The Grand Patchwork

                                                                       Abstract

Exploration into the Gnostic Gospels revealed insight into creation, or what happened in the beginning and also what may happen in the end. Through Gnosticism it was found that there are two different accounts of creation that tell a story about two forces that push and pull against one another. One force wants to scatter energy and perpetuate the imbalance between the two forces (Yaldabaoth) and the other force, wishes to gather the energy back together again (Sophia/Elohhim). Right now these forces work as adversaries. The two opposing forces were operationally defined or named: Male and Female Principles. Using comparative evidence and studying similar stories found mostly in primary sources such as the Gnostic Gospels, Zohar collection, the Bible, Apocrypha, Gospel of Q, Talmud of Jmmanuel, Bhagavad-gita, Greek Mythology and other ancient myths, it was found that there is a blockade or obstacle in the way of making these forces work as compliments. My hypothesis on how Yaldabaoth maintains his imbalance is that he does it through the separation of the male and female principles and the suppression of one principle, the Sacred Feminine. It was found that reconciliation of the two principles may be possible by making the Male and Female principles equal and implementing an egalitarian society. Time permitting, possible ways to balance the male and female principles are discussed.

For me, the cosmology and the teachings of the Gnostic Gospels revealed the meaning of life. Welcome to the meaning of life in 50 minutes through Gnosticism and the Sacred Feminine.

In the Philosophy Club, I am playfully nicknamed the heretic, but my intention is not to offend or discredit another’s opinion because I believe there is a kernel of truth behind every last one, including those that are Gnostic. There may be 6.6 billion different ways to get to the union or message that I intend to unveil today. My presentation will consist of four parts. First will be a walk-through of some of the creation stories told in the Gnostic Gospels, the second will look at similar stories or symbolism in other major religions. The third part will bring the presentation back to Gnosticism, and will take a closer look and solve some problems regarding the actual and symbolic relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. Finally, the fourth part will discuss possible ways to reunite Male and Female principles on an intrapersonal level, interpersonal level and in society.

 This is a flow chart, or model of my interpretation of what the Gnostic Gospels are trying to say. The ideas that the Gnostic Gospels have sparked so many ideas that I will need to explain this chart in two presentations. What you will hear today is the descent down from the upper world to the lower world. This explanation utilizes religious, spiritual and philosophical references. The other portion, the tree, or ascent back up from the lower world to the upper world requires more of a psychological, mathematical and conceptual physics angle.

 According to the Gnostic Gospels such as the Apocryphon of John, in the beginning was only the Invisible Spirit or the Virgin Spirit, who is also referred to as the perfect mother-father (pg 163; 164), an androgynous being. From this entity came a feminine character called Barbelo. She was more of an emanation or mirror image, rather than a creation. Since her emanation the pronoun used for the invisible spirit became he. She is referred to in many of the Gospels as the mother, or holy mother and represents foreknowledge, incorruptibility and Truth. “She is the first thought, [or] the image of the spirit (Meyer, 2005). Here we already see a male and female relationship built on equality and respect.

 The Invisible spirit and Barbelo conceived a child. From there The Great Invisible Spirit and Barbelo create many dimensions or “Luminaries” and these creations in turn also desired to create. In the fourth luminary Sophia is born. She represents wisdom and plays a big role in many of the Gnostic Gospels and in Greek mythology. It is said in the Apocryphon of John that she, without the consent of the Invisible Spirit created a child who was an abomination. When Sophia saw what she had created it changed into a snake figure with the face of a lion (Meyer, 2005, p. 159). She hid him where no immortal could find him and see what she had done. The offspring is a character known as Yaldabaoth also called the first ruler or world ruler (Discourse of Seth), who, in turn, wished to create realms and angels of his own. He did this and was unaware that he was really tapping into his mother’s power to do so. Upon creating his own angels he says to them “I am a jealous god and there is no other god beside me” (Meyer, 2005, p.162 & 256). 

Sophia’s power diminished because of Yaldabaoth and she eventually repented to the Invisible spirit. She was forgiven, but was sent to a place above her son to remain until she had restored what she was lacking (p. 163). Make note of that because it will be important later. Just then, from the higher realms it was announced that humankind was born and its name was Adam. Traditionally in the Hebrew language Adam means humankind including both male and female.

