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The Cult of the Black Virgin
A comprehensive gazetteer enables the reader to locate the sites where Black Virgins can be found and provides information about their origins. A work focusing on the Black Virgins, symbols of power and majesty.
336 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 5, 2014
The author lets us know he is neither a theologian nor a historian right up front. Well, cool. And then he plunges in to a slightly inchoate mass of information.
I don't know, am I just being all crabby in the new year? Did I wish for more, or other..(well, yes, yes, I did).
Beware of expectations. My expectations were doubtless unfair to the earnest author who has apparently set out to catalog all the Black Virgins in Europe (and other places, in the notes in the back) and to connect them to...well, lots of stuff. The old religions. The Cathars. The Grail.
At times I thought I was in one of those history channel specials, you know, the ones that always start with a teaser and end with a lot of oblique maybes? Atlantis!!! Have we Discovered The Secret!!!! (one hour of pretty pictures) "It could be that we have discovered the secret...or it is possible we have not" (music fades out and you throw something at the screen).
At other times I was reminded of my first delirious plunges into Frazer and the Golden Bough (I tried to read the complete Golden Bough, which is, let me tell you, multivolume and full of things I found fascinating in my youth, sorta like "in Sussex white stones are placed along the road at dawn on magic day, while over the hedges the maidens pick clover and put it in the willow branches. Now, Rev Muckyday notes that over in Wessex the white stones are in fact geese and they fly in formation towards the south. This leads us to realize that the Dying God was in fact related the the Magic Goose King, qv.." (you have to have been there).
It's a hodgepodge of supposition in which language, dates, weather, and the author's mood appear to allow for connections of the "is it possible that?" and "we suppose that" sort. Lists of gods and goddess, references to Holy Blood Holy Grail (or whatever that book was called, the one Dan Brown stole from), references of course to Robert Graves and the White Goddess (and an apparent work by Graves on the Black Goddess).
Where was the editor when this book was devised? Was there an editor? Was there an intent? Or is it simply, as it seems, a catalog and collection with some nice drifts into why the restoration of the feminine might be a good thing (but the author knows that maybe in the matriarchal times women did bad stuff to guys, so we deserved the centuries of patriarchy, no wonder.)
Okay, I'm just grumpy. Perhaps for the right person at the right time it's a great book.
I don't know, am I just being all crabby in the new year? Did I wish for more, or other..(well, yes, yes, I did).
Beware of expectations. My expectations were doubtless unfair to the earnest author who has apparently set out to catalog all the Black Virgins in Europe (and other places, in the notes in the back) and to connect them to...well, lots of stuff. The old religions. The Cathars. The Grail.
At times I thought I was in one of those history channel specials, you know, the ones that always start with a teaser and end with a lot of oblique maybes? Atlantis!!! Have we Discovered The Secret!!!! (one hour of pretty pictures) "It could be that we have discovered the secret...or it is possible we have not" (music fades out and you throw something at the screen).
At other times I was reminded of my first delirious plunges into Frazer and the Golden Bough (I tried to read the complete Golden Bough, which is, let me tell you, multivolume and full of things I found fascinating in my youth, sorta like "in Sussex white stones are placed along the road at dawn on magic day, while over the hedges the maidens pick clover and put it in the willow branches. Now, Rev Muckyday notes that over in Wessex the white stones are in fact geese and they fly in formation towards the south. This leads us to realize that the Dying God was in fact related the the Magic Goose King, qv.." (you have to have been there).
It's a hodgepodge of supposition in which language, dates, weather, and the author's mood appear to allow for connections of the "is it possible that?" and "we suppose that" sort. Lists of gods and goddess, references to Holy Blood Holy Grail (or whatever that book was called, the one Dan Brown stole from), references of course to Robert Graves and the White Goddess (and an apparent work by Graves on the Black Goddess).
Where was the editor when this book was devised? Was there an editor? Was there an intent? Or is it simply, as it seems, a catalog and collection with some nice drifts into why the restoration of the feminine might be a good thing (but the author knows that maybe in the matriarchal times women did bad stuff to guys, so we deserved the centuries of patriarchy, no wonder.)
Okay, I'm just grumpy. Perhaps for the right person at the right time it's a great book.
April 13, 2017
This book is the result of the examination of a curious fact: there are many statues/images of the Virgin Mary and Child in which the flesh tones of the subjects are black. Begg began to record the places he had found, particularly in France, and published them in 1985; eleven years later, in 1996, he published a revised and expanded edition. The information he gleaned formed the basis of his Gazetteer, which forms the second half of this book, which lists the locations he had uncovered, and a brief summary of the 'events' associated with the images at each location. This should prove an invaluable source for anyone wishing to explore this phenomenon for themselves.
