I met Mary Magdalene back in 1996 during my first trip to France while staring into the eyes of a Black Madonna statue in Limoux. An energy, a piercing light penetrated my heart shattering all illusions of what I knew about love. "Don't be afraid to love again", she whispered in my ear. Since I was recently divorced, I assumed she was referring to another husband, a partner. But now, almost 25 years later, I know she was referring to a love beyond human fears. A heart fully open. A heart that can hold betrayal, regret, guilt, loss and grief and transmute them all into grace, and love, and joy. The soul's heart.
Over the years, Mary Magdalene continued to walk with me, often times reminding me of my power to create my own reality. To embrace my humanity and the messiness that comes with it. She helped me restore my sexuality and to experience my primal nature in its Divine essence. And she taught me to heal the ravines of separation both within and without.
It was through my brokenness that she revealed herself to me one summer day. I was overcome by grief, and just when my heart could bear no more, the light of the Magdalene flowed through me. I was crumpled over in the forest, tears spilling onto the soft moss, and just like that, the veil was lifted. I became one with nature. Her divinity shown through the trees and the flowers and the moss like an emerald green, shimmering light. The same light radiated down my arms and out my fingertips. But the thing that was the most profound, was the feeling of both deep intimacy and inner peace that surpassed anything I had ever felt before. I was filled and fulfilled, and wanted for nothing. I realized that THIS is all I've ever truly longed for. Union with the Divine.
My life ever since has been a path of devotion. A path dedicated to truth and to love. A path devoted to being in service to humanity and nature. A path that follows in the footsteps of Mary Magdalene.
She is here in the towering trees, the soft petals of a rose, the mud beneath our feet, the gentle eyes of a deer and the wings of an eagle. She calls to us to awaken our own Divine nature and the shining pearl within. She is the "second coming" through the hearts of many.
Don't look in the clouds for her. She won't be found floating in a heaven that is separated from our earth. She won't be experienced through false positivity or uprootedness. You won't be deemed worthy because you deny your shadow in an attempt to be pure.
No, she is the shining pearl found within the depths of what it means to be human.