Sue Monk Kidd, the author of the Secret Life of Bees, will be speaking at the National Cathedral on April 13th. She'll be talking about Black Madonnas, which figure in Bees, and, well, I think the website says it best:
“What we honor in God is what we honor in the culture,” says Kidd.
“That impacts how little girls think of themselves, how grown-up women
value themselves, and how the culture values things typically thought of
as feminine, such as the heart.”
To Kidd, the Black Madonna is a powerful symbol of “outrage and
boldness for those who are left out,” of “the nurturing heart of God”
and, because she is descended from ancient earth mother goddesses, of
the idea that our bodies and the earth “are sacred and holy.”