The Cult of the Black Virgin

<p>Why are over 500 of the world’s images of the Madonna “black” or “dark”? And why are they so little known? A resurfacing of the powerful pagan goddesses of sexuality the underworld and earth-wisdom the Black Virgins are symbols of power and majesty the other aspect of the traditional Madonna’s maidenhood or tender maternity. They personify the Holy Grail and the Ark of the Covenant in a quest for lost feminine wisdom and the search for soul.</p><p>There are many icons of Mary that show black faces and hands. In France these are called Vierge Noires-Black Virgins. Elsewhere may be called Black Madonnas or the "other Mary." Jung called her Isis while others claim she is the symbolic remains of a prehistoric worship of the Earth Mother. She is generally connected with Cybele Diana Isis and Venus as well as with Kali Inanna and Lilith.</p><p>Historically she is connected with the Crusades the Islamic occupation of Spain the Conquistadors as well as the Merovingians and Knights Templars who viewed her as Mary Magdalene.</p><p>Ean Begg’s fascinating book investigates the pagan origins of the phenomenon as well as the heretical Gnostic-Christian underground stream that flowed west with the cult of Mary Magdalene and resurfaced in Catharism at the time of the Crusades especially with the Templars.</p>