Large Group Discussion of Young Readings 10:10...

• Large Group Discussion of Young Readings

• 10:10—10:30am

• What are some of the feminist approaches to reading Biblical texts (Reader, pp. 207-10)? Are these useful tools for challenging traditional interpretations?

• Mary Daly argues that “if God is male, then the Male is God” (Reader, p.211). What are some possible solutions to the androcentric language problem in Christianity?

• Young argues that Biblical texts have histories of interpretations (Reader, pp. 207-208). May of these interpretations over the centuries have worked against women. Feminist scholars, like Elizabeth Johnson, say that any Biblical interpretations needs to be evaluated in terms of how well it matches up to the basic tenets of Christianity. What does this involve?

Black Madonnas

10:30-10:40

Black Madonnas - Facts

• Part of resurgence of devotion to Virgin Mary in Middle Ages, particularly 12th & 13th centuries

• Over 450 statues throughout the world – Most in Europe, particularly France (180), Italy,

Spain, Switzerland, Poland

– A few in the Americas

• Some found in cathedrals (e.g., Chartres); others in remote churches, chapels, shrines (e.g., Puy de Dome in the Pyrenees, Our Lady of Vassiviere)

Our Lady of the Pillar Zaragosa, 40 AD

(Oldest Black Madonna in Europe)


• Some statues found on sites of the ancient goddesses, usual natural settings—a cave, field, or river

• Often contained relics associated with Mary

• Sometimes associated with miracles and apparitions

• Tremendously popular pilgrimage sites in Middle Ages; resurgence of interest 20th century

Our Lady of Vassivière


• Sources: – Byzantine and Mediterranean mosaics and

manuscript illuminations

• Images brought back from the East by the Crusaders of dark Isis, Cybele, Artemis of Ephesus

• Some scholars believe that the memory of ancient goddess statues influenced some Medieval sculptors

Artemis/Diana of Ephesus


• Small (3’ or less) carved wooden statues of Mary and baby Jesus, sometimes standing, usually on a throne – Mary’s face: impassive to tender; looking into

the distance; often wears a crown

– Mary as Theotokos (e.g., Our Lady of Vladimir) but also compassionate Mater Dolorosa (e.g., Madonna of Marsat)

– Baby: a small-man-child making a sign of blessing (e.g., Our Lady of Meymac (Correze)

Mary as Theotokos Turkey

Black Madonnas

The Black Virgin of Meymac The Egyptian

Notre Dame de Marsat


• Most distinctive feature: faces dark-skinned

– Explanations:

• Accidental: Paint darkened by smoke, passage of time

• Intentional: Painted black or carved in ebony – E.g. Black Virgin of Einsiedeln, Black Virgins of Chartres,

Montserrat

• Some pagan statues used to represent Jesus and Mary – E.g., Demeter and Kroe in Enna; Isis and Horace

Our Black Lady of Einsiedeln, Switzerland

Mother/Child Goddess as Models

Demeter and Persephone

Isis and Horus

Our Lady from Under the Earth (Notre-Dame-de-Sous-Terre)

Our Lady of the Pillar, The Black Virgin Chartres

Black Madonnas Mystical, Alchemist Associations

• Associated with alchemy and the Kabbala

– Wisdom (Gnostic influences)

– Shekinah

• Associated with esoteric initiatory aspects of the Order of the Templar

– Mary Magdalene

Black Virgin of Chatillon

Black Madonna of Montserrat

Black Madonnas Great Mother Goddess Associations

• Believed to come from nature, to have been found by river, in a cave – associated with the watery or dark chthonic origins of mother goddesses and with the powers of nature

• Associated with the moon—darkness and light

• Associated with the earth

• Associated with fecundity of the Goddess


• Scholarship confirms an iconographical and cultic continuity between pagan goddesses and the Black Virgins

– Contemporary studies focus on links between the archetype of the sacred feminine and the Black Madonnas

• Medieval “whispers” of the Sacred Feminine


• Church’s Response: – Tolerance: some link Black Madonna to Wisdom in Song

of Solomon: “I am dark—but lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem—”

– Hostility: Toward pagan aspects of Black Madonnas and to the cults they’ve given rise to (and the people they attract) • Deny significance of her blackness • In some villages, priests deny one ever existed in a particular

locale or replace it or repaint it

• By contrast, some villages protect their Black Madonnas ferociously, limiting access and locking them up

The Black Madonna of Częstochowa, Poland

Our Lady of Guadalupe (Extremadura)

Black Madonna in Vitina - Letnica Kosovo

Madonna and Child of Soweto

Black Venus, 1965/7, New York. Niki de Saint Phalle

• These images of the Black Madonna were extremely powerful in their time and continue to be so today. People seek out these statues and images and feel a special connection to them. What qualities in the Black Madonna do you think speak to these people? To you?

Large Group Discussion of Young Readings 10:10...

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