medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Could we just agree that the importance of the relationship
grandmother-mother-child is not tied to any religious system, pre-Christian,
Christian or post-Christian? Human nature, however much some Fathers of the
Church disliked it, is pretty constant..Also, I am not sure that showing
Anne, Mary as a child and her baby all together is a way of de-sexualising
Mary. When a woman has her first baby, her dependence on her mother for help
and advice often becomes stronger at least for a while. Could the image not
be showing that? (I may say that I have seen a not-at-all desexualised young
woman nursing her baby while she was lying with her head in her mother's
lap)
----- Original Message -----
From: "Sara McDougall" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, August 09, 2008 5:18 PM
Subject: Re: [M-R] back to St. Anne
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
> There IS a tradition in Brittany, at least, of a mother goddess Ana,
> worshipped
> at springs just as Saint Anne is worshipped at springs all over Brittany
> and
> Christendom today.
> But, and the best person to ask about this is Colleen Selig at Yale, the
> image
> does not need to be pre-Christian or un-Christian. It is a way to really,
> really, really de-sexualize Mary, just in case you weren't convinced by
> the
> virgin birth, ect., and place all of the sexuality on Anne's matronly
> shoulders. But Colleen Selig knows much, much more than I do...
>
> all best,
> Sara McDougall
>
>
> Quoting Ms B M Cook <[log in to unmask]>:
>
>> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>>
>> I too would like to get back to St Anne ....
>>
>> I have no problem with images of St Anne and the BVM as a (young) adult
>> woman, with or without the Christ Child.
>>
>> I have no problem with the image of St Anne teaching the BVM to read -
>> indeed that may have something to say about the transmission of female
>> literacy in upper class households ...
>>
>> What does bother / intrigue / puzzle me is the St Anne Trinitaire in its
>> most extreme form: as the large Mother with the BVM and the Christ Child
>> seemingly equal in size (small) sitting in her lap.
>>
>> There is also a kind of sub-category where the BVM is a child but a kind
>> of Big Sister to the Christ Child, definitely a pre-pubescent girl.
>>
>> This seems distinctly un-Christian to me.
>>
>> Is there any pagan image / legend which this could be a roughly baptized
>> version of ?
>>
>> Mother Earth and a male and female offspring of some sort ? Classical ?
>> Celtic ? Indo-European ?????
>>
>> Any ideas ?
>>
>>
>> I have quite a collection of these images from an exhibition catalogue
>> from Nantes, Brittany in 1966.
>>
>> Brenda.
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