Havi Mandell

Shekhinah who dwells within all creation
Red threads illuminating cosmic tapestry of holy presence
You who are Sukkah of Shalom, haven for my heart, Shabbat for my soul,
Space for community and love and joy to dance and glow,
Great Sea for sephirotic rivers, Temple for my inner ner tamid to burn
I pray with every cell of my being, L’shem yichud kudsha b’rich hu u’shekhinteh
for the unification of the Holy One and Shekhinah
With every mitzvah, I pray for all that is separate, exiled, heart-broken
to return, rebirth and rejoice into harmony and homecoming.
To dance at your Holy Wedding.

Especially at this Equinox of Spring in this month of Miracles.
Especially as the promise of rebirth sprouts in grass and crocus all around me.
Especially as fresh green buds and red-bellied robins sing praise to your presence
Especially as all creation joyfully reaches out to make love with their beloveds.

You who stand at the crossroads, singing songs of comfort,
asking God’s grace for us in our wandering
You whose laughter makes the grasses giggle and sway,
whose dwellingness is reflected in trees:
roots pressing and mingling ecstatically with all life,
Limbs dwellings for nesting birds, racing squirrels, creepy crawlies, wayward vines,
children climbing to see the world from above
You who are the unity of fire, air, water and earth
The reflective changing woman of the Moon

You who are in my prayers,
you who are my prayers

At this Equinox in this month of Miracles
You who are She: mother, daughter, bride, beloved, all that is
I gratefully sing to your presence kaleidoscopically reflected
Around, within and through me, through life, through space
I rest and delight in all the ways you embrace and create space with such grace
in your tzimtzumed womb of limitless love

I fall to my knees on your holy ground and weep with sorrow for the pain of the world
I fall to my knees on your holy ground and weep with awe for the beauty of love expressed in myriad ways unfurled
And I pray, oh how I pray, that the balance and harmony of this Equinox fill us for one brief moment
With a breath of perfect thisness of the balanced now in which we dwell
L’shem yichud kudsha b’rich hu u’shekhinteh
May we return, rebirth and rejoice into harmony and homecoming.
In the unification of the Divine Masculine and Shekhinah

Teresa Sherlock

Deep within my Heart for as long as I can remember I have had this yearning for the Temple and the Temple Sisterhood that I could never fully explain. When I have started painting a few years ago the images of the madonnas kept emerging and I was sometimes criticised for painting the same image over and over and yet I followed the brush and at times they would appear. When the image of this Red Madonna appeared I have asked her who are you and she said I am a Sister of the Temple you have been asking for. How could I
not known that I ask myself? Tears flowed for a long time.Then she said , how many sisters were there in the Temple, I was taken by surprised as how cold I possibly know. Paint them and you will know and so I shall…

Sue Boardman

Our Lady of Living Waters… the amniotic fluid of creation
she holds my hopes and fears
my prayers for healing in red thread and buttons and dots
and shelters the whale, my sister
words, heart, family, gnosis
a clear call to the journey of new life
she flows within me and I am responding, still.

Sharon Handy

The Lady stands in the waters of Lake Superior at sunset with blessed water plants of the region surrounding and adorning her. She offers a never ending flow of healing waters from her heart, sustaining us and the environment. Vibrant waves of love and compassion pulse out in all directions from her Being.

Havi Mandell

She was painted as the final painting of the Kabbalistic Four World paintings in Red Madonna’s Tree of Life course. She is the Divine Feminine living among us, at the bus stop, ready for conversation and connection. She holds Sabbath candles, representing Shekhinah, the Divine Feminine Indwelling Presence, and as a Presence of Light and Peace in the world. The Hebrew letters dance through her, each letter a building block of creation blessed by her. On her full thighs, Miriam and the women, ALL women are dancing with their tambourines, there is a Tree of Life glyph, and the four directions. The yarn holds the energies of the red thread and holy people in the world, the shards represent the hidden Holy Sparks through out creation and at her side is Rachel’s Tomb, honoring the Matriarchs and Rachel as the matriarch weeping for her children, waiting for their homecoming.

