• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Wendy Brandes Jewelry Blog

Never Is the Next New Thing

  • HOME
  • SHOP
  • ABOUT
  • FAQ
  • CONTACT

The Legend of the Female Pope

March 13, 2013 by WendyB

As I was awaiting the appearance of Francis, the new pope — and listening to a few of television’s talking heads musing about the role of women in the Catholic Church — one of my gorgeous customers messaged me to say that I needed to do some female pope rings. While rings aren’t in the offing, one of my earliest designs was a necklace style called the Papessa (“the Popess”) Prayer Locket, made in yellow, white and rose gold.

The Papessa in 18K yellow gold with diamonds.

The Papessa in 18K yellow gold with diamonds.

The necklace was inspired by the legend of the medieval Papessa Giovanna, aka Pope Joan, who supposedly dressed as a man and became the spiritual leader of the Catholic church. This locket twists open …

Papessa_YlwGold_Dia_A1__61217_std

The locket shown open.

… making it perfect for carrying a tiny prayer scroll, love note or good-luck token. One of my customers put an emergency Ativan in hers, but when I made the necklace, I envisioned Pope Joan toting a piece of paper that said, “LOL, you guys! I am a woman!” But in Latin, of course.

I designed this necklace after I read the novel Pope Joan by Donna Cross. I love jewelry with secret details and meanings, so I absolutely had to do a piece in honor of a woman with one of the world’s biggest secrets. Religious scholars are certain that Pope Joan is nothing but a myth, but, as Joseph Campbell, the author of multiple books about mythology, wrote, “Myth is much more important and true than history. History is just journalism and you know how reliable that is.”  As a former journalist, I’m amused by that. As a jewelry designer, I can vouch that myth is often more artistically evocative than reality.

When I first wrote about my Papessa design in 2007, I was hoping to get around to reading the nonfictional The Myth of Pope Joan, which dismisses the idea that Joan was real but explores what purposes the myth of Joan might have served. (Alas, I still haven’t read it. So many myths, so little time!) What does the myth of a female pope mean to you? And did you watch Francis’s introduction?

You might also like
Kanye West, Azealia Banks & a New Year's Resolution
The Resistance Strikes Back: Jones Wins in Alabama
This Is Rough

Filed Under: In the News, lockets, my designs, necklaces

Previous Post: « This Little Piggy Goes on Your Earlobe
Next Post: Are You Following Me on Facebook? »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Susan Partlan says

    March 13, 2013 at 5:30 pm

    “Pope Joan” by Donna Cross is available from audible.com. Yay! The Papessa design is gorgeous.

  2. Eli says

    March 13, 2013 at 6:01 pm

    You know, maybe this new pope will figure out how to better integrate women into the church so we can in fact have a lady pope one day – (one can only hope)

  3. Patti @ NotDeadYet Style says

    March 13, 2013 at 7:38 pm

    What an incredibly gorgeous necklace, Wendy! I wish the Joan story were true. I am going to pretend it still is.
    Yes, I saw the new pope step forward. I wished good things for him, and that he will start to view human rights more progressively than his predecessors.

  4. Val Sparkle says

    March 13, 2013 at 9:19 pm

    I like the anarchy of having a woman pope, in disguise. It would never happen openly.

    What a cool necklace, and how fun to keep some little thing hidden! Could it hold a shot of tequila?

    • WendyB says

      March 13, 2013 at 9:21 pm

      Maybe I’ll have to design a tiny flask for that!

  5. ROXTHEFOX says

    March 13, 2013 at 10:01 pm

    This is totally awesome. I carry a small amulet with me, so this could be a great placeholder. If only I knew about this during my university days, I would have carried my tiny cheat sheets in here 🙂 Either way, I love chic items that also serve a purpose!

    P.S. wanna follow each other on bloglovin, etc?

    http://WWW.ROXTHEFOX.COM

Primary Sidebar

MEET WENDY BRANDES

Award-winning designer of fine jewelry inspired by women's history and pop culture. A former journalist who writes about jewelry, fashion, medieval history, news, feminism, dogs, cats and whatever else is on her mind. Blogging since 2007.
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

ARCHIVES

CATEGORIES

Facebook Pagelike Widget

POPULAR TOPICS

NEWSLETTER

Subscribe for Email updates.
* indicates required

Original jewelry designs, photos and text are © Wendy Brandes 2007-2016. All rights reserved.

© 2016 · FOODIE PRO THEME COPYRIGHT BY · SHAY BOCKS GENESIS FRAMEWORK · BUILT ON THE WORDPRESS