Rating: 
Summary: The Alabaster Jar, Filled with New Perspectives
Review: Margaret Starbird's courageous work has changed my life. I read the book, first, with mild curiosity. It gripped me and helped me to become wide awake spiritually. To have someone really suggest that "the emperor has no clothes," in the realm of our religious teaching, was my wake up call. I realized that what is really important in her work is that we must consider all possibilities because we were not there to witness ourselves. In light of that, we can only believe what someone else has written as the history. My true north is that this story resonated for me and for a group of my spiritual friends; we began a reading group to explore the relevance of this work to our lives. We have been meeting for several years now, and in all of our studies, it is Margaret Starbird's work that is our guiding light. I highly recommend this profound work to all who are willing to ask for the truth and accept the answers.
Rating: 
Summary: The Woman With Th Alabaster Jar
Review: There are numerous works out now exploring the theme and person of Mary Magdalen. Unfortunately this is not one of the better ones. Unconvicing, surprisingly dull and sentimental. Too much goddess worship. A far better work is the one by Susan Hoskins. Mary was truly the disciple to the disciples and an example of the radical rediscovery of women in society, but the rest of this is tiresome.
Rating:
Summary: A Key To A Full Life
Review: I have always found that there is definite mystery to the Kingdom of God. Margaret Starbird's 'The Woman With The Alabaster Jar' has provided me with another very large part of that puzzle. To find Jesus beloved bride, Mary Magdalen is to honor our masculine and our feminine and is a key to living fully in the life God has given us. If there is something missing in your theology, read this book. If not, I am surprised that your reading this review.
Rating: 
Summary: Passionate, heartfelt, intriguing....but ultimately flawed
Review: As someone who has always subscribed to the Jesus-and-Mary-M-were-married school of thought, I WANTED this book to convince me, to provide me with unmistakeable proof of this theory. Alas, at the end of this book, while my mind was certainly enriched and I had had many intriguing notions suggested to me, I found that my belief of Jesus' and Mary Magdalene's relationship was still based on faith and not cold, hard fact.While Starbird has painstakingly done her research, the links with which she joins the evidence seem very flimsy - or perhaps she is simply not skilled at presenting evidence in writing. The end result never seems to be anything more than speculation and hypothesis, a long string of "maybes" "possiblies" and "could bes". Despite this, the narrative is so passionate, so heartfelt, so excited, so intent on its cause that it is difficult not to enjoy the book and be swept up in its ecstatic "proofs". And the maybes may very well *be* maybes.....it is just that Starbird does not *convince* me it is so. Still, a world of possibilities and intriguing ideas are opened to the reader with this book, and while we may never know for certain what the truth is, this book is well worth a read. Challenge your ideas, open your mind and enjoy the ride.
Rating:
Summary: The Woman With the Alabaster Jar
Review: The thesis of this work will be for many controversial- that Jesus was married, that the" Woman with the Alabaster Jar" was part of the transmission of "wisdom" and that this knowledge was passed down through mystical and secret organizations. In The Woman with the Alabaster Jar Starbird considers the art, iconography and mythology of medieval period and shows that hidden within its imagery was the representation of a secret tradition of the "holy family". She decodes the symbolism with great erudition including a truly fascinating journey into the meaning of the Tarot. For Starbird the Magdalen is clearly the missing figure from the Christ story as taught by the Church and she outlines a truly powerful vision of what the true role of Mary Madgalen was before the male dominated establishment suppressed her. This is a powerful and moving work. Not only does it show the intellectual foundation for the Magdalen tradition, but through its presentation of the real meaning of art, symbolism and mythology it lifts the veil, just a little, so we may gain a glimpse of her long hidden face. This is a work anyone concerned with the true essence of the Christian vision must read.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Review: I bought this book because I was intrigued by the title, but I was very disappointed in the contents. The author has obviously done her research, but I sure wish she could have presented it better. I found parts of it very repetitive (where was the editor?). I found many of the "connections" to be very very speculative at best. (When someone takes words from one language, reverses the letters, and points to the similarity to a word in another language, I get very nervous.) All in all, the best part of the book was the introduction by Sweeney. Nevertheless, I still find the subject interesting enough to pursue, and intend to read some of the sources that the author points to.
