Reclaiming the Presence of the Divine Feminine in the Ancient Practice of Praying the Rosary Today by Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP

Unsplash: Chelsea Shappouri

Like people of all faiths and walks of life, I have returned to the  sacred practice of praying the rosary. This ancient meditation makes me more aware of  spiritual energy within me to heal my body in my battle with endometrial cancer. 

In a ground breaking new book, The Way of the Rose-The Radical Path of the Divine Feminine Hidden in the Rosary,- Clark Strand, a former Buddhist Zen master and Perdita Finn, his feminist wife, describe the hidden wisdom of this  sacred practice to foster deep communion with Divine Presence and to transform lives and the planet in an age of ecological collapse. They share their spiritual encounter with a Mother whose loving presence is "as close as the ground beneath their feet, whose message is the rosary is My Body, and My body is the body of the world. Your body is one with that body. What cause could there be for fear?"

The authors make the connections between praying the rosary in the  pre-Christian tradition, Middle Ages and modern times.   In Medieval times, the rosary refers to garlands woven from roses and offered to the Blessed Mother in the Spring. This devotion was rooted in  people's experience of the healing power of the goddess in ancient times. They  called Mary the Great Mother of Life, Star of the Sea and Queen of heaven and earth, the same words their ancestors used to address Inanna, Isis and Venus. Bead practice, they point out, transcends Church dogma and  patriarchal control by religious authorities.  Church official have downplayed Mary's appearances in Egypt, Japan, Bosnia, Venezuela, Rwanda and the United States in the hope that she would go away. But, our ancestors believed in the loving presence of a Great Mother, and so do many believers today.,

The gathering behaviors of women as multitaskers who collected seeds, nuts and berries  -chatting, muttering, moving  about and communing with others.-  continues today as "grandmothers gently hold the beads around their fingers sneaking in a prayer or two between the dishes and the laundry. Children can be tended, old people cared for, the carrots chopped for dinner, all while staying connected with the Lady." 

The rosary is a way we can hold the Divine Mother in our hearts, and  explore a beautiful mystical path for spiritual renewal.   As the authors emphasize,  praying the rosary, "gives us a way to reclaim our devotion to that Mother, get our feet on the ground again and find our way back to the garden of Eden."

I  recommend The Companions 'Rosary- Praying the Rosary in Original Blessing Theology by Debra Trees.  The Companions Rosary is an attempt to combine the prayers of the rosary with the contemporary theology of original blessing. A description of the Companion Rosary can be found on this link: https://bridgetmarys.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-companions-rosary-praying-holy.html