Happy Magdalene Feast Day~ July 22nd

Two years ago in June, I made the journey to La Baume, 

Mary Magdalene's cave in the South of France. I started out nervous though excited to make the trip to the cave in Provence alone but in the end, I was determined to protect that sacred space of my own pilgrimage. And I've struggled to process what the journey meant for me. 

It was a breaking out... of my perpetual fear, out of my comfort zone and my reluctance and avoidance of "religion." It was a diving in... to Gratitude, into the Sacred, into myself. It was a partial melding of my own spirituality, which I've been cultivating since I was 19, with the powerful spirituality of the ages. 

Everything I needed while there opened itself up to me literally within seconds, as if there were absolutely no lag time between the thought of what one wants or needs and the universe providing it. It was twenty four hours of pure awe and full on Power. In fact, everything I needed to get myself there to make the journey opened itself up to me easily as well. And I've been there in my mind nearly every day since. And been changed by it. I have felt called, as one of the many voices, to help bring forth her message which is why she became part of my novel. And I'm excited to have made the commitment to make the journey again with someone who has wanted to go and with my partner who had to miss the trip last time. 

You can read about my journey and see photos of the cave and surrounds here in 

Part 1 and Part 2.

(Photo copyright: Kirsten Steen) 

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)