the swan. To the pre-patriarchal ancient Egyptians, the sun was created by a goddess who turned herself into a goose and then laid “the golden sun egg,” In the first century BCE the ancient Celts were forbidden to eat the goose—due to its sacred connection to “the Sun Egg.” Just like Mother Goose, the Greek goddess Aphrodite  rode through the air on the back of a goose. There are also artwork depicting Aphrodite with geese at her feet.

In the Mysteries of Mary Tarot Deck, a deck

Here is an extract from Mysteries of Mary tarot deck :

We also know the fairy tale of the goose that lay the golden egg. The egg has always carried the meaning of life and rebirth in ancient traditions.  It also symbolises new life and transformation.  The shape of the egg also has connotations as it is similar to the vesica pisces. Goose is a partial anagram of goddess and Mother Goose hides the word mother goddess. The mother aspect of the goddess is still present today in Mother Mary. Mother Goose is seen as the magical author of all the fairy tales, reminiscent of our understanding of the Shekinah or Sophia.

The Vesica Pisces shape of the area around
the Basilica of Lourdes

In the image above you can clearly see the mandorla or pisces vesica or fish shape

of the procession grounds around the Basilica. Religion and its stories and symbols reflect the wisdom and knowledge of the Divine which is imprinted on our Souls. We accept that we are created in the image of the Creatrix. That understanding has many layers of meaning to it and

one of them is that religion is born of the soul and that the events and beings of religious tales are a manifestation of above into this world which acts as a mirror : as above so below.

The story of the Bright Lady in  shining white Light that appeared to the starving little girl of Massabielles,  has all the elements of a fairy tale.  At Lourdes you step into the Otherworld;

into a Land of Enchantment where miracles are possible.

Amulets of Mary, Lady of Lourdes
The French Madonna on etsy.com

Today's Sutra

Mary, cosmic being of  Light,
 manifests miracles,
opening the gateway from the world of light,
merges with your own heart,
infusing your vision and senses
with divine purpose.

Mary was
assumed into heaven and transmuted 

her physical body into light.

Her divine presence infuses springs,
 rivers and entire valleys with the 

vibration of holiness and sacredness.

At Lourdes Mary created a sanctuary where we can touch 
and be touched by  

a force beyond our comprehension : 
a doorway into pure love.

The Immaculate Practise

This body of ritual and devotion is part of the Immaculate Practise

of the Sacred Heart of Mary*

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 and special book 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.

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

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

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.

Om Jai Mata Mary Ma

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.

We will keep the weekly cards on the altar and let them tell a story at the end of the thirty days.

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 share the full practises of the Immaculate Practise with Hearthkeepers and Flamekeepers in the Temple of Mary on my Patreon www.patreon.com/thefrenchmadonna