MMMMM

Bernardino Luini

Greetings friends – So many have shown an interest in the phenomena that is Mary Magdalene which I touched on for the death day of Pope Gregory in my last essay, that I thought to share a bit about the process of how spirit works.

During the Holy Nights, I use the Festival times as milestones in the rorschach of the year – & open to receive inspirations into what the cycle of the coming year is calling for. During this significant year leading from the anniversary of the burning of the 1st Goetheanum to the Centennial of the Refounding of Anthroposophy – What has come forth feels revelatory.

Our Epiphany Festival ‘Follow the Star’ on the Birthday of Joan of Arc, explored the gifts of the Magi, & the Baptism – with Singing & Eurythmy – the perfect theme to start the New Year.

In alignment with the energies of the Spring Equinox I am bringing in Claudia Fontana from Ann Arbor for a weekend Eurythmy workshop: ‘The Categories of Aristotle’.

The big revelation for EASTER 2023 came on the morning of January 1st after a powerful NYE contemplation as part of the ‘Fire in the Temple’ gathering at Camphill Beaver Run. I woke up knowing that I was being called to work with Mary Magdalene!   I even saw in my mind’s eye the title of the Festival: ‘Mary Magdalene & the Women at the Tomb.’

This shook me a bit – since this individuality can be seen as controversial, & that was the last thing I want to be associated with, since many already consider my work with the new Mysteries of Anthroposophia to be unconventional. But I have certainly learned that when the call comes, none of that mishegoss matters.

Juan de Flandes

I have long resonated with the mysteries of Lazarus-John, because of my profound connection to the Rosicrucian impulse. So I wasn’t too suprised that the other flash of inspiration was to celebrate the Festival of Lazarus Saturday (the Saturday before Palm Sunday) this year.

Even before The Holy Nights I had taken up reading the Gospels, & Mary Magdalene’s Being kept poking me, strongly urging me to find & decipher her thru-line in the various Gospel accounts. I knew the apocryphal Gospels of Tomas & Philip spoke about her, & I found The Gospel of Mary Magdalene online. So after I returned from Beaver Run I started taking notes & collating material – telling my team here in Chicago that Mary Magdalene was coming in for Easter!

I find that after I receive an inspiration for a Festival or lecture or workshop, the Universe conspires to give me everything I need to serve.

So I was delighted when I returned from my Northern California tour, where I had brought a CrossQuarter Festival to Three Springs Biodynamic Farm, to find that a friend had sent me a notice about a 7 week zoom meeting called ‘Who is Mary Magdalene’? with Faith DiVecchio. I had missed the 1st session but Faith graciously allowed me to come in after that.

Faith is currently studying at the Christian Community Seminary & is able to bring deep insights into the being of Mary Magdalene. She holds the zoom space with a hygienic reverence that leaves plenty of breathing space. I love how she simply brings the Gospel readings & then allows the group to take them in, sharing their own impressions, & then moving into discussion & conversation. Every person in the intimate group blows me away with their insights; it is a soul opening communal experience. Being a lover & collector of spiritual images myself, I truly appreciate how Faith brings great works of art into every session for us to ponder & again share what becomes inspired within us.

https://www.sueellenparkinson.com/prints/mary-magdalene

Another powerful synchronicity came the same week I heard about Faith’s group, poet Fred La Motte invited me to a 4 day conference called ‘Re-Uniting With Our Roots: Mythica’s Second Annual Mary Magdalene Conference’ which explored the Gospel stories with an incredibly diverse array of artists, poets & musicians sharing their devotion & original creations.

Sisisterhood ~Sue Ellen Parkinson, one of the presenters

The focus was on celebrating the power of the Divine Feminine to encompass every human relationship; putting an emphasis on sisterhood – to heal the much maligned female friendship.

Jesus Casting out the 7 demons ~Sue Ellen Parkinson

And many have continued this work into a 40 day immersion thru Lenten-Tide to explore further the history, art, music & contemplative practices associated with Mary Magdalene. Kathleen Aspo does a great job curating the various voices thru Mythica her foundation for Education, Contemplation & the Arts.

Then I found out my dear friends Lila & David Tresemer wrote & produced & performed in a play about Mary Magdalene that had original music & choreography!

And David Tresemer PH.D & Laura-Lea Cannon wrote the Preface to the translation of ‘The Gospel Mary Magdalene’ that Faith recommended which they called ‘Who is Mary Magdalene?

And then a few weeks ago my beloved husband CG who is taking a class with Patrick Kennedy said that he mentioned Mary Magdalene in one of his sessions working with the Old Testament. So I started looking into Exodus & found a connection in my understanding of MM with The Shekinah, the expression of the Divine Feminine in the Hebrew tradition, & the powerful symbol of The Mercy Seat of the Arc of the Covenant. This seemed to point to a correspondence with The Egyptian Mysteries of Isis…& on & on…

Steven Hale, a regular contributor in the comment section of RR, has been sharing various clues & quotes about MM including, The Gospel of Peter, which I had not known about, & also insights from Steiner.

So much is pouring in…

As I mentioned in my last essay ‘Do what you are doing’ it really feels like there has been a shift in the world ethers allowing a new initiatory force to reach ‘those who have ears to hear’ & the will to take up the example & teachings of the “Apostle to the Apostles” – Mary Magdalene.

Faith DiVecchio is right in the flow of this energy, offering another 7 week exploration on zoom, & an upcoming in-person retreat.

And you can join us for our annual Easter Festival:  

William Adolphe Bouguereau

Mary Magdalene & the Women at the Tomb – A Festival of Recognition

with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg, & Faith DiVecchio

Song-Circle with Velsum

Holy Saturday 8 April 2023

1 pm – 3pm CT hybrid event in-person at the Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago & on zoom

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/7050174041

Meeting ID: 705 017 4041

For more Info. contact Hag@RSChicago.org Cultural Events & Festivals Coordinator for the Rudolf Steiner Branch 4249 North Lincoln Avenue, Chicago, IL 60618 (map)
www.rschicago.org/donate

madonna-with-st-mary-magdalene-and-st-john-the-baptist-Andrea-Mantegna.

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

1592 – Ultimate Pi Day: the largest correspondence between calendar dates & significant digits of pi since the introduction of the Julian calendar

1794 – Eli Whitney is granted a patent for the cotton gin

1879 – Birthday of Albert Einstein! (1879 the year Michael became the Time-Spirit)

Image result for Georg Philipp Telemann

1681 – Birthday of Georg Philipp Telemann, a German Baroque composer & multi-instrumentalist. Almost completely self-taught in music, he became a composer against his family’s wishes. He held important positions in Leipzig, Sorau, Eisenach,& Frankfurt before settling in Hamburg in 1721, where he became musical director of the city’s five main churches. While Telemann’s career prospered, his personal life was always troubled: his first wife died only a few months after their marriage, & his second wife had extramarital affairs & accumulated a large gambling debt before leaving Telemann.

