Mary Magdalene
At first, I must explain that my understanding is not purely based on the Bible since I was studying the Sophian Gnosticism related with Mary Magdalene. I have read the Bible long time ago without any religious interest. At that time, I had an intention to read a book which is the best seller in the human history. So, it was not until 2006, I did not really into Christianity. I had a problem at school and felt a need of change in my life. Then I made a vow to Mary Magdalene and attended the Gnostic church which related with her. Meanwhile, I was studying the Bible to have better religious understanding. To be honest, I am still learning about the teaching of Christ. I have read Gnostic writings as well as the traditional Christianity. I might change this writing in future, but I would like to share my thoughts about her from my experience.
In Sophian Gnosticism, Mary Magdalene is viewed as a part of the Holy Sophia, or the ultimate feminine. They put Logos, or the Christ, to couple with Sophia. So, their understanding is a way off from what people learn and guess from the Bible reading. Indeed, they have their own Bible and Gospels such as of Mary Magdalene, Philip, Thomas. They do not see Mary Magdalene as a sinner in common sense, but they rather think the fall of her was necessary for the redemption by the help of Jesus.
Let me explain about Mary Magdalene from the traditional Biblical understanding. Catholics believe that Mary Magdalene was the “tower of religious faith,” and I would like to explain her from this point of view as I was converted to Catholicism.
Mary Magdalene was called as a sinner. We do not know what kind of sin she actually made. What we know is that Jesus knew her sin and said that great sinner would receive more blessings when she is forgiven. There are many followers who are thought as sinful in the society in the Bible. Jesus often talked with sinners and outcasts. One occasion, Jesus asked a tax collector to become his student. From such attitude of the teacher, we know that he came to show the mercy of god than his punishment to his people.
When I was attending the Gnostic church, there were several leaflet available for the visitors. One of them is written by the tau, Ms. Rosamond Miller. It was half about her biography and she explained how she was raped in the Castro's Cuba. I did not know much about organized stalkers nor what they were doing against their target. I made a vow to Mary Magdalene before I started to attend the church. Later, I was sent to mental hospitals so the students cannot be sued by me. Then, I was raped in the hospital. In my case, I was lucky because they did so while I was asleep with strong sleeping pills. The tau had suffered from Cuban army torture. When I think about this similarity with the tau at the Gnostic church, what I realized is that definition of “sin” itself is done by humans. In some societies, victims of rape would be thought as sinners and would receive a capital punishment. I don't know what caused Mary Magdalene to be thought as a sinner in her community. I became a victim of gang stalking, and they are trying to find fault me to declare me as a criminal.
Gang stalkers were expecting me to commit suicide as they continue 24/7 surveillance and harassments. Christians do not kill oneself as our bodies are given by our god. Instead of what they expected to happen, I tried to focus on understanding the gospels, both Bible ones and non Bible ones.
The tau once said that everyone has an aspect of Mary Magdalene. After reading Bible and other gospels, I figured out one thing. Christians are trying to become like our Savior, Jesus. We try to act like Jesus did and try to understand his way of thinking. All saints did the same. They tried to understand Christ and acted with the help of the Holy Spirit.
Mary Magdalene is a significant character in the Bible. After Christ's death, the Holy Spirit helped followers to keep their faith. If Mary Magdalene is a tower of religious strength and a chariot, we must consider her role and how the Holy Spirit helped her to act so.
I have learned how to find Mary Magdalene's aspect of devotion to the Teacher in myself. Everyone has such aspect if he or she wants to be religious and has struggle to keep own faith. When we try to mimic the way Jesus did, we can get closer to become like Jesus. I think this is same for becoming like Mary Magdalene. When I ran away from my home because of the assassination attempt, I prayed to St. Frances of Assisi and became like him traveling around with my religious books. Catholics consider oneself as a sinner and practice confessions. If Mary is thought as a sinner, we can learn the way of confession from her. Thinking about the way past religious people and saints lived, we can understand more about Christianity. Just like philosophy is to understand human being, Christianity's core principle is to understand Christ himself.
So who is Mary Magdalene? The answer must be in your heart.
15/01/08