REGARDING MARGARET STARBIRD

Today I received a comment posted on the Guestbook of my website www.magdalenescrolls.com. The one who posted the comment asked if I had read the books of Starbird and saying that she lived in Washington State. The guest commenter went on to ask why don't I get together with Starbird - or something to that effect.

This brought up a memory reaching back to 2005. I had just published the first edition of Secrets of the Magdalene Scrolls. I listed Starbird's book "Woman With the Alabaster Jar" in my bibliography. I met another author who suggested that she, Starbird and myself create a documentary regarding our views and research on Mary Magdalene. Each of us had different approaches. Starbird was approached and thought it was a good idea, however after asking her publisher, Inner Traditions, she declined following the dictates of her publisher.

Yes, I knew Starbird lived in Washington State and I admire her for what she has written. The commenter wrote that Starbird was a student of divinity. I am a retired ordained minister of Divine Science and for those of you not familiar with Divine Science, it was founded by three women in the early part of the last century. There were a number of great teachers and books that were spawned by Divine Science, i.e. Dr. Joseph Murphy who authored The Power of the Subconscious Mind to name one.

I have done extensive research on the background of Mary Magdalene and Jesus, and also the Bible. I have also written articles on my research and my research uncovered a different history than what the traditional so-called authorities found. I submitted my 2nd edition of Secrets of the Magdalene Scrolls to The Writers Digest competition and although I was not a winner, I was a winner - the reason being that the judge gave me a hi-5 in all five categories and had this to say in answer to questions posed:

What did you like best about this book?
"Secrets of the Magdalene Scrolls is a tantalizing story depicting the discovery of ancient scrolls about Mary Magdalene and Jesus. Though it covers some 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 choose to believe what is revealed in story form or not, the book is entertaining from beginning to end."
How can the author improve this book?
"No suggestions--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."

Having received awards for Secrets of the Magdalene Scrolls and Mary Magdalene, Her Legacy, I don't know if having been part of a documentary with Margaret Starbird would have benefited me. On the other hand, the book could have been made into a movie or a mini-tv series. However, I am not ruling it out as anything is possible.

RITA LEVI-MONTALCINI – A TRIBUTE
This Nobel Prize winner for Medicine in 1986, truly deserves high praise and a tribute. On April 22, 2009, she reaches the century mark of 100 years. Levi-Montalcini is still working and to quote her, "At 100, I have a mind that is superior—thanks to experience—than when I was 20." That is quite a statement and it is also encouragement for women and men to seek knowledge and expand their minds.

From her autobiography, she writes that her twin sister Paola and she were born in Turin, Italy on the 22 of April 1909 – the youngest of four children. Her father was an electrical engineer and gifted mathematician. Her mother Adela Montalcini was a talented painter. She goes on to say that she and her siblings grew up in a wonderful family atmosphere "filled with love and reciprocal devotion." Although her father had a great respect for women, he felt that his three daughters should not pursue studies that would lead to a professional career.

Levi-Montalcini writes that at age twenty she realized she could not "possibly adjust to a feminine role as conceived by my father, and asked him permission to engage in a profession career. In eight months I filled my gaps in Latin, Greek and mathematics, graduated from high school and entered medical school in Turin." In 1936 she graduated from medical school with a summa cum laude degree in Medicine and Surgery. She then enrolled in a three-year specialization in neurology and psychiatry.

One would surmise that the way was clear at that point, however in 1936 Mussolini issued the "Manifesto per la Difesa della Razza, " which was signed by ten Italian scientists. What followed were laws barring academic and professional careers to "non-
Aryan Italian citizens" – in other words, Jews. She then moved to Belgium as a guest of a neurological institute and return to Italy just before the Germans entered Belgium.

Not to be defeated in her desire to pursue her chosen career, she created a research unit in her bedroom. In her autobiography, Levi-Montalcini goes on to describe living in Italy during the bombing by Anglo-American forces and when in 1944 the Anglo-American forces forced the Germans out, she was hired as a medical doctor by the Anglo-American Headquarters, and assigned to a camp of war refugees keeping busy by epidemics of infectious diseases.

This outstanding woman continued her studies and career after the end of the war and an invitation to work with Viktor Hamburger Rita Levi-Montalcini to join him at Washington University and investigate what seemed to be substantial differences in trophic effects on embryonic sensory and motor neurons. This collaboration led to the first identification of a developmental growth factor, Nerve Growth Factor, which is essential for the differentiation and survival of many sensory and sympathetic (but not motor) neurons. This opportunity led Rita into a new direction leading to her Nobel Prize award.

