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Mother Pelican
A Journal of Solidarity and Sustainability
Vol. 20, No. 10, October 2024
Luis T. Gutiérrez, Editor
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Cultural Evolution of Patriarchal Iconography
Mary Jane Miller & Margarita Abramov
Mother Pelican, October 2024
Mary in prayer for the world, by Mary Jane Miller.
Click on the image to enlarge.
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Mary Jane Miller's icons communicate a distinctive softness and her bold creative approach to contemporary iconography. The blend of colors and forms, infused with serenity and distinctly feminine qualities, convey a modern understanding of God's beauty.
Women's iconography has played a significant role in the Christian faith throughout the centuries. The tradition has honored martyrs, holy women, saints, and mystics, both named and unnamed, who have carried forward the essence of Jesus's teachings of peace, love, goodness, light, and unity. These women's pious actions were inspired by the message of Christ and cultivated charity, benevolence, obedience, and humility in their lives.
Women's roles in religion are often ambiguous and determined by doctrine, cultural heritage, and tradition. When the Old Testament was written, women did not have the same social status and rights as men in a patriarchal society. They did not have a voice, were unable to choose whom they wanted to marry, and could not participate in or perform religious rituals, or hold religious leadership positions. The New Testament offers a rehabilitation of women. Women are permitted to enter the male world as witnesses of Christ's life, mission, death, and resurrection. However, their subordinate position remains practically unchanged or is even emphasized. Women’s mission as
emissaries of Jesus' the ministry was still not fully recognized or accepted. Division and sexism continued to dominate, and a woman's inner religious experience was not recognized as something that framed her spiritual reality.
From a spiritual perspective, both men and women are created in the image of God, and both possess the power of the mind, the wisdom of the soul, and the vitality of the Holy Spirit. Oneness with the divine, the transcendence of opposites, is at the core of each person's spiritual experience. Unfortunately, humanity has lost its sense of wholeness by dividing the world into conflicting and irreconcilable opposites, including gender. While biological differences are obvious, in a symbolic and mythological sense, the divine realm has no gender, and feminine and masculine energies can be felt as archetypes.
In the absence of an archetypal view, the theme of evil is so easily emphasized in the behavior, dress, and appearance of women, even though the negative traits are inherent in both men and women. The emphasis on certain sensual characteristics of a woman can be seen as gender-biased and misleading in the interpretation of the symbolism, both in the text and in the iconography. In any case, I can't help but wonder why Jesus revealed that he was the Messiah to Photini (aka the Samaritan woman) before all the other disciples found out. Why was Mary Magdalene the first to meet the risen Christ? Doesn't this mean that women can provide spiritual leadership to the apostolic community? The outdated prohibition of women from the priesthood prevents them from fulfilling their spiritual aspirations.
The book, In Light of Women, is a courageous attempt to accept many forms of God's manifestation regardless of gender. Without ignoring the accepted visual canons of iconography, a reader is offered a fresh perspective on the stories portrayed in the New Testament and a new way to look at our Planet. The concise language of icons sparks the imagination and provides new creative opportunities to contemplate the enigmatic workings of the Spirit in one's life.
Simplicity is often the best way to reach the depths of our soul and connects us to our ancestral memory in which the honoring of the sacred feminine is imprinted. This book focuses both on the visual representation of women in iconography and the question of equality in discipleship for everyone. The author seeks to reconstruct the meaning of the role of women in Christianity, not only in light of the traditional social role assigned to them by society, but also as devoted followers, community leaders, preachers, saints, and mystics in the immediate context of historical epochs. In the religious tradition, the Divine grants authority, it does not assign implicit or explicit rules but does point to our stewardship concerning the Earth.
It is clearly beyond the control of the ego to unite the physical (earthly) and the spiritual (cosmic) into a cohesive whole. The encounter with sacred images has the potential to transcend space and time and to transport our consciousness to a higher, eternal realm. The evocative power of icons can be a starting point to re-examine canons and symbolism, to open our minds to possibilities beyond what we know and accept without question. As you immerse yourself in the divine images in this book, let them speak for themselves. Allow this meditative process to take you into the depths of your psyche where spiritual truth about the power and mystery of the sacred feminine can be revealed.
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ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Mary Jane Miller is a self-taught Byzantine style iconographer with over 28 years of experience. Her collection of sacred art is contemporary, unique, and unorthodox at times. The work has been exhibited in Museums and churches in both the United States and Mexico. As an author, Miller writes luxuriously, blending historical content, and personal insights to arrive at contemporary conclusions about faith. Self-published books include Icon Painting Revealed, Mary In Iconography, In Light of Women, and Life in Christ. Miller has been published online and in publications. She teaches 4 courses annually, 5 day immersion workshops throughout the US and Mexico. Websites: San Miguel Icons and Sacred Icon Retreat. For more information about this author and her work, click here.
Margarita Abramov holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Sofia University, Palo Alto, California. She is a part-time faculty member at the School of Psychology, Walden University, and also works at Pepperdine University where she teaches Psychopharmacology for Mental Health Professionals. She has taught graduate courses in Neurophysiology and Psychopharmacology, Law and Ethics for Mental Health Professionals, Cognitive Behavioral Therapies, Psychotherapy Theories, Couples Therapy, and Trauma, Crisis, and Recovery at Notre Dame de Namur University, Belmont, California. Dr. Abramov is a licensed psychologist in California and North Carolina. For more information about this author and her work, click here.
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"Our role is to widen the field of discussion, not to
set limits in accord with the prevailing authority."
— Edward Said (1935-2003)
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Page 24
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