Telemann was one of the most prolific composers in history & was considered by his contemporaries to be one of the leading German composers of the time—he was compared favorably both to his friend Johann Sebastian Bach, who made Telemann the godfather & namesake of his son Carl Philipp Emanuel, & to George Frideric Handel, whom Telemann also knew personally. He remained at the forefront of all new musical tendencies & his music is an important link between the late Baroque & early Classical styles

Image result for Ludwig Emil Grimm,

1790 – Birthday of Ludwig Emil Grimm, a German painter, art professor, etcher & copper engraver. His brothers were the well-known folklorists Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm

1804 – Birthday of Johann Strauss I, an Austrian Romantic composer. He was famous for his waltzes, & he popularized them alongside Joseph Lanner, thereby setting the foundations for his sons to carry on his musical dynasty. His most famous piece is the Radetzky March

Here is a Video with a brief Biography of Marie Steiner-von Sivers: ‘A Cosmic Being’

1867 – Birthday of Marie Steiner von Sivers – born into an aristocratic family in Włocławek, Poland, then part of Russia. She was well-educated, fluent in Russian, German, English, French & Italian. She studied theater & recitation with several teachers in Europe.

Marie von Sivers “appeared one day” at one of Rudolf Steiner’s early lectures in 1900. In the autumn of 1901, she posed the question to Steiner, “Would it be possible to create a spiritual movement based on European tradition and the impetus of Christ?” Rudolf Steiner later reported: With this, I was given the opportunity to act in a way that I had only previously imagined. The question had been put to me, and now, according to spiritual laws, I could begin to answer it.

Marie Steiner-von Sivers & Rudolf Steiner were married on Christmas eve 1914, & she was one of his closest colleagues. Marie von Sivers collaborated with Steiner for the rest of his life & carried his work beyond his death in 1925 until her own death in 1948. She accompanied him & helped him as secretary, translator, editor, & organizer of his lecture tours & other public activities. She assisted Steiner’s work with her own resources & in 1908 founded the Philosophical-Theosophical Press (later Philosophical-Anthroposophical) to publish Steiner’s work

She made a great contribution to the development of anthroposophy, particularly in her work on the renewal of the performing arts (eurythmy, speech & drama), & the editing & publishing of Rudolf Steiner’s literary estate.

Starting in 1912, the art of eurythmy was developed by Rudolf Steiner. Under Marie Steiner-von Sivers’ guidance, it developed in three directions, as a stage art, as an integral part of Waldorf pedagogy, & as a therapeutic method. Under her tutelage, two schools of eurythmy were founded, in Berlin & in Dornach, Switzerland.

Marie von Sivers was trained in recitation & elocution & made a study of purely artistic speaking. She gave introductory poetry recitals at Steiner’s lectures & assisted him in the development of the 4 Mystery Dramas (1910–1913). With her help, Steiner conducted several speech & drama courses with the aim of raising these forms to the level of true art. Ms Steiner died on December 27th 1948

Related image

1883 – Deathday of Karl Marx. Rudolf Steiner revealed that Marx was a landowner in Northern France in the early 9th century, & that one day his property was seized by a rival. Marx was then forced to work under the new owner of his former property. The new owner reincarnated as Friedrich Engels, who embarked on a compensatory cooperation with his former rival. So it is that old impulses of destiny may work on in a new incarnation. No wonder that Marx became a fierce enemy of all private property, having himself experienced in a previous life how insecure the private ownership of property can become. Those seeking deeper insight into this historic-karmic background of Marx & Engels & their activities are referred to Steiner’s lecture of 6 April 1924. GA 236.

Related image

1923 – Birthday of Diane Arbus, American photographer & writer noted for photographs of marginalized people—dwarfs, giants, transgender people, nudists, circus performers—& others whose normality was perceived by the general populace as ugly or surreal. In 1972, a year after she committed suicide, Arbus became the first American photographer to have photographs displayed at the Venice Biennale.  Millions viewed traveling exhibitions of her work in 1972–1979. The book accompanying the exhibition, Diane Arbus: An Aperture Monograph, is the bestselling photography monograph ever, still being reprinted today

1932 – Deathday of George Eastman, American inventor & businessman, founded Eastman Kodak

The Categories of Aristotle – a process of contraction…
Is there a path to expansion…..?

PUBLIC LECTURE AND EURYTHMY WORKSHOP WITH CLAUDIA FONTANA

Friday 24 March 2023 – Lecture 7 pm CT – 8:30 pm – Purchase tickets at the door or pay online
$12

Saturday 25 March 2023 – Workshop – 9 am CT– (10:30 am 1/2 hour break – 11 am) 12:30 pm CT CT– Purchase tickets at the door or pay online $50

The Categories of AristotleA process of contraction…exploring a path to expansion

Does one have to be a philosopher of great erudition to approach Aristotle’s gift to humanity……his Categories?

Perhaps , YES! But an initial acquaintance with them can lead out of the confinement of the intellectual concept to an experience of expansion supported by Eurythmy.

In the evening lecture Claudia will introduce the life of the Categories before they became concepts – Bringing the symbols in a sequence of sounds  (called the Evolutionary Sequence ) out of their conceptual form, to life, supported by Eurythmy and examples of poetry.

During the workshop we will enter into the movement of the poetry presented  during the lecture. This will be accessible to Eurythmists as well as to anyone interested in the life of language, poetry and our alphabet.

at the Rudolf Steiner Branch of The Anthroposophical Society
4249 North Lincoln Avenue. Chicago, IL 60618 (map)
https://www.rschicago.org/happenings/calendar 
www.rschicago.org/donate

For more info contact Cultural Events & Festivals Coordinator
Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

Claudia Fontana saw a Eurythmy performance when still a teenager. Unbeknownst to her at the time, that performance was the gate to her destiny path. Soon thereafter she studied Eurythmy in Vienna and subsequently spent fourteen years as a performer with the Dornach, London and Stuttgart Eurythmeum ensembles. Teaching became the next challenge which she happily met in the United States, Europe. Before Covid, she spent seven years teaching all levels in Thailand, Malaysia and China. She resides in Ann Arbor, MI still performing and teaching.