In her words, "I should thank Mussolini for having declared me to be of an inferior race. This led me to the joy of working, not any more unfortunately, in university institutes, but in a bedroom. Above all, don't fear difficult moments. The best comes from them."

A HYMN TO WOMEN

The following is from the book “Jesus in India” by Nicholas Notovitch. His book was published in1854 after his trip to India. While there, Notovitch gained access to manuscripts in a Lamasery at Himis. He had journeyed there because he had heard of Saint Issa, which was their name for Jesus. Jesus was revered in India and many of his teachings were written down.

The manuscripts at Himis were only a few that had been held in other lamaseries in India and possibly in Tibet. I find it sad that these have been hidden away in lamaseries for hundreds of years and only a few of the privileged knew of them. The Christian world has been kept in ignorance that Jesus actually traveled to India and lived there for 18 years before he returned to Jerusalem. These are teachings that the world needs to be aware of. Here are his teachings about women:

“It is not good for a son to push away his mother, that he may occupy the place which belongs to her. Whoso doth not respect his mother—the most sacred being after his God—is unworthy of the name of son.

“Hearken to what I say to you: Respect woman; for in her we see the mother of the universe, and all the truth of divine creation is to come through her.

“She is the fount of everything good and beautiful, as she is also the germ of life and death. Upon her man depends in all his existence, for she is his moral and natural support in his labors.

“In pain and suffering she brings you forth; in the sweat of her brow she watches over your growth, and until her death you cause her greatest anxieties. Bless her and adore her, for she is your only friend and support on earth.

“Respect her; defend her. In so doing you will gain for yourself her love; you will find favor before God, and for her sake many sins will be remitted to you.

“Love your wives and respect them, for they will be mothers of tomorrow and later the grandmothers of a whole nation.

“Be submissive to the wife; her love ennobles man, softens his hardened heart, tames the wild beast in him and changes it to a lamb.

“Wife and mother are the priceless treasures which God has given to you. They are the most beautiful ornaments of the universe, and from them will be born all who will inhabit the world.

“Even as the Lord of Hosts separated the light from darkness, and the dry land from the waters, so does woman possess the divine gift of calling forth out of man’s evi8l nature all the good that is in him.

“Therefore I say unto you, after God, to woman must belong your best thoughts, for she is the divine temple where you will most easily obtain perfect happiness.

“Draw from this temple your moral force. There you will forget your sorrows and your failures, and recover the love necessary to aid your fellow men.

“Suffer her not to be humiliated, for by humiliating her you humiliate yourselves, and lose the sentiment of love, without which nothing can exist here on earth.
“Protect your wife, that she may protect you—you and all your household. All that you do for your mothers, your wives, for a widow, or for any other woman in distress, you will do for your God.”

EASTER - HAVE YOU RISEN?

In the Christian world, we celebrate Good Friday – the day that Jesus supposedly was crucified and then the following Sunday, Jesus rose from the dead. I find it interesting that the two events never are celebrated on the same day of the month as we do Christmas, Thanksgiving and Presidents' Day. Easter Sunday is the day when many deck themselves out in new clothes and go to church even though they rarely go throughout the year.

When a lie is told enough times, and accepted, then it becomes a truth. Later when facts and truth are revealed, the believers cry blasphemy! This is not saying that Jesus did not die or that he ascended. It is possible. When I headed this article "Easter – Have You Risen?" – it is in the context that have you taken responsibility for your past mistakes, errors and sins?

From the Christian pulpits, it is reiterated over-and-over that Christ died for our sins. I do not accept that, because Jesus came in as a mortal man and when he died, it was some years later that the Apostle Paul labeled him Christ. No one at the time of his death accepted that he was a divine being. It was a mortal man that gave Jesus the label of Christ. Mortal men wrote and preached this unproven story. I cannot accept that one man could die for the sins of the world. One only has to look at the turmoil in the world today.

For centuries this story has been perpetuated from the pulpits and in the Catholic Church. It is a rule in the Catholic Church that people must go to confession and confess their sins to a priest who is also a mortal man. After confessing, the person(s) leave and go out and repeat their actions again. It does not make sense to place the burden of forgiveness and atonement to one man. Isn't it time that everyone took responsibility for his or her actions and their sins?

