Mary Magdalene Revealed: The First Apostle, Her Feminist Gospel & the Christianity We Haven't Tried Yet

I’m still savouring the book (I had to get all three editions so I can listen, highlight on kindle and have a pristine hard copy) but didn’t want to wait to write my review. If you are considering reading it, I’ll cut to the chase - if you are hesitant about buying it, don’t be.For me, it’s a book that changes everything. I’ve held a deep aversion to formal religion all of my life, it just felt so wrong to me, yet a part of me knew there was something beyond it that was true. Reading these pages I discovered what it is. Radical love. THAT is what Christ taught. Equality. Being human while also being divine. These are the teachings that I have been waiting to remember and longing to hear. Love / God isn’t out there, it’s within.I am so grateful for Meggan Watterson bringing this work into the world, with her unique and yet completely relatable style. Amazing words that touch the heart.

A great read! Yet another book hidden and edited by men who have controlled and conditioned people for political and egotistical power! Meggan’s book was not what I expected it was far better. I read every day for several hours ‘non fiction' which was what I presumed this book would be, but it was not ... it was far more. Meggan identifies her own lifetimes experiences very openly with each of the esoteric messages as a heading. I have worked as a therapist helping people for many years, and Meggan’s openness regarding her own life initiated an empathy and congruence which made me feel as if she was sitting facing me; such honesty could be fatal when interpreting scriptures which so many people seem to feel they ‘own' and in the first few pages I must admit, I felt on unfamiliar ground with an apprehension that the way she was interpreting the scriptures could be a disaster. After a few pages I found it easy to understand how Meggan identifies and interprets the given scriptures, but most of all from my own years of studying I found myself learning from Meggan's interpretations in a unique way. I think it is important that we understand the initial contamination of the human race, and our religious history which has/is contaminated with evil to the extent of genocide where millions of people have been murdered, executed, tortured and ostracized and is still existing today through evil; as Meggan reminds us ‘we will be judged as we judge others’.Thank you Meggan, for a book written from your heart.Colin Demét B.Sc

I thought I was purchasing a book that would reveal more about Mary Magdalene: but this book did not do that. Instead the reader is taken on a journey of self-revelation from Watterson. This is fine and would make for an interesting read in other contexts, but the insistence that this experience is the only way to understand life becomes tedious. For instance, in 'A ship without sails', Watterson outlines seven pieces of advice from her personal experience. Unlike Watterson, I like sea voyages, frequently travel alone, and never remember any dreams on waking, so I cannot truthfully share in this or many other of her personal reminiscences. I would agree that there is much in this gospel that could be interpreted with a feminist reading, but I saw little evidence of this in Watterson's account. Furthermore, as an exegete, Watterson manages to conflate Mary Magdalene with Mary at Bethany (see pp200-201), which is a fairly fundamental error. Finally, the constant use of American colloquialisms do not survive the trans-atlantic journey and are distracting to an English reader.All in all, this was a disappointing book.

The back cover has a lot of promise. It says that 'with searing clarity, Watterson explains how and why Mary Magdalene came to be portrayed as a penitent prostitute and relates a more historically and theologically accurate description of who Mary was within the early Christ movement'.One wonders if anyone from Hay House actually read the book. You would think by the binding, the title and the way in it is presented that this is the book we have been waiting for. That finally someone with an academic background has pieced together the lost gospels including the Gospel of Mary Magdalene to give us a new Mary - the one that was there all along but uncovered and seen from a modern perspective.The hope is that through this book, Mary Magdalene will finally be placed alongside Christ as a teacher in her own right. The book even says that it is a Feminist Gospel.I am sorry to say that this book is not what we have been promised. There are moments of illumination here and I think for a certain sector of the public it will still be revolutionary and helpful and I will explain who they are later.But most of this book is not about Mary but about Meggan: her story, her travels, her inner life - with a bit about Mary Magdalene and Watterson's new relationship with Christianity thrown in.It is so much of a travelogue that in one beautifully highlighted section in grey, Watterson gives you her tips for how to survive a cruise ship journey which include taking a torch and that you WILL develop a crush on the Captain. Yes, this is for real!For anyone who is at all versed in Magdalene literature both from academic and spiritual sources: books by authors such as Margaret Starbird, Lynn Picknett, Bart Ehrman, Cynthia Bourgeault, Lars Muhl and even Tom Kenyon, this will be a big disappointment.It is more like 'Eat, Pray Love' from a spiritual seeker and trauma recovery victim with bits of genuine academic knowledge thrown in. If you are looking for the otherworldly events that peppered Lars Muhl's books, they are not here in the same way either. This is not a mature book.I feel it will be of genuine help to those who have suffered all their lives from the legacy of a patriarchal view of Christianity and want to break free. Those people should embrace this book as Watterson gives many insights into her own journey as to how she encompassed the feminine aspect of the religion.For all the true Magdalene fans, give this a miss or read it and marvel at the sinking standards of Hay House publishing.

This book is all about love. The love that was hidden from us as Christians. The love that is in all of our hearts, the love that we receive from ourselves and others, the love that we give to others. All this is in explained via the tool of Mary Magdalene’s gospel.The author gives her own life experience of how these gospels changed her and showed her love that she had not experienced before. This makes the love very real in a human way that I could understand.As a Catholic who found the church materialistic and hypocritical in a way that did not support my beliefs of Christ and His love this book as given me a dimension of the Christ’s love which is refreshing, resonant and feels true.A great book for anyone searching for the the meaning of love in their lives.