The Bloodline Connection

Bloodline - the documentary. I highly recommend seeing this film. It reads almost like a mystery/spy thriller filmed in the area of Rennes le Chateau, France. I had the opportunity to interview the director Bruce Burgess and producer Rene Barnett on May 15 on my BlogTalkRadio.com/bettye show. This interview is now archived. What is the film about? Ah, this is a film for those who want to know more about the Knights Templar, Priory of Sion, the mystery of Rennes le Chateau, the priest Sauniere and if there is a connection to the bloodline of Mary Magdalene and Jesus.

An Englishman became enamored with the mystery of Rennes le Chateau. He spent a number of years consuming hours of his time researching the clues Sauniere left in the small church at Rennes le Chateau. He found clues and meticulously followed them, which led him to discover a hidden tomb containing a mummified body with a shroud over it. The shroud had a Knights Templar cross on it. The tomb has not been fully excavated at this point in time and there is much, much more to be revealed.

I recently had the opportunity to meet in person, Rene and Bruce at a showing of the documentary in Yelm, Washington. The theater was packed and of course, the audience wanted to hear more. One of the interesting items is that after the film was released in May, a report came back from the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit in the UK and I hope I got the name of this correct. One of the paper clues found was sent for carbon dating and the results came back that it probably was written during the period of Sauniere's life when he was leaving clues of his major discovery.

If there is not a theater near you where you may see this outstanding documentary, you can view the trailer Bloodline on YouTube or the official website, http://www.bloodlinethemovie.com/.

There are interesting questions. Is this mummified body Mary Magdalene? Why was a body buried with a Knights Templar shroud? Will the eventual excavation of the tomb reveal even more startling information? In my books Secrets of the Magdalene Scrolls and Mary Magdalene, Her Legacy I give a portrayal of Mary Magdalene and the beginning of her bloodline that is as plausible as any research I have uncovered. Mary Magdalene represents the divine feminine in each of us, which has been suppressed for years. It is time for the revelation of her greatness come forth. Stay tuned for more is to be revealed.

Two Wins. How Sweet It Is!

Here I am, a two-time book award winner! Yes, it is sweet. In 2006 my first book, Secrets of the Magdalene Scrolls was an Independent Publisher Book Awards Winner (IPPY Award) and in 2008 I was a winner of another Independent Publisher Books Awards for Mary Magdalene, Her Legacy. A blurb about the IPPY Award is as follows: The Independent Publisher Book Awards were conceived in 1996 as a broad-based, unaffiliated awards program open to all members of the independent publishing industry. The awards are intended to bring increased recognition to the thousands of exemplary independent, university, and self-published titles produced each year, and reward those who exhibit the courage, innovation, and creativity to bring about change in the world of publishing.

These awards are validations for my skill as a writer. I published my first book in 2004 and revised it in 2005. Secrets of the Magdalene Scrolls is in the genre of the Da Vinci Code and it has been said much better. Last November I received a Commentary Sheet from the Writer's Digest, which grades books on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 meaning excellent. The judge's commentary is as follows:

Secrets of the Magdalene Scrolls is a tantalizing story depicting the discovery of ancient scrolls about Mary Magdalene and Jesus. Though it covers ome of the same ground as the Da Vinci Code, the writing is infinitely better and far more believable. The heroines in the story are more realistic and the adventures described in a truer voice along with a possible time-line--something very much lacking in Dan Brown's tale. Whether the reader chooses to believe what is revealed in story form or not, the book is entertaining from beginning to end.

The author knows how to write and tell a compelling and convincing story. Hopefully the promotion for this book will be enough to make those who read the Da Vinci Code want to read the Secrets of the Magdalene Scrolls.

It's sequel was released in January 2008. Again, how sweet it is. Both books can be purchased from http://www.magdalenescrolls.com/, http://www.barnes&noble.com/, http://www.bookhitch.com/, http://www.amazon.com/, http://www.silverlife32.com/

It is in every woman to be creative. Not all of us have the same creativity, but it is up to each one to explore and pursue what interests them the most. My passion is writing and I did not allow it to come forth until I was in my early seventies. It is never too late to pursue one's passion.

WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH ~ Rose Wilder Lane

March has been declared Women's History Month and it can be a time to reflect on the legacy women over the ages have left us. I honor each of them and have been a champion of women's rights since the 1970's. In the last century women gained more recognition and rights than they had in previous centuries. For this article, I am choosing to honor Rose Wilder Lane.

Rose Wilder Lane lived from 1886-1968 and was born at DeSmet Dakota Territory to Laura Ingalls and Almanzo Wilder and was an only child. Many will be familiar with the books by her mother, Laura Ingalls Wilder of Little House On the Prairie fame. Some will say that Rose was the ghost writer for her mother's books.

I became acquainted with the writings of Rose Lane when a copy of her book The Discovery of Freedom came into my hands. This book was published in 1945 and it is her research going back six thousand years that is the basis for the book. Rose Wilder Lane traveled extensively and her book paints a picture of wars always being fought all over the world. She alleges that humankind has been ruled by Authority of one kind or another for these six thousand years when it is a human right to be free. Many will say that she was a founder of the Libertarian Party in the United States. The following excerpts from her book:

"...human rights are natural rights, born in every human being with his life, and inseparable from his life; not rights and freedoms that can be granted by any power on earth...Americans hold this truth. This knowledge attacks, and for a hundred and sixty years has been attacking, the very foundation of the Old World. This is the knowledge that the Old World's defenders are now determined to destroy utterly....American Government is not an Authority; it has no control over individeuals and no responsibility for their affairs..."

Her philosophy is that humankind was born with freedom as a right, but the Authority whether it be a king, queen, emperor, president or any government has usurped this god-given right from them.

Her biography indicates she was a prolific writer as well as office clerk, stenographer, telegrapher, newpaper reporter, features writer, advertising writers, farmland salesman, novelist, as well as a Red Cross publicist based in Washington D.C. During the Vietnam war she was a news correspondent for Women's Day in South Vietnam at the age of 78.

Lane traveled extensively throughout the U.S, parts of Canada and the Caribbean, most of Europe as well as countries in the Near East and parts of Russia. King Zog of Albania is said to have wanted to marry her. She affected and changed many lives. For a more in-depth history of Rose Wilder Lane go to www.cate.org/special/threewomen/wilder-lane.html.

Like the butterfly, we find
We can no longer stay behind
Self-made walls of protection.

We struggle to be free,
Breaking the bonds of the self we see,
To soar in a new dimension.
…Anonymous

A QUIET REVOLUTION

Reflections:
The week of July 10-14, 2007 I attended the Third International Women’s Peace Conference in Dallas, Texas. It was a gathering of over 1,000 women from 43 different countries and 32 U.S. states. The gathering focused on peace using non-violent and communicative skills. There was no talk of protests, flag-waving, marches or sit-ins. This was a peaceful gathering.

Chaired by the Hon. Leticia Shahani, Ph.D., former Assistant Secretary-General, United Nations and a former senator from the Philippines and Vivian Castleberry, former reporter and editor who founded Peacemakers, Inc. the conference was dynamic. Over 1,000 women from various ethnic and religious groups met together for a common cause to eradicate the atrocities committed against women and children worldwide and also for women’s voices to be heard. I heard horrendous stories of torture, rape, killing and maiming of children from Burma to Africa, the Middle East, and Bosnia. The army of Burma is known as the School of Rape. Most of us in the U.S. cannot comprehend the horrors perpetuated against children and women. It is inhumane. It was a quiet revolution of women meeting to share and learn about the art of using non-violent methods and to connect with other women world-wide.

I learned about the power of technology. We, here in the U.S. take cell phones for granted. In Africa a woman in a small village uses a cell phone to call other villages to find out what the current price for a goat is because she wants to take her got to market and sell it. By using this technology she becomes a wiser business woman. By using the technology of Internet, women can communicate and become educated.

I previously had a jaded view of the United Nations until I hear Gillian Sorensen, former UN Under-Secretary General, UN Assistant Secretary-General for External Relations and currently Senior Adviser of the UN Foundation, a non-profit organization (NGO). Sorensen told us that the UN is not perfect, but we can make it better. I learned that there are many NGOs working with the humanitarian part of the UN and who are making a difference. One such organization is the Rotary Club, which has been working with the UN to eradicate polio world-wide.