Yaldabaoth was curious at the sound of this proclamation. Yaldabaoth then desired to create a human in his own image and also called it Adam. This I assume to be a single entity and not another creation of an entire other humanity. He and his angels each contributed a part of the body to create this Adam then used his mother’s power to breathe life into it. Upon its completion, Adam began to utter things they didn’t understand revealing more intellect and more power then its creators. Yaldaboath and his angels grew jealous of Adam. Due to their jealousy, they blinded all of humanity with the fog of forgetfulness. They may not have understood the spiritual part of humanity, but they understood the ways of the lower or material realm. Remember, Sophia hid Yaldabaoth where no IMMORTAL could find him. This forgetfulness is the materialistic distraction of the lower realm.

The part they were jealous of is called enlightened insight and it “hid herself inside Adam,” remaining more powerful, much to the frustration of Yaldabaoth. Seeing that enlightened insight was part that was more powerful, he therefore, wished to remove “her from Adam’s side” (pg.175). The Hebrew word OLO, meaning side, can also be translated as rib (Sassoon & Dale, 1978), the Gnostic John makes sure mention here that “side” is the correct translation. As Adam slept, Yaldabaoth created a female image of what he conceived enlightened insight to be. Here we see another example of emanation, whereas she is a mirror image or side and not just a creation. When Adam awoke, he recognized her and said the famous, “this is…bone from my bones and flesh from my flesh” (pg.176). Adam clung to her and detached himself from Yaldabaoth making him even angrier.

To put a stop to this, Yadaboath defiled or raped Eve and she bore two children; Yahweh and Elohim, it is said that one is just and the other unjust. Yahweh was given power over fire and Elohim over water. They are also called Cain and Abel (Meyer, 2005, p. 177) and we know how that story goes in the Bible: Cain rose up against Abel in jealousy and killed him. Seth, the third son, according to the Gnostics was actually a product of Adam and Eve, not of Yaldabaoth and Eve. This is what makes Seth special and worthy to carry on the lineage, and thus the true inheritance. The reflection of this story can also be found in the story of Abraham in the Bible as his first son came from Hagar the maidservant and not from his true love or wife Sarah. Sarah did eventually conceive through great improbability and bore a true first son. These brothers continue to fight over the inheritance to this day.

In this long complicated story, we do not see only a male God figure, but an androgynous mother-father that split into masculine and feminine aspects who are mirror images. This is also evident in the story of Adam and Eve, as she too was a mirror image. When Adam saw his counterpart he was in awe. There were definitely some sparks there. It could also be that the Invisible spirit and Barbelo also felt this way about each other. Therefore, both the Invisible Spirit and Barbelo and Adam and Eve were one entity until the separation or the splitting of the two (Matt, Sassoon & Dale, 1978; ed. Scholem, 1949). If you think about it, Yaldabaoth wanted to separate out the part or characteristic he was jealous of in order to suppress or destroy it. This part happened to be the Sacred Feminine and the separation or splitting of the Adam could be when the inequality between men and women began.

This is confirmed in the Bible, because after the eating of the fruit, which is a metaphor for sex according to the Zohar, they were punished and were given different roles. The woman was suppressed and made to suffer more than the man. This is why I hypothesis that Yaldabaoth separated of male and female to keep the power between them weaker in order for his power to be dominant. Since then women were subsequently not allowed to be educated. Not allowed to preach and were prevented from reaching their full spiritual potential: Thus securing Yaldabaoth’s position of control over humanity.

This story perpetuates itself throughout history and as briefly discussed earlier can be seen next in her sons Cain and Abel. Cain killed Abel out of jealousy, perhaps because he is perpetuating the pattern Yaldabaoth set when he split the Adam due to his jealousy. We tend to be afraid of things we do not understand, and in regard to the true order of the universe, Yaldaboath was ignorant. Speaking of the next story of Cain and Able, the fact that Cain and Abel are nicknames for Yahweh and Elohim as mentioned in the Apocryphon of John sparked the interest to investigate these characters further.

