Category: Mary Magdalene

Mary Magdalene & Mary of Bethany the same person

Magdalene anointing Jesus ordained by God priest and messiah
Mary of Bethany aka Magdalene Anoints Jesus Making Him the Anointed One – in Hebrew language, “Messiah”

For centuries people have debated whether Mary of Bethany, the sister of Lazarus and Martha, is the same person as Mary Magdalene. This is called “the conflation of the Marys”.  Supposedly Pope Gregory said they were the same woman in a sermon, confusing everyone for centuries thereafter. But no, people thought they were the same woman before his sermon. The Eastern Orthodox Church believes and teaches that Mary of Bethany and Mary Magdalene are two separate women, but the Catholics said they were the same for over a millennia.

Margaret Starbird asserts they are the same person and indeed the Secret Gospel of Mark, the Gospel of John, and more recently an early 20th century Catholic Encyclopedia(!) imply or state they are indeed the same woman.

Here is a recent post by Margaret Starbird explaining why she believes they are the same woman.

Quoting an article we were discussing on the GoddessChristians forum:

  “Mary Ann Beavis explains how the unnamed sinful woman who anoints Jesus’ feet in Luke 7:36-50, Mary of Bethany and Mary Magdalene gradually became identified.  This was the teaching of Pope Gregory. The idea that (the conflated Mary’s chief sin was sexual and that she was a prostitute is a later elaboration.
***************Margaret Starbird’s reply;
IMO, this very old and very tired explanation is an error, endlessly perpetuated by people who attempt to separate Mary of Bethany from Mary Magdalene, although for centuries they were honored as a single Mary, the “ointment bearer” at the banquet at Bethany and at the tomb of Christ.  The earliest “conflation” of the two women occurs in the Gospel of John, believed to have been written in about 90 A.D., although some scholars attest that the Gospel seems to have strong “eye-witness” elements.
Here’s the account from Luke’s Gospel 7;37-38:
        37. And there was a woman in the city who was a sinner; and when she learned that He was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume,
38. and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet and anointing them with the perfume.

Remember that  an “unnamed woman” had anointed Jesus in Mark 14 (written c. 70) and Matthew 26 (written c. 80), a woman with “an alabaster jar” of pure (precious) perfume (nard) came to Jesus at a banquet and anointed his head….and the apostles complained about the wasted value of the perfume. Jesus this says, “She has done me a favor.  She has anointed me in advance for my burial, and wherever this story is told, it will be told in memory of her.”  He links this anointing (an ancient rite associated with the messiah and his marriage to the land and people through the action of the “Bride”).

So Luke, writing in about 80-85) retells (and embellishes!) the story of the unnamed woman with the “alabaster jar” —and calls her a sinner!  He also takes the story away from Bethany and Holy Week and places it in an unnamed town much earlier in Jesus’ ministry, I believe in an attempt to downplay the importance of the action of the woman who anointed the head of Jesus in the earlier Gospels.

So now we come to the Gospel of John, written a few years after Luke.  John is trying to correct Luke’s version of this story.  It is most improbable that an anointing of Jesus by a woman happened more than once, since a woman touching a Jewish man in public is an absolute “taboo”—as in NO chance!!  All four Gospel authors are dealing with a story that has been “told and retold” in their community for an entire generation about a woman who anointed Jesus at a banquet….probably just shortly before his Crucifixion and probably in Bethany, on the Mount of Olives, an extremely important location in Jewish prophetic tradition.  And John’s version is extremely explicit.  In John 11:2 and again in 12.3, the author states that “it was Mary who anointed Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair.”  Clearly this is a detail (outrageous action on the part of Mary, in light of the “taboo”) that occurs in Luke’s Gospel and is repeated here.  Then, in chapter 12:3, the author of John’s Gospel repeats the story, in case we missed it the first time:

1. Jesus, therefore, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.
2. So they made Him a supper there, and Martha was serving; but Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him.
3. Mary then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
4. But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, who was intending to betray Him, *said,
5. “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to poor people?“
6. Now he said this, not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put into it.
7. Therefore Jesus said, “Let her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of My burial.
We can see that “John” has taken the original story and has now named the woman with the ointment who anointed Jesus —she is Mary, the sister of Lazarus. And, when Judas complains, Jesus says, “Let her keep it for the day of my burial”!  Again, Jesus associates the action with the ancient “heiros games” rites of the sacrificed Bridegroom and his Bride, the woman who anoints the King.  Luke’s version is the anomaly. The other three accounts agree that the woman who anointed Jesus was the “ointment bearer” at the banquet and at the tomb.  Yet WHICH Mary carries the ointment at the tomb?  Invariably, it is the one called “the Magdalene,” an extremely significant title that associates her with the prophecy of the Magdal-eder, crying at the tomb of the deceased King and being sent, defiled and defamed, into foreign exile!  “Why are you crying?” the Daughter of Sion/Magdal-eder is asked (Micah 4); the words are repeated at the tomb of Jesus n John 21, again, not once but twice:  “Why are you crying?”   It is the role of the bereaved Bride to return to the tomb of her beloved and to find him resurrected in the Garden….  Where have we heard this story before?
 
