Philosophy - Western Mystery Traditions

Women's circles have been called a “revolutionary-evolutionary movement hidden in plain sight” by Jean Shinoda Bolen and have been hailed as capable of affecting global change. Magdalene Circles are groups of women who focus their shared energies on the wisdom of Mary Magdalene to gain insight into the role of the sacred feminine in their own lives and to help them advance on their spiritual paths. This book offers 14 lessons to help understand the wisdom offered by Mary Magdalene's story and mythos. Among the lessons are prophecies of the bride, why we need the bride, Magdalene's archetypal pattern of descent, and how modern women carry the Grail. Well-suited for the individual reader as well as a group, each lesson includes an introduction, guided meditation, questions for journaling and an essay by Margaret Starbird as well as suggestions for group sharing. Placing Mary Magdalene within the pattern of “cyclic renewal” of earth-based religions, this book offers the chance to incorporate the sacred feminine wisdom of Mary Magdalene into everyday life for Christians and spiritual feminists alike. · Provides a unique workbook for use in the spiritual pathwork of Magdalene Circles · Includes wisdom stories, guided meditations, journaling questions, and essays by Margaret Starbird, author of The Woman with the Alabaster Jar · Designed for those involved in Magdalene Circles and those interested in applying the sacred feminine wisdom of the Goddess to their lives

Why do the Ark of the Covenant Mary's reliquary box and Jesus' Coffer all have the same imagery? Was the Ark the container of the Covenant the Ten Commandments or the Chalice? Does the image of the Shroud of Turin contain a bioelectric field? These questions and others are explored in THE ARK THE SHROUD AND MARY. Author Philip Gardiner recently won the acclaim of both scholars and the reading public with The Serpent Grail which united three of the most mysterious objects known to man the Grail Elixir and Philosophers Stone. Now in this unique and thought-provoking work Gardiner proves that the Ark of the Covenant the Shroud of Turin and Mary are united in ways never before imagined. Travelling across the world from Rome to India Portugal to Egypt Gardiner uncovers the trail of the Ark and finds that it does not lead to Ethiopia as many believe but instead in a direction that nobody could have imagined. The trail of the Ark takes Gardiner on a hunt into the very heart of an ancient secret society with clandestine meetings in far-off lands. Uniting the myth tradition and language of the Ark with the Shroud of Turin Gardiner then goes on to re-date it reveal how it was made and identify whose image it actually recreates. Through his new-found contacts in the world of secret societies Gardiner then shows how this incredible secret was protected by a dual brotherhood throughout time and was the secret source of the enlightenment spoken of by numerous orders from the Sufis to the Knights Templar.

The great cathedral of Chartres is renowned the world over as a masterpiece of High Gothic architecture and for its remarkable stained glass considered alchemical glass and its mystical labyrinth. But the sacred foundations of this sanctuary go back to a long time before Christianity when this site was a clearing where the Druids worshipped a Virgo Paritura: a virgin about to give birth. This ancient meeting place where all the Druids in Gaul gathered once a year now houses the magnificent Chartres cathedral dedicated both to the Virgin Mary Mother of God and to one of the most venerated Black Madonnas in Europe: Our Lady of the Pillar. Coincidence? Hardly says Jean Markale whose exhaustive examination of the site traces Chartres' roots back to prehistoric times and the appeal of the Black Madonna back to the ancient widespread worship of Mother Goddesses such as Cybele and Isis. Markale contends that the mother and child depicted by the Black Madonna are descended from the image worshipped by the druids of the Virgin forever giving birth. This image is not merely a representation of maternal love - albeit of a spiritual nature. It is a theological notion of great refinement: the Virgin gives birth ceaselessly to a world a God and a humanity in perpetual becoming. Poet philosopher historian and storyteller Jean Markale has spent a lifetime researching pre-Christian and medieval culture and spirituality. He lives in Britanny.

