New Mysteries of the Black Madonna decks

 

I have copies of the Mysteries of the Black Madonna tarot decks arriving at the end of May.

I offer pre-orders on my website at www.hergracesacredart.com

Currently these are locked for patrons of my patreon as this is one of 

their benefits of supporting my work on an on-going basis.

The Mysteries of the Black Madonna deck now comes with black edging

I am also crafting a new bag for the decks, similar to the style of the Mysteries of Mary decks.

The bag is black, with the gold satin lining and trim, but now with an added

holy card of the Dark Mother and Holy Child.

Pre-orders will be opened up on Sunday 21 May 2023

in bhakty

Hettienne

Pre-orders of the Mysteries tarot decks

 

Thank you for your amazing support.

The pre-order for December/January is now sold out.

I will offer a final batch on pre-order (for the year) during February/March 2023.

Two of us are checking, sorting and packing all the orders and shipping will start on Monday 24 January 2023 and it will take approximately three weeks to get all the parcels off to you.  I thank you for your patience.  This is a long and slow process as everything is done by myself.  

You will receive a notification from my website to say that your deck has been handed in with DHL Courier Express.  This will be followed by an email from DHL within 48 hours with tracking details.  If you have any issues with missing parcels, please let me know.  DHL has a very good track record with my deliveries.  Deliveries take approximately ten days worldwide; some countries are a bit slower.  I am shipping from Cape Town, South Africa.

Please consider supporting my Walking with Mary community and the Order of the Dove on Patreon : www.patreon.com/walkingwithmary

blessings

Sri Hettienne BhaktymayiMaria Ma

Mysteries of the Black Madonna tarot deck sale

 

The Mysteries of the Black Madonna tarot decks were printed during Covid19's highest lockdown in South Africa.  All businesses, except essential services, were closed down for a couple of months.  This, together with the collapse of international freight, minimum staff at Customs, and on and on, had a disastrous effect for the printing of a relatively small batch of cards.  I had to face challenge after challenge for the printing of both the decks and the books.  Businesses were in survival mode and there was no re-printing or tweaking of cards. 

Eventually I found a printer that could deliver, but only after I had received 300 decks from various printing company.  Some went straight into the recycling, but some I kept.

The Mysteries of the Black Madonna decks are sold out but I do have two boxes of decks that have minor imperfections.  I am planning to put these up for sale at a reduced price. 

Each deck will be accompanied by a handmade black velvet pouch lined with gold, the guidebook and the deck of cards.

The imperfection is the very noticeable die cut mark on the top and bottom ends of the cards. These cards are also laminated with a waterproof matte layer which makes the cards thicker and sturdier than the ones that I have been selling.

I will share more clear and in detail pictures when they go up for sale in the online shop at www.hergracesacredart.com

 I will also offer the option to purchase one of a variety of miniature Mary statues.  These are not available as a purchase on its own as the postal shipping is totally unreliable and there are still countries that are not open for mail from Africa.  Shipping is only offered with DHL Courier Express which is a direct delivery by courier.

Patrons of The Temple of Mary on Patreon always receive first choice and the date that the decks will be dropped in the shop with everyone else will be shared here on this blog and on my Instagram feed @walkingwithmary. 

blessings

Hettienne

The Spirit of Tarot - the search for God's picture book exhibition

 The Spirit of Tarot : The Search for God's Picture book is an exhibition at the Graduate Theological Union, in Berkeley California from 28 October 2021 to January 28, 2022. At the moment is it only an in-person exhibition, but it will probably become an online one next year, according to the exhibition archivist David Stiver.

The exhibition is entitled The Spirit of Tarot : the search for God's picture book and is introduced with a quote from the book, The Tarot of Lenora Carrington.

