Even though our book, 14 Steps To Awaken the Sacred Feminine, Women in the Circle of Mary Magdalene,  is completed and "at the press" , Margaret Starbird and I are just now pondering the symbolic content of it's cover art.  Margaret suggested the artwork, and it turned out to be just perfect. Everyone loves it. She came across it in an email  for a lecture honoring the Virgin Mary.  It's so beautiful and so full of obvious references to Mary Magdalene and  Christ, despite the "official" view that it's a picture of the Virgin Mother and Jesus. The artist is  Robinet (Robert) Testard. Our picture is an illustration from the Book of Simple Medicines by Mattheaus Platearius, published in 1470.  He was a physician trained at the Medical School of Salerno and the book was thought to have been commissioned or owned by a person living at  the Benedictine Abby of Cluny in Burgundy, France.  The book detailed the use of common plants for common illnesses, and is described as the most widely used source of information on simple medicines during the middle ages.  
      Knowing this background, ponder the picture and ask what we asked, "what are the symbols of the grail heresy story doing in a medical book?"


     My own answer  is that  apparently people used to understand  that one's health was directly influenced by one's spiritual philosophy of life, that we are "as above, so below" creatures, our spirituality having its reflection in our bodylife.  And so here we have it expressed symbolically in this artwork, a picture of  a philosophy of partnership of masculine/feminine, sacred union, "as above, so below", Wholeness,  and Godde,  
   We see Mary Magdalene in her red dress with the laces expressing potential pregnancy/fecundity/renewal and regeneration. (Really, all the symbols express the pattern of the "cycle of renewal" which is the heart of the philosophy of Sacred Union)   It's a little difficult to tell, but the fabric seems to be a woven brocade with gold thread, symbolizing the Bride or the Queen's raiment.   The red color of Magdalene's clothes always means relatedness, passion for life,  flesh and blood, the way of the heart. You'll recognize the obvious assocation with the 1st chakra and "survival" in life. 
   Behind the Magdalene in her paradise garden of life, we see a bear and a fish; the fish looking like it's attached to the bear. In The Woman With the Alabaster Jar we learned that the bear is one of the symbols of the French Merovingian family line, thought to be a  bloodline family. Even before that, the bear was used to symbolize The Great Goddess as source of all life on earth. We also find it as a symbol for  the "everlasting watch" of The Great Bear constellation with the bright star Arcturus in it.   Jesus the Christ was identified as "Light of the World"  and the "Everlasting Watch", like  the Bear constellation overhead.  The word "Arthur" came from a Welsh word meaning Great Bear, and it  meant a great king. 
   And the fish in our picture connects Jesus himself , as ICHTHUS,  again to the spiritual lineage of the Bear. 
   The beautiful plant in the back is the rose of the sacred feminine, one of Mary Magdalene's most frequent symbols.  The rose has very  pomegranate looking  rosehips, full of the seeds of ever-renewing life. 
    On the left side of the painting there's a  plant which is familiar to us  as Scotland's national flower, the thistle.  In terms of the medieval  grail heresy story, I wonder if this is a comment on the fact that the remaining Templars found a home in Scotland and may have re-established themselves there after the Inquisition? The Order of the Thistle was established there in 1540, also called The Order of the Knights of St. Andrew . The thistle was known as a holy plant , it's name meaning "the resplendent light of God". It's Latin name, Carduus, relates to the word for "heart". The Light and the Heart, another "sacred union" word assocation and concept.
  As far as the thistle's  use for spiritual healing, it is said to contain the quality and capability of "forgiveness".  And on the physical level, Milk Thistle is used  to heal the liver, the place that difficult emotions collect.   Forgiveness is key to that problem.  
    There's so much more in this picture that I'm thinking about and will write more about next time. I would love anyone's thoughts or contributions . For instance, what about the blue morning glory flower and vine which are on Mary's lap, near the intimate parts of the unicorn?   
   We know well that the unicorn, the Bridegroom,  was believed to be able to "purify the waters".......but he certainly wasn't doing it alone.


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