Mary Magdalene, Bride in Exile [With CD]

by Margaret Starbird

Book Overview

An in-depth investigation of the facts and mythology surrounding the historical Mary Magdalene

- Reveals new details about the life of the beloved of Jesus

- Illustrated with rare and unusual imagery depicting Mary's central role in Christianity

- Includes 60-minute CD of author discussing The Greatest Story Never Told

- By the author of the bestselling The Woman with the Alabaster Jar

The controversy surrounding...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1591430542
• ISBN13: 9781591430544
• Release Date: August 2005
• Publisher: Bear & Company
• Length: 216 Pages
• Weight: 0.71 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

The Sacred Union Re-established

Based on historical, symbolical, and mythological records and interpretations, Margaret Starbird examines evidence from the Judeo-Christian scriptures and other early writings that supports the claim that Jesus was an essential partner of a time-honoured sacred relationship that was at the heart of his spiritual message. She argues from both a logical and intuitive perspective that the sacred union of Jesus and his bride was the very cornerstone of early Christianity, and the key ingredient for solving many of the ills still faced by Church and Society today. The significance of understanding and applying the integrated objectives and values of these teachings to both personal and societal practices and pursuits, while maintaining the necessary balance between the two gender-related components, was subsequently lost and distorted by the unbalanced perspective of the male-dominated Church leaders who sought to institutionalize and control the traditions and teachings for almost two millennia. In the wake of this continuous domination, the voice, role and perspectives of women in the Church have become severely curtailed. The Church became the powerful, dominating Bachelor served by the humble, intimidated Maid, rather than a sacred, balanced union of the Groom and Bride in equal partnership. As a result, balance shifted, strict incomplete and distorted interpretations and practices were imposed, and dissent became punishable by imprisonment or death. Through a careful examination of the disregarded evidence concerning the exiled bride Mary Magdalene and the feminine archetype, Margaret Starbird elevates the reader back to a conscious awareness of what the Church taught in the very beginning - the Sacred Union, and the intimate partnership of Jesus and Mary Magdalene, reflecting the principles of union and love which are necessary to begin the eventual achievement of all levels of personal and societal advancement. Margaret Starbird's research traces the esoteric origin and development of the Sacred Union or Hieros Gamos wisdom; how it was reflected in the Old and New Testaments; how it went underground for almost two millennia following the patriarchal impositions; how it survived as an underground stream of esoteric wisdom expressed through art, philosophy, literature and religion; and how it continues to struggle into conscious awareness today, as an important archetypal principle, filling and healing the many forgotten voids left in Church and society alike. Margaret Starbird skillfully brings the principle of the lost feminine archetype back to awareness, restoring Mary Magdalene to the preeminent and intimate position that she once held as the favoured companion of Jesus. She thereby resasserts the forgotten, balanced view of Christianity based on the sacred union as taught by Jesus and expressed in the Gospels. It makes little sense that any responsible rabbi would not teach what he himself did not fully embrace. For anyone who feels

Outstanding

With her latest book, Bride in Exile, Margaret Starbird joins a few very select biblical scholars (e.g., Spong, Schoenfeld) whose work remains steadfast at an extremely high level. The current book continues the work she started with Woman witn the Alabaster Jar (1993), the Goddess in the Gospels (1998, and Magdalene's Lost Legacy (2003). Her main theses are that Jesus and Mary were married and that knowledge of this marriage was not included in the gospels. This denial of the "sacred marriage" has left Christianity, particularly Catholic Christianity, lacking the feminine counterpart, and thus incomplete. Some lesser themes center around the true meaning of her name (Starbird believes that it is "Mary the Great" rather than Mary of Magdala) and the many myths and legends about Mary that gave birth to the plethora of artwork in the Renaissance. Comparing this book with her other works, some readers may be disappointed that the role of Mary in legends and folklore and her portrayal in artwork have been placed somewhat on the back burner in favor of a more scholarly approach to establishing the veracity of her theories. Personally I enjoyed the change and find that this book should silence any critics who harp, unfairly, about her lack of scholarly acumen. This isn't to say that I am in perfect agreement with Starbird on all her points. For example, I don't believe that "James the Lesser" refers to James, the brother of Jesus (p. 21), or that "the other Mary" is Jesus' mother (p. 75). Nor am I convinced that Mary's marriage to Jesus was purposefully kept from the gospels to protect her (p. 31 and elsewhere). I'm more inclined to believe that the mentions of the marriage were removed by competing Christian sects, just as they removed favorable mentions of the activities of other members of Jesus' family (see Jeffrey Butz' The Brother of Jesus for an excellent exploration of this area). But any disagreements with Starbird are minor compared to the evidence she marshalls to support her main views, and on these points she can't be faulted. Of all her books I think this is the best all around summary of Mary Magdalene. In addition, it may be the best all around summary of Mary by any author. I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in Mary, from beginning students to advanced scholars. It's well written, has good notes, a chronology, and a CD with a one hour lecture.

Wonderful book. Just what I ordered.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It was even better than I expected it to be. I have read Lady With the Alabaster Jar by the same author and this is a very good update on that book.

There are good historians to back up this story!!!

If you feel you need other detailed historical research to back up Margaret's story here, Custodians of Truth, The Continuance of Rex Deus, by Tim Wallace-Murphy and Marilyn Hopkins, 2005, will give you wonderful back-up history!!! This is just such an important piece of history to understand thoroughly if you want to appreciate the fascination with the DaVinci Code type stories. This was info subjected to the various Inquisitions over and over again, sadly by some of my own ancestors; but more of my ancestors had Margaret's "story" passed on to them in their Initiatory organizations, and know there is plenty of truth here that now needs to be made public. Thanks to Margaret for helping with that process, as it should make the world a gentler place when we realize we do not need an exterior authority to "save us from sin" and to exterminate those who disagree; we need to realize The Kingdom is Within, and get on with understanding our Oneness with the Quantum worlds now being explained by great physicists like Michio Kaku. Another great new book written by someone who's studied this for more than 30 yrs. also, is Stephen Mehler's, From Light into Darkness. The connection of Jesus and Mary to ancient Egypt is made clear. This is important information that will be coming out more and more now as it is imperative for our evolution into the higher quantum worlds around us!!

The importance of Margaret Starbird's message

In this best and clearest of her works Margaret has spelled out what was lost from the very start in Christianity and why this loss of Mary Magdalene's correct place next to Jesus, as his beloved, matters still. This book is not a feminist tirade about women's rights, although it upholds the valid need for this sort of reformation. It goes beyond that point to expose damage done to the human soul/spirit because the paradigm of wholeness or union of the human soul with God was skewed early on. She teaches us about the customs and prevailing mindset of the peoples surrounding Jesus and Mary in first century Palestine and we begin to see that there was surely a heiros-gamos or sacred marriage between Jesus and his beloved. This sacred union should have been the model, since it truly reflects the image of life itself. She has rightly stated that her research and her premises are based on the gospel stories themselves and on a solid Judeo-Christian heritage. They cannot be debunked. This is important, breakthrough work that should be considered seriously for the healing and refreshment it can bring to Christianity. Margaret has brought to light challenges that will not easily be overthrown. It is only lack of information about the era that keeps us ignorant of the importance of her work. While no one can prove or disprove an actual marriage between Jesus and Mary, reading this book may convince one that history is not always the way it has seemed for all these years!