Shiloh Sophia McCloud

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Millie Mellgren

I walked the 500 mile Camino de Santiago de Compostela across Spain, a soul journey. Compostela means “field of stars” and is often used to refer to the Milky Way. Following this walking soul journey I returned home and became part of the Red Madonna painting soul journey. The two experiences meshed together beautifully and this painting was the outcome. I named it “She Walks Along the Milky Way” to reflect the melding of these two journeys. The title also comes from lyrics in the song “Drops of Jupiter” which describes a mother’s “soul vacation.” So many threads came together to take shape in this painting.

Katy Morse

Sacred Union of Divine Wisdom and Love

Emily Grieves

In the cosmology of Teotihuacan, Mexico, home to 2000-year-old pyramids, the Underworld is the source of all Creation. The primordial waters burst forth, the Mountain of Our Sustenance rises, and out of the Divine Womb within the Earth all other worlds are born. The creative forces of the Underworld maintain order in the cosmos. The wheels of mundane time and sacred time are maintained from this place, and when those wheels break down through the damaging actions of humankind, when we fall out of alignment with the cosmic order, it is time to return to the place of Origin to reinitiate the great cycle of existence. In that place of alchemy and transformation, the Great Creator awaits, welcoming seekers, dreamers and diviners into Her womb, initiating humanity into the secret of creation. Whoever holds the secret of creation also holds the secret of destruction, because they know how to re-create. It is the most sacred secret in all the universe, and those who hold it know their place in the universe as both Creator and Creation, dancing along the border line of duality into union with All That Is.

Caron McCloud

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Leslie McQuaide

A weekend journey with the Grandmother….The realization that for Life to move within me as It was created my soul must open to the moon, the stars and all of creation…to all my relations, two and four-legged, winged and finned…in utter joy and communion.

Carol Fairbanks

My painting gives image to the reality that we live in – a cyclical universe on a round planet that rotates as cycles of birth, death and rebirth are constantly at play. The rhythm of this painting is a celebration of those cycles of nature as energetic forces for good. While Mother Gaia continually presents us with the abundance of new life, this harmony of nature is reflected in our own innate potential to be creative. Indeed, it is a quality we are each gifted with and can never be separated from, except in our own consciousness. This individual ability to create is ready now to be reawakened and reborn more fully into our lives, just like the courage of spring flowers emerging from winter’s ice and snow. When that creative spark of life within is brought forth into our conscious awareness, we are able to finally manifest the life we all want and dream of. At the canvas we image and practice this creative emergence over and over again, replicating the creative cycles of nature. So join in the words of George Harrison, and sing the miracle of new life, “It’s been a long, long lonely winter. Here comes the sun! Smiles are returning to the faces! And I say, it’s all right!”

Carol Fairbanks

Ancient Lady of Creation
Protecting all of nature.
Goddess of the living waters
Who sustains the cycle of life.
Mistress of wild things
Midwifing our unique song to sing.
Sophia fulfilling her promise of care
As flowing water unites us all as one.

Sue Boardman

When my intention was scrawled on the canvas and tidy Tuscan rolling hills were sprouting in the sketch, our Newfoundland rescue, Sarah, crossed the rainbow bridge. I woke at 4 am and pulled out a secret stash of heavy body paints and an expired credit card. The tidy rolling hills disappeared in a torrent of sobbing and flinging paint.
Then, slowly, life began again. On canvas and in my heart. Now known as “In the Beginning,” the divine feminine figure holding the center of creation guided my every step and teaches me, still.

Colleen Crotty-Good

If the Earth is an organism,
Sovereign and aware,
And I am part of this great being,
What am I, if not,
The Earth Herself longing to know.

