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The Other Goddess: Mary Magdalene and the Goddesses of Eros and Secret Knowledge
Is there a lineage of goddesses that claims the evolutionary power of female sexuality? And if so, why were they pushed to the shadows and demeaned as harlots? Was Mary Magdalene one of them, and what were her teachings?
Dr. Joanna Kujawa argues that in the process of recovering the healing power of the Goddess we have focused solely on the mother archetype and left out the other Goddess, who is often represented in mythical, historical, and Gnostic sources as wise, mysterious, and in the possession of the healing power of Eros.
Looking into esoteric traditions that celebrated the Goddess and her art of sexual alchemy, Dr. Joanna Kujawa sets out on a detective journey to answer these questions. She discovers that Mary Magdalene stands at the center of this investigation. Learn about her portrayal in the gnostic gospels as a teacher in her own right and Jesus' intimate partner, the possibility of her life as an alchemist in Egypt, and her last years in Southern France. Find out if Mary Magdalene was the same person as Mary the Prophetess of Egypt and her connection to the mysterious Cathars, Black Madonnas, and Knights Templar.
Whether looking at Mary Magdalene, Sophia, Aphrodite, Inanna, Hathor, Isis, or the goddesses of esoteric Hinduism, Dr. Kujawa finds the archetype of The Other Goddess-the bearer of the mysteries of sexual alchemy that ends the division between sexuality and spirituality.
Dr. Joanna Kujawa argues that in the process of recovering the healing power of the Goddess we have focused solely on the mother archetype and left out the other Goddess, who is often represented in mythical, historical, and Gnostic sources as wise, mysterious, and in the possession of the healing power of Eros.
Looking into esoteric traditions that celebrated the Goddess and her art of sexual alchemy, Dr. Joanna Kujawa sets out on a detective journey to answer these questions. She discovers that Mary Magdalene stands at the center of this investigation. Learn about her portrayal in the gnostic gospels as a teacher in her own right and Jesus' intimate partner, the possibility of her life as an alchemist in Egypt, and her last years in Southern France. Find out if Mary Magdalene was the same person as Mary the Prophetess of Egypt and her connection to the mysterious Cathars, Black Madonnas, and Knights Templar.
Whether looking at Mary Magdalene, Sophia, Aphrodite, Inanna, Hathor, Isis, or the goddesses of esoteric Hinduism, Dr. Kujawa finds the archetype of The Other Goddess-the bearer of the mysteries of sexual alchemy that ends the division between sexuality and spirituality.
- GenresNonfiction
231 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 14, 2022
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59 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 14, 2024
I’m a little obsessed with Mary Magdalene at the moment. I love the idea of this mysterious all knowing woman that followed Jesus. And the theories Kujawa has of her are so incredibly well researched and wonderful. This woman has been overlooked by the men of religion for too long. She was in fact an apostle and a favorite of Jesus. I mean she was the one who found him after he had resurrected. This takes Christianity out of the legend and talks about the woman behind it. A real woman who’s Love for the Rabbi knew no bounds. Fours stars. Because I learned so much. And Kajawa’s writing style was actually entertaining.
June 4, 2022
A moving and inspiring account of the author's quest to rediscover the suppressed connection between spirituality and sexuality in the person of a culture spanning goddess of love, wisdom and liberation.
January 14, 2025
Beautiful stories and theories but just not what I was looking for when it comes to cultivating a spiritual practice around femininity
November 16, 2022
A self-described ‘spiritual detective’ and academic, Dr Joanna Kujawa is a vibrant, dynamic speaker. So maybe I came to this book with high expectations. And her account of her own spiritual awakening is compelling, as is her refusal to split spirit off from eros – the realm of sexuality and sensual pleasure – while her commitment to exploring her full potential for both is infectious.
Apparently The Other Goddess was published by Haniel Press, an imprint of Sacred Stories Publishing. Yet it looks and reads like a self-published book, because it could have greatly benefited from editing to eliminate needless repetition, errors of grammar and spelling (e.g., ‘sexual rights’ as in rites), and frequent textual glitches.
