ABSTRACT
In 1994, at Yankalilla, a small town just south of Adelaide in South Australia, an extraordinary image appeared on the wall behind the altar in the local Anglican Church. On closer inspection by several parishioners it was revealed to be a figure, raised out of the plaster wall, of the Virgin Mary holding the baby Jesus. According to Warner, in pre-modern and early modern Catholic cultures the Virgin Mother was a significant force of enchantment with particular powers to reconcile and heal. However, her shift from goddess to heroic female figure does not necessarily mean that the efficacy of her power is lost completely. It is certainly paradoxical when traditional devotional interpretations sit side-by-side with national anxieties and New Age consumerism. Foucault argues that in modernity, while the discourse of rationality dominates institutional forms and social behaviour, its hegemony is never stable: it is under constant challenge.
