Customer Reviews

Alone of all her sex: The myth and the cult of the Virgin Mary

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The fact remains that this book offers a very solid and accurately researched survey of the development of the "phenomenon" of devotion to Mary, the mother of Jesus. It is not exhaustive by any means, but traces all the major strains of development from at least the third century. What the book fails to do adequately is critically delve into the real roots of Marian themes as found in the New Testament records. Indeed, what we see in the very first century of the Christian/Biblical era is a rather rapid (and radical) development of attitudes about the Mother of Jesus, a shift from early indifference and ignorance of Mary's role (the Marcan Gospel, Pauline letters) to an outright "lifting up" of Mary as the Ideal Christian, the First True Disciple, worthy of loud praise (Luke), and even iconic status as Eve-Israel 'Mother of believers'(John) and glorified symbol of the Church itself (Revelation). I wish Werner had spent more time drawing attention to how swift and startling these developments in the understanding of Mary were when the New Testament writings were being composed. Also, how did these "arcs of thought" regarding Mary take root geographically in the 2nd century church? Werner could have noted that it was no coincidence that Gospel communities giving great prominence to the figure of Mary(Luke's Antioch, the Johannine churches) in the first century continued to preserve these emphases in the 2nd (Ignatius of Anioch, Irenaeus-Justin, etc). Otherwise, Werner gives a solid depiction of how formative ecclesiastical motives (asceticism, Christological controversy) rattled the chains of Mary's rather flexible image in the patristic age, and how her mystique lent itself so readily to mythical, legendary rumblings about her death, intercessory powers, etc. A fascinating handbook and not even remotely [a] feminist manifesto ... It seems that some would have a hard time handling the reality that much of what Mary represents was a complex combination of iconic mythologizing that began in Scriptural/Apostolic times and only grew in succeeding centuries according to the demands of the age and normal human piety.

Marina Warner's writing style is so magnificent that each paragraph seems a tribute to the beauty of the English language. I should like to use this book as an instruction manual for advanced courses in literary composition.

In itself, this book is a landmark work of European history. Marina's treatment of nearly a millennium of devotions, historical implications, poetry, art, and culture is exceedingly extensive and cohesive.

I withheld the fifth star because the underlying thesis, that the devotions to Mary have condemned women to inferior status, distorts the essence of the devotions chronicled. Even in the 'age of faith,' the connections between devotion, which admits to God's ways being unknowable, and the physical manifestations (icons, relics and the like) which make them come alive for the believer, hardly would have been veritable manuals of 'how to use Mary's holiness to underline female inferiority.' In fact, were this book a historical work without the feminist angle, it would have been far better.

I am a catholic, and one of my favorite subjects is mariology. I personally find this book illuminating in the fact that for many years many (male) theologians have used the figure of the Virgin Mary to oppress women in many different ways. I admire Marina Warner's work.

However, not always Marian dogmas are used in such a way. I think that this book makes an extraordinary point against the devotions to the Virgin Mary, but avoids the fact that also such devotions have been used to free women.

I have found this book to be an invaluable source of nearly-forgotten Marian myths, incredibly useful to anyone writing Goddess-oriented fiction. The tales of the power of Mary's milk--unheard of in Protestant Christianity--are worth the price of the volume. If one thinks that we have only recently accepted the fullness of the feminine in Christianity, this book--especially the later sections on medieval myth--will come both as a blessing and a surprise. I heartily endorse this text as necessary background starting with historical/religous fiction all the way to Xena-style swords and sorcery. A must have

I found the author's non-Catholic bias wonderfully refreshing...here is someone who isn't interested in trying to convert the masses or paint the Catholic church in a wonderful light _ she's simply providing information about the Virgin for the reader to do with it what she will. As a non-Catholic who has had an academic interest in the Virgin Cult for the past four years, I found reading Warner's book a relief, for here wasn't an author who felt the need to convert me. Kudos to Warner.

Warner's book is far more than a mere history of the Virgin Mary. It is not intended for devout Catholics who only wish to hear praise heaped on the mother of God. What Warner does is chronicle the journey that Mary has taken throughout history, highlighting her many cultural guises and pointing out how they have historically been used to reflect the political motivations of the church. For anyone who is looking to read something beyond the sterile propoganda of a religion that has too long controlled the way in which people perceive and treat women, this is a book that will answer many questions. A beautiful read, written sensitively by a woman who knows Catholicism intimately, but who has been disillusioned by the deeply misogynistic foundations of the Catholic faith.

Like an appealing art gallery guide, Warner conducts a grand tour of the legends, literature, and imagery concerning Mother Mary. Along the way she exposes vast differences in the messages these artists make Mary convey. On one hand, Warner shows the church moving to emphasize a host of pre-Christian rules about the ranking of males over females, and enforcement of taboos concerning sexual pollution -- to a point where all contact between men and women was a sin to be forgiven, and all love for women was a form of idolatry. As Matfré Ermengaud put it in the 1200s, "Satan, in order to make men suffer bitterly, makes them adore women; for instead of loving as they should, the creator with fervent love, with all their heart, with all their mind, ... they sinfully love women". (p. 153.) Only males who had no part in such sin could mediate forgiveness for it.

On the other hand, Warner shows the rising popular devotion to women and mothers, taking form as troubadour art and as the great cult of Mother Mary. What did it mean to love her? Countering a rise of romantic ideals, the monastic artists promoted Mary as an expression of devotion for chastity. While formally shunning all earthly females, they pointed the parishioners toward a more worthy object for their devotion -- the chaste and non-physical woman of their spiritual dreams in heaven. In the "counter-romance" of clerical poetry about Mary, chastity was actually marriage to the Virgin in heaven. The Virgin called all men to love her, and was offended if they spurned her for mortal females. In a French clerical story of the 1300's, the "Miracles de Notre Dame par Personnages", a young man considers monastic vows, but then falls in love with a woman. The Virgin Mary appears and rebukes him in his bedroom:

"How can this be, since I am who I am, that you are leaving me for another woman? It seems you're badly underrating my worth and my beauty. ... You must be drunk to give your whole heart and all your love to a woman of this earth? And to leave me, the lady of heaven?" (p. 156.)

Warner's juxaposition of troubadour and clerical lore shows a marvelous, artfully conducted arguement over what is good, what is beautiful, and what we can aspire to.

--author of Correcting Jesus

This was a fabulous resource for understanding the evolution of the Marian cult. The one weakness of this book is that it did not deal with the pre-Christian origins of the Marian cult. Other resources, however, cover the evolution of the Anatolian fertility cult of Cybele into the Roman Magna Mater and later into the so-called "BVM". The author does a good job of showing the origins of various aspects of Mariology and contrasting these developments with Christianity in the West. The author has done a great service to those who wish to more fully understand the syncretic process which blended Christianity with various pagan religions and medeival political structures to create the Roman Catholic Church.

This book is very interesting and well worth reading if you have an academic interest in the Virgin Mary. It contains beautiful pictures, good poetry, and interesting stories. I thought it was magnificent, in many ways. However, the author does not write from a Catholic, or even Christian, point of view. I would never,consequently, endorse it as the best source of information about the mother of Jesus. But if you think you can read this and learn from it without being swayed by the author's bias, go for it.

Notice that if you have an encounter with the Virgin Mary. . . and write about it you are biased. If you have a feminist axe to grind and write from the point of view of philosophic naturalism, you are scholarly.

This is political correctness applied to Mary.

Yawn.

JMNR