About

I’m a 50+ multifaceted, oxymoron, who can never really make her mind up.

I’m a  Witch, a Follow of the Goddess, a Wanabee Writer and Medium, – some say I’ll  talk to anyone dead or alive.

I’m a dissorganised Blogger, Cake Baker, Jam Maker, Trainee Patchwork-er and Keeper of the Keys for The Under Gardner’s Lodge.

Mother, Grandmother and Wife, and Walker of The Dog!

I’m fascinated and excited by many things, and therefore could be called eclectic or even eccentric, though some have not been that polite.

And like many women of a certain age – I like purple [and surprisingly I now have a ‘thang’ for pink!] rather a lot!

Now the reason to be here bit!

I am really interested in images and and the characterisation of the Virgin Mary and  how she is represented in Art, film and popular culture, I am also very interested in how  Goddess of the pre-Christian era can be seen to be traceable in these images and what I believe that says about the need within ‘our’ Western psyche to attribute to a Divine a female aspect and personality.

I want to look at how the image of The Virgin Mary in popular and contemporary culture, as well as within sub cultures, is used to hold fast and to challenge popular concepts.

I want to use this space to look at, write about, even [ hopefully] discuss how, I believe,  the ‘image’ of this iconic 1st CE Woman were used initially to replace the female aspect of the Divine, of pre-Christian Goddess[ess] , and how the ‘image’ was used , in my opinion, to try to to wipe these Goddesses from the face from the map,  so to speak, particularly in Western European /Northern American Culture.

I also want to use this space to ‘discuss’ how those images of Mary as an untouchable and unobtainable idealised woman were and are still being used to keep women in a subservient place in what was and still is, to some extent, an Andocentric society.

I will also try and show how they have been and still can be subverted and somewhat reclaimed; to show how they have been  used to veil, conceal and keep secret what has continued to be the worship of a hidden Matriarchal within a Patriarchal society and ask why that may be and what it can say to us today . [ gosh these are long and wordy sentences!]

As well as being a slightly eccentric [some may say mad] old bird- I am also a Feminist, and  therefore I shall be looking through a feminist lens [ should have gone to Specsavers]  at these images, and while I can understand and at times appreciate the initial/historical idea behind them, it will of course be filtered by my own experiences and life choices.

*Oh because sadly you have to these days – I just want to add, that all of my posts and my photo’s are the intellectual property of me, * *Shullie H Porter **- The Keeper of the Keys, and author of this blog – so I am asking nicely  – please don’t steal/nick/borrow my work! 

However, if you do like something, you can always link to it and to any of  my posts – and I will do the same for you *