Black Madonna

“She went quickly to Rocamadour saying ‘This is the doing of the
Virgin who always guards us.’” (From a Medieval pilgrimage song)

In the mid 90’s I experienced an identity crisis as an artist. I wanted to find a spiritual connection that could be manifested in my work and realized that I was connected in a way that had been with me all along. I began to reflect on my family’s Slavic heritage. When I was growing up a woman’s eyes were always watching me from a picture on the wall of my grandmother’s kitchen. It was a picture of the Black Madonna of Czestachowa. (Fig. 1) 

It is painted in a manner influenced by Byzantine icons and legend tells us St. Luke painted it  on the wood of the table of the Holy Family. Her face is dark and stern. Not sweet like other Madonna images I’d seen. It was made more imposing by two scars across her right cheek cut by Hussites when they attacked the Pauline monastery in which the Madonna is enshrined. 

She is the Madonna of the Jasna Gora monastery in Czestachowa, a small city in southern Poland. Her image and what it represents became a muse and spiritual guide for me influencing my work for several years. During that time I sometimes employed her image but it was largely the metaphor conveyed by it into my work that was of greater importance. I found that the Black Madonna represents the need to encounter what Master Eckhart called the ground of the soul that is dark in order to attain inner peace and an authentic connection to the spiritual that will allow for transformation to a new creative consciousness. 

Jung’s concept of the anima and animus is significant. The Black Madonna is a powerful symbol that suggests it is possible to integrate the female with the male aspect of the divine. All of us have within us both feminine and masculine realities. To disregard one in favor of the other is to deny wholeness of the psyche.  A “creative urge in man is rooted (in the) Black Mother. She is both the source of a new consciousness and the well spring of all creativity.”¹ In this regard she is a conduit to God that manifests energy that sustains and renews life.

I became further involved with the mystery of the Czestachowa Black Madonna in 2004 when I was awarded a Fulbright teaching and research fellowship. The project was called  “Black Madonna Query.” The title reflected my desire to understand the phenomenon of the Czestachowa Madonna more deeply.

I began creating subtle references to her mythic aspects. For example “She Remains” (Fig. 2) shows a row of coral necklaces, ex-votos in the Czestachowa shrine, one with a bead on which I placed the visage of the Black Madonna. 

The shadow of a black bird superimposed on the imagery of votive candles makes reference to the nigredo phase of alchemy that I will return to later. The coral necklaces resemble rows of corn and thus the title refers to the Great Mother Goddess as the original grain guardian with a lineage that traversed the centuries.

During my Fulbright experience I made a series of paintings, drawings and digital photographs and continued the work when I returned. In my explorations I found that there is a surprisingly large
number of Black Madonnas, many located in obscure country churches as well as major pilgrimage sites in southern and south central France. My goal to walk the paths of Medieval pilgrims was realized when I received a University of Nebraska research grant for the summer of 2008. 

 I visited five major Black Madonna Shrines in France; Notre Dame of Rocamadour, Notre Dame de Confession in Marseilles, Notre Dame du Puy of Le Puy-en-Velay, Notre Dame de Bon Espoir in Dijon and Notre Dame du Pillier in Chartres. 

The Black Madonnas of France

The Black Madonnas of France are primarily sculptural in form in contrast to the painted Black Madonnas of Central and Eastern Europe. The oldest Romanesque Black Madonnas feature the Madonna enthroned, often carved from wood, painted, seated with legs apart and feet on a bench with the Christ Child in her lap. ²   These are of the Throne of Wisdom type, in Latin, sedes sapientia, one of the devotional titles of the Madonna and a reference to the Throne of Solomon. In the Book of Solomon Wisdom is depicted as feminine. “Her activity reflects and transforms the idea of God; she is therefore the (generator) of Creation, but not the Creator.” ³  She is the vessel of Wisdom, and with the emergence of Christianity, that of the incarnation of Christ. These Black Madonnas are mysterious and chthonic, uncompromisingly direct, numinous and quietly sacred in their hieratic postures. “Peculiar to all the Romanesque (Throne of Wisdom Madonnas, both white and black) is the look of an idol, albeit a “Christian idol” ⁴   An interpretation is that the Black Throne of Wisdom Madonnas are depicted as such because the color black represents the primal and creative, the matter out of which all things come. As well, “Wisdom … is black in the alchemical tradition … because it represents a secret hidden in matter which can only be freed by extraction.” ⁵  

The origin of the phenomenon of the Black Madonna is unknowable but there are several theories as to how it emerged. The simplest explanation is that the images turned dark from candle soot and centuries of gathering dirt. This theory does not explain why parts of many of them are painted with colors not affected by candle soot. Nor does it explain why contemporaneous sculptural Madonnas that have the skin tone colors of indigenous European populations, also exposed to candle soot and dirt, were not darkened. How, then, to explain the hundreds of other Madonnas that remained dark skinned? 

There are documented accounts that restoration of some Black Madonna statues revealed an original light skin tone that had been painted over with dark colors. One such is the Madonna of Einseindeln in Switzerland. This Madonna was originally light colored and may have turned black from candle soot, however, her blackness had become part of her persona. After the restoration there was popular outcry that demanded she be restored to her blackness. ⁶  

Another theory is that Mary was from the Middle East and would naturally have had dark skin. Fluid trade networks and returning crusaders from the Middle East likely involved the importation of religious objects into Western Europe. ⁷  

There is yet another theory that is supported by several important Black Madonna scholars. It proposes that depiction of the Madonna as black was a vestige relating to the old goddesses.⁸  In the earliest centuries of Christianity, devotion to the Madonna supplanted that of the pagan goddesses. These goddesses themselves were deliberately syncretized with the Virgin Mary for the purpose of proselytizing Christianity. Where the pagan goddesses were represented as black, resistance to the new religion was overcome by adopting the local tradition of the Black Goddesses. 

The Egyptian goddess Isis as wife of Osiris and mother of Horus, is at the primary mythic and archetypal core Mother, Son and Consort. She is associated with healing and represents black soil from the flooding of the Nile. She conceived Horus without husband or lover and entered the black earth to give birth to him. ⁹  She is depicted in a hieratically seated pose with the child Horus on her lap – an iconographic prototype of the Romanesque Throne of Wisdom. 

Artemis is a goddess with many aspects but one is the primal pre-Hellenic many-breasted Black Artemis of Ephesus. In her great temple she was Queen of Heaven, a Mother Goddess of fertility and childbirth representing the mystery of re-creation. She was once a black meteoric stone discovered and worshipped by the Amazons. ¹⁰ Ephesus was the city from which St. Paul preached and discouraged the worship of idols. ¹¹ However, the cult of Artemis was tenacious so it is important that Ephesus was the location of the First Council of Nicaea in the year 431 where the Virgin Mary was proclaimed to be the Theotokus, which means God Bearer. 

Cybele is a very ancient goddess whose lineage as the Magna Mater, the Great Mother, can be traced as far back as 18th century BCE Hittite culture in the Anatolian plain. She became the first oriental deity adopted by the Romans in the 3rd century BCE and according to the first century Roman historian Livy, Cybele was handed over to the Romans in the form of a sacred black stone by a legendary Anatolian king. ¹²  

Fertile earth is black – and this blackness is likely a key factor contributing to the dark avatars of some of the ancient Goddesses. By the 12th century the Madonna that had taken over from the old grain goddesses responsibility for the sustenance and nourishment of humankind. ¹³   “The color black … was in Old (archaic) Europe the color of … the soil. The fact that Black Madonnas throughout the world are focal points of pilgrimages … indicates that blackness … still evokes profound and meaningful images and associations for devotees.” ¹⁴   

Perhaps the most important theory, and most relevant to my work and interest in the Black Madonna, is that she represents an archetype, “an inward image at work in the human psyche” ¹⁵  It is also, according to Jung, a fundamental pattern consisting of primordial images that all human beings are born with and are capable of accessing. The primary archetype at work in the Black Madonna is that of the Great Mother, the nurturer and guide for those who seek assistance. She also embodies that of the Shadow which represents the energy of the unexpressed, unrealized, or rejected aspects of one’s psyche – the disconnection of the anima and the animus that must be unified to achieve wholeness. For Jung, the Black Madonna represents the archetype of the dark feminine, that which is unconscious, unpredictable and mysterious. “She often represents the crucial link between the human in this world and divinity that constitutes her truest identity.” ¹⁶   

In alchemy the nigredo, or black is the first state in the transmutation of base metals into gold. Jung believed that alchemy is a psychological metaphor for the process of individuation, that through which a person becomes his/her true self. Black represents the death of the false self. “Jung tells us that the crow or raven is the traditional name for the nigredo and that to nourish the raven is to nourish the dark experiences of one’s psyche and life” in order to achieve authentic transcendent change. ¹⁷   

The Black Madonna Shrines

Many of the Black Madonnas are associated with the presence of a spring or sacred fountain. “Water is … understood as a mother symbol and Jung believed that the projection of the mother image onto water endows it with numinous or magical qualities. ¹⁸   The Black Madonnas are also associated with sacred trees and sometimes caves that allude to the archetype of the Great Mother as vessel – all shadows of the mythic past that reach back to the ancient goddesses. 