I believe it’s time to correct the record! The “conflation” of Mary of Bethany and Mary Magdalene was NOT a later construct based on a sermon by Pope Gregory in 592. It was the original understanding of the community who knew Jesus and Mary, the one whom they gave the title “H Magdalhnh.”  For more information, please visit my website article about this title:    http://margaretstarbird.net/mary_called_magdalene.html       
 
In memory of Her,
Margaret
“The Woman with the Alabaster Jar”
 

 

Jesus & Magdalene Marriage Depicted in Church Stained-Glass Window

Church window depicting marriage of Jesus and Mary MagdaleneMargaret Starbird wrote yesterday: My Highland friends Theresa and Barrie Dunford just sent me this link to their webpage about the “Marriage Window” in the Kilmore Church in Dervaig, on the Isle of Mull (Scotland):  http://sacredconnections.co.uk/…/stained-glass-window-myst…/  The page includes information about the artist, Stephan Adam and his connections with the 19th c. “Pre-Raphealite” circle (DG Rosetti, Sir EB Jones, et alia), whose many depictions of the Grail Maiden are so wonderful!

Mary Magdalene’s Journey into Foreign Exile

Married Jesus Magdalene ordained female priest PhD
Jesus & Magdalene in the 1973 Movie Jesus Christ Superstar

Margaret Starbird wrote today April 10, 2015 the week after Easter:

Legend places Mary Magdalene in France after AD 42, but she disappears from the Christian narrative sometime between Easter morning and the beginning of the Book of Acts. One of the questions we must ask is WHY? The mother of Jesus and the apostles all reappear in Acts—but Mary Magdalene, Joseph of Arimathea, not to mention Lazarus and Martha, all disappear abruptly and are noticeably absent in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles.  St. Paul never mentions any of them in his epistles either.

In 1988 I wrote the short fictional “novella” that was later published as the “Prologue” in “The Woman with the Alabaster Jar” (1993). The story show how we might have lost all information about Mary Magdalene following the proclamation of the Resurrection. If Mary Magdalene was the wife of Jesus and pregnant with his child (or even possibly pregnant—or already a mother), protecting her from the Roman and/or Jewish authorities would have been a top priority of the friends and followers of Jesus. Legend insists that Joseph of Arimathea was the “custodian of the Grail”—the vessel that “once contained the blood of Christ.”—
In 1995 Susan Methvin, Ph.D. a college English professor in Alabama, sent me a poem she had written in response to reading my book:

“Imagine the Grail if you can, not as a gold cup
nor as one silver, embossed with grapes and vines,
but imagine the grail as the cup of her body,
that rocking place beneath her breast, the deep pear-shaped sac.
Her stomach rounded skin stretched into spun silk,
fills with the fruited seed of their making love.
The unborn child sways in this dark grail as her mother rides
across the searing desert.  Magdalen’s only songs . .
steady breath, heart’s beat, dry sob.
In the heat, sometimes Magdalen
mouths His name, and the child takes form
blessed beneath the name of Jesus.”

A few years later Susan died, a victim of breast cancer.  You can visit a blog commemorating her here:   http://www.susanmethvin.blogspot.com/
These days following Easter are an anniversary of the trek of Mary Magdalene across the Sinai to Alexandria—into nearly 2000 years of exile…
In memory of her—
Margaret

Margaret Starbird on Mary Magdalene in the Four Gospels

Mary Magdalene Jesus Kiss OrdainedMargaret Starbird wrote the other day:

I’m always amazed at the contortions New Testament scholars go into in an attempt to avoid seeing and stating the obvious.  The CNN “special” segment about Mary Magdalene aired tonight. One scholar (Dr. Nicola Denzey Lewis) declared twice that “ground zero” for the idea that Mary Magdalene was the wife of Jesus was the Gospel of Philip, which states that Mary was the “companion” or “consort” of Jesus and that he kissed her often on her…. (sadly the location is missing, but we are told that the apostles were jealous of Mary….because Jesus loved her more than all the rest of them….