“Lazarus – Come Forth” – An exploration of the 1st Christian Initiation, thru the Word & Eurythmy

with Rev. Jeana Lee, Mary Ruud & Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

Starting at Sundown on Friday 31 March 2023
7 pm – 8:30 pm CT at the Christian Community 2135 W. Wilson Leading Thoughts & Close of Day with Rev. Jeana Lee

Continuing on Lazarus Saturday 1 April 2023
10 am – 12 noon CT Night School Check-in w/ Hazel Archer – Eurythmy w/ Mary Ruud
at the Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago 4249 N. Lincoln Ave

$10 more or less or pay what you will
Please bring a potluck dish to share for the luncheon after the Festival

For more info. contact Cultural Events & Festivals Coordinator Hag@rschicago.org

Antonio Palma

Mary Magdalene & the Women at the Tomb – A Festival of Resurrection

with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg, & Faith DiVecchio

Song-Circle with Velsum, 

Holy Saturday 8 April 2023

1 pm – 3pm CT hybrid event in-person at the Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago & on zoom

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/7050174041

Meeting ID: 705 017 4041

For more Info. contact Hag@RSChicago.org Cultural Events & Festivals Coordinator
Rudolf Steiner Branch 4249 North Lincoln Avenue, Chicago, IL 60618 (map)
www.rschicago.org/donate

PRESENTS:

The Mystery of Ascension with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

This course is available on Zoom. You will be emailed a Zoom link closer to the time of the class. The course will be recorded and you will receive a link to watch it. Go to the Infinity Foundation web site to enroll

Course Number 231154 / Zoom
Date: Thursday, May 11
Time 7:00 – 8:30 PM CST
Cost $33/23 payment 10 days in advance

Gerald Shepherd

When we tune into the Cycle of the Seasons, we experience that as the Earth breathes out in the Springtime, the beings of nature reach upwards towards the heights. The longing of the human soul also strives to meet this mood of ascension, which attunes all life to the cosmic expanses.

Together we will gain insights in how to rise up to our Higher Self by participating in this harmonizing spring-dialogue between the worlds.

This reconnection between heaven & earth was prefigured in the story of Jacob’s ladder from the Old Testament. Through his dream of the ‘stairway to heaven’, Jacob gave us a prophecy in the picture of a golden ladder on which choirs of Angels traverse between the ‘Above & Below’. The Mystery of the Ascension of Christ, 40 days after the Resurrection at Easter, fulfilled Jacob’s Prophecy. Christ as the Being of Love became the living bridge connecting us to the eternal.

Through this workshop we will learn how humanity will also be transfigured in the fullness of time. The company of the Angelic Hierarchies wait for us, their younger siblings, to ascend, first of all in our thinking, to meet them in fellowship, as they work all the while by our sides.

Nancy Poer

~Vitae Sophia~A Whitsun Festival of United Soul Endeavor 

with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg, Velsum Voices & Eurythmy

Saturday 27 May 2023 a Hybrid event in person* & on zoom

We are called to redeem the ether spheres to create an Ecclesia, a chalice for The Sophia. Then the spirit flame can spread out to become what Steiner called a “World Whitsun”, which began in earnest at the Christmas Conference. The Whitsun Festival highlights one of the greatest challenges of being human: placing our individual gifts, in right relationship within the social realm. This challenge is especially strong now during this ‘pandemic’. Our groups striving to know Spiritual Science must work together as a community, to have the possibility to create a new culture where a sacrament is possible in every encounter. Our individual strength is enhanced by weaving our gifts together, kindling our social world in conscious community.

Zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83663366670?pwd=L292UzlOR1pkZjBXSWpxK1B2b0o1dz09 Meeting ID: 836 6336 6670 / Passcode: 397593

For more Info. contact Hag@RSChicago.org Cultural Events & Festivals Coordinator
*Rudolf Steiner Branch 4249 North Lincoln Avenue, Chicago, IL 60618 (mapwww.rschicago.org/donate


Find a collection of the many RECORDINGS of Presentations, Programs & Festivals HERE

39 thoughts on “MMMMM

  1. Hazel, you had recently written:

    “The big difference here is that Mary Magdalene never fell into a diminished consciousness, she did not run away or deny the Christ 3 x’s, but actually stayed awake to experience the events of Golgotha & was the 1st to see the Risen Christ.”

    Yes, but we know that Peter suffered greatly for his three denials, and yet they were the outcome of the Last Supper ceremony, wherein the disciples were placed into an altered state of consciousness in order to buffer them from experiencing directly the so-called, “Passion Events”. Peter was the one most affected by this ceremony, and whereby his three denials of Christ are the reason for his temporarily confused state of mind.

    In John, chapter 21, Christ wants to redeem Peter of his perceived guilt, and this is why He asks him three times: “Simon, do you love Me”?

    https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+21&version=NASB1995

    It is a beautiful rendition, and designed to bring Peter out of his funk, by telling him that he is to succeed Christ in the further movement of the discipleship. Yet, Peter still needs to ask one more question of Christ before he is secure in the feeling of his successorship. He asks: “Lord, and what about this man?” 22 Jesus said to him, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!” 23 Therefore this saying went out among the brethren that that disciple would not die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but only, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?”

    This is how the partnership of Peter and John comes about, and chronicled in the first twelve chapters of Acts of the Apostles. Peter is hugely supported in the gaining of etheric healing forces by his close association with the rather silent John. Then, he is taken into custody and jailed, with the intent to make him a martyr to the will of Herod Agrippa I. Acts 12 describes it, and how Peter is miraculously saved by an angel of the Lord. He goes right away to Mary, who is the governing apostle. By this time, c. 45 AD, she had a son.

    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Jacopo_Bassano_Last_Supper_1542.jpeg

    1. Again I see John 21 completely differently –
      it shows that Peter still doesn’t quite get it Christ asks if he loves him Agape & Peter answers in a lower form – That’s why the disciple whom Jesus loved is on another level – able to hold the stage of agape

      1. “And when we look into the innermost soul of one of these Apostles, into the soul of him who is called Peter in the other Gospels, it is revealed to clairvoyant sight as it gazes backwards into the past, that his normal earthly consciousness completely ceased to function from the moment referred to in the other Gospels as the Denial. He beheld this scene of the Denial, how he had been asked whether he knew the Galilean; and now he knew that at that moment he had denied any such connection because his normal consciousness was beginning to fade and an abnormal condition to set in — a kind of dream condition indicating a withdrawal into an altogether different world. Peter’s experience was like that of a man who when he wakes in the morning remembers the last events of the previous evening. Thus did Peter remember the scene usually known as the Denial, the triple Denial before the cock had crowed twice. And then, like outspreading night, the intermediate condition came upon his consciousness. But this intermediate condition was filled, not with mere dream-pictures but with pictures representing a kind of higher consciousness, an experience of things belonging to the world of pure Spirit. And all that had happened, all that Peter had as it were slept through since that time arose before his soul like a vision. Above all he was now able to gaze at that event of which it can truly be said that he had slept through it, because for a full understanding of this event the quickening by the all-prevailing Cosmic Love was necessary. Now there came before the eyes of Peter the pictures of the Mystery of Golgotha, as we, looking backwards with clairvoyant consciousness, can again evoke them if the conditions necessary for such vision are induced.”

        https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA148/English/RSPC1950/19131002p02.html

        1. Yes, the 5th Gospel by Steiner is a great resource, it brings in its own dimensions, just as he does with each of the other Gospels One does not trump the other, they must all be taken together to unlock the full picture

          1. Yes, Steiner’s renditions out of the Fifth Gospel prove the nature of the original Q gospel, which was known to exist from the akashic records. For example, you had just said:

            “But if you actually take in what Steiner says he is not protecting the sleepy disciples he is actually negatively effected by their lack of fortitude. That’s why the women in the gospels are so important – they did not waver.”

