St Mary Magdalene, page 3
Mary's mother was quite pleased to see the attention showered on her daughter and all the preparations for her eventual marriage to a great man. She believed it was all the best for her daughter and would bring her happiness, because wealth and marriage meant these things to her mother. It was the purpose and meaning of life in her eyes. Besides, in those days, unless born among royalty of gentile nations, it was the best a woman could hope for, and it was her mother's hope for Mary. Mary's father had little love for his daughter; he was preoccupied with his own interests. However, Mary's mother loved her and wished the best for her, knowing all along that Mary was a special child, though never really understanding her daughter. Thus, Mary's mother labored with the same aim as Mary's father, although with a different intention.
The Inner Conflict of the Bride
From her early youth, Mary Magdalene dreamed luminous dreams and beheld divine visions. The spirits of prophets and holy angels came in dreams and visions to her, and they would teach her and show her secret things. Often, she dreamed of her Beloved and she was deeply in love with the Beloved who appeared in her dreams. She never spoke of these things to her father, but she did speak of them to her mother when she was little. When her mother would hear of the things Mary saw and heard, she discouraged her from speaking about them or believing in them.
Quite naturally, as Mary grew, an inner conflict ensued. It was as though she had two lives, one in the spiritual world and the other in the material world, and the two did not meet but were opposed to one another. In the depths of her being she was pulled one way; on the surface she was pulled another. In her heart she knew what was right and true. Yet, life dragged her along another way than that to which her soul was inclined. As one year passed into another, the inner conflict grew within her, until truly it was a torment in her soul. Not knowing what to do and without a spiritual mentor or close friend with knowledge of such things, eventually, when the pain became too great, she gave in and let go of the dreams of her youth and the desire of her holy soul.
The archons, of course, had a large hand in this, for with her great beauty and charm she could get almost anything in the world she desired. Nothing of the world was refused to her. In fact, her power over others, especially men, became somewhat intoxicating, and with the passage of time, even the thought of worldly wealth and power became desirable to her. With great skill, the archons wove the web to ensnare and trap the Holy Bride, and truth be told, they were nearly successful in their plot.
The journey into Babylon
When Mary came of age, her father made arrangements for her and her handmaid, along with a dowry, to travel by caravan to Babylon, where the wealthy Jewish merchant lived to whom she had been promised in marriage. It was a painful departure, for it was then that, truly, she left her dreams behind and perhaps departed from her soul. Nevertheless, there was also excitement in Mary and great expectation. She had heard of the awesome splendor of Babylon and the adventure of travel thrilled her, as it often does with young people. A new life lay ahead of her, perhaps far richer. Thus the pain of her departure was tempered with the enthusiasm of the adventure.
The caravan was to proceed by way of Damascus and then on into the heart of Babylon. On the road going out of Damascus, the caravan was beset by a large band of robbers who swiftly overtook it. These roads were notorious for bandits and were the known haunts of demons. Even though on guard, the caravan was at their mercy. The robbers killed all of the men. While they plundered the caravan, they raped Mary, her handmaid, and the other women who were with them. It was as though the jaws of hell opened to consume the caravan and demons were loosed upon Mary and the women to defile them and crush their souls.
It is said that, when Magdalene was being raped, Lilith, the Dark Sophia, was watching and that she saw the Light in Mary and was attracted to it. Now Lilith has no love of men because of her plight with Adam before the beginning of time, and she has no love of submissive women because of her jealousy of Eve who took her place with Adam. In Mary, she saw something else, something that fascinated her, and seeing the evil and violence of the men, she was inclined toward Mary and felt for her. Thus, Lilith waited until evening. Once the darkness of night came, it is said she entered into Mary Magdalene and all of her rage and brooding darkness entered with her. Really, it is only to be expected, for what transpires in the experience of a woman being raped?
