Christian Goddess, Hebrew Goddess: the Sacred Feminine in Judeo-Christianity, Sophia, Mary, Shekinah, Maria-Sophia, Magdalene

Here is an excerpt from “The Decline of the Feminine and the Cult of Mary downloaded years ago from this now lost page: http://eapi.admu.edu.ph/eapr98/kath2.htm
In Greco-Roman Christianity, probably because of the dangers of Gnosticism, the biblical images of God as female were soon suppressed within the doctrine of God. God as Wisdom, Hokmah in Hebrew, or Sophia in Greek, a feminine form, was translated by Christianity into the Logos concept of Philo, which is masculine and was defined as the Son of God. The Shekinah, the theology of God’s mediating presence as female, was de-emphasized; and God’s Spirit Ruah, a feminine noun in Hebrew, took on a neuter form when translated into Greek as Pneuma. The Vulgate translated Ruah into Latin as masculine, Spiritus. God’s Spirit, Ruah, which at the beginning of creation brings forth abundant life in the waters, makes the womb of Mary fruitful. In spite of the reality of the caring, consoling, healing aspects of divine activity, the dominant patriarchal tradition has prevailed, resulting in seeing the female as the passive recipient of God’s creation; and the female is expressed in nature, church, soul, and finally Mary as the prototype of redeemed humanity. Because God as father has become an over literalized metaphor, the symbol of God as mother is eclipsed. The problem lies not in the fact that male metaphors are used for God, but that they are used exclusively and literally. Because images of God as female have been suppressed in official formulations and teaching, they came to be embodied in the figure of Mary who functioned to reveal the unfailing love of God.

Visit our Hebrew Goddess page for more information on Asherah, Shekinah, and Sophia, goddesses once worshipped by the Children of Israel as the wife of their Creator-god, Yahweh.

The Lord’s Prayer, often called the “Our Father,” only addresses the masculine side of Divinity. It is a prayer to Yahweh, the Jewish and Christian Father-God. But what many have forgotten, or refuse to admit, is that Yahweh had a wife.

Asherah, the Shekinah, was originally worshipped right alongside her co-creator/husband Yahweh, or El, as He is also called in ancient writings. You’ve probably noticed His name in names like Mi-cha-EL, Gab-ri-EL, Rach-EL, which mean respectively, “Who is like God?”, “Power of God,” and “Fair One of God.”

In Genesis, God the Father turns to some companion, we are never told whom, and says, “Let us make man after our own image.” Jewish mystics and scholars of the Kabbalah have pointed out the obvious: Yahweh is talking to His wife.

Even more intriguing: many researchers say it is She that is speaking to Him. The Hebrew word used for “God” in Genesis is Elohim, the plural of Eloah, a feminine title for the Goddess. Eloah (sometimes spelled Elat) is the female “half” of El. This Hebrew Goddess in Genesis is Asherah, the Shekinah, the Lady, speaking with Her mate.

They agree to create, and so here we are. Perhaps a little sex magic is used in their grand creation project, who knows? It would be logical for the Divine to have intimate physical relations, since they made us such wonderfully sexual beings. We should never feel ashamed of, nor try to suppress, our sexual natures.

When two people, committed to each other and to Goddess & God, join in sexual communion they are actually performing an honoring, a ceremony of worship toward the Divine Couple. They are the great original Masculine and Feminine. They wish to channel into, and through men and women of their creation. You and your partner might try channeling the Lady and Lord the next time you are intimate.

Many ancient religions, including the Greeks, believed that heaven is a male God who “covers” the feminine earth, Gaia in an intimate embrace. The earth, thus regularly impregnated, bears fruit.

Great symbolism, there. It’s once again reproductive and sexual —–but we can handle it!

I am the first and the last.
I am the honored one and the scorned one.
I am the whore and the holy one.
I am the wife and the virgin.
I am the mother and the daughter. . . .
I am she whose wedding is great,
And I have not taken a husband. . . .
I am shameless;
I am ashamed. . . .
I am godless,
And I am one whose God is great.