            From the Fifth Gospel, Steiner improves on what he had said in the Mark lecture nine from the year before, i.e, September 1912. This is from October 2, 1913:

            “To Peter, as also to John and James, there came, inevitably, the remembrance of another moment in their lives, the moment that can only be revealed to us in all its majesty by the Fifth Gospel. He with whom they had gone about on earth had led them out to the mount and had bidden them: Watch! And they had fallen asleep. The condition which spread with greater and greater intensity over their souls had already then set in. Their normal consciousness faded, they sank into the sleep which lasted beyond the time of Golgotha; and from this sleep the experiences I have been trying in halting words to describe, shone forth. Peter, John and James were inevitably reminded of how they had fallen into this condition of sleep and now, as they looked back, the vision lit up of the mighty events which had transpired around the earthly body of Him with whom they had gone about together. And gradually … as submerged dreams rise up into the consciousness of men … gradually the Apostles became conscious of what had transpired during those past days. During those days they had not experienced these happenings in their normal consciousness. What now came into their ken had lain deep down in their souls, submerged as it were for the whole of the period between the event of Golgotha and Pentecost. This period seemed to them to have been one of deepest sleep — above all through the days between the event known as the Ascension, and Pentecost. As they looked backwards, the whole period — day by day — between the Mystery of Golgotha and the Ascension of Christ Jesus into heaven, came before their souls. They had lived through it all but only now did they become conscious of it — and in a strange and mysterious way. Forgive me if I here interpose a personal remark. I must confess that I myself was amazed in the highest degree when I became aware of the manner in which all that the Apostles had lived through between the time of the Mystery of Golgotha and the Ascension rose up into their consciousness. It is indeed remarkable.”

            https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA148/English/RSPC1950/19131002p02.html

              1. Yes, and I don’t think they lacked fortitude at all. They were being prepared to see with an increased form of etheric vision. As well, Christ did what He did in order to fulfill a prophecy:

                7 Therefore He again asked them, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus the Nazarene.” 8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am He; so if you seek Me, let these go their way,” 9 to fulfill the word which He spoke, “Of those whom You have given Me I lost not one.”
                John 18

                11 I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are. 12 While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled. John 17

  2. Pope Gregory the Great was among those who identified Mary Magdalene with Mary of Bethany, whom John 12:1-8 recounts as having anointed Jesus with precious ointment, an event that some interpret as being the same as the anointing of Jesus performed by a woman that Luke (alone among the synoptic Gospels) recounts as a sinner. Preaching on the passage in the Gospel of Luke, Gregory remarked: “This woman, whom Luke calls a sinner and John calls Mary, I think is the Mary from whom Mark reports that seven demons were cast out.” Modern biblical scholars distinguish these as three separate figures/persons, but within the general populace (and even some seminaries), they are still believed to refer to the same person.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Gregory_I

    Although the decline of Mary of Magdala’s reputation as apostle and leader most likely began shortly after her death, the transformation to penitent prostitute was sealed on Sept. 14, 1591, when Pope Gregory the Great gave a homily in Rome that pronounced that Mary Magdalene, Luke’s unnamed sinner, and Mary of Bethany were, indeed, the same person.

    https://uscatholic.org/articles/201603/who-framed-mary-magdalene/

    “She whom Luke calls the sinful woman, whom John calls Mary, we believe to be the Mary from whom seven devils were ejected according to Mark,” Gregory said in his 23rd homily. “And what did these seven devils signify, if not all the vices? . . . It is clear, brothers, that the woman previously used the unguent to perfume her flesh in forbidden acts . . .” (ibid)

    1. https://i0.wp.com/reverseritual.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/pi.jpg?w=403&ssl=1

      After further investigation, it can be shown that the relationship between Mary Magdalene and Mary, the stepmother of Jesus, is based on a karmic connection involving the number seven. In its way, this mirrors the relationship between the daughter of Jairus and the woman with the blood hemorrhage for twelve years. Thus, a deep karmic bond exists between these two “sets of twins”, so to speak. To understand the external facts is like ‘Pie’, and wherein everything is commensurable in terms of eight equal pieces. The finite is in order and has a happy ending. But, when we consider ‘Pi”, then we are dealing with the incommensurable, which has its source in Infinity. As such, Karma is deep when it traces to past lives in order to find causes for present afflictions, and especially when Christ is strategically placed to effect the healing. One hint that has come up recently tells that Mary, the stepmother, who had six children, was made a virgin again when the actual Mother of Jesus came down from the spiritual worlds to dwell within her for the three years. This made the healing of Mary Magdalene a certainty. Yet, the causes still reside in Infinity, and that becomes the challenge of explaining. Suffice to say that in both instances of these sets of “twins”, we are looking at significant Old Testament events. Certain hints have been given, but when the incommensurable (Pi) is involved, it can leave one speechless.

      1. The 5th Gospel account of the transfer to Mother Mary & the coming in of the Virgin Sophia is amazing.

        It’s interesting to ponder that as the Christ was indwelling in Jesus of Nazareth The Holy Sophia was overlighting The Matthew Mary as well.

        The source is of course in infinity, But is now being served up in those 8 slices of Pie – seen in the wheel of the year.

        1. “Jesus of Nazareth was now a Being, whose inmost nature comprised all the blessings of Buddhism and Zoroastrianism. A momentous destiny awaited him — a destiny altogether different from that of any others baptized by John in the Jordan. And we shall see that later on, when the Baptism took place, the Christ was received into the inmost nature of this Being. Then, too, the immortal part of the original mother of the Nathan Jesus descended from the spiritual world and transformed the mother who had been taken into the house of the Nathan Joseph, making her again virginal. Thus the soul of the mother whom the Nathan Jesus had lost was restored to him at the time of the Baptism in the Jordan. The mother who had remained to him harboured within her the soul of his original mother, called in the Bible the ‘Blessed Mary’.”

          https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA114/English/RSP1964/19090919p01.html

    2. Patriarchy & the male fantasy that subjugates women – a projection of their own 7 deadly sins onto woman – Turning the power of spirit that women hold into its opposite to denigrate in the hopes of pumping up their false ego

      1. Mary Magdalene did possess the seven deadly sins, but in the act of pouring out the scented perfume from the alabaster vial of love, in the very act of anointing Christ, her own Divine Wrath was poured out and she became a disciple.

