Customer Reviews

The Church of Mary Magdalene: The Sacred Feminine and the Treasure of Rennes-le-Chateau

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I read this book after reading The Woman with the Alabaster Jar: Mary Magdalen and the Holy Grail and was deeply moved by it. Within a short while, the small church of Rennes-le-Château in the remote village of southern France had become my primary concern.

This book makes no bones about the fact that Mary Magdalenes married Jesus and created a bloodline. It vety clearly attempts to establish that Mary Magdalene was a high priestess whose primary responsibility was to "initiate" Jesus, a position taken by several books recently including The Rozabal Line.

I loved the book even though at times I felt that the pace could have picked up a little. The good thing is that it kept my curiosity level high enough to want to reach the end.

Jean Markale provides a lot of details about the mystery of Rennes-le-Chateau, many of which are unavailable in books that are wider in scope. I had enough background in the story of the church to make this useful, but I can't say the book made the mystery seem interesting on its own.

The problem is Markale's perspective. He is extremely spiritual, which would normally not be a problem, but this book (and his others) seem to be an attempt at justifying his personal feelings of spirituality. It results in a strange mixture of personal observations, document review, and philosophizing on the nature of Man. The rationalist or historian will have to struggle through early sections that include Markale's wife and "obscure powers that guide our actions on earth," and I can't imagine someone looking for inspiration will want to sift through an 1897 police report.

There are also some wild speculations and assumptions that are only acceptable because of their transparency. For example, at one point, Markale dismisses a particular theory because he knows someone who is just like one of the historical figures, and he can't imagine his friend acting that way. His analysis of the origin of names is also suspect--he even points out an occasion when his own derivation is at odds with that of every other trained linguist.

With all of those reservations, this book still might be worth the struggle for someone familiar with the mystery of Rennes-le-Chateau. For anyone else, I recommend a book with a broader overview and better structure (ex: Holy Blood Holy Grail, The Hiram Key) to gauge whether a deeper look is warranted.

THE CHURCH OF MARY MAGDALENE - The Sacred Feminine and the Treasure of Rennes-le-Chateau by Jean Markale. Inner Traditions, One Park St., Rochester, VT 05767; www.innertraditions.com; inbox@innertraditions.com. 311 pp. $18.95 trade paper, ISBN 0-89281-199-4. illustrations, footnotes, index.
Markale considers that the mysterious Abbe Sauniere and the designs he sought for the Mary Magdalene Church in a remote area of southern France associated with the Cathar heretics and other controversial Catholic groups such as the Templars are symbolic of the belief that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married. The Abbe was active in this area in the late 1800s. He was himself a controversial figure who antagonized French politicians while also currying favor with local wealthy patrons who helped him with his project. The Abbe's project also calls into question the place of Jesus's mother Mary in the foundation of the Catholic Church and Christianity. Markale does much guesswork based on bringing together clues scattered widely over time and place to shed light on and raise both theological and historical questions about the origins and shaping of Christianity. He's the author of previous books on similar subjects and ancient Celtic culture.

Have not finished the book yet, but it's fascinating stuff for those who enjoyed "The DaVinci Code" and have an open, independently thinking mind. :)