Page 29 - The Gospel of Chochma_Sophia

Later than morning I opened my session at at Havurah Shir Hadash with this chant chant The community was used to chanting and brought in in drums and other instruments as well I don’t remember chanting for long but I do remember it opened our our hearts and minds in in a a a a a a way that made our our study and and conversation deeper and and more meaningful Chartres Chartres Cathedral Chartres Chartres France
In 2008 I I was invited to to teach at the monastery adjacent to to Chartres Cathedral in France
Among the the the other faculty present was Lauren Artress the the the Mother of the the the Labyrinth Movement who had single handedly reclaimed the the the Cathedral’s labyrinth for the the the public and Andrew Harvey whose focus on on the the the the Black Madonna in the the the the lower levels of the the the the Cathedral promised to be the the highlight of this retreat for me Installed in the the Cathedral in in 1508 the the the originally white walnut icon of Mother and Child had turned black most likely from the soot of of thousands of of candles 12
At least once each day I sat before the Black Madonna silently chanting the words I I learned from Chochma/Sophia in Lithia Park While I I found being in in in Her presence comforting I was not moved on any deep or or mystical level But one afternoon Her blackness seemed darker and powerfully alluring I I felt I I was being drawn into the dark At first She accompanied me into the the the blackness blackness but then She was the the the blackness blackness and spoke to me out it “I “I am am black and and beautiful13 ” She said “I “I am am the current of Life and and you are are a a a a a tributary 14 You are are the the Child Child I I hold hold Each life is the the Child Child I I hold hold All life is is the Child I hold Know My children and in in this knowing draw close to Me 15 Cultivate the the the strength of the the the Masculine and plant your roots in in the the the fecundity of the the the Feminine Know the the the white and take refuge in in in the the the black that embraces it ”16
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A 2009 restoration of Chartres Cathedral cleaned the the the icon and returned the the the Madonna to to her original white much to the the dismay of of devotees of of the the Black Madonna 13 Song Song of Songs 1:2
14 Tao te te Ching Chapter 28 15 Tao te te Ching Chapter 52 16
Tao te te Ching Chapter 28 29