Nyx in the House of Night

Benedictine nuns.
    THE WOMEN OF THE HOUSE OF NIGHT
    We are first introduced to the benevolent Christian element in Untamed , the fourth book in the House of Night series. Here, Aphrodite and Zoey visit the Street Cats rescue shelter to volunteer. When they arrive, they are surprised to see that the shelter is run by nuns and are further floored when one of them, Sister Mary Angela, remarks that she thinks cats are spiritual creatures.
    At this point, Zoey’s experience with Christianity has been strongly influenced by her stepfather’s affiliation with the hate-mongering, narrow-minded People of Faith. Naturally, she is wary of trusting anyone too religious, but as she interacts with the nuns she tries to avoid falling into the same intolerant trap. (Aphrodite is a harder sell, willingly laying blame on Christianity for past cat killings due to witch connections.) The more Zoey talks with Sister Mary Angela, the more she realizes that women, by nature and instinct, have a spiritual connection with each other. With compassion and empathy as her guides, the wise woman can see beyond what male-propagated belief systems deem good and evil.
    As the conversation between the girls and the nuns continues, Zoey and Aphrodite’s preconceptions are further disproved. The nuns remain unfazed after finding out the girls are vampyre fledglings. Sister Mary Angela even goes so far as to offer to pray for the soul of Loren Blake, the House of Night’s recently deceased poet laureate. Still, Zoey is skeptical. Don’t the nuns believe she and the other fledglings are doomed to hell because they worship a goddess? Sister Mary Angela responds, “Child, what I believe is that your Nyx is just another incarnation of our Blessed Mother, Mary.” And so the convergence of the religions begins here, with the simple belief that a female deity watches over all her children, Christian and Pagan.
    Sister Mary Angela adds, “I also believe devoutly in Matthew 7:1, which says ‘Judge not, that ye not be judged,’” crystallizing one of the simplest and most important tenets of Christianity: Love thy neighbor as yourself . Love each other. Pray for each other. Regardless of race, religion, or ethnicity, we are all people sharing the same earth and we must all help each other. Our differences are less important than all we have in common.
    In the House of Night, everyone has access to the Goddess, though they may call her by different names. The rituals they use to reach her, however—like the rituals we use in our world, whether we are Christian, Pagan, or other—have as many similarities as they do differences.
    THE GODDESS AND THE VIRGIN
    At the center of the Pagan traditions in the House of Night is Nyx, Goddess of the vampyres. Born out of Chaos, she was among the first of the Greek gods and existed beyond rule. Not even Zeus, father of the Olympians, reigned above her.
    The Virgin Mary is younger than Nyx, but surrounded by as much mysticism as the Goddess of primordial night. Chosen to bear the son of God through the Holy Spirit, Mary is highly revered in most sects of Christianity, second only to the Holy Trinity (God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit). While she may be referred to as Saint Mary, she is considered a higher power, especially in the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox faiths.
    Historically, practitioners of Christianity and Paganism have often been at odds, a fact evidenced by such bloody confrontations as the 200-year Holy Crusades and the Salem Witch Trials. But despite the centuries of bad blood between these religious traditions, their primary female deities share quite a few characteristics.
    In particular, Nyx and Mary are linked through motherhood.
    THE DIVINE MOTHER
    Numerous fertility goddess artifacts found around the world have led many to speculate that the worship of the female deity is older than that of masculine gods. Not too surprising when you think about what is at the core of the female deity’s identity: the power to create life. Everything on this earth has a starting place, a beginning, and it is the female members of most earth species that have been gifted with the power to give birth. While Nyx and Mary also share this gift, they do so in exceptional ways.
    The Virgin Mary was the only child of an old and barren couple. Her birth was a miracle to her parents, and for this miracle they pledged Mary’s service to the church. When she was still a young girl, they betrothed her to the carpenter Joseph,