Walking with Mary Day 8 December

Blessings to you 

You may want to draw a daily card to illuminate your personal

focus on the day's sharing.

We are currently in the second week and the focus

is on the Suit of Holyrood, the Sacred Tree (wands) and

the archetype of the Sacred Heart, the Magdalen

and the Mystical Marriage.

The Tree of Choices
Mysteries of Mary Tarot
www.hergracesacredart.com

Today I share some of the miracles that have been worked by the

Virgin of Guadalupe as well as the practise of tying prayers to her tree.

A Black Madonna shrine with small lemon tree

on my altar.  The lemon tree is sacred to Madonna Nera

in the Mediterranean and features in my soon to be

published Mysteries of the Black Madonna.

The Sacred Tree of Prayers

A sacred practise of Lady of Guadalupe is to ceremoniously

tie prayer ties to a sacred tree.  On the Order of the Dove tier

on Patreon I am sharing spiritual practises on the path of

Virgin of Guadalupe if you want to go deeper.

Find a sacred tree or choose a tree that you can make part

of your own practise. Prepare strips of cloth which you

can anoint with oil and incense and your prayers.

Walk around the tree anti clockwise whilst saying prayers

for humanity, all living beings and the Earth.

Ask that the tree takes your prayers down her trunk

and down through the roots into the Earth.

Then tie the prayer strips to the branches of the tree.

THE MIRACLES OF the Virgin of GUADALUPE

to Tepeyacac, The Earthly Place of Flowers

Shortly after having appeared to Juan Diego the Lady of Guadalupe

is said to have manifested many miracles.

The first recorded miracle took place during her first procession when a

young man was killed in an accident.  The distraught crowd placed  at the

feet of the Sacred Image of the Mother of Guadalupe and asked her to

bring him back to life.  He had been shot clear through the neck by an arrow

and the bystanders pulled the arrow out.  As they did so the wound healed spontaneously

and the young man came back to life.  He dedicated his life to sweeping the

temple of Guadalupe. 

In the year 1544 a terrible plague struck the population and 800000 people died.

The Franciscan monks arranged for a procession of children to walk 

from Tlatelolco to Tepeyacac.  The children walked to the Sacred Image

of the Virgin of Guadalupe and prayed for the plague to end.  The following

day the plague subsided.

The Virgin appeared more than once and to more people than only Juan Diego.

She also appeared to a man called Don Juan at a place called Totoltepec.

She gave Don Juan an Image of herself and he kept it in a small altar

in his home. After caring for this Image for man years, the man became seriously

ill. He asked to be carried to Tepeyacac and he prayed to be healed.  Our Lady

appeared to him and asked him to build a temple on top of mount Totoltepec

in which to house the Sacred Image that she gave him.  After her appearance

to him he was immediately healed and he even walked home. It is told

that when the building was completed the Image appeared inside

the chapel by itself.  

This temple is now called  Iglesia de Nuestra Senora de los Remedios.

Two springs gushed forth and flowed together at the place where the Virgin

appeared to Juan Diego.  The water from these spring has 

healed innumerable people.

  

VI  TREE OF CHOICES

Traditionally The Lovers

‘God planted trees in a garden. Humans lived among those trees, they were not yet divided when they were told: Eat from this tree or do not eat from it.’ Logion 94, The Gospel of Philip

The tree plays an important role in the Mysteries.  In this card we are
confronted with the Tree of Choices.  In the Biblical and Judaic stories
there are different versions of the trees of Paradise.  It would seem that
there was in truth only one tree, the Tree of Life.  This is an ancient symbol
of the self-sustaining and regenerating power of a spirit filled world.
In the story, this tree was later split into two, the Tree of Life and the
Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. After the split of the trees
we see that they are now in opposition to each other. After the fall of
Adam and Eve, caused by their eating from the fruit of the
tree of Knowledge, humanity was cut off and banned
from the Tree of Life.  The Tree of Life promised eternal life
and humanity was now doomed to a mortal and exiled life, beyond the veil.

In this shrine I compare the metaphor of the two trees with the way in
which our culture have split value and worthiness of
masculine and feminine and then still further
dividing the feminine into the ‘good girl/virgin/wife/mother
and the bad girl/lover/wise woman.
This split is reflected in the way that the stories of Mariam of Nazareth
and Miriam of Magdala, is interpreted and
held up as image of the two aspects of woman .