Virginie Hentzienne

Illustrating the principles of life, transformation and unconditional love, She invited me to bring forgiveness and acceptance at the center of my relationship with the Divine and the wounded aspects of myself. She said to me “The different parts of your being are all sacred aspects of yourself. All deserve to be acknowledged, welcomed and honored. Open your heart to yourself as you do to others, totally and unconditionally.”

Stephanie Vietor

Our Lady of My Healing Waters
You rise with fish in your hair
swimming, swirling…
as You invite me to drink…

Healing waters.
Divine One.
Heal me.

Nona McKinney

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Olivia Marie Oso

This painting was part of a year long series of five paintings as I consciously walked the medicine wheel of life and brought my focus to each of the elemental directions.
She represents my deep watery nature of emotions, direction of the west and my first medicine, water. Her message is; deep within each of us is a treasure chest of beauty and unique gifts which we are here to offer the world.

Shelley Hines

She has been with me since the beginning of time. I am more connected to and conscious of her now than ever before. Decades ago, I heard her voice when I felt unloved, uncertain and was the lowest ever in my life; during a time a felt I was an atheist. But her voice called me home. Home to love and peace. After Pope Francis raised up St. Magdalene to a feast status the divine feminine called to me again – louder. And so now, I paint her, teach about her, and walk the world with her. She is within me. She is within All.

Rosemary Allen

This painting is titled “Kavanah” which means intention. As this painting evolved over the course of a year, I found myself pulled into the Native American story of Rainbow Crow, a beautifully colored bird who volunteers to take on a difficult task. The Great Creator Mother is in the process of creating what she has dreamed through song but has asked for a co-creator to bring another quality to her creation. She asks that someone go and pluck out a piece of the sun and bring it down to earth so everyone can have fire and light. After volunteering when everyone else has refused, the crow returns with feathers that have been singed black. The intention to bring this gift of fire and light for all through co-creation inspires me.

Cindy Taylor Clark

“You are a Divine Being of Light.
Stay strong and let happiness
expand inside of your heart,
for you are as I Am.
Peace, Peace, Peace.
I say to you.
Peace, Peace, Peace.
Forgive the unforgivable.
Reside in the loving arms of My Love,
and look at life through my eyes.
Compassionate Love is the answer.
Remember we are One family of Light.
Blessed Be.

Tara Erin

Beloved Wisdom,

I have hewn the seven pillars of my house.

Love: the Light which I follow in all my thoughts and words and deeds.
Joy: the Salvation from self-reliance and fear, the gift that comes with Surrendering all my cares to Thee.
Creativity: the Mission I have been given, to increase Love, Joy and Beauty in the world.
Abundance: The Gift that flows from living by Love’s Guiding Light, moving from Joy to Joy through Creativity.
Intention: Recalling my Heart to the Path of Love – the path I choose whenever – whenever Fear would try to lure me into dark side paths and dead-end byways of Illusion.
Presence: Recalling myself to be Present with Thee whenever ghosts of Past Regret or Phantoms of Future Fears would try to steal my Joy.
Community: In all I do, striving to bless not only myself, but all the World, becoming a Channel for Goodness to flow, and not a Silo for Abundance to be stored up and left to Rot.
Beloved Wisdom, please bless the House I have built and dwell here with me always. You are the Queen of my Heart, and I surrender the Strategy to Thee.

Havi Mandell

This painting is an expression of our intimate relationship with the Divine, receiving blessings and sharing those blessings with each other and the world. I wanted these images to be both masculine, feminine, and both, to express a level of wholeness, flow, and connection that was both/and, that embraced all and blessed all. The flow moves up, down, and between, each needing the other for wholeness, each part of a shared journey, a shared healing, a shared co-creation.

