The Dark Lady

This originally was posted on Ginger's Journey on Monday March 9, 2009.

Today's focus is to ponder the meaning and message of The Dark Lady....hmmm...the most widely known reference to the Dark Lady is Shakespeare's Sonnets....and perhaps Cher's song of the same name. While these are common references they may or may not have anything to do with the true essence of The Dark Lady. How then did the archetype come into being and what is its "true" nature?

Drawing from memory and inner thoughts without reading...I pulled forth what is perhaps typical of beliefs about the Dark Lady...a temptress, representing passion, desires, and impulsive behavior.....imagine my surprise then when I discovered that this "symbolic image" has only minimal connections to such things.

One interpretation of The Dark Lady is that she is the keeper of all thoughts and ideas and the guardian of the unborn. She holds the dreams and ideas that have not yet sprung forth in us. She is with us in the darkest of nights and guides us through passings whether they be death or simply an ending of a phase or thing in our lives. She is there at the end of our grief process and helps us to move forward to a new beginning. The words associated with her: unconscious power & wisdom, rituals, mysteries, secrets. (The Faeries Oracle, Text by: Jessica Macbeth Copyright 2000) You can read more about the Faeries Oracle at Faery Wisdom or World of Froud.

As I explore and strive to understand archetypes and how they have developed over time and virtually across every culture and society on earth...it brings me back to Christianity and my belief in God. How do I reconcil this interest with a strong belief in God and Jesus Christ? Is it dabbling in areas that are best left alone? In truth, while I do not know the answer to this....I believe that exploring these concepts enriches and reinforces my belief in a Higher Power. In my life that is God and Christ. I know for others that may not be the case and while I can argue with you that my beliefs are the REAL beliefs...in truth I have no way of proving that to you or anyone else.

So I decided to read a bit more about the Dark Lady and was very interested in finding an article in the National Catholic Reporter called Art & Spirituality: Seeking the Dark Lady. Here I will try to paraphrase those ideas that resonated with me and caused a bit of pause. For further information plase check out the link. It is a short easy to read article.

Key Points from My Perspective:

1. Images of a black or dark skinned Madonna with dark hair are among the oldest Madonna images in the world. Hmmmm...it is believed that these are a result of symbolic meanings and representations of attributes of goddesses.

2. Black Madonna images, both sculptures and paintings, have been found around the world. This representation of the feminine divine has been noted by Jungians and mystics. This image in its blackness represents the mystery surrounding the divine...a light so bright as to be seen only as blackness.

3. Also know as the Queen of Nature, she represnts fertile transformation both in the common meaning of the word...through birth & nature but also internal birth and change.

4. Other names depicting the Dark Lady through out Mexico and other countries: Sorrowful Mother, Mater Dolorosa, The Madonna of Solitude and Sorrow.

5. There is also similarities between the Dark Lady and a Hopi spirit called Crow Mother. She is noted as the Keeper of Balance and is the mother who fertilizes life.

6. BUT perhaps the most interesting to me was the following quotation taken from the article by Rich Heffern but is in part contributed to Craighead. ....

"With contemporary lore about black holes at the center of our galaxy and elementary particles burbling into existence out of nothing, Craighead said, “science now shows us pragmatically what people in both the Old World and the New have probably always known forever, with their deep hunches about our origins. Black is holy. It’s the mysteries of the night sky. We both come from and are contained somehow by this darkness.”

National Catholic Reporter July 25, 2008

Those are my ramblings today about the Dark Lady...she is encouraging a connection to the earth which I find ironic in this age of "going green". So while the term dark might lead one to believe in evil...the Dark Lady represents nature, sorrow, new beginnings and the essence of transfomation. She is a strong feminine image that evokes strength and support.