***Mary Magdalene sources: marymagdaleneshrine.org and texts from the Nag Hammadi Library and Gospel of Mary. Also, the Bible.

***(There are lines missing from the Dialog of the Savior and from The Gospel of Mary.  Someday perhaps a more complete text will be found). 

Her Words:

*from Dialog of the Savior; Nag Hammadi Library

Mary said, "Lord, behold! Whence do I bear the body while I weep, and whence while I [laugh]?"

The Lord said, "[...] weeps on account of its works [...] remain and the mind laughs [...][...] spirit. If one does not [...] darkness, he will be able to see [...]. So I tell you [...] light is the darkness [...] stand in [...] not see the light [...] the lie [...] they brought them from [...]. You will give [...] and [...] exist forever. [...][...] ever. Then all the powers which are above, as well as those below, will [...] you. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth over the end of all these things." 

Mary hailed her brethren, saying, "Where are you going to put these things about which you ask the son [...]?"

The Lord said to her, "Sister, [no one] will be able to inquire about these things except for someone who has somewhere to put them in his heart. [...] to come forth [...] and enter [...], so that they might not hold back [...] this impoverished cosmos." 

The Lord said, "It is you who will rule over them! But when you rid yourselves of jealousy, then you will clothe yourselves in light and enter the bridal chamber."

Judas said, "How will our garments be brought to us?"

The Lord said, "There are some who will provide for you, and there are others who will receive [...]. For it is they who will give you your garments. For who will be able to reach that place which is the reward? But the garments of life were given to man because he knows the path by which he will leave. And it is difficult even for me to reach it!"

Mary said, "Thus with respect to 'the wickedness of each day,' and 'the laborer is worthy of his food,' and 'the disciple resembles his teacher.'" She uttered this as a woman who had understood completely.

The disciples said to him, "What is the fullness, and what is the deficiency?"

He said to them, "You are from the fullness, and you dwell in the place where the deficiency is. And lo! His light has poured down upon me!"

Mary said, "Tell me, Lord, why I have come to this place to profit or to forfeit."

The Lord said, "You make clear the abundance of the revealer!"

Mary said to him, "Lord, is there then a place which is [...] or lacking truth?"

The Lord said, "The place where I am not!"

Mary said, "Lord, you are fearful and wonderful, and [...] those who do not know you."

Mary said, "I want to understand all things, just as they are!"

The Lord said, "He who will seek out life! For this is their wealth. For the [...] of this cosmos is [...], and its gold and its silver are misleading."

They said to him, "What is the place to which we are going?"

The Lord said, "Stand in the place you can reach!"

Mary said, "Everything established thus is seen."

The Lord said, "I have told you that it is the one who can see who reveals." 

Mary said, "There is but one saying I will speak to the Lord concerning the mystery of truth: In this have we taken our stand, and to the cosmic are we transparent." 

Mary said, "Of what sort is that mustard seed? Is it something from heaven or is it something from earth?"

The Lord said, "When the Father established the cosmos for himself, he left much over from the Mother of the All. Therefore, he speaks and he acts." 

*from The Gospel According to Mary Magdalene
[The Gospel of Mary]

Chapter 4

(Pages 1 to 6 of the manuscript, containing chapters 1 - 3, are lost.  The extant text starts on page 7...)

. . . Will matter then be destroyed or not?

22) The Savior said, All nature, all formations, all creatures exist in and with one another, and they will be resolved again into their own roots.

23) For the nature of matter is resolved into the roots of its own nature alone.

24) He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

25) Peter said to him, Since you have explained everything to us, tell us this also: What is the sin of the world?

26) The Savior said There is no sin, but it is you who make sin when you do the things that are like the nature of adultery, which is called sin.

27) That is why the Good came into your midst, to the essence of every nature in order to restore it to its root.

28) Then He continued and said, That is why you become sick and die, for you are deprived of the one who can heal you.

29) He who has a mind to understand, let him understand.

30) Matter gave birth to a passion that has no equal, which proceeded from something contrary to nature. Then there arises a disturbance in its whole body.

31) That is why I said to you, Be of good courage, and if you are discouraged be encouraged in the presence of the different forms of nature.

32) He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

33) When the Blessed One had said this, He greeted them all,saying, Peace be with you. Receive my peace unto yourselves.

34) Beware that no one lead you astray saying Lo here or lo there! For the Son of Man is within you.

35) Follow after Him!

36) Those who seek Him will find Him.

37) Go then and preach the gospel of the Kingdom.

38) Do not lay down any rules beyond what I appointed you, and do not give a law like the lawgiver lest you be constrained by it.

39) When He said this He departed.


Chapter 5

1) But they were grieved. They wept greatly, saying, How shall we go to the Gentiles and preach the gospel of the Kingdom of the Son of Man? If they did not spare Him, how will they spare us?

2) Then Mary stood up, greeted them all, and said to her brethren, Do not weep and do not grieve nor be irresolute, for His grace will be entirely with you and will protect you.

