Mary Magdalene Meditations
Stop Holding onto Me!
Place both hands on your heart and feel your love for God, his angels, and saints.
Tell them you love them passionately. (If you have to, fake it till you make it.) ….
Imagine God calling your name…..
Answer back with: “My teacher!” ….
Hear him say: “Stop holding on to me!”
Very slowly open one hand in a gesture of offering and letting go.….
Notice what happens in your heart and soul when you do that.
What Do You Want Mary Magdalene to Do for You?
Jesus asks his disciples: “Who do you say that I am?” (Mt 16:15) and the blind man in Jericho: “What do you want me to do for you?” (Lk 18:41) So let’s spend some time trying Mary Magdalene’s various roles on for size and see which ones fit us. There’s no need to limit our relationship with her to only one role. If I mention one that feels uncomfortable, just stay with one that fits you. It’s okay to answer my questions with: “No!” but see if you can be open to trying something new on for size.
When your answer is yes, maybe tell Mary Magdalene: “Please help me! Please teach me!” and whatever else you may want to tell her.
Take a few moments to find your breath in your body …. and your feet on the ground ……
1. To some Mary Magdalene is an expression of the feminine face of God. Do you want her to be the divine feminine? How would that feel?
2. To some she is the foremost disciple of Jesus. Do you want her to teach you how to be as close as possible to him – how to become one with Jesus?
3. To some she is the rightful leader and head of Christianity. Do you want her to teach you how to be powerful, how to hold power? How does that feel? Are there any images?
4. To some she is a suppressed, disregarded woman, oppressed by patriarchy. Do you want her to show you what to do with that, how to be with that?
5. To some she is the sacred prostitute, as expressed in the apocryphal text in the Nag Hamadi Library: “The Thunder Perfect Mind”: “I am the first and the last. I am the honored one and the scorned one. I am the whore and the holy one.” Do you want her to give you permission to be sensual, to integrate your sexuality, to align your lower chakras with your higher ones? How would that feel?
6. To some she is the redeemed sinner. Do you want her to assure you that no matter how ugly your shadow is or how many people you have hurt, you can be embraced by God and become one with God?
7. To some she is one freed from all her demons and all negative powers. Do you want her to give you hope that you too can be completely freed from all evil and negativity, your own and others’?
8. To some she is a wisdom teacher. Do you want her to guide you on the way to enlightenment and awakening, to accompany you? …. Then call her with her own words: “My teacher!” and notice if you are ready to be instructed by her.
9. To some she is the renunciate who lived an ascetic, solitary life in a cave, fed by the angels. Do you want her to help you say no to the world and yes to your divine soul and God? Is there anything you need help saying no to?
10. For Luke the evangelist she was the wealthy patron, the generous supporter who helped bankroll a budding movement. Do you want her to teach you generosity – the complete giving of yourself to a worthy cause?
11. To some she is the gate to the Realm of Heaven, who gives equal access to all. Do you want her to assure you that you too can be let in?
12. To some she is the prophetess who anointed Jesus, making him the Christ, the Anointed. Do you want her to be the bestower of sacraments, of powerful rituals?
13. To some she is the washer of feet. Do you want her to clean you? Imagine she is washing your feet. And since Jesus also washed the feet of his disciples, imagine him washing your feet as well.
14. To some she is the wife or consort of Christ. Do you want her to teach you how to be married to God in body and soul, how to be God’s lover?
15. To Jesus himself she was his most fearless and constant companion. In the Gospel of Mary, he says to her: “Blessed are you for the sight of me does not disturb you.” Do you want her to teach you how to be with God’s manifestations in their torture and death – as well as in their radiant glory when the light is so bright and other worldly that it feels like it will burn you out of existence? What about Jesus is most disturbing to you? Can you allow that to be here right now? Mary Magdalene, help us!
16. To some she is a saint in the communion of saints. Do you want to be surrounded by the communion of countless saints of all religions and ages? Imagine all the spiritual beings who have informed you all around you right now.
Ascent of the Soul Practice Based on the Gospel of Mary
1. Opening prayer: „Let us not remain in sorrow and doubt, for his grace will guide us and comfort us. Instead, let us praise his greatness, for he has prepared us for this. He has made us human so let us turn our hearts towards the Good.”
2. Notice the energy, the feeling tone in your heart and in your field of being. Are there any powers of darkness, any negative climates or demons oppressing you right now? If not now, do you regularly spend time feeding yourself negative thoughts and nursing negative feelings? What is the dominant tone of voice of the thoughts running habitually through your mind? Imitate it for a while, until you are tired of it. What message have your powers of darkness been whispering in your ear, likely for decades? Listen, and if you like, write them down.
3. Let us pray: Miriam, Apostle to the Apostles, help me, guide me, and protect me! Jesus, teacher and savior, help me, guide me, and protect me! And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, help me, guide me, and protect me! May the Goodness, which has come into our midst work together with the elements of my nature to restore me inward to my root.
4. Before Jesus casts out negative powers, he sometimes asks: “Do you want to be healed?”
So ask yourself: “Do I want to be healed? Do I really want to be free from the negative powers I am so used to holding in my field of being?” Let grace know if you want to be freed and healed.
5. Does Grace or your soul have any message for you that is healing and freeing?
6. Go now into silence for about 20 minutes, for it is in silence that the Teacher speaks to us and that the Good can take root in us.
7. By the power of Grace we are freed from the power of our climates; now we welcome the light, our cravings have faded, our cups overflow and we want no more, we know the truth that all phenomena are interwoven and impermanent and that our truest nature is divine. Freed from all forms of negativity and the habits of judgement, control, and domination we rejoice loudly in our freedom, our trust, our love, and our light! Sing Hosanna!!
8. And so we atone, turn our hearts toward the Good, and become fully human. Let us spread the Gospel, the good news of our Nous, the meeting and mingling of our humanity and our divinity!
…… after an hour, a day, or a week we’ve descended back into darkness, like we do countless times. Here we go again! How do we get out of here this time? We sit with it but don’t wallow in it and then we ask for help.
When it comes to getting unstuck, nothing works all the time. Each time we notice that we are down in the muck again, we have to listen to our soul and our Higher Power for guidance and sometimes we have to try different things on for size and see what fits.
If your powers won’t be cast out today, it may be time to pick up your cross, to accept that they are part of you. Then see what happens if you address them, saying: “I see you…. you are allowed to be here right now…… You are a part of me.”
photo: David Curtis. Mary Magdalene loves and lets go.
Window in St. Mary the Virgin church, Eling, U.K.