In the Middle Ages there was a surge of cults to the Madonna. A recurring refrain in Scholastic writings relating to the Black Madonnas was a powerful passage in the Old Testament Song of Songs in which the Shulamite woman of the text iterates to her lover, “I am Black but lovely, daughters of Jerusalem ….Take no notice of my dark colouring.” ¹⁹ Interpretations in the Christian tradition aver that the verse is a metaphor for the relationship between wisdom and darkness, the relationship between God and the Church – His bride. “Here we meet Wisdom as the Bride of the sacred marriage.” ²⁰  And since the Church was identified with Mary, the song would thus be applied to the love of God and Mary. ²¹   The Shulamite woman also corresponds to the nigredo, according to Jung, as that which must be transformed in the “unification of bride and groom (that) is like that of the unconscious and consciousness.” ²²

Rocamadour

The shrine of Our Lady of Rocamadour (Fig. 3) is located on a site that is thought to have been the center of the cult of the Roman goddess Cybele. ²³  

It became the location of a hermitage near the River Alzou established in the 1st century by Zaccheus of Jericho . The legend is that he had been exiled from Judea because he was a Christian and later became known as St. Amadour. His practice was to venerate a statue of the Virgin was carved by St. Luke and carried by Zaccheus /Amadour to the site. In the 12th century when an oratory was to be built, the body of St. Amadour was found completely intact and reburied at the entrance. 

The small town of Rocamadour hangs off the side of a cliff in the Dordogne region of southwestern France. In the Holy City one encounters the Romanesque Basilica of St. Sauveur that has a series of 7 small sanctuaries. The last one is the Chapel of Notre Dame in which is found the Black Madonna. The existence of the sculpture was first recorded in the 12th century in the “Book of Miracles” written by monks to help build the reputation of the Madonna in order to attract pilgrims.  

This was the first Black Madonna shrine I visited on my pilgrimage and moving through the chapels to reach her shrine did not prepare me for the experience of the encounter with her. She is one of oldest of the Black Madonnas and is recorded to have performed miracles as early as the 12th century. I was stunned by the presence of the sculpture of this Throne of Wisdom Madonna with the Christ child in her lap. Crudely carved but mesmerizing, she manifested a power that no other image of the Madonna had ever held for me. 

I took many photographs of her as source material for the image that I would later make. The piece I created, (Fig. 4) includes only her head placed below a Romanesque vault from a photo I took in the Dordogne region around Rocamadour. 

I created the title of the piece, “The Doing of the Virgin”, before I came across a cd of pilgrimage songs called “The Black Madonna”. ²⁴   Reading the song lyrics I was surprised to find a phrase in one of them, ‘This is the doing of the Virgin who always guards us” in specific reference to the Black Madonna of Rocamadour. This was a mysterious and startling moment in my explorations. 

Marseilles

The Notre Dame de Confession (Fig. 5) is located in the crypt of the Romanesque Basilica of St. Victor near the port of Marseilles. 

Legend has it that the cult of the virgin in Marseilles has existed since the end of the second century and asserts that the statue was sculpted from walnut by St. Luke, and brought to Marseilles by Lazarus. ²⁵ More than likely the original was made in the 13th century and the current polychromed statue is a 15th century copy. ²⁶  The pose of the virgin is again iconographically that of the Throne of Wisdom. 

The crypt is cavernous and spacious, filled with sarcophagi, sculptures, frescoes and includes an unusual relief sculpture of Mary Magdalene carved out of the living rock of the crypt, belly large, seeming to be pregnant. 

On descending to the crypt I was confronted with a golden atmosphere, the lighting reflecting off the warm colored stone. The small room in which the Black Madonna of Confession resides is not totally enclosed so she can be viewed from other points of view in the crypt. She is placed in a corner and from outside her space a certain ¾ view of her is severely cropped and this was the primary image I used for my piece, “Confession” (Fig. 6). 

There is another image of her to the lower left that was photographed frontally and in the work, rendered in a blurred manner as if under water. At the bottom of the vaulted dome above her stands a raven. 

Le Puy en Velay

Le Puy en Veley located in the Auvergne region in the Massif Central of south central France is built in a valley among numerous volcanic formations. With Chartres, it is the oldest Marian shrine in France going back to the 1st century.  The heavily restored Romanesque Cathedral, Notre Dame du Puy, is thought to have been built on the site of the Roman temple of Diana. ²⁷ The Roman temple itself was built on a major Druidic center of the cult of the Goddess Annis, the Celtic parallel to Diana, the Roman equivalent of Artemis.

According to tradition the original statue of the Black Madonna was transported to Le Puy in the 13th century from the Middle East by St. Louis upon his return from the 7th Crusade. A statue that may have been this Black Madonna was burnt during the French Revolution with cries of “down with the Egyptian.” Detailed drawings of it were made by the architect Faujas de Saint-Fons in the late 18th century and from these a replica of the Romanesque Madonna was made in the early 19th century. The Madonna is another of the Throne of Wisdom type. (Fig. 7) The replica is currently in the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament on the north side of the Cathedral. 

There is a second statue of a Black Madonna, from the 17th century, that has been positioned high above the altar since 1844 and it is this statue (Fig. 8) that is processed on feast days. 

The piece I made, “Two Madonnas”, (Fig. 9) about the Le Puy Black Madonnas once again depicts a Romanesque vault. 

It features the mirrored head of the more recent Black Madonna with the more ancient one in smaller scale at the base of the vault. At the very bottom of the piece is a strip of evening sky with a crescent moon  – an ancient symbol of both Isis and Artemis. I designed the piece around the idea of the eternal wisdom of the Black Madonna and the light that can be reached if one will journey through the metaphorical and spiritual nigredo that she represents.

Dijon

Dated from the 11th to 12th centuries the Romanesque Notre Dame de Bon Espoir, Our Lady of Good Hope of Dijon, (Fig. 10 ) is one of the oldest statues of the Madonna in France and is found in the 13th century Church of Notre Dame of Dijon in the Burgundy region of Eastern France. 

This Throne of Wisdom Madonna was also desecrated during the French Revolution. The Christ Child was removed from the shelf on the lap between her outspread legs and her hands and feet are cut off. Yet her iconic power is not diminished. Unlike the other Black Madonnas I saw, she is just under life size, with a long narrow head, thin nose, her head very slightly turned to her right. With her gaze looking downward her face has a vulnerable appearance. Contributing to this effect are her pendulous breasts and large, protruding belly, features that were not part of any of the Black Madonnas I saw on my pilgrimage or in reproductions. In Jungian psychology the belly symbolizes the elementary and totality of the body-vessel – it is the symbol of the womb of the earth. ²⁸   

A 1945 restoration showed that the Notre Dame de Bon Espoir was not originally black and had a lighter, though not white, visage. Before the restoration the face was painted black and the clothing of the Virgin was entirely covered with a ruddy brown color with gold trim on the garment, perhaps following the example of the Madonna of Le Puy and of that of Chartres in order to compete with their cults. Interestingly, after the restoration, the statue continued to maintain its reputation as a Black Madonna out of respect for local tradition. ²⁹

The piece titled “Bon Espoir” (Fig. 11) that I made for the Madonna of Bon Espoir depicts a groined vault making 6 radiating triangular shaped spaces. 

The Madonna’s translucent figure is in the lowest. In the upper left there is a view of the clerestory of the Archaeology Museum of Dijon. The upper right depicts a female demon on her knees from a photo taken of a fresco in the north chapel.  The upper triangle has an image of a reliquary with a face placed where a saint’s relic would be that symbolizes wisdom. The imagery of the vaults and fresco reference the structure and imagery of the Gothic cathedral, and the demon is a metaphor for the darkness of the nigredo phase of alchemy. 

Chartres

The late 15th century statue Notre-Dame du Pillier, Madonna of the Pillar, (Fig. 12) is found in the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Chartres. 

The statue is found in the first bay of the north side of the ambulatory and was erected toward the end of the 15th century. ³⁰  The sculpture is situated atop a pillar and was carved from either walnut or pear tree wood. The Madonna is seated with the Christ child on her left knee. The statue’s origin is not known for certain though there is documentation that it may have been donated by a canon in 1220 emulating an older Black Madonna. ³¹ More than likely, however, it was made during the Renaissance. 

I entered the ambulatory from the south transept and at the end of the journey to the north end I encountered the golden atmosphere of the chapel. Many candles offered by pilgrims softly illuminated the space creating a warm and mystical effect, The statue on the pillar is set into the ribbed half dome niche that is filled with ex votos of hearts of gold – offerings for answers to prayers through the intercessions of the Black Madonna.

There is another, older Black Madonna associated with Chartres, La Vierge de Sous-Terre, Our Lady of the Underground, that was originally located in the crypt but disappeared during the French Revolution and later replaced with a replica. In the crypt also is the Puits des Saints Forts, Well of the Powerful Saints, derived from the name “Locus Fortis”, “the Strong Place” and is located beneath the nave of the cathedral. Tradition tells us Our Lady of the Underground had always been sited in close proximity to this well, associating her with water imagery. 

“The sanctuary of Chartres was built on ground held sacred since earliest antiquity. ³¹  It is known through the writings of Julius Caesar and Pliny that this site had been a Druidic center where annual meetings took place in clearings and consecrated spaces. Some of their deities would also have been venerated in caves and grottoes near springs or wells. ³² The Druids were known to have worshiped a fertility goddess known as the ‘Virgin on the point of giving birth’. This phrase in Latin is ‘Virgini Pariturae’ and it was inscribed at the base of a statue likely of Gallo-Roman origin. ³³  The imagery of the “Virgini Pariturae” was adopted in sculptural form in the Christian era. Documentation of the statue’s appearance in the late 17th century describes in detail an image of the Throne of Wisdom type. Verifying this is a drawing signed ‘Leroux’ and on top of it is a banner on which is written the text “Virgini Paritura. ³⁴  

In the piece I made as homage to the Black Madonna of the Pillar and the Madonna-Sous-Terre which I titled “Fountain”, (Fig. 13) I focused on water and rock imagery. 

This was to reference the Druidic custom of revering their goddesses near water sources as well as caves. The face of the Madonna of the Pillar is placed, as if under water, at the bottom of the piece and hovering above her is a rock surface in which is embedded a number of images. They include one of the standing saints from the West entrance of the Cathedral, a Romanesque carved face, a reliquary object, and the image of a labyrinth. To the right, I once again reference the nigredo phase of alchemy with two small ravens transparently placed over the water.  

In making my images I did not begin with an idea of what a final piece would look like. For each I began simply with an image of the Black Madonna and searched through many other photographs from my pilgrimage. I wanted imagery to set a metaphorical context based on the spaces that I felt, remembered and imagined from visiting the shrines. The painstaking process I employed in making the pieces was a subconscious one, trusting myself to access through visualization the archetypes I believe are present in the Black Madonna. 

The tradition of pilgrimage has been a part of human activity for thousands of years. The emergence of Christianity sustained these practices from its perspective over the centuries and devotion to the Black Madonna has been significant. There was great interest in the phenomenon of the Black Madonna during the last century and an impressive resurgence in the past several decades. Pilgrims go for many reasons. For me it was necessary to make this journey as an artist. After the pilgrimage it took a while for the experiences to rest inside of me. I struggled with the challenge to synthesize my personal and visual experiences to create images that could express and represent them. I went through my own dark night of the soul in the process of creating the body of work. I am still not finished. This was not a project that had a clear beginning nor does it have a clear end. 

Footnotes

1. Fred Gustafson, The Black Madonna (Boston: Sigo Press, 1990), 51.

2. Marie Durand-Lefebvre, Etude sur l’origine des Vierges Noires (Paris: Durassie & Cie Imprimeurs, 1937), 50.

3. Caitlin Matthews, Sophia: Goddess of Wisdom, Bride of Christ (Wheaton, IL: Quest Books-Theosophical Publications, 2001), 97.

4. Ilene H. Forsyth, The Throne of Wisdom (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1972), 9.

5. Rosemary Murray, Jung, Black Madonnas, and the Priority of the Maternal (MA thesis, Carleton University, 2000), p66.

6. Fred Gustafson, The Black Madonna (Boston: Sigo Press, 1990), 40.

7. Marie Durand-Lefebvre, Etude sur l’origine des Vierges Noires (Paris, Durassie & Cie Imprimeurs, 1937), 129 and 137).

8. Ibid, 150 to158.

9. Raymond LeMieux, The Black Madonnas of France (Carlton Press, Inc., 1991), 19. 

10. Ean Begg, The Cult of the Black Virgin ( London and New York: Arkana, 1985), 18 and 57.

11. Acts of the Apostles 19:23-28.

12. Carl Olson editor, The Book of the Goddess, Past and Present, M. Renee Salzman, “Magna Mater: Great Mother of The Roman Empire” (New York: Crossroad, 1989), 62.

13. Anne Baring and Jules Cashford, The Myth of the Goddess: Evolution of an Image  (London: Arkana, 1991) 576-577.

14. Maria Gimbutus,  The Language of the Goddess (San Francisco: Harper, 1989),  144.

15. Erich Neuman, The Great Mother: An Analysis of the Archetype (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1955), p. 3.

16. Carl Olson editor, The Book of the Goddess, Past and Present, Pheme Perkins, “Sophia and the Mother-Father: The Gnostic Goddess (New York: Crossroad, 1989), 107.

17. Fred Gustafson, The Black Madonna (Boston: Sigo Press, 1990), 13.

18. Rosemary Murray, Jung,Black Madonnas and the Priority of the Maternal (MA Thesis, Carleton University, 2000,  14-15.

19.  Song of Songs 1:5 (The New Jerusalem Bible).

20. Caitlin Matthews, Sophia: Goddess of Wisdom, Bride of Christ (Wheaton, IL: Quest

Books-Theosophical Publications, 2001), 35.

21. Stephen Benko, The Virgin Goddess: Studies in the Pagan and Christian Roots of 

Mariology, (Leiden – Boston: 2004), 213.

22. Fred Gustafson, The Black Madonna (Boston: Sigo Press, 1990), 10.

23. Ean Begg, The Cult of the Black Virgin ( London and New York: Arkana, 1985), 79.

24. CD, Black Madonna Naxos, Ensemble Unicorn, Track 3.

25. Sophie Cassagnes-Brouquet,  Vierges Noires (Editions du Rouergue), 69.

26. Ibid. p. 24.

27. Anneli S. Rufus and Kristan Lawson, Goddess Sites Europe (San Francisco: Harper, 1990) 53.

28. Erich Neuman, The Great Mother: An Analysis of the Archetype (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1955), 44.

29. Sophie Cassagnes-Brouquet,  Vierges Noires (Editions du Rouergue), 96 to 99.

30. Jean Markale, The Great Goddess (Rochester, Vermont: Inner Traditions International, 1997). 139.

31. Jean Markale, Cathedral of the Black Madonna: The Druids and Mysteries of Chartres (Rochester, Vermont: Inner Traditions International, 1988) 169.

32. Jean Markale, The Great Goddess (Rochester, Vermont: Inner Traditions International, 1997), 139-140.

33. Marie Durand-Lefebvre, Etude sur l’origine des Vierges Noires (Paris, Durassie & Cie Imprimeurs, 1937), 156.

34. Jean Markale, Cathedral of the Black Madonna: The Druids and Mysteries of Chartres (Rochester, Vermont: Inner Traditions International, 1988) 260-261.

39. Ibid, 260-261.

40. Jean Markale, The Great Goddess (Rochester, Vermont: Inner Traditions International, 1997). 139.

41. Jean Markale, Cathedral of the Black Madonna: The Druids and Mysteries of Chartres (Rochester, Vermont: Inner Traditions International, 1997). 169.

Throughout Italy, highly venerated images of the Virgin Mary portrayed with brown or black skin may be found. The traditions surrounding these dark statues, paintings and frescoes, which I have collectively termed Black Madonnas, are ancient. They are often the central image of honor in the cathedrals, caves, and mountain top shrines and sanctuaries where they are found, and are very often considered miraculous.  In my thesis, Honoring Darkness: Exploring the Power of Black Madonnas in Italy, I studied the images, miracles and traditions of Black Madonnas for signs of power. While the striking imagery and living traditions are rich in ancient symbolism, in this article I will focus on the miracle stories, which are a clear manifestation of the power attributed to Black Madonnas.  The miracles, in their elements of both creation and destruction, seem to hold relics of a more ancient and primordial power – the power of menstrual blood.  In the following discussion, I will investigate some of the miracles and explore their details for markings of older, menstrual power.

A miracle is “an event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a divine or supernatural cause.” [1] Miracles are a manifestation of the power of the divine.  [2] In the Catholic tradition, they are equated to “special graces” that are extraordinary in character, and come from the Spirit. [3]  

The miraculous is found in abundance in Italy. Testimonials come from the people themselves over the centuries through offerings, and from written accounts of legendary or authenticated miracles. At sanctuaries throughout Italy, there is visual testimony to the miraculous power of the Madonna in the form of ex-voto, Latin for “out of a vow.”  These are physical offerings that are given by the recipients of miracles in order to fulfill a vow of recognition or to give thanks. They are a public acknowledgement of the Madonna’s intervention to protect, rescue, heal and cure. [4]  Most often they are in the form of tavolette, “little tablets” of cloth, metal or paper with a drawing or painting that depicts the details of the situation, usually desperate or catastrophic. Often they record the name of the recipient of the miracle and the date, and sometimes where the recipient is from, and a written account of the story.  The words Per Grazia Ricevuto, “for grace received”, or simply PGR may be inscribed as well. Floating above the scene will be a representation of the Madonna who bestowed the grace.  The effect of seeing the sorrows and perils of everyday life throughout the ages is powerful.

