A(nother) question about Mary Magdalene

Question: Do you think that Mary Magdalene was divine, an actual goddess incarnate? And were she and Jesus archetypes?

I'm intrigued to know why you think she might be!

The term 'divine' derives from the Latin 'divus' meaning 'god'. To be divine is to be eternal, holy, god-like, super-human, heavenly, and of surpassing excellence. Or, at its simplest, to be divine is to be a god/dess - a or the supreme being - the word 'god/dess deriving from the Proto-Indo-European ghut, meaning 'that which is invoked'. And of course as you know, to be a god/dess incarnate means to be embodied in human form.

I believe that Jesus was the incarnation of the divine, of that which we call and invoke as God. He was an historical person, fully human, and fully divine - the integration of flesh and spirit which I hope we can all seek and find. I don't believe he became divine at his baptism, nor at his death, nor at the resurrection. He was God incarnate from his conception, a divine seed if you like, borne and birthed by a fully human mother.

Mary Magdalene, on the other hand, I do not believe to have been divine/a goddess incarnate. I believe she, like Jesus's mother Mary, was another fully human being. I do believe that she almost certainly had a special relationship with Jesus, and may have been his wife.

Taking an archetype to be a recurrent symbol or motif in mythology/religion, a primitive mental image inherited from our ancestors and present in our collective unconscious, then I would say that the Pauline Christ is more of an archetype than the person Jesus. The Christ is the Sacrificial Hero, through whom we are 'saved'; Jesus was a healer and a teacher of esoteric spirituality.

As regards Mary Magdalene, she has represented more nearly the archetype of the so-called 'Fallen Woman' - but we know that she certainly was neither a fallen woman nor prostitute but rather the closest colleague of Jesus and the 'apostle to the apostles' - albeit one whose person and role were subsequently repressed and/or rejected in favour of her male co-disciples.

The other archetypal role which Mary Magdalene might be ascribed is that of Mother - but we don't know, and won't ever know, for certain whether or not she was indeed a Mother to Jesus's child or any other. That role goes to Jesus's own Mother Mary.