River of Guidance Library
Becoming Honey: The Embodiment of Spiritual Intimacy through the Aramaic Hail Mary Prayer
with Sheikha Jahanara Mangus
A Note from Jahanara:
There is not a moment of the day or night that the Hail Mary Prayer is not being spoken or sung into life somewhere on this planet. Despite its profound popularity as one of the most well-known and beloved of prayers, few people know the stories of its beautifully stratified origin and the depth of meaning and wisdom that it contains. This class is a love letter of deep gratitude and devotion to Our Mother, Our Lady, Our Beloved Mariam /Mary.
Please join me in exploring the prayer through the lens of the Aramaic language, through the sounds themselves, and through the love-intimacy that this treasure has inspired in me, despite my own resistance and less-than-inspiring early conditioning as a native Catholic. Just like a real and viable mythology is not about some old story or time relegated to the past, but a portal into what is alive now, the ‘living’ quality of this and other antique sacred languages also hold a kind of aliveness that has the ability to stir life and speak to us directly… now. In this way, sound itself is the meaning and works directly upon our hearts, imagination, and bones to shed light upon sacred dimensions of reality that often go unseen and unfelt and who long for our sweet company. Original music, storytelling, practice and teaching will be shared. All are welcome!
Jahanara is a Sheikha in Sufi Ruhaniat International. She serves as a Sufi guide, Dance leader, teacher, and supporter of the Murshid Sam Dargah at Lama. She is a longtime student of Bolad’s Kitchen (Martin Prechtel’s international school), and an international recording artist whose music has appeared in the movies: Argo and Son of Aram. Jahanara is a mother, daughter, sister, partner and 3rd generation Colorado native living in Boulder, CO. An artist in multiple mediums (textiles, metalwork, painting), Jahanara is also a storyteller, instrument maker, author and teacher.
Three 90-minute videos to be taken at your own pace.
Becoming Honey A Musical Journey into the Aramaic Hail Mary Prayer
Elizabeth's Benediction
Spoken Hail Mary
Mariam Eleison
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Over the next week, I invite us to attune to this first section of the prayer: Shlom lek Mariam,
malyat taybooto, moran amek.
These are the words of the archangel Gabriel and the alchemical moment of initiation of Mariam. Really let yourself feel into the sounds of MMM and OOO, taste them and notice how they communicate. This can be very playful, even when subtle! Let’s also remember to look for the presence of Mariam in the every day, in nature, and in the unexpected. Another possibility is to listen for the whispers of Gabriel, the way life calls you into fullness and readiness to offer your gifts. Enjoy!
The Hail Mary Prayer (downloadable)
Shlom lek Mariam
malyat taybooto
moran amek
mbarakto at bneshe wambarakoo feero dkarsek moran Yeshoo
O mort Mariam
emeh daloho
etkashaf hlofayn hnan hatoye
hosho wabshoto dmawtan
Ameen
Hail Mary, full of Grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.
Hail Mary Transliteration (downloadable)
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Let’s follow in the footsteps of Elizabeth and practice the art of blessing this week. Start with your own hands, the rising or setting sun, your plants, animals and home places. It is good to speak out loud and remember to breathe! Blessing is about truly seeing, about the attempt to touch the heart by praising what is worthy and beautiful and wild, what is unseen, forgotten, and sometimes thrown away.
Along with this, I invite everyone to explore the riddle I proposed in class, inspired by my teacher Martin Prechtel: Is it possible to add beauty and aliveness to what and who we are seeing and hearing by the way we do it? Is it possible to see and hear without taking, without enslaving what we see and hear? “Beauty isn’t the way you look, it’s the way you look at the world.”
Lastly, let’s explore epithets or pet names for Our Beloved Mother that spark aliveness for us right now. (Examples: Mother of the deep Waters, Lady of the Gates of Dawn, Star of the Sea, Mender of broken hearts, Lady of constant refuge, etc.)
Swimming in the Body of Mariam (download PDF)
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The third class in the RoG series that Jahanara shared was inspiring and an invitation to allow the growth of Mariam, the 'Mother of Heaven' to continue to unfold in our own imaginations. Jahanara shared that engaged longing is a revolutionary act and finding our own epithet for the Mother is a doorway to our deepening in relationship with Her.
Greetings of Our Lady,
May your eyes be blessed with Her vision,
May your ears delight in Her sound,
May your heart reside in Her heart,
Now and Forever.
Download PDF’s:
Mariam Eleison, Christe Eleison
Thank you for the pleasure of our togetherness.
In deep gratitude,
Jahanara