There were three Nobel Peace Prize Laureates giving keynote addresses. The first was Betty Williams who was awarded her Nobel Peace Prize in 1977 for contributing to the ending of the conflict in Northern Island. Today, Northern Ireland is vastly different from the time when she saws three small children killed on the streets of Belfast. Williams’ interests today are the children of the world. She has traveled the world to work for the cessation of murder, rape and atrocities committed against children. She is the founder of the World Center of Compassion for Children International, a non-profit organization.

The second Nobel Peace Laureate to speak was Rigoberta Manchu from Guatemala and a member of the Quiche-Maya ethnic group. She was awarded her Nobel Peace Prize in 1992 for efforts to end the Guatemalan Civil War that began in 1960. Ms Manchu told us that “We can make a light. We can make a difference in the lives of people.” She is running for the office of President in Guatemala this year. She has traveled the world extensively working for peace and is the author of over 30 children’s’ books.
The third Nobel Peace Laureate was Jody Williams from Vermont. Williams was awarded her Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 for her organization’s effort to have landmines outlawed through the Ottawa Treaty. The three notable countries who failed to ratify the treaty are the U.S., China and Russia. Williams said that landmines and cluster bombs kill more civilians than those of the military. She has traveled to Dafur and the genocide there is abominable and she called it the Genocide Olympics.

As I listened to these peaceful warriors, I sensed the time is now for all people to look at their values pertaining to life. It is a time to put aside prejudices, discrimination and hatreds. Each of us on this planet is part of the great quilt called God. Each of us with our various colors, creeds and religious beliefs make up the colorful fabric of this quilt. It would be a dreary world if we were all the same. I found this conference, a quiet revolution, a call to look at values and to revere life.

A WOMAN'S PREROGATIVE TO CHANGE HER MIND

It has only been within the last 100 years since women have made inroads in the realization that a woman has a mind. History has not been kind to women or their intelligence. There are women in history who have left their mark, however they are few and far in between.

What is mind? One could say that mind is an accumulation of knowledge and experiences. Or, some would say it is the level of intelligence. Mind is all of this and how we use our mind determines our level of intelligence. What some may call intelligence could be categorized in levels of intelligence. I will return to this subject later. First, I will share how women have been programmed to think of themselves as lesser beings and how men have been programmed to think they are the superior beings.

Women have for eons been the beings who have been the objects of the most prejudiced of all. It seems as though there has always been prejudice whether it be color, creed, culture or religion. But the one class of the most prejudice has been against women regardless of her color, creed, culture or religion.

It is time now for women to use her prerogative to change her mind. The word prerogative is used without most of us really thinking about its meaning. I grew up saying perogative, however I have since learned that this is a misspelling and a mispronouncing. Somehow I prefer perogative – a personal choice. I have often said over the years when questioned as to why I made a decision to do something different other than what I had first said and my reply was “It’s a woman’s perogative to change her mind.”

According to Dictionary.com, the correct definition is An exclusive right or privilege held by a person or group, especially a hereditary or official right.
We do have the right to change your mind.

