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Books Related to The Woman with the Alabaster Jar Margaret Starbird - ISBN: 1879181037
Thought provoking. - Rated
When Margaret Starbird read the Holy Blood and the Holy Grail she was infuriated by it and decided to do some of her own research to refute it. However she found herself caught up in the story and with her own variant on it. Unfortunately some of the sources she found weren't particualarly historical or accurate and some of her leaps of faith are a bit overdone.
To my mind sometimes a flower is just a flower. There are many examples of artisans finding particular shapes and colours that just appealed to them, and I'm sure they could have done in their sleep to fill in backgrounds. I stitch myself and I find myself being attracted to some of the same imagery over and over, sometimes I look deeper for the meaning but sometimes that pattern just plain appeals to me. I'm sure it was the same with some of the papermakers that Starbird mentions in the book. There may have been some who had meaning but there may have been others who just picked a shape because it was easy, well known, had a relationship with their master or just plain appealed to them.
And this is the main flaw of the book. Just because an image has certain meanings to certain people does not mean that everyone imbues it with that meaning. Just because certain people or peoples imbue certain items with certain meanings does not mean that all people do the same.
It may be that Jesus married Mary Magdalene, and some of the arguments for are quite compelling (the fact that non-married men were a rarity and that this would have been mentioned in the Bible is one of many); but we may never know the truth. The truth at the moment is that Christianity has ignored the female and the feminine for a long time and this is begining to be something they may not be able to ignore for much longer.
This book gained a few points for making me think but lost some for it's slightly rigid view of the feminine and the masculine. Some of the flights of literary fancy are a little overwritten, but her heart is in the right place.
wishful thinking - Rated
I was very disappointed with this book. The first quarter was interesting and easy to read but after that it was a struggle. I felt the author was almost grasping at straws a lot of the time and trying to justify her theories and not doing it very convincingly, and, as a consequence, leaving the reader doubting her argument.It appeared to be the author needing to convince herself any way possible to the extent that even Walt Disney's The Little Mermaid had some sort of mystical message - for me that was the final straw !
the meek - Rated
.... i think the argument over whether jesus had a wife and kids has become too much the subject of global focus with regard to the davinci code etc ..... when actually the ultimate focus and conclusion of that book and in the end this one is not whether there is phorensic proof jesus bloodline of which both authors agree there is none ..... but as a more general point that our over yang`d culture needs some yin ....
some yielding , allowing , gentler , intuitive feminine energy and balance for our excessively solar male dominant western culture which has lead to the domination and destruction of our habitat and the excessively macho self entrenched agressive position of our politicans and global government .......
the impact of capital as a winner takes all strategy rather than an aproach which could be one world / one family mutually beneficial for all of humanity is very much a male energy out of balance point of view .....
"the watercourse way " by alan watts makes a similar point from a fluid spontaneous tauist perspective and of course check out lau tsu`s " the tau te ching " for ageless and timeless wisdom of the tau from a wise old man who , legend has it walked up a mountain and out of a gate into the next world leaving behind this book .....
the stream wears away the mountain and thus the weak overcomes the strong....... the meek are indeed inheriting the earth
their trumpet breaks the rock
Preceeds "Da Vinci Code" - Rated
Margaret Starbird presents an alternative arguement as to who Mary Magdelene was, what her relationship to Jesus was and her role within his entourage. The book is well written and is more than an interesting, thought provoking read. Other Amazon reviewers of this book seem to believe that this book follows on from the Da Vinci Code, when in fact was actually published 10 years before the release of Dan Brown's novel.
The mystery and its implications - Rated
This book continues exploring the subject of the Holy Blood and the Holy Grail and the Da Vinci Code. Starbird has approached this subject slightly differently than other authors which is what makes this book so special. Amongst other things Starbird takes a look at the symbolism of watermarks from familys in the south of France and takes a closer look at the myths and legends and there hidden meanings.The secret messages in Botticelli's paintings cannot be ignored especially with his possible position as a grand master of the Prior of Sion. Other interesting subjects that tie in with the holy grail theory are the mysterious black madonnas that are found across Europe. Most importantly the subject of the sacred feminine is discussed in full and the author has some very interesting theories about the effects of religions that have one male deity which are more valid today than they ever have been.
