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May 29, 2006

On the Magdalen, or is it Mary Magdalene?

Dear reader, are you following the craze about the Magdalen and her progeny? Elizabeth Cunningham’s Passion of Mary Magdalen is the newest book on the subject. Her Maeve is a big, strapping, sexy, redheaded Celt sold to a Roman madam. The Booklist calls the Passion a visionary fantasy, colorful enough to make the reader wince and blush in one breath.

Is this blasphemy? Do we connect a person like that with the holy person of Christ?

Let’s all wake up. It’s entertainment called fiction in quest of fame and wealth. Margaret Starbird’s Bride in Exile and Margaret George’s Mary called Magdalene are only two of a zillion new titles of books, articles, and editorial columns on the Magdalen as the new celebrity, as a goddess, and an apostle and follower of Christ.

There is a biography by Bruce Chilton and a story beyond the myth by Esther de Boer. Suddenly, a woman, once an outcast of the community, a poor, possessed woman from Magdala, has become a bright star, much more than a symbol in her own right.

Jim Hougan's espionage-secret-society novel The Maddalene Cipher takes a sharp detour from Angela Hunt’s Magdalene. Isn't the entire world searching for a new persona, having resurrected the legendary saint far beyond the myth in word, art, and literature? Some authors reveal the secrets of the Magdalene scrolls, others unveil the woman, the prostitute, and the soldier of Christ supported by a centuries-long image. The mystery surrounding Mary Magdalene's life and times, the woman as a symbol, her wisdom and symbolic crucifixion as the first apostle, her myth simply befuddles us.

So the biblical saint is riding the crest of popular devotion, but why? Doesn't everyone dream of writing a new, never-heard-of story for the headlines?

Will the real Magdalene stand up, Barbara Reid asks in her article. What a challenging question, I say, because the Magdalene has become a kind of a Lotto ticket in the publishing industry.

So, where does my Maddalena fit in all of this? After all, it was conceived long before, but published after, The Da Vinci Code.

Was it quest for fame? Greed for wealth? I wave my arms in protest while promising to tell a story that simply didn’t fit into accademia. Do read about it in the next entry, my devoted reader. Or you could just read it after you finish Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code.

Posted by Eva Siroka at 01:16 PM | Comments (0)

May 24, 2006

Maddalena or Magdalena?

As I was preparing to talk about my book in one of the senior retirement facilities around Princeton, a well-appointed woman came to me and said: my sister’s name was Magdalena. Her eyes lit up, as if recalling life long ago in her native Hungary. I also found out that we shared the first name, Eva, and the cultural roots.

After the room filled with people who came on their own accord, and some in wheelchairs, I spoke about Alessandro Farnese, the main character, the cardinal who took thirty years to take his sacred vows. Immensely rich, he enjoyed women and fine life. At its end, no doubt worried about his immortal soul, he surrounded himself by Jesuits praying for his salvation.

Most of the people I meet during these lectures, come from all walks of life and choose voluntarily (some, unfortunately, by necessity) to complete their lives in retirement communities. Many still radiate energy and eagerness to keep busy and well, and a few souls simply move on.

It gives me so much pleasure to see their faces, shake their hands after the talk is over, knowing that I have contributed to their well-being. After having watched my father slip away in an assisted living place, fighting brain cancer, and my grandmother lose her quest to become a centenarian, and seen so many old faces, I became aware how much we owe the generation who paved the way for us.

It makes me happy to see them smile while telling them about a special woman named Maddalena.

Posted by Eva Siroka at 09:01 AM | Comments (0)