Mary Magdalene Written by Jeannie Weyrick with Christ, Archangel Raphael, and St. Germain

This material is excerpted from an upcoming book on Mary Magdalene.

Sometimes to better understand the present you have to clarify the past. This chapter is on Mary Magdalene, her life and relationship with Jesus, her place as a part of the Christ, the important teachings that could have been realized, and why it didn't happen.

In January of 1993 Jesus worked with me very deeply for several weeks and showed me his life with Mary Magdalene. I grew up Catholic, so what He told me was completely foreign to me, but as He told me and showed me His life with her, and His vast love for her, it opened up a deep knowing and feeling of rightness within me. This knowledge has also caused some sadness over the years because she is so misunderstood and maligned, and her contribution to the world is completely overlooked. It pains me to hear people call her a whore and disregard what she did and stood for. I take great joy in the fact that all of that is changing now with the new information coming to light. The very day I started writing this letter with Jesus the television channel A&E showed a biography of her called "The Hidden Apostle". This was not the usual, "Was she a whore or not?" show. The biography had Biblical scholars on who had studied the texts at Nag Hammadi and other sources that are available now. The whole theme of the show was to say that she had been very wronged these past 2000 years. The show not only exonerated her from being labeled a whore, but it went on to show that she was the greatest of the apostles and that without her help and support the early church may not have survived! They stopped short of saying that she was Jesus' wife, but in an earlier A&E biography of Jesus called the "The Unknown Jesus" scholars talked at length about His probable marriage to Mary Magdalene.

In that January of 1993 Jesus showed me a very sweet and completely loving and devoted life with Mary Magdalene. Mary was from a very well placed and wealthy family. She was the sister of Martha and Lazarus. Mary Magdalene and Mary of Bethany are one in the same person in the Bible. Magdalene is not the name of a town she is from. The name Magdalene is a title. Magdala in Hebrew means "tower", it can also mean "elevated, great, magnificent". Magdal-eder means "watchtower of the flock". There is a reference to this title in Chapter 4 of the Hebrew prophet Micah. "As for you, O [Magdal-eder], watchtower of the flock, O stronghold of the Daughter of Zion! the former domain will be restored to you; kingship will come to the Daughter of Jerusalem." The Gnostic Gospels and texts sometimes refer to Mary as "the Magdalene". It is something akin to using the title "Christ" in "Jesus Christ".

Jesus was betrothed to Mary at a very young age, which was the custom of the time. He was 16 and she was 11. During that same year He went to Tibet and India to teach and fulfil His obligations there before returning to Israel at age 24 and marrying Mary Magdalene. They were married for 9 years and had three children before His crucifixion and resurrection at age 33. Since Mary was betrothed to Jesus at the age of 11 it can hardly be imagined that she was a whore or a prostitute, as came to be believed through the very deliberate slander from the Orthodox (Catholic) Church.

In early December of 1999 Mary Magdalene "appeared" to me (in spiritual perception) and asked me to tell her story. I told her that I would be honored to do that. Later that month Jesus talked at length with me about writing articles, or even a book on Mary Magdalene to set the record straight and talk about the importance of her life. Shortly after that, while we were discussing the subject, He told me that He and Mary had two boys and a girl. He then asked me to get on the Internet and do a search on Mary Magdalene. I did and found two very important pieces of information. One was confirmation and the other new information. I came to one web site that stated that "Jesus had three children, two boys and a girl". The statement was made without reference to where the information came from. I was very grateful for the confirmation so quickly after He told me, but I was curious about where the person got their information. Within a few days I was in a bookstore and there laying out in the open was a book about the bloodline of the Holy Grail. I picked it up and flipped it open to a page and there was the statement - Jesus and Mary Magdalene had three children, two boys and a girl. The book explained that this knowledge was passed down through secret channels that the Church was always trying to silence, but despite that the information survives to this day.

The other piece of information I found on the Internet the Sunday morning that Jesus asked me to do the search, was a thesis by a Biblical scholar that declared Mary Magdalene was the "beloved disciple" and the secret author of the Fourth Gospel, which Jesus confirmed was correct. The thesis by Ramon K. Jusino, M.A is entitled "Mary Magdalene: Author of the Fourth Gospel?". The thesis explains that the Fourth Gospel is attributed to "John of Zebedee", but that is only by tradition on the basis of Bishop Irenaeus' (circa 180 C. E.) childhood memories. Biblical scholars now doubt that John of Zebedee is truly the author. The author is really never identified except by way of the description the "beloved disciple". The Fourth Gospel is the most Gnostic of all the Gospels and reflects some of the inner teachings that Mary Magdalene had through Jesus. It is distinctly different from the other three canonical Gospels and gives eyewitness accounts and more information about Jesus and His resurrection than the others. In the original Gospel of Mark, which the other Gospels are based on in part, the Gospel ended with Mary running from the empty tomb. Information about the resurrection was added to it at a later date. The Fourth Gospel is written by the "beloved disciple" and throughout the Gospel this love is demonstrated and made very obvious. When it is understood that it was written from the point of view of Jesus' beloved wife and partner, and not a male disciple, the underlying current of the Gospel makes a great deal more sense. The Gospel is seemingly written from a male point of view so that the true author could stay hidden and the gospel be accepted into the church canon. There is a famous passage that seems to prove that a male disciple really did author the Fourth Gospel and was the beloved disciple of Jesus. But if you assume that the beloved disciple is Mary Magdalene the passage makes more sense. In fact, the verse directly before Jesus speaks names the people who were with him, and whom he would be addressing. All of them were women, including Mary Magdalene and His mother. "Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife and Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple standing by, whom He loved, he saith unto His mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith He to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto "his" own home." Two points: 1. When Jesus said "behold thy son", he was speaking about himself, not the apostle John, who was not present, which what has always been assumed because of the pronoun "his" which was inserted to hide the true meaning. 2. Jesus' mother Mary did not need to be taken care of by a disciple. As mentioned in the Bible, Jesus had four brothers, James, Joseph, Simon and Judas, and one of her other sons or one of her daughters could have/would have cared for her. Mary Magdalene was her daughter-in-law. If you change the gender from son to daughter Jesus is saying to His mother and His wife to hold to each other in His absence and the turbulent times ahead.

