In 2006, the article, Who Was Mary Magdalene, by James Carroll was published in Smithsonian Magazine. The opening paragraph reads:

“The whole history of western civilization is epitomized in the cult of Mary Magdalene. For many centuries the most obsessively revered of saints, this woman became the embodiment of Christian devotion, which was defined as repentance. Yet she was only elusively identified in Scripture, and has thus served as a scrim onto which a succession of fantasies has been projected. In one age after another her image was reinvented, from prostitute to sibyl to mystic to celibate nun to passive helpmeet to feminist icon to the matriarch of divinity’s secret dynasty. How the past is remembered, how sexual desire is domesticated, how men and women negotiate their separate impulses; how power inevitably seeks sanctification, how tradition becomes authoritative, how revolutions are co-opted; how fallibility is reckoned with, and how sweet devotion can be made to serve violent domination—all these cultural questions helped shape the story of the woman who befriended Jesus of Nazareth.”

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This painting is a visual expression of who Mary Magdalene has come to mean to me through the process of researching her, meditating with her, and painting her.

The scroll represents the Gospel of Mary, a codex which was left out of The New Testament by male church leaders. Be sure to check out the above article, as well as the book, The Gospel of Mary of Magdala: Jesus and the First Woman Apostle by Karen L. King for more on the fascinating story of this text.

The blue rose in mystical traditions is believed to have been given to Mary by Jesus as a symbol that she was the chosen one to continue his teachings.

The red roses represent Mary’s divine love, passionate devotion and the blood of Christ.  They also represent the “The Way of the Rose”, a sacred feminine wisdom tradition dating back to the goddess, Isis, in Ancient Egypt.   

The dove with an olive branch in its beak represents peace and hope.​