Mother Mary (Maria/Mariam/The Blessed Mother/Our Lady)

The Happy Squirrel

A few of us are having a very nurturing, encouraging, and fruitful discussion about Mother Mary as we were exploring the Mother Mary oracle deck in the oracle section. We were actually in a thread discussing another deck, the Wild Kuan Yin (which some of us feel is a misleading title), but The Mother Mary deck came up, and further discussions about Mother Mary herself progresses.

We thought that it was getting a bit off topic for the thread but there are a lot material to explore further there. I personally found the personal sharing to be very enriching.

:)

Dark Victory '39 and Madrigal have been very informative.

If any others here have any experience with Mother Mary (also known in the Islamic tradition as Mariam or Maryam, as mother of the Prophet Isa / Jesus) please do share and join our discussion :)

Will link that other thread here soon :)
 

celticnoodle

Oh, I love this deck! I bought it after getting a lovely reading here on A.T. with it. I think Empress Arwen did the reading? Though, I could be mistaken. A lovely deck. I have always had a very close relationship with the Blessed Mother, and so the cards mean all the more to me as a result. I'm going to be keeping an eye on this thread and probably will join in on the discussion of Mother Mary.
 

The Happy Squirrel

I grew up with her. As a child I found it easier to connect with her as she provided to me the maternal aspect of God. I was too young to understand the difference between praying through her, for her intercession, and praying to her, like you would pray to a goddess. I understood the difference as I got older. But I also lost my connection with her as I get older. Madrigal's reading for me encouraged me to explore my relationship with the Blessed Mother again.

Others shared that she isn't an external entity in their spiritual journey with her, but as a spirit within.

:)
 

celticnoodle

The Happy Squirrel said:
I grew up with her. As a child I found it easier to connect with her as she provided to me the maternal aspect of God. I was too young to understand the difference between praying through her, for her intercession, and praying to her, like you would pray to a goddess. I understood the difference as I got older. But I also lost my connection with her as I get older. Madrigal's reading for me encouraged me to explore my relationship with the Blessed Mother again.

Others shared that she isn't an external entity in their spiritual journey with her, but as a spirit within.

:)
Click to expand...

I'm glad that the reading is bringing you back to her then, Happy Squirrel. I also grew up with her and she was greatly admired in my family. One of the happiest memories I have is of sitting quietly on the couch in my maternal grandparents home and being still (hard for a little one!) while they prayed the rosary every night in Gaelic. Luckily, I enjoyed listening to the "funny sounds" as a small child. Never learned much Gaelic (mostly curse words my Uncle taught me :eek:), but the rosary always takes me back to those good memories too and I pray it daily still. I also have a novena to the BM that I love to recite as well. Its a powerful one and seems to work well.

My grandfather on his death bed had a vision of the B.M. and I have also had the B.M. come to me many times.

I think she is easy to connect with because she is everyone's mother. You can feel her love and compassion and acceptance very easily at every age. :heart:

Are you going to get the deck too, HS? I don't think you'd be disappointed! Its lovely! :)
 

The Happy Squirrel

As I shared in the oracle thread, for some reason something is stopping me from getting the Mother Mary deck. Because I grew up with her I fear that my expectations of the deck won't be met. Or rather, I fear my own expectations. So I am contemplating the deck but I haven't decided yet believe it or not.... I may be a bit biased, but I have a tendency to find oracle deck to be a little to fluffy and aimed at 'commercial spiritualism' rather than true ones. But if you read Dark Victory '39's post there sharing her experience with the Wild Kuan Yin deck, one can indeed find a deeper level of meaning in a deck like that especially when we are in a state of internal flux. As I myself experienced. Which is why I decided to get a second, then third, then fourth oracle decks (or "reading cards" as Rockpool Australia often call them which I think is a rather apt term). The relatively high level of abstraction of these reading decks can lead to deeper explorations of our spirituality in a way that I found other cartomancy systems like tarot or lenormand can not. I think deep down, I know that I probably will always going to return to my spiritual roots. But I always accept that detours are are part of journeys such as these :)
 

Madrigal

The Happy Squirrel said:
I grew up with her. As a child I found it easier to connect with her as she provided to me the maternal aspect of God. I was too young to understand the difference between praying through her, for her intercession, and praying to her, like you would pray to a goddess. I understood the difference as I got older. But I also lost my connection with her as I get older. Madrigal's reading for me encouraged me to explore my relationship with the Blessed Mother again.

