Book 25: Mary Magdalene: A Personal Connection
During the time of Jesus, there was every reason to believe that, according to his teachings and within his own inner circle, women were uniquely empowered as fully equal. It was not until the fourth century that the church was on its way to understanding itself in opposition to women.
The early image of Mary Magdalene as a trusted apostle of Jesus proved to be a major obstacle to establishing male dominance. As a result, she was simply recast, courtesy of Pope Gregory in 591 AD, as the repentant sinner, the prostitute, the whore, the harlot, wherein the emphasis on sexuality, as the root of all evil, further served to subordinate all women; an ingenious idea, an even more lucrative plan.
Based on the inner reflection of this inquisitive author, Mary Magdalene: A Personal Connection reminds one that we are a composite of both feminine and masculine; our true, pure, essential selves.
In accordance with the mystical traditions that came to be known as alchemy, many have looked at these processes as being about converting the physical metal of lead into gold, but the key message in all of this was the transformation of the individual and thereby discovering what it means to be spirit residing within a human (physical) body.
In order to become truly spiritual beings, we must accept ourselves as we are, and also as we are becoming, for therein lies the truth behind the alchemical marriage between the enlightened heart (feminine) and the illumined mind (masculine); the result of which is, none other than, the Philosopher’s Stone.
A few years ago, I read The Dead Sea Scrolls; the ancient Christian texts that had been discarded from the canonized version of The Bible from the very outset of an organized religion under Constantine that separated Christians from a direct personal connection with God and completely undermined and misrepresented the role of women in the early Church.
These texts immediately resonated with me. They introduced me to the concept of Gnostic Christianity and reconciled my own personal feeling of a true relationship between Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene even though the Bible skirts lightly on any dialogue between them and attempts to put all of the emphasis on his teachings and relationship with his male disciples.
After reading The Dead Sea Scrolls, I was convinced that the true teachings of Christ were not included in our traditional Bible. There are very brief quotes from Him in the New Testament. The standard New Testament is comprised of historical narratives from a handful of his disciples, several books written as letters or instructions from Paul (converted after the passing of Christ) who was not only NOT a disciple but did not receive one word of instruction from Jesus Christ himself, and the final hallucinogenic Book of Revelations (whose true author has never been identified).
In the rediscovered texts of The Dead Sea Scrolls (including the Book of Mary) the true teachings of Christ were given in much more depth and His relationship with Mary Magdalene (who is often alluded to, or outright stated in a few passages, as his wife). At the very least, she was the one who got His teachings and was the true disciple to carry his word to the world.
Michele Doucette’s Mary Magdalene: A Personal Connection not only validated my connection to a more spiritual concept of worship, but contained a wealth of new knowledge about the topic that I did not know. Her book is very well footnoted; the research materials she uses allows her readers to expand their knowledge on the topic to their heart’s desire by reading those sources as well.
It is very well written and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is left unfulfilled or even unsettled (as I am) by the teachings of organized religion. This book places Mary Magdalene in her rightful position as the most enlightened of Jesus’ disciples and explains that His teachings were intended to give every individual an intense personal relationship with the Divine.
David de Paul