The Black Madonna Of Czestochowa by Dr Cris Henderson

The Black Madonna of Czestochowa. I had wanted to make such a visit for many years. The link had begun with reading ‘Longing for Darkness’ by China Galland, an authority on the Black Madonna. My passion to understand more had developed from there.

Dr. Cris Henderson, Rose Alchemist

I knew that the tour bus was unlikely to make a major detour. This Black Madonna was not on our formal itinerary. The bus stopped. Our guide had been taking people past the Jasna Gora Monastery for ten years. The usual wait was six hours to get into the crypt.

There was no time limitation the day I was there. The Black Madonna was calling. It was she who made the impossible possible and I went in and visited.

We moved into the chapel yet still I could not see her. Suddenly two women pushed and tried to steal my handbag. Their attempt foiled and they ran away.

There was a surge of people and we moved to the front. She seemed ancient, her gashed cheek more raised than photos suggested. I was shocked to see her behind bars. This seemed symbolic, the goddess in captivity. The Black Madonna’s antiquity is so great that her origins are unknown, as if she appeared unannounced on earth to do her work.

This Black Madonna helped in the avoidance of disasters. She became the symbol of Polish Solidarity when workers were forbidden to wear their unique emblem. It was her image that graced the lapels of those who were part of this outlawed trade union. She went into battle and won. For Lech Walesa the union leader and later President of Poland this Black Madonna was important. She carried the fate of Poland in her vibration.

I told her with all the loving thought that I could muster – ‘It is time to come out from behind the bars. We need the goddess with us, within us and in our daily life. You are released.’

The Madonna’s presence permeated my body. I felt amazing. And then it was time to leave.

It was a visit that changed my life.

China Galland explains that the Black Madonna is coloured ‘cosmic red.’ Red in the rose legends links with life, growth and the colour of blood, blood that has often been deliberately polluted by those seeking to destroy the rose. Ultimately it means triumphal restitution of the divine feminine.

When I remembered my experience visiting this Madonna I could relate to her gentle revival. I was being asked to contact more aspects of the goddess and this was exactly what I had been privileged to do at Czestochowa.

What a wonderful day!

Dr. Cris Henderson

Rose Alchemist

crishendo1@bigpond.com