ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Cristina Henderson is the Principal of Crescendo Solutions and a Creativity Consultant, who can be contacted on 61 (0) 7 3410 1194, by e-mail to or by writing to PO Box 1207 Bongaree, Bribie Island, 4507, Queensland, Australia. Cristina Henderson teaches Seichim, Reiki, Meditation, Stress Management and the processes of gentle change by distance education to individuals located in any part of the world. Her special advanced seichim course is called Advanced Rose Seichim, the Shambala Star. Her MAP course on Money Abundance and Prosperity is now being taught around the world. In a new departure her workbooks which embody the courses outlined above are available from Phoenix Rising Bookshop telephone (02) 9566 2157. Further information regarding the courses and the newsletter of the Seichim Shambala Star Network is on website www.phoenixrisingbooks.com/rc_seichimnews.htm. Please contact Cristina for further information.

THE BLACK MADONNA OF CZETOCHOWA

'In Czetochowa's icon,
A gash upon her cheek,
The abused, abandoned one -
The Derelictica.' ¹

Recently I saw her. The Black Madonna of Czetochowa. I had wanted to make such a visit for many years. The link had begun with the reading of the book 'Longing for Darkness' by China Galland and it had just gone on from there. ² I knew about her and I also knew that the tour bus was unlikely to be able to get in, although I determined before the day with the help of close friends that in fact we would get in. To cut a long story short I saw her. The guide had been taking people past the Jasna Gora Monastery for ten years and only rarely had they been successful. The usual wait he told me was six hours, so mostly the bus cannot wait. There was no wait on this day. We moved into the crowded side of her chapel - but still I could not see her.

Suddenly two women pushed at me from the side and tried to steal my handbag but their attempt was foiled. And then we moved in to the front of the chapel and she was there. Her gashed cheek seemed more raised than the photos had suggested and she was behind bars. That seemed so symbolic to me, the goddess is behind bars. So I told her simply and 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, as us, for us, embedded in every part of our daily life. You are released.' It felt wonderful. The energy vibrated around me and then it was time for me to go. What I did not know at this point was how my visit would help many of those whom I remembered as I stood in her chapel. Only later was I told about some of the extraordinary experiences of others that took place right at this time. The whole visit had taken under an hour. It was a visit that I already knew had changed my life.

WHY THIS BLACK MADONNA?

The journey I took to the Black Madonna relates to the unveiling of the feminine in many more of its aspects. The image of Our Lady in Czestochowa, Poland is among that small group of Black Madonnas recognized throughout the entire world, largely due to the recent manifestations of public piety shown by the reigning Polish Pope, John Paul II. The image is sometimes called Our Lady of Jasna Gora after the name of the monastery site in which it has been kept for six centuries.

Joan Carroll Cruz relates the following 'miracle story' regarding the selection of this site:

St. Ladislaus determined to save the image from the repeated invasions of the Tartars by taking it to the more secure city of Opala, his birthplace. This journey took him through Czestochowa, where he decided to rest for the night.

During this brief pause in their journey, the image was taken to Jasna Gora [meaning "Bright Hill"]. There it was placed in a small wooden church named for the Assumption. The following morning, after the portrait was carefully replaced in its wagon, the horses refused to move. Accepting this as a heavenly sign that the portrait was to remain in Czestochowa, St. Ladislaus had the image solemnly returned to the Church of the Assumption.

Another 'miraculous' aspect of this image is that its antiquity is so great that its origins are unknown, as if "dropped from the heavens." Legend attributes its creation to St. Luke, the evangelist, who "painted a portrait of the Virgin on the cedar wood table at which she had taken her meals." St. Helena, the Queen Mother of Emperor Constantine is said to have located the portrait during her visit to the Holy Land and to have brought it to Constantinople in the fourth century. After remaining there for five centuries, it allegedly was transferred in royal dowries until it made its way to Poland and the possession of St. Ladislaus in the fifteenth century.

The legend continues:

During Ladislaus' time, the image was damaged during a siege, by a Tartar arrow, "inflicting a scar on the throat of the Blessed Virgin." In 1430, Hussites stole and vandalized the precious image, breaking it into three pieces, thereby adding insult to injury. One of the robbers drew his sword, struck the image and inflicted two deep gashes. While preparing to inflict a third gash, he fell to the ground and writhed in agony until his death ... The two slashes on the cheek of the Blessed Virgin, together with the previous injury to the throat, have always reappeared - despite repeated attempts to repair them.

It seemed to me as I pondered what had happened that as my journey continued I was being asked to contact more and more aspects of the Goddess.

