by Gair Hemphill Crutcher 26 Nov 2024

INNOCENCE

GRANDMAMA EARTH

JOY

MYSTERY

These are keywords from an artist caravan-cum-pilgrimage our guests just finished in Poland—Poland! Not Poland Spring, Maine, but…Poland, Poland–as in Eastern Europe! in September 2024. Raphaella Brice from Vermont is here with cohort Jasmine Rosenkreutz from Big Bend Indiana. Thanks for joining us here on Behind the Scenes radio, gentle friends.
Raph: Hey, Jason.
Jazz: How’s it goin’?
Jason: Great, thanks! But first, our byline:
You are listening to WGRE 91.5, coming to you from epic DePauw University in the heartland of the good ol’ USA—Greencastle, Indiana. Where we intentionally have no program guide so you never know what’s going on or WHEN it’s going on! I’m your host Jason Underhill. It’s October fifteenth, two zero two four.
I’m thrilled to meet you, Raphaella Brice and Jasmine Rosenkreutz!
So, Jazz, you’re still in highschool, right? At…. let’s see: “Our Lady of the Shadows”? That’s really the name of your school?
Jasmine: Yup. I’m a senior.
Jason: I’ve read there are, like, concentrations of Polish Americans in states like Indiana.
Jamine: Yeah, we’re descendants of the Polish diaspora. We’re everywhere: upwards of 20 million people of Polish ancestry live outside the country of Poland. Besides being one of the world’s largest displacements, it’s also among the most widely dispersed.
Jason: Holy Moly! The Polish diaspora is one heavy-duty topic. Caused by a perfect storm of non-stop cataclysms. But I want to get back to the art caravan pilgrimage you just got back from.
Turns to Raffaella: How did you two meet, and what inspired you to take your vision on the road, as it were?
Rafaella: It was the walking pilgrimage from Chicago. You know, that pays homage to the shrine of the Black Madonna in Merilleville Indiana? In 2022 walk, my mom Samiyah (she’s my flame) and me–we met this awesome medicine teenager from Indiana named Jasmine. And her epic mom Janina. The four of us totally stoked each other’s fires.
Jasmine: Raph neglected to mention creating a mural to the Black Madonna in their home town—Burlington Vermont.
Jason: Burlington? Isn’t that where Bernie Sanders cut his teeth as a socialist mayor? and some of the Phish band members live?
Raph: You betcha. Burlington is a great catchment zone of creatives, weirdos, reinventionists, idealists, misfits.
Jason: I hear ya! Seg-way-ying back: Raph, you did this awesome mural in Burlington. In case our listeners have not heard of it—it’s called “Black Freedom, Black Madonna, and the Black Child of Hope.”
Raph: Hey, dude, you’ve done your homework.
Jason: Thanks. So, Raph, I would love it if you would read from the “Madonna’s Earth.” I heard you read this aloud and want our listeners to share the inspiration.
Raph: Of course.
Raph reads: Madonna’s Earth is a depiction of influence from the purest divine feminine in human history—the Black Madonna. The Black Madonna is a mystagogue, known all over the world as a great mystery, a powerful archetype of transformation, and mother of Jesus Christ. The Black Madonna is both a living reality and an archetypal embodiment of human behavior—she is both paradox and ambiguity. Through her loving acceptance of all of us, and valuing the interrelatedness of all life, the Black Madonna brings us to wholeness & stillness. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, her presence reminds us of the sacredness of life, the need for care, nourishing the earth, and ourselves, as evolving sentient beings. Growing up Haitian-Catholic has been a huge influence in how I see & interact with all walks of life, which inspired this piece. The piece illustrates her pure love through providing shelter to peoples of all walks of life, who are peacefully standing or playing under her dress —inspired by a Haitian Vodou story from the book, “Nan Domi” by Mimerose Beaubrun. 
Jason: Wow. That invokes something really potent. It makes me want to mark it with some sacred music. So we’ll take this short break while playing this piece. It’s a poem by Alixa Garcia, put to music by the Children’s Choir of Detroit. The children used instruments made from found objects in vacant lots:

The storms are here
thunderous and demanding
quiet and unsettling
so let us build a nest in the center of it all
out of the fallen trees and branches
the world we inherited cut down