If she had read my “Woman with the Alabaster Jar,” published in 1992 and cited by Dan Brown in The DaVinci Code”), Dr.Lewis would have known that for many of us “ground zero” is the canonical
Gospel of John which names the woman who anointed Christ at the banquet at Bethany (Mary) and dried his feet with her hair and follows the passion narrative all the way to the sacred reunion of the Sacred King and his Bride at the tomb on Easter morning.  This has nothing to do with the (2nd or 3rd century) Gospel of Philip. All four canonical Gospels mention the anointing of Jesus by a woman and three place this event in Holy Week—followed closely by the Passion of the Christ and his resurrection. This liturgical sequence is reminiscent, even a reenactment of ancient rites of “hieros games” indigenous to the Near East—where the Sacred King is anointed and united in marriage with a royal priestess/princess and later sacrificed, mutilated, executed and entombed.
After three days his Bride/consort returns to the tomb to mourn him and finds him resurrected. These ancient rites go back to neolithic times and are repeated in the Gospel narratives, where Mary and Jesus embody the archetypal Bride and Bridegroom “in the flesh”—.

In the CNN segment, the question was raised: What happened to Mary Magdalene?  Back in the 1980’s when I was researching everything I could find about Mary Magdalene, it struck me that in spite of her importance in the final chapters of the Gospels—beginning with the anointing scene and ending with the reunion with Jesus at the tomb (“Don’t keep clinging to me”)—Mary totally disappears from the story, never mentioned in the epistles or in the Book of Acts of the Apostles.  What happened to her? The mother of Jesus and other female disciples show up in Acts and elsewhere.  Only Mary, Martha and Lazarus are totally missing, except for later legends that try to
fill in the gaps, placing them in Gaul around AD 42…. But why did they leave?

One afternoon in 1988, I sat down at my computer and wrote a story—which is now the fictional opening “Prologue” in my “Alabaster Jar” book—explaining how we came to lose the Beloved of Jesus for two millennia.  Sensing danger to the wife of Jesus, Joseph of Arimathea, the “custodian of the Grail,” came to her on Easter in the evening and convinced her to flee with him to a place of safety…which would only have been necessary if she were possibly pregnant with—or the mother of—a child of Jesus.  Protecting the royal family would have been a top priority of the friends and followers of Jesus, the Davidic Messiah of prophecy.

Imagine her—meditate on her—over these coming days, riding on a donkey across the Sinai under the protection of Joseph of Arimathea—“defiled and defamed” seeking refuge in a foreign land, fulfilling the prophecy of the “Magdal-eder” from Micah 4:8-11.

In memory of her,
Margaret
“Mary
Magdalene, Bride in Exile”
www.margaretstarbird.net

Cave of John the Baptist – Mysterious Subterranean Chambers

One of our GoddessChristians members — his name is Klaus M. from Germany — just sent this awesome photo of a newly discovered “John the Baptist” cave in the Holy Land with mysterious subterranean chambers. John Baptizer used to hang out in the desert as you recall, teaching the mysteries and initiating/baptizing people who came in throngs to hear him. He was arrested because of a beautiful princess Salome’s intoxicating dance of the seven veils, but that’s another story. He hid deep in this cave, trying to avoid Herod’s soldiers.

John Baptizer who ordained Jesus with water beginning the Apostolic Succession
This site, on Israel’s Jordan River, is believed to be the cave where John the Baptist hid from Herod’s soldiers

The subterannean chambers and tunnels connected to the cave seem to lead down into Mother Earth. Our German cousin says, “Did John venerate an old Earth Mother? One of the Mothers who went to the underworld to save Her beloved? Inanna did that, as did Ishtar, Isis, Demeter  – and last but not least Mary Magdalene!”

We teach in our Mystery School lessons that John the Baptizer, who initiated Jesus with the water-rite, and also Jesus himself were probably well aware of God-the-Mother AND God-the-Father. There is an often forgotten verse in the Greek Bible aka New Testament that has Sophia, Christian Goddess of Wisdom, and co-Creator saying, “And I Sophia will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute.” Luke 11:49

Perhaps both John the Baptizer and Yeshua the Anointed (aka Messiah) were initiates of the full Godhead, of the Creators Divine Mother and Ancient of Days Father God.