And this was exactly what I had been privileged to do at Czestechowa.

Please contact Dr. Cristina Henderson 07 3410 1194 or E-mail for further information on The Goddess Walk, or on her latest books, Mr. Paddy’s Portal- a spiritual adventure and Seichim and the Legend of the Rose. Seichim and the Legend of the Rose covers more aspects of the legend of the Sisterhood of the Rose than has ever been brought together before. It is available from Phoenix Rising Bookstore or directly from the author. Information on all aspects of Seichim and the Sisterhood of the Rose is available from www.phoneixrisingbooks.com/rc_Seichim.htm or directly from Cris.

Bibliography:

¹ Starbird, Margaret. The Woman with the Alabaster Jar. Santa Fe, New Mexico, Bear & Company publishing, 1993. ISBN: 1 879181 03 7. p. 184.

² China Galland was the author who introduced me to this Black Madonna. Her website is certainly worth a visit.

A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE

BY DR. CRISTINA HENDERSON

Millions of women died in the horror of the witches' inquisitions, the 'women's holocaust' ¹ I knew the figure but I had forgotten until I read about it again recently ². Numbers vary widely and different schools of thought have it much lower and some even higher ³. It is, however, not the numbers that matter, but the intent. I began to wonder who and what these women were and what they were doing to bring on such a fate. Then I realised they were the goddesses of their society. They were a critical mass of the most wonderful women of that time - they were ordinary women - just like you and me - they were women who had different thoughts - just like you and me. They were those who were herbalists, wise women, healers, weavers, thinkers and midwifes, grandmothers, mothers, sisters, neighbours and friends - they were women in childbirth who were told they must suffer and no relief was necessary for their pain. They were the midwives who attended them. All these women died not for their beliefs - although beliefs outside the structure imposed by the church and state were a factor - but mainly just because they were women. The male energy could sense the extraordinary essence and power intrinsic to the female being and so they vowed to destroy it.

On a visit to England as I was standing in Warwick Castle my blood ran cold as I looked at the implements of their torture set out for all to see. I felt the hot brands in my hair and the smell of burning flesh. I sensed the pain and agony. I had to go outside and try to breath the fresh air again because those torture implements still held on to the screams of the women and men they had touched in anger with the dedicated intention of grievous harm.

What were the factors leading to this decimation? One factor was superstition and this included an understanding of magic. 'White' magic was believed to provide cures and blessings, which were unavailable through the acceptable channels provided by religion and medicine. 'Black' magic was seen to be harmful and involved the initiation of a conscious act of evil. Examples of the latter might be cursing a neighbour over a land issue or putting the hex on a cow that invaded property.

In the middle ages a new factor emerged, developed primarily by theologians and lawyers. This was the concept of a pact with the devil. Witches, it was posited, acquired magical powers by direct association with the devil. And so gradually by the end of the fifteenth century, witchcraft and religious heresy were seen as objects of fear and sporadic persecutions at a local level were transformed in some areas into a determined campaign to eliminate every trace of witchcraft. Organised 'hunts' took place primarily involving the persecution of women and these were common during the seventeenth-century. They fuelled the accusations of witchcraft, torture and persecution, which took place throughout much of Europe.

On an individual basis just imagine what these women and men went through. Their souls jumped and jerked within their bodies. They felt their essence leaving their bodies and saw their bare arms covered in fire, blowing down from the desolate hills of the souls of men who wanted nothing more than revenge. Burnt into earthly nothingness they were in the cataclysm shaking with the essence of greasy soot smudging their life force into blackness. As we think of them and empathise with them we make public some of the lives of those who normally stay hidden in history.

One of the most notorious Witch Finder generals was Matthew Hopkins, who was witchfinder general for King James the First. Hopkins operated in the Essex and East Anglia area between 1645 and 1647. He was alleged to have in his possession the devil's list of all the witches of England. During this period up to and perhaps over 200 women were hanged by him and his associates. Some sources say that Hopkins was paid 20 shillings for ridding a town of witches and some say he received 20 shillings per witch. It is said that his most famous saying was 'Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.' ⁴

Men were subject to the same punishment as women, but far fewer men met their maker in this way. The emphasis was certainly on the feminine. The economic aspect also undermined women. Twenty shillings was a reasonable sum of money for those days. The economic aspect sharpened the determination of many to undermine women. But Matthews’ career came to abrupt end in 1647 when he himself was 'discovered as a sorcerer' and hanged. This is rumour and not necessarily fact. In the areas where he instituted his reign of terror as Witch Finder General there are other rumours that he was taken by the fairy folk ⁵. It is also noticeable that in East Anglia village talk sometimes has it that Hopkins has been reincarnated and still searches for a woman who jilted him and began his deep hatred for all things female. It is estimated that about 1000 people, mostly women, were hanged as witches between 1550 and 1685. Matthews is really infamous for opening up a tidal wave of terror and carnage.

