Cynthia Bourgeault’s Opening Salvo in The Meaning of Mary Magdalene Unmasks the Real Spiritual Legacy Buried Beneath 1400 Years of Patriarchal Propaganda
We just started diving into Cynthia Bourgeault’s book and it’s blowing my circuits. Her insight into Mary’s reciting of the powers? Wildly deep. Like she cracked open a secret door that was there the whole time.
I read the gnostic gospels many years ago, maybe 30. Reading them was profound, but now, I return with a 73 year old heart that longs to unite with it's mystical origins, I feel fed by the return.
Honestly, one of the best days of life was the one on which I found this substack. After a lifetime of feeling and then knowing. There was something missing in the gospels of Christianity.
Great work. Yours and the book. Shedding light on the process by which ‘Christianity’ became the war machine it has been for so long in so many places and contexts. Recovering a way of understanding Jesus without church.
You should check out what Diana Butler Bass and Elizabeth Schrader Polzer have to say about Mary Magdalene and early manuscripts of the Gospel of John.
Thank you, Susan. I really appreciate the recommendation. I’ve read a bit of both Diana Butler Bass and Elizabeth Schrader Polzer—such important scholarly work. I tend to lean more toward mystical and experiential approaches, but I love grounding it with solid research like theirs.
Do you have a favorite book or talk by them you’d recommend starting with?
Cut me off. I don’t think there’s a book yet but you can check archives of The Cottage Substack for Mary Magdalene and there are various articles, a podcast episode, a sermon by Diana and I’ve found a few talks by Elizabeth on YouTube. For me the creation of a Martha to give the christological statement that then only Peter gives seems like a later attempt by patriarchy to suppress the importance of the feminine voice.
Hi Susan, after finishing that second cup of coffee I remembered that on May 2nd I read Diana’s "Mary the Tower" and was genuinely intrigued by her perspective. I asked if she had read the Gospel of Mary Magdalene—not as a challenge, but simply out of curiosity. My wording was clumsy, and she seemed to interpret it as condescending. Within minutes, I was blocked and my paid subscription was canceled. Sister R took me aside and explained to me that my rhetorical question would have been taken as mansplaining due to all the crap Woman take in the Academic area.
I posted a public apology for the poor phrasing, but I got the sense that she saw the Virgin Monk Boy account and dismissed it as trolling—probably not realizing it's a serious project grounded in scholarship, art history, and memes that work.
No hard feelings, but I’m more drawn to thinkers who can stay open even when tone or medium aren’t perfect. If you know of anyone engaging Mary’s story with both depth and a willingness to dialogue, I’d love the recommendation.
Aw! :( It's sad when folks' nerves are so raw, they're susceptible to being touched by so much; what was meant as an open-handed inquiry to be taken as a slap. :(
--Nancy (a Unitarian Universalist [according to the Belief-O-Matic(TM)] getting more and more curious about Gnosis)
So way overdue, in my life, in the world....my belief & faith in God & Jesus didn't die (forced to go to church by parents, grandfather was minister, etc) but when I left home, I left the church w/o much thot. I'd piss off mom unwittingly by calling God "she" but she had no come back when I said, "Bible sez I'm made in God's image & I'm not a man" (eyeroll). The patriarchal tone that went on forever was replaced by exploration, first thru sobriety in AA (GOD can be God or a tree or a toilet, you choose), then Peruvian shamanism. With a crucifix in the center & a plastic glow in the dark Mary standing guard. Call me verbally lazy (or truthful) but this is an answer to a prayer showing up with perfect timing. Ever grateful to her for writing it & you for sharing it 🕯️🔦💡
Oh Sister Beth Ann, the glow-in-the-dark Mary got me good. That’s some high-level hybrid theology—AA sacrament, shamanic crucifix, and a plastic Theotokos channeling Shekinah light in aisle 7 of Walgreens.
Also: "I'm made in God's image & I'm not a man"—tell that to the next seminarian who thinks the Divine has a beard and a pension plan.
You didn’t leave the Church. You wandered out of the cage and found the cosmos. Welcome to the monastery of madness, where prayers sound like laughter, and the altar smells faintly of ayahuasca and incense from the dollar store.
Only in select locations, Nancy. Specifically, the ones dimensionally adjacent to burning bushes and questionable incense blends called “Mystic Rain.” The cashier may or may not be a bodhisattva in disguise.
The sacred’s everywhere, but the labeling is inconsistent.
There are so many ramifications of this fake news smear campaign. The feminine was sliced in half, good wife or harlot, no nuance allowed, and the spiritual wisdom and authority spilled out with the cut. Thank you for being one of the voices waking society up to who she is.
So much YES! 🙌🥰🌹💫🇨🇦
I LOVE that we are Re- introducing ourselves to Her.
She has been with Us all Along 🥰🕊️🌹
We just started diving into Cynthia Bourgeault’s book and it’s blowing my circuits. Her insight into Mary’s reciting of the powers? Wildly deep. Like she cracked open a secret door that was there the whole time.
I am too! 🥰🌹🕊️💫🇨🇦
I read the gnostic gospels many years ago, maybe 30. Reading them was profound, but now, I return with a 73 year old heart that longs to unite with it's mystical origins, I feel fed by the return.