Elohim and Eden

Upon closer investigation of Yahweh and Elohim, in the Book of Baruch there was found an interesting story of Elohim, but this time he is the creator of the earth. In this story there is no Invisible Spirit, Barbelo or Yaldabaoth, but rather there are two male figures and one female figure that all represent God. One male had foresight and could see into the future and other two entities could not. The two who could not see the future were Elohim and Eden. They were a male and female couple, just like the Invisible Spirit and Barbelo and Adam and Eve << soul mates, so to speak.>> They were so enthralled with each other that they fell madly in love. Out of this love they created the world and all things in it including humanity. Adam or humanity was meant to be a symbol of their love. According to this source Elohim donated the spirit to humankind and Eden donated the soul (Meyer, 2005). After they had finished creating the earth, Elohim wished to go back up to heaven to see if there was anything lacking in creation and when he arose, he saw a light brighter than his own and became curious. He thought he or they were the only Gods so he approached the light and demanded the presence to reveal itself. He entered into the light without his angels and there he met with the other male God, the God of foresight who showed him his creation. Elohim immediately wished to destroy the earth and humankind because he realized his spirit was trapped inside humanity and wished to gather it back. The God of foresight said he could do no evil while with him.

It was there that Elohim stayed and never returned to his bride Eden, with whom he made a loving contract. When she realized she had been abandoned, Eden, in anguish sought revenge so that Elohim would feel her pain. Thus, she began to torment the spirit within all humans to get back at him. This is how it stands today. The story in the Gospel ended with Elohim saying that if Eden known that he was with the Good, she would not have done that. But, with his abandonment, torment and evil began on earth. However, it does say that Elohim was restrained by the Good and could not come back down to her. So maybe there is more to the story that they are not telling.

Here we see a different account of what happened when the earth began, and it appears according to this source that both Eden and Elohim are at fault for the world as we know it today.Although these two stories of the creation are very different, there are similarities. For example, in the previous story, Sophia sits above her son in order to replenish or gather back what is lacking in her power or energy. In this story Elohim also wishes to gather back his energy or spirit as it is trapped within humankind. Another similarity of course, includes a love story between male and female Gods, this time their names are Elohim and Eden. This brings us to part 2 of the presentation.

Yin Yang

The idea of God embodying or being made up of both male and female principles can be found in many different religions or symbols across the world. For example, the Yin Yang can represent a balance of male and female principles. The two sides in this symbol work as compliments rather than opposing forces. 

Shiva and Shakti

According to Hinduism, the two major male and female characters of God or in this case Brahma are Shiva and Shakti respectively (Capra, 2000). Jung (1974) noticed that Shiva and Shakti are often depicted embracing at the centre of many Mandalas (p. 171). Many people believe that Hinduism is polytheist, but this is actually not the case. Each different god represents a different characteristic of the whole God or Brahma, but Brahma isn’t a person or God per se, but rather a common energy source. The idea is that the major characteristics of Brahma manifest themselves on earth in times of trouble or turmoil to teach and reveal. They then get gathered back and become one again with Brahma. So, eventually or every now and then aspects or characteristics of Brahma go out into the world and return to being one. Here we find another example of separation and the gathering back of power or energy.

Lila is another Hindu concept that states that the stories of these characteristics of Brahma are perpetuated and relived over and over again on earth (Capra, 2000), which is what the comparative evidence in this presentation will continue to reveal. Perhaps the story of Elohim and Eden and of Yaldabaoth has stamped itself so deeply into the world that it has been circling around and manifesting itself in the lives of people here on earth, starting with Cain and Abel. Perhaps the reason why there are so many divorces is because all of humanity itself has come from a broken home and we are thus repeating or living what we know. Much like what Cain did to Abel. Another example of this story repeating can be found in the story of Isis and Osiris.

Isis and Osiris

The idea that God is made up of both male and female characters can be traced back to Ancient Egypt. Here we find a similar story of a male and female ruler Gods, you know, the divine rite of kings type thing, whose names are Isis and Osiris. The story is that Osiris’ brother Set, in a jealous rage, rose up against him and killed him, sound familiar? This story follows the original pattern of jealousy and power. Set did not only kill Osiris, but scattered the pieces of his body across Egypt. Isis sought to gather back all the pieces in order to resurrect him, but could not find all the pieces. The ritual of mummification and the concept of resurrection were born with this story (Roland, 1995). Because she could not find all the pieces, she instead tried to resurrect him through her son Horus. Again we see the popular theme of a separation of parts and the need to gather them back together again. On an off note, these stories also seem to give meaning to the children’s fable of Humpty Dumpty, which previously made absolutely no sense!