3) But rather, let us praise His greatness, for He has prepared us and made us into Men.

4) When Mary said this, she turned their hearts to the Good, and they began to discuss the words of the Savior.

5) Peter said to Mary, Sister we know that the Savior loved you more than the rest of woman.

6) Tell us the words of the Savior which you remember which you know, but we do not, nor have we heard them.

7) Mary answered and said, What is hidden from you I will proclaim to you.

8) And she began to speak to them these words: I, she said, I saw the Lord in a vision and I said to Him, Lord I saw you today in a vision. He answered and said to me,

9) Blessed are you that you did not waver at the sight of Me. For where the mind is there is the treasure.

10) I said to Him, Lord, how does he who sees the vision see it, through the soul or through the spirit?

11) The Savior answered and said, He does not see through the soul nor through the spirit, but the mind that is between the two that is what sees the vision and it is [...]

(pages 11 - 14 are missing from the manuscript)


Chapter 8:

10) And desire said, I did not see you descending, but now I see you ascending. Why do you lie since you belong to me?

11) The soul answered and said, I saw you. You did not see me nor recognize me. I served you as a garment and you did not know me.

12) When it said this, it (the soul) went away rejoicing greatly.

13) Again it came to the third power, which is called ignorance.

14) The power questioned the soul, saying, Where are you going? In wickedness are you bound. But you are bound; do not judge!

15) And the soul said, Why do you judge me, although I have not judged?

16) I was bound, though I have not bound.

17) I was not recognized. But I have recognized that the All is being dissolved, both the earthly things and the heavenly.

18) When the soul had overcome the third power, it went upwards and saw the fourth power, which took seven forms.

19) The first form is darkness, the second desire, the third ignorance, the fourth is the excitement of death, the fifth is the kingdom of the flesh, the sixth is the foolish wisdom of flesh, the seventh is the wrathful wisdom. These are the seven powers of wrath.

20) They asked the soul, Whence do you come slayer of men, or where are you going, conqueror of space?

21) The soul answered and said, What binds me has been slain, and what turns me about has been overcome,

22) and my desire has been ended, and ignorance has died.

23) In a aeon I was released from a world, and in a Type from a type, and from the fetter of oblivion which is transient.

24) From this time on will I attain to the rest of the time, of the season, of the aeon, in silence.


Chapter 9

1) When Mary had said this, she fell silent, since it was to this point that the Savior had spoken with her.

2) But Andrew answered and said to the brethren, Say what you wish to say about what she has said. I at least do not believe that the Savior said this. For certainly these teachings are strange ideas.

3) Peter answered and spoke concerning these same things.

4) He questioned them about the Savior: Did He really speak privately with a woman and not openly to us? Are we to turn about and all listen to her? Did He prefer her to us?

5) Then Mary wept and said to Peter, My brother Peter, what do you think? Do you think that I have thought this up myself in my heart, or that I am lying about the Savior?

6) Levi answered and said to Peter, Peter you have always been hot tempered.

7) Now I see you contending against the woman like the adversaries.

8) But if the Savior made her worthy, who are you indeed to reject her? Surely the Savior knows her very well.

9) That is why He loved her more than us. Rather let us be ashamed and put on the perfect Man, and separate as He commanded us and preach the gospel, not laying down any other rule or other law beyond what the Savior said.

10) And when they heard this they began to go forth to proclaim and to preach.


ends The Gospel According to Mary 

*from Mark 16, Bible

1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. 2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3 and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” 4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. 6 “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’ ” 8 Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

9 When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. 10 She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. 11 When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it.  

*from John 20:11, Bible

11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look[a] into the tomb; 12 and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13 They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’ 14 When she had said this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ 16 Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew,[b] ‘Rabbouni!’ (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, ‘Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”’ 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

About Mary Magdalene

*from the Bible

There is no history of Mary except the name of where she comes from, Magdala.  There is also no reference that she was ever a prostitute or was married to Jesus or anyone else.  She may have had demons cast out of her. If so that would make her free from sin. times in his story. She was called “the disciple to the disciples” and was the first to see him after his death.  

*from Gospel of Thomas, Nag Hammadi Library

(114) Simon Peter said to him, "Let Mary leave us, for women are not worthy of life."

Jesus said, "I myself shall lead her in order to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every woman who will make herself male will enter the kingdom of heaven."

*from Gospel of Philip, Nag Hammadi Library

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 and his mother and his companion were each a Mary.

"The Father" and "the Son" are single names; "the Holy Spirit" is a double name. For they are everywhere: they are above, they are below; they are in the concealed, they are in the revealed. The Holy Spirit is in the revealed: it is below. It is in the concealed: it is above.

The saints are served by evil powers, for they are blinded by the Holy Spirit into thinking that they are serving an (ordinary) man whenever they do so for the saints. Because of this, a disciple asked the Lord one day for something of this world. He said to him, "Ask your mother, and she will give you of the things which are another's."

