Demon-possessed? According to the Gospels Mary Magdalen was possessed by seven demons. Jesus exorcised her, and she became his follower. Some modern scholars speculate that exorcism was a first century precursor to psychotherapy, and that Jesus cured Mary Magdalen of mental illness.

Prostitute? “Her sins are forgiven for she loved much.” This remark of Jesus’ about the unidentified woman of questionable reputation who washed his feet with her tears has become part of Mary Magdalen’s lore. In fact, there is no scriptural evidence that she was a prostitute, though this view of her became popular in the Middle Ages. On the other hand, she was an unattached woman, without husband or family, and with some means of her own. It is quite possible that she was a prostitute. Jesus also preached that prostitutes would enter the kingdom before the self-righteous and hypocritical.

Disciple? Mary Magdalen has been called the disciple to the disciples, because in all the Gospels she was one of the first to receive the news of the Resurrection, and in the Gospel of John, she encounters Jesus alone, face to face, and he admonishes her to tell the others.

Favorite Disciple?: The non-canonical gospels of Thomas, Philip, and Mary report that Peter, in particular, was resentful of the favor Jesus showed Mary, and he and other disciples were aghast at esoteric teachings Mary claimed Jesus had transmitted to her. Some scholars speculate that Jesus intended Mary, not Peter, to succeed him as teacher.

Lover? “Jesus liked to kiss Mary Magdalen often upon the mouth,” reports the Gospel of Thomas. According to scholar Bruce Chilton, the kiss could have been the kiss of teacher to disciple. Many people have speculated that Mary Magdalen was also Jesus’ lover as well as his disciple.

Bride? Since the Middle Ages some people have held what the Roman Catholic Church considers the heretical view that Mary Magdalen was the secret bride of Jesus. To protect their child she fled with Martha and Lazarus (in this legend her brother and sister) to France where their descendants founded the Merovingian line. She is thus identified with the Holy Grail or Sangreal (sacred bloodline). The Cathars were persecuted for this belief. It has since been popularized again in Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code.

Relic? Mary Magdalen’s bones are on display in various churches in Southern France. They were all unearthed in the Middle Ages when people believed that saints’ bones, hair, fingernail clippings could work miracles. Her alleged skull is on display in the Basilica of St Maximin in Southern France. It is paraded on her feast day, July 22^nd.

Black Madonna? All over Europe there are Black Madonnas. Many people believe this dark mother represents not the Virgin Mary but Mary Magdalen, the hidden mother of Jesus’s secret child.