"And all shall be well and
All manner of thing shall be well
When the tongues of flame are infolded
Into the crowned knot of fire
And the fire and the rose are one." — T.S. Elliot
(From an engraved window at Salisbury Cathedral, England)
'Scarlet Woman, penitent sinner,
Sister-Bride, whore, Black Madonna, high Priestess of Isis, Mistress
of the Elements, Beloved wife of Jesus, favored disciple, Mary of
Bethany, Miriam of Magdala, Magdal-eder, the tower-stronghold, Daughter
of Sion', Maria-Sophia, are just some of the titles and attributes
accorded to me. I have been described as 'beauty consuming itself
like incense, far from the eyes of men', troubadours have sung
of the fruit of my womb, the Sangraal, the living Grail mysteries
and the bloodline of Jesus. Yet do they have any idea of the endless
years of my intense spiritual grooming and my ensuing ministry? I
am calling out now, for my true essence to come forth… for beauty
and truth shall save the world.'
We begin our journey into the Magdalene mysteries, following her trail
of legends and shrines throughout France and Britain, as mysterious
threads of a woven story — a story whose time has finally come.
Her presence is suddenly re-emerging in books, new translations of
Gnostic gospels, television specials and film, making her way into
our psyches and preparing new ground for healing at least 4000 years
of separation of spirit and sensuality. When the primary aspects of
one's true essential nature (Tibetans would term this Ground Luminosity)
are fragmented, outside forces (such as relationships, family, church
or government) can easily dominate and manipulate one's life. Magdalene's
legacy calls us to retrieve the fragments of our sensual, passionate
natures, and when impregnated with divine love and a spiritual fire,
the alchemy of sacred union transforms us. She represents a profound
knowledge of the mysteries of the sacred marriage, earthly and heavenly
union, embodied spiritual passion and a necessary lost chord in the
remnants of the song of the sacred feminine.
"The people shall rejoice and dance within, and all the kingdoms
shall rise together as if from the mist of the dreams of humanity,
and forge a union with the divine… and man shall join woman in
the final dance of alchemy." 'I Remember Union—The Story
of Maria Magdalena' by Flo Aeveia Magdalena.
Signs of the Grail in Avalon
The Egg and the Serpent |
When
I made my first journey into the sacred sites of Great Britain
in 1987, I had no idea how deeply I would be impacted by the
rich layers of Mary's story that are still palpable and readily
accessible to modern pilgrims. In Glastonbury, England, the
site of ancient Avalon, I was struck with the 'presence' of
both Mary's—Mary Mother of Jesus and Mary Magdalene, in
the shrines, cathedral ruins, springs, and even her presence
in the land itself. The St. Michael and St. Mary ley lines (dowsed
lines of energy) weave back and forth over each other across
England, intersecting at the major archeological sites and early
Christian cathedrals. Mary's dragon line moves in a serpentine
flow, crossing the straight Michael line in a repeating geomantic
hieros-gamos or signs of sacred union in the land. (See The
Sun and The Serpent by Hamish Miller and Paul Broadhurst). |
The famous Glastonbury Abbey with it's Mary Chapel was founded in
its original humble form of mud and thatch sometime between 41- 63
A.D. by Joseph of Arimathea. In fact, it was the world's first Christian
church above ground. (The earliest Christians were forced to meet
underground in both Jerusalem and Rome, to avoid persecution). According
to the 1922 publication 'St. Joseph of Arimathea at Glastonbury'
by Lionel S. Lewis, Joseph came to the Isle of Glas, an older name
for Glastonbury, in about 31 A.D. with ten companions to spread Christ's
message. It is said that they were told in a vision by the Archangel
Gabriel to build a church in honor of Mary. One legend states that
after Mary died, Joseph brought her body to Glastonbury, to be buried
in a crypt at the present Mary Chapel of the Abbey. This Mary is normally
presumed to be Mary, the 'Virgin' Mother, but could it be the other
Mary, The Magdalene? (There are other legends that say she is buried
in France).