Star of David

Speaking of ancient Egyptians, the ancient Egyptian symbol for the female the triangle. Pythagoras would describe the triangle as standing firmly on the earth and yearning for the wisdom of the heavens (Symbol Chart). The ancient Egyptian symbol for the male is the inverted triangle, and when these are positioned together in a certain way they create another religious symbol, the Star of David. 

 Tif’eret and Shekhinah

The idea that there are male and female aspects of God is not even new to Judaism. Within Judaism is a Mystical Sect called Kabbalah that goes into great detail of what is meant by each letter in the scriptures using numerology and even song. They have discovered that there are many puns hiding in the scriptures and seek to find new meaning behind what is believed by them to be word of God. Because Hebrew is written in such a way that there are no vowels, it is up to the reader to know, decide or interpret what the word actually means or how it reads. Sometimes there are dots above the word indicating a particular translation r pronunciation, but most of the time, there are no clues. For example, when the name of God is written in the various different translations of the Bible, these symbols appear.

These letters are more commonly translated by the Bible as YHVH. In the other translations the HVH part remains consistent but there are discrepancies in the citing of the first letter Yod. Yod is the 10^th letter of the Hebrew alphabet and there is no standardized nomenclature of this letter into English. Therefore it is sometimes depicted as a Y, and these letters are interpreted to read Yahweh, the V being pronounced as a W in this particular translation. Sometimes the Y is written as an I and reads IHVH as in Kabbalistic texts like the Greater and Lesser Holy Assembly. Even Yaldabaoth’s name is spelled with a I instead of a Y in these sources. To make things even more confusing, sometimes the first letter is interpreted as a J, arriving at the pronunciation of Jehovah.

Therefore, there are many different interpretations or translations of the Hebrew texts because the vowels are left out. Therefore the true pronunciation of things, such as the name of God can be lost. This demonstration also shows how it is nearly impossible to take the Bible literally or follow it to the letter, no pun intended.

On a similar note, the way Hebrew is written points to a necessity in knowing the language and how it sounds in order to fill in the blanks. This suggests an oral tradition of the scriptures and ironically Kabbalah was an oral tradition of the scriptures, to be finally written down in the 13^th century.The Kabbalists are not the only ones to try and find hidden messages or patterns in the Scripture. Leonardo da Vinci searched for skip sequence patterns, to find new meaning, whose endeavor was eventually continued by Michael Drosnin in his Bible Code (1997).

 Tif'eret and Shekhinah

According to Kabbalah, and its sacred book the Zohar, Tif’eret and Shekhinah are the male and female sides of God. The story of these two characters is romantic in the sense that it is said that the world was created through their energy or as some say, their orgasm. Like how any cell eventually has too much energy to keep inside its shell, it goes through mitosis, these two, who were joined at one time, were separated much like a cell, and came into being in the same way Barbelo and Eve came out from the invisible Spirit and Adam.

The Tree of life, which is this symbol here, contains the ten different letters or characteristics of God that were separated at the beginning. The ten circles or characteristics represent a path of reunification back to the One God. This is referred to as the return to the Ogdoad (Hopper, 1969). So, here again we come across the idea of two sides of God being male and female and the idea of a separation of parts or characteristics that are destined to return into being One.

To quote Matt, (1997) an expert in the Zohar, “according to Kabbalah, every human action here on earth affects the divine realm, either promoting or hindering the union of Shekhinah and her partner” (Matt, 1997, p. 1). Jesus also says something similar to this in the Gospel of Q. He says “Whoever is not with me, and the one who does not gather with me scatters” (Mack, 1993, p. 91). Here again we see the trend of the need to gather back what has been scattered (like Sophia, Elohim, Isis, Brahma etc). Kabbalah would call this energy that Sophia wishes to gather back together sparks and wishes to help return the sparks that belong to her that were used by Yaldabaoth to create the realms we are dealing with now. So, perhaps there may be a general recall of all the sparks or energy that was used in this creation. This of course has been suggested in the symbolism of the reaping of crops or wheat.

