Teaching and Practice from The Gospel of Mary of Magdala, Chapter 8: The Rise of the Soul
A Study Guide to Mary Magdalene's Vision of the Soul's Ascent and Liberation from the Powers
Before we start slaying cosmic dragons and flipping off astral tollbooths, let’s get something straight: this article is based on Chapter 8 of Karen King’s book The Gospel of Mary of Magdala, which includes a translation of the ancient Gospel of Mary text alongside King’s expert historical and theological commentary.
The Rise of the Soul isn’t just an ascension narrative. It’s not a spiritual ladder you climb to escape your dirty, problematic body and blast off into angelic realms like some Gnostic space cadet.
No. It’s also a descent.
Into the heart. Into the nous—that inner eye, the sacred organ of perception that sees not with optics but with essence. The powers Mary describes? They’re not just guarding the gates of heaven. They’re fogging up the mirror inside you.
Desire, Ignorance, Wrath—these aren’t bad habits. They’re smokescreens. They cloud your inner knowing, block the signal from your divine core, and convince you that your true nature is something to be fixed, punished, or upgraded.
The Rise is not about leaving the world. It’s about seeing it clearly. It’s about remembering the truth beneath the noise, and daring to dwell in a heart that has nothing to prove.
Alright, now that your nous is on notice, let’s dive in:
🌀 Chapter Summary: The Rise of the Soul
This chapter picks up in the middle of Mary recounting Jesus’ private vision-teaching—the ascent of the soul through hostile Powers that govern the world below. The beginning is missing, but we see the soul confronting four Powers:
Desire – accuses the soul of lying and belonging to the material world. But the soul replies: “You mistook my garment for my self.” Boom. Gnostic drag show revelation.
Ignorance – says “You’re wicked!” The soul responds: “I don’t judge, but I see—and I see the world is dissolving.” Ignorance judges because it lacks vision.
Wrath – is the most intense. It’s not just angry, it’s an amalgam: darkness, lust, ignorance, zeal for death, flesh, foolish wisdom, and wrathful domination. The Power calls the soul a “human-killer” and “space-conqueror” (metal band names incoming). But the soul says, “What bound me has been slain. I’ve escaped forgetfulness. I choose silence.”
The chapter ends with Mary falling silent, mirroring the soul's final release into rest. Karen King draws parallels to Greek inscriptions about the soul’s liberation, Hermetic texts, and other Gnostic ascents (like the Apocalypse of Paul), showing how Mary’s version subverts the whole oppressive architecture of postmortem judgment. Here, the “laws” and “toll collectors” are not divine justice—they’re corrupt systems built to trap souls in shame and submission.
But knowledge—gnōsis—is escape.
✨ Key Takeaways
The soul's enemies are not "sins" but personified Powers: Desire, Ignorance, and Wrath, each trying to bind it through deception, false judgment, and violence.
The soul overcomes them not by groveling, but by recognizing its true nature and rejecting the illusion that it is the body or bound by the flesh.
The seven-fold Wrath is a composite beast of domination—it’s the ultimate final boss of empire, patriarchy, moralism, and spiritual violence.
The chapter ends by merging interior transformation with subtle resistance. Ascending is not just inner peace—it’s nonviolent rebellion against Powers that govern by fear.
Karen King situates this in the broader tradition of soul-journey literature but emphasizes its radical refusal of legalism, judgment, and sacrificial violence.
🌪️ 1. Judgment Day Got Canceled (Sorry, Paul)
If you were raised in a religion where God plays cop, Jesus plays lawyer, and you’re on trial for being born… congratulations. You were enrolled in the cosmic version of The Hunger Games: Eternal Damnation Edition.
But Magdalene didn’t buy it. In her gospel, the soul doesn’t beg or plead.
It rises, shakes off accusation, and says to the Powers:
"You mistook my garment for myself."
There’s no repentance ritual. No transaction. No fear-based theology.
Just recognition.
And for those still clutching pearls over this—Jesus gave her this vision. Not Peter. Not Paul.
Mary. The first apostle. The unlicensed mystic. The spiritual fugitive with better vision than the entire Sanhedrin.
🧥 2. “You Mistook My Garment for Myself”: The Gospel of Drag
The soul’s first showdown is with Desire—a cosmic TSA agent with a God complex.
It says, “You’re from the world. You’re mine.”
And the soul says:
“You didn’t see me. You only saw what I was wearing.”
Oh, sweet sacred drag.
This is vintage Gnostic fire: the body is not evil, but it’s not you.
You are consciousness draped in meat, and the mistake isn’t embodiment—it’s mistaking the outfit for the essence.
And Desire? It’s not just lust. It’s the hunger to possess—to control, name, consume, and own. It’s colonizer energy dressed as passion.
But the soul slips out of its grasp like a greased enlightenment eel.
🧠 3. Ignorance Talks Trash, the Soul Talks Truth
Next boss battle: Ignorance.
She comes in hot with a crusade-level accusation — self-righteous, loud, and completely sure she’s the victim.
“You’re wicked!”
But the soul doesn’t flinch.
It doesn’t justify.
It says:
“You judge me, not because I’m wrong, but because you don’t see.”
Boom.
This is the heart of Mary’s gnosis: judgment flows from blindness, not truth.
In other words, you’re not guilty—you’re just misunderstood by a bunch of spiritually nearsighted mall cops.
While modern religion says, “You’ll be judged,” Magdalene whispers:
“Maybe the judge is blind and the courtroom is fake.”
🐍 4. Wrath Is a Multi-Headed Beast, and Every Head Is a System
The final, beefiest obstacle is Wrath—but don’t picture one angry angel.