  In the region of Tuscany, for example, at the Sanctuary to the Madonna of Montenero, the hallways and rooms are lined with dramatic and moving ex-voto: children falling out of windows, men trampled by their horses, people sick in bed, accidents of every kind.  There are war scenes to which have been attached pictures of beloved sons who were soldiers.  One young woman made an ex-voto of the clothing she was forced to wear when she was captured and taken to a harem in Constantinople, according to the note in the frame, which also informs us that through the intercession of the Madonna of Montenero, she escaped. Sailors and sea-goers were particularly indebted to her as shown from centuries-old testimonials etched in stone or portrayed in large paintings.

Written records and archeological finds indicate that the offering of material objects to the divine is an ancient practice. [5] Where there is now a church to the Black Madonna of Capo Colonna in the region of Calabria, for example, a major temple once stood to the Goddess Hera to whom treasures were given as ex-voto. [6] 

            Although many ex-voto have been lost, destroyed or stolen, more than ten thousand still exist at Black Madonna Sanctuaries in Italy and give testimony to her power. [7] The clear message is that these powerful Madonnas can be called upon in the hour of need. No request is beyond her capacity. She is present at the moment of danger to rescue those who would ask her for help.

Legendary/Historical Accounts of Miracles

In addition to ex-voto, both legendary and historical written accounts also testify to the miraculous power of Black Madonnas. The origins of a sanctuary usually involve an event, like an apparition or the finding of an image. A shrine is built that later grows to a sanctuary, as more miracles occur and people make pilgrimages to the site. [8] The apparitions are sometimes well documented, with dates and names, having been explored at length by the church officials to determine their validity.  Common themes emerge around the finding of an image: that it arrived by sea – either washed ashore or carried by the Madonna’s volition – that it was found in a tree or a cave by a shepherd, a peasant, or by animals; or that it was located from information given in a dream.

Umberto Cordier has published an Italian-language guide to 600 such miraculous sites in Italy, recounting a brief summary of the church or sanctuary’s central miracle. Although miracle stories of saints and other entities are included, Mary is the dominant miracle-worker. [9] For example, in the region of Calabria, 21 out of the 25 miracles discussed are Marian-related. In Piedmont, of the 42 miraculous events listed, 22 involve a Madonna-related miracle. Four of those events involve a Black Madonna, and an additional 16 of them have one or more clues that would suggest to me further investigation as a possible or likely Black Madonna (ancient origins, found in a tree, carved from or painted on wood, etc.) [10] Although numbers convey some idea of her influence, the fascination and mystery come from the details of the stories.

Before moving on to the details, it is worth briefly addressing two questions that arise: first, why are there so many alleged miracles in Italy? Author and sociologist Michael Carroll has compiled some revealing statistics that show the Italian peninsula has been a particularly dangerous place to live relative to the rest of Europe, having been subjected to repeated invasions, deadly earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and successive waves of plague. [11] All of these could have encouraged people to turn to the supernatural for help and to then credit the supernatural for protection. After the events of September 11, 2001, for example, church attendance in the U.S. rose dramatically, signaling a similar phenomenon to turn to divine power for help and protection. Catholicism fosters a certain mode of recognition of miraculous events (e.g. ex-voto and Vatican investigations) and Italy has long been a mostly-Catholic country. Major pilgrimage sites of ancient origin are located in Italy and this probably contributed as well.

Secondly, why are miracles primarily attributed to Mary and saints, not to Jesus? The Madonna’s prominence is reflected by the fact that 87% of the sanctuaries throughout Italy are dedicated to Mary. [12] Carroll draws on psychoanalytical theories of Sigmund Freud and Melanie Klein to postulate that Mary, the saints and Christ represented parental surrogates to Italian Catholics whose power, although it was protective, was also considered harmful and needed to be psychologically splintered into several personalities to defend themselves against danger.  The concept of Mary was separated into distinct personalities, and associated with distinct sanctuaries. The male saints became the “father image” surrogates rather than Christ because their physical bodies could more easily be dismembered into relics (physical remains that became a central element of veneration) since Christ’s body was, according to dogma, raised into heaven. [13] 

I propose an alternate explanation.  My investigations along with the research of numerous scholars show a long history of honoring female divinity on the Italian peninsula that predates Jesus and perhaps any male deity.  In addition to Greek and Roman goddesses, there were Asian, African and indigenous goddesses that were venerated. Archeological finds of figurines, painted pots and vases from Neolithic (New Stone Age) settlements and caves across the Italian peninsula indicate the presence of the sacred feminine; carved female figures reach back into the Paleolithic, or Old Stone Age, for their origin. [14] Lucia Chiavola Birnbaum, a feminist cultural historian who has written extensively about Black Madonnas, traces the ultimate origin of all dark mother images to Africa. [15] She cites genetic, cultural and archeological evidence – namely the color ochre red and the pubic V, the earliest aniconic signs of the dark mother – to show that Italy lies along paths of African migrations 50,000 years ago to all continents of the earth. [16] Such a long recognition of a divine female is not easily cast aside.  Historical records show that pre-Christian goddesses were invoked for healing and protection, and were associated with miracles. As the Catholic Church became the dominant religion over the centuries in Italy, replacing the existing spiritual practices, Mary, as the only prominent female, was the natural heir.   She became the primary embodiment of the most ancient female divine presence and traditions that have been honored there. The saints too, sometimes took on the characteristics of the primordial goddess. [17] 

Types of Miracles and Indications of Menstrual Power

As I began to examine some of Mary’s miracle stories I noticed that both benevolent and fierce powers were present: healing and harming; protection and lack of protection; calming the weather and raising it up; making trees sprout and bloom, and making them wither. The most powerful cure (restoring sight to a blind person, for example) could also be rendered as punishment (striking one blind) for a violation of a sacred effigy. The most powerful protection (preventing plague, drought, and famine) could be used as a threat (to not protect against plague) if the Madonna’s wishes, communicated via an apparition, to have a chapel built to honor her were not followed. Generative power was indicated by the miracles of fertility, and resuscitating of dead babies. Birnbaum acknowledged this range of characteristics as well, noting that “the ferocity as well as the beneficence of the dark mother is recognized in most popular cultures.” [18]

This power of both creation and destruction hearkens back to the power attributed to women’s menstrual blood. Author and scholar Judy Grahn studied menstrual rituals around the world, both historical and mythological, to explore their link to modern culture. In her book Blood, Bread, and Roses: How Menstruation Created the World (Beacon Press, 1993) she writes that “for a multitude of peoples, menstrual blood was the primary life force, the generative principle.” [19] Grahn also cites a range of destructive menstrual powers: if blood was dropped on the path of someone who accidentally touched it, they could become infertile, or they could die; sexual activity during menstruation would harm the partner’s genitals or person; the menstruant’s gaze could cause a flood, or dry up ponds; her glance could wither plants and trees, cause crops to fail, make cows sicken and die; her touch could make weapons ineffective in the hunt, her speech could bring harm to her husband during the hunt. [20] Her ritual seclusion with strict taboos against seeing light, touching herself, letting her blood touch the earth, engaging in sexual activity, looking at someone or something with her powerful eyes, or speaking during menstruation, protected her dangerous power. Failure to keep these taboos could impact the health, fertility and life of the menstruant as well as that of her family and community; keeping the taboos could ensure prosperity. [21] By prohibiting the menstruant from seeing light, and requiring her to remain silent, menstrual seclusion rites may have reenacted the very origins of human consciousness. [22] Her menstrual powers associate her with the creation of human consciousness and thus hold all the creative and destructive powers. [23] Grahn calls her theory of the menstrual beginnings of human consciousness “metaformic theory,” and uses the term “metaform” or “metaformic” to refer to cultural forms having menstruation or menstrual rites as their basis. [24]

The following is a discussion of miracles associated with Black Madonnas including apparitions, appearances of images, healing, protection, fertility, punishment, and bleeding. For each type of miracle I will explore their possible menstrual roots (as indicated in the section heading), as well as other observations of the nature of their power.

Miraculous Apparitions of Mary: affecting weather; seclusion; untouched

Probably the most prominent miracles are apparitions of the Madonna.  In these accounts, she appears to someone and requests or demands that sacred space (a chapel or church) be built to honor her.   She is often very specific about where she wants it to be built.  For example, according to a tradition still celebrated today, the Madonna caused snow to fall in August in Rome so she could outline where she wanted her church to be built.  It was built and became the major Roman Basilica, known as Santa Maria Maggiore in which is venerated a powerful Black Madonna, Madonna delle Neve, Madonna of the Snows. Sometimes no request is necessary, as the vision alone is sufficient to cause a place of honor to be built at that location. Other times it takes several requests or an additional sign of power, to convince an uncooperative church official, or to aid a seer whose word is not believed.

