The Magdalene Rosary of Sacred Union
Posted by Joan Norton at 10/27/2008 5:05 AM 
Categories: The Magdalene Rosary
Tags: Mary Magdalene 14 Steps To Awaken the Sacred Feminine Women in the Circle of Mary Magdalene Magdalene Rosary
Categories: The Magdalene Rosary
Tags: Mary Magdalene 14 Steps To Awaken the Sacred Feminine Women in the Circle of Mary Magdalene Magdalene Rosary
Margaret Starbird has identified two sequences of the Magdalene Rosary which offer a way to focus on the mysteries of Mary Magdalene's life story. The first seven mysteries are the Gospel Mysteries of the Magdalene, while the second sequence is dedicated to the Legendary Mysteries of the Magdalene.
As Margaret says in 14 Steps To Awaken the Sacred Feminine: Women in the Circle of Mary Magdalene , which is the Magdalene Circle book, "By meditating on the 'Mysteries of the Magdalene', the most important milestones in her life, a person can connect with a template of this eternal 'never-ending story'--the spiritual journey of the individual soul." You will enjoy reading Margaret Starbird 's personal story of inspiration and revelation which led her to develop the "seven-fold" Mysteries and Legends of Mary Magdalene which are The Magdalene Rosary.
Here they are.....
The Magdalene Mysteries
l. Mary Magdalene-Bride and Beloved
The Gospel Mysteries
1. Mary meets Jesus and is healed of seven demons
2. Mary's tears move Jesus to raise her brother Lazarus
3. Mary anoints Jesus at the banquet at Bethany
4. Mary follows the Way of the Cross
5. Mary stands with the Virgin Mother at the foot of the Cross
6. Mary meets Jesus at the tomb on Easter morning
7. Mary carries the Good News of the Resurrection to the Apostles
ll. Mary Magdalene- Bride in Exile
The Legendary Mysteries
1. Mary travels with Joseph of Arimathea to safety in Egypt
2. Mary gives birth to her daughter Sarah
3. Mary and her family escape by sea from Palestine
4. Mary's boat with no oars is swept ashore in Gaul
5. Mary preaches the Good News in Marseilles
6. Mary lives out her life in prayer in the cave of Ste. Baume
7. At her death, Mary is assumed body and soul into heaven
***********
Let's talk about how this contemplative path is working for us as we bring the Magdalene more securely into daily life. For myself, I've started with my new rosary "pathwork" by contemplating first the story of Magdalene being healed and all that might mean for me spiritually. What kind of healing did Magdalene experience? Let me know what you think.
In the traditional practice of the rosary, certain mysteries are said on certain days of the week. We will all find our own way with this and some story sequences will have more meaning than others at different times of our life.
This morning I was contemplating the story of Jesus being moved by Mary Magdalene's tears to raise her brother Lazarus from the dead. What if your deeply felt longings of the heart made a difference and moved the Sacred Masculine (in yourself or a partner) to a supportive action? I found it sad to think about the deaf ear turned on women's values in the world...but hopeful that we are changing this for the better. We're shown in this story that Jesus, the Sacred Masculine potential for our world, is moved by the tears of his Beloved. He loves and honors the Sacred Feminine.
Here's the Tintoretto painting we've all seen many times, but this morning I'm struck by the quality of Jesus' listening to Mary Magdalene.
As Margaret says in 14 Steps To Awaken the Sacred Feminine: Women in the Circle of Mary Magdalene , which is the Magdalene Circle book, "By meditating on the 'Mysteries of the Magdalene', the most important milestones in her life, a person can connect with a template of this eternal 'never-ending story'--the spiritual journey of the individual soul." You will enjoy reading Margaret Starbird 's personal story of inspiration and revelation which led her to develop the "seven-fold" Mysteries and Legends of Mary Magdalene which are The Magdalene Rosary.
Here they are.....