Let us make a temple
out of the discarded and mundane
so all things can return to their sacredness
and we, the co-creators of a world on fire
can become reverent once again

Jason: You are listening to WGRE 91.5, coming to you from epic DePauw University in the heartland of the good ol’ USA—Greencastle, Indiana. Where we intentionally have no program guide so you never know what’s going on or WHEN it’s going on! I’m your host Jason Underhill. It’s October fifteenth, two zero two four and today we are speaking with Raphaella Brice and Jasmine Rosenkreutz about their art caravan pilgrimage to Poland.
Okay, Jazz and Raph—so you two met on the walking pilgrimage from Chicago to Merrilleville Indiana. And?…

Raph: The purpose of the ten-day walk is to bring light to a shrine to the Black Madonna. Mom and I come strongly to the Black Madonna from our Haitian culture. Most people on the walking gig are Catholic Polish Americans. Jazz was totally intrigued with my mural. She told me about her vision for a pilgrimage in Poland.
Jason: That’s royal! What was your concept?
Jazz: Hmm. Great question and hefty–lots about Poland is weighty. We wanted to pay homage to…well, to something like the name for my school: the “lady in the shadows.”
Rapf: Yeah, homage to how even in the most unimaginable darkness, healing is alive and find-able. Even when it seems it has died.
Jason: Whoa, did you feel that?—like a chill blew over the studio? I’ve noticed you can’t just thrust Poland into a conversation without a dose of history. Let’s hear some modern folk music Raph and Jazz recorded from their artist caravan pilgimage in Poland. By traditional folk musicians in the village of Zalipie near Warsaw. Back in five.

Jason switches to a soundtrack of surprisingly quiet folk guitar music and summons the assistant.
Gentry: Hey, folks: here are some choices, just grab what appeals. Locally made kombucha, unsweetened yerba mate tea, organic coffee, local cream. We hand-rolled the sushi.
Jason: Yummers! Thanks, Gentry. Compadres, I am not sure we can tackle something as dense and intense as Polish history. What do you think?
Jazz: I kind of like the challenge of a five-minute condensation of the Polish…nightmare? miracle? mystery? But I also want to give Polish history its due moment. Because that was our goal: to bring artistic and spiritual attention—love—to an ignored corner of the modern world.
Jason: Well, we could record a second half of the interview and feature the history of Poland. I agree that you can’t really grok the purpose of the pilgrimage without knowing at least some basics. What do you think?
Raph: I say we jump right into the magical mystery tour. Let’s initially skate over the endlessly boggy Polish history.
Jazz: Hey, quagmirish Polish history, fear not! We are not abandoning you! We promise we will give you your due reverence—and we did dedicate our art caravan to you.
Raph: We wanted to take light to a place which has remained in the shadows for too long.
Jason: That’s a great note to land on, because unfortunately our time is up. But I’m told by our station manager Bowser that we already have requests for a series of follow up interviews with Jasmine Rosenkreutz and Rafaella Brice of the Lady of the Shadows artist caravan pilgrimage in Poland project. You rock, friends!
Jason resumes the broadcast: Okay, dear friends, thanks for all your calls and emails. We definitely will have future interviews with Jasmine Rosenkreutz and Rafaella Brice of the Lady of the Shadows Artist Caravan Pilgrimage in Poland Project. (Wow, that’s a mouthful!) Raph and Jazz, we know the next time you talk, you will have all sorts of new realizations and revelations to share. Thanks so much for hanging out with us. And will you please sing us out…
Jazz: Love to: this is dedicated to Poland, my father’s country.
Raph: And to the Beatles, whose country is everywhere!
They sing in duet: “I Will” by the Beatles:


Who knows how long I’ve loved you
You know I love you still
Will I wait a lonely lifetime
If you want me to I will
For if I ever saw you, I didn’t catch your name
But it really didn’t matter
I will always feel the same
Love you forever and forever
Love you will all my heart
Love you whenever we’re together,
Love you when we’re apart
And when at last I find you
Our song will fill the air
Sing it loud so I can see you
Make it easy to be near
For the things you do endear you
to me
Ah! You know I will! I…..will!”