In the texts found at Nag Hammadi it is Mary Magdalene that is referred to as the beloved disciple. In the Fourth Gospel there is tension and jealousy from Peter surrounding the beloved disciple. This relationship is echoed between Mary Magdalene and Peter throughout the Nag Hammadi texts. Another point is the unique place given to women as "proclaimers" in the Fourth Gospel, which supports it being authored by a woman.

On the day I started to write this letter with Jesus He told me something that made all of the pieces of information fit together in my heart and in my mind. He told me that Mary Magdalene was also an incarnation of the Christ, just as Jesus was. He explained that it was a double incarnation, each having a supporting role for the other. The double incarnation was meant to support all of humankind, and not just to reiterate male dominance in spirituality and culture. It was in part to show that equal spiritual partnership can exist between a man and a woman, and that women were very capable and worthy of seeking their own spiritual enlightenment. It was also intended to lift women out of their subservient role and to heal what was wrongly believed about Adam and Eve: the dominance of men over women, and that women were sinners and temptresses, something that was deeply instilled in the culture. That insidious belief still affects cultural standards to this day, 2000 years later. Some people of the time were able to accept the precious gifts that were offered through Jesus' and Mary's sacred marriage and teachings on the subject, but as can be seen from the way that those teachings were squelched and how Mary Magdalene was slandered, most people could not accept it for very long. I know that this revelation about Mary may sound completely unbelievable to some people, but there is underlying proof of it in the Bible and in the texts found at Nag Hammadi.

Many people base their beliefs unknowingly on tradition and not the complete truth. They think that Jesus Himself designated what was included in the Bible and that every word attributed to Him in the Bible was exactly what He said. The vast majority of these people are completely unaware of the history behind the New Testament and early Christianity. There is good reason to be careful when reading the works chosen for the New Testament and believing that they are the absolute and only truth. You need only explore history just a little bit to see all of the different groups and beliefs that existed surrounding Jesus and His teachings. Some of these groups were diametrically opposed to each other. What finally came to be known as the teachings and life of Jesus is a compilation of beliefs that were refined and edited over the first 300 years after His resurrection. The prevailing beliefs that exist today are the beliefs of the Christian sect of Paul, who won the backing of Rome in the early fourth century. Upon winning this backing they had the power and ability to make their beliefs law and to legally persecute all other sects and beliefs as heretical.

In 1958 a manuscript of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople was found in a monastery at Mar Saba, east of Jerusalem, by Morton Smith a professor of Ancient History at Columbia University. Within the document was a letter by Clement, an early Pauline Orthodox (Catholic) Church father, to his colleague Theodore. The letter contained excerpts from the "secret" Gospel of Mark. The secret Gospel had information that was taken out of the Gospel of Mark that appears in the Bible. The letter to Theodore stated that some of the original content of Mark had to be suppressed because it did not conform to Orthodox beliefs. Please note that this is the church that became the Catholic Church, which 1500 years later would split to form the different Protestant sects.

Here are excerpts from the letter telling Theodore that at all cost one should lie on oath rather than to admit to what he knows is true if it goes against the teachings of the Orthodox faith.

"For even if they should say something true, one who loves the Truth should not, even so, agree with them. For not all true things are the Truth; nor should that truth which seems true according to human opinions be preferred to the Truth - that according to the (Catholic) faith."

And "[As for] Mark, then, during Peter's stay in Rome he wrote [an account of] the Lord's doings, not, however, declaring all, nor yet hinting at the secret [ones], but selecting those he thought most useful for increasing the faith of those who were being instructed. But when Peter died a martyr, Mark came over to Alexandria, bringing both his own notes and those of Peter, from which he transferred to his former book the things suitable to whatever makes for the progress towards knowledge. [Thus] he composed a more spiritual Gospel for the use of those who were being perfected. Nevertheless, he yet did not divulge the things not to be uttered, nor did he write down the hierophantic teachings of the Lord, but to stories already written he added yet others and, moreover, brought in certain sayings of which he knew the interpretation would, as a mystagogue, lead the hearers into the innermost sanctuary of that truth *hidden by seven. Thus, in sum, he prearranged matters, neither grudgingly nor incautiously, in my opinion, and dying, he left his composition to the church in Alexandria, where it even yet is most carefully guarded, being read only to those who are initiated into the great mysteries."

(* seven is a reference to the 7 chakras.)

