Mystic Saints 2025

The Order of the Black Madonna is dedicating this year to celebrating the luminous lives of Mystic Saints, whose devotion, wisdom, and transcendent experiences continue to inspire seekers of divine truth. Each month, we honor one of these spiritual luminaries, studying their unique contributions to the sacred arts of mysticism, prayer, and revelation. Through ceremonies and personal meditations, we invite their spirits to guide us toward deeper communion with the divine mysteries.

Catherine of Siena, a fierce advocate for spiritual integrity and unity, teaches us the power of divine love to transform both soul and society. As a mystic and Doctor of the Church, her dialogues with the divine illuminate the path of sacred surrender to divine will.

Hildegard of Bingen, the Sibyl of the Rhine, invites us to listen for the "greening power" of creation, the sacred vitality of all living things. Through her visionary writings, music, and healing practices, she exemplifies the integration of mysticism with artistic and earthly pursuits.

Rose of Lima, the first saint of the Americas, models an uncompromising devotion, expressed through her austere spiritual practices and care for the marginalized. Her connection to the divine was so profound that it inspired countless others to live with purity and purpose.

Thérèse de Lisieux, the Little Flower, reminds us of the beauty and sanctity found in simple acts of love and devotion. Her "Little Way" of spiritual childhood encourages us to trust in the infinite mercy and tenderness of the Great Mother.

Julian of Norwich, whose divine revelations continue to echo through the centuries, assures us that "all shall be well." Her meditations on divine love and the feminine aspects of God offer profound solace and insight for our times.

Joan of Arc, a courageous mystic and warrior, speaks to the fire of divine conviction within us all. Her unwavering faith in her heavenly voices led her to reshape history and inspire generations with her bravery and holiness.

Mary Magdalene, the Apostle to the Apostles, embodies the sacred union of divine wisdom and human devotion. Her role as the first witness to the Resurrection underscores the power of spiritual awakening and steadfast faith.

Catherine of Genoa, a mystic of profound inner depth, reveals the healing fire of divine love that purifies and sanctifies the soul. Her life of service and contemplation speaks to the transformative power of selfless love.

Sojourner Truth, a prophetess of freedom and justice, channels the voice of God to challenge oppression and inspire liberation. Her life and words remind us that spiritual truth and earthly justice are deeply intertwined.

Christina the Astonishing, with her extraordinary mystical experiences, calls us to embrace the miraculous and the mysterious. Her life invites us to see the divine in the unexpected and the extraordinary in the everyday.

Anne Catherine Emmerich, through her vivid visions, offers us intimate glimpses into the life and death of Mary. Her revelations continue to inspire devotion and a deeper understanding of sacred mysteries.

Though not canonized, Florence Scovel Shinn guides us to embrace the power of positive thought and spiritual affirmation. Her teachings remind us that we are co-creators with the divine, shaping our destinies through faith and intention.

Through these Mystic Saints, we honor the diversity of divine expression and the profound ways Spirit manifests in human lives and devotion. Their stories remind us that the sacred is always near, inviting us to listen, learn, and live as vessels of grace.

To participate in our monthly gatherings, join the Mount Shasta Goddess Temple as a Mandala Member.

Our Magdalene Year

In 2023, the Order of the Black Madonna will engage in a deep focus on Mary Magdalene: her history, symbols, and mythos. In the ancient world, patriarchal writers attempted to besmirch the name of Mary Magdalene by labelling her a prostitute. In the Middle Ages, she became conflated with other women in the Bible and was turned into an amalgam instead of an individual. In the modern era, her historical personage is barely visible beneath the veneer of for-profit fiction that has risen up around her.

Artwork by Sue Ellen Parkinson

This year, the Order plans to spend an entire year studying Mary of Magdala, peeling back the layers of symbolism and narrative to discover her ancestral presence and meaning in our world. Our circles will be as follows:

Jan 24 - Dedication to Mary Magdalene
February 28 - The Magdalene’s Reputation
Mar 27 - The Magdalene and the Cosmic Egg
April 24 - Path of Venus
May 22 - The Perfume Jar
June 26 - The Cross of Camargue
July 24 - Stone of the Holy Tomb
Aug 28 - The Magdalene & Isis
Sept 25 - The Magdalene at Ephesus
Oct 23 - Rose of Jericho Magic
Nov 27 - The Skull of Mary Magdalene
Dec 18 - Hieros Gamos of Mary Magdalene & Jesus

To attend our ceremonies and participate in our Order, please join the Mt Shasta Goddess Temple as a Mandala Member. Your Lifetime membership includes participation in the monthly Order of the Black Madonna rites as well as numerous other benefits including classes, sacred daybook pages, written Lessons about goddesses and spirit allies, and Full and New Moon ceremonies. We welcome you to join our sisterhood and connect with the sacred energies of the Magdalene and her modern daughters!

Plegaria a la Virgen Negra

Abrázame, como abrazas a las estrellas en tus cielos oscuros,
Gran Madre del Vacío, ¡Oh Brillante Oscuridad!
Te llamo, Madre Oscura, Eterno Manantial de Misericordia,
Pido tu benevolencia y consuelo.
Sagrada Virgen Negra,
Tú que eres la fuerza curativa del manantial y de la arboleda sagrada,
que haces que los árboles sagrados lloren lágrimas de mirra, sé testigo de nuestras heridas y cúranos de la enfermedad y la vergüenza.
Tú que escuchas los gritos del mundo.
Eres Radiante y Compasiva, eres nuestro santuario y nos protejes contra las tormentas en un mundo agitado,
pido tus bendiciones de paz y liberación,
Protege a las desamparadas que padecen violencia y crueldad.
Protégenos del daño y maldad, tú que das sanación a las penas del mundo.

