Wednesday, April 14, 2010

There's something about Mary


... Magdalene, that is.

There is so much about this amazing woman that intrigues me, but up until almost twelve months ago, I had not given her too much thought. I knew her as one of the weeping women at the foot of the cross, and as the woman who discovered the empty cave on the day of the resurrection but that was where my knowledge of Mary Magdalene ended.

Something strange started happening to me last year though, and Mary was everywhere. I had known for many years that my path was waiting for me, and that I would be led in the right direction at some point, but it took Mary to shine that light. Over a period of several weeks, the Magdalene began her work on me, and she popped up in the most unusual places. I kept seeing pictures of her, on television, in books, and in magazines. Novels that I was reading mentioned her several times, and I even saw ads on the TV for documentaries about her life. It became a little private joke between my husband and I for a while, 'Oh look, there's Mary again!' etc, until I realised that perhaps I had better look into her a little deeper, and find out what it was that she was trying to tell me.

So I googled. And I googled. And I googled until I understood. Mary was far more than I knew her to be. I now know her to be one of the most important of Jesus' disciples, and was more than likely to have been his partner or perhaps even his wife. She was a strong, intelligent woman who helped Jesus show people 'the way', and some believe her to have had the deepest understanding of his teachings - more so than any of his better known disciples. Somehow her story became warped over time though, and with the help of the church and their anti-women dogma, she became the fallen woman - the prostitute. In New Testament writings however, the church withdrew this statement and she is now considered a saint by the Catholic Church, and her teachings are becoming more and more popular. Is this because the church feel sorry for the defamation of her character?

During my googling, I came across a website for the Goddess Association of Australia. I was led here as the theme for their upcoming conference was Magdalene. Coincidence? I think not. I believe that this is what Mary was pointing me to all along. I must have spent hours scouring the website and learning everything I could. I had never heard of a Goddess Association, and really had no idea what it was about. I only knew that I found something really important. From the website, I came across a lady called Ashra who runs Moontree. Her website was like a slap upside the face to me! Literally. Without knowing what I was looking for, I somehow knew I'd found it. I enrolled in her four session Phoenix Rising course, and during this I felt as though I had come home. I cried, and I laughed - more so, in the car on the way home after each session, as the realisations of this journey hit me.

So after lots more reading, lots and lots more googling, attending the Goddess Conference (and discovering many friends who I had no idea were on this same path!), I now find myself in my first thirteen moons with Mikailah at Lily Womyn. I'm still learning, and I am still trying to make sense of everything that has shown itself to me in the last year, but I will always be eternally grateful to Mary Magdalene. She embodies the Divine Mother - that beautiful feminine force in all women. The part of us that has been hidden away for centuries, but that cries out to us from our soul. I didn't know my soul was crying, but I do know now that it is rejoicing.

Something is lost....

Something is found
They will keep on speaking Her name
Somethings change
Some stay the same...

Inspiring words from one of my favourite songs.

Without searching, I found something that I had been unconsciously looking for for nearly 15 years. When I look back now, the signs were all there. I just didn't know how to put them together. Now that I have completed that puzzle, I am on a journey far bigger than I had ever expected.

I've returned to Goddess, and I'm really excited!