This section of the letter tells that there were inner teachings of Jesus in secret gospels and other writings that only a few initiated people got the benefit of. The Gospels and Gnostic texts are full of passages talking about inner teachings for those "who have ears to hear" and they make it clear that not even all of the apostles and disciples had the benefit of the inner teachings. Almost every religion has teachings for the masses and mystic teachings for the people who seek true enlightenment. The deeper mystic teachings are for those seeking self development and direct connection with God. As for mystic teachings in other religions, in Judaism there is the Kabbalah and in Islam there is Sufism. The Eastern religions put most of their mystic teachings for enlightenment in the teachings for the masses, but they also reserve many inner teachings for further self development and enlightenment as well. The Orthodox Christians in their quest to destroy all teachings that they deemed "heretical" seem to have all but destroyed Jesus' deeper teachings. To this end they even burned the Library at Alexandria, which housed not only the greatest body of scriptures, but also the largest body of world history and knowledge of the time.

Further on in Clement's letter it states: "To them one must never give way; nor, when they put forward their falsifications, should one concede that the secret Gospel is by Mark - but should deny it on an oath. For not all true things are to be said to all men."

Thus the Orthodox Church knew many truths about Jesus' life and His teachings that they withheld for what they deeply believed was the greater good of their followers, and for the survival of their church.

One of the most prominent early Orthodox Church fathers, Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyon, in denouncing the "heretics" declared that Jesus Himself was mistaken in His beliefs and followed the wrong religion (Judaism). He wrote the following of the Nazarenes and the Church of Jerusalem, a Christian sect started by Jesus' brother James, which remained true to their Jewish roots:

"They, like Jesus Himself, as well as the Essenes and the Zadokites of two centuries before, expounded upon the prophetic books of the Old Testament. They reject the Pauline epistles, and they reject the apostle Paul, calling him an apostle of the Law."

Clearly the beliefs of the Orthodox Church were held paramount beyond all else, even to the exclusion of the full body of Jesus' teachings. There was a great deal of disagreement over Jesus' teachings, and who He truly was. Many of the different understandings were completely opposed to one another and caused the different sects to clashed violently with each other. What is truly ironic is that the Orthodox Church was vehemently against the Gnostics and their belief in direct revelation. They purported to accept only what Jesus, and those who knew him directly taught. But they came to base a large part of their teachings on Paul, his direct revelations of Jesus, and his interpretations of Jesus' teachings. Paul/Saul was not an apostle and never new Jesus in person. He had a revelation from Jesus while persecuting the early Christians and became a zealous believer and catalyst in the early Orthodox Church. It is his preaching and organizing of the early Orthodox Church, and the letters to people in different towns and countries to accomplish this, that would set church policy and the belief structure for the future.

I am not saying that the orthodox teachings are wrong, or that the New Testament is far from Jesus' original teachings. I am saying that they are not complete and they are slanted to support orthodox beliefs and cannot be taken as the only and absolute teachings of Jesus. Clearly they were edited heavily and what made it into the New Testament was very carefully chosen among hundreds of possible texts on Jesus' teachings and life. I believe that it is best to consider all of the gospels and texts about Jesus written at that time to get a clearer and more well rounded understanding of His true teachings.

The following information about Mary Magdalene is from the texts at Nag Hammadi, the Gnostic Gospels, and other writings that were not accepted into the canon of the Orthodox Church. I believe that these texts when studied together with the New Testament, give a more well rounded picture of Jesus, His teachings, and His life with Mary Magdalene. There is a word of caution in reading the Nag Hammadi texts. The Gnostics wrote using a great deal of symbology, and many meanings of common words or phrases do not have the same meaning or connotation that they have today. It is best to read books about the texts first to be able to understand their writings. If you take them literally and at face value, they can be hard to read and you would be missing many of the teachings that are being conveyed.

In all of these texts, just as in the New Testament, Mary Magdalene is never once referred to as a whore or sinner. She is held in very high esteem. In the Gospel of Luke it is said that Jesus cast 7 devils out of Mary Magdalene. Jesus told me that this is a twisted and false story, one that came to be a tradition through Mary's detractors. It was a story that the Orthodox Church used to cast aspersions on her reputation. In reality, the story originally referred to the opening of her 7 chakras so that she could receive enlightenment.

From the text, "Dialogue with the Savior:" Mary is said to be the "apostle who excels the rest", superior to Thomas and Matthew, who also had inner teachings from Jesus. She is called the "revealer of the greatness of the revealer", meaning that she truly understood Jesus' teachings and taught others about them. She was also honored as the "woman who knew the All", meaning the she had complete Spiritual Realization.

In the "Pistis Sophia" (Faith Wisdom) Mary is "the happy one, beautiful in her speaking", "pure spiritual Marihan (Mary)" and the "inheritor of the Light". In the Pistis Sophia Mary is shown as the "alter ego" of Wisdom. The one who seeks it and imparts knowledge about it. Sophia (Divine Wisdom) is connected with the Holy Spirit, traditionally thought of as feminine. The Holy Spirit of Sophia (Wisdom) was held to be incarnate in Mary Magdalene. The writer of the Pistis Sophia was very guided and knew the truth about Mary Magdalene and that she was a part of the Christ, something that Jesus revealed to His inner circle while he was on the Earth.

