Black Madonna

In fairy tales which are under the influence of Christian civilization, the archetype of the Great Mother, like all others, is split into two aspects. The Virgin Mary, for example, is cut off from her shadow side and represents only the light side of the mother image; consequently, as Jung points out, the moment when the figure of the Virgin Mary became more important was also the time of the witch persecutions. Since the symbol of the Great Mother was too one-sided, the dark side got projected onto women, which gave rise to the persecution of witches; since the shadow of the Great Mother was not contained in any officially worshipped symbol of the Goddess, the figure of the mother became split into the positive mother and the destructive witch.

Behind the popularity of the Black Madonnas lies the same problem, for they too have to do with the black goddess Isis. The legend concerning the Black Madonna in Einsiedeln holds that once the monastery was burned down, and since then the statue has remained blackened. But one can see that this is not so: she is black, and she is black because she is more potent and magical and effective than she would be as an ordinary white woman. Here the archetype of the Great Mother Earth comes in through the back door, for if an archetype is excluded by dogmatic teaching, it necessarily returns by the back door.

The witch is an archetypal aspect of the Great Mother. She is the neglected Mother Goddess, the Goddess of the earth in her destructive aspect. The Egyptian Mother Goddess, Isis, is called the great magician and the great witch: when angry she is the witch, and when benevolent the redeeming all-bestowing mother who gives birth to the gods. In such a figure you have both aspects of the archetype of the mother, for she has a light and dark side—the witch, and the benevolent and maternal. The Indian goddess Kali also can appear as the lifegiver or the bringer of great destruction. .

Marion Woodman on Black Madonna

The Black Madonna, for example. Sometimes she’s crying. Sometimes she’s austere. She’s dark. Sometimes she’s a black woman or Indian or Portuguese. I think she’s dark because she’s unknown to consciousness. She often has a fierce sense of humor that cuts straight through the madness of human behavior. She’s always larger than life, which suggests she’s a goddess, fit to be the mother of a god.

Throughout history, the Black Madonna has presided over fertility, sexuality and childbirth. She is nature impregnated by spirit, accepting her own body as the chalice of the spirit. She has to do with the sacredness of matter; the intersection of sexuality and spirituality. Rejected by the patriarchy, her energy has been smoldering. It is now erupting in individuals and in the planet, demanding conscious recognition. Integrating what she symbolizes involves the redemption of matter. principle, which controls and shapes nature at any cost, with masculinity. If we ever bring the Black Madonna’s son to consciousness, our idea of mature masculinity will be revolutionized.

The Black Madonna appears in the dreams of men and women who are reflecting on their inner world.

The Black Madonna usually appears outdoors, so she’s related to nature. My sense is that she has to do with consciousness in matter. We cannot go back to identifying with mater, unconscious matter; and there never has been an era of conscious femininity The world has never known Conscious Mother; let alone Conscious Mature Woman. We have to connect to her because the power that drives the patriarchy, the power that is raping the earth, the power drive behind addictions, has to be transformed. There has to be a counterbalance to all that frenzy, annihilation, ambition, competition and materialism.

The Black Madonna is the bridge. She is a spiritual figure in a physical body, so she acts as a bridge between head and heart. She’s a wisdom figure. In the Tarot pack, for example, Wisdom is always pictured with a rainbow and irises. The rainbow is a symbol of the connection between heaven and earth. Iris, who in mythology is also a wisdom figure, goddess of the rainbow, is the bridge. I see the Black Madonna as a wisdom figure. Sophia means wisdom, the deep feminine wisdom that manifests through nature, including human nature. Sophia’ first appearance in dreams is often as a dark goddess.

The mind disconnected from the heart discerns by distinction. The black Madonna is the bridge between the heart and the mind. The mind of the heart sees in harmony and finds ways to blend and unify the opposites. So in this way, the air signs that are transformed into heart knowing, use their sword as a surgeons tool rather than a weapon. Thought turns to divine breath breath.