I have a wild crush on the Virgin Mary.

[The Suckling]

I was in a Catholic store for some reason and I saw an old Romanticist paiting of her wearing a long blue nun-looking shrown with her amber hair and soft feet standing on a cloud and I was absolutely smitten.

I gave Jesus a look or two also, though I don't normally go for guys.

[Avena]

I like Mary too. I don't worship her or something, but I carry a picture of her, dressed in the way you described above, in my purse.

[Twilight Garden]

Suckling, I can honestly say... I've never heard anyone say that. It's actually kind of sweet.

[The Suckling]

Thanks. I wonder what my Catholic relatives will think when I put her picture o the wall acroos from my bed??? :devil:

[Happydog]

Mary's name is taken from a Sea Goddess, Mari, which is also why Mary is called "Stella Maris," or Star of the Sea, which was one of the Ten Thousand Names of Isis. So I see Mary as a manifestation of Isis. No problems!

Mark

[mato]

She was one of the first goddesses I considered a goddess, and I thought that it was mary that I was drawn to until I examained the artestry that you describe closely. In fact she was what got me on paganism in the first place! She is so cool.

Had a tiny crush on her myself, and I usually dont go for gals!
:o :eek: did I just type that :o :eek:
:D :p ;)

That leonardo can do wonders...

[LaughingWolf]

Mary...

She is more likely the bigger reason why Catholisism is such a rich "breeeding ground" for Paganisism. :)

[kittiepoetrygod]

Mary's cool!

That and that ALOT of Pagans converted to Catholicism to aviod being killed ... it is very close to Paganism when you look at it.

[The Suckling]

Don't get me wrong, there's no chance of me going Catholic, although I was raised as such.

I just find her really beautiful and motherly. I have a tendency to put all my female crushes up on a pedestal of worship, but Mary's already there!!! :D

[clef0628]

Well, I do not have a crush on Mary. However I do have a crush on my parton Goddess, Melusine. :loveduv: I wounder how many other pagans have crushs on their gods or goddess? ;)

[HerbGurl]

:thumbsup: :D Cool! I'm not the only one who considers Mary a Goddess!! :T I was not Catholic as a child (rather Protestant), but lately I have been studying Mary and Her role in Religion. I printed out pictures of her from http://www.sancta.org/, and I also ordered a free Miaculous Medal from http://www.amm.org/, to wear instead of a pentacle in public. (I only wear my penatcle during ritual.) I also have a night light of her on my window sill. It is like a statue, when I take the lightbulb out. It's nice at college because eevryone assumes that I am Catholic, not Wiccan! :lol:
I also just checked "The Woman With The Alabaster Jar" by Margeret Starbird out of the libraray yesterday, which is a book arguing that Mary Magdalene and Jesus were married. I shoudl prove to be interesting...

Blessings,
Herbgurl

[Sora]

I've never really thought of her that way. I have, however, admired her strength. Not physical, but spiritual.

[KissMeImIrish!]

Ive never thought of Mary as a goddess before, but after reading this thread Im going to do some research. The concept of her as a goddess is rather appealing.
thanx!

[mato]

http://www.iipg-queenofpeace.org/gospa.jpg :heartthro :hearteyes:

Look familiar?

[white_draco]

AOL Virgin Mary 7.0

hehe

[The Suckling]

Gorgeous pic, Mato! Though not the one I was reffering to.

[mato]

Eh not what I meant... I was refering to the Isis stance with the curly hair which is a trade mark of Isis... The winglikeness of the shroud (or whatever those things are called)... The fact that while other 'mary's' have thier eyes closed tightly hers are open... the little things that make her more goddess like in my eyes...

[Happydog]

Not to mention the 12 stars around her head, related to Mary being called Stella Maris - Star of the Sea - and Isis being called "goddess of the starry pathways." Not to mention she has parted the clouds and is standing on a cloud, which indicates she is Queen of Heaven - a title of Isis and before that of Ishtar and Inanna. Not to mention many other details...

[mato]

That doesnt sound like not meantioning to me! lol, ok ya there are alot of those thingies that you have to look for, and into... It is also fun to do during meditation...