        1. I will talk about this in my presentation – When the 7 demons were cast out – my thinking tells me that the soul of Mary Magdalene was swept clean – which allowed the Holy Spirit to enter. In the Gospel of Mary we read:“I left the world with the aid of another world; a design was erased by virtue of a higher design. Henceforth I travel toward Repose, where time rests in the Eternity of Time; I go now into Silence.” Having said all this, Mary became silent, for it was in silence that the teacher spoke to her.”

          Perhaps she goes to him for the 1st anointing with the alabaster jar of precious spikenard oil to make ‘The thank offering’ – The Hebrew sacrifice of thanksgiving; which in turn also serves as a confirmation in front of the posers at the party that, yes, Jesus is the Christ – at this stage she anoints his feet, symbol of Pisces, the Fishes, an early Christian Symbol. And the feet are the foundation on which the Temple of the body is built.

          Then as the power in her grows & it becomes his time – the Priestess in her is able to give Christ the last Anointing, pouring the sacremental oil over his head to prepare him for burial…

  3. Hey. A danish author Lars Muhl has written about Mariam also
    His books are also translated into english.
    love joanna

    1. Thanks Joanna – I see the name Mary like the name John as an honorific title of initiation.
      Miriam or Mary originated from the Egyptian language; derivative of the root mr “beloved of Yahweh; derivation from Hebrew, either from marah “to be rebellious”, or from mara “bitter” (cf. myrrh), or mry “rebellious”. St. Jerome (writing c. 390), following Eusebius of Caesarea, translates the name as “drop of the sea” (stilla maris in Latin), from Hebrew מר mar “drop” (cf. Isaiah 40:15) and ים yam “sea”. This translation was subsequently rendered stella maris (“star of the sea”) whence comes the Virgin Mary’s title Star of the Sea.

  4. The Gospel of Peter describes the experience of Mary Magdalene, and Mary, the stepmother of the Nathan Jesus, at the empty tomb. Its corroboration can be found in the later Gospel of Mark. This gospel is important for all its indications now made possible after the event of Pentecost, wherein the disciples are made Apostles, and awakened from the dreamy state of consciousness that Christ had instigated on their behalf at the Last Supper. Rudolf Steiner indicates this occurrence in the second lecture of The Fifth Gospel, and wherein it is described how the disciples had gone many days in an altered state of consciousness, and especially Peter, who was the one most affected.

    With Pentecost, awakened consciousness arose again with an added element, which was the remembrance of all that the disciples had experienced over the three years in walking with Christ, and with a renewed understanding. Thus, the Gospel of Peter represents what Peter now remembers with clarity about the events surrounding the arrest, trial, passion, crucifixion, entombment, and resurrection of Christ. As such, this gospel gives the totally unique and original visionary remembrance of Peter in seeing what took place when the tomb was opened and the Christ was escorted out. I quote:

    [35] But in the night in which the Lord’s day dawned, when the soldiers were safeguarding it two by two in every watch, there was a loud voice in heaven; [36] and they saw that the heavens were opened and that two males who had much radiance had come down from there and come near the sepulcher. [37] But that stone which had been thrust against the door, having rolled by itself, went a distance off the side; and the sepulcher opened, and both the young men entered. [38] And so those soldiers, having seen, awakened the centurion and the elders (for they too were present, safeguarding). [39] And while they were relating what they had seen, again they see three males who have come out from they sepulcher, with the two supporting the other one, and a cross following them, [40] and the head of the two reaching unto heaven, but that of the one being led out by a hand by them going beyond the heavens. [41] And they were hearing a voice from the heavens saying, ‘Have you made proclamation to the fallen-asleep?’ [42] And an obeisance was heard from the cross, ‘Yes.’ [43]

    And so those people were seeking a common perspective to go off and make these things clear to Pilate; [44] and while they were still considering it through, there appear again the opened heavens and a certain man having come down and entered into the burial place. [45] Having seen these things, those around the centurion hastened at night before Pilate (having left the sepulcher which they were safeguarding) and described all the things that they indeed had seen, agonizing greatly and saying: ‘Truly he was God’s Son.’

    https://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/gospelpeter-brown.html

    1. The big difference here is that Mary Magdalene never fell into a diminished consciousness, she did not run away or deny the Christ 3 x’s, but actually stayed awake to experience the events of Golgotha & was the 1st to see the Risen Christ.

      1. Both the Gospel of Peter, and the Gospel of Mark agree very closely here that Mary experienced a young man in a white robe who tells them that the One they seek is not here:

        [55] And having gone off, they found the sepulcher opened. And having come forward, they bent down there and saw there a certain young man seated in the middle of the sepulcher, comely and clothed with a splendid robe, who said to them: [56] ‘Why have you come? Whom do you seek? Not that one who was crucified? He is risen and gone away. But if you do not believe, bend down and see the place where he lay, because he is not here. For he is risen and gone away to there whence he was sent.’ [57] Then the women fled frightened.

        Mark 16:
        5 Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed. 6 And he said to them, “Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him. 7 But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.’” 8 They went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

        John 20 is even more interesting and complex. Maybe we can go into that sometime.

        1. The description in John tells of 2 angels also shining in white one at the foot & one at the head – I see this as being connected to the anointing done by Mary Magdalene of the feet & head of Christ – Anointing him as priest & King

          1. 11 But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; 12 and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. 13 And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” 14 When she had said this, she *turned around* and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She *turned* and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and that He had said these things to her. John 20

              1. Indeed, it is. Why would she turn twice? Why would ,”Sir”, suddenly become, “Rabboni”? Why would Jesus say, “Stop clinging to me”?

              2. O I love how you noticed the 2 turnings…

                In the Gospel of John we hear how after Peter & the ‘disciple whom Jesus loved’ see the empty tomb & leave. The Magdala stays contemplating & weeping. She enters the tomb & sees two angels in white, one at the foot & one at the head. They ask her why she is crying. Then she sees a man she thinks is the gardener, who asks her the same question.

                It makes me think of how when we are overcome with emotion we can’t see clearly. I think of that quote from ‘Light on the Path’ “Before the eyes can see, they must be incapable of tears.”

                When the Risen Christ speaks her name the power of his word snaps her out of her grief – it ‘turns her’ so she can see – The Magdala comes to herself, she turns & realizes who it is – She sees him & she reaches out to embrace him, but he says do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father.

