I loved this movie! I laughed. I cried. I was lost in the story. I have been blessed to see it twice. Once, for entertainment, and again at the invitation of a friend who asked for my spiritual observations.
There are many lessons to be learned here. How is it that a priest has no one to turn to? How is it that Mother Superior is still glowing after being married to Christ for 40 years? Forgiveness, living authentically, spiritual transformation and rebirth are all themes.
After close intentional viewing, I noticed many things I haven’t seen mentioned elsewhere. Maybe it’s so subtle it goes unnoticed but divine feminine symbolism abounds on many levels in this film.
These are just a few of my observations.
The title character’s birth name is Christine but she calls herself “Lady Bird”. Christine perhaps “Christ”-ine? For those unfamiliar with the “Lady Bird”, more commonly known in the United States as the “Lady Bug”. The “Lady’s Beetle” was once thought to be sacred to the Virgin Mary. Some scholars even go so far as to claim that it was her intermediary on Earth; her most favored creature. Interesting appellation for a young rebel who eats unconsecrated communion wafers for snack.
“Lady Bird” attends Immaculate Heart of Mary High School. She would rather go to public school but her parents are paying for Catholic high school in order to protect her from violence as witnessed by her brother, Miguel (Michael), at the public school. The fact that she attends Immaculate Heart of Mary and not Sacred Heart of Jesus is just as important as Lady Bird’s chosen name and the fact that her biological mother is named “Marion”.
The setting of the movie is crucial to the spiritual theme as well. Lady Bird lives in Sacramento. Sacraments add Spirit to major rights of passage in an earthly life.
Lady Bird’s dream house belongs to her friend’s grandmother. The house is painted blue and white, the colors of the Blessed Mother and The High Priestess of the tarot. When invited to Thanksgiving dinner, Lady Bird brings roses as a hostess gift. Roses are considered sacred to Mother Mary and are a frequent offering.
The address of the house is a sign as well. It is 1224 44th Street. 12/24 is Christmas Eve, the designated date of Mary’s great work in birthing the Christ child. Adding the digits 1224 will give you a reduction to 9. In western numerology, 9 carries the vibration of altruism and spiritual evolution. Both are Mary themes. Nine also signals the near end of a cycle, Mother Mary giving birth and Lady Bird preparing for graduation.
As for 44th Street, here is the number 4 magnified. The 4 directions, 4 seasons, 4 contains the physical world, the setting of Earth. Additionally, the number 44 in some traditions is considered the number of the Master Healer, the Great Physician, and I was reminded recently that it also represents harmony through discord which is prevalent in character relationships throughout the film.
Let’s take a look at Lady Bird’s house number, which I only caught a glimpse of, 1067, which reduces to 14, the number of Temperance in tarot, and then to 5, the number of The Hierophant, and also known the number of change. She does stir things up! Her house is yellow, the color of the final stage of alchemy and the solar plexus chakra, our center of confidence and self-esteem.
In terms of sacred adornment, Lady Bird wears a pentacle necklace along with a peace sign, which brings to mind the ancient protection rune, Algiz, its propaganda use in modern wars, and one of Christ’s titles, The Prince of Peace.
I love the pentacle for it represents the elements of the physical world and the human spirit. The container of “below” when we think of the world of below in “as above, so below” or “on Earth as it is in heaven”.
Lady Bird has red (pink) hair. Legend says true witches have red hair. Red hair, pentacle, peace sign, and the bird headed goddess on her school election poster, she’s my kind of teenager! The divine feminine imagery continues here as Isis (Eygpt) and Inanna (Sumeria) were both “bird” goddesses, as was the great “Ma” mother of all creation. Is Lady Bird the merging of old and new spiritual paths?
I was struck by the signs she passes on the road near end of movie. The Tower and The Raven (crow) are places in Lady Bird’s home town. Does seeing The Tower represent a sudden, life-altering change as in tarot? A lightening flash of spiritual awakening? The Raven, bird of foresight, associated with crossing realms and rebirth/transformation. Could this foreshadow resurrection?
At the end, Lady Bird enters a church, climbs the stairs and listens to the choir sing. Singing has long been a catalyst for spiritual transformation. When she leaves church, she calls home and ends the phone call by using her birth name, Christine. She, Lady Bird, is reborn again to another version of herself, the transformative cycle of life in action.
I was truly blessed to watch this movie both as a movie goer and then as a watcher. Being a conscious observer expanded my enjoyment as I saw more threads of divine feminine meaning woven into the story.
This week, I ask you to be a bit of a watcher. Look for those signs that may have previously blown right past you as you go about your day for those moments contain Magic.
If Magic is the ability to see what others don’t, then Magic is, quite simply, the art of paying attention.