The tarot is not meant solely for divination purposes. Each suggest navigation devices where a poetics of the unconscious is available for immediate exploration. These cards may be consulted as subliminal objects, separate from rationality; they give access to magical environments. Because the subliminal body might be conceived as an out-of-the-body experience, it also entails a liberation from the rational corporeal form. The body is able to travel through subconscious doorways. - Susan Aberth and Tere Arcq (Fulgur Press, 2021)

The Graduate Theological Union is a private college founded to support graduate theological education and promote ecumenical and interreligious dialogue, the GTU’s location enabled access to the resources of the University of California, Berkeley, as well as with Stanford University according to the website www.gtu.edu

My work was submitted for consideration to be included in the exhibition by Prof Kate Barush, author of Imaging Pilgrimage. See my previous post.

http://bookofmarysacredheart.blogspot.com/2021/10/imaging-pilgrimage-art-as-embodied.html

 

A selection of 12 tarot decks were chosen for the exhibition, reflecting an inter-spiritual, intercultural spectrum and both the Mysteries of Mary and the Mysteries of the Black Madonna have been included. According to David Stiver, the exhibition is done in a circle with each display facing the centre. My decks are flanked by Vicky Noble's Motherpeace and Paul Foster Case's Bota tarot deck.

 

Other decks included are The Cards of U'Ut by Ellis Nadler, The Tarot by Lenore Carrington, The new tarot for the Aquarian Age by John Starr Cooke and Rosalind Sharpe, The Jungian Tarot by Robert Wang, The Native American Tarot by Magda Weck Gonzalez, The Bay Area Tarot by Melina Alexa Ramirex, The Hoodoo Tarot by Tayanna Quillar and the Rider-Waite tarot.

What an incredible honour for the Mysteries of Mary and the Mysteries of the Black Madonna to be included in this selection!

blessings

Hettienne

Imaging Pilgrimage: Art as Embodied Experience by Kathryn Barush

 

Imaging Pilgrimage: Representations of Sacred Space in Contemporary Art

by Kathryn Barush published by Bloomsbury Visual Arts 2021

In her book Imaging Pilgrimage, Kathryn Barush brings together the study of medieval representations of pilgrimage to a number of contemporary art that is created after a pilgrimage and intended to act as a catalyst for others to experience, grace, healing and contemplation.  I am so honoured that she included my work with sacred altars and pilgrimage into this beautiful and enlightening book.

Images from Kathryn Barush's Instagram posts

One of the chapters in the book is dedicated to 'South African artist Hettienne Grobler (Sri BhaktymayiMa), who creates shadowboxes of assemblages of souvenirs collected

from Lourdes, in dialogue with medieval art which is rooted in the same impulses

of memory, imagination, and devotion.  

In addition to Marian imagery, Grobler also draws from Bhakti theology, and widening the aperture, her work forms an important case study to show that art that

engages two or more traditions can be used as a window into a dialogical

approach to comparative religion.'

The chapter is sub-divided into

'How and why an apparition was first 'made material''

'Mary, materiality, and message: a pilgrimage through art'

'Water, water everywhere! The Lourdes replica tradition

'Bhakti the essence of this love relationship that one experiences with the Divine.

I think one can describe bhakti as 'being absolutely madly in love.'

At first one is in love with God and the realizations that God is 'in love'

with you; then this expands and you start to see love in everything

and eventually you see the 'face of God' in everyone and everything.'

'For Grobler, 'love' is the foundation of her personal beliefs and the visual

expression it finds, and she acknowledges that this means that she can relate

to many religions and paths.  

As with her other Marian art, Grobler's Black Madonna deck has been a deep dive

into this imagery and a prayerful experience.  It has also been a way to explore

'how far back racism has been forcefully applied and internalised. One cannot really separate the Black Lives Matter ideology and the Black Madonna and I have at times felt such

awe that this deck is being created in these times'

Her social media posts with images of these works-in-progress have been interspersed

with essays on the Black Madonna as a way to celebrate Black Lives.

Although less overtly political, Grobler's project has every

potention to be a powerful tool for reflecting on, and advocating the

abolishment of, anti-Black racism through the Hindu and Catholic

theologies that her work engenders, via both her artistic process

and the iconological content.