Rating:
Summary: The Bride of Jesus
Review: I am Catholic, myself, and believed what I was taught in school and Church and I'm inclined to believe the theory supported in this book. The truth can not hurt us, but instead sets us free. If the "other Mary" was the Bride of Christ and carried His child, then what pain we must cause Him by denying Her.If Ms Starbird could collect all of the "proof" that was in her book, then surely the Catholic Church could and should look into this as a matter of grave concern. Our Church should ALWAYS put the will and word of GOD above power, politics and money. I pray that they will and let us have it's thoughts about this VERY IMPORTANT MATTER. I for one am convinced and feel blessed that Ms Starbird found a way to make her information easy to understand and a joy to read. Thank You, Viviano
Rating:
Summary: Bless This Book
Review: I am in love with this book. As a student of The Heresy, this book was a wonderful starter into the Mystery of The Millennium. The book is as friendly and accessable as its author, who has thoughtfully answered my every e-mail, poor lady! Woman With The Alabaster Jar was life changing for me...I certainly don't mean this to sound 'miraculous' by any means. But, if you happen to be one of an increasing number of those questioning contempory theology, this book can help you form a foundation for your ideas and investigations. This book is kind and gentle, much like the Lady herself, but the information- explosive. Men and woman alike have been robbed of an intrinsic portion of their psyche for 2000 years. Start to reclaim it by reading this book. This is NOT New Age gibberish- (no offense meant to those who channel dead Native Americans and Egyptians everyday)...if anything, I would call it Old Age as it is information that has been sequestered for two millennia. The simple fact you're here reading this means you've got the question...now, begin your journey to find your answer. A little tid bit: What's the Roman Numeral for the year 2000? Answer: MM (Mary Magdalen)...Southern France is a very festive place to be right now! Read the book.....
Rating:
Summary: keherrick's review
Review: The author presents a chain of indirect proofs to support her belief that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalen. She states that this is a tenet of heresy widely believed in the Middle Ages; that fossils of the heresy can be found in numerous works of art and literature; that it was vehemently attacked by the hierarchy of the established Church of Rome and that it survived in spite of relentless persecution. This book is a courageous exploration of an extremely delicate question. Mary Magdalen is called a penitent prostitute by the Church. The original story of the anointing of Jesus at Bethany by the woman with the alabaster jar may have been misinterpreted by the author of Luke's Gospel since the anointing was similar to the familiar ritual practice of a sacred priestess or temple "prostitute" in the Goddess clults of the Roman Empire. Mrs. Starbird does an excellent job of researching european history, heraldry, the rituals of Freemasonry, medieval art, symovlism, psychology mythology, religion and the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures to discover that the meaning of the Holy Grail could be the lost bride of Jesus and the female child she carried within her.
Rating: 
Summary: Was Jesus married? Strong evidence suggests he was!
Review: When I first encountered the suggestion that Jesus was married in 1984, I was sincerely shocked, believing the idea both preposterous and blasphemous. A "cradle Catholic," I was positive that the early Church fathers would never have suppressed such important information. But the thought kept haunting me--what if it were true? How could we have lost someone so precious as the Beloved of Jesus? In 1986 I embarked on my own personal quest to try to uncover the facts surrounding the "grail heresy" that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married. At that time, I believed that I would be able to debunk the suggestion, but instead, over a period of years, I uncovered a mountain of evidence supporting it--evidence from the Gospels themselves as well as from legends, art and artifacts of Medieval Europe. "The Woman with the Alabaster Jar" provides powerful evidence supporting the "sacred union" at the heart of the Christian story and the bride of Jesus who was tragically lost in the aftermath of the Crucifixion. In later centuries, she was stripped of her robes of honor, like the the dark Bride in the Song of Solomon, scorned and reviled, struck and wounded by the "guardians of the walls" (Can. 5:7). It it my hope that the evidence I have uncovered will encourage readers to reclaim the lost Bride in Christianity and to embrace the paradigm of sacred partnership that was to have been our birthright. The "sacred marriage" of Christ and Mary Magdalene embodies the reconciliation of the opposites--"logos" and "eros," heaven and earth, spirit and flesh, reason and intuition. This story is told "in memory of her."
|
