Past event · Online launch · 31 October 2026
The Dark Mother
Institute Launch
Shadow, Integration & Transformation
Founded & created by Helena B. Scott, MA · With invited guest speakers
What happens when we turn towards what we have feared, rejected or left in the dark? Join Helena B. Scott and invited guests for the launch of the Dark Mother Institute: an evening exploring the Dark Mother, shadow work and the difficult, creative process of integration. Through Lilith, Medusa and the Black Madonna, we will consider what these images can reveal about power, projection, voice, boundaries, embodiment and renewal.
Meet the Founder & Creator
Helena B. Scott, MA
Founder & Creator of the Dark Mother Institute · Host
Multilingual public historian, author, cultural heritage specialist and Jungian scholar, Helena brings together original historical research, esoteric symbolism, Jungian, archetypal and depth psychology to recover overlooked expressions of the Sacred Feminine. She is developing a pioneering historiographical study of Black Madonnas and the Dark Mother, featuring previously unrecognised examples, and contributes to documentaries exploring Black Madonnas and the Sacred Feminine.
At the heart of her research and teaching is a commitment to restoring feminine voices to our understanding of history, spirituality and the psyche. Her work explores the Sacred Feminine mysteries and the encounter with shadow as a path towards greater consciousness and transformation.
For this launch, Helena introduces the Institute she has founded and created: a welcoming meeting place for scholars, researchers, practitioners and the wider community to exchange ideas, explore symbolism and enter into dialogue. She also leads the evening’s explorations of Medusa, voice, shadow, integration and transformation.
Credentials & Expertise →College of Psychic Studies profile ↗In conversation
Lynn Picknett & Clive Prince
The Sacred Feminine · Hidden Histories · An informal conversation with Helena B. Scott
Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince are authors, researchers and international speakers whose collaboration began in 1989. Exploring religious history, esoteric traditions and the Sacred Feminine, their joint books include The Templar Revelation, The Forbidden Universe and When God Had a Wife: The Fall and Rise of the Sacred Feminine in the Judeo-Christian Tradition. They continue to share new investigations through their ongoing research articles.
Lynn, a former journalist, editor and broadcaster, is also the author of Mary Magdalene: Christianity’s Hidden Goddess, which challenges inherited portrayals of Magdalene and explores her spiritual authority and significance for the Sacred Feminine.
“I find Lynn and Clive’s work deeply inspiring, particularly its challenge to the marginalisation of the feminine. Lynn’s work on Mary Magdalene resonates especially with my own mission: recovering overlooked histories, suppressed wisdom and voices pushed to the margins. These questions lie at the heart of the Dark Mother Institute.”
Lynn and Clive join Helena for an informal conversation about Mary Magdalene, the Sacred Feminine and the histories we are invited to reconsider when we listen again to voices left in the shadows. Together, they will explore how recovering what has been silenced can open possibilities for healing the feminine wound: restoring voice, recognising what has been excluded and bringing it into relationship with the whole.
Lynn and Clive are also writing the foreword to Helena’s forthcoming book on Black Madonnas and the Dark Mother archetype. The book follows the Black Madonna through history, sacred landscapes and esoteric traditions, exploring her relationship with the Dark Mother, spiritual alchemy and the recovery of suppressed feminine wisdom. It asks what these images can reveal about descent, shadow, transformation and the re-membering of what has been lost or divided.
Lynn, Clive and Helena are also contributors to Jean L. Donohue’s documentary, The [Terrible] Secret of the Black Virgin, bringing their perspectives to the film’s exploration of Black Madonnas and the Sacred Feminine.
Guest speakers & contributors
Dr Steven Muir
Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies, Concordia University of Edmonton, Canada
Lilith and the Dark Mother — the story and its archetypes
Dr Steven Muir is Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies at Concordia University of Edmonton, Canada. His teaching and research encompass early Christianity, religious ritual, healing, mysticism, and magic and the occult in the ancient world.