Menstrual power is suggested by the Black Madonna’s ability to make it snow: very broadly, the menstruating woman was believed to have control over the weather. [25] Such a miracle also indicates autonomous power. The Madonna is not leaving it up to chance or someone else’s idea of where a church should be. She is in control of the situation. This self-authority seems to be the very essence of the symbol of the Virgin, someone who is not under the control of any man, someone who is independent. According to art historian Elinor Gadon, among others, this was the sense of the virgin Goddesses before Christianity imposed the idea of chastity on virginity. [26] 

The Madonna’s instructions are consistently clear about the geographical location of sacred space, and often she has requested her church to be built on existing sacred space or a natural healing site. Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome for example is near the site where a temple to Juno Lucina once stood. [27] The Black Madonna of Canneto in Abruzzo National Park is located on the site of a temple to an Italic divinity, and sacred ground for at least two millennia. [28] At the Black Madonna Sanctuary of Oropa, there is an ancient fountain, with sacred waters and a rock believed to impart fertility. [29] The water and land of the earth itself become a medium for healing. Her power is the life force of the earth. Earth, divine power and healing are linked.  Numinous power is within the earth, as it is within the body of sacred woman, and especially when she is in a numinous state.

The magnitude of the Madonna’s power may be indicated by the location of her major sanctuaries, which are generally far away from where the people live, up steep hills, on bays, or in forests. Carroll noted that “the most powerful madonnas in Italy are almost always those whose images are kept in distant rural sanctuaries.”  He cites as an example the Madonna dell’Impruneta whose image is kept in a sanctuary outside the city of Florence, yet was repeatedly (seventy-one times between 1354 and 1540) brought into the city and carried in procession for protection of the city and its inhabitants during times of war, famine, drought, excessive rain, and plague. [30] 

My research in Italy verified this.  Several of the Black Madonna sanctuaries I visited, excluding the urban cathedrals, were on a high hill or mountain top (for example, Montenero, Montevergine, Loreto, Oropa, Viggiano, and Tindari).  More than once during my travels in Italy, I followed the brown road signs labeled “Santuario” to a remote location. These sanctuaries are clearly separated from the population, hard to find, and sometimes even hidden.  As an example, finding the sanctuary of the Black Madonna Adonai involved traveling down dirt lanes and following hand-lettered road signs to a bluff above the sea and most definitely outside the town.  It was much the same searching for the sanctuary of the Black Madonna of Viggiano. After driving for hours through the remote inner landscape of southern Italy, I still had to hike for an hour up a steep rocky trail to reach the mountain sanctuary, which came into view only at the very end. The remoteness of these sanctuaries, especially considering lack of modern transportation when they were built, cannot be overemphasized.

This “setting apart” (which is the literal meaning of the word sacred) of the most powerful sanctuaries is characteristic of the menstruant during seclusion. [31] The power of the menstruant, of her gaze and of her blood, was so great she was kept secluded. These seclusion rites were celebrated around the world, and according to Grahn’s theory, provided the basis for all human ritual. [32] 

Another frequent miracle is the appearance of an image of the Madonna on a wall, or in the form of a statue or painting.  Often these images, like the apparitions of Mary herself, have very strong ideas about where they should be honored. The origin story of the Madonna of Montenero near Pisa, the now-whitened protector of Tuscany, says that a peasant found the icon, painted on wood.  It became too heavy to move when it reached its desired location: the top of a hill, and quite an uphill distance from the legendary place of its finding.   Like the Madonna apparitions, the images of the Madonna are quite clear about where sacred space should be built. They will control the weather, or defy the laws of gravity to be taken to the place they desire, often already sacred ground.  According to the legendary arrival of the Black Madonna of Tindari, the ship that was carrying her image was forced to take anchor in the Bay of Tindari in a storm, and was not allowed to sail until her image was taken from the ship, where it was then carried to the former temple site of the Goddess Cybele. [33]  Menstrual powers, as I said earlier, are indicated  by the Madonna’s control over the weather.

Traditions claim that some of the images of the Black Madonna are acheropita, untouched by human hands, which means heavenly forces created them. This narrative sends a strong message about “touch,” which, drawing further on Grahn’s metaformic theory could be an indicator of menstrual roots. Menstrual, and particularly menarche (first menstruation), rites around the world prohibited the menstruant from touching others or herself during menstrual seclusion. [34]  The origin story of these “untouched” Black Madonna images suggest that they link back to pre-Christian menarche practices of hundreds of thousands of village women in Italy, practices brought from Africa in the earliest migrations.

Healing and Protection: affecting bodies of water, crops, natural disasters, and disease; procession

Healings are especially frequent miracles over the centuries, as discussed previously for ex-voto.  Water from the river adjacent to the Black Madonna Sanctuary of Oropa has long been considered sacred. Obtained through an ancient, octagonal fountain near the chapel where the Black Madonna statue is venerated, the water is said to be efficacious for a wide range of infirmities, especially mental disorders.  [35]  An ancient wooden statue of Santa Maria ad Martyres (now removed) was revered at San Giuliano Terme in Tuscany, where the water is considered wonder-working. [36]  At Sacro Monte di Varese, a very ancient wooden statue of a Black Madonna, Santa Maria del Monte is venerated. The water that rises up there is considered “taumaturgiche,” wonder-working. [37] 

Menstrual power also may be indicated by the Madonna’s ability to affect water. For many ancestral peoples, the menstruant was believed to have the power to affect bodies of water as well as rain, and had to keep her powerful gaze from streams, lakes and ponds, lest they dry up. [38] 

Closely tied to healing is personal protection from danger or accidental death, as shown in the ex-voto. There is also a territorial or communal aspect of Black Madonnas’ protective power over the most deadly and uncontrollable forces and events, such as plague, earthquake, famine and drought. Accounts tell of people fleeing to the Madonna dell’Arco sanctuary during volcanic eruptions of Mt. Vesuvius. The Black Madonna at Santa Maria Maggiore was invoked by the Pope to protect the city of Rome in the 6^th century against the plague and again in the 19^th century during the cholera epidemic. Her name testifies to her power: Salus Populi Romani, salvation of the Roman people.

The dark Madonna of Romania in the basilica in Tropea was carried in procession in the 17^th century by the bishop, as she instructed him to do in a dream, to prevent damage from earthquake. A devoted parishioner in Tropea told me that this Madonna, who is described as bruna, brown, in the church literature, prevented bombs from exploding that were dropped near the church in World War II, thus sparing the life of his mother, who was praying inside.

An important aspect of these communal protection miracles is that the image is “exposed,” that is taken from its niche or tabernacle in the church and “processed,” that is, carried in procession through the streets. Carroll found from his research that the images of  patron saints are carried around to associate them with the space they are being asked to protect; sometimes this is just down the main streets to symbolically represent the whole town or city. [39] Similar processions with an image of the Madonna on her feast day are widely celebrated and well-attended today in Italy, and are a major focus of the festival. Processions and festivals both figured in celebrations of menarche; for example, in South India even into recent times when maidens of some communities were carried or walked in procession during menarche rituals attended by hundreds and even thousands of people. [40] 

Protection can apparently be transmitted via other materials.  People used the oil from the Madonna dell’Arco sanctuary to anoint themselves during times of plague as a protecting unguent.  The Madonna L’Incoronata, who tradition says appeared in an oak tree near Foggia to a shepherd in the year 1001; she blessed the shepherd’s oil, leaving it prodigious.  Oil was (and still is) distributed at the Sanctuary L’Incoronata for both healing and protection. Oil is a further correlation to some menstrual practices of South India, where sesame oil is used to bathe the head of the maiden and as a menarchal food. [41] 

The ability to protect against the very forces of nature would suggest a strong affinity with nature. The idea of deity providing a “perimeter defense” has ancient precedent in Anatolia (modern day Turkey). Reliefs depicting the Phrygian Goddess Cybele, whose cult was brought to Rome in the 3^rd century BC and earlier to the island of Sicily, were frequently placed on the boundaries of the city near gates. [42] Grahn observes that the concept of village goddesses as boundary protectors is practiced in contemporary villages in South India. [43] 

Menstrual powers included the ability to affect disease. If a menstruating woman glanced at cows, they 

could become sick and die. [44]  The well-being of the whole community could be impacted by the failure of the menstruant to keep taboo, and conversely a community could be kept healthy by her strict adherence to rules of menstrual taboo. 