In both the Gospel of Phillip and the Gospel of Mary, Mary is shown as a leader, a visionary, and a catalyst in the early Christian movement. When all of the men were afraid of persecution and would not go out in public, she recounted some of the inner teachings that Jesus gave to her and shared a visitation of Him after His resurrection. She rallied the other apostles and gave them strength to go out and spread the word.

Hippolytus of Rome, (circa 225 AD) called Mary Magdalene the "Apostle to the Apostles" because of her role in the resurrection and her evangelizing. It was stated on the A&E video "The Hidden Apostle" that Mary Magdalene was the first apostle to go out and preach the words of Jesus. It also said that in 1969 the Vatican publicly admitted that they were in error about Mary Magdalene and officially said that she was not a whore, nor the anonymous sinner in the Bible.

Mary Magdalene was always by Jesus' side while He preached. She used her wealth to support Jesus in his spiritual ministry, including providing food and lodging for his disciples, (Luke: 8:2). She stayed with Him in the Garden of Gethsemane. When the male apostles fled during the crucifixion she stayed with Jesus the entire time. She was the first one to go to His tomb while the male apostles stayed hidden in fear of persecution. She was the first to see Jesus after His resurrection, and she was the one to bring the news of His resurrection to the other apostles. She was a very strong and dynamic leader, and one of the very few who truly understood all of Jesus' teachings and all that Jesus was trying to impart to the world.

Mary Magdalene was the head of a large sect in the early Christian movement. Some people believe that she was the first true "pope" because of her position and partnership with Jesus, her inner teachings, her financial support of the early Christian movement, and her evangelizing. She went on to do extensive work in Gaul (France) and Britain and many people followed her teachings. The most notable group to adhere to her teachings in Europe were the Cathers, who carried a copy of the Fourth Gospel (the gospel that Mary authored) secretly hidden in their belts. They had to be secret because they were being severely persecuted by the Catholic Church.

Jesus' brother James was the head of his own large Christian/Judaic movement, the Church of Jerusalem, and as Jesus' brother, he thought that he should be the successor to Jesus and His teachings. The Orthodox Church claimed Peter as its first pope, and the books that were chosen for what would become the New Testament, and the way they were edited, reflected that choice.

Who really was the first pope depends on which Christian movement you look at, and which ancient texts you believe. To say that Peter was the first and only pope would be ignoring the fact that there were several large and powerful Christian movements at the same time, each with their own chosen leader. Most people recognize Peter as the first and only pope of the time because it is the tradition of the Orthodox Church, the church that eventually won the backing of Rome and had the power to discredit and destroy the other Christian movements, which they were very successful at doing.

There was always much rivalry between Mary and Peter, as can be clearly seen in the Pistis Sophia, the Gospel of Mary, The Gospel of the Egyptians, and the Gospel of Thomas. In the Pistis Sophia Peter asks Jesus to silence Mary when he perceives that she is dominating the conversation. Instead of backing Peter, Jesus rebukes him. Time and again in the Gnostic Gospels Jesus sides with Mary and defends her against all of the other apostles and disciples.

When the disciples ask Jesus "Why do you love her more than all of us?" Jesus answers: "Why do I not love you like I love her? If a blind person and one with sight are both in the darkness, they are not different from one another. When the Light comes, then the person with sight will see the Light, and the blind person will remain in the darkness." Jesus was telling them that Mary had achieved a state of Realization that they had not yet achieved.

Here is further evidence to support Mary Magdalene as the first pope: Scholars have come to realize that the tarot cards are really "flash" cards from the middle ages that tell a very different story of Christianity than the Catholic church wanted revealed. That is why to this day tarot cards have a bad connotation in some circles. The church outlawed them and cast aspersions on them from the beginning. The stigma that they placed on them is still felt and believed today among many Christians. Most people who believe they are bad either don't really know why they are bad, or they have a vague idea that they have something to do with black magic or the devil, which is precisely what the church wanted people to believe.

The second major arcana card of the tarot deck is the High Priestess, known in the Middle Ages as the Papess - the female pope. This card depicts Mary Magdalene as pope. You can see from looking at only this one card why the church outlawed the tarot deck. In general, the cards tell the story that a person can achieve spiritual realization and mastery without going through the Catholic Church. In other words, they reflect the direct connection to God and Jesus that both Mary Magdalene and many of the Gnostics taught.

The placement of the High Priestess card as the number two card of 20 in the major arcana denotes Mary Magdalene's importance and position in the life of Jesus.

Jesus' Marriage to Mary

In the texts at Nag Hammadi Mary is referred to as Jesus' companion. But the Greek word "koinonos" that is translated into "companion" more literally means partner and consort, specifically a women who a man has had sexual relations with. In other words, most often, his wife.

In the Gospel of Phillip, and in other texts, Jesus and Mary are referred to often as the Bride and Bridegroom. In allegory this represents the love of God for humankind. This is a theme that was very popular in the middle ages, even within the Catholic Church. The Canticle of Canticles (Song of Songs) - a very sensual and explicit work - was read often at mass during a certain period of time in the middle ages. Jesus and Mary Magdalene were the Bride and Bridegroom. Jesus representing God, and Mary representing the Church. The bride and the bridegroom reference can be taken both literally and allegorically, but many people only accepted it as allegory. Jesus and Mary's life was an allegory for God's love for humankind, and it demonstrated one of the greatest expressions of that love and partnership that people can achieve together; a sacred marriage.

