Greetings friends at this dark Moon time - Let us prepare - on this eve of the Sun shifting into Leo - the eve of the Feast Day of Mary Magdalene - Let us open The apocryphal ‘Gospel of Mary Magdalene’, also called ‘The Gospel of the Beloved Companion’, which begins with an accounting of some teachings from the Risen Christ given to the disciples in the 50 days between Easter & Pentecost, to prepare them to receive the Holy Spirit which comes to imbue them with the firey impulse to take up their right livelihoods – their karmic destiny & mission in the world.
I will now share verbatim from the ‘Gospel of Mary Magdalene’ what comes after these teachings, starting on page 9 where it says:
“Having shared his teachings, he departed. The disciples were in sorrow when he left, shedding many tears, & saying: How are we to go among the unbelievers & announce the gospel of the Kingdoms of the Son of Man? They did not spare his life, so why should they spare ours?
Then Mary arose, embraced them all, & began to speak to her brother: “Do not remain in sorrow & doubt, for his grace will guide you & comfort you. Instead, let us praise his greatness, for he has prepared us for this. He is calling upon us to become fully human – Anthropos.
Thus Mary turned their hearts toward the Good, & they began to discuss the meaning of the Teacher’s words.
Peter said to Mary: “Sister, we know that the Teacher loved you differently from other women. Tell us whatever you remember of any words he told you which we have not yet heard.”
Mary said to them: “I will now speak to you of that which has not been given to you to hear. My master spoke thus to me. He said, ‘Miryam, blessed are you who came into being before coming into being, & whose eyes are set upon the kingdom, who from the beginning has understood & followed my teachings.
Only from the truth I tell you: There is a great tree within you that does not change, summer or winter, & its leaves do not fall. Whosoever listens to my words & ascends to its crown will not taste death, but know the truth of eternal life.”
Next Mary Magdalene shares what it was like when her 7 chakras were purified of the so called 7 demons. A deed that every human being can take up to become Anthropos – ie. truly human. And I quote:
“Then he showed me a vision in which I saw a great tree that seemed to reach unto the heavens; & as I saw these things, he said, ‘the roots of this tree are in the earth, which is your body. The trunk extends upward through the 5 regions of humanity to the crown, which is the kingdom of the spirit. There are 7 great boughs upon this tree & each bough bears its own fruit, which you must eat in all its fullness.
As the fruit of the tree in the garden caused Adam & Chav’vah – the first woman – Eve - who brought forth life, to fall into darkness, so this fruit will grant to you the light of the spirit that is eternal life.
Between each bough is a gate & a guardian who challenges the unworthy who try to pass. The leaves at the bottom of the tree are thick & plentiful, so no light penetrates to illuminate the way. But fear not, for I am the way & the light, & I tell you that, as one ascends the tree, the leaves that block one from the light are fewer, so it is possible to see all the more clearly.
Those who seek to ascend must free themselves of the world. If you do not free yourself from the world, you will die in the darkness that is the root of the tree. But if you free yourself, you will rise & reach the light that is the eternal life of the spirit.’
And as he said these things, I felt my soul ascend & saw the first great bough that bears the fruit of love & compassion, the foundation of all things. And I knew that before you can eat of this fruit & gain its nourishment, you must be free of all judgment & wrath.
When you have freed yourself of these burdens, you may eat of the fruit & so gain the love & compassion that will allow you to pass the first of 7 guardians.
And I heard the voice of the lord of wrath calling to me. But I denied him, & he had no part in me.
I saw my soul ascend again, & he showed me the second great bough, weighed down with the fruit of wisdom & understanding. And I saw that before you can taste of its bounty, you must be free of all ignorance & intolerance. Only then can you eat of the fruit & so pass upward unhindered through the second of the seven gates.
And I heard the voice of ignorance call to me. But I knew him not, & so my soul did thus go unchallenged.
Then my master showed me the third great bough, which bears the fruit of honor & humility. Only when free of all duplicity & arrogance may you partake of its nourishment.
And arrogance called to me, saying, ‘you are not worthy, go back.’ But my soul was deaf to him, & so I moved onward, & upward into increasing light.
Then there came the fourth bough, blossoming with the fruit of strength & courage. And I heard him tell me that to eat of this fruit, you must have freed yourself from the weakness of the flesh confronting & conquering the illusion of your fears.
And the master of the physical sense-bound world stood before me, & claimed me as his own, but I denied him, & he had no part of me.
Only then, my master told me, when you have rejected the deceiver, can you pass through the hardest gate of all, to attain the fifth bough & the fruit of clarity & truth. Only then will you know the clarity & truth of your soul &, knowing yourself for the first time, understand that you are a child of the living spirit.
And as my soul moved upward, I realized that I could no longer hear the voice of the world, as all had become as silence.
Then in the light above, I saw the sixth bough, the one that bore the fruit of power & healing. My master told me that when you truly have eaten of the fruit of the clarity & truth of yourself, then could you partake of the fruit of power & healing, the power to heal your own soul & thereby make it ready to ascend to the seventh bough, where it will be filled by the fruits of light & goodness.
And I saw my soul, now free of all darkness; ascend again to be filled with the light & goodness that is the spirit. And I was filled with a fierce joy as my soul turned to fire & flew upwards in the flames from whence my master showed a new bough beyond the 7, upon which burned the fruit of the grace & beauty of the spirit.
And I felt my soul & all that I could see dissolve & vanish in a brilliant light in a likeness unto the sun. And in the light, I beheld a woman of extraordinary beauty, clothed in garments of brilliant white. The figure extended its arms, & I felt my soul drawn into its embrace; & in that moment I was freed from the world, & I realized that the fetter of forgetfulness was temporary.
I left the world with the aid of a higher world; a design was erased, by virtue of a higher design. Henceforth I travel toward repose, where time rests in the Eternity of Time; I go now into Silence.
And then, as if from a great distance, I heard the voice of my master tell me, ‘Miryam, whom I have called the Migdalah (Tower), now you have seen the all, & have known the truth of yourself; the truth that is: The I Am. Now you have become the completion of completions.’ And thus the vision ended.
This is what my master has told & shown me. And only from the truth I tell you, that all that I have revealed to you is true.”
When the Migdalah had told of all that the Teacher had said & done; Mary became silent, for it was in the silence that the teacher spoke to her.”
~The Gospel of the Beloved Companion
We, dear friends, are reminded every year, just before the Harvest Season, at the Feast of Mary Magdalene (22 July), that we too are called to purify our astral body – to cast off the 7 deadly sins – so that we can anoint the Love of Christ within – to Marry Love with Wisdom in Freedom.
~hag
Below are links to free recordings of presentations about Mary of Magdala:
Sponsored by The Minneapolis Theosophical Society.
~Lyrics by Hazel Archer-Ginsberg - Music by Velsum - https://linktr.ee/velsum - Originally performed as part of our Easter Festival on Holy Saturday. This video was made as a surprise birthday gift from Velsum to ~hag
for the Infinity Foundation
A Festival of Recognition - hybrid event for the ASA
~hag
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RUDOLF STEINER'S CALENDAR OF THE SOUL translated (with added titles) by Roy Sadler - This Tuesday the sun enters the sign of Leo, whose Eurythmy gesture is Enthusiasm: THE ENTHUSIASM OF THE YEAR - The Spirit's Treasure - v16
My foresight - A vision dawning - is commanding me - To harbour inwardly the spirit's gift - That in my soul ground - Divine fruit ripen - For Selfhood's harvest.
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