Isn't it time we took Jesus down from the cross and placed him in a position where we apply what he taught in our lives? It would appear that from the pulpits that Satan took over and we hear more about Satan or the Devil than we hear the teaching of "Do unto others as you would have them to unto you." Another great teaching is "Love your neighbor as yourself." Both of these great statements are in the Sermon of the Mount – the 5th, 6th and 7th chapters of the Book of Matthew.
From the pulpits, rarely is it taught to not discriminate against people or their beliefs. Nor is it taught to allow others their beliefs and life styles. Instead, each sect of Christianity thinks their particular peephole of the whole is the only way and that if others do not believe as they do, then it is a sin and these disbelievers are of the devil. Where does love come in? Where does treating others the way one wants to be treated come in? Where does the freedom for women enter?
Shakespeare wrote in his play Julius Caesar, "The evil men do lives after them, and the good is oft interred in their bones." The evil men do leaves a trail – a wreckage of lives and we cannot blame it on the Devil or Satan. As Harry Truman said, "The buck stops here."

The celebration of Easter originally come from the pagans who revered life, the earth and celebrated it at the vernal equinox in honor of the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eastre or Eostre. She was the goddess of fertility and life in all things. Yes, she represents the feminine aspect of life and fertility. The early Christian fathers hi-jacked this sacred event for their own purposes.

Now, more than ever is the time we each take responsibility for our own life and actions. We cannot respect or love another until we love our self and respect who we are. Life is an inward journey looking out. What do we see? What we see in another is something that is within self. Why not look for the god in everyone? Why not look for something beautiful in another? Why not do random acts of kindness? Whatever we do, will lift us and return to us a thousand fold. Then we can say, "I have risen."

NATIONAL FRIENDSHIP WEEK

Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven't thought about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it was coming or are too rigid to depart from their routine.

I got to thinking one day about all those women on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back. From then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible.

How many women out there will eat at home because their husband didn't suggest going out to dinner until after something had been thawed? Does the word 'refrigeration' mean nothing to you?

How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat in silence while you watched 'Jeopardy' on television?

I cannot count the times I called my sister and said, 'How about going to lunch in a half hour?' She would gas up and stammer, 'I can't. I have clothes on the line. My hair is dirty. I wish I had known yesterday, I had a late breakfast, It looks like rain.' And my personal favorite: 'It's Monday.' She died a few years ago. We never did have lunch together.

Because Americans cram so much into their lives, we tend to schedule our headaches. We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when all the conditions are perfect!

We'll go back and visit the grandparents when we get Steve toilet-trained. We'll entertain when we replace the living-room carpet... We'll go on a second honeymoon when we get two more kids out of college.

Life has a way of accelerating as we get older. The days get shorter, and the list of promises to ourselves gets longer. One morning, we awaken, and all we have to show for our lives is a litany of 'I'm going to,' 'I'll let you know,' 'I plan on,' and 'Someday, when things are settled down a bit.'

When anyone calls my 'seize the moment' friend, she is open to adventure and available for trips. She keeps an open mind on new ideas. Her enthusiasm for life is contagious. You talk with her for five minutes, and you're ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of Roller blades and skip an elevator for a bungee cord..

My lips have not touched ice cream in 10 years. I love ice cream. It's just that I might as well apply it directly to my stomach with a spatula and eliminate the digestive process The other day, I stopped the car and bought a triple-Decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have died happy.

Now...go on and have a nice day. Do something you WANT to......not something on your SHOULD DO list. If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting?

Make sure you read this to the end; you will understand why I sent this to you.

Have you ever watched kids playing on a merry go round or listened to the rain lapping on the ground? Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight or gazed at the sun into the fading night? Do you run through each day on the fly? When you ask ' How are you?' Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done, do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores running through your head? Ever told your child, 'We'll do it tomorrow.' And in your haste, not see his sorrow? Ever lost touch? Let a good friendship die? Just call to say 'Hi?

When you worry and hurry through your day, it is like an unopened gift....Thrown away..... Life is not a race Take it slower. Hear the music before the song is over.

It's National Friendship Week.. Show your friends how much you care. Send this to everyone you consider a FRIEND. If it comes back to you, then you'll know you have a circle of friends.

To those I have sent this to... I cherish our friendship and appreciate all you do.
'Life may not be the party we hoped for... but while we are here we might as well dance! - Anonymous

SNAP, CRACKLE, POP

SNAP, CRACKLE AND POP
Here it is January! The snow has melted and today it is rainy, windy and great to be by the fire crackling in my wood stove. However, as I was sitting looking into the fire a memory came to me of a hot - and I mean hot summer day in Houston, Texas with no air conditioning. In those days most people rarely had air conditioning. We had swamp coolers - or window fans where the water trickled over it. However, that is not necessarily my memory - only a side effect.