Margaret Starbird, in her book 'The Woman with the Alabaster Jar',
states, "Some of the later European legends say that Joseph of
Arimathea caught the blood of the dying Jesus in a chalice and brought
it to Western Europe by boat during the early persecution of the followers
of Jesus in Jerusalem (A.D. 42). One chronicler preserves the story
that Joseph of Arimathea brought two cruets containing the blood and
sweat of Jesus to Glastonbury England, and a staff of hawthorn that
sprouted and bloomed when it was planted."
(Several offspring of that original hawthorn, a species that is only
found here and in the Middle-East, are still growing in Glastonbury…
within the Abbey grounds, on Wearyall Hill and at Chalice Well Gardens.
It blooms during the Christian holy weeks at Easter, and Christmas,
or Winter Solstice, and is a powerful symbol of death and birth, as
its red fruit and white flowers happen at the same moment.)
Numerous European legends tell of Joseph of Arimathea traveling with
Mary Magdalene and several others to Egypt after the crucifixion,
later landing on the southern coast of France, at a town now known
as Saints-Marie-de-la -Mer. It is not known whether or not Magdalene
then accompanied Joseph further north into Britain, however in the
2002 book 'The Magdalen Manuscript', by Tom Kenyon and Judi
Sion, she is said to have lived in Glastonbury for two periods of
time, as well as in Southern France (The Magdalen Manuscript is available
at www.tomkenyon.com).
At Bride's Mound, on the western edge of Glastonbury, there are a
few scattered remains of a stone wall from the old Magdalene Chapel.
It is also near Bride's Mound that the ancient Blue Bowl was uncovered
in the early 1900's and many British mystics claimed it was a Grail
bowl (some experts date it from Italy about 700 A.D). It is now being
kept at Chalice Well, and on our annual Magdalene pilgrimages to Britain,
our groups have had the opportunity to use the bowl in meditations…
and there is a powerful remnant of the sacred in the Blue Bowl!
Just a few hundred yards from Chalice Well and in the center of the
village is the Mary Chapel of the famous Glastonbury Abbey. In one
corner of the chapel, a beautiful little well dedicated to St. Joseph
still runs with clear Avalon white spring water. And on the southern
outside wall there is a most intriguing inscribed stone, perhaps alluding
to the sacred marriage of Jesus and Magdalene, Jesus Maria.
These are the very same words on a banner carried by Joan of Arc during
the crusades, relating to the wedding at Cana and the bloodline of
the Holy Grail. Just outside the Mary Chapel, lay the purported graves
of King Arthur and Guinevere, continuing this theme of the sacred
marriage!
St. Joseph's Well
Glastonbury Abbey |
Jesus Maria stone at Abbey Mary Chapel |
In tracking the names and remnants of the Grail Mystery, The healing waters of the red and white springs of Avalon give another clue to the alchemy of union, of earth and spirit, female and male. The white (chalk) spring pours liberally from the base of the Tor, the 'yang' central high point in the landscape, and the red spring emerges within the 'yin' nurturing Chalice Well Gardens just a few feet away… it is also called the blood spring, as it is full of natural iron, causing the well stones' strong red color. Two very old "bleeding" yew trees stand as a gateway to the lower end of the garden, where the red spring flows into two interlocking pools, a shape well-known in sacred geometry called the Vesica Pisces. This shape is constructed by drawing two equal circles so that the center of each lies on the circumference of the other. This symbol of sacred union is an important symbol in Christian mysticism (sign of the fish, or Pisces) and the geometry of ancient temple design, including the Mary Chapel.
Vesica Pisces pool at Chalice Well
"The Vesica Pisces is a powerful symbol of the creation and regeneration of forms in the natural world, and given the long and successive use of the site of the two springs as a place of death and rebirth, it is not surprising that this generative symbol should appear." From 'The Red and White Springs' by Nicholas Mann.