Colleen Crotty-Good

The drum beat of creation unfolds in the heart beat of the cosmos.
A rolling thunder of effect as lightening penetrates, perpetrates the long, slow, steady jostle of atoms into life, mineral and sacred magic.
Place and person arise wrapped in our sacred robes of DNA only to dissolve back into the fire of creation washed in the thunderous heartbeat of the divine.
I was there.
I rose and lived, tenderly watched by herself, on the other side, my divine soul.
I am a pulse of the great unfolding of divine masculine and holy feminine. Doomed in the next swing of the drumstick into an unknown transformation.
Okay then,
I offer this that I know into the waters of creation.
This life I lived was good, indeed, blessed by a cohort of loving and gentle people who formed family, friends and meaningful work.
I lived in a place that provided a bounty of all that life required….and more.
I took too much, I know that now. Swept along with all the forces of my milieu, I reveled in the heady spin of our minds and inventions in a life of wild fun and consumption.
I see now the cost of that excess of my era,
the loss of great and wonderful creations like rhinos and tigers, and whole worlds of winged and watery beings.
Okay then,
Let my knowing dissolve into the atoms of water and mineral of which I am formed. Let my wisdom evaporate into the great knowing and in the next swing of the divine drumstick create a wiser being to live an equally good life, more attentive and more in holy balance and respectful and gentle caring for all that is with me in that moment of creation.
This life, then, is lived, Amen.

Anni Barsoum

This painting is dedicated to Hope, Rebirth and Love, awaiting Peace on Earth. It is just as relevant today as it was when I painted it, after two particularly traumatic events: the Beirut Port blast in on August 4th 2020, and the 40 day war against Artsakh in fall 2020. One year later, the world faces yet another major trauma, this time in the heart of Europe. Peace, Love and Goodwill shall prevail. Mamig and Dadig help us heal the sick and wounded, remember the fallen, and give us hope for good sense and respect for all of life to flourish.

Lisa Williams

Story text copy

Nadya King

Chalice of the Soul – Sacred Compass

In the space between spaces
We enter the Inner Temple
Light the candles
Fill the Chalice of the Soul

Entering the Inner Temple
We pay homage to the Sacred
Fill the chalice of the Soul
With the waters of renewal.

We pay homage to the Sacred
Fly with phoenix and dragon through the cosmos
Baptized in the waters of renewal
Finding our inner compass.

Flying along the cosmic Soul Path
Lighting candles on the altar
We find our sacred compass
In the space between spaces.

Mary Ann Matthys

As often happens for me, as I immerse myself in the loving embrace of the Great Mother, images emerge that are reflective of current events. As this unusual time in our world goes on and on, and the first wave of the pandemic gives way to the second, third and on and on and now the War in Ukraine is in progress to the chagrin of most of the world, I wonder what can I do? How can I continue to cultivate resilience in myself and be a way shower for others in the midst of such unrest, danger and pain. What I am finding is that women are calling women across the world. Women are calling circles literally all over the world and because of the technology of this age, women in countries on every continent can meet in the quantum realm and plan wise action. It is happening now. One woman can do a little, or sometimes a lot, and many women coming together for a common purpose can co-create change on a global scale. It is as if the mycelium of Earth is connecting women everywhere and a call is going out. “Bring a revolution of Love. Fight Hate with Goodness. Walk with Hope.” Listen. Do you hear the call?

Olivia Marie Oso

“A new AWAKENING” (Psalms of Creation)

A shooting star streaks across the heavenly domain…
falls to earth as the Cosmic dance of union ensues.
A wise council of elders, Grandmothers, Grandfathers,
sisters eagerly await the arrival of a new being.
A sweet song is carried by the winds across the land…
Sacred waters flow…
A holy fire burns…
A gentle heart beat is heard
as a little one cries out her first breath.
This tiny earthling is gathered up in a scarlet red shawl
She is offered to the sun…
Introduced to the earth…
Then passed around the circle
to be blessed by the tribe who welcomes her.
A rainbow illuminates across the sky
It is the time of rebirth and renewal,
A time of co-creating a new Myth…
…Slowly the Rose blooms.