This was during the days of women wearing girdles to tuck their tummies in when all it did was push the excess fat up to the waist. I was working in Houston, Texas where the humidity was at a high level and I had worn a new girdle to work. Of course, the office had no air conditioning. The girdle was a new edition from Playtex, which was a rubber perforated girdle.

I put off going to the bathroom as long as possible and finally I had no recourse but to go. Somehow I managed to get the girdle down and sighed with relief. Then when it came to pulling it up again, I began the struggle and this began with a snap, a crackle and a pop. Lordy, lordy, I thought I was going to die because it wouldn't move up over my sweating abdomen. I finally realized it just was not going to work, so I managed to get it down to my ankles and with a big sigh I stepped out of it and threw it in the trash bin.

As I walked out, there were several men standing next to the water cooler smirking. I almost flipped them off, but with a flip of my head I managed to walk to my desk breathing with relief and to hell with wearing girdles.

THE FORK IN THE ROAD

THE FORK IN THE ROAD - Bettye Johnson (Copyright)

One morning I awoke and knew this was the day I would seek my future. I looked around my house and already noticed the cobwebs and dust forming and I told myself, 'this is the past.' I walked outside and became aware the atmosphere seemed different. I shrugged my shoulders and went outside the gate without closing it. As I walked on the road, everything appeared to be different. It was the same, but not the same. Strange. My energy was high and I felt a lightness in my chest, or as some would say, my heart. I became unaware of time and as I became aware of the road, I noticed it began to narrow. Soon I came to a fork in the road.

Perplexed, I paused to ponder which path I would take. Hmm, two paths. Is this what is meant in the old song "I'll take the high road and you'll take the low road…?" Swiftly my decision came and I chose the road to the right. After what seemed a long time, I came to a river with a path bridge over it. I was about to step on it, when a troll-like figure came out from under the bridge and shouted to me, "Halt! Ye cannot pass until you pay the toll!"

I was amazed at this little figure with his gnarled body something like an old wizened stunted tree. He stood there glaring up at me. He only came to my knee. Looking at me from under busy brows and eyes somewhat beady, he held out a blackened pot. "In here," he said in a booming, crackly-like voice. "Yew'll not pass until yew pay me a toll."

Upon realizing I had not brought any money with me, I showed him my empty pockets. "I, I have no money to pay you," I managed to say while he glared at me with baleful eyes. "I want none of yare money. T'would do me no good. No, I want yare hidden treasure – that which yew thinks none would know." And he cackled a loud booming sort of laugh.

"I, I don't understand what you mean by hidden treasure." I stood perplexed while my mind was working in a flash review to understand what hidden treasure this troll might want. He continued to glare and finally said, "I want all yare guilt. I want all yare hidden, shameful acts. I want all yare jealousies." He again cackled an odd-like laugh while continuing to hold the pot before me. Searching within my memory, old hurts and resentments began surfacing. The odd troll cackled his raucous laugh again. "He, he. Spit 'em out. Spit 'em out in the pot. T'will give me a feast to eat this day."

Slowly I began spitting the words out into the pot. I finally felt emptied. "Yare holding back!" he shouted as he jumped up and down. "Spit it out! Spit it out!" Again, I searched within my mind and I remembered I had found a coin purse on the sidewalk in a far off place when I was so young and unworldly. I had not attempted to find the owner and kept it. It had bought me a bag of candy. Could this be it? I thought. The wizened old troll cackled it again. Ye see? Ye did have one more old treasure and I want it. Spit it out!" Following his directions, I spit it in the pot and looked at him.

Still cackling his raucous laugh, he stepped aside and I crossed the bridge. I noticed the road was getting wider and the landscape appeared to be bright with a shining sun. I became aware of a field of flowers that were the colors of the rainbow and my heart began palpitating with excitement. I was approaching another river and there was a footbridge to cross, but ahead of me on the bridge stood a regal figure in a long robe. In his hand, he held a staff carved with many symbols. As I neared, he held the staff up and shouted, "Ye cannot pass this way!" Shocked with surprise, I halted. Somehow, I knew he was a wizard with his long white beard and silvery white hair that flowed down to his shoulders. Of course, he wore a long midnight blue robe trimmed in gold at the hem, the edges of the sleeves and around the neck. Then I looked into his eyes and could not move my eyes away from his. I felt I locked into a vise of power and I was.