Signs and remnants of both Mary Magdalene and Mother Mary abound in Britain, as well as the Grail Mysteries and symbols of sacred union, the path of the Beloved.
This theme of the two Mary's began gestating within me nearly twenty years ago, and continues to unfold my own developing understanding of the sacred feminine. This process is an inner integration of the mythos of both Mother Mary and Mary Magdalene, the embracing of a powerful earthy sensual aliveness of the Magdalene, the path of The Beloved, and the heavenly and transcendent love of the Mother. Even though these two Mary's have become widely separated in the human psyche, I believe it is time we reconcile these polarities as necessary step of healing our world.
Magog, the grandmother oak speaks:
On my annual pilgrimage to Avalon this last May, I allowed an extra week of personal retreat time at Chalice Well Gardens to contemplate more deeply the Magdalene. My intention was to delve into her mysteries, and perceive how she might be an essential metaphor for our world out of balance. I had a hunch that the wisdom of old Magog, the grandmother oak tree might shed some light. (Magog and Gog are the only two survivors of an ancient ceremonial avenue of oaks leading up to the Tor).
As I sat at the foot of this matriarch, I 'heard' the following message:
"I am the alchemy of the interaction of elements—drawing my blood, sap, resins from the deep earth, mixing with sunlight, air, water, giving new life. Knowledge and deep memory is held in my sap-blood—the same as your blood. Magdalene impregnated the earth here in this land (Avalon) with her essence, embedding her lineage, knowledge, her experience and mastery of light in the land, in the soil, to be contacted by all who touch this land—a transmission through holy blood. The trees continue this alchemy, from earth and sky mixing, recreating, renewing through the elements, the ancient roots, and the ancient feminine bloodline are alive in us. The story always recreates itself in new life, acorns will sprout new oaks and our mystery continues on and on." |
Magog the grandmother oak |
During the days following,
I continued to sense the magic of this cleansing property of the elements,
the fierce wind and rain sweeping across the moors, the sudden warm
sun breaking through, lighting the raw power and presence of the stones,
working alchemically to cleanse and renew, not only the land, but
also myself.
"From prehistoric times, the Universal Goddess had appeared in
many guises and had been known by many names; however personified,
she was always identified with Isis the Universal Mother, Mistress
of all the Elements…" 'Bloodline of the Holy Grail' by
Lawrence Gardner. (Isis is the Beloved of Osiris, both masters of
the alchemy of transmutation through the elements)
I was reminded of two visions my friend Stanley Messenger had many
years ago of Mary Magdalene. Stanley is living in Glastonbury, a well-respected
mystic and teacher, and even at nearly ninety years old, still actively
sharing his wisdom with many. The first vision he shared with me was
that of seeing Magdalene in the Glastonbury Abbey, where she was waist
deep in the earth with her breasts resting on the ground. Her hands
were turning, working the soil, as if mixing her awareness with the
earth, an alchemical blending. When Stanley realized what she was
doing, she turned and winked at him.
"And you, O Magdal-eder,
Tower-Stronghold of daughter Sion,
Through you shall it come.
The former dominion shall be restored…
But for now you shall dwell in the fields…
And from there you shall be rescued." (Mic.4:8-10)
Lion drinking fountain at Chalice Well
(Also a symbol of the Lion of Judah
and the sacred bloodline of the Holy Grail)
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On another occasion in La Val Dieu (Valley of God), France, near Rennes le Chateau, where she is said to have lived following the crucifixion, Stanley and a friend both saw a woman they felt to be Magdalene bending down in a field, turning the soil and the ground was bleeding. The vision faded, but they had both seen the same image. Once again, she is seen working her magic in the earth, lady of the elements, transforming matter, revealing and maintaining the truth of the Blood Mysteries.