A new voice speaks out:

“I am a living prayer, made of stardust and earth.
I’ve walked many days around the sun.
I carry the bloodline of my ancestors in my bones,
As I honor the lineage within my DNA.
Within this tribe of sacred sisterhood,
I’ve held on to the red thread connection,
As I’ve explored my deeper connection with Creation.
Through times of Light and Darkness,
I’ve straddled the equal sign…
To find myself in the place of not Knowing
And sitting in the seat of uncertainty.
Diving deeper into the Divinity of my soul,
I am renewing my life force in relationship with Creation.
I feel my fire spark within me,
I bathe in the tears of sorrow and grief,
And allow the purification of water to bless me.
I am strengthening my umbilical connection to earth.
As I have tasted the seeds of the pomegranate and
remembered the times of being in the underworld…
I now savoring the sweetness of life.
I am a Vessel through which the river of Creativity flows.
My illuminated HEART witnesses the sorrows
and celebrates the joy and love.

I embody the energies of both masculine and feminine
and seek to walk the pathless Path.
I am the Tree of Life.
The fruits of my labor are here to be shared.
I am pregnant with possibility and potential,
Connecting to the cycles of Creation.
The moon illuminates my way
and the sun warms my being.
I stand with my feet rooted in the ground beneath me,
with my head in the stars.
I am filled with Lightness of Being
as sweet darkness invites me inward.
I am no longer separate from anything,
I am a part of the Matrix of the Universe,
as I am made of matter…
I MATTER.
I carry deep faith and devotion to the Earth
and all Creation.

I Am Earth…
grounded in my Being.

I Am Water,
going with the flow and letting go.

I surrender to the Great Mystery.

I am filled with the Holy Breath.

And I am ether,
a Precious human being.

The Flame of Love
fills my Heart…
I am here to LOVE
and be loved.

I am a Holy sacred woman,
Standing in the garden of Creation,
Tending to my soul,
listening to my Heart.

I am AWAKENING
To the new Myth unfolding.

I am a Psalm of Creation.”

Pilamaya (thank you)

Olivia Marie

Shiloh Sophia McCloud

Story text copy

Sue Hoya Sellars

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Karen Maunder

I Am the Great Cosmic Mother
The New Universal Story.
I Am wonder, joy, delight, mystery.
I Am pain, suffering, grief, fear.
I Am creativity, compassion, grace.
I Am “both/and”
Knowing the dark night of the soul
births the light.

Leslie McQuaide

My Lakota name is Wichahpi Wiyak Puk Puh Win. It means Glittering Star Woman. I received this name at the conclusion of a Sundance Ceremony on Standing Rock Reservation July 2014. Later I painted this image during an Artifact class with Shiloh Sophia.

Tara Erin

Prayer for a Journey With Sisters (a vilanelle)

Beloved Spirit hear my call tonight
No stars to light this darkness, stumbling on
I beg for my blind eyes some hope of sight

I dare not trust old friends to guide aright
For I would find new roads to walk upon
Beloved Spirit hear my call tonight

My call is desperate: see my sorry plight
Alone and cold and dark and trod upon
Oh bring to my blind eyes some hope of sight

But lo, here sisters come by candlelight
To lead me to a tent with curtain drawn
Beloved Spirit hears my call tonight!

Within the tent of red a glowing light
As warmth and laughter break the night forlorn
And open my blind eyes to blessed sight

So long alone I labored in the Night
But now I walk befriended in the Dawn
Beloved Spirit hear our call tonight
To all blind eyes bring this beloved sight!

Virginie Hentzienne

Everflowering Lady was created according the Golden ratio and immediately revealed herself as the spirit of Mother Earth.
She inspired me this message :
“I trust the cycles of Life, it is constantly renewing itself.
Even dormant, it prepares the future blossoming of spring.
I nurture my Tree of Life and honor life in me and around me.”