Magdalene Day Today, Video, Rosary

Magdalene ordained by marriage to Rabbi Jesus Wedding at Cana
Magdalene by Ginger Snuffkin from Deviant Art

In honor of Mary Magdalene Day today, here is a video and an inspiring Magdalene story, both from author Margaret Starbird.

For Mary Magdalene’s feast day on 22 July, you might be
interested in viewing this interview I did in February 2006–nicely edited out
of the “Bloodline” movie — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEhMXUoMLGY&feature=youtu.be

Please keep in mind that I think the “bloodline” is a red herring and irrelevant
to the underlying question of the marriage of Jesus with Mary Magdalene, a union
that mirrors a model for Sacred Partnership, the “union of Sacred Complements.”

You might also be interested in the information I’ve posted about the “Magdalene
Rosary” as a tool for devotional meditation:
http://www.margaretstarbird.net/magdalene_rosary.html

All my life I’ve said the traditional Marian rosary, and occasionally still do,
but in 1994 I was shown to create a rosary of seven decades of seven prayers to
honor Mary Magdalene and the “Sacred Union.”  The number “7” is sacred to the
Divine feminine, but is also the “union” of the traditional numbers associated
with “masculine” (3) and “feminine” (4).

Magdalene in her bridal gown, ordained priest ess minister Apostle
Mary Magdalene by Katia Honour. Prints can be purchased on RedBubble

I wrote up the prayers and mysteries for the “Magdalene rosary” several years
ago and posted the information on my website.  The mysteries include 7
Scriptural Mysteries of Mary Magdalene and 7 Legendary Mysteries.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

On the eve of Mary Magdalene’s feast day, I want to share with you a slightly abridged version of the epilogue from my book, Mary Magdalene, Bride in Exile

Epilogue –a Reading for Mary Magdalene’s Feast Day

WHO DO WE SAY SHE IS?

“Who do you say that I am?”   (Matthew 16:15)

When Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do men say that the son of man is?” they replied variously that some people thought Jesus to be John the Baptist; others claimed he was Elijah or Jeremiah or one of the other prophets. Then Jesus queried them further, “Who do you say that I am?” And Simon-Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God” (Matthew 16:16).

There were obviously many varying views about Jesus even in his own time, and there are many still. Some people see Jesus as a historical figure, a Galilean rabbi with a staff in his hand, an itinerant preacher and healer. Some see him as a cultural revolutionary, even a Zealot or an Essene. Finding negligible evidence for Jesus as a historical figure, others think he was the composite of many myths of the son-god tortured and sacrificed at the vernal equinox—an Adonis, Ba’al or Tammuz, Dionysus or Osiris.

Similarly, we have a variety of views about Mary Magdalene, both traditional and heterodox, expressed over two millennia in Christian art and lore, as well as her connection to a number of powerful myths from the ancient world. I am aware of the most ancient tradition of the Church that the title “h Magdalene” was given to Mary, the sister of Lazarus–not  referring to a town destroyed for its immorality, but as a title of great honor and prophetic significance. We contemplate her presence in art, artifact, and folklore. And we examine the record of the historical Mary Magdalene, who allegedly witnessed the resurrection of the Savior and was sent to tell the good news to the other disciples and to the brothers of Jesus. And we have studied legends and myths of the bride of the sacred king sent defiled and defamed into exile to protect her from the dangerous talons of the malevolent dragon.

Magdalene Ordained Womens Minister
Magdalene by Gallery Zograf from Deviant Art. Reminiscent of Icons of the Early Christian Church

And who do we now say that SHE is? Was she an actual historical person? A disciple of Jesus, shod in sandals? A wealthy patroness? Perhaps a princess in her own right? Or was she a whore? Or even, as the Gnostics taught, a mythic incarnation of the Holy Sophia? Was she the soul-mate and spouse—the “Sister Bride”–of Jesus in a union similar to that of Tammuz and Ishtar or of Isis and Osiris? Or was she perhaps a sacred prostitute, a priestess representative of the Goddess? Was she a frenzied redheaded demoniac? A favored daughter of Benjaminite lineage? Was she, like Wisdom herself, both scorned and beloved? Could she have been a wife and a mother? How can we know which face is hers, when no one has lifted her veil?

The struggle to reclaim the real Mary Magdalene remains fraught with danger. Will we—once again—refuse to recognize in her an incarnation of the Divine, the other face of God? An important question remains to be answered: What position will the Mary called “the Tower” occupy when she is reinstated—as she must be—in the celestial throne room in heaven and in our communal psyche on earth? Will she be honored as apostle or as Bride?