The small church of Rennes-le-Chateau in a remote village in southern France may well hold the key to the proof of Mary Magdalene's marriage to Jesus and the bloodline they founded. In 1885 the village of Rennes-le-Chateau welcomed a new priest Abbé Sauniere for its church dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene. Abbé Sauniere died in 1917 leaving an indelible imprint on this village both because of his unusual behaviour and the very strange restoration work he ordered for the church. It is thought that he discovered something during the renovation that brought him to the attention of the power brokers of the time and made him a very rich man. Possible identifications of his discovery range from the gold pillaged from Delphi in Roman times the treasure bought out of Jerusalem by the Templars who had a strong presence in the area and the missing Cathar treasure spirited out of Montségur mere days before the fall of the fortress. Yet even more remarkable and compelling is this church's ambiguous portrayal of Mary Magdalene. Markale explains that the unusual depictions of Mary in the church hint at an even more archaic role performed by Mary that could shake the very foundations of the church if it were fully understood that of the high priestess who anoints the priest king into his spiritual duties.

There are many icons of Mary that show black faces and hands. In France these are called Vierge Noires Black Virgins. Elsewhere they may be called Black Madonnas or the other Mary. Jung called her Isis while others claim she is the symbolic remains of a prehistoric worship of the Earth Mother. She is generally connected with Cybele Diana Isis and Venus as well as with Kali Inanna and Lilith. Historically she is connected with the Crusades the Islamic occupation of Spain the Conquistadors as well as the Merovingians and Knights Templars who viewed her as Mary Magdalene. Why are more than five hundred of the world's Madonna images black or dark? Why is so little known about them? Black Virgins a resurfacing of the powerful pagan goddesses of sexuality the underworld and earth wisdom are symbols of power and majesty the other side of the traditional Madonna's virginity or tender maternity. They personify the Holy Grail and the Ark of the Covenant in a quest for lost feminine wisdom and the search for soul.

The Fifth Gospel presents some compelling new evidence about the life of Jesus which has been derived from a variety of sources in the East which are unknown to most Western scholars. By chance one of the authors found in 1965 a reference in Ladakh to the discovery of Buddhist scrolls about Jesus. Since then the authors have been examining evidence about the survival of Jesus Christ at the time of the crucifixion and his subsequent travels to the East. The authors' main purpose in writing this book is to inform the West that we in the East have some source material about the historical Jesus who lived on after the crucifixion.... This book was not written in one day but is a result of many years' continued search for evidence and provides research on some very compelling questions such as: Did God descend on this earth as Jesus? Did Jesus visit India at age 13? Did Jesus survive his crucifixion? Was Jesus saved by his Essene friends then traveled to the East visiting many countries finally settling in Kashmir? Jesus has been mentioned in Oriental manuscripts by many names: Issa Isa Issana-deva Isha Natha Ishai Isa Masih Yusu Yuzu Yuzu-Kristo Yuz-Asaph and Yusu Masih. In some works he is mentioned as Eshvara-putram or the Son of God and Kanaya-garbum or Born of a Girl. In some ancient manuscripts he is called Metteyya which is equivalent to Messiah. In some Persian works he is known as Nasrani or Kristani which is equivalent to of Nazareth or Christian. It is also interesting that the Christians are known in the East as Nasaran and Kira. Jesus is also titled in the East as Ibn-i-Maryam or the Son of Mary. Whether Jesus Christ did or did not die on the cross or passed away naturally at an older age like the Buddha is a vital question in which not only Christians but others are keenly interested. For example this book presents startling evidence about the tomb of Jesus or Yuzu-Asaph in Kashmir. The research will remain incomplete until this tomb is opened for investigation.

