Mary Magdalene

The Feast of Mary Magdalene is held every year on July 22nd. It is celebrated most enthusiastically in parts of Spain, Southern France and Italy. The feasting began in the 8th century. Twelve hundred years ago. It continues today. However, in the 21st century, the Feast of Mary Magdalene is becoming a much bigger banquet.

Mary Magdalene is now a movement and a social phenomenon. She gained momentum in the 20th century when the Nag Hammadi Library, a trove of Gnostic texts, was discovered in Egypt in 1945. The texts were written in Coptic language. The translation was stalled until 1977 when James Robinson published a startling English translation. In the texts were numerous gospels, one named "The Gospel of Mary". The only gospel ever found to be named for a woman. In it, Mary Magdalene appears to be revealed as the primary Apostle. The person most favored by Christ.

In 1982, the spotlight shown again on Mary with the publication of the book
Holy Blood, Holy Grail. The book's authors, Baigent, Lincoln and Leigh, proposed that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married. That they conceived a child. That Mary traveled to Gaul while pregnant. That her womb was and is the Holy Grail.

In 2003, Dan Brown wrote the explosive and controversial novel, The Da Vinci Code. About the revelation and protection of the bloodline of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. As of this year, 30 million people world wide have read it. More have seen the movie. Mary Magdalene is now a global force.

Although Mary's status as the Biblical whore was retracted by the Christian powers that be in the late 1960's, to many religious-minded people, she will forever be the prostitute. The whore. The woman in need of repenting. The symbol, along with Eve, of the "inherent" inferior nature of the feminine.

To those who have opened their hearts and minds to the possibility of Mary Magdalene being much more than the patriarchal church has revealed, there are two main factions. One faction honors Mary Magdalene as the primary Apostle. The other honors her as the Holy Grail. Undoubtedly, there are countless variations that lie between the two. Just as it should be. Because no one theory or belief in the worlds of religion and spirituality is resonant with every heart.

If there wasn't something crucial needed in today's world, the archetype of Mary Magdalene would not be so newsworthy. She would still be cast in shadows. She would still be bare-breasted, kneeling, repentant and submissive.

In 2006, she is not.

In 2006, Mary Magdalene has burst to the surface. She is wearing royal robes. She is holding her head up. She is smiling. She is crowned.

Mary Magdalene is opening hearts and opening dialogue. Her energy is needed as the balancing of humanity and planet earth shifts into 4th gear. She is the energy and the archetype of the feminine standing side-by-side with the masculine. She is the energy of equality. She is the weakened yin force resurrected and renewed, ready to balance the overly yang force still dominating the planet. She is the herald of the return to honoring the feminine. She is the herald of the return to love.



{The Mary Magdalene wood carving pictured above resides in a small, Protestant church called "The Church by the Sea" in Schobull, Germany. She is carved in a line with the 12 male Apostles. The artist carved her at the head of the line.}