Speaking of the some other characters that wish to gather back their sparks, Sophia is found in the tree of life and is called Hokhmah, still meaning wisdom. Elohim can also be found in the Kabbalah’s Tree of Life as representing Mercy, Grace or Love. Yahweh is here too, representing Judgment. It may be important to explore the idea that Elohim is Mercy and Yahewh is Judgment. According to the Lesser Holy Assembly the problem with the world seems to be that there is inequity between Mercy and Judgment and they need to come together into a balance.

Right now these forces or characteristics are not together, but split. Evidence for this idea can be found in the Kabbalistic text The Book of the Mystery as it states in regard to Enoch that [Enoch went] “with Elohim, and not IHVH …for Elohim took him;…” (Sassoon & Dale, 1978). In the Book of Enoch an Apocryphal text, it states specifically that Enoch was loyal to Elohim and not to Yahweh. In regard to how or why they are split can also be found in the Book of Enoch. In this story, giants, who are from the upper realm or heaven fall in love with the women of earth and come down to lay with them. These are soon called the fallen angels because they revealed the secrets of heaven to the children of earth (Charles, 1964). In the Book of the Mystery in regard to the giants it states that “They were above; they went down [&] inherited the earth. They lost the good part that was in them” (Sassoon & Dale, 1978, p. 206). In Mathers’ translation he states that “they rejected the good part, which in them was the crown of mercy” (Sassoon & Dale, 1978, p. 206), and mercy as we have come to realize is associated with Elohim. So their fall was caused by a separation or rejection of mercy or Elohim, who Enoch remained loyal to. This is similar to the Gnostic story as Eden suppressed or rejected the spirit that was from Elohim to get back at him. So, she too rejected Mercy or Elohim.

 In regard to what caused the fall, in the Zohar, according to Matt, (2004) Adam’s sin caused him to be divorced from God like a “wife who has committed an indecent act.” This could point to the raping or defilement of Eve by Yaldabaoth, or to the act Yaldabaoth committed when he split the Adam. The true nature of Adam’s sin, as revealed in the Zohar was that he “drove out Et” (p. 19). According to this source Et can be interpreted as a code name for Shekhinah who is the female side of God (Matt, 1997). So, this source seems to say that the Fall happened because Adam or humankind drove out or divorced the feminine aspect of God. This is even what Elohim did to Eden when he abandoned his bride. Therefore, it could be that the fall or the original sin was actual splitting of the male and female sides.

In order rectify the fall, the reconciliation of two things may be necessary, the reconciliation of male and female principles and also of judgment and mercy. The reconciliation of judgment and mercy is discussed the Greater and Lesser Holy Assemblies. Judgment and Mercy are not called Yahweh and Elohim in this source, but rather Jerusalem and Zion and Jerusalem is not only judgment, but the male aspect and Zion according to this source does not only represent Mercy, but also the feminine aspect. So perhaps it is just the male and female aspects that need to come into balance, but in the Lesser Holy Assembly, the uniting of judgment and mercy is referred to as sweetening. It explains that this spot on the tree of life, the Foundation, represents the penis and this penis or Yesod is the “sweetening for the female, and all the desires of the male are for the female. It enters through this foundation’ into the female, into the place that is called the Zion. It is the place which most needs to be covered of the female, like the house of lower mercy.” (The Lesser Holy Assembly, p.187). This quote is teeming with male and female sexual energy, bringing us back to the idea that it is male and female principles that are split and need to be softened, sweetened or come together. Since the end is the beginning and the beginning is the end, it would stand to reason that if the world was created by a Great Orgasm, that the end of the world as we know it today would necessitate the same act, but this time in the lower world. And according to the Bible, as mentioned earlier, this end will lead to a new beginning, one ruled by God and the anointed one or the self conceived.

Another place where judgment and mercy are united is in the actual full name of God. The quote I just mentioned from Matt’s (2004) interpretation of the Zohar, in regard to Adam’s sin, the full name of God is used which is YHVH Elohim, this term or name also comes up in the Kabbalistic text The Greater Holy Assembly as IHVH ALHIM. According to this source, this is the true, full name of God and it is used when God is whole. God can be called by his full name, or is whole only when the sides of Judgment and Mercy are together. Therefore these texts seem to reveal that God is split into Judgment and Mercy, but there is a chance of reconciliation between these sides and this full name of God confirms this as it contains both IHVH, or Judgment and ALHIM which is Elohim who represents Mercy (Matt, 2004). Matt states in an earlier book (1997) that “If judgment is not softened by love [or mercy], it lashes out and threatens to destroy life” (Matt, 1997, p. 8).