Amada Virgen Negra, el amor es nuestro refugio. Bendita seas.

-Leni Hester

Rosary of the Black Madonna

A presentation from one of our Order Sisters from Summer 2022:

Ritual and Reparations

Dear Ones,

Last week, the Temple hosted a 7-day Vespers series called “Madonna Holy Week” in which we examined 7 different epithets related to the Virgin Mary. We tipped traditional understandings of Mary over and looked at the ruins of the matriarchal ancient future foundations beneath them, much like archaeologists excavating the Goddess temples so often found buried beneath modern churches and cathedrals. We also shared heart stories and devotional aspirations during our daily ceremonies, which gave us all opportunities for deep healing.

Many of us expressed our experiences of frustration at moments of injustice in our lives and in the world, and prayed for miraculous healing of issues related to poverty, abuse, racism, systemic inadequacy, and more. As our week went along, we also gained a deeper sense of agency around the miracles we would not only like to see in our world, but which we would like to help co-create.

As a member of a multi-racial family, who has time and again witnessed both subtle and overt racism directed toward my siblings, I have long held the belief that reparations and restitution are not only a good idea...they are completely necessary if we wish to begin to rectify the imbalance of power and dignity that has occurred for over 400 years toward people of color in this country. Reparations are defined as “the making of amends (usually financially) for harm one has done.” It seems like a fair enough proposal that in this country, we would be able to find institutional and personal ways to contribute to balancing the scales of racial inequality through reparations. Yet I have often encountered resistance to the idea of reparations when I’ve brought it up. Some of the more common arguments I’ve heard against reparations are as follows:

• That they are only a drop in the bucket and could never really work to balance the scales. To which I reply, “We don’t know that. We have not tried. Why not try and see?”

• That we don’t know exactly who is descended from enslaved Africans, and therefore can’t know who deserves the reparations. To which I reply, “Then why not create a foundation to support projects that benefit people of color in general? Those who apply for the funding can detail instances in their lives when they have been subjected to racist attitudes, danger, or prejudice, and their stories of suffering would certainly be proof enough that they deserve reparative funding?”

• That impoverished white people should not have to pay any kind of reparations tax because they are suffering, too. To which I reply, “Reparations should not be an added tax for individuals, especially those struggling with poverty. It should be the willing and compassionate effort of good-hearted individuals who understand and empathise with the need for an act of rebalancing; it should come from the government, re-allocated from weapons spending; it should also be funded with special tax placed on corporations that make above a certain profit margin.”

I don’t know if me writing these arguments down will change anything. I’m not suggesting anything that hasn’t been mentioned by someone else before, after all. But I do know this: that reparations can create a potential wave of healing that would free something currently blocked and bound in the hearts of both people of color and white people...and everyone in between on this complicated spectrum of human genealogy.

So, during Madonna Holy Week, it became clear to me what to do about this, at least here in our Temple.

On August 26, the feast day of Our Lady of Częstochowa, I will be re-igniting the flame of the Order of the Black Madonna, https://orderoftheblackmadonna.com, a project which has been on hiatus since 2018. Formerly a more elaborate membership association with multiple levels of training, in its new form the revived Order will simply be focused on two things: 1) offering a monthly Madonna ceremony, in which we lift the petitions that have been submitted through our web site, and 2) gathering membership dues as reparations to help fund the “Black Woman Is God Joy Resistance Retreats” that I’ve been dreaming into being. My ideal is to begin with one retreat by the end of 2020, with two retreats in 2021, and quarterly retreats in 2022 and beyond, so that many Women of Color can have this experience. I have already been discussing this idea with several Women of Color artists I know, and they are beginning to think about the activities that will be nourishing and joyful for them, such as sourcing all of the food from a Woman of Color-owned farm, and having a professional photographer on hand to create Goddess portraits.

I know that if we dedicate the monthly dues from the Order of the Black Madonna to this project, it will grow over time into the kind of sustained, ritual replenishing reparations that can create a wave of positive change, at least for women in our little corner of the world. And in time, more projects may emerge for the Order, as inspired by the Madonna herself.

I’ve set the dues for the Order of the Black Madonna Tier of the Mt Shasta Goddess Temple’s Patreon at $15 per month. After Patreon’s fees and charges, and a $3-per-month membership fee to fund the maintenance of the Order’s website and activities, the remaining $10 of each donation will go into the Reparations Fund every month.

If you are a member of the Temple at the $5 or $10 level, or thinking about joining, I invite you to consider becoming an Order of the Black Madonna member, and contributing your dues to our reparations project.

If you are a member of the Temple at a higher level, and you’d like to allocate a portion of your monthly dues to the Order of the Black Madonna reparations fund, please contact me and let me know. I’d love to facilitate this for you. You can reply to this message or you can text me at (510) 355-7912.

Thank you all for considering this invitation.

Our monthly Madonna ceremonies will be on 4th Wednesdays at 7pm, starting with the inaugural ceremony on August 26, and continuing thereafter. They will be open to all members of the Temple who feel called to attend.

May this working be blessed with the success to do its part in repairing the damage that might stand in the way of women bonding together to create a beautiful future for all beings 🙏🏼

Blessed be,

Yeshe