Union with the Holy Bride – St. Mary of Magdal

Sophian Gnosticism is founded upon the belief that the Christos was embodied in Lord Yeshua and St. Mary of Magdal, who is considered to be his consort and wife, co-equal and co-enlightened with him, and co-preacher of the Gnostic Gospel. Lord Yeshua represents the Divine Personification of Christ the Logos (Word) and Lady Mary represents the Divine Personification of Christ the Sophia (Wisdom). Thus, from a Sophian perspective, the Divine Fullness of the Christos – the Light-Presence – is manifest through the Mystical Union of Lord Yeshua and Lady Mary. Essentially, Lady Mary is the Female Emanation of Christ in the Sophian Tradition.

This sacred relationship between a masculine and feminine embodiment of Enlightenment is well reflected in Eastern Traditions. In Vajrayana Buddhism there is Guru Padmasambhava and Yeshe Tsogyal and in Hindu Tantra there is Shiva and Devi. In the teachings of Sophian Gnosticism Master Yeshua and Lady Mary are viewed in much the same way: Divine Consorts whose love-play embodies profound Enlightenment Teachings and initiates a stream of the Light-Transmission. Basically, Yeshua embodies the Desire to Impart and Lady Mary embodies the Desire to Receive, so that between them a circuit is formed through which the Light-Presence is fully embodied and Divine Grace pours out upon the world. According to the masters of the Tradition, we cannot truly speak of one without the other, for the two are inseparable from one another. In Sophian teachings they are said to be “soul-mates,” which is to say that they are the male and female expression of one and the same Neshamah (Supernal Soul).

In the Gnostic Gospel of the Sophian Tradition, Lord Yeshua is akin to the Light and Lady Mary is akin to the Matrix of Light. It is as though he is the Light-Presence of Supernal Being and she is the Prism of Light through which the Light flows, becoming many Rays of Rainbow Glory, each Ray of Light representing a different body of teachings and initiations, outer, inner and secret. She is the Divine Muse who inspires Master Yeshua to give the outer, inner and secret teachings of the Gospel of Truth and to reveal the Light-Continuum; and she is the First Apostle who receives the Divine Fullness of the Light-Presence and transmits it to the circle of apostles, each of whom receives according to his or her capacity. Lord Yeshua is the Incarnation of Christ or Supernal Being and she is the Emanation of the Consciousness-Force of Supernal Being. Thus, Lady Mary personifies the Shekinah- Consort or Holy Spirit in the Gnostic Gospel.

In the Tradition, Mother Mary personifies the transcendental aspect of Sophia and Lady Mary personifies the immanent aspect. In a similar way, Lord Yeshua represents the otherworldly aspect of Christos and Lady Mary represents the “this-world” aspect. This is reflected in the ascension of the Lord to repose in the Father and in the vow Lady Mary is said to have made to continue to incarnate in a woman’s form until the time of the Second Coming. Thus, somewhere in the world it is believed that the Soul of Mary Magdalene is incarnate as a woman in every generation and, according to the teachings of the Sophian Tradition, the Presence of the Holy Bride is accessible to anyone who calls upon her.

Some adepts and masters of the Tradition have gone so far as to say that one can only acquire full Gnosis of the Living Yeshua and Christ Consciousness through Gnosis of the Holy Bride. Basically their point is this: Without Gnosis of Christ the Sophia, complete Gnosis of Christ the Logos is not possible. Likewise, apart from the redemption and co-equality of womanhood, the full realization of manhood is impossible. Essentially, on an inner level we are both male and female, and our Soul of Light is the union of the male and female aspects of ourselves. Without the activation and union of the male and female aspects of our Soul-Being our full Self-realization is sorely obstructed. Thus, in Lord Yeshua and Lady Mary we have an Image of the Divine Fullness of the Christos and the Soul of Light that is in us.

The Holy Bride has many Faces, both Bright and Dark. One the one hand, she is the Maiden of Light, the Mother of the Royal Blood and Crone of Ageless Wisdom; on the other hand, she is Lilith, Naamah and Iggaret (Mistress of the Night, Queen of Demons and Hag of Chaos). Thus, the Holy Bride has many forms and there are many different practices associated with her in the Tradition – Peaceful, Blissful and Wrathful. Though St. Mary of Magdal was noted for her great intelligence and her skill at preaching and sacred discourse, more than by way of intellectual argument and reason the Holy Bride tends to teach and transmit the Light through experience. The Way of the Bride is primarily experiential. Invoking the Presence of the Bride we find she tends to impart teachings through life-experience; the principles she shows in vision and what she speaks with voice swiftly plays out in our lives. Through contact with the Presence of the Bride our intuitive faculties are opened and penetrating insight soon emerges. Without these faculties activated and the flow of spiritual energies that comes with them our practice would be lifeless and dull and merely conceptual.

It is the Holy Bride who brings our spiritual practice to life and who gives us a deep sense of relatedness, yet her Divine Presence is very playful and reminds one of the Feminine Archetype of a Trickster-Prankster-Fool. Hers is the Way of Crazy Wisdom that is most luminous and delightful, yet at the same time it can prove frightening and overwhelming. Though, indeed, she is most accessible, as near as your own body, she is the embodiment of Divine Passion and sometimes tends to carry us where, at first, we do not want to go!

