Mary Magdalene: Sacred Woman

(From Painting Mary Magdalene: Little Miracles and Transformations Along the Creative Path, to be published on July 22, 2016) Art: Sacred Woman, Oil on Canvas, 10” x 8”, 2016. Tanya Torres

The Seven Powers of the Magdalene: The Power of Sex

Most of the visual stories about Mary Magdalene portray her as a prostitute. She wears red and her hair is loose or a lock escapes her veil. Sometimes she is depicted nude and voluptuous, her transparent veil barely covering her body.

For many centuries Mary Magdalene was confused with the biblical prostitute who washes Jesus’ feet with her tears and dries them with her hair. In other alternative stories she is a priestess of Isis, the wife of Jesus, the initiator of Jesus into the Mysteries that gave him his power. She is also a powerful preacher, a mother, the Holy Grail.

Mary Magdalene is not a virgin.

What she offers is another view of sex. Sex as a holy encounter. Sex as an act of equality. Sex as a woman's area of expertise.

Sacred Woman portrays Mary Magdalene as the woman who embodies her sensuality and sexuality, who is able to offer her partner and herself the gift of her body and her wisdom. She is the priestess who initiates and guides the god-man into the light.