Posts Tagged ‘saint mary magdalene’
Sep
Saint Mary Magdalene, in other words
by Lesa Bellevie in Culture
Maybe you’ve found yourself in a moment of silence, pondering Mary Magdalene, when all of a sudden a thought occurs to you: “I wonder how to say ‘Saint Mary Magdalene’ in other languages?”
Well, you’re in luck. I just happened to be asking myself that same question today (and several other days, in fact), so I decided to do something about it. Read the rest of this entry »
Jul
MM as harlot: a new perspective in academia
by Lesa Bellevie in Book reviews, Mary Magdalene, Traditional
From my book:
“Clearly, the legend of Helen is meant to be a Gnostic allegory for the fall of Sophia (which is in turn an allegory of the fall of the soul), but the parallels between Simon Magus and Jesus should also make us look more closely at the parallels between Helen and Mary Magdalene.
Both Helen and Mary Magdalene have represented Sophia’s presence in the physical world; wouldn’t the fact that Helen was incarnated as a prostitute have had some bearing on what was thought of Mary Magdalene’s pre-Jesus life as well? This is a question that hasn’t been fully explored by scholars, but as the studies of Mary Magdalene’s roles in Gnosticism continue, it very well could be the earliest indirect reference to Mary Magdalene as a prostitute.”
Apparently, someone in academia picked up the gauntlet I tossed down in this section in 2004. Here is the first paragraph of the conclusion of a 2007 thesis that very studiously explores the theme I mentioned above as well as the importance of MM’s medieval identity as a fallen woman.
Jul
Documentary: MM, Saint or Sinner?
by Lesa Bellevie in Mary Magdalene, Movie reviews
I obtained a recording of a UK television documentary from Demand Five called “Mary Magdalene: Saint or Sinner?” and watched it this evening. A fairly typical documentary, it includes dramatic narration asking all of the sensational questions being bandied about in our post-Da Vinci Code culture, a round-up of experts, and actors dramatizing the topics being discussed.
Jul
Fun with Google Trends
by Lesa Bellevie in Da Vinci Code, Mary Magdalene
I found a post in this blog from several years ago, in which I commented that it was odd that most Google searches for the keyword “mary magdalene” came from the Philippines and Raleigh, NC. Today I revisited Google Trends to see if the same is still true.