Scottish sisters were even less fortunate. In Scotland it is estimated that as many as 4000 people, again, mostly women, were convicted of witchcraft and burned alive. But it was in Europe that the persecution was even worse. One German city was made totally devoid of older women, the persecution was so bad. My sense is that the miasmic impressions and patterning of this persecution, the women's holocaust, still remains and they ⁶ still affect current societies and their belief systems. The miasma is contained in the memory of the land. On a more positive note many women and men are taking the opportunity to transform this deep hurt, either consciously or unconsciously, as they pursue deeper understandings of themselves and their intrinsic beings.

The social, political and economic results of the elimination of the female essence are clear. The road of male supremacy for centuries onwards was sealed when these women went to their deaths. In the centuries since nothing much has changed although perhaps the torture has taken on a more subtle flavour. The glass ceiling still presses cruelly on the heads of those who rise up to meet its challenges. All over the world women are entering institutions of higher education and emerging as doctors and lawyers, architects, chemists, indeed whatever they want to be is a possibility now. Perhaps the key difference between now and the fifties, just as an example, is that choice is available. Women are truck drivers, navvies, in the armed services, or taking the option of being homemakers.

Women are told they have equality - they have not - not yet at least, although opportunities and changes have undoubtedly been ushered in to the western democracies. The First World War proved a catalyst. Women worked - they had to - there were no young men - they were all being offered as sacrifices on the field of battle. When the war ended women were supposed to return to the home. Two things happened. Not enough men came home to force women to retreat and women had experienced working and being somewhat independent. They had a taste of a possible freedom. However today in most cases women are still being ushered through male channels, under constant male authority and guidance with even those who claim emancipation not necessarily realising the nature, extent indeed the intricacy of existing controls.

In addition, the energy of money has been masculinized instead of bringing with it the balance and the beauty of its female energy. The governing bodies and the systems are still primarily male permeated, male dominated and male manipulated. Many of the women who work in them are caught in a curious land that is in-between - they are no longer expressing the essence of the goddess and yet they know they must somehow change the systems to reflect her gentle nature. The violence they engender when they attempt this is not recorded, not counted, not numbered, not put into a ream of statistics but it is there. Its critical mass would be many times over the nine million deaths that brought masculine supremacy in its wake. And remember that I am talking only about the developed countries! There is hardly time here to mention what is happening to women in areas such as Pakistan, in the Middle East or in South America. One example, that of a small town in Mexico called Ciudad Juarez, may suffice to set the scene.

This is an industrial border city and here the disappearance and killing of young Mexican women is continuing on a regular basis. This killing has gone on over a period of nine years and at the last count 500 women have died or simply disappeared. There has been almost no concentrated investigation and to those involved justice seems a long way off. The mothers of these young women have stood alone, feeling invisible and abandoned within their community. Why are we not surprised? Because the miasms of the continued persecution of the femininity are never far away. Rumours abound about the reason for the vanishings. One of the most gruesome is the theory that body parts are being sold in developed countries. If this allegation is proved then what we are seeing in this small Mexican border town is a deliberate planned attempt to extinguish the fire of the goddess in one of her forms ⁷.

Clearly the goddess has been kept hidden for many years. Over thirty thousand years ago there existed women-centred, goddess worshipping societies and tribes. Women as a whole were revered for their nourishment, strength, and herbal lore, powerful visions and healing. They were honoured as the total embodiment of the almighty goddess herself. Respected as priestesses, these women followed the sacred moon cycles and seasons. These cyclic changes were integrated into their own lives, and also the lives of their community. For it was an egalitarian society structured on co-operation rather than competition. Women and men were of equal social status and power. And then came the changes including some of those outlined above.

But something has changed yet again and very much in the positive. The goddess has returned. She is here calling all of us, male and female alike to express the beauty of the feminine essence within us and without. She will not take no for an answer. To meet her and to embody all aspects of the goddess energy thereby healing yourself and the planet, you may want to travel on the Goddess Walk.

What is the Goddess Walk?

The Goddess Walk is a symbolical way to reclaim the extraordinary essence of the Goddess and to make her and her energy happen in our lives in a truly practical sense. At the end of the Goddess Walk you may feel so changed and those who went before us know that they did not die in vain.

