The author Malcolm Godwin appears to believe in the existence of The Black Madonna as being distinct from all other non-black Black Madonnas, in his book. The Holy Grail: Its Origins, Secrets and Meaning Revealed (1994).

The idea of today’s New Age version of the Black Madonna was first invented by Michael Baigent & Richard Leigh in the magazine, The Unexplained, issues 4,6 and 8 (1980). Then Ean Begg developed the idea in his book The Cult of the Black Virgin (1985). Since then the idea has grown into an accepted and uncritical belief by the unsuspecting multitudes.

Let the esoteric throngs try explaining to the faithful in Częstochowa, in Southern Poland, of their beliefs in their Black Madonna. We have witnessed similar hilarious scenes on television documentaries from the faithful laughing at the claims of Margaret Starbird about the medieval legend of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer concerning Mary Magdalene!

The idea of today’s alternative Black Madonna was really first introduced by William Sharp, using his pen-name W. S. Fanshawe, in the Pagan Review, Number 1, pages 5-18, dated 15 August 1892; presented as a FICTITIOUS conflation of Paganism and Christianity.