Mary Magdalene Day Festivities
Posted by Joan Norton at 7/23/2009 5:23 AM 
Categories: Mary Magdalene Feast Day
Tags: Mary Magdalene 14 Steps To Awaken the Sacred Feminine Women in the Circle of Mary Magdalene
Categories: Mary Magdalene Feast Day
Tags: Mary Magdalene 14 Steps To Awaken the Sacred Feminine Women in the Circle of Mary Magdalene
I think Mary Magdalene is feeling like she's had a good feast day this year. I went to two parties for her and can report on two more. "Do this in memory of her", are the words said by Jesus in the gospel stories, and I think we are following his wisdom pretty well these days about his Bride. So many interesting women are feeling the tug of the cosmos calling forth the Sacred Feminine dimension to bring our planet back into health, I feel privledged to know them. On Cynthia Jordan's internet radio show on last Wednesday's Magdalene Feast Day we had Margaret Starbird inaugurate what will be a monthly international Magdalene Circle, on the 22nd each month. Margaret talked about the symbolism of the Magdalene Feast Day date July 22, 7-22. Turns out it references the relationship of the radius and diameter measurements of a circle, which in turn references us as sacred vessel of the divine. That's about the best I can do with the mysteries of sacred geometry. The radio circle became quiet as Margaret led us through this esoteric understanding., and I'm sure it will seed the thought processes of many who were listening. I might be inclined to ignore sacred geometry if it didn't appear in people's dreams regularly. It's part of the "outreach" our minds are doing right now as we stretch ourselves to better understand our spiritual beingness. As above, so below.
Many of you know Jennifer Reif's book, The Holy Book of Mary Magdalene, which is a book of ceremonies which honor the Sacred Union of Jesus and Magdalene. The sub-title is "The Path of the Grail Steward". Yesterday was Jennifer's celebration and I had the chance to experience the transformative energy of one of her liturgies and to see the Grail Steward shield she has created.
I had to show you a closeup of it because it's so pretty (and in case you want to copy it!), but it was only part of the spectacular altar to honor the Magdalene. We had a ceremony with 14 parts; singing, response stanzas, a discourse on the meeting of Jesus and Magdalene, lighting of the tower in honor of Magdalene's many names, an affirmation of the Rose of Bethany, blessing of the wine and bread, a song for Mary Magdalene, and an investiture into the Order of Magdala Rosa. Those are just a few of the steps she led us on, all from her book. Here's a picture of the entire altar. You might not be able to see it, but in the bottom center of the tower of candles there is one that looks different, and it's an actual candle from Mary Magdalene's cave-chapel in France. Cintra Reeve sent it to me especially to use for our Magdalene Day ceremony. She has more wonderful pictures of the cave chapel on her Facebook page... Cintra Reeve. Thank you ! During our ceremony it was the image of Magdalene's Cave that was with me most strongly.
I hope this picture is as inspiring to you as it was to us there in the room. After the ceremony and the good food we all brought and the good talk we all had and the good love we were feeling for the sacred marriage of Jesus and Magdalene, I felt like planning next year's July 22 Magdalene Day . A little early, I know, but I felt hopeful and inspired.
The previous weekend I went to Karen Tate's annual Isis Magdalene Birthday Tea. It was quite crowded this year, happy women and a few men all around a long table, dainty cups of tea in hand. The guest of honor was Marguerite Rigolioso with her book, The Cult of the Divine Birth which is about the evidence for priestess training to bring forth a divine child without the physical help of a male. There are legends and channeled material which point to both the Beloved Mother and Mary Magdalene being immersed in spiritual training for their roles previous to "the story" beginning. These were surely highly evolved women we're talking about so maybe it's not so far-fetched.
Another bit of news from the party is that Karen Tate is moving her radio show to BlogTalkRadio in August. She was given a round of applause for the contributions she is making to raise awareness of feminine spirituality through the guests she interviews weekly, and it's great news that she'll have more time on air to do it. An hour or more.
Many of you know that Katia Romanoff, my friend from the first conference I did with Margaret Starbird, has an on-line esoteric christianity mystery school called NorthernWay. She is also a Bishop in the Gnostic Church and she has a theological seminary for alternative christianity which is a great place to become ordained so you can start your own church. Katia has a blog also and she posted a nice Magdalene Day story, along with an old, old piece of litury from an early Magdalene Feast Day in the Church, before they changed it around. In it Magdalene is called "Spouse of the King of Glory". You might want to see the whole reading yourself here on Katia's blog .
Expressing love and sacred partnership with the mysteries of the spiritual world is an individual creative act, maybe no two of us do it the same way. Hopefully we are all living in conscious sacred union with the divine more and more these days.... I think it's what will evolve our world. The book Margaret Starbird and I wrote about Magdalene Circles offers a way to get together with friends and share your spiritual journeying. The rosaries my sister Sally makes offer a way to use Margaret's Magdalene prayers or any other prayers in your private times of contemplation. And these wonderful parties and ceremonies I've described offer a way to remember and celebrate the love and beauty of the sacred feminine in a harmonious loving dance with the sacred masculine.
Hi, Joan,
The "Grail Steward" Magdalene celebration with Jennifer Reif sounds so special. We did a workshop and made "chaplets" with seven prayer beads at the Interfaith Community Church in Seattle on Saturday "in memory of Her." I showed slides of Mary Magdalene from medieval artists along with images of "Sacred Union." I also discussed the sacred geometry of Mary Magdalene's number (153), its relationship to the vesica piscis, an ancient symbol for the fertility of the Goddess (the "source" or "matrix" of all life....
Magdalene's official feast day (22/7) is generically related to "circles" because it is the value of "pi"--the ratio used universally to calculate the area and circum-ference of circles!
Blessings on your ministry as an emissary of the Beloved Bride and Bridegroom--
love,
Margaret
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Hello Margaret ! Thank you very much for sharing with the wider Magdalene Circle about your retreat day on Saturday. It fills us all when we hear about each other's celebrations. Her fertility was certainly evident last week. I'm glad to hear that you led women in making their own prayer bead chaplets to use with the Magdalene Rosary. I've made some new postcards with the "Dear Mary Magdalene, Love Incarnate, Sacred Vessel , Holy Grail....etc." prayer on it. (anybody want some? write to me) At Jennifer's on Sunday there was alot of attention paid to the rosary beads and talk of repitition of prayer being so good for "de-stressing" and maintaining harmony and balance throughout the day. Glad to hear women are making their own rosaries as well.
So many of us hold you in our hearts with deep love for the courage of your spiritual journey. Joan
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Thanks especially for the reference to relationship between the Magdalene and Isis. Once, a beloved cat was extremely ill. I had to leave her at home, drive out of town to work, then drive back. I prayed for her all day, then on the way back home had a feeling of "crisis." Suddenly, from the depths of me, I heard myself saying out loud, "Lady Isis! Please help Ginger!" and then tears started flowing and I had to pull over beside the highway till the weeping subsided. When I got home, Ginger was much better, and since then I've always called her a handmaiden of Lady Isis and have begun to talk to Isis from time to time about other things.
Thanks, too, for link to Katia's blog re: original Magdalene feast day material...am going there now!
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Thank you for the story about your cat, Maria. Thank you for being here with your sensitivity. xoJoan
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