Kathryn first approached me a few years ago and we have had 'conversations' online

and through email.  This is an incredible book;  Katryn has a wonderful way of using

language and she has opened my eyes to the incredible wealth of medieval texts and

research and her own incredible understanding and sensitivity to art as a vehicle of religion across all traditions.  This in-depth work has underscored all that I experienced within myself.  I regard

myself as 'one who walks between two worlds' and Kathryn is a kindred soul.

Dr Barush is Thomas E. Bertelsen Jr. Associate Professor of Art History and Religion

Dr. Barush received a D.Phil. from Wadham College, University of Oxford in 2012 and has held positions as Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. and as curatorial assistant at the Yale University Center for British Art.  She is the author of the monograph Art and the Sacred Journey in Britain, 1790-1850 (London: Routledge). Shifting the focus to the present day, Dr. Barush's current book project (Imaging Pilgrimage: Art as Embodied Experience, Bloomsbury Visual Culture) explores the transfer of 'spirit' from sites to representations through a critical examination of contemporary art (including assemblages of souvenirs, built environments, and reconstructions of sacred sites) created after or during pilgrimages with the intent to engender the experience for others. 

Dr. Barush takes an interdisciplinary approach to art history and is especially interested in expressions of belief across a number of religious traditions. She values a contextual and hands-on approach to learning - her students closely study ritual objects and sacred artworks up-close and in person wherever possible. Such objects, especially in places of prayer and worship but also as re-contextualized in the secular space of public museums, offer crucial insights into the study of historic and contemporary lived religion, devotional practice, and popular piety.

In addition to her research and writing, Dr. Barush is an advisor to the British Pilgrimage Trust and a member of the advisory network of the Yale Center for Material and Visual Cultures of Religion. She is also an avid walker and has led a group of graduate student pilgrims along the Camino Ignaciano in Spain.  

Follow Dr. Barush' adventures and research on Twitter @pilgrim_travels

From the website of the Graduate Theological Union -  https://www.gtu.edu/faculty/kathryn-barush

Crucible of the Heart

 

We are forged and fired in the crucible of the heart and art gives life and meaning to our stories.

My prayer is that I share the right medicine for you and that my words will create a sacred altar reflecting the beauty, truth, wisdom and justice which is potent and potential in our world.

The ancient tradition of creating sacred altars used to belong to the Great Mother and her devotees and it was incorporated into religion by the nuns and convents. I call it Sacred Altars and it is my offering on the Altar of Life. Twenty years ago I became a pilgrim to sacred places on the Earth and especially to where the Divine has stepped through the veil to reach us and where Mary had appeared to others. I bring waters from the holy springs and rivers; I bring back oil and salts sanctified by the Presence of the energies at these sacred places.

Pilgrimage and sacred ritual is my foremost spiritual practise. Raised Dutch Reformed Protestant, the rich lustre of sacred and holy places offered a well of inspiration for my parched soul. My travels have taken me to many different religions, cultures and traditions. Until I came into contact with the mystical side of Christianity. 

My first ritual I attended was the festival of Archangel Michael in Mont Sant'Angelo in Italy, then visiting Padre Pio. Then followed walking the pilgrimage of Bridgid, the sacred well and labyrinth in Kildare, Ireland. And that is when my art appeared in the form of paintings. 

Ritual grounded in the knowing of the unconscious, awakens us from the dream of habitual seeing and thinking. The conscious mind lacks the ability or maybe the neural pathway to communicate the new-found wisdom intellectually, and thus the expression through art steps in. Well, that is only my experience and understanding, of course. But I had not been an artist till I participated in sacred ritual. My stay at Lourdes and participating in the rituals daily, turned me into a full time artist. When one participates in a ritual (probably any ritual, but when you regard it as sacred, you add a certain 'light' to it) you are transported into a different time and space : colors are different; the light is different; everything has meaning and the ordinary become extra-ordinary. My art novena for Lourdes in particular, highlights my statement that our lives are the altar to the Divine and I strive to capture that numinosity of the sacred ritual in my photographs and altars. I only started creating sacred altars on my return from Lourdes. These small shadowboxes are vignettes, a moment in time in the life of ordinary human beings, lifted out of the mundane into the numinous, merely by seeing life as sacred.