o Contains 40 essays by 18 key investigators of heresies and suppressed spiritual traditions including Steven Sora Ian Lawton Jeff Nisbet P.M.H. Atwater John Chambers and Vincent Bridges Following the model of his bestselling Forbidden History (25000 copies sold) J. Douglas Kenyon has assembled from his bi-monthly journal Atlantis Rising material that explores the hidden path of the religions banned by the orthodox Church - from the time before Christ when the foundations of Christianity were being laid to the tumultuous times of the Cathars and Templars and the Masons of the New World. Revealed in this investigation of the roots of Western faith are the intimate ties of ancient Egyptian religion to Christianity the true identities of the three magi the link forged by the Templars between early Christianity and the Masons and how these hidden religious currents still influence the modern world. This book serves as a compelling introduction to the true history of the heretical religious traditions that played as vital a role in society as the established faiths that continuously tried to suppress them. Born in the same religious ferment that gave birth to Christianity these spiritual paths survived in the heresies of the Middle Ages and in the theories of the great Renaissance thinkers and their successors such as Isaac Newton and Giordano Bruno. Brought to the New World by the Masons who inspired the American Revolution the influence of these forbidden religions can be still found today in The Star Spangled Banner and in such Masonic symbols as the pyramid on the back of the dollar bill.

In an era that has reclaimed many aspects of the feminine Margaret Starbird's THE WOMAN WITH THE ALABASTER JAR stood out as a courageous exploration of the scorned and repudiated feminine in the Western religious tradition. But espousing the marriage between Jesus and Mary Magdalene created a personal crisis for this catholic scholar. In THE GODDESS IN THE GOSPELS the author tells how she was guided in her personal search and her ever-deepening study of the New Testament and gematria - number coding of the Greek Alphabet - by an incredible series of synchronicities. It was the mirroring of inner and outer worlds that revealed the Sacred Marriage of male and female - the hieros gamous - and led to her own personal redemption.

The Gospel of Philip is one of the most exciting and accessible of the Gnostic texts found at Nag Hammadi in Egypt in 1945. The source of Dan Brown's intriguing speculations about Mary Magdalene in his best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code the GOSPEL OF PHILIP draws on ancient imagery - the natural world the relationships between women men and family the ancient distinctions between lord and servants free people and slaves and pagans Jews and Christians - to offer us insight into the spiritual interpretation of scripture that is at the foundation of Christianity. THE GOSPEL OF PHILIP unravels the discourses parables and sayings of the second-century text to explore a spiritual non - literal interpretation of the Bible. Along with this elegant and accurate new translation from the original Coptic Andrew Phillip Smith probes the symbolism and metaphors at the heart of the Gospel of Philip to reveal otherwise unrecorded sayings of Jesus fragments of Gnostic mythology and parallels to the teachings of Jesus and Paul. He also examines the joyful imagery of rebirth salvation and mystical union in the bridal chamber that was the pursuit of Christian Gnosticism. Now you can experience this ancient Gospel even if you have no previous knowledge of early Christian or Gnostic thought. This SkyLight Illuminations edition provides important insights into the historical context and major themes of the Gospel of Philip and give you a deeper understanding of the Gospel's overarching message: deciphering our own meaning behind the symbols of this world increases and enriches our understanding of God.

THE HIDDEN PARABLES is a complete retranslation of the parables used by Jesus of Nazareth to illustrate critical lessons about the nature of reality. Its simple, to-the-point analysis illuminates cosmological concepts, rendering them surprisingly accessible and practical and highlights the actual techniques for self-development found in the words of Christ. In THE HIDDEN PARABLES, the thirty-two enigmatic parables spoken by Christ are meticulously retranslated retaining the expressiveness of the original Greek and giving the reader a literal understanding of the words of Christ. Michael's reconsideration unveils a hidden layer of meaning, which shows that the parables are not a random collection of stories, but a unified system of knowledge. This integrated system of knowledge describes how to use the spiritual law of thought forms - or controlled intentions - to create more beneficial, more miraculous circumstances in our personal lives. The information it presents is clear and very useful. Moreover, this system bears an uncanny symmetry with many of today's leading-edge ideas from quantum physics. In THE HIDDEN PARABLES, those aspects of Christ's words that are sometimes considered confounding are freshly revealed for their penetrating insights about human existence and the hands-on methodology the insights provide for greater self-understanding and for leading a more fulfilling life.