The Bride and the Bridegroom is an important blueprint for people to relate to and have and hold. As a part of the overall teachings of the Christ, Jesus and Mary were trying to establish an important template in the relationship between men and women. In part, their incarnations were meant to demonstrate the sacred union of marriage where two people join together to become one. A perfect and equal blending of the masculine and the feminine. "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them." This quote from Genesis 2 is all but ignored in favor of Genesis 1, where it is said that God creates woman from Adam's rib, a passage that men have used as an excuse to dominate women for millennia. In part Jesus and Mary came here together, representing the divine masculine and the divine feminine, to correct and heal the misunderstanding of Adam and Eve. This misunderstanding of God's will held (and in some way continues to hold) half the population in chains and kept men and woman from being equal partners with each other. Without this equality a true and divine union between the two cannot be established. This divine joining in sacred marriage is meant to be one of the most highly prized unions on the Earth. Jesus' teachings of equality between men and women is found throughout the Gnostic Gospels, in His teachings from Tibet in the Gospel of St. Issa, and can even be found in the New Testament. Jesus continuously held Mary Magdalene up as an equal despite the prevailing cultural climate. Time and again he came to her defense and took her side over the male apostles and disciples when they tried to make her adhere to the cultural regulations that were designed to "keep women in their place". Jesus and Mary showed through their marriage that the joining of a man and a woman can be a divine expression of love - that it was meant to be a divine expression of Love!

The Bride and the Bridegroom hold other significant teachings. In the Gospel of Philip the "Sacrament of the Bridal Chamber" is discussed. The Bridal Chamber sacrament was a very important sacrament, even more so than communion or baptism. To those initiated into the inner teachings of Jesus, it was a powerful way to true enlightenment, and taken to its greatest expression could culminate in ascension. The secrets of the Bridal Chamber held a path to opening your chakras to receive God's Light directly into your body for awakening, transformation, and if the person was dedicated and it was right for that lifetime, physical ascension. The mysteries of the Bridal Chamber taught methods to become One with God and One with Christ in a very deep and meaningful way. It was a mystical teaching that could transform people on all levels. It was referred to as the Bridal Chamber because it used male and female principles for uniting the human and the divine. The temple of the human body was the feminine - bride. Christ represented the Bridegroom - the masculine - the Light of God. Through the use of this sacrament the chakra system was readied and opened to receive Christ's "seed" or "semen" - the Light of God. One of Christ's missions on the Earth throughout time is reuniting the human with the divine.

Jesus taught the true relevance of masculine and feminine. He demonstrated human Love in its highest potential through His marriage with Mary Magdalene, showing that marriage is sacred and can unite two people in divine Oneness and Love. He used these same principles to show that humans can be reunited with God in a divine marriage through the sacred act of receiving God's Love and energy directly into their bodies through their chakras, thereby awakening to the true spiritual beings we are.

Most people think that Jesus led a celibate lifestyle because of the teachings of the early churches. Even some of the Gnostics believed that the body was sinful and was to be ignored, and thus they also believed heavily in celibacy. Paul believed deeply in celibacy and thought that "flesh" was in contention with spirit. He thought that the Second Coming was going to happen very soon and believed that there was no reason for sex, not even to conceive children. Paul was repulsed by sex so much that he ranked sex offenses in with witchcraft and murder. Paul also taught at the time of the Last Judgement lifelong virgins would attained the highest realms of heaven and be saved first, followed by convert celibates like himself. Last would be the people who were married. Hell was reserved for those who had sex outside of marriage. Ambrose argued that only by remaining a virgin could a woman redeem the sin that her parents had committed in conceiving her. St. Jerome wrote that "those joined together in matrimony should abstain from cohabitation three nights before receiving communion", so polluting was sex, even in marriage. Augustine said that procreation should take place only though passionless sex, without lust and through sheer dint of will. Marcion only allowed baptism to virgins, widows, and married couples who agreed to refrain from sexual relations. Julius Cassianus said that men became most like beasts during sexual intercourse and that Jesus had come to Earth to prevent men from copulating. Terullian, Church Father from Carthage, labeled women "a temple built over a sewer". He also wrote: "Women! You are the devil's doorway! You lead astray one whom the devil would dare not attack directly". Justin Martyr detested sexual relations so much that he could not imagine Mother Mary as sexually conceiving Jesus, and argued that Mary must have conceived while still a virgin, an argument that would eventually be made into church dogma. Titian thought that sexual intercourse was the invention of the devil and taught that Christian life was "unthinkable outside the bounds of virginity". The church father Origen, believing that Jesus had made a vow of perfect chastity, castrated himself, and he was not alone in taking this drastic step!

Women, once honored and indispensable as a wife and mother, lost her natural place in society and came to be viewed as man's greatest obstacle to salvation. Men, acknowledging their weakness for women cursed and blamed them for their own natural instincts.

Because of these deep beliefs in the sinfulness of sexuality, even within the bounds of marriage, the "virgin family" was created. It is believed by many Christians that Jesus, Mary, and Joseph were lifelong virgins. The teaching that Mary was a virgin and remained a virgin her whole life became church dogma in 451 at the Council of Chalcedon. (Please note that Mary's virginal status for the birth of Jesus goes back to the writing in 2 of the 4 canonical gospels and reflects both Old Testament prophecy of the birth of a Messiah, as well as very popular pagan beliefs of the virgin birth of deities.) This "virginal family" belief existed and exists despite the naming of Jesus' four brothers, and the mentioning of His sisters in all four canonical Gospels, and the Gnostic Gospels.

