In honor of Mary Magdalene's Feast Day I am re-sharing something written and originally published in 2005.
This still rings true for me.
In 1999 the image of Mary Magdalene as the holder of a key came to me during a meditative journey. Within this image Jesus stood next to an arched wooden door with his right hand extended toward it. That part of the image was very familiar and comforting to me because since childhood I held the memory of a painting of Jesus in a similar pose within a beautiful garden….his stance and expression so welcoming and peacefully. However, in this image formed within my mind’s eye, Magdalene joined him holding the key to unlock the door that he so invitingly drew me to.
What mystery does Magdalene unlock for us? Is it a sacred treasure or a demon’s trove? Does she bring fear and more layers of separation… or does she hold the potential to restore balance in a world that is dangerously consumed by aggression and dominator principles?
For 2000 year artists and poets have given us images and verse to reflect the theologies of Christianity. For the last decade, I have created art and verse from a place within my BEing where the theology I was raised with has been released, and belief in what I’ve been taught as “true” has been suspended. From a place of different possibilities, an exploration of beliefs predating Christianity, and those Christian beliefs described as heretical, images are formed within my mind’s eye and sometimes, even years later, those images are joined by words expressing what I feel or sense.
When the Sacred Union of Masculine and Feminine is not understood or honored we have lost The Goddess and altered The God. We create life out of balance striving to experience the “as above” heavenly realm without a connection to the “so below” physical realm we walk in. We create a life that is something to be “endured” rather than celebrated and fully experienced…and we see our bodies as something we are just passing through on our way to some place else.
This journey to wholeness is not solely focused on finding the lost Goddess. The energy around Her is so strong that there is a danger of swinging the pendulum to the exact opposite polarity from where it is today…simply creating a different imbalance in humanity.
This journey is about restoring our ancient connection to the center of our being where each beat of our heart joins and nourishes God and Goddess within. Whether we are in a masculine human body or a feminine human body, we have been wounded by this separation. Reclamation is not a woman’s journey alone. Men and woman alike seek this healing. And as Christ is the door… Magdalene awaits with the key!
Artwork: Sacred Union by Patricia Ballentine "Beauty by Ballentine"