Will she be blessed and embraced as the historical counterpart of Peter? Or of Christ?

Who do we say that she is?

One answer, that she was an apostle equal in status and authority to Peter, seems to satisfy many clergy and scholars of Christian denominations. The right-handed and orthodox affirm Magdalene as the Apostle to the Apostles—a title of considerable honor, although her role was apparently short-lived, given that she carried a single message to the brethren of Jesus on that first Easter morning, and that her testimony was not at first believed. Modern scholars seem content with their proofs that Mary was not a prostitute and with reclaiming for her a position of prestige and authority as the first witness and messenger of the resurrected Lord. It is a limited role.

But the other answer, confirmed by left-handed intuitives who see visions and dream dreams, asserts that Mary Magdalene was the Sacred Bride so long exiled from our consciousness. This vision of the sacred reunion of the beloveds is not new. The image of the holy braiding of flesh and divinity was always at the heart of the gospel—God incarnate in flesh, both male and female.

Reclaiming Mary as Bride brings water to heal the parched earth, causing flowers to bloom, healing broken hearts, setting prisoners free.

If we ever needed her, we need her now!

In Memory of Her,

Margaret

Mary Magdalene, Bride in Exile

http://margaretstarbird.net

 

Zen Parenting, Mother God, Gilgamesh

My three daughters and I received a bunch of new Christian curriculum items for our homeschool and as usual, we enjoy adding in the Holy Mother, aka “Goddess” to any and all Bible stories we think She belongs. Believing in the Divinity of the Feminine as much as the Masculine, we “restore” the Divine Mother aka God-the-Mother into the stories alongside God-the-Father where She was probably supposed to be mentioned, but for various historical reasons down thru the ages, was left out or removed. We also bring out the women and girls in all Bible stories, giving both hero and heroine figures equal time.

Not only Bible stories need this balancing act, but most of the ancient and classical stories reduce women to sexuality based roles, because well, humanity wasn’t as far along mentally and emotionally as we are now. Western women at least truly have “come a long way baby,” the proof of which can be seen simply by observing any current country that suppresses its women in the name of their Holy Book / religion.

Stories we have fun with are putting Noah’s wife Norea back into the narrative, and his daughters-in-law. Eve and Adam’s daughters are enjoyable to ponder about, as is the true reason Sarah could have a baby at such an advanced age yet still be considered one of the most beautiful women in the world (Pharoah was ready to kill Abraham in order to steal Sarah for his harem).  True reason is because she was a close direct descendant of Methuselah (Noah’s father) and inherited the ability to live longer years, like Aragorn in Lord of the Rings. You’ll recall that Aragorn’s people could live to be 200, not as long as the elf princess he loved, but long indeed. Abraham was also a descendant of Methuselah of course, and he is said to have lived to be almost 200.

Doctor of Divinity Ordained Minister PhD in Religion Metaphysics
Face that launched a thousand ships

In ancient literature we have worked out Helen of Troy’s equality and non-damsel-in-distress role, using our exciting new text books The Children’s Homer and Black Ships Before Troy.

Our Christian based curriculum, despite being mainstream church style,  even includes an awesome version of the Gilgamesh Epic. Pagan literature is required reading in the Veritas Press courses and I am glad they are not afraid of it. They include it all. The awesome (and sumptuously illustrated) Gilgamesh Epic they recommend makes the heroine be a beautiful singer instead of a prostitute. Mary Magdalene was unjustly called a prostitute, and so was Enkidu’s beloved Shamhat. Rahab the prostitute in the walls of Jericho story comes to mind, and since she isn’t being hired by anyone, I also wonder if she really was a prostitute or just an unmarried woman with a family. Women who had children without marriage were often called whore and prostitute. As recently as the 1960’s this happened in my own family. Rahab is the heroine of the Jericho walls story, and is also an ancestress of Jesus himself. Why would they put her in his family tree if she was selling herself regularly? Why would they want to make the Son of God also a Son of a Whore? Mary Magdalene was not even called a prostitute in scripture, but European Christian authorities made sure to turn her into one a thousand years later. There is surely more to this meme of the prostitute heroine so often found in ancient literature and scripture.

New Neighbors by Margaret Starbird, Magdalene author
New Neighbors by Margaret Starbird

Speaking of Mary Magdalene, we also received a new (wonderful) children’s book by famous Magdalene author Margaret Starbird. New Neighbors is written for children and although not about the Divine Feminine like Margaret’s adult books, it certainly teaches that girls and boys both thrive when both genders are given equal status, equal focus.  Thank you Margaret for another gem. I still plan to mail our copy of New Neighbors to you so you can autograph it for the girls. (Sorry I haven’t done so yet, they won’t give it back to me!)