Heaven and Earth

The major symbolism attached to Tif’eret and Shekhinah, is their representation of the heaven and the earth. This symbolism can also be found in the story of Elohim and Eden, as Elohim remains in heaven while Eden remains on earth. It is also reminiscent of the story in the Book of Enoch as the giants or fallen angles of heaven fell in love with the women of earth. Also, the ancient Egyptian symbol of the woman, the triangle, stands firmly on the earth and longs for heavens. The idea that heaven and earth are like a male and female couple can be found in the Bible. 

In Revelations it states that the New Jerusalem will come down out of heaven prepared as a bride to her groom and goes on to say that in regard to the New Jerusalem, Revelations 22:17 says “The Spirit and the Bride say, come” NKJ Therefore, there is a wedding theme and usually a wedding is between a male and female couple, in this case heaven marries earth in the end of times.

  The Cross

The cross is another symbol that fits into the theme of heaven and earth because the horizontal line represents earth and the vertical line represents the path to heaven, thus making the cross another religious symbol depicting the union of male and female aspects, if the male is considered to be heaven and the female, earth.

Both the Star of David and the Cross are usually not considered to be a symbol of male and female unification, but are definitely considered to be associated with Judaism and Jesus, thus bringing us to the third part of the presentation that will look more in depth into Jesus’ role in Gnosticism.

Jesus and Elohim

The Gnostic Gospels such as the Secret Book or Apocalypse of James, and the Book of BaruchBible would confirm that the God Jesus is loyal to the God of Love, outright state that Elohim is the God that Jesus is loyal to and was not corrupted into worshipping Yahweh, just like the story of Enoch. Elohim is also known as Love (Matt, 1997) and the

Jesus also states that he is the Truth, and teaches a lot about truth. Jesus is heard stating in the Gospel of Philip the famous phrase “if you know the truth, the truth will make you free” (Meyer, 2006, p. 84), which can also be found in John 8:32 in the Bible. So, he taught a lot about the truth and truth is associated with the holy mother or Barbelo, again pointing to the Sacred Feminine. The Dictionary of Philosophy states Jesus was sent to help Sophia gather back her sparks.

Other than teaching about love and truth, the Gnostic Jesus speaks in parables and riddles and teaches egalitarianism. He spends most of his time with children, women, and lepers. As a part of his egalitarian teachings, he stresses the need for equality of the sexes or male and female principles. CHANGE SLIDE.  In the Gospel of Thomas Jesus states that in order to reach the kingdom of heaven, one must make the inside the outside, and must make the male and female as one (Meyer, 2005, p.13).

Gospel of Thomas

The Lesser Holy Assembly states that the kingdom is called destroyed “because there is not equity” (p. 154). The kingdom, according to the Kabbalistic tree of life is Tiferet, the male side of God and if there is not equality, then perhaps it is because the female side is not together with him. The passage from the Lesser Holy Assembly also states that it is “because the male has been kept away from the female, and ‘equity’ has not come near to this ‘justice’” (Sassoon & Dale, 1978, p. 154). Here we see the theme of Justice or Judgment which at this time is not together with Mercy causing inequity or an imbalance.

Unfortunately, Jesus’ true message of egalitarianism and equality between men and women was suppressed and considered heresy against the beliefs of the Roman Empire. Which makes sense because the Romans are very patriarchal and were afraid of Jesus and his zelotous followers. Afraid that Jesus was going to lead them into a revolt, the Roman Empire had Jesus and his disciples killed. After the crucifixion there was a war, one that destroyed the Temple and spun the world into the dark ages and the burning of many books. This is why the Gospels were not written down during this time. Much later, the acts included the burning of women who showed any signs of spirituality. Anyway, that is another presentation altogether but if you have questions about that you can ask them at the end.

Jesus and Mary

Getting back to Jesus’ role in Gnosticism and the message he told there, Jesus had many female disciples as well as male disciples in the Gnostic Gospels and the disciple mentioned the most, other than Mary his mother is Mary Magdalene (Burstein, 2006).

In the Gnostic Gospels she is very close to Jesus. In the Gospel of Philip, it is said that he loved Mary more than all of the other disciples and is often seen kissing her on the M[outh].