A REVOLUTION OF ATTITUDES

Bettye Johnson ©

** This is not a calling forth a revolution of violence or controversy. It is not promoting the bashing of men. Bashing of men is counter-productive to women’s evolution. There are men who respect and love women. Their numbers at this time are too small to truly change the bias against women.
** Working for equal rights is a long and arduous road. I have written about the plight of women all over the world because the attitudes of men toward women has not changed in many countries and is slowly changing in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and European countries. This isn’t about equal rights. This is about a change of attitudes of men towards women; women about themselves; women towards men; and men about themselves. It is a revolution of attitudes.
** Women need to recognize they have aided and abetted these attitudes the majority of men have towards women by believing they were less than and deferring to men. We have to change our attitudes about living as victims. We cannot expect change until we change our attitudes and our outlook on the world. Change must begin with a change of individual attitudes.
**A new religion appears to be replacing the standard religions. The new religion is Corporate America who controls all the advertising we are blitzed with in our newspapers, periodicals, television and radio. We are led to believe that being sexy will make us happy. Taking this drug or that drug will alleviate stress, bloated stomach and other aches and pains will make us well and happy. All it does is cover up the symptom but never cure the root cause. We think must have the best and most beautiful auto vehicle. We are a debt-enslaved nation.
**It appears younger women in the United States have more freedom than their mothers or their grandmothers had. The senior women have deferred to their husbands all their married life. Many still vote according to the way their husbands vote. Younger women and girls as well as the older women are distracted and enslaved by the media blitz, which includes television and the movies. These women must be thin, beautiful and alluring according to what the media dictates.
**Have you noticed that there is an over abundance of overweight women, children and men? In their subconscious they know thin, beautiful and sexy is not all it is cracked up to be. Frustration, doubt, fear sets in and the obesity gene are triggered. The advertisement world has a field day with a diet for this and a diet for that. Diets don’t work because the basic attitudes do not change. Diets are only a form of self-punishment.
**In the United States the medical and pharmaceutical professions enslave the majority of the populace. On week days usually beginning at 7 A.M. all over the country the parking lots of medical buildings are filled with autos and these are not hospitals. The United States has the largest concentration of sick people other than those in the third world countries where starvation, war and pestilence are killing them.
**There must be a change of consciousness in this world for humans to survive. The Earth will survive, as Mother Nature will see to that. We are on the cutting edge and to survive turbulent times we must rise above the issues of war and enslavement. Let this change begin with the women and those men who are open-minded. Change will come with a change of attitudes.

ENSLAVEMENT ATTITUDES:

~ I need a man to make me happy. Have you ever asked yourself why? Women have been programmed by attitudes, input from religions, books, movies, and television that every woman should have a man. Could it be a subconscious program that the only worth you will know is having a husband or a significant other in your life.
~ Men are more intelligent than women. Really? And who decided that? Women haven’t had a chance to develop their intelligence. However that is changing and more and more women are using their intelligence. In many cases, it is still an uphill climb for women. Sr. Francis Crick won a Nobel Prize for his discovery re the DNA when he actually stole it from a woman scientist. Albert Einstein has become a sacred icon and it is not known to many that he had the help of his first wife. He didn’t do it alone.
~ Since God created Adam first, then man is superior to women. If one were to reason this ancient attitude that has been carried down through the ages, one would realize that if Adam was created first, then the woman was the evolution of the first being. It is the woman who carries the seed of the child. Why did Eve tempt Adam? She was asking him to join with her in seeking the tree of knowledge. Was Adam a dummy? And who was the serpent? In ancient lore and wisdom, the serpent is wisdom. I grew up believing that woman was put on Earth to serve man. I have moved far away from that attitude/belief.
~ Man must be the breadwinner of the family. This attitude and belief goes back eons when in actuality, women were the ones who labored while the men hunted. Yes, the men ‘brought home the bacon’, but women labored to keep the household and family from falling apart. This is also changing. Today in the U.S. a marriage is usually a two-job family. Much of it is done to ‘keep up with the Jones. The population has been given through advertising that the family must have all the luxuries that their parents didn’t have. ’
~ I must be alluring and sexy to appeal to a man. This attitude has been fostered by Corporate America, which includes the garment designers, cosmetics, and entertainment world. If one were to really think about it, to follow the dictates of advertising, one is giving her power away. What is wrong with natural?
~ The man is the decision-maker. Again, this is programming. Society has been a patriarchal power for too many eons. It is time for women to take back their power and demand an equal say. Of course, in the marketplace it might not work. Women can change this by developing their intelligence and create businesses where they can be their own decision-makers.
~ Since my husband, partner, lover likes sports, and then I should too. Why? I have seen too many give away their power to their mate for the sake of togetherness and to have something in common.
~ The woman’s place is in the home. Again, why? If a woman chooses to be a stay-at-home mother/wife – then the only reason should be that it is her sincere choice. There are some women who abhor the thought of going out into the workplace. I have an idea that this goes back to women being in a harem perhaps in some past life. I ask, is this using their intelligence and expanding it?
~ It’s o.k. for women’s to teach Sunday school, and religious classes, however they are not qualified to be a priest, minister and in some cases a rabbi.
~ Father knows best. Really? Not if it means the woman's ideas and knowing are considered. I had two husbands who would argue with me that I was wrong on different issues and when I was proven right, each told me, "Even when you are wrong, you are right." Women, stick to your knowing! It is time to stop giving your power away. I have done it in the past and never more. It never pays to force a point of view just to be stubborn. That is not a productive attitude. It is to look at both sides of the coin and choose an intelligent reason.