Mary Ann Matthys

Cathedral of the Heart represents that place within where transformation occurs in one’s soul. The butterfly has just emerge and the human form is transforming into her butterfly form. This painting was co-created by Mary Ann Matthys and Chloe Chopcinski Matthys. I am the birds greeting the dawn with their song.
I am wind blowing through chimes, a cacophony of sound.
I am squirrels jumping from limb to limb, nature’s acrobats.
I am feral cats resting in the sun, warming their fur.
I am a green chrysalis trimmed in gold, transformation’s haven.

Mary Ann Matthys

Sun, Moon and Stars come together at Wisdom’s Table in sacred reciprocity. This painting was co-created by Mary Ann Matthys and Chloe Chopcinski Matthys.Your presence
Ripples out…
A conduit
Of hope and love.
Everyone you meet
Is a reflection
Of divine blessedness.

Divine blessedness
Knows no race,
No color,
No gender.
See others
As a divine reflection,
Illuminating
Your path.
Loving, living
Goodness is
meant for all.
Graciousness
Knows no limitations,
No boundaries.

Grasp the magnitude
Of the Love
Encompassing all.
Be a conduit.
Your presence
ripples out
In hope and love.

Carol Ahlorah Lorraine

My soul speaks
I am singing my soul song
Birthing union within me
Celebrating
Beauty Awakening to the Illumination of Love’s Wisdom

Teresa Sherlock

This Forget Me Not Madonna , Sister Of The Temple came to me at the beginning of the war in Ukraine in Feb 2022. I was in a very dark and despairing place not knowing what to do. Then I started praying and painting and asking for guidance. She emerged on the canvas. Forget Me Not she said for I am always here for you. And she was right I have forgotten and disconnected for a while… am forever grateful for her presence in my life…

Ally Markotich

Return to Me is about the Cosmic Mother who holds the baby of Creation while she shares her story with the young masculine (energy). His eyes are on the baby who gifts him a vision of goodness. His inner core is bubbling with life as he gazes. The mother’s story is one that connects the young masculine to his ancestors — the handprint speaks to this, the “trinity” form in her hair, and the older crone near the bottom who sows seeds of love along her path. A prayerful mother is seen at the top kneeling… she whispers prayers for the harmed masculine (energy) to shift to expansion and love.

Rio Alden

Earth, solid, generous,
Fire, the spark, the glow,
Water, relentless love,
Air, the mercy that lifts,
Stardust, our common inheritance,
Ether, our way through,
Sun, our daily guide,
and Moon, the mirror, dancing,
Until we are home,
in this,
in each other,
always..

Natalie Moyes

She Who Dances in the Rain – Natalie Moyes October 2020 from Our Lady of Living Water Journey

Do you see me?
Do you see me now?
I have thrown off the umbrella,
that object of good intention
meant to protect me from the rain.

You didn’t see
the harm in the umbrella.
I’d like to believe that.
I’d like to hope you meant well.
But you and I both know that’s not the case.

I can’t do what must be done
when I have to hold onto
something that’s not mine to hold.
Something that gets in the way.
A shelter which collapses in a sudden gust.

Funny about wind.
You can’t see it.
You only know its presence by
the effect it has passing through,
dangers unknown, but results devastating.

My ancestors danced in the rain.

This is the water of creation.
The essential water of life.
The messy water of birth.
The sacred water of ritual.
The wide, turbulent water of curiosity and conveyance.

The is the water of me, and of you.
The same water for eternity,
present at the big bang,
present at the great flood,
present long after humans no longer walk the earth.

Water is cleansing.
It washes away layers of grime
from everyday living.
Layers that dull our brightness,
Layers that become a barometer of worth.

I rejoice I too can dance in the rain.

My hands are now free
to catch this living water,
to bathe in promises to come,
to drink and prepare for hard work,
to cool the flames of racism.

Imagine if each tiny drop
was the heart of an awakened person.
One who recognized –
the connection of all things,
the imbalance of haves and have nots,
the responsibility to earth and all her creatures.