Thunder, Perfect Mind
Gnostic Poem

The Written Record

In seeking to unravel the mystery of the Marys in the New Testament, it is important to note at the outset that the Gospels were a later-recording of an oral history. In fact recent scholarship confirms that it is unlikely that any of the New Testament writers actually knew the historical Jesus (B,C,D *). The earliest New Testament records, Paul’s Epistles, were written circa 51-57 CE, and the other books were written nearer to the end of the century. Many of the Biblical accounts of Mother Mary and Mary Magdalen were written 50 years or more after the death of Jesus of Nazareth (B,C,D *). In addition, it is quite clear that the existing Bible today underwent additions, deletions, and translation changes over the centuries. In fact, the Bible as we know it today was not even compiled until the 4th Century CE, and no known manuscripts of the New Testament are older than the 4th Century. What exist are copies of copies (B,C,D *). However, many other Gospels were written that were not included in the official cannon. Among them are the Gnostic Gospels. Surviving copies of the Gnostic Gospels predate the surviving Biblical manuscripts by 200 years (A,B,C,D *).

Why is it important to establish that the written record is based on oral history? What was once commonly understood as symbolic in the original version easily transmutes into the literal, and meanings are lost or change. While this is true of written records, it is especially true of oral histories (where it is impossible to examine the original version). It is important, therefore, to look to the cultural/historical context of the gospel stories when seeking to understand what the early Christians understood.

The Goddess in Jerusalem

Herod Antipas became ruler of the land through the ancient “Sacred Marriage” with the High Queen Mariamne, a priestess of the Triple Goddess Mari-Anna-Ishtar who was popularly worshiped at the time of Christ (B,C,D,E *). This Goddess was noted for her triple-towered temple or “magdala.” It is important to note that much of the imagery in the Gospels, especially regarding the Marys, corresponds to the worship of this Goddess Mari-Anna-Ishtar (B,C,D,E *). This will be explored in more detail in the following sections.

Mother and Magdalen as One

Magdalen as Temple Priestess
Magdalen as the Bride of Christ
Worship of the Magdalen
The Black Madonna

References

Mother and Magdalen as One

“I am the honored one and the scorned one.
I am the whore and the holy one.
I am the wife and the virgin.
I am the mother and the daughter.”

(A, p. 55-6)

The Divine Mother and her Consort/Savior Son is a strong theme in World Goddess Myth, making Virgin Mary/Mary Magdalen a likely composite. As noted on the Virgin page, the title of Virgin was often bestowed upon sexually active Goddesses. Sacred Temple Prostitutes were often called Virgins (D). In addition, children of The Sacred Marriage, a ritual union of a temple priestess and a king willing to die for his people, were often called “virgin born” or “divine children,” just as Christ was (C). As noted on the Virgin page, it is possible that Mother Mary was dedicated to a Goddess temple when she was a child. Perhaps Mother Mary was a temple priestess, thus making Jesus (or Yeshua) a divine child (E). There is even stronger evidence that Mary Magdalen was a temple priestess, so perhaps this is the true connection between Mother Mary and Mary Magdalen.

Some feel that Mary the Mother and Mary the Lover were split into two characters–one good, the other evil–because women’s sexuality was demonized by the early orthodox church. (See Mother Mary as Bride)

Magdalen as Temple Priestess

Four pieces of Gospel evidence strongly point to Mary Magdalen as a temple priestess of the Goddess. The first is her title “Magdalen,” almost identical to “Magdala,” noted earlier to be the name of the triple-towered temple of the Goddess Mari-Anna-Ishtar (D). Literally, “Mary of the Magdala” signifies “Mary of the Goddess Temple.” Christian tradition has said that Mary is of the town “Magdala” or “Migdal,” which was known as “The Village of Doves,” a place where sacred doves were bred for the Goddess temple (F). In either case, two threads of strong symbolism link the name Magdalen to contemporary Goddess worship.

