Our Lady of the Underground never asks me to choose between day and night. If I want to flourish I need the ever-changing light of darkness as much as I need the full of light of day. Give your heart to them both, she says. When I complain that I cannot see as well at night as I can during the days, she tells me this is a good thing. Maybe it will slow you down. When I tell her that I cannot get as much done at night because darkness makes me sleepy, she says yes, that is the plan. Maybe you will get some rest. When I point out that slowing down just makes me think about things I would rather not think about, she laughs. Do you think that not thinking about them will make them go away?

Barbara Brown Taylor

I recently learned about King Saul’s visit to a medium. It is not a stretch to say that in this story a king had been brought to his knees by circumstance and consequence and looked to a Lady of the Underground, if you will, for guidance and relief.

What does that tell us about Our Lady of the Underground?

It speaks to the deep, abiding, legendary power of both light and dark. It speaks to the power of the feminine. It speaks to the power of seeking, praying, and knowing. It speaks to the power and the universality of the wilderness we all know and experience.

I want to say a few words about the relationship between love and the Lady of the Underground. What does it mean to give our hearts to them both? The Lady of the Underground understands love is present in both light and dark, just as compassion, grace, and mercy are the threads of life’s cloth. The Lady of the Underground asks us to choose love — love that knows and holds both light and dark. The Lady of the Underground embraces days and seasons and ages, when light and dark fundamentally and elementally change.