Protection against disease seems to be a common power associated with Black Madonnas.  It was never actually stated in the miracles I have reviewed that the Madonna causes the disease – only that she threatens to not protect against it. Carroll, however, concludes based on studies he has gathered, that to the Italian Catholics, the Madonna and the saints are perceived as the source of danger. [45] Perhaps, like the Goddess Kali of India, the Madonna is thought to embody the disease and is therefore able to fight against it. [46] 

Generative and life-giving miracles: affecting fertility, generation

In some miracles, the Black Madonna is attributed with the power to bestow fertility and even life.  A dark boulder called roch dla vita in local dialect, “rock of life” at the site of the Sanctuary to the Black Madonna of Oropa has been used since antiquity for its fertility bestowing aspects. Known as a rock of fecundity, the original rites involved entering a split in the rock. When a chapel was later built that mostly covered the rock, women continued to rub against the part that was left exposed with their womb or genitals, a ritual still practiced today by some, although made more difficult by blocked access. [47] Local women in Monte Sant’Angelo refer to the Madonna of Constantinople (appearing dark in an older photograph, but now cleaned and appearing white) as the Madonna del Parto, Madonna of Childbirth. [48] Numerous ex-voto are on display at the Sanctuary of the Madonna del Sangue, the Madonna of Blood, to acknowledge the birth of babies.

Creative powers are indicated by these examples since without procreation and fertility, without generation of new life, there is no life.  Like the Madonna, the menstruant, too, was believed to have the power to affect fertility.   As mentioned previously, in at least one example from world rituals, a single drop of her blood on a path could render someone infertile if they stepped on it. And, if the maiden in seclusion broke taboo, she too could become infertile. [49] Menstrual blood itself was considered to be the generative principle. [50] 

The Madonna di Trava in Friuli was invoked by women to resurrect dead babies long enough to be baptized so they could go to heaven, according to an inquisitor’s report from the 17^th century. [51] In the miracles, designated women, who had first presented themselves to the altar of the Madonna, acted as the receivers of the dead babies.  They performed the baptism when the miraculous sign of life (tears, movement, breathing, passing of urine or saliva) was perceived. Both the public and local clergy believed in these resurrections, [52] which indicate that the Madonna was thought to have powers of life and death, and also the capacity to work around and challenge the authority of the orthodox belief that only baptized persons could go to heaven. This was not an isolated practice as there were at least a dozen santuari del respiro, sanctuaries of the breath, in the region of Trentino-Alto Adige alone. [53] 

Punishing miracles: serious consequences (sickness, death) for violation of taboo

In the following miracles, the sacred is violated and the Madonna then punishes the violators. Because these miracles are not often addressed and because the considerations are complex, I will spend relatively more time discussing them.  Using the examples offered by Michael Carroll in his book Madonnas that Maim and others that I have translated from Italian sources, and to explore their possible links to menstruation, I have analyzed the details of particular miracles in which the Madonna punishes or threatens to punish with great force.

Click here to view Table 1 (opens in a new browser window)

Table 1, “Punishing and Bleeding Madonnas,” summarizes the twenty cases I considered from regions across Italy. I have ordered them so that they could be grouped and analyzed according to similar events, which are:

– the Madonna’s image is violated, the violator is harmed (#1-10)

– the Madonna’s image is violated, the violator is harmed, the violator repents, the Madonna heals the violator (#11,12,13)

– the Madonna’s image is violated, the violator is harmed, the image shows some sign of injury (bruising, bleeding, scarring) (#14,15,16,17)

– the Madonna appears, makes a request, is disobeyed, punishes or threatens to punish, is obeyed, gives protection (#18,19)

– the Madonna’s image is violated, the image shows some sign of injury (bruising, bleeding, scarring) (#20)

I was unable to establish whether all twenty miracles are specifically attributed to Black Madonnas.  However, in the following discussions I will focus on the miracles involving known or likely Black Madonnas, continuing to highlight elements that have menstrual content. There were several miracles in which there was an offense to the image and the punishment was given, without reconciliation:

(#1) Santa Maria dell’Isola, Tropea: On a spectacular cliff overlooking white sand beaches and turquoise blue waters is the small sanctuary of Santa Maria dell’Isola. The Marian statue supposedly arrived by ship during the time of the Iconoclast.  The religious and civil authorities agreed to place it in a grotto in the rock, but the statue was too tall. They decided to have the feet sawed off to make it fit. At the first cut, the arm of the carpenter was paralyzed and the two authorities were struck dead.  [54]

(#2)  Madonna dell’Arco: Sant’Anastasia (near Naples). A famous miracle took place in 1589. On Easter Monday, Aurelia del Prete accompanied her husband who was bringing an ex-voto to the Madonna dell’Arco for a cure he had received earlier. She had a pig along that she was going to sell. Angry when it got away, she grew even angrier when she later found it near her husband. She threw his ex-voto on the ground and continued to curse the image of the Madonna he had painted, in spite of those around her imploring her to stop. Exactly one year later, on the night before the festa, her feet detached from her legs.  Colleagues and family attributed it to her earlier sacrilege.  The feet were later displayed in the sanctuary.  [55] 

(#3) Santa Maria delle Neve, Rome: In the 9^th century, a man came into the church in Santa Maria Maggiore with the intention to kill the pope during Mass. He was struck blind before he could commit the act.   [56]

(#4) Madonna del Carmine, Sardegna: In this story, some peasants decided to do threshing on the feast day (or holy day), which was considered taboo.  The threshing floor collapsed, killing both the men and their horses.  [57] 

According to Judy Grahn, certain taboos are menstrual-related;  [58] the word taboo itself comes from the Polynesian tapua, meaning both menstruation and sacred.  [59] In the first three examples of punishing miracles, the Madonna’s image was violated in some way by “touch” or “word,” each of which was also a strong taboo for the menstruant in worldwide practices; and therefore may indicate menstrual content in the Madonna’s miracles. This theme continues in the next examples. 

(#13) Madonna del Tindari, Sicily: The sanctuary of Tindari sits on a high bluff on the northern shore of Sicily. A woman from a far-away country had come to fulfill a vow to the Madonna of Tindari for saving her little girl’s life.  When the woman reached the sanctuary, after a long journey, she openly expressed her disillusionment upon seeing that the Madonna’s face was black. The moment she expressed her irreverence, her little girl, who had wandered away from her mother, fell from a cliff.  The woman called upon the Madonna to again save her child’s life. But the miracle had already happened – the sea had withdrawn so the girl could fall on soft sand. The woman now believed in the divine powers of the Madonna she had mocked and the sea stayed at a distance permanently as a reminder of what had happened. [60] 

(#16) Madonna dell’Arco: Sant’Anastasia (near Naples) Some men were playing a game of palla e maglio (ball and stick, something like baseball) on April 6, 1450, the Monday after Easter. The ball of one of the players struck the lime tree that shaded the edicola, or shrine, instead of where he wanted it to go. Angry, he threw his ball against the image. In one version of the story, the ball hit the cheek of the image, which turned red and began to bleed copiously. He tried to flee but could only go around and around the edicola without being able to leave. The Count happened to be passing by and after a proceeding, the man was hanged. [61] In another version of the story, the Count freed the man thus saving him from the justice they were ready to impart. [62] In another version the lime tree from which he is hung withered and died that same day. [63] A little temple was built to protect the image.

In addition to blood, a strong menstrual indicator, other menstrual-related elements in the miracle of the Madonna dell’Arco include: the Madonna’s image was kept in the shade of a lime tree, which was struck by a ball, and which later withered.  The miracle specifically occurred on Monday, named after the moon, which is thoroughly associated with menstruation.  Grahn has found that all of these elements have metaformic content, because the menstruant was required to stay in the shade and especially to keep her eyes shaded from the light during her seclusion; she was so filled with numinous power that her look could wither trees if she should accidentally gaze upon them when she was bleeding; and her blood itself was considered powerful. These details suggest the menstrual roots of the Madonna’s miraculous power.

In the next miracle, there is only the threat of punishment (although Carroll perceives the touch by the Madonna as harmful.) [64] The seer, who complies with the Madonna’s wishes, is touched and marked with the red imprint of the Madonna’s fingers:

(#19) Madonna del Monte Berico, Vicenza: On March 7, 1426, the Virgin Mary appeared to a woman named Vicenza Pasini.  Mary told her she would stop the plague currently raging in the area if a sanctuary was built to honor her. An exact location of the church and the altar location were marked by the Madonna.  Eventually the church got built and the plague ceased. The Madonna touched the shoulder of the seer as she lifted off the ground, leaving five “bright” scarlet-red marks “in the shape of roses” on the shoulder of the woman. [65]

The threatening message of the Madonna of Monte Berico of “do this or else” also has the tone of taboo suggesting menstrual content. All the punishing miracles seem to be sending the strongest of messages that the Madonna demands respect. She would levy justice even to those with official power (e.g. soldiers) who did not show respect. That justice was being called for is a message that supports Lucia Birnbaum’s findings that justice and equality were pervasive values being conveyed by the Black Madonnas in Italy. [66] Birnbaum found that justice is still strongly reflected in the current politics of the areas of dark Madonna sanctuaries. [67] The stories also indicate that the people felt that the offenders deserved the punishment. They associated the violator’s serious misfortune, even death, with the violation of the sacred. 