[Kadynas]

In the book "The Witches' Circle" there's a couple paragraphs about the whole 'Mary as Goddess subject...the author even does a comparison between the Wheel of the Year, and the lifetime of Jesus. It's a very interesting comparison, I must say. :)

[HerbGurl]

Originally posted by Kadynas
In the book "The Witches' Circle" there's a couple paragraphs about the whole 'Mary as Goddess subject...the author even does a comparison between the Wheel of the Year, and the lifetime of Jesus. It's a very interesting comparison, I must say. :)

Who wrote it? I think I might get a copy for myself! :lol: It sounds interesting.
Blessings,
HerbGurl

[StormChaser]

Originally posted by clef0628
Well, I do not have a crush on Mary. However I do have a crush on my parton Goddess, Melusine. :loveduv: I wounder how many other pagans have crushs on their gods or goddess? ;)

Well.. umm.. crush or get intimate?

some of my poetry kinda flows with those notions.

But i can honestly say I've never had a crush on mary. like her fine, crush? no.

[Kadynas]

The Witches Circle was written by Mary Kay Simms...Llewyn publishes it. :)

[yemayasdaughter]

Originally posted by kittiepoetrygod
Mary's cool!

That and that ALOT of Pagans converted to Catholicism to aviod being killed ... it is very close to Paganism when you look at it.

That is very true.... when enslaved Africans came to the United States, they were force fed Catholicism from Spanish slave traders.. they saw in Mary the Goddess Yemaya (Also acknowledged in Stella Maris and Mary Star of the Sea), and they practiced their ancestral religion "Under Mary's skirt"

[Angelwulfe]

i deffinately see her as a goddess. i was raised in a church that has both lutheren and catholic influences. she was aslo my favorite when i was a little kid. i used to dress up like her all the time with the vails over my head a stuff.
blessed be,
Angelwulfe

[phoenixsong]

I definitely see Mary as a goddess. I did one ritual with her, I think I called angels at the quarters, and it was one of the most beautiful and peaceful rituals I've ever done.

[Haedis]

I've always liked her myself, but I do have some disagreements which tie more in with Christianity than Mary herself. It always seemed to me that the whole virgin thing was just degrading to women's roles in childbirth, but I just see that as a Christian idea so I dont blame Mary for making me feel inferior. hehe. One of the most powerful rituals I've ever done was in the company of Mary, infact. And shes the perfect Goddess symbol for the pagans with Christian parents.

[mato]

Tell me about it... I want to make an origami virgin! Just for that purpose... Hey the saints work to so long as you are in a catholic friendly house.

[dragonmagic64]

:evilway:
alright I'm going to put this out there.

Have you ever heard of yoni???


Mary means mother

she is always depicted in the same way . blue flowing robs
almond shape around her
most of the time with baby in her arms.

yall know blood is blue before it hits the air right. :blushake:

If you take a full picture of mary standing
with flowing robes
and take a picture of the female reproductive organ -:bug:
these pictures should be able to lay over one another top to bottom.

Mary is symbolic of the female aspect of humanity.
this same depiction is within many religions

the robes are the folds
the baby is the offspring, our future
the almond shape of course is the shape.
:boing:
I didn't ever thing of her in this light , as I was raised catholic, until studying an encylopedia of erotica.

They had a picture of the female reproductive organs, external, in the section of yoni, worship of the female sexual organs, and Mary in a fertility section. the pictures were such that the whole Mary was the same size as the reproductive organs.
when you look at it it doesn't take much imagination at all.
symbolicaly mary is a representation of the female aspect of humanity.
head is the same place as the clitoris,
:nonono: :shift:
penis is representory of the male aspect .
head being the head.
shaft looking like the neck & throat with the head tilted back.
8O
anyone else realize , speculate , see this. Before you answer , honestly look at an overlay.
look into the symbolic nature of it . and see what you see.

I always did love mary anyways. But this goes along with the love of goddess , not in a sexual way , but in the absolute realization of mans syncronisity with goddess.

