First -- let's start with the Gospel of Mary. It starts off, " These are sayings, spoken by Salome the Maiden in the name of St. Mary Magdalene, which women of wisdom have held in trust. Mary said, “If you know the Woman of Light, you will know your Mother and be reborn of the Mother Spirit as a child of light. Because the light is bornless, you will have eternal life."
All in all, the gospel has 249 sayings in it. Some I was VERY impressed with, and I actually forwarded quite a lot of female-powered ones to my mother during her divorce with my father. Here are my 5 favorites:
1. A woman asked Mary, “How can a woman be holy?” Mary said, “The man who is holy knows he is no man, therefore it is the same for a woman. Those who see male and female see only an appearance, for inwardly there is neither female nor male. These appearances are like shadows, and those who grasp at shadows and do not look to the Light miss the mark of Truth.”
2. Mary said, “You go down into the water and you die, because the reflection is shattered on the surface. When you rise up you come alive, for knowing your origin you no longer cling to a reflection or an image, but are reborn of your true essence. The nature of this essence is no-thing, and knowing this you will rule over the entirety.”
3. A woman said to Mary, “You are the holiness of womanhood we have been waiting to see.” Mary said to her, “What have you been doing while you were waiting? If you see this in me, then it is in you. All the while it has been with you! What were you waiting for?”
4. Mary said, “You say I am a woman, but see, I am a man, and I am a woman, and I am neither man nor woman. You go looking for the anointed, but do not see. So long as you are looking, you will not see. When your seeking comes to an end, you will find.”
5. A man asked Mary, “Who is greater, you or Yeshua?” Mary said to him, “Truly I tell you, the Anointed is the Anointed, whether male or female, and the Anointed is exalted above every head, even the highest among the angels in heaven and Aeons of Light. As for Yeshua, he is greater than I, for I received everything from him. And so it is for every disciple, he or she is never greater than the teacher.”
Amazing. Obviously, Mary is a very wise woman. Mary once said, “Blessed is one who knows sorrow and suffering, for that person will know life.”. Is that true or what? I could write about this amazing gospel all day, but for now I must move on.
There is a gospel called "The Gospel of Pistis Sophia", which revolutionized Gnostic beliefs. In this gospel, I saw a new side to this angel of a woman -- my gosh, she talked, and talked, and TALKED. I actually found myself giggling, when Peter Simon, her rival apostle, pretty much told her to shut up already. This is what he said:
"My Lord, we will not endure this woman, for she has taketh the opportunity from us, and hath let none of us speak, but she discoursed many times."
And Mary got back at him with:
"My Lord, I am scared of Peter; for he hateth our sex."
Well, things just got awkward real fast.
Great reason to be scared of him, Mary. Anyway... off that extremely awkward topic...
In the Gospel of Thomas, it only has 2 short references to Mary. I minds well include them:
Simon Peter said to them: Let Mary go forth from among us, for women are not worthy of the life. Jesus said: Behold, I shall lead her, that I may make her male, in order that she also may become a living spirit like you males. For every woman who makes herself male shall enter into the kingdom of heaven
Feminists/Historians argue that he meant to make her a living spirit, and not just "male". (as Mary said: “You say I am a woman, but see, I am a man, and I am a woman, and I am neither man nor woman. You go looking for the anointed, but do not see. So long as you are looking, you will not see. When your seeking comes to an end, you will find.”) So I believe Peter Simon is the sexist one here.
Second:
Mary asks Jesus, "Whom are your disciples like?" Jesus responds, "They are like children who have settled in a field which is not theirs. When the owners of the field come, they will say, 'Let us have back our field.' They [will] undress in their presence in order to let them have back their field and to give it back to them"
I honestly have no idea what that means.
Now, moving on, the Gospel of Philip. This even mentions Mary in a way different than a lot of gospels, here it states her as His "companion" -- read here:
There were three who always walked with the Lord: Mary, his mother, and her sister, and Magdalene, the one who was called his companion. His sister, his mother and his companion were each a Mary.
:later:
And the companion of the saviour was Mary Magdalene. Christ loved Mary
more than all the disciples, and used to kiss her often. The rest of the
disciples were offended by it and expressed disapproval. They said to
him, "Why do you love her more than all of us?" The Saviour answered and
said to them, "Why do I not love you like her?"
Burnn.
*yawns* Goodness, I'm tired. It's 7 PM, ugh, guess I should rap this up.
Thanks everyone for reading! Next up: Mary's personal life
~~Clarabelle
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