Magdalene'S Lost Legacy: Symbolic Numbers and the Sacred Union in Christianity

Description

In the face of the ascending feminine identity and the waning credibility of the patriarchal institutions of Western civilisation, "Magdalene's Lost Legacy" explodes the myth of the celibate Jesus. Using New Testament gematria, symbolic number values encoded in the Greek phrases, the author reveals that the sacred couple was one of the essential pillars of early Christian teachings, before being denied by the architects of institutional Christianity and obscured by later Church doctrine. The author shows how the nuptials of the Lamb and his Bride prophesied in the "Book of Revelation" restores a crucial teaching now forgotten by the Church: the Sacred Union - the hieros gamos or "sacred marriage" - of masculine and feminine principles is the partnership model for life on our planet. She also reveals how the scandal unfolding in the Roman Catholic priesthood has its roots in the mistaken notion of a celibate Jesus and the worship of the masculine principle stripped of its feminine partner. "Magdalene's Lost Legacy" provides a powerful tool for rediscovering the faith of the earliest Christian community and restoring its tenets. It explains the true meaning of the "666" prophesied in the "Book of Revelation". It shows how the worship of a celibate Christ created the hierarchical priesthood now embroiled in scandal.

Margaret Starbird holds a master's degree from the University of Maryland and has studied at the Christian Albrechts Universitat in Kiel, Germany, and at Vanderbilt Divinity School. She is the author of The Woman with the Alabaster Jar: Mary Magdalen and the Holy Grail and The Goddess in the Gospels. She lives with her family in the Puget Sound area of Washington State.

"Recommended for academic libraries serving women's studies programs and for public libraries where patrons are interested in Christian women throughout the ages." * Gary P. Gillum, Library Journal, July 2003 * "Through her decoding, Starbird reveals the powerful presence of the feminine divinity in religion where it has been almost erased." * Network for Women's Spirituality, Sept/Oct/Nov 2003 * "Margaret Starbird's work is of particular interest to me because it fuses the diverse fields of symbolism, mythology, art, heraldry, psychology, and gospel history. Her research opens doors for each of us to further explore the rich iconography of our own spiritual history." * Dan Brown, author of The Da Vinci Code * "Margaret Starbird fearlessly explores the symbols and the hidden clues within the scriptures of the sacred union. . . . Starbird writes eloguently and convincingly, laying the facts before us and allowing us to come to our own conclusions about these wonderful and secret teachings." * Lesley Crossingham, New Dawn, Jan-Feb 2006 *