The Magdalene Mysteries
l. Mary Magdalene-Bride and Beloved
The Gospel Mysteries
1. Mary meets Jesus and is healed of seven demons
2. Mary's tears move Jesus to raise her brother Lazarus
3. Mary anoints Jesus at the banquet at Bethany
4. Mary follows the Way of the Cross
5. Mary stands with the Virgin Mother at the foot of the Cross
6. Mary meets Jesus at the tomb on Easter morning
7. Mary carries the Good News of the Resurrection to the Apostles
ll. Mary Magdalene- Bride in Exile
The Legendary Mysteries
1. Mary travels with Joseph of Arimathea to safety in Egypt
2. Mary gives birth to her daughter Sarah
3. Mary and her family escape by sea from Palestine
4. Mary's boat with no oars is swept ashore in Gaul
5. Mary preaches the Good News in Marseilles
6. Mary lives out her life in prayer in the cave of Ste. Baume
7. At her death, Mary is assumed body and soul into heaven
***********
Let's talk about how this contemplative path is working for us as we bring the Magdalene more securely into daily life. For myself, I've started with my new rosary "pathwork" by contemplating first the story of Magdalene being healed and all that might mean for me spiritually. What kind of healing did Magdalene experience? Let me know what you think.
In the traditional practice of the rosary, certain mysteries are said on certain days of the week. We will all find our own way with this and some story sequences will have more meaning than others at different times of our life.
This morning I was contemplating the story of Jesus being moved by Mary Magdalene's tears to raise her brother Lazarus from the dead. What if your deeply felt longings of the heart made a difference and moved the Sacred Masculine (in yourself or a partner) to a supportive action? I found it sad to think about the deaf ear turned on women's values in the world...but hopeful that we are changing this for the better. We're shown in this story that Jesus, the Sacred Masculine potential for our world, is moved by the tears of his Beloved. He loves and honors the Sacred Feminine.
Here's the Tintoretto painting we've all seen many times, but this morning I'm struck by the quality of Jesus' listening to Mary Magdalene.
Hi Joan,
Thank you for sharing this interesting outline of the two parts of the Magdalene Mysteries by Margaret. To see it written out this way, the seven parts of "The Gospel Mysteries" and then of the "Legendary Mysteries," really clearly explains the ideas of the Magdalene journey in such a concise way, in a way that I can relate to so easily. I'm looking forward to a deeper exploration of this when the book is out. I really like things that get me into the Magdalene experience and this is exactly that!
Love, Jennifer
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Hi Jennifer,
The outlines , the highlights, of Magdalene's life to use for contemplation are just as it is in the book. It was a surprise late addition from Margaret. I'm not sure if she realizes this, but she sent it to me on the Church's day of honoring the Holy Rosary, October 7. That leads me to believe that her impulse to share this at this time is "within a plan" that's larger than us. I'm going to post an expanded version that she did of her rosary prayer recommendations on the GoddessChristians list today.
I think it's up to each of us to bring these prayers of recognition of Magdalene's soul journey into today's world and we will be doing that as we concentrate on each of the bead sequences. As I've begun doing this, I've asked myself questions like "what is it in my life which is like being in exile to a foreign land?" or "how can I 'hold suffering' as Mary and the Blessed Mother did at the foot of the cross?" or"show me the ways to carry optimism into my day". And as always, I'm watching for dreams and synchronicities in response to my Magdalene prayers.
xoJoan
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Hi Joan,
I love the way you approach this rosary, with such deliberate intent, making it a complete connection to your life experience.
Very cool.
Love, Jennifer
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Hi, Joan,
I had an insight a while back about the healing of Mary Magdalene’s seven demons.
I came to know that Mary Magdalene didn't have demons, but that she was demonized by the misogyny of her culture. What Jesus saw, because he had eyes to see her as a spirit or vibrational being, was that each of her seven chakras or energy centers were distorted, that the dominant beliefs of her culture had been projected onto her and distorted her humanity. He saw through the projections to the Goddess that she was.
Originally, I was just angry at the thought that she was perceived as filled with demons, rather than that she was wounded by these projections. I am sure I felt my own anger, and that my anger burst me open and let me see that she (I) was, or could be, whole beneath the projections that stole or distorted or suppressed or misdirected her talents and true nature. The cultural paradigm of the time blocked Mary Magdalene from being who she truly was. And the natural flow of her beauty and power were perceived as threats or sins.