My 11-year-old daughter read the book out loud with my 8-year-old sitting right beside her looking at the pictures, and the rest of us listening. For each new page my daughter would turn the book to face us so we could see each new illustration. She was so proud to be the one reading out loud (usually it’s Mama doing the reading), and my youngest sat right next to her devouring the storyline. The next night at story time, she took a turn and read it herself. She needs all the reading practice she can get, and I love that my 8 year old can read something by an author her mother has studied with for years. Kinda freaky in a way… I remember giving my now-20-something daughter her first copy of Margaret’s bestseller The Woman With the Alabaster Jar: Mary Magdalen and the Holy Grail. Heck, I remember giving my own mother that 1993 book for the first time.

It’s been an interesting week. I also got inspired by this Zen Parenting article by Leo Babauta. How to Keep Your Cool as a Parent. Not only does it teach us parents some awesome cool-as-a-cucumber techniques, but you can use the same strategies to help the kids deal with their own anger fits, frustration fits, etc. I printed that sucker out for me, and realized I can use it as yet another homeschool lesson.

We’ve dug into so many new books this month, you’d think it was winter.

Summer school is fun, they have decided. We were going to save our Veritas Press homeschool history cards and books for next Fall, but just couldn’t resist digging in.

Mary Magdalene – Lost Bride & Queen of Christianity

Married Jesus Mary Magdalene
Jesus and Mary Magdalene Married

My friend (and teacher these 20 years now!), Margaret Starbird writes:

I hope this finds you thriving in the light and enjoying the fresh greening of the land —

For anyone interested, I just posted a new blog article “A Timely Lesson” on my website: http://www.margaretstarbird.net/blog.html .  [Text included below in case the link leads to a newer article]
I hope you’ll pass this on to anyone you know who might be interested in sharing these thoughts from my on-going “quest” for Mary Magdalene, the Lost Bride of the Christian story.
 
peace and light,
Margaret

copyright 2014 by Margaret Starbird. All rights reserved.

06-02-14

A Timely Lesson

In 1983 Ann Requa, a dear friend since my college years at the University of Maryland, told me about Holy Blood, Holy Grail, that she thought I needed to read the book, and that I could probably find a copy in my local library. A few days later I looked the title up in the lubrary’s card catalogue, found it listed, and discovered it in the stacks. The front cover said Holy Blood, Holy Grail, as expected. But the back cover asserted that Jesus was probably married and that his wife and progeny survived the Crucifixion and fled into exile as refugees in Gaul. At the time in 1983 I was still “singing in the choir” and teaching catchism classes for the Roman Catholic Church, and I was definitely not inclined to accept any notion that I perceived as so clearly blasphemous.

For two years I did not read the book my friend had recommended, but, radically disillusioned after reading “In God’s Name” (an exposé of the Vatican Bank scandal and alleged assassination of Pope John Paul I by David Yallop), I returned to the library in 1985 and checked out Holy Blood, Holy Grail. I read the book from cover to cover, still reluctant to accept the fundamental premise of the marriage of Jesus to his “consort/companion” Mary Magdalene. I asked myself agonizing questions: How could we have lost the Bride of Jesus? How could the Church have hidden such a momentous secret for so many centuries? Surely the Church fathers would have told us if Jesus were married with children! I’ve recorded details of my quest for the truth of the Magdalene “story,” published in The Goddess in the Gospels in 1998. Numerous synchronicities and Scripture passages that confirmed the sacred partnership of Jesus and Mary Magdalene at the heart of the Christian story made their way into that book, so I won’t repeat them here.

But some important illuminating incidents didn’t make the “cut” for that book, including one I didn’t fully understand at the time, but which has grown on me over the years and has become a very important key understanding of the tragic consequences of the “Lost Bride.”

One Monday afternoon in 1986 while I was doing my usual chores, I sent out a special request—asking God to have the mailman deliver something to my mailbox that would confirm or deny the assertion of Holy Blood, Holy Grail that Mary Magdalene was the “Bride of Christ.” I had no idea what I would consider a proof or denial of the theory—but I asked for it anyhow.

