Hail! Queen of Heaven,

Hail! Lady of the Angels:

Salutations Thee, root and portal,

Whence the Light of the world has arisen.

The deepest mystical root of the Christian tradition is one that celebrates the Sacred Feminine. It is Mary, Queen of Heaven, to whom the feminine face of the divine has been transferred. Historically, we see that when Christianity rose as the predominate religion in the west, the entreaties that were once spoken to goddesses were transferred into prayers to Mary. As modern day mystic, Andrew Harvey points out in his book, The Divine Feminine, the quote above echos the greeting to the Goddesses that were honored before Christianity. Inanna, Ishtar and Isis have all been known as the Queen of Heaven! These goddess, like Mother Mary have been personified by the morning star as well as by the moon. A crescent moon is often shown beneath Mary’s feet.