For Part ONE, Please scroll down in a previous blog post from our Spring Equinox edition! The Black Madonna Spoke: Part II Or, Now I know why… Before 410 AD, the basilica Notre-Dame de la Daurade (Our Lady of Gold) in Toulouse, France, was the site of a pagan temple dedicated to the god Apollo. Like many of the churches, cathedrals, and basilicas of Europe, the sacred spaces of gods and goddess originally worshipped on those sites were erased by some Christians – primarily the Catholics. Over the centuries the spot where the basilica now stands had been a Benedictine monastery and, oddly, a tobacco factory after the French Revolution. Even the current statue of the Black Madonna is not the original – it’s the third iteration. The first was stolen in the 1400s and the second burned in 1799, another casualty of the Revolution. The statue that spoke to me was created in 1807. While all those changes are notable, what I expect has not changed is the energy of the site. I’ve visited other sacred sites (Chartres Cathedral in France, Machu Pichu in Peru, the Temple of Isis in Egypt, etc.), and the energic experience is always profound. As I entered Notre-Dame de la Daurade, its dark atrium cut me off from the bright day and I had to pause for my eyes to adjust. Looking back, it could be described as a “reverse birth,” because I was coming in from the light into a dark womb. My separation from the outside was further confirmed by the purifying scent of charcoal and frankincense wafting from the censers. Yes, I was in a sacred space... Nearly alone in the church, I walked around the perimeter where the racks of votive candles flickered like stars under the statue of its patron saint. Each one a prayer by a faithful for intercessions or thanks for a granted miracle. Although confirmed as a teen, I was never a practicing Catholic, but as an adult, I believed in the power of lighting candles to give my own pleas or answered prayers a boost on their way to the Divine. After walking in what seemed like a meditation, I finally found her. The Black Madonna (La Dame Noire) was in her shrine to the left of the altar in the nave. As I sat before her, church bells clanging the noon hour got louder and louder transitioning my mediation into a trance. Tears rolled down my face – for an imperceivable reason. I was not sad. I was not upset. What was happening was that the Divine feminine energy was touching my soul! As my body resonated with the sacred energy of the space and the tears stopped, I opened my journal – which was gold – and began to write. Why was I here? (“Here” meaning many, many things!) Initially, my hand moved slowly as I consciously sought to separate my thoughts from the messages of the Black Madonna. Soon the words came rapidly: “light, light, light” I wrote. Then the sentences: “You are a light worker.” “Your mission is to combat the darkness and dark ideas with light.” Suddenly my head bowed as in prayer, and I had no control over the pen in my hand. I was experiencing automatic writing. The handwriting was jagged, and the letters scribbled outside the lines. I did not know what was coming next. “You are a portal for light energy.” “Fears are illusions.” The messages were clear and unambiguous. I learned that I was “here” – as in this life – and in front of the Black Madonna – because I needed to reawaken to the deep, deep, deep meaning of my existence. Twelve pages in my hand slowed. The last words were a command to light three candles at the Black Madonna shrine: one for the past, one for the present, and one for the future. I had to collect myself before walking to the candle rack. I needed to assess what had just happened. Did I make it up? Was it real? It had happened. The message was true and penetrating, and I knew it deep down. I lit my candles and walked back out into the bright daylight of Toulouse. However, I was not the same person I was when I entered. The Black Madonna spoke to me and now so many of my life experiences and my mission make sense. Regina Robinson is an adult and K-6 educator and the president of RM Robinson Solutions LLC (RMRS). The company provides workplace, elementary, and early childhood education solutions. She holds a master’s degree in Media Ecology from New York University and lives in a historical house in the Germantown section of Philadelphia with her husband, John, and her dog/son, Iggie.
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