I create from the eye of the heart, rather than the eye of the mind and hope to illuminate and show the underlying image and Divine Presence in the vignette of our personal stories.

blessings, Sri Hettienne Bhaktymayi Maria Ma

Mysteries of the Black Madonna tarot deck

 

The first batch of the first printing of the Mysteries of the Black Madonna decks have arrived.  All the pre-ordered decks are spoken for.  A large number of the decks that were delivered were missing a card and it as these are digitally printed, one card cannot be replaced as there will be a colour difference.  The missing card is an error on the part of the printer and a new batch is being printed which I am now waiting on.  I am shipping in the order of orders received and the first orders were placed in December 2020 by my patrons.  That will give you an idea where you are in the queue. 

Creation of both the Mysteries of Mary and the Mysteries of the Black Madonna decks are an outflow of my own spiritual practise and devotion.  I never set out to become a tarot creator and I still do not regard myself as a tarot creator.  These decks follow a spiritual path and calling of a very specific devotion to Mary and Her many aspects.  I share my work with Mary and these decks with a Temple of Mary community on Patreon.  (www.patreon.com/templeofmary) and patrons were given exclusive access to the deck for a month. 

Right now there are no extra decks available and I am planning to print another small batch once all the decks have been shipped.  Shipping is a slow process due to many reasons.  Everything is done by hand by myself and one other pair of hands;  we double check everything and everything is prepared.  I work through a DHL agent with a single employee.  In order to get the special rate that I am offering on DHL Courier shipping, the numbers I am allowed to ship a week is limited.  We are in lockdown for Covid pandemic and all businesses have reduced staff which means everything is taking longer.  But know that I am doing my best to get your deck to you as soon as possible.

When I hand your parcel in to DHL, I send an email notification from the online shop informing you that it is now with DHL and the steps that will follow with tracking.  There has been a few incidents with USA parcels going through the Customs in Germany.  I am taking steps to try and minimise their interference in the parcels.  Please read my blogpost on this issue.

If you need to update your shipping details or any other details, please send an email to me at hgsacredart@gmail.com and kindly do not send messages on social media.  It is difficult to gather information from everyone all over the place and this will lead to some mistakes to be made.  If I am uncertain about your info or there are details missing from your order, I will send you an email and I will not ship until I am certain.  DHL also double check all information such as phone dialling codes.

There is a separate listing on the website for shipping of the Black Madonna deck which was sold without shipping as I did not have a price at the time.  I am not willing to ship with airmail currently as decks take up to one year to arrive.  I managed to get a special rate from DHL for bulk shipping and all decks will be sent with DHL Courier Express. The special rate is only $10 more than international registered airmail.  International mail is still extremely erratic and delayed and parcels take months to arrive from Africa to Europe and US.  Please add your telephone number to your personal details on your account page on the website.  I am in the process of sending out emails to all buyers, but it will speed up the process if you can complete your purchase and add your telephone number. 

Patrons from the Temple of Mary on Patreon (www.patreon.com/templeofmary) 

always get first option. 

I only print in small batches as every single deck and parcel is consecrated and carefully prepared for shipping.  Each item is handmade by myself .   When the deck arrives with you, you will feel the sacred and  healing energy that it carries.

blessings

Hettienne

Update on the Mysteries of the Black Madonna tarot deck

An update on the progress on the Mysteries of the Black Madonna deck.

The Mysteries of the Black Madonna decks are with the printers; I did receive the first batch of cards but I was unhappy with the quality and the decks were returned.

 I am hoping to start shipping by 20 May 2021. If you ordered the Mysteries of the Black Madonna deck without shipping costs, please buy your shipping. There is a separate listing on the website. I managed to get a special rate from DHL for bulk shipping and all decks will be sent with DHL Courier Express. International mail is still extremely erratic and delayed and parcels take months to arrive from Africa to Europe and US. Please add your telephone number to your personal details on your account page on the website. I am in the process of sending out emails to all buyers, but it will speed up the process if you can complete your purchase and add your telephone number.

