Cathedral of the Black Madonna: The Druids & the Mysteries of Chartres, by Jean Markale, from Inner Traditions, ISBN 1594770204. Dedicated to both the Virgin Mary, Mother of God, and one of Europe's most venerated Black Madonnas, Chartres cathedral is renowned as a masterpiece of High Gothic architecture, with its remarkable stained glass and its labyrinth. But its sacred foundations go back long before Christianity, when this site was a clearing where all the druids in Gaul gathered once a year to worship a Virgo Paritura: a virgin about to give birth. Coincidence? Hardly, says author Jean Markale.
Cathedral of the Black Madonna: The Druids & the Mysteries of Chartres
Cathedral of the Black Madonna: The Druids & the Mysteries of Chartres, by Jean Markale, from Inner Traditions, ISBN 1594770204. Dedicated to both the Virgin Mary, Mother of God, and one of Europe's most venerated Black Madonnas, Chartres cathedral is renowned as a masterpiece of High Gothic architecture, with its remarkable stained glass and its labyrinth. But its sacred foundations go back long before Christianity, when this site was a clearing where all the druids in Gaul gathered once a year to worship a Virgo Paritura: a virgin about to give birth. Coincidence? Hardly, says author Jean Markale.