Others shared that she isn't an external entity in their spiritual journey with her, but as a spirit within.

:)
Click to expand...

Sometimes the way back to something we feel we've lost is by starting at the place where the loss occurred. Returning to the place in your heart where that little girl is alive and well and beginning a conversation with her about Mother Mary. She probably has a lot of wisdom to share with you.

celticnoodle said:
I'm glad that the reading is bringing you back to her then, Happy Squirrel. I also grew up with her and she was greatly admired in my family. One of the happiest memories I have is of sitting quietly on the couch in my maternal grandparents home and being still (hard for a little one!) while they prayed the rosary every night in Gaelic. Luckily, I enjoyed listening to the "funny sounds" as a small child. Never learned much Gaelic (mostly curse words my Uncle taught me :eek:), but the rosary always takes me back to those good memories too and I pray it daily still. I also have a novena to the BM that I love to recite as well. Its a powerful one and seems to work well.

My grandfather on his death bed had a vision of the B.M. and I have also had the B.M. come to me many times.

I think she is easy to connect with because she is everyone's mother. You can feel her love and compassion and acceptance very easily at every age. :heart:

:)
Click to expand...

This is such a lovely, alive memory, celticnoodle. I love hearing stories like this.

The Happy Squirrel said:
As I shared in the oracle thread, for some reason something is stopping me from getting the Mother Mary deck. Because I grew up with her I fear that my expectations of the deck won't be met. Or rather, I fear my own expectations. So I am contemplating the deck but I haven't decided yet believe it or not.... I may be a bit biased, but I have a tendency to find oracle deck to be a little to fluffy and aimed at 'commercial spiritualism' rather than true ones. But if you read Dark Victory '39's post there sharing her experience with the Wild Kuan Yin deck, one can indeed find a deeper level of meaning in a deck like that especially when we are in a state of internal flux. As I myself experienced. Which is why I decided to get a second, then third, then fourth oracle decks (or "reading cards" as Rockpool Australia often call them which I think is a rather apt term). The relatively high level of abstraction of these reading decks can lead to deeper explorations of our spirituality in a way that I found other cartomancy systems like tarot or lenormand can not. I think deep down, I know that I probably will always going to return to my spiritual roots. But I always accept that detours are are part of journeys such as these :)
Click to expand...

I know you know this but perhaps it's helpful to 'hear' it. Whether you get the deck or not won't affect your relationship with Mother Mary. Rumi says it best...

"Your longing for Me is my message to you.
All your attempts to reach Me
Are in reality My attempts to reach you."

 

The Happy Squirrel

Madrigal said:
Sometimes the way back to something we feel we've lost is by starting at the place where the loss occurred. Returning to the place in your heart where that little girl is alive and well and beginning a conversation with her about Mother Mary. She probably has a lot of wisdom to share with you.

I know you know this but perhaps it's helpful to 'hear' it. Whether you get the deck or not won't affect your relationship with Mother Mary. Rumi says it best...

"Your longing for Me is my message to you.
All your attempts to reach Me
Are in reality My attempts to reach you."
Click to expand...


That's a good quote Madrigal. Thanks so much and you are absolutely right of course. I have grid to start praying again lately and it is a bit like trying to meditate. My mind is very unquiet and some past life development is still haunting me with fear and regret or fear of regret even. It is at times like this that I realise how blessed we are as a child when we are yet to develop a questioning mind, which is essential of course to becoming a sensible adult person. And wisdom which comes with age lies perhaps in knowing how to have both.
 

Richard

Perhaps a bit off topic, I think the most beautiful song about Mother Mary (besides the various traditional Ave Maria songs) is the Beatles' Let It Be. Looking back on a full life with all its ups and downs, I can't listen to this song without shedding a tear or two (or sometimes even a flood). By the way, the song was written not long before the Beatles broke up, a sad day for music lovers, but as the song says, we must "Let it be."
 
Seasonal Elements origin Learning to speak insect!