The apostles said to the disciples, "May our entire offering obtain salt." They called Sophia "salt". Without it, no offering is acceptable. But Sophia is barren, without child. For this reason, she is called "a trace of salt". Wherever they will [...] in their own way, the Holy Spirit [...], and her children are many.

As for the Wisdom who is called "the barren," she is the mother of the angels. And the companion of the [...] Mary Magdalene. [...] loved her more than all the disciples, and used to kiss her often on her mouth. The rest of the disciples [...]. They said to him "Why do you love her more than all of us?" The Savior answered and said to them," Why do I not love you like her? When a blind man and one who sees are both together in darkness, they are no different from one another. When the light comes, then he who sees will see the light, and he who is blind will remain in darkness."

The Lord said, "Blessed is he who is before he came into being. For he who is, has been and shall be."

 *from Tau Rosamonde, marymagdaleneshrine.org: 

We often receive questions about Mary Magdalene, especially since the publication of this most entertaining work of fiction, The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. These most frequently asked questions have been taken from actual e-mails received. The e-mails have been many, however, most of them asked the same few questions. I hope that these answers will cover your own questions about our view on Miriam of Magdala. If you have any other questions not addressed in this website, please send us an e-mail. Due to the volume of requests, we are unable to answer personally or engage in any debates on the subject; however your questions will be taken into consideration the next time we update this page.

For a comprehensive, scholarly work on Mary Magdalene,

I highly recommend The Resurrection of Mary Magdalene by Jane Schaberg.

Note: I will answer these questions once in this website; however, I must reiterate that ancient gossip means very little to me. While history is important so that we do not repeat the horrors, tyrannies and genocides of the past, in this instance we are not dealing with history

but speculation. If believing that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married makes you a more compassionate, empathetic, forgiving individual, by all means believe it. If believing that or any other thing makes you constantly aware of the Divine Presence in all beings, even to loving your enemies, please do so. Our work focuses on seeking the true treasures of the spirit and for what may bring a radical transformation in our consciousness.

Tau Rosamonde answers questions about Mary Magdalene

Q  How do you see Mary Magdalene?

A  As the first witness to the resurrection, and in a greater dimension, as a cosmic and mythological figure that deeply resonates within us.

Q  Do you think that MM was the author of the Book of John?

A  No.

Q  Does the MM Order agree that MM and Jesus were married? It says in The Gospel of Philip that Jesus kissed her often on her mouth.

A  No. According to their records they were never married.

As to the saying in the Gospel of Philip that Jesus kissed her often on the mouth, we make the mistake of reading through modern eyes what was written by ancient minds. Kissing in this instance refers to initiation or transmission of spiritual knowledge. This passage is usually quoted out of context. When quoted in context it acquires a whole different meaning.

As for Wisdom, who is called "barren," she is the mother of the angels. And the companion of the Lord was Mary Magdalene. He loved her more than the rest of the disciples and used to kiss her often on her mouth. The rest of the disciples were jealous and said to him, "Why do you love her more than all of us?" The savior answered and said to them, "Why I do not love you like her? When a blind man and one who sees are both together in darkness, they are no different from one another. When the light comes, then he who sees will see the light, and he who is blind will remain in darkness."

In logion 108 of the Gospel of Thomas we can find the same theme:

Jesus said, "Whoever will drink from my mouth will become like me. I myself shall become he, and the things that are hidden shall be revealed to him."

Q  Jesus must have been married. Wasn't that the custom for Jewish men?

A  Not all Jewish men were married. Jesus defied many rules and conventions. His own mother got pregnant of him without prior benefit of marriage. There went the neighborhood! So it was not likely that he was ever married to anyone. Besides, he was an extraordinary man that defied conventions.

To name just a few of the acts that put Jesus at odds with the religious authorities of his time, Jesus permitted a bleeding woman to touch him, ate without washing his hands first, forgave an adulterous woman, ate with publicans, tax collectors and others of ill repute, touched and healed lepers, healed on the Sabbath, insulted the "religious majority" of the time by calling them hypocrites and "bleached sepulchers." Making sure that they understood what he meant, he went on to say that while they may appear righteous on the outside they were filled of decay and putrefaction inside. He also told people to pray and fast in secret without attracting attention to themselves in public places. There are too many instances to enumerate in these few lines.

Q  Did Mary Magdalene have a child?

A  No.

Q  Was MM the woman healed of seven demons?

A  No.

Q  Was MM the adulterous woman?

A  No.

Q  Was Mary Magdalene a prostitute?

A  No, but very likely she was called one in her lifetime. An independent woman of means that was part of such a group of men would very likely be called a prostitute. Even in my generation, independent women that did not keep to certain conventions or that were financially independent were accused of using sex to get grades or promotions on their jobs. Most modern women today would have been considered outcasts at those times. The term whore, rather than casting aspersion on Mary Magdalene, tells us more about the attitudes of the men and women of her time. She probably cared little about what they thought.