[Haedis]

haha wow I never thought of that dragonmagic! Thats interesting.
Now I'll have even MORE reasons to laugh in church. :D

[dann]

Hey, this is great

I've actually been contemplating attempting to create a pagan rosary, with decades and specific meditations and all the rest. I guess I just find the spiritual prayer discipline appealing...anyone have any thoughts on this

as to Mary as a goddess--while I think the pagan community often overstates the amount of borrowing from pagan sources at the level of Catholic theology, at the level of individual worshipers relating to Mary, if find strong evidence of goddess worship. I mean, if you are concieving of your prayer to Mary as prayer to a heavenly being, the theological subtleties of Mary as semi-divine rather than fully divine would probably be lost. Perhaps this accounts for the popularity of Mary among female Catholics in particular--i..e in a highly patriarchal religion, women seeking out a feminine construct of the divine--just a random musing


cheers

[phoenixsong]

Originally posted by dann


as to Mary as a goddess--while I think the pagan community often overstates the amount of borrowing from pagan sources at the level of Catholic theology, at the level of individual worshipers relating to Mary, if find strong evidence of goddess worship
cheers

I'm from an Irish Catholic home, and one of the things many people do in my area during May is set up an altar to Mary, with a statue of her in the middle and flowers all around. That's what really made me realise that she is a goddess.

[Flar's Freyja]

When my mother died, I inherited a beautiful statue of Mary that one of my aunts made for her. She is permanently on my altar and also represents whichever other goddess I may be working with. I was raised Catholic and went to Catholic school. My favorite stories and movies were the ones where she appeared to children. And yes, I wanted to be a nun for a while.......

[Flar's Freyja]

I have also considered using my existing rosary for meditation. I have a beautiful one that my favorite aunt had made for me - the beads spell out my three sons' names. It was the most touching gift I ever received and I cried when she gave it to me.

[dragonmagic64]

I think I remember something about the symbolic set up of the rosery(did I spell the right??)
If said in revorance it should take between 2 and 2 1/2 hours to complete. It is much like a montra, repatiiton of male and female. the hale mary and the our father. there are howmany sets of six beads??? someone let me know. it somehow fits into a type of meditation. And the numbers represent something.
6 chakra to pass through the body into astral 6 in the astral to causel and 6 to causel to the void. :smoke:
Nothing gets through the void, except that which is all things, and only through the void is there escape from the prison of illuison.
anyways it's 666
you must defeat the beast AKA mia / kal to get to heaven.
oh well just a little trivia
:evilway:
so how many sets , numbers. I think it's 12 sets of 6 then 3 ???
not sure. Please enlighten. thanks. :shift:

[Flar's Freyja]

:huh: You have to embarrass me, do ya? Wait, I'll go get it - Here it is, oh this is bad - nine years of Catholic school - You start with One prayer, I think it was an Act of Contrition - then three more and I can't remember what those were - they another One - oh, my mother would smack me - and then I believe they were sets of tens. I'm looking at this one my aunt gave me and it's not put together quite right because of the name beads. I could ask my cousin - who tells me how evil my religion is now that she's turned devout - and get back to you.

Interestingly, my cousin claims that she was involved with a pagan group in another state and said that it was a "hard-core coven." She said that it was evil. And she had a drug problem at the time. But - she has asked me for magick and does not even know how to do a simple candle spell! I can't help but think that what she was involved in was Satanic.

[dragonmagic64]

:evilway: funny thing about santanic ritual, they seem to barrow most of there stuff from good old mother church,. :sunny: yes I too was raised , via by force, a catholic.

anything that is not understood is :devil: satanic , evil, you know.

good catholics bad catholics, good witches:loveduv: evil satanic witches :smoke:

you need one side to have the other , it is the duality of this world.

Medican, herbal , healing good. shaminism. lots and lots of examples of the positive.

We are all made of the same mystic stuff. What is the smallest part of an atom, what is inside of that??? this is a common substance that we all share. :smash: smashing the atoms and finding GOD/GODDESS :bigredgri:

[Flar's Freyja]

:p Your post made me smile!

Well, I always say: Catholic, Pagan, what's the difference? We both do candles, incense and ritual!