More about Steven & forthcoming talks
Lilith is a provocative figure from the ancient world. Variously understood as a demon, goddess, and hero, she has become a feminist icon for her independent spirit and challenge to male authority. The roots of her story are shrouded in mystery. In my talk, I introduce you to this amazing person. Her story will surprise you!
Alejandra Aschittino-Rodriguez, LPCC, LADC
President of the Minnesota Jung Association
The Dark Mother, Women at Work, and Men
Alejandra Aschittino-Rodriguez is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor working in English and Spanish, a first-generation immigrant from Guatemala, a former university professor and President of the Minnesota Jung Association. Her work is informed by identity across cultures, philosophy and literature.
About Alejandra & the Minnesota Jung Association
A Jungian exploration of women’s experiences of work and the ways men’s inner lives shape relationships, considering both the psychological reading and its criticisms. Alejandra closes with the fertile, generative and transformative Dark Mother: the womb, regeneration, creativity and the emergence of new life and consciousness.
Six years’ clinical experience; BBHT-approved supervisor. The Minnesota Jung Association is a nonprofit dedicated to study, discussion and practical application of Jung’s ideas and other thinkers on soul and spirit, through low-cost lectures, classes, workshops, salons and panels.
Helena’s forthcoming Medusa Awakens: Reclaiming the Shadow, the Voice & the Sacred Feminine masterclass with the Minnesota Jung Association — a three-hour online masterclass plus Q&A. Saturday 5 December 2026 · 2:00 p.m. Minnesota (CST) / 8:00 p.m. Dublin and London (GMT).
Jean L. Donohue
Documentary filmmaker, researcher and writer · founding member of Media Working Group
Black Madonnas & The [Terrible] Secret of the Black Virgin documentary — a 25–30-minute interview and conversation with Helena B. Scott
Jean L. Donohue is a documentary filmmaker, writer and founding member of Media Working Group. Her work explores land, culture, community and humanity’s relationship with the natural world. Her documentary project The [Terrible] Secret of the Black Virgin grew from a longstanding fascination with Black Madonnas, sparked by an encounter at Rocamadour in 1979.
About the documentary
Jean joins Helena B. Scott for a conversation about her forthcoming documentary, The [Terrible] Secret of the Black Virgin. Helena is contributing to the film alongside distinguished scholars and authors, bringing insights from her pioneering historiographical research into Black Madonnas and the Dark Mother. Together, they explore the questions these enigmatic images raise and their enduring significance in history, devotion and the imagination.
The documentary explores the Black Virgin through sacred landscapes, images, devotional traditions and interpretations of the Sacred Feminine. Helena B. Scott is a confirmed contributor to the film. Follow the project through its official website and public footage.
Images & themes from the evening
In conversation · Jean L. Donohue & Helena B. Scott
The [Terrible] Secret of the Black Virgin
![Official documentary website capture for The [Terrible] Secret of the Black Virgin by Jean L. Donohue](https://media.base44.com/images/public/6a8b0d325bb96fdd2372278a/ca6309e1c_image.png)
Helena joins the documentary as a contributor, bringing insights from her pioneering historiographical research into Black Madonnas and the Dark Mother.
Explore the documentary ↗Contributors to the documentary
Featured scholars, authors & interpreters
Ean Begg
Lynn Picknett
Clive Prince
Margaret Starbird
Tim Wallace-Murphy
Dr Annine van der Meer
Marko Pogačnik
Suzanne Bessiere
Michel Armengaud
Julie Scott
Helena B. Scott, MA
11th Confirmed Participant
2026
Helena joins these contributors in Jean L. Donohue’s documentary on Black Madonnas and the Sacred Feminine. This is the documentary’s contributor list; not everyone listed is appearing at this launch.
An evening with the Dark Mother
Provisional programme · UK / Ireland (GMT)
Timings provisional, subject to guest agreement. All guests are warmly welcome throughout the evening and for the shared Q&A; those who need to step away may return for the discussion. Speaker slots include introductions and transitions; Alejandra’s slot includes her 15-minute presentation. The evening runs from 6 to approximately 9 p.m.