Patrons from the Temple of Mary on Patreon (www.patreon.com/templeofmary) always get first option.

I only print in small batches as every single deck and parcel is consecrated and carefully prepared for shipping. Each item is handmade by myself : the beautiful tarot pouches are sewn by hand, the small statues I print on a 3D printer and paint by hand; our paper is eco friendly and hand stamped, etc etc. When the deck arrives with you, you will feel the sacred and healing energy that it carries.

www.hergracesacredart.com

blessings 

Update on the Mysteries of the Black Madonna tarot deck

 

I was hoping to have received both the decks and books by now,

but we have had a few hiccups and delays in the printing process.

I chose to rather send the decks out later than promised

than to compromise on my vision.

I also opted not to gild the edges of the decks until

I can find a different option to the few that is available to me

Right now shipping is expected to happen during May.

I will send out updates and mails regarding the price of shipping.

I can only determine the price of the options once I know the weight of the

card sets.

I am as eager as you to get these decks into your hands but

I want it to be an amazing experience

blessings

Hettienne

Mysteries of the Black Madonna deck date of next printing

 

Each deck will come with a luxurious and generous black velvet

pouch, lined with gold silk, tassles, gold cord and beads; each

pouch is hand sewn and different and unique in details.

Each deck will come with a small Black Madonna statue;

some are the Seat of Wisdom type and some the

panagia (front facing) icon of the Holy Black Mother.

The cards are with the printers and the printing process will

start soon.  Delivery to me is expected end April and shipping

of the first batch of pre-orders will start as soon as we can have them

all parceled up and ready to be shipped.

I will print a second small batch during June and you can place your

orders from the end of April on the website

www.hergracesacredart.com

blessings

Hettienne

Update on progress with the Mysteries of the Black Madonna tarot deck

 Mary the Holy Tree from the Mysteries of the Black Madonna tarot deck

I want to give you an update on the progress of the Mysteries of the Black Madonna deck.

The progress is going well and, as always, there are many unexpected twists and turns. Just when I thought that I had completed everything and now it is a simple matter of 'putting it all together', I am being gifted with radiant images and clarity from the cauldron of the unconscious and I am right now in the process of making very important changes to the deck. When I set out to create this deck I had an idea and a vision and this deck is surpassing all those expectations.

Also, I had forgotten how many little details there are to take care of to get a deck published. We are in lockdown level 3 in South Africa and everything is taking much longer than anticipated. I dont have to explain to you, we are all in the same boat.

My intended shipping date for the first pre-orders were set at end of March or end April. Right now the expected shipping out date for the first batch of pre-orders are set at end April and it will continue into May 2021.

Shipping for the second set of pre-orders will still start on time during May and June.

Thank you for your support and patience. I will add the second payment listing for those who have made one payment and you can pay the balance when the decks are ready to ship.

I will continue to share updates here, also on Patreon and

on Instagram @walkingwithmary

www.hergracesacredart.com

blessings

Hettienne

Twelve Days of Mary - Day 14 December 2020

Today is the first day of the third week of

Walking with Mary

The IX of Distaff in Mysteries of Mary tarot

The Holy Shekinah

Proverbs 31:19 In her hand she holds the distaff. Her hands

are spinning thread, her fingers twisting fiber ....... 

Mishlei (Proverbs in the Hebrew Bible) She stretches forth her hands

onto the distaff and her hands support the spindle.  She spreads out her hand

to the poor man and she stretches her hands out to the needy.

She fears not for her household for snow, as all her household

is dressed in crimson.  She makes beautiful bedspreads

for herself;  fine linen and purple wool are her raiment.

These passages refer to women, skilled in the art of weaving, weaving

the curtains of the Tabernacle, or the veils of the holy of holies.

The curtain of the holy of holies, the innermost chamber of the temple,

is also a reference to the Veiled Sacred Woman of the World,

the Veiled Isis and the veiled images of

Pistis Sophia or Lady Wisdom.

