The Passion nf murv mugdulen: n navel J

, from The mueue thrnnitles ARmE\_/IEWIBYCYNTI‘-|IAPOT:_~'A._

in cutting edge bakeries, but in woman. I’ve done the Sunday

 

   

enough, thatueven my spiritual  Not just "a little‘, '

   

    
    
   
 

 
  
 
 

    

   
  
  
  
   

   

      
  
   
    

  

 
 
  

 
       
 

 

don’t  I’ve ever used

the'wor"dj‘blasphemyf'.in its literaturef? It hasn’t come up. W schoo_lV__’_‘b'it, but chances are I _\ , ‘sensibilities, such as they are,- , Remember thatflw
intended rnariner. ,Suref,g1[t’s Yet “blasphemy” is the"e'oncept _  'couldn’t name all twelve.ap'ostles «wvvere upset,  ,I. .~ I, ’ 1 u’ the’ water 13- 9 Not

. ' yd,  a wordl",V€ Bin loyed in a friyo— H I keep cgmingflback to when con;  I was in-,a   ‘” ‘This is d_bviously' ‘ _
. " -lous sense“,_'to écry questidnable sidering Elizabeth Cunningham’s_7 u Jeopardy. u_ g  ._ _  ‘  ‘ ham's intention. In this, volurrrfi, 
 fashion ,C,h0iC,‘§§..91_‘,uIJ,311_T!3lC1;§1?_3-T1,)’  me Passion:-p_[,M¢y_y Magdalen!” .- Yet Cunningham's book is_::. _‘:. three or its   ..  :_ 1 T - v~ ~~
nusgurdeq q,5gtof mgredients, =2 ,1 pm not a particularly religious - enyugh fdisturbin , . 1 _ ,

  
 
 
  
   
   
  

   

’ * Effective for the 20Q6»~—200?'academic_ year. \/SAC reserves the right to modify. terrninnte. or discontinue ‘iisborrower
benefits at any time. at its sole‘ disnetionu.» Loans 181} or more days past due are not eiigihte for these benefits; ~

  

Sometimes preparing for college
takes more than good grades.

, That's why we're here.

- 2

 

 

' V b pathwaynto .coEie.ge.3: L J

  

 

, ‘shé .
brings us into
the first days

 
 
 
  
 

 
  

  
 
 

 

want to know‘

 

 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 
   
   
   
   

 
 

of the church I ' what happens
and turns at the cruci
everything we fixion. - _'
know on its I If one is
head. wholly sepa-
The first rated from

half of the T  E’ the Christian
book is amaz- PA 5 5 l O N mythos,-this
ing. Maeve O F probably
later Mary  A  wouldn’t mat-
Of Magdala ter. You could
through a     E N enjoy the text
tWiSt Of ci1f- - ..-,  as a portrayal
curnstances W of two Gods,
half-inspired E: 5.. I 9'. A. H C i?  N 2  :1; 1: A M one of whom
by prophecy, did all the

ha_1f.djc1;a1;ed ' by Elizabeth Cunningham
V  a mad wom-  MOI'Ikfi$h BOOk  C0. of whom got
an _ is a proud 640 Pages Hardcover $29.95

Celt being sold

at a Roman slave market. With
vivid descriptions and great use
of language, Cunningham turns in
a virtuouso performance, bring-
ing us into the moment. Maeve is
sold into a brothel, all the while
longing for her lost love Yeshua

- whom she’d apparently been

separated from, with mystical
overtones and the loss of a child,
in volume two. -

Lots of adventure follows.
For the first half of this 600-page
book, we’re with Maeve as she
lives life in the brothel, then
escaping, only to be sold to a Ro-
man matron who keeps the fiery
redheads as her own personal
bed toy. It’s enticing, erotic in
parts, and troubling in others.
Maeve becomes a priestess of Isis,
tapping once more back into her
own mystical heritage.

And then Maeve reconnects
"with Yeshua, the early Jesus.

This is where a good book goes,
if not bad, at least confusingly
astray Maeve loves Jesus with a
passion that surpasses all human
understanding - yet it’s also a very
real, very stormy relationship. The
couple unites, separates, fights,
makes up, even marries.

All of which is good, all of
which is brilliant in parts. If
Maeve would stop doing miracles,
this could have been an awesome

‘ . book.

In an effort to humanize
Christ, Cunningham has deified

  

work, another

all the glory. It
would stand
weH in that tradition.

However, if you're attached to
the Jesus presented in the Bible,
it’s a mind-bending, troubling
experience to have everything
done by him or in his name really
performed by somebody else. It’s
the Gospels hijacked by a largely
uninvolved party.

Wiser minds, probably more
progressive minds than mine,
might find this anempowering
book that gives women a role in
early Christianity denied them by
history. We hear firsthand about
the cadres of women who sup-
ported Chn'st’s early ministry, and
the devastating effects divine
visitation had upon Mary, mother
of Christ. It’s fascinating stuff, a
compulsive read. '

Cunningham does have a
disconcerting habit of having her
narrator speak directly to the
reader in modern parlance. It’s-
well done - the anachronisms
serve to reinforce Maeve’s image
as a vvise-cracking, tough whore/
smartass - but it does jar occa-
sionally. Those with a passion for
historical accuracy or tradition-
ally presented scripture might do
well to pass up The Passion of

Mary Magdalene. Everyone else
is likely to find it an engrossing,
challenging read.V

Cynthia Potts reads and writes
in upstate New York.