Raphael's Madonnas: Images for the Soul

Ultimately, the Madonna is the supreme representative of the Eternal Feminine for Western souls―the wisdom of Sophia, the compassion of Kwan Yin. Divine, cosmic, earthly, and human, she is primordial, contemporary, and still to come. Once and future, she is an evolving mystery, as we are, suggesting that our destinies are linked in ways beyond telling. We may strive toward her. We may discover her inwardly, feel united with her in a new way, in our own fashion, and find it healing. As the poet Novalis affirmed: 

Mary, in a thousand images
Adorably I see you shown
But none of these can show
As my soul beholds you.
These images should be approached with reverence, an open heart, and an open mind, humble unknowing, vulnerability, and gratitude. The images will speak for themselves, in the moment, in a mode appropriate to your needs (even if you are unaware of them). In the pure encounter, something will happen. Let Raphael’s vision become vision in you. Hold it in your heart. Take it into sleep. Thumb through the book, the image that calls you will find you. Perhaps it will be a different image each time. Make it a daily practice and improvise. 

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• The Etheric: Broadening Science through Anthroposophy 2 (The World of Formative Forces)
• Our Connection with the Elemental World: Kalevala, Olaf Åsteson, the Russian People: The World as the Result of Balancing Influences (The Collected Works of Rudolf Steiner)
• Theosophy : An Introduction to the Spiritual Processes in Human Life and in the Cosmos
• Riddle of the Human “I”: An Anthroposophical Study
• The Lord's Prayer and Rudolf Steiner: A study of his insights into the archetypal prayer of Christianity