Experience the Black Madonna
a virtual retreat with Christena Cleveland
October 25-26, 2025 | Zoom
7-10am PT / 8-11am MT / 9am-Noon CT / 10am-1pm ET / 3-6pm GMT each day
2025 theme: Parented by the Black Madonna
Bring your Inner Child to the Black Madonna – and embrace your sacred birthright as Cherished, Protected, Guided, and Empowered.
with special guest Chine McDonald!
Discover the Black Madonna as the Loving Parent beyond your wildest imagination.
What if your inner child snuggled up on the Black Madonna’s lap? What would your inner child say to Her?
Join Christena Cleveland, social psychologist and author of God Is a Black Woman, and a global community of Black Madonna kin.
Through teaching, embodied practices, and community conversation, we will gather in circle to experience the Black Madonna as the Cosmic Parent who can heal our deepest childhood wounds and empower us to live our best life today.
The Black Madonna wants to Mother the hell out of you.
Through dynamic teaching, embodied practices, and a profound circle of connection, you’ll:
Embrace your Inner Child and listen to their stories, joys, jokes, fears, needs, anger, and questions more fully than you ever have.
Release shame and alchemize fear as you give voice to your Inner Child in a circle of radical softness and deep trust
Unearth your sacred history as you uncover the Black Madonna’s intervention in your life, even before you knew to look for Her.
Dispel patriarchal notions that the Divine is absent and disinterested when we are in distress.
Experience the Black Madonna as your Cosmic Mother who heals your deepest parent/caregiver wounds.
Name and claim your cosmic DNA as the Black Madonna affirms your birthright identity as Cherished, Protected, Guided, and Empowered.
Come face-to-face with a global community of Black Madonna kin.
Image: Black Madonna by Mother Della Marie Doyle, T.O.R.
What our community is saying…
“What a sacred space! There are few spaces I've entered that have integrated so well social psychology with somatic and spiritual practices. Dr. Christena Cleveland has so much embodied and lived wisdom to share with us all. Especially for white folks, here is an incredible opportunity to learn in an environment that centers and honors Black femmes, and how liberating it is to feel how good that space is for white people too.”
What makes this retreat special?
“The Black Madonna is known for helping us die to our false selves – the counterfeit identities that are based on who our caregivers told/shaped us to be…She guides us to our true identity in Her always loving, always available, always present, and always empowering arms.” – Christena Cleveland
This retreat is designed for both Black Madonna newbies and longtime devotees who wish to practically experience the unconditional embrace of the Cosmic Mother - anchored in the ancient spirituality of the Black Madonna, empowered by dynamic teaching and practices, and held by beloved community.
The Retreat Experience
Power-packed teaching sessions to nurture your every day connection to the Black Madonna as your Loving Parent – guided by Dr. Christena Cleveland. Session topics include:
Who is Black Madonna? What do her femininity and Blackness reveal about her divine parenting?
Holding your inner child with wisdom and care
Experiencing Black Madonna as your very own Divine Parent
Encountering Black Madonna as Divine Parent in your daily life
Empowering and accessible embodied practices that support an intimate connection to Black Madonna in your every day life. Practices include:
Listening closely to your inner child’s needs, fears, and hopes
Inviting your inner child to speak directly to Black Madonna
Nicknaming Black Madonna with your inner child
Inviting Black Madonna to speak directly to my inner child’s distress
A transformative conversation with Chine McDonald, author of Unmaking Mary: Shattering the Myth of Perfect Motherhood
Soul-soaring time and profound community conversations in the company of fellow Black Madonna kin.
An empowering question-and-response session that draws upon the community’s collective wisdom.
The Retreat Schedule
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**all times Pacific**
7am — Opening Circle, Teaching 1 and practice
8:30am — break
8:45am — Teaching 2, practice, and community conversation
9:55 am — Closing
**can’t join us live? Don’t fret. Downloadable session recordings will be available to all registrants.
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**all times Pacific**
7am — Teaching 3 and practice
8:30am — break
8:45am — Conversation with Chine McDonald and question-and-response session
9:55 am — Closing Circle
**can’t join us live? Don’t fret. Downloadable session recordings will be available to all registrants.
Registration & Tuition
This tuition fee structure supports a sustainable work model based in principles of resource redistribution and financial accessibility; covering the curriculum development, preparation, communication, administration, and facilitation of sessions by two Black female experts.
$179
WHAT’S INCLUDED:
two days of virtual retreat programming including four teaching sessions, a community conversation with Chine McDonald, and three guided embodiment practices
a downloadable e-workbook with Black Madonna art, inspiring quotes, and reflection questions to support your learning experience
access to the downloadable retreat recordings
The Black Madonna’s forest is sacred no matter where we are on our journey through it. It doesn’t matter if we are taking our first shaky step into the forest. Our journey is sacred, and She offers us lavish gifts. It doesn’t matter if we are midjourney and are bravely choosing to take another step forward after just having taken two steps back. Our journey is sacred, and She offers us lavish gifts. It doesn’t matter if we have been steadily moving through the forest for a long time now. Our journey is sacred, and She offers us lavish gifts. — Christena Cleveland
Meet your hosts
I’m Dr. Christena Cleveland — a social psychologist, public theologian, activist, and author of God Is a Black Woman which details my 400-mile walking pilgrimage across central France in search of ancient Black Madonna statues, and examines the relationship among race, gender, and cultural perceptions of the Divine. I have new book on Black Madonna to be published July 7, 2026.
A weaver at heart, I integrate psychology, theology, storytelling, and art to support people’s liberation and healing journeys. I can’t wait to commune with you and Black Madonna!
I have loved seeing my words on the page since I got my first byline in the school magazine, aged six years old. Born in Nigeria, I moved to the UK at the age of four. I read theology & religious studies at Cambridge University before training as a newspaper journalist and over the years have written for several regional and national publications.
I’m a regular contributor to BBC Religion & Ethics programmes, including Thought for the Day on Radio 4’s Today programme, the Daily Service, and Prayer for the Day. My first book Am I Beautiful? explored body image among women of faith.
In my spare time, I sit on a number of charity boards, including Greenbelt Festival, where I’m vice-chair, and Christian Aid.
I’m lucky enough to say my day job is also a dream job - I’m director of Theos, the religion and society think tank. Previously, I headed up community fundraising and public engagement at international development charity Christian Aid. I live in south-east London and am wife to Mark and mum to an energetic toddler.
My second book God Is Not a White Man was published by Hodder & Stoughton in May 2021. My most recent book Unmaking Mary: The Myth of Divine Motherhood was published in February 2025.
FAQs
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YES! Each session will be recorded and all recordings will be made available to registrants.
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If you’re unable to join us live — don’t fret! All sessions will be recorded and the recordings will be available to all registrants.
That said, retreat tuition is non-refundable and all tuition fees go to ongoing liberation efforts, including offering lower costs for BIPOC participants at our in-person retreats.
We strive to curate the safest experience for our community. Should we need to reschedule our retreat due to circumstances beyond our control, your payments will be applied to a future retreat, valid for up to one year.
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Though all are truly welcome at the Experience the Black Madonna retreat, we intentionally center BIPOC people in general and Black women and Black non-binary people in particular. We do this to honor the Black Madonna’s Black body as well as to disrupt the white supremacist and patriarchal norms that rule many spiritual spaces.
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We encourage you to read God Is a Black Woman by Christena Cleveland prior to the retreat, so you can become acquainted with her Black feminist approach to the Black Madonna.