Sue Palmer, a colleague of Stanley's, is known for her dramatic one-woman show 'The Magdalene'. As I spoke to her in Glastonbury last May, she said, "Britain is the path of love, the path of the sacred rites of Mary's knowledge and bloodline, but always the path of love. She has a greater capacity for love—there is the story of her journey into the deep cave systems in France, where she is said to have journeyed for two thousand years. On emerging out of the caverns, light poured from her eyes like liquid pearls." |
"I am the single radiance by
which all is aroused and within which it is vibrant…
For the man who has found me, the door to all things stands open…
I am the magnetic force of the universal presence and the ceaseless
ripple of its smile."
(Excerpts from Hymn To the Eternal Feminine by Teilhard de Chardin)
'Unexplained phenomena' captured by the camera of Dr. Eileen Palmer
What history tells us about Magdalene
Few biographical details about the life of MM can be found in the Biblical and Gnostic texts. However, one of the main sources is found in the writings of Blessed James of Voragine (c.1230-1298), author of 'The Golden Legend'. According to Voragine, Mary was of royal blood, the daughter of Syrus (Syrian) and Eucharia (from eucharis, gracious, a term applied to Aphrodite). She, her brother, Lazarus and her sister Martha owned seven castles, in addition to the village of Bethany and much of Jerusalem.
Gnostic references refer to her as the favored disciple in the inner circle traveling with Jesus. The following quote spoken by Jesus to Magdalene illustrates her exalted role as a woman among the other disciples:
"Mariham, Mariham, the happy, this whom I shall complete in all the mysteries of the things of the Height. Speak in boldness, because thou art she whose heart straineth toward the Kingdom of the heavens more than all thy brothers… you who will give light upon everything in accuracy and in exactness." From Pistis Sophia (Askew Codex), quoted in the book 'Mary Magdalen' by Susan Haskins.
The Gnostic Gospel of Philip describes Magdalene as "… the companion of the Saviour. But Christ loved her more than all the disciples and used to kiss her often on the mouth. The rest of the disciples were offended by it and expressed disapproval. They asked, 'why do you love her more than all of us?' The Saviour answered and said to them, 'Why do I not love you like her: When a blind man and one who sees are both together in darkness, they are no different from one another. When the light comes then he who sees will see the light, and he who is blind will remain in darkness…"
She anointed Jesus twice with her alabaster jar of Nard, once upon his head, and another time at his feet, wiping them afterwards with her long hair. This fragrant, sweet-smelling ointment is known as Spikenard, which in those days grew high in the Himalayan Mountains. This would have been part of the sacred marriage ritual known to the high priestesses of that time. However, for two millennia, Magdalene has been portrayed by the church as a sinner and prostitute, not as Bride. Yet, in the Old Testament's Song of Solomon, a series of beautiful love canticles between a bridegroom and his bride, this act of anointing is identified as symbolic of espousal.
"You spread a banquet before me, you anoint my head with oil".
In ancient Hebrew, Sumerian and Egyptian times, priestesses were trained in music, healing arts, and high magic, using chant, sacred dance and herbal unguents as medicine. During the third and fourth centuries A.D., Emperor Constantine and the council at Nicea decreed that women were forbidden to speak or sing in church and the healing traditions of women across the Mediterranean and Europe were suppressed.
The following quote from 'The Gospel of Mary Magdalene', a translation from the Coptic text with commentary by Lean-Yves Leloup, reveals more:
"Mary's identity as a prostitute stems from Homily 33 of Pope Gregory I, delivered in the year 591… Only in 1969 did the Catholic Church officially repeal Gregory's labeling of Mary Magdalene as a whore, thereby admitting their error—though the image of Magdalene as the penitent whore has remained in the public teachings of all Christian denominations. Like a small erratum buried in the back pages of a newspaper, the Church's correction goes unnoticed, while the initial and incorrect article continues to influence readers."