When the mailman had passed, I ran to the box to see what he had left there. To my befuddlement, the only item in the box was a small package, about 7” by 10”, from a company that  advertised ant farms. Opening the container, I remembered having ordered the item weeks before so I could teach my children about the almost legendary work-ethic and industry of ants. The advertisement for the “farm” stated that viewers could watch the community of ants through the plastic walls of the box — tunneling and moving food particles through the network of tunnels the worker ants would create. I was sad that I hadn’t received an answer to my prayer for the confirmation or denial of the “married Jesus” hypothesis, but I decided maybe my request had come too late — probably the mailman had already packed his bag and started on his rounds.

When the kids got home from school, they were excited the ant farm had arrived. They bent their heads together over the instructions and unpacked the package to set up the ant farm. There was a narrow box with clear plastic panels on each side, a package of sand and a small packet containing the live ants! Carefully we assembled the project, added the ants and watched as they began scurrying to and fro digging their first tunnel. Sure enough, over a period of hours, the ants built tunnels and started carrying food particles from place to place. The kids watched with fascination for a few minutes, then went on to other activities, returning at intervals to see how the ants were doing with their project. As advertised, the ants continued to scurry around behind their plastic walls tunneling and carrying food particles.

At breakfast the next morning, the kids inspected their ant colony performing its activities — and rushed in again after school. For several days the ant farm was a magnet for attention. Neighborhood children were invited in to watch the ants. Everyone was enjoying observing ants busily scurrying around inside their plastic box, tirelessly tunneling and carrying food particles hither and yon.

But by the end of the week activity gradually slowed and then finally ceased. The ants had apparently worn themselves out and one at a time had begun to die off. After another forty-eight hours, we sadly agreed that the experiment was over and that it was time to trash the ant farm. We had gotten the message that the ants were an industrious community, but somehow they had failed to thrive. We carried the plastic box out to the back yard and dumped the experimental ant farm onto the ground, hoping any survivors might find a new colony and home outdoors.

Much later I realized that I actually HAD received an answer affirming the “sacred marriage” in the mailbox that Monday afternoon. The meaning was clear. The ant community had failed to thrive because they had no “organizing principle” at the heart of their “farm.” The goal of any community, its “reason for being” is the continuity and nurturing of life. They had no Queen and therefore, no reason for their labor, no progeny to nurture, no “vocation.” All their activities were ultimately just “busy work”—and wasted.

I believe the earliest Christians established their community with the partnership of Jesus and Mary Magdalene at its heart — modeled on the “Song of Songs,” where the devoted relationship of the “Beloveds” was a mirror of God’s passionate love for his people. While Jesus represented Yahweh as “Bridegroom,” (an epithet confirmed in various Gospel passages), Mary Magdalene represented the people of Israel, the “Daughter of Sion,” as Sister-Bride and Beloved. Their union was celebrated at all levels of human experience, exemplified in the “Sacrament of the Bridal Chamber,” in early Christian communities.

In his letter to Corinthians 5:9, Paul states that Cephas and the brothers of Jesus and the other apostles all “travel around with their sister-wives.” Where did Paul get that phrase, if not from the original Christian community that modeled itself on the “Song of Songs,” derived from an ancient rite of “sacred marriage,’ where the Bridegroom frequently refers to his Beloved as “My sister, my spouse: “You have made my heart beat faster, my sister, my bride” (SoS 4:9); “a garden enclosed is my sister, my bride” (SoS 4: 12); and “I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride” (SoS 5:1).

English translations of Paul’s letter invariably call these sister-wives “Christian sisters” even though the phrase in the original Greek does not contain the word “Christian” at all.

Why did the Jerome and later translators of the Greek Gospels wish to obscure the knowledge that the closest associates and kin of Jesus traveled with their “sister-wives” as missionary couples, bearing the “Good News” to the farthest outposts of the Roman Empire? When he sent them forth “two by two,” Jesus was apparently sending couples, not pairs of males, according to Paul, the earliest witness to Christian practices.

It’s a good thing Noah didn’t misunderstand God’s instructions about bringing the animals into the ark “two by two” as the early church fathers apparently misunderstood the instruction of Jesus to preach the “Way of the heart” in a couples’ ministry!

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Is the quest for the Holy Grail over – Margaret Starbird

Mary Magdalene the true Holy Grail Margaret StarbirdI’ve told you before, Margaret Starbird has been one of my most powerful influences, and I consider her one of my spiritual teachers ever since I met her in 1999. That was the same  time our Mystery School with its Order of Mary Magdala was going online. I had read her seminal work, The Woman With the Alabaster Jar: Mary Magdalen & the Holy Grail in 1993 when it was first published, so in a way she became my spiritual teacher even before I started following her around the country attending workshops.