Somehow, I found my voice and asked him if he was a wizard. "And what if I am?" he replied. I managed to stammer that I was seeking my future and surely crossing this bridge would assist me. Never moving his eyes away from mine, I felt him smile a bit. With a flash, he disappeared and there before me was an old bent man wearing what looked to appear as old threadbare pants and shirt with tears and holes in them. His long white hair was a tangled mess and his long beard was yellowed and as he opened his mouth, I noticed gaping spaces where there should have been teeth. He was holding a branch of a tree as his staff. I gasped and found myself speechless. "So ye want to see a wizard. And what do yew think a wizard should look like? Suddenly with a quick flick of his staff, my eyes were released from him and instantly in front of me was an old woman dressed in the long midnight blue robe trimmed in gold. Her hair was white as snow and was wrapped around her head in a braid. A gold crown was perched on the top of her head. Beside him – uh her was a stand with a big thick book opened to a page. I gulped and I think my eyes bugged out. With a tinkly-like chuckle, she asked me whom I was expecting. I was so flabbergasted that I could not answer.

She smiled in a gentle way and asked me, "Do you think all wizards are men? Don't you know that there is a large cadre of female wizards?" I shook my head with a no nod and she continued speaking. "We are the Sisterhood of the Way." The way? I was about to ask about the way when with a long pointy finger, she began turning the pages. "Hmm," she uttered. "Here is a future that might fit you. I see some trouble in this one."

"Trouble?" I squeaked. "Oh no sir, I mean madam , I do not want trouble. I have lived enough trouble in the past."

Looking at the book again, she turned a few more pages and I strained to see what kind of writing it was, but all I saw were blank pages. This perplexed me and I was about to say something when she stopped on a page and muttered, "This might fit what you are looking for." Quickly I asked, "Are there any wars?"

"Wars?" The wizard looked at me sadly before replying further. "Yes, there are wars but not major ones."

"Oh no, I cannot live that future. There has to be something more. I have seen all the wars I need to see." I replied.

With her long pointy finger, she turned some more pages. "Ah, here is one that fits you," she said as she again looked at me with is deep piercing eyes that were dark as dark as can be."Yes, it could be the one just for you."

I managed to say in a small voice, "What will this future be madam?" I really did not know how to address a wizard of the Way.

Now her eyes began twinkling a bit, as she looked at me. "This future is about the merging of science and spirituality into one."

"But madam, how can that be? There are so many religions and different ideologies." I managed to say.

"Ah, but that is changing in this future." The wizard looked at me with a sparkle in her eyes and went on to say, "It really depends on your level of acceptance."

"Acceptance?" I managed to stutter.

"Aye, acceptance." Too many people have a low level of acceptance and fail to see the miracles that abound around them."

"But madam, how can one see a miracle?"

The wizard locked her eyes on mine and I felt as though my feet were glued to the ground. "That's because the inner eyes are stuck on the past and the inner eye cannot see the miracles. You must turn away from the past. This is why you took the right fork in the road. You want a future and I have seen it for you. It is up to you to live it."

"But, how can I live it when I'm not sure what it is?" I managed to stutter.

"Ah, that is the journey and its mysteries to be unveiled. Before you leave, I will give you magic words. These can be used for either good or bad. It is up to you to remember the right use. These magic words are 'I Am.' These two powerful words determine your future."

"I am?" I squeaked with trepidation.

"Yes, I Am. If you were to say 'I Am tired' then you will be tired. However, if you were to say "I Am filled with energy,' then you will feel energetic. When you think I Am, remember to use it for what you want and never for what you do not want." The wizard looked at her book again. "Here are two more words that are powerful when used correctly, 'I know.' As an example, you can tell yourself, 'I know the right path to take," and you always will. The wizard closed her book and she moved aside so I could cross the bridge. I was about to step on to the bridge when she said, "P.S. Never look back. There are more forks in the road ahead and if you use the words I gave you, you will move into the future you seek."

Trembling, I stepped on to the bridge with my mind churning with what I had heard. I was in the middle of the bridge when I stopped and looked back to see if the wizard was still there and plop! I stumbled and almost fell off the bridge because there were no handrails. As I was attempting to pull myself back on the bridge because I was hanging on with my hands to the edge, I heard a roar of laughter and a voice boomed, "I told you to never look back!"