The Goddess Walk is a mythical walk along the Rainbow Road into the energy of ascension. Energetically each chakra is imagined as linked to a specific goddess. One by one the goddesses emerge to help on this special journey along the Rainbow Road. They illuminate one part of our essential selves, usually currently missing and wanting to return to our lives. The fundamental principle of the teaching is this - EVERYTHING, that is, EVERY THING CAN BE TRANSFORMED.

The Goddess Walk is a magical mystery tour of our own bodies. Particular forms of the Goddess energy include the energies of Isis in Egypt and many people are initially drawn to the Goddess Walk by making the 'Egyptian connection.'

Other Goddess archetypes emerge to help with the journey. Quan Yin and Kwaneen are two forms of the Goddess in the East, both of whom are predominantly Goddesses of Mercy. I first became aware of this goddess energy when I lived in the Far East.

In Hong Kong I was heavily influenced by veneration of the goddess of mercy, Quan Yin. In Japan she is known as Kannon. Statues of Quan Yin, which are radiant and possess a divine brilliance, are evident in many Chinese cities. Well do I remember entering the city of Penang only to see a statue of Quan Yin on the hill looking down over the city at once acting as an inspiration and as a divine protector. And again there she stands in all her glory on the beach at Repulse Bay in Hong Kong, the children playing ball all around her as she looks down on them with an enigmatic smile.

In Tokyo I visited the Kannon Temple, approaching it by ferry down Tokyo Bay with its unique view of the teeming city of Tokyo. The Sensoji Temple is Tokyo's oldest and most popular temple, with a history dating back to 628 when according to popular lore; two brothers fishing in the nearby Sumida River netted the catch of their lives. Their catch was a tiny golden statue of Kannon, the Buddhist goddess of mercy and happiness, who has the ability to release humans from all suffering. The sacred statue is still housed in the temple, carefully preserved inside three boxes; even though it is not on display, people still flock to the temple to pay their respects. Through the centuries worshippers have flocked here seeking the favours of Kannon. The Temple burned down during a 1945 bombing raid and the present structure was rebuilt. This temple is the largest in Japan. It was here, on a gentle walk through colourful street vendors that I found and purchased a large eye in the form of a necklace in the markets. Colourful markets surround the entrance way to the temple.

The difference between the teeming metropolis and the living light of Kannon's temple is extraordinary. One minute there is bustle and the next minute there is peace but it is a peace of a wonderful depth, more than just some surface symbolism. On the way directly into the temple as part of a long walkway stands a giant incense burner. It is immense and yet welcoming. It is important to halt here and to inhale the sacred smoke. This is where worshippers 'wash' themselves to help against illness or for protection. For example, if you have a sore throat it is vital to rub some of the smoke on the throat. This is followed by a well where the water comes to assist in purification - so both the fire and water elements are contained there. The surrounding gardens near the temple are in themselves an absolute delight and I particularly watched and noticed the carp in the water of the streams under the ornate bridge, which are huge.

Once it becomes possible to connect with Kannon she activates your compassion, not in a western 'tea and sympathy' way but she brings a deep and spiritual intuitive response to your daily situation. You are able to rise 'above the ordinary' in all senses and life never appears to be the same again.

But Kannon was not finished with me. I found a huge statue of her in the park behind the hotel which was amazing and just found 'by chance!' Jizo, the guardian deity of children was used to protect children but now mainly represents miscarried, stillborn, or aborted children. She stands in another section of the same park. Some of the statues, which can be purchased on temple grounds, are fitted with hand knitted caps and sweaters and they are extremely life like. The effect is chilling. The spirits of the children seem to be collectively waiting for release or acknowledgement.

The Black Madonna, in Poland, France, Switzerland and Mexico join in another section of the Goddess Walk. The effect of the Black Madonna on one's life can be absolutely remarkable. I can tell you about a recent experience of mine when I saw her. The Black Madonna of Czetochowa hangs in a monastery in Poland. I had wanted to make such a visit for many years. The link had begun with the reading of the book 'Longing for Darkness' by China Galland and it had just gone on from there ⁸. I knew about her and I also knew that the tour bus was unlikely to be able to get in, although I determined before the day with the help of close friends that in fact we would get in. To cut a long story short I saw her. The guide had been taking people past the Jasna Gora Monastery for ten years and only sometimes had they gone in. The usual wait he told me was six hours, so mostly the bus cannot wait. There was no wait on this special day. We moved into the side of the chapel but still I could not see her.