Most won’t notice a drop or two.
Many together, like a shower,
can replenish parched earth, encourage new growth.
But a deluge transforms the landscape.

Let it rain.
Let it rain.
Let it rain.

Will you join me in the dance in the rain?

Stephanie Vietor

“That you are, my Beloved. You are That,”

“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and [SHE] will do even greater things than these…” John 14:12

She invites us, Sisters, to gather ‘round, that those who have ears may hear.
For we are created in Their image, each of us.
With copper skin, curly hair, breasts and birth canals.
We are Creation, and Creator.
Eve, Magdalene, Mary, and Jesus.
Miriam, Sarah, Judas and Jezebel.

She gathers us along the banks of Mighty Mo, to gaze upon stars and moonlight…
To see ourselves in the folds of her gown…

That you are, my Beloved. You are That.

Shiloh Sophia McCloud

Story text copy

Sue Hoya Sellars

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Katy Morse

May your Life be Blessed with Ease and Joy

Valerie Kravette

"But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart." Luke 2:19

Sally Richard

BECOMING was my first Red Madonna painting, a class for Our Lady of Guadalupe. Unsure I would enjoy the process [my Muse laughs], I refrained from buying too many supplies. I used a smaller canvas I had on hand. This Lady started me on a journey I still walk, BECOMING more of "Authentic Me." I continue to release layers of my imagination which I think bind me; I continue to learn to LOVE myself. Despite my crude painting skills, BECOMING is still one of my favorite paintings. How could she not be my favorite? She opened the door into this Red Madonna sisterhood and into Color of Woman. Always Grateful <3

Marie Anni Barsoum

Part of the Red Madonna 2020 series of paintings, she watches over me in my bedroom and gives me hope.

Rebecca Heisterhoff

One of Mary Ann’s Hearthfire Conversations got me musing about how I miss connectivity to the image of the Great Mother. A few days later I painted with my two little nieces on one of my work in progress-canvases. They had so much joy using their small hands to apply loads of colors and suddenly appeared this bright yellow and orange half-circle there, looking like a halo. And so the Red Madonna emerged not only in my painting process, but more and more in my life. I love seeing various pictures of Her and studying Her-Stories.

Katherine Witteman

Always.

Lisa Williams

The cow accompanies the Goddess
Symbol of nurturing, nourishment, mothering
The cow too has been greatly maligned.
Her beauty and sweetness abused.
You the Protectress guide us to listen with the heart
To show love to all beings.

Shiloh Sophia McCloud

Story text copy

Elizabeth Gibbons

There are many interpretations of the meaning of the Black Madonna archetype. She has been linked to the earth mother, to wisdom and to the life force of matter. She stands for equality, justice, balance and love. Her presence is a call and an invitation. She invites us into the depths of who we are, the original self, our true essence where divinity lies. It is within that we encounter the truth. She calls us to the depths of our creativity and thus to transformation. Creativity comes from the realm of the mother and she calls to us to ignite the divine SOUL-SHINE that lives within each of us.

I have linked her to the symbols of alchemy because alchemy is about transformation. Alchemy is an ancient art, a sacred science that in unveiling the secrets of nature, leads the seeker to union with the Divine. In my painting of the Black Madonna the "Secret Fire" of alchemy is at her root chakra. This represents the creative fire of transformation grounded in the very root of her bring. It symbolizes the burning away of all that no longer serves humanity. When we encounter the truth within within all illusions are burned away. It is the burning that must happen before true healing can occur. My Black Madonna gestates and gives birth to her own "inner child" who is nourished by the twin serpents of the divine feminine and divine masculine that pour into the sacred vessel of her womb

Leslie Nolan

Story copy here

Nadya King

Come sit here with me awhile
Your Golden Heart glowing
A candle of presence
Bring the Sacred ampule
To collect the tears
Of ten thousand osses and longings
Place it here, on the altar of our lives.
Tend it carefully
Adorned with such care
And the scent of a thousand roses