Our Esoteric Mystery School study programs use her inspiring books about “the Goddess” hidden in the New Testament, aka Mary Magdalene.

Margaret posted the following yesterday to our GoddessChristians forum. Margaret responds to this short quote about the Holy Grail never existing:

Speaking of the Holy Grail –“its religious significance didn’t arise until medieval legends entwined ancient Celtic myths with the Christian tradition of the Holy Chalice used by Jesus at the Last Supper.
“The Grail legend is a literary invention of the 12th century with no historical basis,” Carlos de Ayala, a medieval historian at a Madrid university, told the AFP news agency. “You cannot search for something that does not exist.”

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Margaret Starbird writes: As some of you already know, I don’t believe that the “Holy Grail”– “sangraal” in Old French — was “the Holy Chalice used by Jesus at the Last Supper.” Describe it another way as “the vessel that once contained the blood of Christ.” Now, rather than a cup of gold or silver, you have the hint of an “earthen vessel” — in fact, a woman, bearing a child of whom Christ is the father. If you divide “sangraal” before the “g”– you have
“San graal” — encountered in the “Grail” stories about a “cup” or “chalice.” But if the same word is divided after the “g” — “sang raal,” it means “Blood royal” in Old French. You don’t carry the “blood royal” in a jar with a lid!

In medieval legend, Joseph of Arimathea is almost always the “custodian of the Grail” — sometimes shown in medieval paintings holding a chalice under the wound in Christ’s side as he hung on the cross. But there are also medieval paintings that show Mary Magdalene holding the chalice to catch blood dripping from the wounds of Christ, so both Mary Magdalene and Joseph of Arimathea are associated with the “Grail” myth. My own pet theory is found in the 20-page fictional Prologue of my Woman with the Alabaster Jar, called “Miriam in the Garden” (published in 1993 — the book that launched Dan Brown’s research for The DaVinci Code).Order of Mary Magdalene textbook for Esoteric Mystery School

Realizing that Mary Magdalene is nowhere to be found in the Book of Acts, despite her prominence at the cross and tomb in all four Gospels, I asked myself, “Why did she disappear so completely?” The only logical answer I could imagine was that she was perceived to be in danger and taken to a place of safety when rumors of the Risen Christ began to circulate in Jerusalem. This scenario would have been extremely likely if she had children or was pregnant….making her “the vessel that once contained the blood of Christ.” You don’t carry the royal blood around in a jar with a lid…

Please check out these articles posted on my website about the “Grail” in Leonardo’s “Last Supper” —  and the webpages about my books Alabaster Jar and Bride in Exile if you haven’t already!

http://www.margaretstarbird.net/last_supper.html
http://www.margaretstarbird.net/the_woman_with_the_alabaste.html
http://www.margaretstarbird.net/mary_magdalene_bride_in_exi.html

In memory of Her,
Margaret

Women bishops increasing — at least in North America!

BIshop Katia Romanoff and Bishop Carol Parrish January 17, 2014. Don't mind the occult sign language there
Bishop Katia Romanoff & Bishop Carol Parrish. Don’t mind our occult sign language going on there…

Spent yesterday with Bishop Carol Parrish, one of my spiritual teachers from the 1990s.  She was consecrated an Independent Sacramental (Catholic) bishop a couple of years ago not long after my own consecration.  The ISM is still the only “catholic” movement allowing woman-bishops and priests, although the Anglicans finally have a few. The amount of female bishops is growing in North America, even if it is not in the rest of the world. Now if only my other favorite teacher, Margaret Starbird, would let us make her an Independent Sacramental Bishop….  hee hee. Time to join the episcopate, Margaret!

I often long for a feminine form of the word bishop we could use (just like I long for more feminine vestments and especially miters for us!).  In the Greek Bible the word for bishop is episkopo, right? So episkopa would be woman-bishop?

One of many things we talked about yesterday was the  Gospel of Mary Magdalene by Jean-Yves LeLoup which +Carol is currently reading.  It was a significant study for me and my own formation as a woman priest when I read it in 2004 — suggested by Margaret.  +Carol is just now discovering his work and says she really appreciates the way Leloup answers any naysayers and critics by putting the original text on one page, and the translation on the facing page. His translation and commentary are so inspiring.  I am going to have to go dig out my copy right now.

Bishop Carol is teaching a workshop tomorrow at the Temple of the Living God in St. Petersburg where she’s been coming every year for the past 40 years,  which is basically most of my life…  She really is amazing the way she keeps on working decade after decade.