“ History is not what happened. It is what is written.” McGowan explores the issue of the controversial real relationship between Mary Magdalene and Jesus and her real position in Christendom. She suggests that Mary Magdalene is not accurately and fairly potrayed in most of the Gospels. The author also indicates that the depictions of some other important women such as Salome in the gospels are also inaccurate and unjust. In the quest of truth about Mary Magdalene, the author has spent almost half of her life time traveling to capture and explore evidences related to her. Most of her findings however cannot be provided as academic references in the book to protect the security of the persons involved and also because most of the data are acquired orally from some trusted sources who believe in Mary Magdalene as well as claimed to know the real truths about her which are passed down from one generation to the next. One of the author’s findings which interests me is the documentary of the Cathars people. Their settlement is in Rennes-le-cheteau, in Languedoc region in France. The region is well famous for the tomb of a famous French artist named Pinus who is believed to be a member of a secret society that is formed to protect a document written by Mary Magdalene which depicts the events of crucifixion and about the disciples from her perspective. Another sacred document that is believed to be possessed by Mary Magdalene is the Book of Love which is written by Jesus Himself. There are also some who believe that the tomb hides a treasure from the Temple of Jurusalem. The Cathars are believed to descent from the Mary Magdalene and Jesus bloodline, from their first daughter Sarah-Tamar. The book of Love is protected by Mary Magdalene using some kind of alchemy to hide it from the dangerous parties until the time when an expected one has arrived. Some of the expected ones who are the bloodlines include some famous people in the history including Joan de Arc and Mary Antoinette. Other bloodlines include famous medieval artists such as Sandro Boticelli. However, the iconography of Mary Magdalene in arts and paintings deems its popularity in all time. Not only she is the famous subject among the medieval artists like Boticelli and Caraviaggo, but also among the modern Europeans such as Salvador Dali and Jean Cocteau. Mc Gowan suggests that “ one common thread runs through the vastly different portrayals of Mary Magdalene; she is depicted over and over again with the same props: a skull, said to represent penance ( repentance for John the Baptizer) , a book, believed to symbolize the Gospels, and the abalaster jar she used to anoint Jesus. Always she wears red- a tradition that reaches back into history (but is mistakenly believed to depict her as a harlot)”.
Mc Gowan also states that many excerpts from the Gospel has been used against her throughout centuries. This is merely caused by the false interpretations of the Gospels by some Christians who resent the truth about her as well as from some fail to see clearly beyond the printed words. One of the excerpts is “Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.” (Mark Gospel 16:9). As explained by the author, the single line has led to extreme claims about Mary’s mental state, including books dedicated to the idea that she was either possessed by demons or mentally ill. However, the Arques’s (a place in France, near Le Rennes le Chateau) perspective that Jesus has healed Mary after she has been poisoned by a lethal concoction known as The Poison of Seven Devils , which is believed to originate from Asia, definitely can provide us with a more clear interpretation of the line.
Alongside with all the interesting and surprising findings by the author in the book, one thing I learnt is that faith cannot be argued academically because there are some things in faith that we cannot apply our logic to them such as in Pontius Pilate case when he tried to reason Jesus’s answers with his Greek logic. However, I believe that all of the religions existed in this world preach humanity and love as their core. Thus, no matter what color and creek we are and what belief we follow, we all should be united by love. For example, religions such as Islam and Christian, both preach their believers to love all human beings regardless of their color and belief. Thus, the moment we start fighting with each other is the moment we lose our sense of humanity and actually deviate ourselves from our religion with not even a fickle realization of it.
