For 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.
(The Thunder, Perfect Mind)
As we have seen, the literature of the ancient Hebrew people personified Wisdom as feminine and placed a high priority on Her virtues. Surely, Yeshua was familiar with this tradition and reverenced it. Perhaps, he even saw in the person of his Mother, Mary, or his Bride, the Magdalene, the figure of Sophia made flesh. Certainly, both women displayed much wisdom as they assisted him in his mission, a fact acknowledged by many later-day Kristians.Indeed, there is a long history of connecting one or both of the Marys with Sophia, a phenomenon that we will briefly examine here.
For many Gnostic Kristian groups, Mary Magdalene was the “Apostle of Apostles”,the one disciple of Krist who seems to have most fully understood and embodied his teachings. Unlike the “official” Church, which embraced Peter as their leader and canonized the writings of Paul, the Gnostics most identified themselves with the Magdala; she was their “patron saint”, as it were. In The Gospel of Mary, a Gnostic text dating from some time in the second century,Mary Magdalene is the sole recipient of a profound revelation from Krist regarding the nature of the soul and its eventual ascent into paradise or enlightenment, a difficult concept she comprehends and expertly conveys to the other Apostles. When she is dismissed by Peter and Andrew (representing orthodoxy), Levi admonishes them, noting that the Savior loved her above all others. (Probably because she was his wife!)
In other Gnostic sources, such as The Gospel of Thomas, Pistis Sophia, and The Gospel of the Egyptians, Mary Magdalene is again portrayed as especially enlightened and, again, is the victim of Peter’s derision and insults. While,on the one hand, these texts represent the tension that existed between the Gnostics and the orthodox Christians, they can also signify the role of Mary Magdalene–the most beloved, the most enlightened of Krist’s followers–as a physical manifestation of Sophia, Divine Wisdom.
This attribution especially makes sense if we return to the model of the Trinosophia, in which the Son (Logos) is wedded to the Daughter (Divine Meaning). Just as the Divine Word is given shape and purpose by its grounding in Divine Meaning, the Magdala, in The Gospel of Mary, makes sense out of Krist’s otherwise impenetrable revelation. Add to this the tradition that Krist and Mary Magdalene were married in “real” life and the case is strengthened enormously. One could even argue that by anointing him with oil in Bethany, Mary Magdalene provided the “meaning” of Krist’s mission on Earth.
While the linkage between Sophia and Mary Magdalene is quite strong, others have argued that it is Mary, Mother of Yeshua who, in fact, embodied Divine Wisdom.
Just as God-the-Father and Sophia-the-Mother united in order to “create”the physical world, the Father and Mary united to give the Logos humanity.In other words, Mary served the Sophia-function in birthing the Krist. Another way of looking at this is to consider that as a manifestation of Sophia-the-Daughter, Mary gave the Logos meaning by clothing him in flesh.
Once Yeshua had grown up to become a man, it was his Mother, not he, who recognized when and where his mission was to begin. Surely, we must credit Mary with profound insight for spurring on her son to perform his first public miracle during the wedding at Cana. Perhaps realizing that he needed a little”push”, she intervened and set his ministry in motion. The truly wise don’t just “know” things; they intuit, hypothesize, and give prophetic witness, as well.
Robert A, Powell, one of the most important of modern “Sophiologists”, asserts that Mary became united with Sophia at the time of the Pentecost event, when”tongues of fire” rained down from heaven (see Acts 2:1-13). Just as Krist,the Logos, presided over the Twelve Apostles at The Last Supper, Mary presided over them at Pentecost and, in the process, became Divine Wisdom personified.Evidently, this was because she served as a “mediatrix” between Christ, who”sent down” the tongues of fire, and the Apostles, who received the revelation of the Spirit on that day.
As you might recall from Part 1 of this lesson, one of the primary functions of Sophia is to “mediate” between the Godhead and humanity. It is through the gift of Wisdom that we come to know and understand the ways of God/dess.Those of you who come from Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, or High Anglican backgrounds are no doubt aware of the role that has been assigned to the Virgin Mary by the Church: She is Mediatrix par excellence, the link between human beings and God, our intercessor and champion. Whether knowingly or not, the Church has bestowed upon Mary the paramount attribute of Sophia.
The question that, ultimately, emerges here is whether or not we need “choose”which Mary was the incarnation of Sophia. As we revere both women as divinities,the answer very well might be that we need not choose at all. Sophia, Divine Wisdom, is available to all of us if we seek Her. Mary, the Mother of Yeshua and Mary Magdalene, Yeshua’s beloved Bride, were no doubt both manifestations of Wisdom, just as any one of us might be if we truly give ourselves over to Her sacred power. When we embrace Wisdom, we embrace God/dess. When we embrace Wisdom we come to know our true selves, as co-creators with the Divine.
Questions. Please Send your answers to the Mystery School with Sophia3 from ________ (your magikal or clergy name) in the subject line.
1. T/F The Gnostics shunned and scorned Mary Magdalene as inferior to Peter,Paul, and Andrew.
2. What is the name of the text in which the Magdalene receives a revelation from Krist regarding the nature of the soul?
3. One could argue that by __________ in Bethany, Mary Magdalene provided the meaning of Krist’s mission on Earth.
4. Mary, the Mother of Yeshua can be equated with which two aspects of the Holy Trinosophia?
5. T/F Mary was just being a pushy “stage mother” when she urged Yeshua to perform his first public miracle during the wedding at Cana.
6. According to the Roman Catholic Church, what function does Mary serve that is also a function of Sophia?
7. When we embrace Wisdom, we come to know our true selves as _____ with the Divine.
8. ESSAY Discuss, in further detail, The Blessed Mother’s role at the wedding at Cana and how her behavior might signal her role as Sophia made manifest. (See John 2:1-12).