Next, Mary is known as a prostitute, just as the Goddess priestesses were titled “Sacred Prostitutes,” although a more recent and accurate translation titles them “Sacred Women” or “hierodulae” (B, p. 29). Such prostitutes were considered evil by Jewish leaders of the time. That Jesus/Yeshua would associate with such a woman would indeed invoke the scorn of his disciples, as is recorded in the New Testament.

In The Woman with the Alabaster Jar, Starbird presents a very strong case that Mary Magdalen was perceived by many Christians (up until the 14th or 15th Century) to be the Bride of Christ, who later bore his child. Just as the High Queen Mariamne was known to be a temple priestess, Starbird presents evidence that Mary Magdalen was a princess of Bethany. This Mary of Bethany (sister to Lazarus and Martha) was of the line of Benjamin. She was wedded to Yeshua, of the line of David, in order to fulfill the ancient prophecy that a Son of David would rule Jerusalem and a long period of peace would follow.

Banner of the Flagellants
of Borgo San Sepolcro
14th C — Spinello Aretino

New York Metropolitan Museum of Art

Many scholars have documented the fact that Jesus was supported by political zealots who wished to overthrow the Romans and put a Son of David on the throne in Jerusalem. (Numerous Biblical passages also suggest this.) In fact, it is much more likely that Jesus was crucified, not for blasphemy (which was no offense to the Romans), but for sedition. Crucification was the common punishment for insurrectionists, hence the title over his cross, “Jesus Christ, King of the Jews” (B,F *).

If indeed a strong faction of zealots wished to see Yeshua on the throne, he certainly would have been married to a suitable bride. Starbird suggests that the Wedding of Canna, where Jesus turned the water into wine, was actually the symbolic story of his own marriage to Mary of Bethany. “Cana” is the root for “zealot,” and the water into wine may represent the new covenant for the people of Jerusalem.

Others believe that Yeshua himself took part in the Sacred Marriage with Mary Magdalen, as the anointing foretold. The Sacred Marriage was a ceremony to renew the land, at times was followed by the death of the redeemer/king who was called upon to sacrifice his blood for the people. (See G) “Mari-Ishtar . . . anointed–or christened–her doomed god when he went into the underworld, whence he would rise again at her bidding. That is, she made him a Christ. Her priestess raised the lament for him when he died. . . . In the Epic of Gilgamesh, victims were told She ‘who anointed you with fragrant oil laments for you now’ ” (D, p. 615).

Anointing the head with oil had Biblical precedent in announcing kingship and was well known to be symbolic of the Sacred Marriage ceremony (B,D *). When Mary anointed Yeshua’s head with sacred oil, he foretold his own death: “She has come beforehand to anoint my body for burial. . . . What this woman has done will be told as a memorial to her” (Mark 14:8-9). Immediately afterwards, Judas Iscariot (whose name means “zealot”) went out to betray him, for he understood that Jesus was going to sacrifice his life, not rule as king (B).

Worship of the Magdalen

A French legend recorded in the 4th Century CE says that Mary Magdalen (along with Lazarus and Martha) fled to the South of France (via Egypt) bearing “the earthen vessel that held the blood of Christ.” While legends of the Holy Grail took on a life of their own centuries later, merging with other legends, many believe that Mary Magdalen was herself the earthen vessel bearing Christ’s child, the sacred bloodline of David. Starbird provides convincing evidence that this was indeed what many early Christians, including the Cathars, believed. In the South of France, the Cult of the Magdalen flourished until it was all but wiped out in the Albigensian campaigns by the Roman Catholic church in the late 13th Century. (B,D,E,F *)

The Song of Songs, the most popular love poem at the time of Christ and for centuries afterwards, was strongly associated with Mary Magdalen, believed to be the bride in the poem, and Yeshua the bridegroom. Attributed to Solomon, the Song of Songs has remained part of the official cannon, despite its unmistakably erotic imagery. The Roman Catholic church traditionally reads from the Song of Songs on Mary Magdalen’s feast day (B).