                The imagination that comes for me here is like a butterfly that has just come out of the chrysalis, all wet & folded up, you can’t touch it yet, the wings have to dry.
                Or in terms of Spiritual Science – the resurrection body is still coming in, the etheric sheath has not quite congealed.
                Right away the Risen Christ puts the Magdala to work, telling her to go to the other disciples & announce what she has seen

              3. She experiences Jesus here, and not the risen Christ. Remember what Mark 16: 5-8, and Peter 55-57 say:

                5 Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed. 6 And he *said to them, “Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him. 7 But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him,just as He told you.’” 8 They went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

                [55] And having gone off, they found the sepulcher opened. And having come forward, they bent down there and saw there a certain young man seated in the middle of the sepulcher, comely and clothed with a splendid robe, who said to them: [56] ‘Why have you come? Whom do you seek? Not that one who was crucified? He is risen and gone away. But if you do not believe, bend down and see the place where he lay, because he is not here. For he is risen and gone away to there whence he was sent.’ [57] Then the women fled frightened.

              4. In those gospel renderings it is a reappearance of the young man in the white robe we saw flee the garden of gethsemane when Jesus was arrested.

                From Steiner’s lectures on the Gospel of Mark he calls the young man = The Cosmic Christ –

                “Thus a threefold understanding of the mission of Christ Jesus might have been expected: first, that the chosen disciples could have had an understanding of Christ as a cosmic being…”
                Toward the end of His life Jesus of Nazareth was more and more alone, and the Christ became ever more loosely connected with Him.

                Although the cosmic element was there until the moment pictured as that of the sweating of blood in Gethsemane, and Christ up to this moment was fully united with Jesus of Nazareth, now through the failure of human beings to understand this connection the link was loosened. And whereas earlier the cosmic Christ was active in the temple and drove out the money-changers, expounding mighty teachings, and nothing happened to Him, now, when Jesus of Nazareth was only loosely connected with the Christ the posse could come near Him. However, we can still see the cosmic element present, but less and less connected with the Son of Man. This is what makes the whole episode so soul-shattering! Because the threefold understanding could not be forthcoming, what did the men finally have in their hands? What could they seize, what could they condemn, what could they nail to the cross? The Son of Man! And the more they did all this, the more did the cosmic element withdraw that had entered the life of earth as a youthful impulse. It escaped them. For those who sentenced Him and carried out the judgment there remained only the Son of Man, around whom only hovered what was to come down to earth as a youthful cosmic element.

                No Gospel other than that of St. Mark tells how only the Son of Man remained, and that the cosmic element only hovered around Him. Thus in no other Gospel do we perceive the cosmic fact in relation to the Christ event expressed with such clarity, the fact that at the very moment when men who failed to understand laid their violent human hands upon the Son of Man, the cosmic element escaped them. The youthful cosmic element which from that turning point of time entered earth evolution as an impulse, escaped. All that was left was the Son of Man; and this is clearly emphasized in the Mark Gospel. Let us read the passage and find out if the Mark Gospel does indeed emphasize how, just at this moment in the unfolding of events, the cosmic acts in relation to the human….
                And Jesus spoke to them, “You have set out with swords and sticks to take me prisoner, as if I were a murderer. I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.”

                And they all forsook him and fled. (Mark 14:48-50.)

                He stands alone. But what has become of the youthful, cosmic element? Think of the loneliness of this man, permeated as He was by the cosmic Christ, who now confronts the posse like a murderer. And those who should have understood Him flee! “And they all forsook Him and fled,” it says in the 50th verse. Then in verses 51 and 52:
                And there was a youth among his followers, 2 who wore a fine linen garment over his bare body, and they seized him. But he let go of the linen garment and fled naked.

                Who is this youth? Who was it who escaped here? Who is it who appears here, next to Christ Jesus, nearly unclothed, and then slips away unclothed? This is the youthful cosmic impulse, it is the Christ who slips away, who now has only a loose connection with the Son of Man. Much is contained in these 51st and 52nd verses. The new impulse retains nothing of what former times were able to wrap around man. It is the entirely naked, new cosmic impulse of earth evolution. It remains with Jesus of Nazareth, and we find it again at the beginning of the sixteenth chapter.

                And when the Sabbath was over Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices and went there to anoint him. And early in the morning on the first day of the week they came to the tomb as the sun was rising.

                And they said among themselves, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?” And when they looked up they saw that the stone was rolled away, for it was really very large.

                And as they entered the tomb they saw a youth sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white robe; and they were startled.

                But he said to them, “Do not be frightened. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified one. He has risen!” (Mark 16:1-6.)

                This is the same youth. In the whole artistic composition of the Gospels nowhere else does this youth confront us, the youth who slips away from the people at the moment when they condemn the Son of Man, who is there again when the three days are over, and who from now onward is active as the cosmic principle of the earth. Nowhere else in the Gospels — you should compare the others — except in these two passages does this youth confront us, and in such a grandiose manner. Here we have all we need in order to understand the profound meaning of just this Gospel of St. Mark, which is telling us that we have to do with a cosmic event, with a cosmic Christ. Only now do we understand why the remainder of the Mark Gospel had to be artistically composed as it was.

                It is indeed remarkable that, after this significant appearance of the youth has come twice before us, the Gospel quickly comes to an end, and all that remains are a few striking sentences. For it is scarcely possible to imagine that anything that came later could have still yielded any further enhancement. Perhaps the sublime and marvelous element could have been enhanced, but not what is soul-shattering and of significance for earth evolution. Consider again this composition of the Mark Gospel: the monologue of God; the cosmic conversation on the mountain above the earth to which the three disciples were called but did not understand; then Gethsemane, the scene on the Mount of Olives when Christ had to acknowledge that those who had been chosen could not attain to an understanding of what was about to happen; how He had to tread this path alone, how the Son of Man would suffer and be crucified. Then the world-historical loneliness of the Son of Man who is abandoned, abandoned by those He had chosen and then abandoned gradually by the cosmic principle. Thus, after we have understood the mission and significance of the youth who slips away from the eyes and hands of men, we come to understand in an especially profound manner the words, “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34.) Then the reappearance of the youth, whereupon it is briefly shown how the youth is a spiritual, super-sensible being, who becomes sense-perceptible only through special circumstances, when He first shows himself to Mary Magdalene. Then afterward, “He revealed Himself in another form to two of them as they went for a walk into the countryside.” (Mark 16:12.) The physical could not have showed itself “in another form.”

                Then the Gospel quickly comes to an end, having indicated that what could not be understood at that time had to be left to the future. Humanity, which had then arrived at the deepest point of its descent, could only be directed toward the future, and it is in the way in which mankind is referred to the future that we can best appreciate the artistic composition of the Gospel. How may we suppose that such a reference to the future would emanate from one who had experienced this threefold failure to understand as He faced the fulfillment of the Mystery of Golgotha? We can imagine that He would point to the fact that the more we go forward into the future, the more men will have to gain an understanding of what happened at that time.

