St. Mary Magdalene Feast Day~ July 22nd

One month ago, I made my first pilgrimage.

I traveled to the South of France and while there,

 made the trek to La Sainte Baume,

the cave about 40 kilometers from Aix-en-Provence

where Mary Magdalene is said to have lived the remaining 30 years of her life.

And while there will be a more in-depth post with photos about the cave

and how she arrived there,

I thought it appropriate to at least post one photo on this day,

Mary Magdalene's Feast Day. 

We had hoped to do the Camino to 

Santiago de Compostela in Spain this spring/summer

which takes about 45 days.

Instead, being unable to make the trip this year,

 I was thrilled to make the 45 minute walk up the mountain to MM's cave, alone. 

The cave is also said to hold the relics of Mary Magdalene,

a piece of the tibia and a lock of hair

and on this day, the relics are carried through the town. 

And while these relics have made their own pilgrimages
to be greeted by thousands of followers,
they are mostly kept inside the cave
in this gorgeous reliquary
adorned with angels.

My own trek to this amazing place
has been not only about research for the novel
but my own spiritual journey,
bringing light and awareness,
honoring the sacred value of the feminine within ourselves,
our culture, our spirits, our psyches.
It is about the Divine Feminine,
about balance and wholeness,
about recognizing and acknowledging the power,
the sacredness and the necessity of the feminine as equal
and in balance with masculine energy in the world.

So in honor of Feast Day,
go out this week and do something,
create a ceremony of any kind
that symbolizes the return of feminine energy
and its balance with the masculine.

If nothing else,
go to that healing place within,
that place you know you have but have barely begun to explore,
and nurture it
in yourself...
or someone else.

(Photos copyright: Kirsten Steen)