**Attitudes are choices. None of us needs to be a bulldozer to have it our way. When we are wrong, we should admit it although no one likes to 'eat crow.' The Revolution of Attitudes is the journey within each of us. We have choices. We can be miserable, a whiner or we can be happy and productive – and powerful. The choice is ours.

Science and the Female

Books and articles that place women beneath men have subjugated women for eons and are tiresome. In writing my book. Secrets of the Magdalene Scrolls about Mary Magdalene, I found it a challenge to find any credible history of that era. The information available has been written by men and for the most part, men who were monks. That should tell us something. Some claim to have evidence of the genealogy of the bloodline of Mary Magdalene and Jesus and this is even more interesting. There is no documentation that I can find. Men put the so-called reputable charts together and only once in a great while a name was given for the mother. Thus, it became that the lineage was handed down from king to king. This in itself is suspect and I wonder if these kings and men of royalty were hatched in an incubator.

Science today is indicating that this is not so. There is scientific evidence from archaeology combined with the study of the DNA and genes that it is a possibility women and men came from one woman nicknamed Eve. The primary piece of evidence is called mitochondria

An article by Rebecca Cann of the University of Hawaii, together with her two male coworkers, stunned the scientific world when it was published in the British journal Nature on January 1, 1987. The article, Mitochondrial DNA and Human Evolution, alleges that all people living on Earth now can date their ancestry back to 200,000 years ago to a particular woman living at that time. Since that article was published, there have been other scientific studies and subsequent research alleges it could have been a group of women. What does this mean for women?

It means that the hereditary maternal DNA is carried by the mitochondria, which is passed from mother to daughter. Any mitochondria in the male sperm dies and is not passed to the daughters or the sons. Therefore, if a man and woman have only sons, the woman’s mitochondria carrying the lineage dies out. When a son with no female sibling marries a woman and they have a daughter, then the son's wife's mitochondria DNA is passed down. From my perspective, it would be quite onerous to trace the lineage unless one knew who the females were.

What is the mitochondrial? From the science reports I have researched, the general consensus is that it carries the power of the energy of a cell. It could also be called the power generator of the cell. The mitochondria also have other functions, but for the purpose of this article, I want to emphasize the importance it has in tracing a lineage because the mitochondria also has its own DNA.

I find it a tragedy that down through the ages and today in some cultures, it is the male child that is desired and in some cultures the female baby is killed. Because of the attitudes of the men of history, almost all knowledge of powerful and wonderful women has been either suppressed or eradicated. In some instances women such as Mary Magdalene, Lucretia Borgia, Marie Antoinette have been portrayed as either sinners or in unflattering terms. I chose to portray Mary Magdalene as a powerful woman in her own right and I used my research to write this story in novel form. She was the wife of Jesus and they had two children.

I find it interesting that I have three sons and therefore my mitochondria are not passed down. It stops with me. However my sister had three girls and they will carry on the line. My granddaughters now carry the maternal lineage through their mothers’ mitochondria. I primarily raised my sons alone, as their father was a career military man and away two-thirds of our married life. This arrangement gave me the opportunity to raise my sons as I wanted to and they have all grown into splendid men. They are loving, caring men and are not prejudice against women.

We, the women must take the responsibility of teaching our sons and daughters that each is an equal. It can begin in the womb. While carrying a child in the womb, the woman can speak to it and begin the teaching along with playing classical music. A fetus is aware in the womb. Now, that is another study in itself. To teach our children means we cannot use the old terms used by so many that only re-program.

This is a powerful time in history. On the one hand, women and children are being raped, maimed and killed in various parts of the world. And yet, there is an awakening and I don't think it will be possible to keep women suppressed for too many more years. Each of us must take responsibility to do what we can to end this prejudice and enslavement of women. We are powerful. We are the hope of the world.

For further research, I recommend reading Zechariah Sitchen’s book The Lost Book of Enki. An excellent website is from a NOVA documentary, Tracing Ancestry Through MTDNA, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/neanderthals/mtdna.html