Tuesday 30 December 2003

Pic of the day: Stay away! Stay away! They are making the perfect girl ... (Screenshot from unrelated anime Bottle Fairy, episode 12.)

A new age, a new Mary

My first idea for a title was actually "Superman's girlfriend, Mary Magdalene". This Christmas I read an interview with a Norwegian officer who had been stationed in Afghanistan. Here he was shot by a mentally confused citizen (which that country seems to produce in abundance, if you want my opinion). For a while the grievously wounded officer hovered between life and death. In this time he had a vision or hallucination of the holy Mary talking to him and sending him back to the world. Nothing unique about that... except it was Mary Magdalene who took this case, not the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus.

That is certainly not to say that Mary Magdalene may not also have been a virgin. The medieval tradition which says that Magdalene had been a harlot, lacks any support in the Scriptures. She is not even identified as the sinful woman who washed Jesus' feet with her tears; and even should it be her, you would be surprised how many ways women can sin. And Mary Magdalene had been possessed by seven spirits before Jesus drove them out.

(You may now ask me whether I really believe in demons and possessions. The answer is yes, in the same way that I believe the sun rises and sets. That is to say, it is a very good description of what people experience. The science behind it may be something entirely different. But then again, scientifically speaking, none of us really exist; individuality is an illusion; life is an illusion; there is only matter and energy. This makes for very awkward conversations ("How are you today?" "There is no I. And time is relative. And 'my' answer depends on the constellation of electrons within 'my' brain, which has been predetermined since the Big Bang.") So let us stick with experienced reality.)

A growing number of people now believe that Mary Magdalene, not John, was "the disciple Jesus loved" (as mentioned in the fourth Gospel). This certainly doesn't mean that it is any more true: It may have been true all the time, or it may not be true at all. Evidently at least some of the Gnostics believed this, but then again the Gnostics were a trippy bunch at the best of times. The interesting thing here is that we are seeing a shift in the public view. Mary Magdalene, formerly a rather unimpressive person who accidentally became the first witness of the Resurrection, has gained steadily more respect and interest.

For some time, there have been those who believed that Mary Magdalene was Jesus' wife. At the time, it was almost mandatory for a man to marry, and particularly one who descended from King David. As the firstborn, even in a minor line, a descendent of David had a moral obligation to carry on the line. The Gospels mention some instances where people tried to belittle Jesus, but in none of these cases did anyone bring up his marital status. On the other hand, if he had been married, would there not have been mention of his family? His mother and his brothers are mentioned, after all. Then again, the only reference to Peter been married in the Gospels is a short episode where Jesus heals Peter's mother-in-law. And Peter was also supposedly wandering around in the countryside along with Jesus; marriage was evidently not a problem that way. As for Mary Magdalene, she is specifically mentioned to have been among the women who followed Jesus.

Of course, the idea of Jesus as a family man brings up the horrible thought that he may have had sex. And how then could he save the world? Not to mention the possibility of God's grandchildren... So a more palatable image seems to be spreading lately: Mary Magdalene as Jesus' girlfriend. This appeals both to goddamned heathens (who want Jesus to have sex instead of saving the world) and pure hearted Christians (who want Jesus to have the opportunity to make love, but choose to die and save the world instead). I have quoted Psychology Today that the 21st century Jesus comes across as the perfect, chaste boyfriend. So it only makes sense to outfit him with a perfect, chaste girlfriend. The rejuvenated Divine Family! A youthful Christ and his sympathetic, spiritual girlfriend. Just in time for the age of Aquarius!