The belief that sex was sinful, which came to be held decades after Jesus' death and resurrection, was one of the reason why Jesus' marital status and the fact of his children remained hidden. People came to believe that the "Son of God" would never have sexual relations with a woman. Another reason was the bloodline of Jesus and Mary Magdalene and the threat they posed to the Orthodox Church and their beliefs. Mary did not adhere to Orthodox teachings, and it would have been disastrous and unthinkable for them to have her and eventually her children, head the Orthodox Church.

Jesus was a Jew and lived by Jewish laws. The first commandment of God to the Jews was "Be fruitful and multiply". They based their lives on this commandment. Jewish laws clearly stated that it is the duty of a man to marry and have children. It was something that was held very sacred by them. In fact, there is a Jewish oral law that states "When a man attains the age of 20 and is not married, says the Holy One, let him perish". There are 5 Jewish laws that all fathers had to fulfill for their sons: circumcise him, redeem him through a sacrifice to God, instruct him in the Torah, teach him a living, and find him a wife. It was a grave sin to fail at any of these tasks and Joseph would have been publicly shamed if he did not fulfil these duties. For Jesus NOT to be married would have caused an uproar and would have been a point of persecution by others. This persecution and the blatant act of going against the Jewish laws would have surely been pointed out in the Bible. If He himself were not married Jesus' teachings would have reflected His choice not to marry and He would have given guidance about it.

The Contrasts of Jewish Views of Marriage and Sexuality with Christians

The Tulmud sings the praises of the human libido: "Were it not for the sexual instinct, no man would build a house, marry, or beget children." The Creation accounts in Genesis presents marriage as a good and natural state. At the same time that the early Christians were teaching celibacy the Jews were teachings "Any Jew who has no wife is no man".

In the Bible Jesus is called "Rabbi". A Rabbi denoted a married man. The Bible also speaks of Jesus teaching children. There was a Jewish law that forbade unmarried Jewish men to teach children. Not once in the Bible, or in the Gnostic Gospels, does Jesus teach against marriage, or suggest that people have to or should be celibate to be spiritual. In the gospels it states that the apostles were married and that their wives accompanied them in their ministry. All of the bishops and popes up to the 4th century were married. People in the first century took Jesus' being married as a matter of course, because that was what was expected of Him.

There is a quote by Jesus in the Gospel of Philip about marriage: "Great is the mystery of marriage for without it the world would not have existed." In the Gospel of Matthew Jesus says: "Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female....For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?" Far from teaching against marriage, Jesus taught about the sanctity of marriage and its rightful and essential place in the world. Why would he do that only to avoid it Himself?

The Wedding at Cana

Jesus verified to me that the story of the wedding at Cana was the story of his own marriage to Mary Magdalene. There are hints in the Bible that this is true. In that story Jesus' mother Mary tells Him that they have run out of wine and asks that He replenish the wine through a miracle. Jesus protests, but Mary orders the servants to do as Jesus requests of them, and they do. If it were not Jesus' own wedding why would "two guests" attending a wedding be in charge of such things? How could Mary order the servants to do her and Jesus' bidding if they were not in charge? There is another hint that it is Jesus' own wedding. After tasting the wine the "governor of the feast" (steward in charge of serving) calls the bridegroom over and says to him "every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse; but thou hast kept the good wine until now". These words to the bridegroom seem to be spoken directly to Jesus, who had just "replenished" the wine. (John 2:9-10)

There are other places in the Bible that hint that they were married, and that Mary Magdalene held a high spiritual "office". Mary Magdalene is the one who anoints Jesus twice in the Bible, fulfilling prophecy and preparing Him for His death and resurrection. She is the one who goes to anoint the body after His crucifixion, which is the duty of the wife or close family member. If they were not married, Mother Mary would have been the one who went to the tomb to anoint Jesus. These instances in the Bible not only show the place of a wife, but through the anointings, one who has high spiritual authority and purity.

There is another place in the Bible which shows that Mary was Jesus' wife. When Jesus came to raise Lazarus from the dead, Mary waits for him in the house instead of running out to great Him as Martha does. Because of her brother's death Mary would be "sitting shivah" - sitting in mourning. It was a Jewish custom that a wife sitting shivah wait in the house until her husband calls her out. In the secret Gospel of Mark this incident is gone into in greater detail. In a part of Mark that was edited out, Mary does run out to greet Jesus with Martha and she is angrily rebuked by the other disciples. Jesus comes to her defense (as her husband can) and silences the other disciples.

The Black Madonnas in Europe

In 633 a tiny boat sailed into the harbor of Boulognesur-Mer in northern France. Aboard there was a 3 foot statue of the Black Madonna and child, along with a copy of the Gospels in Syriac. The statue became known as "Our Lady of the Holy Blood". The statue was sent as a reminder of Mary Magdalene's coming to France (Gaul) to impart Jesus' teachings. She is holding one of their three children, showing her relationship with Jesus, and her rightful place to teach. This statue inspired many others and now hundreds of statues of the Black Madonna can found in Europe and elsewhere. There is some confusion over the Black Madonnas. Many people think that they are of Mother Mary holding the baby Jesus because they do not know of Mary Magdalene's relationship to Jesus. Others know that they are statues of Mary Magdalene symbolically holding one of her and Jesus' children. Some people think that the blackness of the forms was meant to show that Mary Magdalene was ethnically black, even though the statues do not have ethnically black features. The statues were not meant to be a literal rendition of the color of her skin. The black color was a protest that she had to stay hidden and unrecognized for who she really was. It denoted that there was secret information about her that was being suppressed.

