Magdalene's Lost Legacy: Symbolic Numbers and the Sacred Union in Christianity

by Margaret Starbird

In Magdalene’s Lost Legacy , author Margaret Starbird decodes the symbolic numbers embedded in the original Greek phrases of the New Testament--revealing the powerful presence of the feminine divine.

The New Testament contains wide use of gematria , a literary device that allows the sums of certain phrases to produce sacred numbers. Exploring the hidden meanings behind these numbers, Starbird reveals that the union between Jesus and his bride, Mary Magdalene, formed a sacred partnership that was the cornerstone of the earliest Christian community.

Magdalene’s Lost Legacy demonstrates how the crucial teaching of the sacred marriage that unites masculine and feminine principles--the heiros gamos-- is the partnership model for life on our planet and the ultimate blueprint for civilization. Starbird’s research challenges the concept that Christ was celibate and establishes Mary Magdalene as the human incarnation of the sacred bride. The author also explains the true meaning of the “666” prophesied in the Book of Revelation. Through this potent reclaiming of the lost legacy of Mary Magdalene, Margaret Starbird offers the opportunity to restore the divine feminine to her rightful role as bride, beloved, and sacred partner.

Genres: Religion, History, Spirituality, Numerology, Nonfiction

176 pages, Paperback

First published May 5, 2003

Reviews

[Kr · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found it interesting and refreshing to consider these ideas. However, though I'd like to be able to buy what this book posits, I'm skeptical of a work relying so heavily on a tiny number of sources, at least one of them (John Michell, in whom earth mysteries meets the nationalist right wing ) a very mixed bag indeed. I wish the book had been much more extensively footnoted; some sweeping and extraordinary historical claims were made without such references. Besides, I'm left with the impression that the practice of gematria was a mind game of the educated elite, and I question how widely the concepts possibly encoded thereby were actually embraced by the many common people among the early Christians. Also, I note that alphabets and gematria, while very interesting, are still a human construct and not to be equated with the ultimate order of the universe.

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not much new ground here and a large part of the book discusses Jesus not Mary Magdalene.

[Natajia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting theories and ideas, but I don't think the gematria was explained very well. All of a sudenn phrases and numbers and square roots and powers were thrown at you, and i just didn't really think it was layed out very well. But other than that, made for an interesting read. :D

[Gerry Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting in the enlightenment of secret messages in the scriptures. More on Mary Magdalene as bride of Christ and what it means to Christianity. For those interesting in Biblical Scholarship Recommend A+

[Amanda]

didn't finish; didn't like writing style or identify with points