                We shall only achieve the right understanding if we pay attention to what we can experience through the Mark Gospel which speaks to us in a remarkable way. If therefore we say to ourselves that every age has to bring more and more understanding to what happened at that time, and to what the Mystery of Golgotha really was — then we believe that with what we call here our anthroposophical movement we are in fact fulfilling for the first time something that is indicated here in this Gospel. We are bringing a new understanding to what the Christ wanted to come about in the world. This new comprehension is difficult. The possibility is always present that we may misunderstand the being of Christ; and this was already clearly indicated by Christ Himself:

                “And then if one says to you, ‘See, here is Christ,’ or, ‘See, he is there,’ don’t believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will arise, and they will show signs and wonders to lead astray even the chosen ones if that should be possible.

                But you see to it! Behold, I have fortold everything to you.” (Mark 13:21-23.)

                At all times since the event of Golgotha there has been ample opportunity to let such words be a warning to us. Whoever has ears to hear may also hear today how the word resounds over to us from Golgotha, “If someone says to you ‘See, here is Christ,’ or ‘see, he is there,’ don’t believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show signs and wonders such as to lead astray if possible even the chosen ones.”

                How may we face up to the Mystery of Golgotha? Among the few striking sentences contained in the Mark Gospel after it has spoken to us in such a soul-shattering way is to be found also the very last sentence, in which it is related how the disciples, who had earlier shown so little comprehension, after they had received a new impulse through the youth, the cosmic Christ, “went forth and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them, confirming the word through the signs that accompanied it.” (Mark 16:20.)
                The Lord worked with them! This we recognize as in accord with the meaning of the Mystery of Golgotha. Not that “the Lord” could be incarnated anywhere in the physical body, but where He is understood, if work is performed in His name, then He works with us; and He is spiritually among those who in truth understand His name — without presenting Him, out of vanity, in a physical form. Rightly understood the Gospel of St. Mark tells us about the Mystery of Golgotha itself in such a way that, when we rightly understand it, we may also find the possibility of fulfilling the Mystery of Golgotha in the right manner. Precisely in what is contained only in this Mark Gospel, in this remarkable story of the youth who at a decisive moment broke away, so to speak, from Christ Jesus, do we discover the indication as to how this Gospel must be understood. Because the chosen ones fled and they did not truly participate in everything that happened afterward. This is also told in the Gospel. In truly artistic fashion a passage is inserted in the midst of the composition. A passage of the utmost clarity is here inserted; yet none of the disciples were present, not one of them was an eye-witness! And yet the whole story is told! So the question is still presented to us, and we shall try, in answering this question, to penetrate still further into the matter, and at the same time to throw light upon the remainder.
                Where does this remainder originate that the disciples have not seen? Jewish traditions relate the story quite differently from the way it appears here in the Gospels. Where does it come from? What then is the real truth about the Mystery of Golgotha since those who give an account of it were not themselves present? What is the source of their knowledge of something that none of those who have preached Christianity can have seen?
                This question will lead us still more deeply into the matter.

                In lecture 10 he we read:

                It is of the utmost importance for us to picture this to ourselves. Let us consider the descriptions given in one instance, in the Gospel of St. Mark. Even though the description is short and concise, it is in fact indicated to us quite adequately how after the scene of the Resurrection the youth in the white garment, that is to say, the cosmic Christ, again showed Himself to the disciples after the Mystery had been accomplished, and gave certain impulses to them.

                Then Steiner talks about how much more spiritually receptive women are thus:

                And now, as the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, brought spices, so that they could go and anoint him. (Mark 16:1.)
                And it was to them that the youth, that is, the cosmic Christ, first appeared; and only afterward to the male disciples. True occultism, true spiritual science is interwoven into the composition and details of the contents of the Gospels, and especially of the concise Mark Gospel.

              5. Here is the essential part of this Young Man:

                “Who is this youth? Who was it who escaped here? Who is it who appears here, next to Christ Jesus, nearly unclothed, and then slips away unclothed? This is the youthful cosmic impulse, it is the Christ who slips away, who now has only a loose connection with the Son of Man. Much is contained in these 51st and 52nd verses. The new impulse retains nothing of what former times were able to wrap around man. It is the entirely naked, new cosmic impulse of earth evolution. *It remains with Jesus of Nazareth*, and we find it again at the beginning of the sixteenth chapter.

                Remember, it was Jesus who prayed to the Father to “remove the Cup”, and did so three times. Then, it was enough, and the hour had come for the Son of Man to be betrayed into the hands of sinners. Mark 14:41

                Now, it is here in John chapter 18 that seals the deal. Peter, in defending Christ against the betrayers, draws his sword and cuts the ear off of the slave of the high priest. Christ says: “Put the sword into the sheath; the cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?” John 18:11

                So, the Cup passes from the Son of Man to the Son of God at that moment, and then Peter, who was witness to both Jesus praying in the Garden, and also the words just spoken to him by Christ, witnesses the “fleeing youth”. It is the naked Jesus, having passed all three sheaths (Physical, Etheric, Astral) to the Christ, and running off with all that was left to him; his twelve-year old Ego, which he was born with as a guiltless, innocent, karma-less human being in order to fulfill the fourth deed. The Earthly Mission of Christ.

              6. 51 & 52 verses of what?

                Peter did not witness Jesus praying in the garden, he was asleep with the rest. I doubt he witnessed the fleeing youth.

                Why does Steiner called the naked youth the Cosmic Christ?

                Mark 14 starts with MM’s anointing in the home of Simon the Leper, then the Last Supper, then Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial
                then later
                37 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Simon,” he said to Peter, “are you asleep? Couldn’t you keep watch for one hour? 38 Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

                39 Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. 40 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him.

                41 Returning the third time, he said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. 42 Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”

                Jesus Arrested
                50 Then everyone deserted him and fled.

                51 A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him, 52 he fled naked, leaving his garment behind.

                In John 17 Jesus Prays for His Disciples

                In John 18:15 before Peter’s First Denial we hear of how the disciple whom Jesus loved was able to get them into where the High Priest had Jesus.
                15 Simon Peter and another disciple were following Jesus. Because this disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard, 16 but Peter had to wait outside at the door. The other disciple, who was known to the high priest, came back, spoke to the servant girl on duty there and brought Peter in.