Mother Sarah was the most senior disciple of Tau Elijah and was a Sacred Tau in her own right. In one discourse, speaking of the invocation of the Holy Bride, she said, “When you invoke her, she will come, like a firestorm leaping and laughing, and she will burn you utterly away, until only the Beloved remains. Playful maiden and dread crone and regal mother is she, and no one can say which Face she will reveal, nor predict her coming or going. She loves you and hates you, and she gambles with your life – all for the sake of your Enlightenment and Liberation. If you run from her she will chase you down, and if you cling to her she will throw you away. Invoking her, you cannot banish her, just as once you are in life you cannot depart until it is time. There is no getting rid of her, for she is your very body and life, as surely as the Lord is the Radiant Holy Breath in you. If she does not awake in you, life is perpetual boredom and a shadow of death – they are alive who invoke her and know her. I dare say that there is no True Gnosis apart from her, for it is she who is the Christ Presence of the Second Coming.”

There are extensive teachings and legends of the Holy Bride in the oral tradition of Sophian Gnosticism, far beyond what can be written here. However, the above should serve to give some sense of the Sophian view of her and a point to begin one’s own quest to know and experience her. Some modern Gnostic movements claim to give initiations to put one in contact with St. Mary of Magdal, and while there are initiations that correspond to her in our own Tradition, one does not need an initiation from anyone to contact the Bride. One need only desire to experience her and consciously invoke her and she will come, in one form or another, according to one’s own capacity to receive her. The practices generated by adepts and masters of the Sophian Tradition merely serve to help facilitate her invocation and teach us how to integrate the influx of spiritual energies that are activated by her contact. Here we give one of the key practices associated with her, which is a self-initiation into the Gnosis and Communion of the Holy Bride.

 

Union with the Holy Bride

It is common that Sophians have a room in their homes set aside as a sanctuary for prayer, meditation and sacred ritual, or at least an altar or shrine upon which they light candles and burn incense and use as a place of focus. This is especially true of devotees of the Holy Mother and the Bride. If you seek to invoke the Holy Bride it is good to build an altar or shrine to the Divine Mother and the Holy Bride. You can engage in this practice before your altar or shrine, or you can do so in any place you will not be disturbed. Frequently, initiates will seek a place in nature where they can practice, as well as in their homes.

Sit and settle in. Perform the Kabbalistic Cross and abide in Primordial Meditation – become clear and present in the moment. Calmly abide, waiting upon the Spirit of the LORD, and when the Spirit moves you, shift your focus to your belly, and imagine there is a Holy Fire in your belly, and as you breathe let this Holy Fire be kindled and stoked.

When the Holy Fire is blazing, let it be consecrated with the chant Ya-Ha-Va (all short vowel sounds).

Then, envision a fine thread of flame moving up from the base of your spine and belly to your heart and envision your heart bursting into flames. Let the Force of Divine Passion, Energy and Love fill you. Feel yourself on fire with the Spirit of Yahweh.

Now envision a flame leaping out of your Fiery Heart and magically appearing in the space before you as the Divine Image of the Holy Bride dancing.

Meditation Image: She is robed in crimson red, with a crimson shawl over her head, and wears a white inner robe. She is dark in complexion and awesome in beauty, with jet black hair and green eyes. She holds the Jar of Anointing in her hands and some times may even bear a sword. Around her is an aura of Fire and Light, and she dances in the sky like a flame. This image is formed of translucent light.

As the Bride dances before you, see and feel her Holy Fire dancing within you, and pray to her and commune with her, and as much as you would speak, abide in silence, listening and hearing the Voice of Wisdom. Open your mind and heart to her completely, and invite and welcome her, and, if you are willing, pray that she might take up your life. Receive whatever illumination or teaching she might give, or whatever blessing or boon, and be fully awake in the Innate Bliss of her Living Presence.

Then take up her chant: Kallah Messiah (Anointed Bride).

As you chant envision the Holy Bride pouring out blessings upon you in the form of Fire and Light, and see her dancing around you, within and through you, your own body filled with Fire and Light, and your aura radiant with Fire and Light. Perhaps you will be called to dance, or perhaps to remain very still – go with the inspiration that comes in the moment.

When you fall silent after the chant envision the Holy Bride leaping into you and merging with you completely, your mind becoming her Wisdom Mind, your heart her Flaming Heart and your body her Holy Body: be at-one with the Holy Bride. Know that you are hers and she is yours for all time – so walk in beauty and holiness as you go out into the world, knowing her in everyone and everything, and in you!

Sit and let the energy be absorbed and grounded. Then pray that the energy and blessing of the Holy Bride go out to bless all creatures and the whole world, and pray for Gnosis of the Second Coming. In closing, perform the Kabbalistic Cross. This is a basic self-initiation and meditation with St. Mary of Magdal, Our Lady in Red.

If this method seems too awkward or seems unclear, you can simply use the method of envisioning the Spiritual Sun in your heart and see the Image of the Bride magically appearing from a ray of light streaming out from your heart. In this method she is not dancing like a flame, but her Image hovers in the space before you and she remains in place. At the conclusion, simply envision her dissolving once again into the Spiritual Sun in your heart. The beginning and end, and the chant of Kallah Messiah would remain the same.

We pray the Fiery-Light of the Bride is received by all who seek her! Amen.