Mary Magdalene's Royal Bloodline

Mary Magdalene was from the Jewish tribe of Benjamin and was of royal blood. Jesus was descended from King David through His father Joseph. King David's wife was from the tribe of Benjamin. Jesus and Mary's marriage reunited the Houses of David and Benjamin, forming a very powerful and symbolic union. It was one of the main reasons why Jesus' family betrothed Him to Mary Magdalene when they were so young.

Gematria

When the New Testament was written in Greek it contained gematria that either enhanced the levels of meaning of the text, or told a story in code behind the words that were written. The names used and the phrases chosen were carefully constructed to convey inner meanings and hidden teachings. Even the spellings of words were sometimes altered to produce a certain gematric meaning. When the New Testament was translated into Latin in the early fourth century the gematria hidden in the Greek letters was obscured, but not completely forgotten about. Paul extolled Jesus' gematric number 888 - (Ihsous) to be the most important beyond all other numbers. Clearly he knew about gematria and used it in his teachings and studies. Even today gematria is used in some Christian books. You may have seen the number "99" written after a prayer and wondered what it was. The number 99 is the gematria code for "Amen", which means "So be it", or "Let it come to pass".

The very existence of gematria made it harder to edit out the underlying meanings of the texts, especially if it was in reference to a well-known name that could not be easily changed. There is striking gematrial code in the Bible that supports Mary Magdalene's connection to Jesus and the fact that she is a part of the Christ.

In gematria there is a function known as "colel". This allows you to add or subtract the number 1 to arrive at a significant gematric number. The name "Mary" equals 152 and with the allowance of colel it equals the number 153, a highly significant gematria number. Magdalene has the perfect gematrical code of 153. The number 153 signifies the square root of 3 and was identified with the "Vesica Pisces". The Vesica Pisces is the almond shape that is created with the merging of two circles. This was an extremely significant and sacred symbol in the ancient world. It represented the womb or matrix (mother) of all other geometric derivations. In gematria 153 represents the Divine Feminine. It is the highly symbolic shape of a "seed", and was referred to as the "vulva" or "gateway". It was known in the ancient world as "the Holy of Holies" - the Divine inner sanctum. The "Holy of Holies" in ancient Jewish tradition is the marriage chamber where the union of Yahweh (God) and His feminine counterpart Shekinah (the Holy Spirit) was consummated. The Vesica Pisces symbolizes life and the "materialization of the Spirit". The Vesica Pisces was used as the symbol of the archetypal feminine.

In gematria significant relationships can be found by multiplying numbers together. Derivatives of numbers can be used in some instances. The number 888, the number of Jesus, can be shortened to "8". When you multiply 8 by 153 (Mary Magdalene's number) it produces the significant number 1224, the gematric number for the Greek word ichthyes, "the fishes". Jesus was known as "Lord of the Fishes". Jesus tells the apostles "I will make you fishers of men." Fish was a symbolic word for the believers that followed Jesus, and the symbology of fish plays a significant role throughout the gospels. In the Fourth Gospel when Jesus asks the apostles to cast their nets into the water (water is a symbol for the Holy Spirit - Divine Feminine) the number of fish caught in the nets was 153, the gematric number of Mary Magdalene!

At the time of Jesus the astrological age of Aries, the Ram, was ending and the age of Pisces, the fish, was just beginning. The Gematria numbers encoded in the Gospels identifies Jesus and Mary Magdalene together as the archetypal bearers of the "new age", the Age of Pisces. The symbol for Pisces is two fishes swimming in opposite directions, very similar to the ying/yang symbol, representing the divine relationship between male and female. The earliest Christian symbol was not the cross, it was the sign of the fish. It wasn't just any picture of a fish, it was the double arch formed in the Vesica Pisces!

The Second Coming

There are many hidden teachings in the Bible, gematria is just one tool to find them. Jesus gave hints in the Bible indicating when He will return for the Second Coming. Luke 22:8-10: And He sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat." So they said to Him, "Where do You want us to prepare?" And He said to them, "Behold, when you have entered the city, a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him into the house which he enters." On the surface this passage fits in with overall instructions for preparing for the Passover before Jesus' passion and resurrection. But there are hints in the Bible where there are deeper meanings in words or sentences that tell an underlying message to those who know where and how to look for them. Many times these passages begin or end with "for those who have ears to hear", but there are many signals other than this rather obvious one. Anytime that there was something out of the ordinary it was a sign to look for deeper meanings. In the time of Jesus men did not carry pitchers of water, that was a woman's job and the lines between men's work and women's work were clearly drawn. In the above passage the man bearing the pitcher of water is representative of the Water Bearer in the sign of Aquarius. The ancients pictured Aquarius as a man pouring water from his pitcher into the open mouth of the Southern Fish - Pisces. Jesus was telling Peter and John (and all of us) that He would return in the Age of Aquarius, follow Him! Please note that all of the people in Jesus' time, and who have had lives since then, have the opportunity to be present on the Earth during His Second Coming. We all had and have the opportunity of following Christ into this lifetime of His Second Coming in the astrological house of the Age of Aquarius.