Picture seven demonic layers of power that want to own your mind:
Darkness
Desire (again—girl, take the hint)
Ignorance
Jealousy of the flesh
Intoxicating wisdom
Zeal for death
Wrathful dominion
Basically, it’s a spiritual multi-level marketing scheme.
This isn’t personal rage. This is structural. Systemic.
This is patriarchy, empire, purity culture, moral legalism, and martyrdom all braided into a Gnostic hydra.
And the soul?
It doesn’t fight. It refuses to be tricked again.
No arguments. Just vision.
It says:
“What bound me has been slain. I know who I am.”
Translation: “Your empire has no clothes.”
🧘 5. How the Soul Escapes: It Didn’t Fight. It Saw.
Let’s be clear. The soul doesn’t punch its way to heaven.
It sees through the illusion.
There’s no bloodbath. No sword-wielding.
The soul wakes up. It says, “That’s not me,” and floats past the drama like it’s leaving a group chat full of ex-boyfriends and old pastors.
Karen King calls this “vision, not violence.”
Virgin Monk Boy calls it:
“You don’t cast out darkness. You stop dating it.”
🗣️ 6. Silence as Victory, Not Defeat
After all that, the soul doesn’t drop a victory speech.
It falls silent.
So does Mary, when she finishes recounting the vision.
Not because she’s been silenced, but because she’s complete.
Silence here isn’t suppression. It’s the sound of someone who no longer owes the room an explanation.
It’s apophatic theology.
It’s Dzogchen mind resting in clarity.
It’s Jesus doodling in the sand while accusers foam at the mouth.
Sometimes the holiest act is to stop explaining your liberation.
📚 7. Notes for the Heretics' Study Group
Let’s break it down for the post-evangelical nerds in the back (we see you).
Desire, Ignorance, and Wrath aren’t sins. They’re Powers—mythic constructs that try to own your identity.
The soul doesn’t ascend by obedience. It wakes up and names the illusion.
There is no cosmic courtroom. Just a field of projections. Don’t show up for the trial.
This text isn't saying “flesh = evil.” It’s saying, “You are not reducible to your body.”
The seven-headed Wrath is a symbolic takedown of:
Imperial religion
Gender control
Flesh-shaming
Death-as-holiness
False wisdom
And weaponized judgment.
The silence at the end? That’s Mary refusing to rejoin the debate club.
That’s Jesus refusing to defend himself at trial.
That’s YOU, walking away from the cult of performance.
🧘♀️ Meditation: Descend into the Nous
Total Time: ~15–20 minutes
This practice is about inner clarity, not transcendental escape. You'll be peeling back the fog of the Powers—not through effort, but awareness.
1. Settle (2–3 minutes)
Sit comfortably. Eyes closed. Let your breath arrive naturally. No need to manipulate it.
Place your awareness behind your forehead, where thoughts like to pace. Then, slowly, gently, guide your awareness downward, as if lowering a candle into your chest.
Let it rest in the center of the chest—the heart space, where the nous abides. Not the physical heart, but the quiet awareness just behind the sternum—the place contemplatives call the inner altar, the throne of stillness, the eye of the heart.
2. Name the Clouds (4–6 minutes)
Visualize your inner sky. In this sky, clouds begin to pass:
Desire: a cloud saying, “You need more.”
Ignorance: a fog that mutters, “You don’t know enough.”
Wrath: a storm shouting, “They’re against you.”
As each arises, don’t resist. Greet it with clarity:
“You are not me. You are not the Self.”
Let the clouds drift. No need to fix them. Just name and release.
3. The Soul Speaks (5 minutes)
Begin to repeat softly, with reverence—not as mantra, but as truth remembered:
“You mistook my garment for myself.”
With each repetition, feel the illusion dissolve. What illusion?
That you are your appearance.
That your worth is determined by your past.
That the voice accusing you is the voice of truth.
That salvation is something to earn.
These are the garments the Powers mistook for the self. Feel them fall away.
You can treat each one like a thought in mindfulness practice. When a judgment appears, acknowledge it gently: "Just a thought." No judgment. No struggle. Let it dissolve into the sky.
Feel yourself loosening from the roles, the judgments, the old identities.
Feel your awareness anchoring in something unshakable—your essence, already whole.
4. Enter the Silence (5 minutes)
Now let the words fall away.
Let yourself rest in what remains. Not blankness—but presence. Not escape—but essence.
This is the soul’s silence—the clarity after the cloud cover.
When you’re ready, return slowly. Wiggle your fingers. Open your eyes. No need to explain what happened.
Carry this line with you into the world:
“What bound me has been slain.”
Find a quiet space. Close your eyes. Breathe, not to escape—but to enter.
Let your awareness sink from your forehead to the center of your chest. That’s where the nous lives—the eye of the heart, the sanctuary of clear seeing.
Now visualize the Powers as clouds. Desire, Ignorance, Wrath—not as monsters to fight, but as fog drifting across your inner sky.
Say softly within: “You mistook my garment for myself.”
Feel the illusion unravel. You are not the cloud. You are the sky it passes through.
With each breath, let the fog disperse. Let seeing return.
Let silence rise—not as absence, but as presence.
End with one phrase, resting in it:
“What bound me has been slain.”
🗿 Closing Benediction (For the Soul Sneaking Past the Gatekeepers)
May all beings recognize the Powers when they show up with clipboards and sermons.
May all beings stop asking for permission to rise.
May all beings confuse the systems of domination by refusing to flinch.
And may the silence of liberated souls everywhere sound like thunder in the temples of fear.
—Virgin Monk Boy
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Powerful. And witty. From this “consciousness draped in meat”. I know who I am. Boom.
🌎Very nice road map! Just one minor disappointment: “Karen-level”? (How would Karen King feel?)