In his book 'Genesis of the Grail Kings', Lawrence Gardner follows the influence of Lilith, a Goddess of extreme light and dark, 'black but beautiful', an unusually free spirit, and the original femme fatal. "It was in its dealings with the heritage of Lilith that the Jewish Church of the Middle-Ages came to shadow the Christian Church's denigration of Mary Magdalene—and it was for the very same reason that she was proclaimed a wicked harlot and a sorceress. Whereas Mary Magdalene was the wife of Jesus and the mother of the sacred Bloodline (the Sangreal) from the 1st century, it was with Lilith that it al began, about 4000 years before."
Mary Magdalene was one of the women, along with Jesus' mother Mary, at the foot of the crucifixion cross, and according to the Gospel of John, the first woman to arrive at the garden and see the Risen Christ. Her presence with Jesus in the garden not only reveals her key position with Him, but places Magdalene at the center of the Resurrection Mysteries.
The Pentagram and Venus in Magdalene's Land:
Legends abound regarding Magdalene's tenure in southern France, arriving with her small entourage under the protective guidance of Joseph of Arimathea in about 42 A.D. (following the crucifixion). And now, every year on the twenty-fifth of May, throngs crowd into the seaport village of Saints-Marie-de-la-Mer to carry her effigy through the streets, with the music of the many gypsies and their horse-drawn carts, who have gathered from all over Europe to celebrate Magdalene's arrival.
In about 1971, a British writer and scholar named Henry Lincoln arrived in nearby Rennes le Chateau (Queen of the House) to research his theories on the royal bloodline of the House of David, the lineage of Magdalene and Jesus. (He is known for his book Holy Blood, Holy Grail, co-authored with Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh). Rennes is perched on a steep mountaintop, about twenty-five miles from Carcassonne, an impressive medieval walled city. For centuries, it has been on the ancient Christian pilgrimage route, which stretched from northern Europe to Santiago de Compostela, Spain (translating as land of stars). Paulo Coelho (Diary of a Magus) and Shirley MacLaine (The Camino) have both written of the mystery and magic of their own long walks along this sacred path.
Magdalene's Pentagram at Rennes
From Key To The Sacred Pattern
by Henry Lincoln
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A: Bezu summit, (maps name the
spot as Chateau Templier Ruines).
B: High mountain point aligned with two Templar churches,
Antugnac and Granes.
C: Tour Magdala at Rennes
D: Blanchefort, ruin of an ancient watch tower.
E: La Soulane Mountain, visible local high point |
Henry
Lincoln has dedicated three decades to decoding Mary's mysteries in
the land surrounding Rennes, and his findings are documented in his
book 'Key To The Sacred Pattern'. Lincoln also produced a series
of BBC documentaries covering the Rennes mysteries, one of which was
'Shadow of the Templars', showing his discoveries of a five-pointed
star in the relationship of the mountains and key Templar shrines
around Rennes, and the star's hidden image in the old parchments of
the Priory of Sion.
Rennes le Chateau's village church was consecrated to the Magdalene in 1059 and in 1891, the parish priest, Berenger Sauniere began church restorations, adding new altars honoring the Magdalene. In this process, he discovered old parchments, one dating from 1244, another from 1644, said to contain genealogies of the royal bloodline.
The Priory of Sion was tied with the Knights Templar and claims of the Merovingian kings to be descendents of the Davidic bloodline through the lineage of Mary Magdalene and Jesus. Many of the Parisian elite belonged to this secret society, including the French music composer Claude Debussy, listed as Grand Master of the Priory of Sion.
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Merovingian grail watermark with fruit of the vine or royal bloodline of MM
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Because of Magdalene's
role in the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus, she was seen
by the Gnostics and mystics of the Middle-ages to be 'The Medium
of Secret Revelation.' These same Gnostics also associated her with
the planet Venus. In the cultures of Egypt, China, Babylon, Druids,
Mayans and many more, the movements of the stars and planets determined
ceremonial cycles and the building patterns of megalithic sites
and temples. Lincoln states:
"As they turn, the planets are showing us the mysterious
workings of God's hand, expressed in the harmonious movements of
the spheres… each planet, as it revolves in its orbit, reaches
positions where Earth, Sun and Planet form distinct alignment patterns…
only one planet shows us a perfect geometrical form. This form is
pentagonal and the planet is Venus. Creating five equally-spaced
alignments over a period of eight years, she draws the perfect,
hidden and secret symbol of the five-pointed star in the heavens…
as above, so below. The very landscape bears the sign of her secret
revelation."