Now at the moment Lilith entered into Mary, the robber who was raping Mary was the leader of the horde, and he intended to take her for himself. Instead, with her magic power, Lilith slew him, so that shortly thereafter he fell dead. The bandits did not associate this with Magdalene. They took her, along with all of the women, and sold her into slavery in Babylon.
Thus it has been said that Eve and Lilith were joined in St. Mary of Magdal, the Bright and Dark Sophia, although it was Lilith who held dominion while Our Lady was in exile in Babylon. Although perchance Lilith led her into great darkness, so also she served to preserve her life, and as it came to pass, she facilitated Mary's restoration to her inmost heart's desire. All of this is a great mystery that can only be discerned inwardly! Yet we suspect many women will innately understand, for many have fallen under the dominion of the male demiurge and survived the dire straits only through the grace of Lilith.
The Slavery of Prostitution
It was not by choice that Mary fell into prostitution. Being purchased as a slave in Babylon, the man who bought her turned her out as a whore. She thought of attempting to escape, but she no longer had any place to go and no means of travel. She considered taking her own life, but there was a rage and desire for vengeance in her that would not allow it-the influence of Lilatu,'2 no doubt. Then, as though by inspiration, she noticed the reaction to her charms by wealthy and powerful men. She began to pay special attention to the most wealthy and powerful who purchased time with her. It was not long before she enticed one of them to buy her freedom, thinking to take her as his wife on account of her great beauty. Once she had her freedom and was bought a residence in the city of Babylon, she would not marry him. Instead, she courted the attention of the most wealthy and powerful men to support herself and to gather a treasury and power to herself. There really was nothing else she could do at the time, and a deep desire for vengeance fueled the zeal for her activities. When she acquired the opportunity and ability to do so, she conspired to have the man killed who had bought her as a slave and made her a prostitute.
Much to her surprise, the death of her oppressor brought her no relief or satisfaction. The rage, hatred, and darkness remained in her, and the pit of emptiness did not depart from her. It is this that attracted seven demons to her, from whom she gained certain magic powers related to enchantments. Although she courted men, in truth she despised them, and inwardly she loathed herself as well. From one gradation to another, she fell into an ever-greater darkness and void, as though passing through the seven abodes of Gehenna to the deepest pit of pure ice. So it was that her heart was hardened and she was exiled from her holy soul. Inwardly, she was slain and left in great torment. It was as though she was an empty shell filled only by chaos and void, akin to the primeval earth at the outset of the entirety.13 The plot of the demiurgos and archons had come to fruition, only they never suspected Lilatu would become involved and serve to act against them.
Lilith and the Archons
It is not surprising that Lilith would act against the demiurgos and archons, for as is reflected by male domination in the world, the demiurgos is male and so also are the majority of the archons. Merely consider the nature of pride and arrogance, or lust and greed, or anger and hate, these powers of war and conquest. Although the heart of Sophian Nigrans14 emanates as Naamah, the Queen of Demons, and her inmost dark essence emanates as Iggaret, the Hag of Chaos, nevertheless Sophia Nigrans is not among the dark and hostile forces nor is she counted among the archons. She seeks to redress the balance in the play of cosmic forces. So it is said that, when the Shekinah is in exile, she is the Divine Consort of the Most High, for she seeks to restore the union of the Father and Mother and to transcend male and female, as was her state in Adam Ha-Rishon at the outset. Thus, entering into Mary, Lilatu wove her web to snare the demiurgos and archons and to cast down male domination! If you can glimpse the inner and secret meaning of this, you will be called wise. Is she not the Dark Wisdom of God through which rebirth in the Spirit comes to pass?
The Return of the Bride from Her Exile
When Mary Magdalene was in the depths of darkness, her soul appearing slain under the dominion of the demiurgos and archons, memories of the dreams and visions of her youth returned to her and the Divine spark within the inmost recesses of her heart ignited, as light entered in. At first, it brought her no comfort, but seemed more like taunting and torment. The demons that were with her struggled against the Light and did everything in their power to overcome it. Nevertheless, Mary began to turn toward the Light and to kindle the holy spark of her soul. She strove against the demons and all of the darkness that was in her, repenting of the darkness and calling out to the Mother, to Divine Grace.
The Spirit of Yaweh answered Mary and empowered her. She withdrew from whoredom and began to use her wealth and power to render assistance to the poor in Babylon. It is said that she bought the freedom of many female slaves and restored them to life, and that in the midst of Babylon, a city of archons worshipped as gods and goddesses, she worshipped the Alien God's whose name was El Elyon, God Most High. She knew God as her Father and her Mother, and the Spirit of God was with her. After some time, the Lord sent a man of God to call her in from her exile. Some say it was a holy man who came to her; others say it was the angel of John the Baptist. In any case, the messenger came and she received him. He said to Mary, In your youth you dreamed dreams and saw visions, and the Spirit of the Lord spoke in you. Listen and hear the word of the Lord, and remember the path of your holy soul and the image of your Beloved. The Lord calls you in from your exile, that you might follow your dreams and seek your Beloved. Pass now from darkness into Light, and from death into life. Your father is dead, and your Father in heaven calls you to return to the holy land. There seek out your Beloved, the Anointed, and be received by the Mother Spirit."
That very day, St. Mary Magdalene made arrangements for her journey back to the holy land, finding a caravan that was to depart the next day. She took a moderate amount of her wealth and gave the remainder to the poor. At dawn she set out, cleaving in her heart to the Spirit of Yahweh and Shekinah. This was the beginning of the Bride's redemption, and Lilith with her.
Twin Souls
There was one supernal soul in Lord Yeshua and St. Mary Magdalene, he the male and she the female emanation of one soul of Light. Hence, it is said that they were soul mates. So it is with every supernal soul, for all human souls were in the supernal Human Being. Thus, when the Holy One divided the Human One into male and female, all holy souls were also divided into male and female counterparts, which are destined to meet and unite with one another in the cycles of transmigration.
Soul mates, therefore, have an intimate secret connection, and so it was between Yeshua and Mary. Even before meeting, they beheld one another in dreams and visions and were deeply connected. Thus, whatever happened for one also happened for the other, to some degree. So long as Mary was in exile, Yeshua's holy soul was not fully in his body. It came into his body on the day the Spirit of Yahweh called her in from exile, for on that very day Yeshua was baptized by John in the Jordan River and the Spirit of the Messiah entered into him.
We all know that the Spirit drove Yeshua into the wilderness of the desert to be tempted by Satan. At the same time, Mary was traveling in a caravan through the desert as she made her way back to the holy land. She, too, struggled with Satan and the seven demons that were with her. At night, the wrestling became most severe. They tormented her all that way, and the nearer to the holy land she came, the greater the temptation and torment they inflicted upon her. Never theless, she cleaved to the Spirit of Truth16 and believed in the power of her Beloved to heal her. She did not turn away from the Lord.
It is said that St. Mary Magdalene entered into the holy land on the very day when Lord Yeshua performed his first wonder-working act at the wedding feast in Cana, where he turned water into wine as a prophecy of her return." The masters of the tradition teach that in the story of this first wonder are secrets of the love-play of the Holy Bride and Bridegroom, Our Lady and Our Lord.
Pure Emanation
Among the masters of the tradition there has always been a debate, for some say Yeshua and Mary were a holy man and woman into whom the Soul of the Messiah entered, but others say they were pure emanations and not flesh and blood as ordinary human beings. In truth, it is a great mystery, and perhaps the truth lies in between. Nevertheless, they appeared among us, and lived and moved among us, and they brought forth the Supernal Light into the world. To this very day, they remain with us and appear to the elect who seek their acquaintance.