For me, the most instructive section which forms the first half of this book: an examination of the history in general relating to the 'black virgin'. This examines the ancient precursors of this legend from the East, the Classical traditions associated with it, the links to 'natural religion', the Christian tradition, and finally the symbolic meaning of the tradition. One thing seems clear — the ideas associated with the Cult seems to have survived regardless, and continues to surprise and mystify. I found the links with the ancient Merovingian legends of France (a 'sacred' line traditionally linked with the offspring of Jesus and Mary Magdalen) which was supressed (or more correctly went underground) when Boniface converted Charlemagne's grandfather to Roman Catholicism, but remained a potent subtext through the Middle Ages through to Bernard of Clairvaux and the Knights Templar to the Priory of Sion still in existence today. This tradition was brought to Western consciousness through the 1982 book 'The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail' by Baigent Leigh and Lincoln, who suggested inter alia that the Holy Grail referred in fact to the Holy Bloodline of Jesus and Mary Magdalen, with Mary Magdalen being the vessel (chalice) which contained the Holy Bloodline ('Sang Real' - 'royal blood' in French, which later became the 'San Greal' or 'holy Grail'). Thus the legend tends to perpetuate a hidden female component of Christianity. This idea was taken up as the basis of Dan Brown's astonishingly popular thriller 'The Da Vinci Code' in 2003.
Myths and legends are not historical per se, but many argue that they stem from certain facts 'hidden' behind the stories. One needs, therefore to be careful about how the hidden information alleged to be the truth is used by the reader. Anyone interested in Myths and Mythmaking, however, will find this work stimulating and informative, regardless of one's particular beliefs; and ultimately, there still remains the mystery: why Black?
For me, the most instructive section which forms the first half of this book: an examination of the history in general relating to the 'black virgin'. This examines the ancient precursors of this legend from the East, the Classical traditions associated with it, the links to 'natural religion', the Christian tradition, and finally the symbolic meaning of the tradition. One thing seems clear — the ideas associated with the Cult seems to have survived regardless, and continues to surprise and mystify. I found the links with the ancient Merovingian legends of France (a 'sacred' line traditionally linked with the offspring of Jesus and Mary Magdalen) which was supressed (or more correctly went underground) when Boniface converted Charlemagne's grandfather to Roman Catholicism, but remained a potent subtext through the Middle Ages through to Bernard of Clairvaux and the Knights Templar to the Priory of Sion still in existence today. This tradition was brought to Western consciousness through the 1982 book 'The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail' by Baigent Leigh and Lincoln, who suggested inter alia that the Holy Grail referred in fact to the Holy Bloodline of Jesus and Mary Magdalen, with Mary Magdalen being the vessel (chalice) which contained the Holy Bloodline ('Sang Real' - 'royal blood' in French, which later became the 'San Greal' or 'holy Grail'). Thus the legend tends to perpetuate a hidden female component of Christianity. This idea was taken up as the basis of Dan Brown's astonishingly popular thriller 'The Da Vinci Code' in 2003.
Myths and legends are not historical per se, but many argue that they stem from certain facts 'hidden' behind the stories. One needs, therefore to be careful about how the hidden information alleged to be the truth is used by the reader. Anyone interested in Myths and Mythmaking, however, will find this work stimulating and informative, regardless of one's particular beliefs; and ultimately, there still remains the mystery: why Black?
February 16, 2017
Well-researched, well-written book. Having a strong background in the subject I was enthralled when I found this book. It exceeded my expectations. I was expecting a dry, heavy read and was surprised at how easily it read. I couldn't put it down. Highly recommend for any interested in the Black Madonna.
August 3, 2016
A lot of interesting hypotheses, but a lot of them are on a long shot, and (admittedly) without much deep research into the subject. The most compelling conclusions are citations from " Holy Blood, Holy Grail", Which seems to be the source vast majority of Begg's research.
The Gazetter is probably the most valuable portion of the book, to Begg's credit. Otherwise, just read Holy Blood, Holy Grail.
The Gazetter is probably the most valuable portion of the book, to Begg's credit. Otherwise, just read Holy Blood, Holy Grail.
March 14, 2025
I found myself a bit frustrated by this book. It’s a good reference and review of the various black Madonnas. And to be fare this book was probably a lot more interesting when it was published, before the internet allowed us to easily compile all instances of these strange, mysterious, and divergent Madonnas.
But the frustrating this for me is that Begg never really posited a theory or theories as to why these black Madonnas came to be venerated, or what they really mean. I came to it hoping for some sort of esoteric elucidation but it was really just was a listing of the Madonnas and some history that tangentially touched on the more occult meaning behind them.
But the frustrating this for me is that Begg never really posited a theory or theories as to why these black Madonnas came to be venerated, or what they really mean. I came to it hoping for some sort of esoteric elucidation but it was really just was a listing of the Madonnas and some history that tangentially touched on the more occult meaning behind them.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews