Are you afraid of roller coasters???

I am. At least I used to be.

I got so good at being afraid of them that I haven’t been anywhere near one since our Grad Night trip to Disney Word! And I have to add that taking that particular ride in the dark didn’t help change my mind one bit!

Thus far, this adventure in France feels a bit like a roller coaster. The actual world piece is hills. Rocky, uneven, winding hills – and gorgeous, terrifying, ancient stone steps, often without railings.

Then, though, there’s the other part. For simplicity’s sake we’ll call it the transformation part! The part that – at least for me – involves seeing new things with my eyes and hearing new stories with my ears, only to be absolutely certain that they have lived inside me for ages.

There are lots of ways to talk about such ah-hah’s. You can choose what works for you. For our purposes, here, I’m going with gnosis.

We are in Magdalene country. One of the things which fascinate me is the way the ancient and the eternal are holding hands!

Black Madonnas are a great example.

Many of them were statues to goddesses in places which were temples to goddesses back in the days before there were Christians. And they tend to appear in places with strong energy.

Yesterday, we visited a magnificent, ancient place filled with old rock walls and art and palpable energy and, yes, a Black Madonna. Notre Dame du Cros. (MInerve.)

The photo at the top was taken outside. At a Black Madonna spring. I decided to skip the slippery, wet rocks, in favor of a near-by perch where the moving water gurgled and sang. It was 96 F and pretty sunny. I had chill bumps the whole time.

After some stories by the water, we entered the chapel, where the figure of Our Lady waited for us.

Fair warning… this next bit may be a shock.

Your eyes are not lying to you! She has been white-washed.

Much of the story we heard was from a wise native of Provence. I wasn’t quite able to grasp the time in history when the magnificent image, like far too many of her sisters, was defaced.

I’ll bet my last nickel, though, that it had to do with someone wanting to reduce her power in our hearts. My heart aches.

And, frankly, I’m pissed.

The only thing I know to do is to stay on the path of claiming what is true for me. At this point in time, I’d condense that truth into 11 words:

Our world needs all the Divine Feminine energy it can get!

Not to the exclusion of Divine Masculine energy, but in partnership with it, for together they can help us be whole…

Then, today, my Inner Rebel was called into the game! It’s a long-ish tale which we’ll save for another time. She did have a question for you, though:

What do you need to walk the path you feel called to???

I really want to know!

You can leave a comment below, or email me… sueboardman@gmail.com

And, shortly, we’ll be able to talk the calendar elves out of some space to fix a cuppa and bust out the Red Thread. (There are more questions!)

ps… the leader of the amazing workshop in which my Inner Rebel appeared was a delightfully perceptive new sister from the UK, Eleanor O’Rourke. She likes questions, too! Can’t wait to check out her recent book, Flow Without the F*ckery – Wake up your killer creativity.