Magdalene's Legacy

When one looks at the history of the region one finds evidence that with her arrival, a surge of spiritual awareness, code of ethics and respect for feminine values began, which wove itself into the very fabric of the psychic landscape of Europe. The Order of the Knights Templars was created in this region. The alchemists began their flurry of Cathedral building to preserve the secret metaphysical teachings passed down to them from ancient Egypt.  The Crusades and the entire Back to Jerusalem movement began in this area. The mystical Kabbalistic texts the Bahir and Zohar emerged from this region, bringing to the Jewish people knowledge of the Shekhina, or 'indwelling presence' and 'feminine potency of God'. The cults of the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene and Black Madonna, symbolically representing the three aspects of Isis in her role as Universal Goddess arose here and spread throughout Europe.

It was here that the troubadours and poets such as Wolfram von Esenbach, Robert de Bouron and others sang their songs of devotion to the feminine principle and wrote their fables of the Holy Grail. And it was here in the beautiful mountains and valleys of Provence and Languedoc that the Cathars, as carriers of the Gnostic transmission of Jesus and Mary Magdalene rebelled against what they considered to be the excesses of the priestly hierarchy, renounced all worldly possessions and fully committed themselves to the path of spirit. Among the Cathars, women as well as men were priests who transmitted divine grace and healing power through the laying on of hands in their sacred initiatory rites that link back to Mary Magdalene, Isis and the healing traditions held by the temple priestess.

As time marched on, the Church of Rome, threatened by the inroads these powerful Gnostic teachings were making among the local populace, labeled them heretical and moved to suppress them. To cement the rule of the Church of Rome, Pope Innocent III called for a Crusade against this Gnostic Cathar heresy.  This crusade, which had as its focus the torture, murder and eradication of these loving and compassionate people was the starting point of a wave of fear, suffering and suppression of the feminine in both her divine and worldly aspects that would spread throughout Europe and become known as the Holy Inquisition.

Closer to our time, there are the visions of Saint Bernadette and the healing waters of  Lourdes, as well as  the mystery of Father Sauniere, Rennes Le Chateau and his strange chapel dedicated to Mary Magdalene. Then there is the saga of Otto Rahn searching through the hills and valleys of this region for the Nazis trying to find the Holy Grail for the upper echelon of the SS. There are the legends of the secret alchemists who live in a magical castle somewhere in the Pyrenees recently popularized in the Harry Potter series. Finally, emerging from this region, is the mystery of the Alchemical Cross of Hendaye, the prophetic visions of Nostradamus and the Basque legend that John of the Apocalypse still lives in a cave in the Pyrenees and will leave that cave only at the end of time. (5)

These events and stories reveal that Mary Magdalene and the Gnostic current may very possibly be the driving force behind the rich history of this region. Whether it is fact or legend that Mary Magdalene actually came to this area is less important than the power and impact that her life and teachings had upon the people of France. It is obvious to anyone who opens their eyes to see, that early in the history of this grace-filled tradition, Mary Magdalene, Apostle of the Apostles entered and has remained at the heart of Christianity. (5)

Sharron Rose, MA.Ed,  is a filmmaker, writer, choreographer and teacher. She is the author of The Path of the Priestess; A Guidebook for Awakening the Divine Feminine and the DVD, Yoga of Light. Together with her husband, Jay Weidner she has produced documentary and instructional DVDs for their company Sacred Mysteries Productions including Artmind with Alex Grey, Healing the Luminous Body with Dr. Alberto Villoldo, Quantum Astrology with Rick Levine, Healing Sounds with Jonathan Goldman and more. She is currently at work on their first feature-length documentary film 2012;The Odyssey.

Notes

1. From a conversation with minister and playwright Lila Sophia Tresemer, co-author of the play and DVD, Re-Discovering Mary Magdalene (written with her husband, David Tresemer), for which I created the choreography. In their travels through France, she discovered a tradition of using the healing oils of Mary Magdalene that was said to have been passed down to healers now living in the south of France.
2. Sharron Rose, The Path of the Priestess; A Guidebook for Awakening the Divine Feminine (Rochester, VT.; Inner Traditions, 2002)  p.104
3. From the forward by Leslie Shepard to G. R. S. Meads, Pistis Sophia ( seacaucus, NJ.; University Books, 1974), p. xvii
4. From the recent translation by Jean-Yves Leloup, The Gospel of Mary Magdalene. (Rochester, VT.; Inner Traditions, 2002).
5. For greater insight into these events see Weidner and Bridges, The Mysteries of the Great Cross of Hendaye; Alchemy and the End of Time (Rochester, VT.; Destiny Books, 2003) and the Sacred Mysteries DVD, Secrets of Alchemy; The Great Cross and the End of Time.