Kujawa is a confident writer, and her chatty style is engaging, but I soon lost confidence in her method. Her scholarship appears at times to veer towards wishful thinking. ‘I have no doubt,’ she likes to say. ‘I think it’s important to pause here and ask…’ Or: ‘I also love the fact that…’ And: ‘In the end, it’s our call which narrative we choose, which tradition we believe, and which story makes sense to us and restores honor to all its protagonists.’ So I wondered if she’d approached her research with an open mind. She often sounds as if she knew what she was looking for before she found it. But given Kujawa’s closeness to her subject, perhaps that’s inevitable. In fact, Kujawa strongly identifies with the Hindu goddess Sundari.
So I was never quite sure what sort of book I was reading. Kujawa can look like a critical thinker: ‘It’s good to be cautious here, as some other independent researchers on Mary Magdalene have good intentions and intuitions but are a little lax on checking their facts (p. 186).’ Which suggests a commitment to rigour on her part. Yet on the next page, as an example of evidence that ‘Mary Magdalene could have been at least partially Egyptian’, she writes:
Kujawa, who expects other researchers to check their facts, sees no contradiction in treating a long-dead nun’s visions as credible. In similar vein, she then recounts a dream she had while meditating, of Mary Magdalene in Alexandria. Not that her pet beliefs lack appeal. ‘I have a radical theory…’ I simply felt, by the end of The Other Goddess, that I’d learned more about its author than its subject.
Apparently The Other Goddess was published by Haniel Press, an imprint of Sacred Stories Publishing. Yet it looks and reads like a self-published book, because it could have greatly benefited from editing to eliminate needless repetition, errors of grammar and spelling (e.g., ‘sexual rights’ as in rites), and frequent textual glitches.
Kujawa is a confident writer, and her chatty style is engaging, but I soon lost confidence in her method. Her scholarship appears at times to veer towards wishful thinking. ‘I have no doubt,’ she likes to say. ‘I think it’s important to pause here and ask…’ Or: ‘I also love the fact that…’ And: ‘In the end, it’s our call which narrative we choose, which tradition we believe, and which story makes sense to us and restores honor to all its protagonists.’ So I wondered if she’d approached her research with an open mind. She often sounds as if she knew what she was looking for before she found it. But given Kujawa’s closeness to her subject, perhaps that’s inevitable. In fact, Kujawa strongly identifies with the Hindu goddess Sundari.
So I was never quite sure what sort of book I was reading. Kujawa can look like a critical thinker: ‘It’s good to be cautious here, as some other independent researchers on Mary Magdalene have good intentions and intuitions but are a little lax on checking their facts (p. 186).’ Which suggests a commitment to rigour on her part. Yet on the next page, as an example of evidence that ‘Mary Magdalene could have been at least partially Egyptian’, she writes:
Here some interesting information comes from an 18th-century nun, Anne Catherine Emmerich, who claimed to have had visions of Jesus’ life, with the visions also including Mary Magdalene and Lazarus. In this nun’s version of the story, Mary Magdalene was a sister of Lazarus. Their father was supposed to have been a wealthy Egyptian man…
Kujawa, who expects other researchers to check their facts, sees no contradiction in treating a long-dead nun’s visions as credible. In similar vein, she then recounts a dream she had while meditating, of Mary Magdalene in Alexandria. Not that her pet beliefs lack appeal. ‘I have a radical theory…’ I simply felt, by the end of The Other Goddess, that I’d learned more about its author than its subject.
August 13, 2022
Joanna Kujawa brings to us a conundrum. How is it that Christianity, a religion ostensibly about love, seems to have lost touch with her own feminine side? Ancient traditions and knowledge of the divine feminine have been subverted and brutally stripped leaving only a gaping wound that no amount of pontification can fill. What is the spiritual role of today's woman? What was that role in the time of Jesus? And how did he fill that role? These are the questions that Dr Kujawa pursues, and they are vitally important for spiritual men and women to consider today.
August 14, 2022
Dr. Joanna penned a great read that is both entertaining with the stories and educational with the sources cited throughout the book. If you want a new book that explores the hidden history of Mary Magdalene along with some other alternative spiritual ideas and viewpoints, pick up this book!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews