This book on the surface may not seem like it has much to do with Brigid… but well, there’s a load of stuff in here that just spoke to me. Plus, Mary Magdalene gets a raw deal from the Catholic Church so I like to speak about her positively.
I will say, I didn’t realise the author is the same woman who developed the Divine Feminine Oracle, but she is. I find that oracle deck very interesting and useful. It also speaks to me in supporting the advance of the divine feminine, which Brigid ties into as well. Not that I necessarily agree with the notion that all goddesses are one goddess. But I do believe that Brigid has an interest in getting people used to the notion that female can be divine as well as male. Or indeed, any being on the spectrum of gender can be divine, without being either male or female…
Anyway, on to the book. This book is not a detailed discussion of the Gospel of Mary Magdalene. It does provide good insights into the gospel and discusses in detail the author’s responses to the contents. Essentially this book takes us through the seven demons that Mary Magdalene is said to have cast out.
I don’t think letting ye know the contents page is unreasonable since it gives an excellent overview of what’s in the book and saves me typing out the seven demons 🙂
There is an overarching message through this book. That message is of looking within and tuning in to that part of ourselves that we know to be true. Now (UPG alert) Brigid is always on at me about this: tuning into myself and sinking into that part of me that isn’t bothered with anything that isn’t me. It sounds selfish right? And sometimes it is, but sometimes we need that selfishness.
The most important part of this book (and it’s repeated a few times) is the quote from the Gospel of Mary Magdalene: The Saviour replied: “There is no such thing as sin.” This is a major departure from the teachings of modern Christianity, certainly the Catholic Church. I mean, the Catholic Church, as it stands today, was built on the notion that we must be saved from sin, original sin, our own sins, all sin. It’s groundbreaking.
Any yet, it shouldn’t be. Many of the sins the Church is most vocal and worried about are those to do with sex. And Jesus didn’t talk about sex. Neither does Mary Magdalene either, however often she is referred to as a sex worker by the Church. (We should note at this point that there are elements of sex, particularly nonconsensual sex that the Church stays quiet about or victim blames or forgives abusers on… I may at some point have more to say on this, but for now, I just want to acknowledge it and say this is shit.) But back to the book. These is some discussion on sin in this book: mainly due to defending against the modern Church views rather than content of the Gospel.
Mostly, what this book asks us to do is to be true to ourselves, authentic human beings. And Mary Magdalene comes across as this sort of human being as well – more accessible than a Divine Father Patricarchal Figure. And honestly, I can’t argue with that. Of course, we can always strive for improvement. We can always learn from mistakes and regrets, but we can also stay true to ourselves. To stay true to ourselves, we must know ourselves, we must recognise ourselves, we must spend time with ourselves to learn about ourselves.
And really, no book that asks us to do that will get a down vote from me. And that’s one of the first things Brigid will be asking you to do. If you don’t know yourself, you’ll be less useful to her. So… get on with it!
If you want to read it yourself, you can find the Mary Magdalene Revealed here for UK or here for US. And I know Mary Magdalene is a Catholic figure. If you’d like to learn more about how I combine Catholicism and Paganism, I have a few posts on it. the first one is here. Equally, if you want to read my thoughts on why intersectionality is hugely important in spirituality, have a read here.
