Product Description

Are the roots of Christianity partly based on spin and propaganda? Acting as a historical detective, the author strips away the layers of deception and propaganda that surround the Christian story in a quest to find the real Mary Magdalene, asking these questions: was she a reformed prostitute who spent the rest of her life in penitence, as the Church has claimed? Was she merely one of the women who followed Jesus, at a respectful distance, and of no real account compared to the male disciples? Was she even a Jewish woman from the shore of lake Galilee? Using both scholastic and heretical sources - and a very heavy dose of common sense - the author discovers that virtually everything that the Church has ever led us to believe about Magdalene is not only wrong, but part of a deliberate conspiracy to cover up some uncomfortable facts. From the scriptures - both biblical and non-canonical, besides other historical traditions such as the secret inner circle of the Knights Templar - a very different Magdalene emerges: not only was she Jesus' sexual companion, but also the "Apostle of the Apostles", and his true successor. And far from being Galilean, she was probably a black woman from Ethiopia, who bore Jesus' mixed race child. Yet the story does not stop there: was Jesus really a Son of God or even the epitome of goodness - or, as the evidence strongly suggests - did he have a dark side that proved fatal to John the Baptist?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #316076 in Books
• Published on: 2003-11-20
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 316 pages

From the Author
When I gave the film-makers of 'The Da Vinci Code' permission to use my book 'Mary Magdalene: Christianity's Hidden Goddess' for set-dressing, I had no idea it would be the only real book - as opposed to those by the fictional character Robert Langdon - which is featured in the entire movie! (And, by the way, so am I, in a cameo with my colleague Clive Prince, see below, in the scene on the bus.)

Certainly my Magdalene book reflects the central theme of the movie/book to perfection - as indeed, it should, being a sort of sequel (or maybe even a prequel) to 'The Templar Revelation', co-authored with Clive Prince, which Dan Brown recently acknowledged in his High Court witness statement to have given him 'everything I needed for my Big Idea'.

In this case, the Big Idea is the significance of the Sacred Feminine, and the true status of Mary Magdalene as Christ's lover - NOT wife - and head Apostle, above even Saint Peter.

In my view, the Magdalene is the most important woman in history. A feisty, intelligent and very modern woman (who may have been black), who not only worshipped the Great Mother but actively represented her, with Christ's full approval.

The Church has indeed suppressed the truth about her, but now we're all searching for the real Magdalene, who Christ himself declared would be celebrated wherever the Gospel is preached. It's a pity that the Vatican deliberately ignored Jesus' own words in order to rewrite her as a snivelling ex-prostitute.

It's time now for the Magnificent Magdalene to make a come-back.

Lynn Picknett

About the Author
Lynn Picknett is author of Mary Magdalene: Christianity's Hidden Goddess and (with Clive Prince) Turin Shroud: How Leonardo da Vinci Fooled History and its sequel, The Templar Revelation. She is also a lecturer and consultant on UFOs and the paranormal (Meridien/Anglia TV, Talk Radio, LBC, the Museum of Photography and the British UFO Research Association). She lives in London.