Invoking Mary Magdalene: Accessing the Wisdom of the Divine Feminine [With Audio CD]

I bought this book directly from the author at the recent Mary Magdalene feast day celebration in Boulder. During the celebration we all did a meditation from the CD, a journey to the Cave of St. Baume in France where Magdalene is supposed to have lived. It was such a wonderful experience that I wanted to be able to do the meditation at home. The book is great and the CD is a wonderful tool that inspires me to actually do some meditation!

Siobhan Houston has made a unique contribution to the growing literature on Mary Magdalene. While many books are focused on history, theological reflection, or alternative spiritual perspectives, Houston offers a practice-centered volume. The pratices range from rituals to a rosary to making a garden, and are flexibly constructed so as to be useful to seekers with many different approaches to the Magdalene (as Goddess, Christian saint, Jewish woman, female manifestation of the Christ, etc). Definitely a must for those who want to pursue a relationship with Mary Magdalene.

This book has a very untraditional approach to Mary Magdalene, with references to Gnostics, Sufis, the Hindu tradition, Kabbalah, goddess and pagan paths and so forth. It's a interesting mix that is somehow works really well, probably because the chapters are arranged topically--Healing and Compassion, Magdalene as Initiatrix (the chapter on the Gnostic view of MM), Accessing Power with the Dark Goddess, etc. The author is of Jewish and Irish Catholic descent, and seems to have had a really interesting education and a background in many spiritual traditions. I especially liked the suggestions for setting up an altar and ideas for prayer beads, prayer shawls and a little container garden of devotional plants. The book gives instructions and web sites to help you make your own prayer beads and shawls, if you are so inclined. Since I knit and garden, this was great info for me. And the author has a playful, joyful attitude to spritual practice that is a nice change from some of the deadly serious meditation books I've read.

I received this book as a present and have been really enjoying it. The author has a flowing style of writing and it's obvious she has a lot of scholarly background. But she is also someone who does spiritual practice and seems passionate about sharing her ideas and experiences about that with others. The book is very practical, with lots of good ideas and resources, and it's a pleasure to read as well. It doesn't advocate any one approach or one belief system or religion and is written for both men and women. Her voice on the meditation CD is lovely and melodious.

As a co-leader of a Magdalene Circle, I found this book a wonderfully helpful guide to developing ways to publicly honor Mary Magdalene as Sacred Complement and Divine Partner. Siobhan Houston has given us the next step to take after immersing ourselves in study about early Christianity and Mary Magdalene, when we find ourselves wanting to express devotion to Her. Suggested prayers, a nine day devotional practice,and a July 22 Magdalene Feast Day ritual all serve to bring the devotee into an experience of gnosis of the Divine Feminine Wisdom. The book satisfies both a thirst for knowledge about Mary Magdalene the women and a thirst for experiencing the dimension of consciousness where She is available to us all. Accessing this dimension is facilitated by the book's wonderful CD of guided meditations. Thank you, Siobhan Houston, for creating a bridge upon which deeply intuitive/feeling women can walk again into Christianity.