The M remains in the text, but there is a convenient hole where the rest of the word should be, so it is assumed that the word is mouth. In this Gospel, Mary is called the companion of the saviour. The actual quote states that “there was Mary, Jesus’ mother, Mary, Jesus’ sister and Mary Jesus’ companion” (Meyer, 2005, p.). CHANGE SLIDE. Many scholars refuse to take this as meaning there was any sort of relationship and every time the Gospels intuitively say otherwise, they say the word kiss or companion means something else and the many mentions in these Gospels that say the Saviour loved her more than any of the other disciples there ignored. If there are three things that scholars agree with regarding Mary Magdalene is that 1. She was one of the female disciples that followed Jesus. 2. She was present at the foot of the cross with Jesus’ family during the crucifixion, and 3. That Mary was the first person Jesus appeared to after the resurrection (Burstein, 2006). This is when Jesus told Mary to administer to the other disciples his message.

This last point, did not go over well with the other disciples as they were already jealous of Jesus’ relationship with Mary. In the Gospel of Philip, “they say 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?’” (Meyer, 2005, p.).

There is one disciple in particular who makes his misogynist views very clear and that is Peter. He is heard in the Gospel of Thomas saying “Mary should leave us, for females are not worthy of life” (Meyer, 2005, p. 25).  Jesus replies saying that he will guide the female to be more male, as he states earlier in the Gospel that in order to reach the kingdom of heaven one must make the male and female one, pointing to androgyny.

There is more of Peter’s sexism found in the Gospel of Mary when Mary reveals to the other disciples teachings that Jesus had taught to her exclusively. <<Pillow talk perhaps>> In regard to this, Peter says, “Did he really speak with a woman in private, without our knowledge? Should we all turn and listen to her? Did he prefer her to us?’” (p. 40). Levi comes to her rescue and says “Peter, you always are angry. Now I see you arguing against this woman like an adversary. If the savior made her worthy, who are you to reject her? Surely the savior knows her well. That is why he has loved her more than us‘” (Meyer, 2005, p. 41).

In these accounts the theme of jealousy comes up again, much like in the story of Yaldabaoth, Cain and Abel and Isis and Osiris. What Peter did to Mary was similar because, he rose up against her in jealousy and basically wrote her out of the New Testament. He was jealous of her because Jesus loved her more and the biggest hit was when Jesus gave the rites to teach his message, to her, a mere woman and not to him. Peter was the one who denied Jesus three times for fear of his life because the Roman Empire wished to suppress Jesus and his message and all those who taught it. Considering Peter’s misogynous views, I don’t think he agreed with Jesus’ message of equality of the sexes and this is what compelled him to build a patriarchal Christian interpretation that was more easily accepted by the Romans. 

Scholars are more likely to agree that if anything, they had a symbolic relationship rather than an actual physical relationship. But, I will talk about their possible physical relationship first then move to their symbolic relationship.

These Gnostic Gospels seem to reveal that the relationship between Jesus and Mary is more than just friendship and it may be parsimonious to theorize that they were married. Traditionally in the days of Jesus men were not allowed to be or be called a rabbi if he were not married and Jesus is called Rabbi or Rabbon several times in both the Gnostic and the Biblical Gospels. Also, in those days the only person to be asked to have anything to do with wine or food at a wedding was the groom. This could suggest that the wedding at Cana was his own wedding. Other clues that Jesus and Mary may have been married come from the Old Testament’s Song of Songs that talks about oil whose fragrance fills the wedding table. This oil is called spikenard or nard and is used in wedding rituals. This is the same oil that Mary wipes Jesus’ feet with. Another clue that hides in here is that in those days the only person allowed to see a woman with their hair down is the husband. Also, on top of this, the ritual of anointing the man with oil on their feet is known as an ancient Greek wedding ceremony called Hieros Gamos. What is very interesting here is that the Song of Songs is based on the Hieros Gamos ritual of Isis and Osiris (Burstein, 2006, p. 77), bringing us back to their story and back to Ancient Egypt. Perhaps in order to heal the wound that was in the beginning, Jesus needed to have a relationship of his own.

The Eucharist was known to Pagans as a wedding ritual where the bread represents the Goddess Demeter and the wine represents the Godman Dionysus thus revealing another love story of the Gods, this time through Greek Mythology. Early Christianity linked Mary Magdalene to the bread and Jesus to the wine (Burstein, 2006). This is where the symbolic relationship comes in.