Suddenly two women pushed at me from the side and tried to steal my handbag but their attempt was foiled. And then we moved in to the front of the chapel and she was there. Her gashed cheek seemed more raised than the photos had suggested and she was behind bars. That seemed so symbolic to me, the goddess being contained behind bars. So I told her simply and 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, as us, for us, embedded in every part of our daily life. You are released.' It felt wonderful. The energy vibrated around me and then it was time for me to go. What I did not know at this point was how my visit would help many of those whom I remembered as I stood in her chapel. Only later was I told about some of the extraordinary experiences of others that took place right at this time. The whole visit had taken under an hour. It was a visit that I already knew had changed my life.

White Buffalo Calf Woman in the United States and in Australia the wonderful Rainbow Serpent Mother of the Aboriginal people are energetically willing to create an incredible partnership with anyone who walks this road. They also appear on the road to greet the participant and to help with the journey.

However to walk 'The Goddess Walk' ⁹ requires commitment and courage. Each archetype encountered represents the mother Goddess, or the feminine ray of energy. When they visit us they may bring with them elements of information that we do not wish to acknowledge. Sometimes this is called walking in the shadow. It can be unpleasant yet revealing in its intensity, which is why courage is required.

At the end of the Goddess Walk you may feel so changed and those who went before us know that they did not die in vain.

As the energy is changed into the positive it is reflected in our story telling. One of the best lines in the marvellous New Zealand film 'Whale Rider' occurs when the little Maori girl, Pai makes a speech to her grandfather, Koro. He is not present in the room but her words echo across the distance between them. If everyone is given the knowledge, she calls, then there will be lots of leaders and we all will be strong. Her grandfather has not been listening to her because she is a woman and the successor, in his view, must be male. But Pai is calling for the opening up of the wisdom to everyone to give us all the chance at a better life. Finally a miracle occurs and the whales answer her cries only to be beached and to begin to die. Only when Pai is willing to ride on the back of the whale into the sea, offering to make the ultimate sacrifice does she assume her rightful role. And so as Pai's soulful speech indicates now is the right time for the wisdom of the ancients to be revealed to all those who want to take up this challenge.

Now is the time for a better life.

Please contact Cristina Henderson 61(0) 7 3410 1194 or E-mail for further information on The Goddess Walk, or on her latest books, Mr. Paddy’s Portal and Seichim and the Legend of the Rose. The above article relates directly to the latter book, Seichim and the Legend of the Rose, which is available from Phoenix Rising Booksellers or directly from the author. Cristina's books and the Seichim Newsletter, Heavenly Web is available through Phoenix Rising Bookshop in Glebe, Sydney on www.phoenixrisingbooks.com. Information on all aspects of Seichim and the Sisterhood of the Rose is available from www.phoneixrisingbooks.com/rc_Seichim.htm or directly from the author.

Bibliography:

¹ The film 'The Burning Times' engages and educates the general populace about the 'women's holocaust'. It can ordered over the net and also there are reviews on it available for consideration.

² This controversial figure does not seem to be proven. By that I mean I cannot find proof of it being based on census reports, church reports, or local papers of the time.

³ In the book ‘Bloodline of the Holy Grail’ by Laurence Gardner, Gardner speaks of a special inquisition that was set up called the ‘Hammer of Witches’ (New York, Element Books, 1996. ISBN: 1852308702). This was the time of the inquisition ‘witch hunt’, which was also taken up the Puritan sects in England e.g.; the witch finder Mathew Hopkins. Gardner also states that in the period of some 250 years more than a million innocent men, women and children were murdered by the witch finders. In relation to the film 'The Burning Times' the number of people listed as dying in the craze has been criticised as exorbitantly high. Critics say that current estimates of the death toll rank around 60,000 to 200,000--nowhere near the hyperbolic assertions of 9,000,000. By being drawn into a discussion of numbers we are once again in the paradigm of the system, arguing over something that does not matter - it is the whole holocaust itself that needs to be understood in terms of the destruction of the beauty of the feminine.

⁴ Harris, Elizabeth. The twilight child. London, HarperCollins, 1998. ISBN 0 00 649965 1. P. 62.

⁵ See also Angie Winter's intriguing article, 'Hopkins: redeemer or jilted lover? Insight Magazine, February 2004, pp. 40-41.

⁶ engage and educate the general populace about the "women's holocaust."

⁷ See www.mujeresdejuarez.org for further information.

⁸China Galland was the author who introduced me to this Black Madonna. Her website is certainly worth a visit.

⁹ The Goddess Walk in an easy self-paced learning form can be purchased from Phoenix Rising Booksellers. Contact service@phoenixrisingbooks.com.au or telephone (02) 9566 2157.