(This is an excerpt from a University Of Metaphysical Sciences course at www.umsonline.org, please feel free to visit the school website)
Written by Sheranda Tay
Introduction
Once upon a time, about 2000 years ago in a little town called Magdala
in Palestine, a girl was born who would captivate the world. She was
Mary Magdalene. We will explore her life and her soul in this
metaphysical course of study to gain a deeper understanding of the
woman that has been known to be everything from a common prostitute to
a venerated saint of the Orthodox Catholic Church.
The quest has blossomed with The Da Vinci Code (1997), by Dan Brown,
to discover the true Mary Magdalene. Eager New Age followers and
Catholics alike are all asking: Who was Mary Magdalene, and was she
really married to Jesus? The launch of this quest for knowledge about
the Biblical figure Mary Magdalene, the belief that she was married to
Jesus and they might have even had children, really started with the
book Holy Blood, Holy Grail (1982) by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln.
I myself was lured into its mystery and intrigue in 1984. The book
states that a secret society of mystical, wealthy, warrior-like male
figures, “The Knights Templar,” lasted throughout the centuries.
Supposedly, “The Knights Templar” kept the secret that there was a
physical bloodline of Jesus Christ through his marriage to Mary
Magdalene. I did not feel repulsed by this hypothesis and in fact I was
excited to learn of this romantic mystery. This mystery, however, I
have learned has many dark veils. Who was Mary Magdalene? What do you
believe? Why is she such an enigma? How did the politics of religion
play into her story?
The many faces of The Magdalene
represent the journey of the soul. It is through the process of falling
from grace, and then climbing back up, that we master the traps of the
third dimensional reality. The Magdalene represents the repressed,
degraded, once spiritual woman, driven into exile from a cruel,
murderous world. Through centuries of sacrificial acts of lambs
and brutal war, we have come to the end of the fight, and we must
finally surrender, to the Mother, to the Father, to our divine
callings. We long to go home and live in peace.
The
“Magdalene Messengers,” are singing about The Coming of The Bride and
her Bridegroom Jesus. You may be a “Magdalene Messenger,” feeling drawn
to step up and say: Mary Magdalene is important to our times and we ask
her for spiritual direction. Sounds like romantic fancy? Yes it is and
yet, it is possibly true. The Heaven on Earth plans didn’t get
cancelled. Sarah Heartsong and The Sharing Group say in The Return Of The Dove
(2006) that although many have forgotten, Mary Magdalene is coming back
to remind us that soon, “The Dark Will Fall, and Christ Will Reign over
Planet Earth! Perhaps you hear the wedding bells for Jesus Christ? You
are not alone. The popularity of the Magdalene reflects upon the joy of
return, and ‘The Return of The Dove’ is upon us now.” This paragraph
reflects my personal beliefs that are based on extensive research on
the subject.
I am an individual who looks for truth
through metaphysical resources, as well as resources that are more
traditional. That is why I wrote a course for a metaphysical
university, otherwise, I would be limited by the narrow vision of the
third dimensional modern thought. If I were a feminist or a biblical
scholar, teaching a women’s studies course through a university, I
would be extremely limited. Just being a feminist or a biblical scholar
alone, would cause a biased outlook. I have always known that beyond
bias lives Truth. In the discussion section, I will give my hypothesis
as to what I believe is true about the Mary Magdalene. For now I will
stick to a well-rounded informational viewpoint.
In the beginning of writing this course I set out to find out what
single archetype did Mary Magdalene represent. I could not narrow it
down to just one or two. Mary Magdalene’s archetypes in my
understanding include The Enigma, The Divine Feminine, The Sophia,
(Wisdom Deity), The Embodied Mother Goddess, The Black Madonna, The
Bride of Christ, The Scorned One, The Repentant One, The Envied
Companion of the Savior, The Co-redemptrix (a female redeemer), The
Tower and yet the human woman fallen ill from the ways of the world. Is
there anything that this woman doesn’t embody? Well yes, she was never
an evil woman, a slut or a prostitute. Those labels have been given to
her by those who had motives to discredit her. She has survived the
judgment, and she is now more loved and accepted than ever. The
emotional reaction she provokes in people amazes me.
Today she is in the limelight and I think Magdalene-Mania is here to
stay and why not? We could use a strong female superhero, one that
might have been married to Christ! Meet Mary Magdalene, an
intrinsically simple yet complicated female legend and the most popular
Major Arcane Tarot figure of our current times. This is probably
because we are in the last years of “the end times.” She was the one
who 2000 years ago announced that Christ had Risen. Now it is our turn
to Rise and Ascension is for every human! Wouldn’t it be fitting that
Mary Magdalene would enter our consciousness now. The year 2000 has
passed and still Jesus has not returned. So many metaphysically
opened-minded people hold on to their hopes and personal beliefs
regarding the Ascension, and many Christians believe that the horrors
of Revelations will soon play out. This planetary birthing process is
very scary. Mary Magdalene I feel, holds our hopes, fears, dreams and
imagination in the palm of her hands. How do you feel about her?
Through this metaphysical course, I hope to explore the life and soul
of Mary Magdalene in such a way, as to give you a clear metaphysical
understanding of who she really was, beyond bias. What you will learn
is that our fascination with her is based on profound spiritual
significance, Gnostic wisdom, and most of all, the desire for Truth!
She is an enigma because we do not know who she really was, or is
(remember life is a continuance). She has mirrored all of us, but who
is she beyond our mirrors of her? To quote the book by Susan Haskins, Mary Magdalene: Myth And Metaphor
(1993), “I realized that her image embodied the perceptions of every
era, being refashioned again and again to suit the needs and
aspirations of the times.” Good work Susan Haskins, my sentiments
exactly!
Who was Mary Magdalene? What do you believe?
Why is she such an enigma? Why do we care about her, so deeply? Right
now, I will give you the Internet’s poll on Mary Magdalene. Here are
the scores:
I think Mary Magdalene was probably:
(6%) A reformed prostitute
(27%) Jesus’ wife
(26%) An early church leader whose importance is not fully reflected in the Bible
(41%) One of Jesus’ followers and the first to see the risen Christ, as it says in the Bible