Sometimes the versions of a story of a punishing miracle varied, with important details missing. Only one of several sources mentioned the punishment by the Madonna of Tindari, for example. Carroll also cites a case in which a modern account of a miracle leaves out the harmful details included in older accounts.  [68] This leads me to wonder whether elements of other stories have been dropped over time.  Considering the patterns in the body of above miracles, at one time there may have been a full cycle of the Madonna’s anger, punishment, forgiveness and healing in more of them. Perhaps, like the alteration of the dark color of the images that other scholars and I have found, [69] elimination of the details of the stories is a kind of “emotional whitening,” a gradual removal of the Madonna’s “full” range of power, including those we might consider to be negative.

I must state that I never got a sense at any of the dozens of Black Madonna sanctuaries I visited that these most powerful Madonnas were feared.  On the contrary they appeared to be greatly beloved. The fervor and devotion was palpable. I observed the utter closeness of the people to the Madonna.  The Black Madonnas of Montevergine, Somma Vesuviana, and Napoli are all addressed as Mamma, a clearly familiar form of address. Songs and prayers use familiar (rather than formal) pronouns and indicate an endearing and close relationship. Chiseled in marble above the area where the painting of the Black Madonna of Montevergine once hung are the words which translate “You Are Black And Beautiful, My Friend.”

The Black Madonna’s devotees may feel reassurance from her ferocity, like the women in southern India who believe the fierce goddess Kali’s power is there to protect them.  [70] Perhaps the severe punishment that was attributed to the Madonna’s power was a way for the women to ensure the rules were respected, that the sacred was preserved, and to emphasize that the great honor due the Madonna must never be violated.  The Madonna’s power in its nature seems to be like shakti, the active, intentional feminine principle of the goddess in India, which a girl at menarche is thought to embody. [71] 

Images That Bleed, Bruise, Scar: menstrual marking, blood as primary life force

In this final category of miracles I considered, the images bleed if struck, and sometimes spontaneously bleed at later times. The Madonna dell’Arco (#15), discussed earlier, is an example of this. Another example, with no element of punishment, follows:

(#20) Madonna del Sangue, Re: On April 29, 1494, Giovanni Zuccone was playing a game in the piazza.  He lost and struck the image in anger. The wound on the image began to bleed and continued to shed blood until May 18^th. Some drops of the prodigious blood were gathered and preserved as relics. [72]

That Mary sheds blood is itself a clear indicator of a menstrual association, in the sense that “All blood is menstrual blood,” as Grahn wrote in the preface to her book Blood, Bread, and Roses; she means of course that menstrual rituals are the source of all ritual bloodshed. [73] Of primary importance is that this blood is prodigious, not slight, and another way for the Madonna to bestow her special healing and protective power. It sends the strong message that blood has healing power; that the blood from a woman’s body is holy; and that blood was considered the source and symbol of life. It cannot be emphasized enough that menstrual blood was widely considered to be the primary life force and the generative principle. [74] 

 Much like the scars, tattoos and paint that menstruants used on their bodies to warn and teach men about their menstrual blood, perhaps the bleeding images could have served as an outward sign to warn that the sacred must not be violated. [75] If immediate punishment wasn’t given or didn’t suffice, a long-term reminder of the Madonna’s potentially dangerous power could be given with her permanently marked image, or periodic bleeding.  For example, images of the Black Madonna of Czestochowa, miraculous and powerful protector of Poland, are always shown with cut marks on her right cheek, a reminder of an attack to the painting in 1430. [76] Bleeding, bruising and scarring seem to serve as a visual reminder that the Black Madonna retains ancient menstrual power. The bleeding, crying (either blood or tears) and “sweating” of images is a broad subject for further exploration, since it appears to be a verified, widespread, and ongoing phenomenon.

A summary of the correlation between the miraculous powers and attributes of Black Madonnas, and the worldwide menstrual powers and attributes identified by  Grahn, is shown in Table 2, Comparison of Black Madonna Powers/Attributes and Menstrual Powers/Attributes.

Table 2  Comparison of Black Madonna Powers/Attributes and Menstrual Powers/Attributes

While all of these powers are not exclusive to Black Madonnas – “white” Madonnas perform miracles as well and are attributed with some of these same powers – the most powerful and ancient Madonnas are often Black Madonnas.

Grahn established a correlation between menarche rituals and goddess rituals, [77] and between goddess attributes and phases of the moon.  [78]   This, in conjunction with my research that correlates menstrual rituals and Black Madonna miracles, suggests that the European Madonna is carrying (along with female saints) the enormous range of goddess characteristics collectively derived from no longer existent menarche rituals, which creates a tension between her full moon, light appearance and her dark moon, black appearance.

Final Observations of Miraculous and Menstrual Power

I found a correlation between the miraculous powers and attributes of Black Madonnas of Italy, and the worldwide menstrual powers and attributes identified by Judy Grahn. The miraculous events attributed to Black Madonnas, as well as the remote locations of their sanctuaries, indicate an immense female power that must be respected. Not only do they call out for the sacred to be honored, but also in their menstrual content, they link back to the earliest sacred time of humanity. 

The details of the miracles also indicate the Black Madonna’s autonomy. She is not merely an intercessor to a higher power – she appears to be the source of miraculous power. She is the agent of her worship. Her willingness to challenge orthodoxy indicates a power that is older than that of the established church. The Black Madonna’s power comes through nature – water, rocks, blood, and oil. She is immanent in physical matter. By shedding prodigious blood, she symbolically restores the sanctity of women’s menstrual blood.

Taken as a whole, the patterns of the miracles I analyzed suggest a full range of power: one that includes the Madonna’s anger and punishment of the violator, and her forgiveness and healing upon restitution – a full lunar cycle of “dread” dark moon power and “healing” full moon power, not unlike the powerful blood-related cycles in women’s bodies.

Bibliography

Berstein, Frances.  Classical Living: Reconnecting with the Rituals of Ancient Rome. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2000.

Bianchi di Castelbianco, Federico. Giubileo in Calabria, Santuari e processioni: percorsi perpetui, Roma: Edizioni Schientifiche Ma.Gi.srl, 1999.

Birnbaum, Lucia Chiavola.  Black Madonnas: feminism, religion, and politics in Italy.   Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1993.

Birnbaum, Lucia Chiavola. dark mother. african origins and godmothers. New York: iUniverse, 2002.

Carroll, Michael P. Madonnas That Maim: Popular Catholicism in Italy Since the Fifteenth Century. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 1992.

Cassell’s Italian Dictionary. New York: Macmillan Publishing, 1982.

Complete and Updated Catechism of the Catholic Church, New York: Doubleday 1995.

Cordier, Umberto. Guida ai Luoghi Miracolosi d’Italia. Casale Monferrato (AL): Edizioni Piemme, 1999.

Folgheraiter, Alberto.  I Sentieri dell’Infinito. Trento: Curcu & Genovese, 1999.

Gadon, Elinor.  The Once and Future Goddess.  San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1989.

Gimbutas, Marija. The Language of the Goddess.  New York: HarperCollins, 1989.

Grahn, Judith Rae.  Are Goddesses Metaformic Constructs? An Application of Metaformic Theory to Menarche Celebrations And Goddess Rituals of Kerala, South India, California Institute of Integral Studies, Ph.D. Dissertation, September, 1999.

Grahn, Judy.  Blood, Bread, and Roses: How Menstruation Created the World  Boston: Beacon Press, 1993.

Jorio, Piercarlo; Borello, Laura. Santuari Mariani dell’arco alpino italiano. Ivrea: Collana, 1993.

Marcucci, Domenico. Santuari Mariani d’Italia: storia, fede, arte. Milano: Edizioni Paoline, 1987.

McBrien, Richard P. Catholicism: Study Edition, San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1981.

Moser, Mary Beth. Honoring Darkness: Exploring the Power of Black Madonnas in Italy. Vashon Island: Dea Madre Publishing, 2005.

Pach, Jan; Wiodzimierz, Robak; and Tomzinski, Jerzy. Jasna Gora, The Sanctuary of the Mother of the God. Katowice, Poland: DAWIT Publising, 1997.

Roller, Lynn E.  In Search of God the Mother: The Cult of Anatolian Cybele.  Berkeley; University of California Press, 1999.

Tornatore, Guiseppe.  Santuario di Tindari, brochure- no date printed – purchased in 1995.

 [1] The Random House College Dictionary Revised Edition, copyright 1975 by Random House, Inc. by Random House, Inc. 

 [2] Richard P McBrien. Catholicism: Study Edition  (San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1981). 328.