Popular legend has assigned the apple tree to the
Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  The apple is a powerful
symbol of woman and her feminine sexual nature.
 In this version of the story of the Fall of Man, woman and
her sexual nature is held responsible for their
eviction from Paradise.  So right at the onset a woman
has been forbidden from getting to know
and understand her complex sexual nature.
There is an inherent sexuality in physical bodies;
one could say that the soul radiates its mystical and
sexual nature through its physical cloak.
But humanity has been severed from this mystery and all its gifts.

In the Christian story we are only told the story of
Mary the Virgin-Mother, the one who conceived immaculately
and who remained a virgin even after the birth of her son.
We never really meet Mary the Beloved of Jesus,
the Bride of the Bridal Chamber, the one who is called the Magdalene.

Mary the Mother of God is indeed a Bride
without a Bridegroom as She is the Bride of the Spirit,
but there is another sacrament in the mysteries,
that of the Bride and the Beloved Bridegroom..
This brings us to Mary Magdalene and the various interpretations
of her role in the story of Jesus and the three Marys.
Few accept Mary Magdalene as the beloved or the
bride of Jesus the Bridegroom.
Mary Magdalene has been blackened in reputation by
various authors of religion through the centuries
and mostly she has only been seen as an unholy woman
who indulges in pleasures of the flesh.
Religion has always separated the life of the flesh
and the life of the spirit and especially in the treatment of
women as wives, lovers and mistresses.
And we see this split right at the start of the story with the
two trees in the Garden of Paradise.  

In this card we see Mary the Mother with the rosary in her hands and we see the black Mary as she is depicted in the poem ‘The Thunder, Perfect Mind’ in the Nag Hammadi library.  In this shrine she represents Mary Magdalene and ultimately both together represent the Feminine Soul and aspect of the eternal feminine.  Both these women carry the name Mary and to me it is an important indicator that there is an important hidden message for those with ears to hear.  The split between the Madonna and the whore is active in many layers of our cultures.
Women are demonised for the expression of their sexuality,
whereas men are honoured and revered for their sexual prowess. 

In the traditional Lovers card we often see a male hero struggling
for a choice between two women.  In the Mysteries card we have the
female version of the choices card.
Women are mostly compared to men and masculine pursuits and rarely in relation to other women and themselves.  This creates an imbalance in women and a suppression of womanly ways and feminine relational values.

Hecate, goddess of choices, is often shown with three roads behind her.  One plus one equals three: new life is born from struggling and discord. Living with the tension of the opposites, allowing disagreement and another's voice that differ from yours, to be heard, brings awareness to the glassy mind, of the awesome beauty of creating a life that has meaning. There is a place where all the rivers converge and that place is the Sacred Heart of humanity. 

Through the union of the opposites, that is, through the marriage of two opposing forces, a third force is born.  This is the meaning of creativity and the magical nature of the number three.  (This card is a six and thus contains two threes). On the path of divine love, the magical child of love and hope is born from the marriage of the opposites.

The braid of life contains three strands which can be symbolised by the colours white, red and black.  In the ancient cultures the hawthorn tree was regarded as a sacred tree. Today the hawthorn tree is sacred to Mary and the goddess as well. This specific tree contains all three elements of the thread of life and even more importantly, they overlap. The white blossoms start to form whilst the red berries and black seeds are still hanging on the thickly leaved branches.

 The white is regarded as the 'virgin', the cycle of spring and new beginnings; the red berries represent summer and the fullness of the season and the physical acts of sensuality and joy and loving and the black seed contains the potential of fathering the new life and it also is the end of the life of the berry.

As we dance and weave with the tension of desire and repulsion between the opposites of life, we discover new possibilities, new experiences and we weave a new story.

This shrine and card represent choices. The Tree of Choices invites you to consider the choice to say ‘both’ instead of the black and white rationale of ‘either/or’.  You will be given the opportunity to make a decision and you are reminded that it is possible to find a new way and a different way of reacting and of doing things.  You are reminded that it is only fear that will force you into a corner, and thereby denying half the picture.  When you are willing to keep an open mind and an open heart, it is possible for a new vision to be born.

blessings

Hettienne