The "Water Bearer" is Jesus Himself. Water, as stated previously, is the symbol for the Holy Spirit. The message shows Jesus bringing the Holy Spirit, the Light of God, to the Earth once again during the Age of Aquarius. In the greater picture Jesus was asking that Peter and John make preparations for His Second Coming as well as preparing for the culmination of His life with them in that age. There is another hidden meaning here. He specifically tells this to "Peter" and "John". Peter represents the Orthodox Church - the masses who do not have the inner teachings. Those people who rely on the surface teachings, which are very meaningful and offer a path to God, but a slow and deliberate path. John represents the Gnostics and the initiated ones who have the inner teachings of Christ, a more direct root to Oneness and enlightenment. (Please note that the inner teachings are very close to what He taught in the Eastern religions.) Jesus is asking both groups, all groups, to make preparations for His Second Coming in the Age of Aquarius. Jesus sends them together in hopes that the differences between the two will be reconciled, and that both can see the biggest picture and share in all of His teachings. Through His new teachings during the Second Coming - extensions of His original teachings in all major religions - people will have the opportunity to achieve true enlightenment, and if they choose, ascension.

Other Sources That Tell The Story

The legends of the Holy Grail tell the story of Jesus and Mary Magdalene, He the Fisher King and She the Holy Grail, the vessel that held his sacred blood (children). In the Holy Grail stories the loss of His feminine counterpart causes wounds that never heal, a metaphor for a wounded society that cannot be restored until the divine feminine is understood and accepted in its rightful place. The story of their sacred marriage was well known by many groups of people and kept alive in legends, the tarot cards, and even in fairy tales.

Mary Magdalene, as the feminine aspect of Christ, was meant to establish an archetype that women could relate to and follow. Her incarnation was meant to provide divine inspiration and lay down a template that women could use to achieve spiritual maturity. She lived a life of strength, leadership, and pure devotion to God and to Jesus, just as Jesus was devoted to Her. In Her time, much like it still is now, God is presented as male, all of the great spiritual leaders (that have been acknowledged and remembered through our written history) are male. Women had/have no representation of the Divine Feminine attributes of God to relate to in the Judaic/Christian religions. This male dominant perception by both men and women has had a horrific impact on society and has left many scars. It has left women feeling inferior in many ways, and certainly judged as inferior by many males throughout our history. Most of the people at the time of Jesus could not accept the equality of the divine feminine through His teachings, but we have another chance through the new information coming to the forefront now to understand and accept these teachings. We have the opportunity to see Jesus in a new light and seek out all of His teachings, not just the ones that are traditionally presented in their limited and slanted form. There is a whole body of His teachings in the Nag Hammadi Texts, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and other texts now making their way to the public in this time of greater enlightenment. This information is very important. It is needed to understand the past so that we can move into the future. Many people will not be able to let go of limited or wrongly edited teachings until all of His teachings and the true facts of His life are brought out, made very public, and are accepted on a mainstream level. Restoring His teachings and intentions of that lifetime is a part of preparing for His Second Coming. It paves the way for the greater teachings and clearer understandings that Jesus will be presenting to people in the future. This shift in perception of Him and the acceptance that there is more to His life and teachings than what was given in the past is also a form of preparation for people. The Second Coming will not take place in the traditional fear-based way that most Christians believe it will happen. People need to understand and accept the gentle way Jesus will appear for His second Coming. They will also have to accept that He will be giving very expanded and all encompassing teachings, and not just reiterating "Christian" teachings. If they don't there will be a whole generation of Christians who witness His Second Coming who may not be able to accept that it is truly Christ here on Earth again because He will be teaching things that run counter to their current understanding. Just as the Jews rejected the Messiah they prayed for because He taught in ways they did not expect, and in many cases could not accept, so too it could happen to Christians in our own time. It would be truly ironic if history repeated itself.

I found it very frustrating reading some the books for the research for this article. Many of the people trying to prove Jesus' marriage to Mary wanted to see Him entirely as human and discount that He is the Christ. They wanted to prove that his bloodline was the most important thing. These books tended to try to explain away all of His divine attributes and the events of His life. The authors who saw Him as divine did not want to consider that he lived a wholly - and Holy - human life and that He partook in marriage and parenthood, two of the most precious gifts that God has given to humankind. I think that it is important to see Christ in the fullness that He presented Himself to us in that lifetime; to recognize and accept that Christ chose to be present on the Earth during that time in both male and female form, working in tandem to show the Divine Holiness (and wholeness) that humankind can aspire to. God chose that lifetime to be present on the Earth representing both male and female as a catalyst for change and healing. It was rejected then, I hope that humankind can come to accept the teachings and the healing that was offered at that time in this day and age and move forward in the future in a greater state of wholeness and enlightenment. Jesus will be on the Earth again in our lifetime, reteaching these principles and all other teachings that He gave to humankind over the course of history. In this time of global communication and the Internet, His teachings cannot be kept secret, as they were in the past. They will be clearly given to everyone in the World, without the need for parables and hidden meanings, and through those teachings the world will be transformed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~