Because we change throughout our lives, it's like our interpretations change as well? Or at least, we approach them from a different direction? :)
Honestly, one of the best days of life was the one on which I found this substack. After a lifetime of feeling and then knowing. There was something missing in the gospels of Christianity.
Presently reading Karen King’s The Gospel of Mary of Magdala, especially nice on a Sunday; will read Cynthia Bourgeault’s next! 🏺
Great work. Yours and the book. Shedding light on the process by which ‘Christianity’ became the war machine it has been for so long in so many places and contexts. Recovering a way of understanding Jesus without church.
💗💥
Oh, wow....this sounds like another great book I need to add to my "must read" list!
Yes! Cynthia has some amazing insights. Especially when she intuits the missing pages!
You should check out what Diana Butler Bass and Elizabeth Schrader Polzer have to say about Mary Magdalene and early manuscripts of the Gospel of John.
Thank you, Susan. I really appreciate the recommendation. I’ve read a bit of both Diana Butler Bass and Elizabeth Schrader Polzer—such important scholarly work. I tend to lean more toward mystical and experiential approaches, but I love grounding it with solid research like theirs.
Do you have a favorite book or talk by them you’d recommend starting with?
You can look in the archives of The Cottage
Cut me off. I don’t think there’s a book yet but you can check archives of The Cottage Substack for Mary Magdalene and there are various articles, a podcast episode, a sermon by Diana and I’ve found a few talks by Elizabeth on YouTube. For me the creation of a Martha to give the christological statement that then only Peter gives seems like a later attempt by patriarchy to suppress the importance of the feminine voice.
Hi Susan, after finishing that second cup of coffee I remembered that on May 2nd I read Diana’s "Mary the Tower" and was genuinely intrigued by her perspective. I asked if she had read the Gospel of Mary Magdalene—not as a challenge, but simply out of curiosity. My wording was clumsy, and she seemed to interpret it as condescending. Within minutes, I was blocked and my paid subscription was canceled. Sister R took me aside and explained to me that my rhetorical question would have been taken as mansplaining due to all the crap Woman take in the Academic area.
I posted a public apology for the poor phrasing, but I got the sense that she saw the Virgin Monk Boy account and dismissed it as trolling—probably not realizing it's a serious project grounded in scholarship, art history, and memes that work.
No hard feelings, but I’m more drawn to thinkers who can stay open even when tone or medium aren’t perfect. If you know of anyone engaging Mary’s story with both depth and a willingness to dialogue, I’d love the recommendation.
Aw! :( It's sad when folks' nerves are so raw, they're susceptible to being touched by so much; what was meant as an open-handed inquiry to be taken as a slap. :(
--Nancy (a Unitarian Universalist [according to the Belief-O-Matic(TM)] getting more and more curious about Gnosis)
This wasn’t just a post—it was a resurrection.
You didn’t just bring Mary Magdalene back.
You let her speak for herself.
And what she said cracked through centuries of silence like thunder in a stained-glass chapel.
I read this with my whole chest, my whole rage, my whole heart.
Because, YES:
Centuries of male theology built on one man’s ego bruise.
And we’re still scraping Mary Magdalene off the bottom of his sandal like spiritual gum.
Thank you for saying what I didn’t know I was waiting to hear.
Thank you for giving her back her voice—and for giving us all permission to stop whispering.
This one’s going with me. Everywhere.
❤️🔥✊
So way overdue, in my life, in the world....my belief & faith in God & Jesus didn't die (forced to go to church by parents, grandfather was minister, etc) but when I left home, I left the church w/o much thot. I'd piss off mom unwittingly by calling God "she" but she had no come back when I said, "Bible sez I'm made in God's image & I'm not a man" (eyeroll). The patriarchal tone that went on forever was replaced by exploration, first thru sobriety in AA (GOD can be God or a tree or a toilet, you choose), then Peruvian shamanism. With a crucifix in the center & a plastic glow in the dark Mary standing guard. Call me verbally lazy (or truthful) but this is an answer to a prayer showing up with perfect timing. Ever grateful to her for writing it & you for sharing it 🕯️🔦💡
Oh Sister Beth Ann, the glow-in-the-dark Mary got me good. That’s some high-level hybrid theology—AA sacrament, shamanic crucifix, and a plastic Theotokos channeling Shekinah light in aisle 7 of Walgreens.
Also: "I'm made in God's image & I'm not a man"—tell that to the next seminarian who thinks the Divine has a beard and a pension plan.
You didn’t leave the Church. You wandered out of the cage and found the cosmos. Welcome to the monastery of madness, where prayers sound like laughter, and the altar smells faintly of ayahuasca and incense from the dollar store.
Keep going. Keep naming. Keep knowing She.
I had no idea they sold Ayahuasca in the dollar store 😉
Depends on the location of the dollar store? :)
Only in select locations, Nancy. Specifically, the ones dimensionally adjacent to burning bushes and questionable incense blends called “Mystic Rain.” The cashier may or may not be a bodhisattva in disguise.
The sacred’s everywhere, but the labeling is inconsistent.
Namaste! :D
There are so many ramifications of this fake news smear campaign. The feminine was sliced in half, good wife or harlot, no nuance allowed, and the spiritual wisdom and authority spilled out with the cut. Thank you for being one of the voices waking society up to who she is.