Sunday School at the Missionary Independent Spiritual Church

Well, it’s not actually at the church, which is just big enough to seat two people ; it takes place on Skype, every Sunday afternoon at 4 pm, Pacific time.

This past Sunday, our topic was “Working with Saints” AND “Who/What is on Your Altar?”

Sister Katy loves the obscure saints; she told us about Our Lady of Czestochowa, one of the Black Madonnas. I remembered reading in a book by China Galland (I’ve forgotten the title) that in Texas, the icon O.L. of Czestochowa has a red handprint in the corner – which is how, in some parts of South America, the death squads mark the houses of their targets.

She also introduced us to the Mother of God Trojerucica, the Mother of God portrayed with three hands. It’s a beautiful healing story (icon and story here: ).

A new vistor, J.R., works with Santa Muerte (Santissima Muerte, as some of us know her), and after Sunday School was over, remembered to send me a link to some of his altar pictures.  He’s also working with Sheela-na-Gig – he owns a tiny pendant from Lucky Mojo.

And of course I had to give props to Dr. Jose Gregorio Hernandez. Jordan knows him, and told us that his friends don’t call him “Dr. Hernandez” – that’s too distant and aloof; they call him “Jose Gregorio,” as I have now begun to do.

Next week: Divination and Magic with the Bible. Sister Katy knows some Appalachian lore, and Jordan knows some things from Irish Travelers. Anyone who wants to talk about how they use the Bible in their magical work is welcome to join us.

We meet on Skype every Sunday at 4 pm Pacific time. Search for michaele.maurer on Skype and leave me a message when you are ready to join us.

If you have a good fast internet connection and some kind of microphone setup, you can download Skype, which I found easy to use.

If not, you can email me your phone number and I can add you to our Sunday School group; Skype is very amenable to conference calls.