Sedona's Pentagram and Madonna Rock
In esoteric mystery schools, the pentagram represents creative power
and the potential realized human. The ideal physical proportions
are seen by overlaying the human form upon the pentagram, with the
reproductive organs at the center. The five-pointed stars appear
repeatedly on the Egyptian temple walls, symbolizing Eternity, and
in another Egyptian reference, when one both perceives and expresses
beauty through all five senses, the possible 'star' human is born.
To the Pythagoreans, it is the number love because it represents
three, the first male number, and two, the first female number.
Again, we find references to the sacred marriage and the alchemy
of Magdalene's love and reflections of that sacred harmonic perfection.
According to John Anthony West, in 'Serpent in the Sky', "Five
may also be called the universal number, as from the roots of two,
three and five, all harmonic proportions and relationships can be
derived. The interplay of these proportions and relations commands
the forms of all matter… Five is the key to the vitality of
the universe, its creative nature." And in the alchemy
of the elements of creation, the fire, earth, air, water and ether
(spirit) work their magic to cleanse, renew and transform all forms
of life
| In
Sedona's landscape temple, we find the Madonna impressing her
healing image, reminding us again of her message of eternal
life and love. In Nicholas Mann's book 'Sedona Sacred Earth',
he presents his discovery of a natural five-pointed star pattern
in the red rocks, with the dominant high points of the landscape
falling at each point, amazingly similar to Lincoln's Rennes-le-Chateau
Magdalene pentagram. The naturally occurring star points are
Lee Mountain, the Airport Vortex, Cathedral Rock, Courthouse
Rock and a butte behind Camel Head, with Madonna Rock at the
exact center! (Cathedral Rock also has the image of a man and
woman in the central spires, and is a popular backdrop for thousands
of marriage ceremonies). |
Madonna's Pentagram in Sedona - See
Large Image
Reprinted from Sedona Sacred Earth
by Nicholas R. Mann |
Mann notes in Sedona Sacred Earth: "One of the properties
of the pentagram is that the lines bisect each other according to
the Golden Section (the l.618 or phi ratio of creation and perfect
harmony in music as well as matter—author's note). By its presence
in the pentagram, the Golden Section signals that where five's are
found in the pattern of the natural world conditions will be most
beneficial to life, as for example in the number of petals in the
flowers of edible plants."
(Note: In my earlier reference to the Red Spring
at Chalice Well in Glastonbury, England, and its blood-birth symbolism,
the inner chamber below the ground-level where the red spring emerges
is a pentagonal shape based on ancient Egyptian geometric measurements…
a further key to the sacred patterns and the mystery of the Divine
Feminine.)
Ancient Grail legends promise the healing of the wasteland,
our torn and fragmented human psyche and its reflection in the spoiling
of the Earth. The Grail of the fire in the heart shall be restored,
and the missing chords are being found again in the song of the sacred
feminine. We must reclaim the gardens of Earth, and invite Magdalene's
beauty and blessings into our lives. At last it is time for her to
re-emerge from the underworld of the deep caverns of denial and enter
fully into our consciousness. Mary's legacy is the path of deepest
love, unsealing the springs long dry and deserted, and opening us
to a greater passion for life. Her signs and images reflect back to
us the harmony of the heavens, here in the land and in our hearts.
And interestingly, the Roman numerals for this millennium are MM,
the initials of Mary Magdalene and her secret insignia in the Grail
Mysteries.
Signs of love in the land (old tree stump)
And I do believe all shall be well,
all manner of things shall be well,
when the fire and the rose are one.
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