It feels like the hobbles were removed from Mary Magdalene, simply because Jesus saw through the limitations placed upon her. He saw her at the well, symbolic of the divine feminine and of the power to cleanse and heal the emotions.
I don’t quite understand how it all went, but I know that she healed his sight and empowered or allowed her to see her true self. Maybe she, too, saw his true self and knew it was safe to reveal herself as the goddess she was. It was a mutual moment, a shared recognition of the divine in the other, and both were healed, or made whole by it.
I have fought hard to see myself as whole, to throw off the projections, but I never meditated on what it would feel like to be suddenly recognized as whole by the divine in others.
Now, for this moment anyway, I have this feeling of, oh, or wow, or um-m-m. It's kind of like finally being accepted for who I am, being known, and being liked, maybe even loved for who I am, and that who I am is good enough already.
That kind of healing would free me to use my talents and my intuition to connect with the divine within and bring it into the world instead of using my prescience to monitor what societal attitudes are being projected at me, like missiles, and devising ways to avoid them.
I would feel a great return of my energy, my life force, my spirit. And great peace. Deep energetic, uplifting, outflowing peace.
Thanks, Joan.
Love,
Sandra
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Thank you very much, Sandra....I was hoping you would write about this. I think it's a profound insight and very helpful on the personal level. Because it says that when a woman reaches for Christ Consciousness, when she allows her own sacred marriage with a sacred masculine, she relieves herself of negative societal projections of inferiority or weakness. She unburdens herself from feeling "less than", because we have this piece of story that tells us that Mary Magdalene was whole in union with Jesus, who represents every woman's sacred "other".....her connection to her divine self.
In Jungian psychology one of the functions in a woman of the sacred masculine energy is to support her ability to focus on what she wants to create.....in this piece of story it might mean to focus on knowing herself as a divine being free from society's projections of "only" this or that.
And on the level of everyday life it means we can expect to be loved and respected as goddess-beings. Jesus and Magdalene were/are Divine Partnership, Sacred Complements...together a Whole.
I love the way you said it, "she didn't have demons, but that she was demonized by the misogyny of her culture."
I hope others will write about their ideas and feelings for this important prayer sequence in Magdalene's Rosary....I know there are many differing reactions to it.
xoJoan
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Catching up on some glittering emails in the ol' inbox and came across this gem. I am so looking forward to Magdalene Circle. Come hither February so we can get this book in our hands. Joan thank you for giving us this tantalizing glimpse of the Magdalene Rosary. I really, REALLY wanna make one. But I am actually not that crafty so I might write to rosary-maker Sally Norton as you suggested: sallyanorton@gmail.com Maybe we can entice Sally to photograph one and upload a pic for us all. Pictures get so much attention she'll no doubt be flooded with orders. Let me know if she does such a thing and I'll post it hither and yon as is my usual wont. Laughing at the Old English spewing out here. Too much King James here lately.
Smiles,
Katia
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Hello dear Katia,
Here are the pictures of the two rosaries Sally's made to offer to other women who want to contemplate the Magdalene Mysteries.
This one is garnet beads so it's $153, the other one is pearl with garnets in between the Sacred 7X7 beads, it's $49.
I took this photo and it's pretty crumby. Sally will have a better one soon. Contact Sally at SallyANorton@sbcglobal.net and her jewelry website is http://www.rubylane.com/shops/sallynortonjewelrydesign The pearl rosary has very amazing luminosity because of the light in the pearls. We gave one to "la belle Starbird" and she reminded me that her name means "pearl"...amazing.
By the way, Margaret rewrote the Mary Magdalene prayer in this way...
Dear Mary Magdalene, love incarnate,
Sacred Vessel, Holy Grail.
Chosen were you from all women,
And blessed is your union with Jesus.
Dearest Bride and Beloved of Christ,
Show us the Way of the heart.
click here to order 14 Steps To Awaken the Sacred Feminine: Women in the Circle of Mary Magdalene
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