In Metahistory Quest we regard Mary Magdalene as the "patron saint" of our enterprise, although "patron heretic" would perhaps be a better term. We do so for a number of reasons:

First, Magdalene commands unique power in the popular imagination, equalling that of her male counterpart, Jesus. As the central figure in the missing part of the story upon which Christianity is based, she is the key to a revision of history and the cue to a future story through which human spirituality might be developed in an entirely different way than traditional religions propose. Although Magdalene emerged within the received script of Christianity, she leads away from it. She connects us to all that the founders of Christian religion denied and destroyed.

Second, she is the human reflection of the Divine Sophia, the feminine principle of wisdom central to the teachings of the Western Mysteries. With the Gaia-Sophia Principle as its main guideline for evaluating beliefs, Metahistory.org gives unique importance to the woman traditionally seen as reflecting the Sophia principle. If Jesus in some sense represents the divinity innate to humans (a debatable point, however), Mary Magdalene represents the innate wisdom that wells up from indwelling divinity, and the loving recognition that embraces it. In the sense of indigenous wisdom, she is a reflection of the Earth Goddess.

Third, Magdalene is almost the sole surviving example of Pagan spirituality in which women played the role of initiator with sexuality as a sacrament. This aspect of Magdalene is highlighted in the review of Karen King's book, The Gospel of Mary of Magdala, and elsewhere throughout the site. Liberated from the racial and historical assumptions of the Jesus story, Magdalene emerges as the woman who can best represent to the modern world the lost legacy of Pagan, pre-Christian spirituality, and the moral code of Pagan ethics.

The Magdalene Connection (See introduction, "The Myth of Choice") is a major component of Metahistory.org.;

Part One discusses the traditional scenario of Jesus and Madgalene,
Part Two looks into the Pagan background of that scenario, and
Part Three explores the European legacy of Romantic Love as an outgrowth of the Magdalen Mystique

The mythological dimensions of the Magdalen Mystique are developed in the Fallen Goddess scenario, a reworking of the Gnostic Sophia myth.

Be sure, also, to join us in Celebrating MM in image, song, and poetry.

(Above: Detail, Pieta of Villeneuve-les-Avignon by Enguerrand.)