From these passages we deduct that the Holy Shekinah weaves the curtain,

and that women in the world do the work of weaving.

If a woman or man's heart is uplifted in adoration to the

Shekinah, the Divine Feminine in all creation, and she or he is

devoted to Her, the person will become at one with Holy Shekinah

and the Shekinah (the hidden sacred feminine Presence) becomes

manifest in the person and what s/he weaves or manifests,

the Shekinah weaves, or manifests.

This week is dedicated to

the Suit of Distaff in the Mysteries of Mary tarot

and the archetype of

Mary as Sophia, Our Lady of Wisdom, Shekinah

and the colours are Green, Dark Blue and Purple

(its not limited to these colours only as there infinite

ways of interpreting the inner wisdom)

The element is Air.

There are various elements in this week's stories and focus.

We will work with the red thread, scissors, veil, knitting,

weaving and sewing.

It will add meaning to your work this week, if you add some

of these elements to your altar.

If you have not been wearing a veil up till now, then you

may want to consider wearing one for the practise of this week.

These are all symbolic actions which speak powerfully to the

subconscious and unconscious mind and you may be surprised

at what comes to the surface of your consciousness when

you use the ritual tools.

A practise that I have done for many years and have shared it with

others over time, is to embroider my veil as a contemplative practise.

I work simple patterns in silk or wool and attach pieces or charms

that have special meaning to me, on the borders.

I have a number of these shawls that have travelled the world

with me and I have worn them when visiting places sacred to the Mother.

The Suit of Distaff is the suit of peace and the Veils of Mary.

Before the invention of the spinning wheel, the spinning of wool

or flax were done by women using a spindle and a distaff.  The spindle

was a long spool to hold and spin the wool and the distaff a short rod

with an opening or branches at the top for holding the flax or wool.

The top of the distaff had the shape  V and has been called the

sword of peace.

According to the dictionary the word distaff took on the

meaning of 'woman's work' and eventually of 'woman'. 

It is still used to refer to the female side of the family.

Mary, like the goddesses of old, has a rich tradition of weaving 

similarly to Persephone, Kore and Athena and her role in weaving the

temple veil is an important event in the holy story.

Preparing the red thread

Before the wool and flux could be spun, it had to be prepared. 

The red thread represents the sacred red wool which forms

the the thread of our lives, our connections to each other and

our connection to Mary Sophia, the Divine Spirit, both within and without.

In the temple Mary was given the red and purple wool to spin.

The red represents the earthly life of blood and flesh and the

purple symbolises royalty and divinity signifying the 

sacred marriage of flesh and spirit in the conception and birth

of her holy child and the holy child that each one of us carry

within ourselves.

We are a divine weaving of flesh and spirit.

The young Mary, as one of the sacred virgins, preparing

the flux in the temple.

I choose to refresh my altar.  I clean my space and for this week

I continue to burn frankincense on the charcoal burner

and I add Frankincense oil to the rose oil in my oil burner.

You only add one or two drops

and it is a very special blend.

It is a very expensive oil and you may choose to rather

continue with eucalyptus and rose.

Frankincense has a very high vibration and you only need

a few drops at a time as it can become very overpowering.

The sanctification of our sacred altars

Mantra for blessing and sanctification
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.  

The Immaculate Practise for week 3

The holy is within.

Within is everywhere

Within is all

Hail Mary

Ave Maria

In the Mysteries of the Mother

all the opposites are joined

Hail Mary

Ave Maria

Mantra
The Sanskrit word 'mantra' means protection of the mind.

Om Jai Mata Mary Ma
Jai Jai Ma

(Hail triumphant Creatrix Divine Mother Mary
Victorious Mother)

Draw a card for the week and place next to your two cards

for weeks one and two  on your altar.

If you have not done so yet, contemplate on how

the card of the previous week manifested in your life.

Keep all the cards on the altar and at the end we 

will read all four cards together as a story.

  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

that you picked a few days ago,
 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 

your journey.

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.

blessings

Hettienne