Among those who speak of pure emanations, it is said that Yeshua was born of the Virgin Mother, but that Mary was a spontaneous emanation, having neither father nor mother in this world. She merely entered and appeared when it was time to take up the sacred dance with the Lord, as though the light and fire of heaven came down to appear as a holy woman-the Shekinah Consort of the Anointed.
Others say that she is the Holy Spirit and that when Yeshua returned from the wilderness of the desert, he appeared walking hand in hand with her as he came among the people, and that she was the display of all the wonders he performed and the supernal fire that poured out at the Pentecost.
Yet others have said she emanated from within the Great Master, as the emanation of the Sacred Heart, when he turned water into wine at the wedding feast; and thus, in truth, it was their own wedding feast that was celebrated on that holy day.
Then there are those who say that, all the while, Our Lord and Lady appeared only in the visionary dimension to those who had eyes to see and ears to hear the coming into being of the Supernal Human One among us-that they are the vision of our soul of Light emerging through the matrix of the material dimension. Those who are wise say that there is truth to all of these views; for to anyone who might gaze upon them, Yeshua and Mary are more than they appear to be.
Now, if Our Lady was a pure emanation, then she was never a prostitute, but ever pure; and her true name is Sophia, or Hokmah in Hebrew. She is the Mother come down to live and move among us, even as Our Lord is the image of the Living Father revealed to us. If she is the emanation of the Divine Mother, Elohim,18 then she is also the emanation of the Soul of the World whom the Lord embraced and raised up in the resurrection and ascension. It is for this reason that it is she who greeted the Risen Savior on the Day of Be-With-Us. Anyone who seeks the acquaintance of Our Lord and Lady of Initiation must look within him or herself, for there is where all acquaintance is.
Eve and the Serpent
Eve received knowledge, understanding, and wisdom from the serpent. She gave it to Adam. He received it through her, and thus the journey of the descent of human souls into the world began. Knowledge, understanding, and wisdom come by way of involution into the material dimension, through which the activation and evolution of the soul transpires. When there were bodies fit to receive human souls, human souls entered into them. This was the beginning of human beings on earth, all by way of evolution.
What did the serpent give to the Mother of Life? He gave the gift of a fiery intelligence, which was the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil; for only when souls shine with the Light of the Spiritual Sun is it right that they should partake of the fruit of the Tree of Life and enter the Supernal Abode.
It has been said that Eve led Adam into death, and this is true; but it is written, "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it shall in no wise bear forth good fruit." So, in truth, the Mother of Life sought to bring good fruit through the generations of Adam, the human being, and she is Sophia at play in creation, all according to the conception in the mind of God who spoke the Living Word. This good fruit is the Christos, the Light-presence.
Eve led the descent, and she became St. Mary Magdalene to complete the transmission of gnosis, understanding, and wisdom. Thus, she went down into the depths of darkness and rose up, opening the way for the Savior to go down and rise up as the Living Yeshua. Just as Eve gave knowledge, understanding, and wisdom to Adam, so was St. Mary Magdalene the Divine Muse of Our Lord.
Some might object and say, "Is not the serpent who spoke to Eve Satan, the great adversary?" Indeed! But is not adversity essential in the evolution to the Highest of Life? When the Highest of Life is attained, is not all adversity redeemed? It is for this reason that, just as St. Mary Magdalene passed down into great darkness and was redeemed, so also the masters of the tradition say that, in the End-ofDays, the great adversary will also be redeemed. Thus it has been said, "Eve is redeemed in Lady Mary and the serpent is redeemed in Lord Yeshua." Look and see! The Risen Savior appeared first to Lady Mary, and then, as Eve, she gave also to the sons of Adam!
Sun and Moon
Everything below is also found above, for all things are founded upon their supernal and holy pattern. Thus, just as there is a sun and moon below, so there is a sun and moon above, though of another order entirely. Yeshua was like a ray of the Spiritual Sun manifest in human form and Magdalene was like a beam of the Spiritual Moon, both the emanation of Luminous and Holy Being.