There is strong evidence that Mary Magdalen was worshiped (somewhat secretly) right along side the Virgin Mary up until the Albigensian campaigns. Afterwards her worship was forced even further underground (B). In 1781, the last temple dedicated to her was destroyed (D). Numerous landmarks attest to her cult in the South of France. Among many other examples, “a Christian magic ring, now in the London museum, bears the legend, ‘Holy Mary Magdalen pray for me’ ” (D, p. 615).

Of the many cathedrals dedicated to Our Lady, Notre Dame, in the middle ages, it is unclear which “Our Lady” they were dedicated to, especially since many of the cathedrals were funded by the Knights Templar, champions of Mary Magdalen. (In the 14th Century, the church made a concerted effort to clarify that the only Our Lady was Mother Mary. In doing so, they made Mother Mary “The Bride of Christ,” although they emphasized it was a spiritual union only (B,C).

The Black Madonna

The Cult of the Magdalen, forced underground, is linked to the Cult of the Black Madonna, which thrived in France and elsewhere in Europe. There has been much speculation as to the origin of the Madonna’s blackness. One link is to Sarah “The Black Queen,” believed to be the child of Mary Magdalen, brought out of Egypt. The town of Les-Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer in southern France still celebrates her festival (B). Other links are scriptural, such as to the bride in the Song of Songs: “I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem” (Song of Solomon 1:5, B,C *), or to the deposed Davidic princes of Jerusalem: “now their appearance is blacker than soot, they are unrecognized in the streets” (Lamentations 4:8, B). One of Mary Magdalen’s most prominent shrines, at Chartres, centered around a statue named “Our Lady Under The Earth” (B, p. 79). This also emphasizes her hidden aspect.

Some of the Black Madonnas were originally statues of Isis, such as The Black Virgin of Notre Dame du Puy, whose replica is shown here (H). Indeed Mary Magdalen is linked to Isis in other ways, such as mourning the dead god Osiris. The cult of Isis was very popular at the time of Christ (B,D *). In Catholic countries, black is associated with magic. “Black Madonnas are considered especially wonder-working, as the possessors of hermetic knowledge and power” (C, p.275).

Some have suggested that black represents a face of the universal Goddess not positively acknowledged in Christianity: the face of the Crone, the Death Mother, the Shadow Self. Some Black Madonnas are also seen as “wounded,” such as Our Lady of Czestochowa with the scars on her cheek (H). There has been a revival of interest in the Black Madonna. One modern devotee has this to say about her:

“Through the Black Madonna’s interaction in my life, I am finally able to say, ‘Enough pain, enough wounding. It’s over, the hurting is over. I am perfect the way I am, and that doesn’t mean I don’t make mistakes. It means that in my humanity, even my mistakes are perfect.’ ”
–Carla Curio (I, p. 102)
Also see Our Lady of Sorrows

References

(A) Pagels, Elaine. The Gnostic Gospels. NY: Random, 1979.
(B) Starbird, Margaret. The Woman with the Alabaster Jar. Santa Fe: Bear & Co., 1993.
(C) Warner, Marina. Alone of All Her Sex: The Myth and Cult of the Virgin Mary. NY: Random, 1976.
(D) Walker, Barbara G. The Woman’s Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets. Edison, NJ: Castle Books, 1983/1996.
(E) Kinstler, Clysta. The Moon Under Her Feet: The Story of Mari Magdalene in the Service of the Great Mother. SF: Harper, 1989.
(F) Baigent, M., R. Leigh, & H. Lincoln. Holy Blood, Holy Grail. NY: Dell, 1982/1983.
(G) D. Wolkstein, S.N. Kramer. Inanna: Queen of Heaven and Earth. NY: Harper, 1983.
(H) Gadon, Elinor (Ed). The Once and Future Goddess. SF: Harper, 1989.
(I) Lone Jensen. Gifts of Grace. NY: Harper, 1995.
( * ) And numerous other sources