Three Marys

[wil]

I read the reference....and the reason I ask the questions is because there are so many. One doesn't gain knowledge and understanding just at taking everything that everyone tells you... Or I don't. I look at other references, I look within, when something doesn't make sense I ask, and ask until I find someone who thinks, someone who doesn't just put their fingers in their ears and think heretic because of questions.

Milbank's reference Judas gave him up, his disciples deserted him...I don't buy it. Not my will but thine be done...take the cup from me...have we forgotten the garden...when he decided to be a sacrificial messiah...the lamb, vs leading his people into power they were disappointed... And he did nothing less than tell them to go their way...Judas got the bread (his body, earthly understanding) but not the wine (his blood, spiritual understanding) Jesus moved on from creating an earthly kingdom to a heavenly one...and not all were ready, but Judas had an assignment...a job, and Jesus told him to go and do it. And told the His followers he expected dissent...you'll deny me three times... Once He made the decision, understood what His Father was asking of Him, Jesus went willingly to the cross.

We're in danger now of concentrating on incidentals and losing sight of the big picture.

it is all the incidentals that allow me a deeper understanding of the big picture...

[Bandit]

maybe there are 3 women named mary because that is what their parents chose to name those girls.

[InquisitiveInHalifax]

I'm sorry I nearly forgot that I started this thread! Thank-you all so much for your input, I've learned a lot (and best of all that I'm not alone on my train of thought, lol), it's so nice to be able to ask questions and get a informative non-judgemental response.

-R

[wil]

Originally Posted by InquisitiveInHalifax

I'm sorry I nearly forgot that I started this thread! Thank-you all so much for your input, I've learned a lot (and best of all that I'm not alone on my train of thought, lol), it's so nice to be able to ask questions and get a informative non-judgemental response.

-R

But you never came back to expound on your origional thoughts...lets get that train back on track...

[AletheiaRivers]

Originally Posted by aged hippy

other two/threefold ideas came to mind last night ... one of them concerns the two aspects of ourselves, the conscious (Masculine) and unconscious (Feminine) which, when united create a third.

Yup. Unified duality. Duality in unity. (Cryptic eh?)

[flowperson]

Lest we forget, according to more liberal traditions, and even some orthodox interpretations, Jesus had two brothers, James the just, and Judas Thomas (didymus or twin-twin in the Greek). Three Marys and also three brothers from the same holy family ? A coincidence, or is all of this coming from the fertile imaginings of early Christian mythmakers ?

Also, my examination of the names of the three Marys in the Strong's Exhaustive Concordance led me to believe that they were considered to be linked spiritually, such as described in Thomas' post, only there seemed to be overlap in some sharing of attributes among them.

Only the Magdalen seemed to be more apart. My tracings of the roots of her name to the Greek and Chaldean roots rendered an understanding indicating that she was known as "the bitter woman of the tower", with the word "migdal" being the indicator word for tower. It's all very curious.

flow....

[Thomas]

Only the Magdalen seemed to be more apart. My tracings of the roots of her name to the Greek and Chaldean roots rendered an understanding indicating that she was known as "the bitter woman of the tower", with the word "migdal" being the indicator word for tower. It's all very curious.

If you follow my analogy of the soul, then the Marys stand in a vertical hierarchy, with the Magdalene - embittered, or rather brought down, by the world - at the foot.

To push this further, if Mary is a symbol of the soul, and thus the various Marys signify the soul in varied states, she is also a symbol of the church, in which case the Immaculata is 'invisible' to all but the faithful Christian, as those outside the church can see nothing but fault and error, and so condemn the church as the Magdalene was condemned (if we follow one tradition, that she was the woman taken in adultery) - that is to say condemned by those who are far from without fault themselves.

The Immaculata 'pondered all these things in her heart' - the only occasion when she spoke to the world, I think, was at the Wedding at Cana, when she said "Do whatever he tells you" which is what the Church says throughout history.

The Greek verb for 'pondered' (used twice by Luke) is 'symballein', which means 'to put together' and is a clue to the real significance of symbolism (symbol as opposed to sign or representation).

Thomas