              7. The reason that Peter, James, and John could not stay awake at the critical hour is that they had undergone the so-called, “Last Supper Sleep”, which was designed to bring about a dreamy kind of consciousness in order to buffer them from fully experiencing what Christ was about to endure. That is why Jesus takes these three into the Garden with him. You see, he is told by Christ, after Judas receives the morsel and Satan enters him, and Judas leaves: “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him; 32 if God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and will glorify Him immediately. John 13

                This means that Jesus is glorified at the Last Supper, and not on the Cross, as originally told as the fate of the Son of Man. That is why Jesus in the Garden goes to pray to remove the Cup. It is because his glorification has taken place at table, and not on the Cross. He takes Peter, James, and John with the intent of passing the Cup to them, and yet, they cannot stay awake. Christ has buffered them so they cannot receive the Cup. This is why He alone receives the Cup, just as He tells Peter, “the cup that the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it”? John 18:11

                This leaves Peter to have the experience which is only found in the Gospels of Mark and Peter:
                51 A young man was following Him, wearing nothing but a linen sheet over his naked body; and they seized him. 52 But he pulled free of the linen sheet and escaped naked. Mark 14

                The Gospel of Mark is the gospel of Peter’s experiences in being a disciple and following Christ for three years, and then becoming the successor to Christ after the Ascension. He needs someone to take down his testimony after his miraculous escape from the jail of Herod Agrippa I. So, he goes to Mary, and she in turn calls her son Mark, who was on Paul’s first missionary journey, to come home immediately because Peter has escaped and is in need of him. This is how Mark becomes associated with Peter’s testimony, and this is how Peter’s experience of the young man fleeing naked makes its way into the Gospel of Mark.

                The issue of the confusion of the Cosmic Christ being the naked young man can be taken up next. It is a matter of original transcription of an extremely complex description, and its later translation into English.

              8. From reading Steiner’s lectures on the Gospels, specifically Mark – the quote says it all, but of course we are meant to interrupt it as we will.

                But if you actually take in what Steiner says he is not protecting the sleepy disciples he is actually negatively effected by their lack of fortitude.
                That’s why the women in the gospels are so important – they did not waver.

                We see the same thing happen after Rudolf Steiner died; everyone fell into a confused state of mind.
                When will the Pentecost come for Anthroposophy?

              9. https://youtu.be/pPM-Pq_1B54

                In this video, Elizabeth Shrader, a biblical scholar focusing on Mary Magdalene, shares new information on what happened to Mary’s role, including changes to our earliest texts. Church and art historians are confirming the evidence of an earlier story that was redacted out of the Bible. Check it out.

              10. Hi Cynthia – Thank you.
                I love how people are really taking on this research back to the original texts.
                We know how translations can change so much.
                Working with the Gospel of Mary Magdalene is very enlightening, even though there are many gaps in the text.

              11. Hi Cynthia,

                I read the article you submitted on March 14th about Elizabeth Schrader. Please allow me to say, and based on these interchanges here on this thread, which I hope you have been reading, that she is prone to certain beliefs that have been culled from the time when Pope Gregory I had the tenacity to declare the three women, i.e., the unnamed sinner, Mary of Bethany, and Mary Magdalene, as one and the same person. This act, which came in 591 AD, created the veritable “Cult of Mary Magdalene”. So, this Pope actually did a service to scholarly research, which he was very good at in his diligence, and rarely seen in the papacy since his reign.

                So, after saying this, where does it leave us with Elizabeth Schrader’s assertions about Mary Magdalene after what has been discussed here? Does she have all the facts from canonical scripture, which certainly does not denigrate MM in any way, but only upholds her integrity and purpose as one to be remembered and followed there in Jerusalem in the years after the crucifixion, and the event of the first Pentecost. You see, there is a strand of the so-called “Magdalene Cult” that is hard to follow with complete sincerity because it is based largely on apocryphal sources, and we know there is good apocrypha, as well as bad apocrypha. Then, there are the later scholars who follow this line of research, like Elizabeth Schrader, and where does that leave us? I say this because I have had many years of contentious battles with what is no less than militant and feminist “Magdalenites”. Here is a good article that sums it up:

                http://trushare.com/0131APR06/17%20Magdalena.htm

                When the work of Rudolf Steiner helps in sorting it all out, then a healing resolution to all this comes about, as indicated in this thread on Reverse Ritual. Kind regards.

              12. Don’t get me wrong. I think Pope Gregory’s last remark is an egregious offense, and it makes me all the more want to solve the riddle of the Mystery of Magdala. As I wrote here, we are dealing with a mystery that is based on a number, just as it was with the daughter of Jairus and the woman with the blood disease.

                https://reverseritual.com/mmmmm/#comment-34867

                Thankfully, Rudolf Steiner helped a great deal in understanding the mystery of Jairus’ daughter and the woman who touched the gown of Christ. It was based on a deep karmic connection involving a former life together. Steiner did not solve the mystery of Mary Magdalene, and so it exists to this very day. The goal is to bridge “Pie” thinking with “Pi” thinking because we are dealing with something that relates to Infinity, which means navigating the incommensurable. The 10/10 Thought Seed is an exercise that helps in leading to this unknown that is yet to be known. Hints have been given early on, and maybe we should revisit it.

  5. Hazel, So grateful to see Mary rising here. Are you aware of the amazing new scholarship and devotion of Libby Schaeffer? https://religionnews.com/2019/07/19/scribes-tried-to-blot-her-out-now-a-scholar-is-trying-to-recover-the-real-mary-magdalene/

    Also Catherine Braslavksy with her late husband Joseph Rowe ( the English translator of The Gospel of Thomas and The Gospel of Mary) performed in sacred sites around the world including Thoronet Abbey, Chartres Cathedral and the Basilica of Mary Magdalene in Vezelay.
    Read more and listen to her hypnotic music at http://www.naturalchant.c

    1. Thanks Cynthia – It’s so interesting to see how so many are asking questions & shaking up the old ways of thinking.

      And I love that folks are creating their own original art to reflect how The Magdala works thru them

      I have heard of so many great pilgrimages to France. I would love to go someday.

  6. Hello Hazel, Thanks for sharing about my work. I’m glad you’ve been enjoying my class!

    I wanted to take a moment to explain to your readers that the class you’ve been in is an introductory class which runs for 7 weeks. Each week, in this course, we enter contemplatively into the places Mary Magdalene appears in the gospels (mostly in the John gospel): the cleansing of 7 demons, the anointing, her witnessing of the crucifixion and remaining at the tomb, His appearance to her, before anyone else, in the resurrection. Along with these contemplations we also explore Mary Magdalene’s gospel and excerpts from the gospels of Philip and Thomas. There is limited space available still in the April course, and I will shortly also be offering a continuation into course 2, for those who have completed course 1. And the retreat!

    I look forward to meeting your readers and sharing some contemplative stories in your upcoming event in Chicago. Thank you for the invitation.

    Warm Greetings, Faith

    1. Yay Faith!
      Yes, Mary Magdalene is such a rich human being to tune into, as her Gospel says: a true Anthropos, with so much to teach us, espeically now in our time.
      Thanks for bringing your love to this subject. I look forward to your contribution for our RSChicago Branch Easter Fest.
      xox

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