Mary as Goddess
“The best argument against ‘Da Vinci's’ premise might be that, in the realm of symbols, the Feminine has never been absent from Christianity. Christian doctrine or practice might try to subordinate women, but Christian imagery has always celebrated her birth-giving, life-giving power. The figure of Mary, mother of Jesus, already incorporates much of the ancient imagery of the Goddess. She is Queen of Heaven, often depicted with a robe of blue studded with stars. She stands on the moon: Is she triumphing over it or emerging from it? A serpent lies at her feet – is she conquering it as the symbol of evil, or is she rooted in the regenerative power of the snake, who sheds its skin and is renewed? Pregnant, or holding her divine child on her lap, or grieving over his dead body, she becomes the primeval Goddess as Mother.”
~ from Starhawk’s review of The Da Vinci Code at Beliefnet
Also on Beliefnet: Bishop John Shelby Spong found the movie boring but agrees with its assertion that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene.
posted by gratefulbear | 7:25 PM
2 Comments:
The part of that review that got me was this:
"But the true mysteries of the Sacred Feminine are not about cryptic codes, secret messages, and hidden hoards of treasure. They are the most ordinary, everyday things of life, which we all experience: birth, growth, death, and regeneration. Not that a child survives from some hidden royal bloodline, but that the blood of life, waxing and waning like the moon, nurtures every child in the womb. Not that one man may have risen from the dead, but that every Spring, seeds buried in the earth’s dark tomb sprout and rise anew. The Holy Grail, from the Pagan perspective, is neither cup nor princess: It is the receptive consciousness, our awe and wonder and reverence for the real wellsprings of life. Only the worthy can find the Grail."
Fascinating!
I've always been disappointed in Spong in that I always expected his work to be better and more insightful than it is.
Wonderful comment Zach. Liked it better than the quoted portion.
Darrel, I find it interesting that Mary as "Queen of Heaven" is asserted when the whole Protestant wing of the church repudiates that kind of language, you know? The Catholics do have Mary who stands in for goddess and it's one of the reasons that Protestants continue to reject the theology of the RCC.
For my part, the divine feminine deserves to be recognized for all of us, but I don't think we'll see it happen in the halls of theological or doctrinal control.
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