 According to the Eleusian Mysteries, there is a ritual that is reenacted in Greece that forbids the revealing of what happens in the inner sanctum of the Temple of Demeter. In this ritual the High Priest would enter into the secret or sacred chamber in the Temple and the High Priestess would play the role of Demeter. Most scholars postulate that they perform the ieros gamos ritual that is a form of a Sacred Marriage that culminates in the symbolic birth or rebirth of a son (the internet source). This ritual reflects the ritual Mary performed on Jesus when she anointed his feet with oil. In regard to the idea of the Temple and a sacred chamber, there are parallels to the Temple in Jerusalem. 

Further research shows that Jesus and Mary symbolize the sacred bridegroom and the lost bride (Burstein, 2006). The Gnostic Gospels is rife with the symbolism of something called the Bridal chamber. The bridal chamber is symbolic of consummating the marriage between a bride and groom. In the Gnostic Gospels, the bridal chamber is said to be the Holy of the Holies which is the innermost part of the temple. This chamber in the temple is the most sacred. In regard to the birth of Jesus, it is said in the Gospel of Philip, that “On the day he came forth from the bridal chamber as one born of a bridegroom and a bride, so Jesus established all within it and it is fitting for each of the disciples to enter into his rest” (p. 71).

Also regarding the bridal chamber it is said that “The bridal chamber is within a realm superior to what we belong to, and you cannot find anything like it. These are the ones who worship in spirit and in truth, for they do not worship in Jerusalem (which as we have come to know as Judgment). There are people who do worship in Jerusalem, and they await the mysteries called the holy of holies, the curtain, which was torn. Our bridal chamber is the image of the bridal chamber above. That is why its curtain was torn from top to bottom, for some people from below had to go up” (p. 70).

The mystery of this curtain is revealed later as Jesus discusses what it will be like when the truth will be revealed. His parable is of a curtain that was not torn only at the top, otherwise the upper realm would be revealed and not torn only at the bottom because then only the lower realm would be revealed, instead the whole curtain is removed. He says the upper realm is revealed to us so that we can we can “enter the hidden realm of truth.” What is interesting about this parable is that there was a curtain that surrounded the Holy of Holies in the Temple. Jesus says when he entered into the hidden realm of truth, “The Holy of Holies was revealed and the bedchamber invited us in” (Meyer, 2005, p. 86). Sassoon’s (1978) interpretation of the Zohar mentions that it is almost uncomfortable to suggest that a sexual act is supposed to be carried out in the Holy of the Holies, or the innermost, most sacred chamber of the Temple. This brings us back to Dionysus and Demeter and the secret chamber within the temple where they carry out an eiros gamos ritual. Therefore, considering these parallel to Jesus and Mary and Dionysus and Demeter, there seems to have been some sort or wedding or sexual act. Whether it was an actual or symbolic act remains disputed, but there is no disputing that Mary did anoint Jesus with the spikenard oil.

 Perhaps to say that Jesus and Mary had a loving relationship is a threat to Yaldaboath because love seems to over-ride the distraction of material things, which seems to be where Yaldabaoth’s power over humanity lies. It is love that stands in the way of Yaldabaoth’s plan to control humanity by making them forget, and blinding them with material distractions. Therefore, love is the answer and we must bring the male and female principles back into equality or balance in order to reach the upper realm. This is the way to thwart Yaldabaoth’s plan to dominate humankind. This is what is meant by the fog of forgetfulness.

In conclusion, there seems to be a pattern found in these various sources that starts with an androgynous entity, then a splitting or separation of that entity into male and female entities. There is also a theme of scattering and the need to gather back together into the one. Yaldabaoth seems to be standing in the way of this reunification by keeping people distracted by materialism or maintaining the idea that there is no upper realm. He also seems to keep the sexes separated by introducing social stereotypes or men’s clubs that exclude women and keep them in the dark.

Therefore, it seems as though the fall occurred because the male and female were split, therefore in order to heal the wound that was from the beginning, it may be necessary to bring male and female principles back into a perfect balance. Possible ways to balance these principles intrapersonally, interpersonally and on a societal level will have to be added to the You Tube video of this presentation as we are out of time.