 [3] Complete and Updated Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph number 2003. 539-540. 

 [4] Pope John Paul II, for example, donated the bullet that was fired into him in an attempt to kill him to Our Lady of Fatima in Lourdes, France, and his blood-soaked vestments to the Black Madonna of Czestochowa in Poland.  

 [5] There are indications of ex-voto in the Hebrew world of the Old Testament, and they are abundant in the Roman period.  A painted tablet addressed to the Goddess Isis says: “Now, oh goddess, help me [now]; of possible healing, indeed, the many painted tablets in your temple reassure me.”  Antonio and Filippo De Michele Troiano.  Ebbi Miracolo: Gli ex voto dipinti di S. Michele Arcangelo sul Gargano, (Santuario S. Michele Arcangelo, Foggia: Edizioni Michael, Padri benedettini. 1992.) 15. 

 [6] Federico Bianchi di Castelbianco. Giubileo in Calabria, Santuari e processioni: percorsi perpetui, (Roma: Edizioni Schientifiche Ma.Gi.srl, 1999).  22.  

 [7] Umberto Cordier. Guida ai Luoghi Miracolosi d’Italia. (Casale Monferrato (AL): Edizioni Piemme, 1999.) Cordier cites 600 ex-voto for the sanctuary at Oropa, which I have added to the numbers cited by  Michael P Carroll. Madonnas That Maim: Popular Catholicism in Italy Since the Fifteenth Century.  (Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 1992).  85.  

 [8] A modern-day example of this is happening with Padre Pio who was canonized as a saint on June 16, 2002.  The church in Puglia where he prayed and is buried has been enlarged into a sanctuary. It is so popular with pilgrims that already plans are underway for a significant expansion.  

 [9] All of the miracles are categorized and cross-referenced by region, type and feast day. One category, Marian Apparitions, in which there are 66 entries, is exclusively Marian.  The other Marian-related miracles are spread throughout the remaining categories. This is a rich source for further analysis. 

 [10] All of these numbers are tabulated by me based on my translations.  

 [11] Carroll.  138-145 

 [12] Domenico Marcucci.. Santuari Mariani d’Italia: storia, fede, arte. (Milano: Edizioni Paoline, 1987.) 10. He cites a total of 1763 total sanctuaries, 1539 of them dedicated to Mary from data reported in 1982. 

 [13] Carroll. 145-155, specifically p.154 

 [14] Marija Gimbutas. The Language of the Goddess.  (New York: HarperCollins, 1989). 380. Index of Italian sites. 

 [15] Lucia Chiavola Birnbaum. dark mother. african origins and godmothers. (New York: iUniverse, 2002).  xxv.

 [16] Birnbaum.  (2002). xxxiv – xxxv 

 [17] Lucia Chiavola Birnbaum. Black Madonnas: feminism, religion, and politics in Italy.   (Boston:   Northeastern University Press, 1993). 45.

 [18] Birnbaum.  dark mothers.  131 

 [19] Judy Grahn.  Blood, Bread, and Roses: How Menstruation Created the World. ( Boston: Beacon Press, 1993). 6 

 [20] Grahn. (1993) 18 

 [21] Grahn. (1993) 18. 

 [22] Grahn.  (1993) 17. 

 [23] Grahn. (1993) 18. 

 [24] Grahn.  (1993) 20. 

 [25]Grahn. (1993) 18. 

 [26] Elinor Gadon.  The Once and Future Goddess. (San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1989). 191. 

 [27] Frances Berstein.  Classical Living: Reconnecting with the Rituals of Ancient Rome. (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2000). 60. The Goddess’ specific association with the dark moon  is a further indication of menstrual roots in this case, given strong associations of menstruation and its seclusions with the period of the dark moon.

 [28] Web site http://www.Madonnadicanneto.it/history.html 

 [29] Cordier.  25.  

 [30] Carroll. 26. Although the painting of her appears white, the origin story says it was painted by St. Luke, indicating to me that she probably was at one time portrayed dark. 

 [31] Grahn. (1993). 15. 

 [32] Grahn. (1993) 15-17. 

 [33] Tornatore, Guiseppe.  Santuario di Tindari, (brochure- no date printed – purchased in 1995). 5, 20.  Giordano, Rosario. Tindari città di Maria. Tindari, Sicily: Edizioni Santuario della Madonna del Tindari, 1993. 82. Giordano and the church murals say it was a temple to the goddess Ceres. 

 [34] Judith Rae Grahn.  Are Goddesses Metaformic Constructs? An Application of Metaformic Theory to   Menarche Celebrations And Goddess Rituals of Kerala, South India, (California Institute of Integral Studies, Ph.D. Dissertation, September, 1999). 328. Also, Grahn. (1993). 38

 [35] Carroll. 25-26 

 [36] Cordier. 183. The site has been desecrated and the statue moved. 

 [37] Cordier. 103. Tradition says the statue was brought there by St. Ambrosia after the Virgin appeared to him in a dream. 

 [38] Grahn. (1993) 18. 

 [39] Carroll. 40-41. He is discussing saints, but this is true for the Madonna cult as well. 

 [40] Grahn. (1999). 191-192. 

 [41] Grahn. (1999) 167. 

 [42]   Lynne E. Roller,  In Search of God the Mother: The Cult of Anatolian Cybele.  (  Berkeley; University of  California Press, 1999). 52. The cult to Cybele (known as Kybele in Greek) was widespread throughout Asia. Major archeological sites have been found in Italy as well.  See maps at the frontispiece.

 [43] Judy Grahn, Personal communication, July, 2005. 

 [44] Grahn. (1993). 18. 

 [45] Carroll. 138. 

 [46] The Indian Goddess Kali “is sometimes understood to take smallpox upon herself in order to protect her devotees.” Grahn. (1999). 283.  

 [47] Cordier. 25. (miracle #10) 

 [48] During my visit in 2000, the priest said the stone statue had been cleaned for the Jubilee celebrations.  

 [49] Grahn. (1993).  18. 

 [50] Grahn. (1993).  6. 

 [51] Carroll. 108. Her other name, Madonna del Carmine, suggests she may be portrayed as a Black Madonna. 

 [52] Carroll. 108-109. 

 [53] Alberto Folgheraiter.  I Sentieri dell’Infinito. (Trento: Curcu & Genovese, 1999). 296 

 [54] Cordier. 362. (Miracle #567) I am assuming the statue was dark since it was carved of wood. When I visited there in July 2000, the central figure of worship was the Holy Family, Mary, Jesus and Joseph. 

 [55] Carroll. 72.  Cordier. 321.  (Miracle #510.)  Also Birnbaum (1993) has an extensive discussion of this Madonna. 126-131. The feet were still on display when I visited in October 2003. 

 [56] Cordier. 266. (Miracle #415) The church, dedicated to Mary, houses one of the oldest Roman Black Madonnas, Salus Populi Romani, Salvation of the Roman People, also known as S. Maria delle Neve, Holy Mary of the Snows. 

 [57] Carroll. 74.  Carroll cites this example but does not specify the city or region of Sardegna where it takes place. The statue of the Madonna del Carmine that I viewed in May 2004 in S. Agostino’s church in Cagliari in Sardegna is portrayed as black.  

 [58] Course notes from Metaformic Theory, Summer Semester 1999, New College of California, Instructor: Dr. Judy Grahn 

 [59] Grahn. (1993) 5. 

 [60] Tornatore. 24. 

 [61] Carroll. 72. 

 [62]  See www.santuarioarco.it 

 [63] Cordier. 321. (Miracles # 508, 509) 

 [64] Carroll. 75. 

 [65] Carroll. 75. Cordier. 186. Piercarlo Jorio, and Laura Borello. Santuari Mariani dell’arco alpino italiano. (Ivrea: Collana, 1993). 46. In a table of Black or Brown Madonnas. 

 [66] Birnbaum, (1993). 23, 30 

 [67] Birnbaum (1993).  126, 33. 

 [68] Carroll. 74-75. 

 [69] Mary Beth Moser. Honoring Darkness: Exploring the Power of Black Madonnas in Italy. (Vashon Island: Dea Madre Publishing, 2005). 47-48, 53. 

 [70] Grahn. (1999). 82. 

 [71] Grahn. (1999) 83. 

 [72] Cordier. 95. None of my sources name this as a Black Madonna. Of note is that the “Litany to the Black Madonna of Loreto” appears in the prayer book to her I purchased, a prayer that is commonly said to Black Madonnas is Italy. 

 [73] Grahn (1993). xvii. 

 [74] Grahn Blood Bread and Roses 6 

 [75] See Grahn Blood Bread and Roses 75-78 for discussion of marking of skin.  

 [76] Pack, Robak, Tomzinski 9-10 

 [77] Grahn. (1999).  275-276. 

 [78] Grahn. (1993). 7, 13-14. 

Copyright © 2005 Mary Beth Moser. All rights reserved.