Except Pagans don't say: Say nine prayers and don't forget to put twenty bucks in the box! :ack:

Who'd buy a prayer when you can pray for free? :rolleyes:

[dragonmagic64]

is it spelled tithing, I'm such a bad catholic, I can't spell either :)
YOu know I have a funny feeling that the true 10% donation to the whole/aka God/Goddess/Logos/Nam--etc... is suppose to be time in service of , prayer , meditation , ceremony . And as an extra,time spent with :p:RuNew: :) :spidey::sunny:::wave: community. It takes about 2 1/2 hours or 10% of a day spent in reflection , meditation , prayer , to start turning the unfocused energy of the world around me into a focused beam of light. Perhapes not for all , 8O but for me :evilway: , this type of tithing makes a lot more sence. What are the Gods going to do with money??? it's really paper and ink/ metal and gem. Yet our time/love , devotion, focused heart, isn't that what they crave for their children , isn't that what we crave for our own children??
:heartthro we spend our whole lives chasing those things external to us, yet our true power , gifts , magik , knowledge lays within our inner alter's, temples , and covens. To me , we are the spiritual children of the god's/goddesses , and our greatest duty to them is our spiritual duty, not expected from us , but hoped for us. It's really all up to us what we do with the gifts, weather we leave them unopend and ignored , or we open them and grow stronger within them. But first we have to know where the greatest ones are. :zzz::zzz::bug::8O opps did I say that out loud or only think it :confused: :D okay I'm off the soap box. :boing::rotfl:

[Flar's Freyja]

Bad spellers of the world - Untie!

I used to go to church with my son to support his interest in spirituality. I got tired of hearing sermons week after week after week that did nothing for my spirituality because it seemed all the minister talked about was money for a new building.

You're right, [COLOR=darkred]What Is God Going To Do With A Building?[/COLOR The money collected could be going for more useful means, such as feeding the hungry, housing, etc. Spirituality is not in a building. I don't need to go to a building to have a connection with my Higher Power! The Goddess and God are with me wherever I am.

[Flar's Freyja]

Well, that font was supposed to be dark red - don't know what happened there - :confused:

[Sisqi]

yep, I was raised Catholic too...so here's the rosary prayer:

the first bead above the cross I was taught to say the apostle's creed
the next is a set of 3 which we said the Hail Mary with the first being for an increase in faith, the second an increase in hope and the last an increase in love/charity.

the next is one bead were you say the our father

then there are 5 "decades" where you say the glory be and the our father on the "spacer" bead, then ten hail Mary's on the decade etc. down all 5 decades. Depending on the day, you meditate on the 5 glorious mysteries, the 5 sorrowful mysteries, or the 5 joyous mysteries (one for each decade) then you close the circle with something like "oh my lord Jesus, save us from the fires of hell and lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of thy divine mercy."

I think the rosary was something that St. Francis of Asisi (spell?) came up with, but its really big with Dominicans now.

ok, and that was probably more than you ever wanted to know about the rosary....

Here in San Antonio they have a wonderful ritual during December where they decorate the church and Our Lady of Guatalupe with pink roses...makes the space smell absolutely glorious and I love to go visit just for these hundreds of roses around Mary. As someone else said, she's probably the first woman I thought of as a goddess.

[Flar's Freyja]

Thank you! I can't believe I couldn't remember it. Looking back, I don't think I did very many rosaries growing up. After confession we were usually told to say 10 Hail Mary's and 5 Our Father's rather than rosaries.

[Sisqi]

we actually never said the rosary growing up, it was one of those things I picked up when I went through my "I want to be a nun" phase. I still remember my father laughing when he heard that! I think I was just searching..for some way I could be more actively spiritual. I think this is why finding wicca has felt like a blessing and like a homecoming. I'm just beginning this path, but in some ways it feels like I've always been here.

[Danustouch]

Angelwulfe..I used to put veils over my head and pretend to be the Virgin Mary too...wow..I had totally forgotten about that until you just reminded me. Thanks for that leap back into my childhood :)

[Flar's Freyja]

:lol: Veils, scarves, sheets - and we were all very serious about it, too, weren't we?

At Halloween in my Catholic school, we dressed up as saints and had a procession. It was a really big deal. I remember that my mother made me a costume that looked like a nun's habit, except it was beige. I wanted to be St. Theresa - she is one of the children that the Blessed Mother appeared to and I was fascinated with her.

I'm glad that this has been brought up. I didn't realize that I had a fascination with Mary as goddess as a child until now!

There's no place like home.

[Danustouch]

I've got to see if my mom still has photo's of me in veils pretending to be Mary, holding my cabbage patch kid. lol.

[Flar's Freyja]

:rotfl:

We wanna see 'em if you find 'em!

[dragonmagic64]

thanks for the info.
never ending knowledge. I use to think it would give me peace, but how wrong I was :evilway:
Yet it does give me something to focus on. :)