The Seven Demons of Mary Magdalene…And Us

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You probably know the source of many of the misguided, nasty, misogynistic stories about Mary Magdalene and of the mostly, if not exclusively, men with agendas who propagated them. The main impetus for them came primarily from one short paragraph in the New Testament describing Jesus’ having to cast out seven demons from Mary Magdalene prior to her becoming his disciple. Many church scholars considered the number “seven” significant, indicating her harboring all seven deadly sins, their obvious favorite being: lust!

We, today’s followers of Mary Magdalene in the church reform movement, have come a long way in seeing and portraying our apostle differently. However, as I thought about our own celebrations of her feast this July, I started thinking about recycling the “seven demons” story to make it into a tribute to Mary Magdalene rather than an indictment, “recasting” it as an enlightening and useful message to us, her disciples. What if we used it to consider what demons – not she, but we – have to cast out in order to honor her and fulfill our own mission to ensure women and all genders are fully included in the leadership and priesthood of the church?

Here is what I would drive out:

1. The demon of disillusionment, weariness, discouragement, defeat. One way to cast it out: See the accomplishments and possibilities of the whole struggle, not just the recent past. Women gaining the right to vote in the United States, for example, took almost 100 years of constant pressure, demonstration, and witness. What if they had given up in weariness and defeat?
   
   
2. The demon of cynicism, negativity, even too much realism. One way to cast it out: Treasure our idealism as something precious and worth having. A sense of humor also helps. We can also lighten up and dance, especially when the madness of those in authority gets to be too much!
   
   
3. The demon of shortsightedness, lack of imagination. One way to cast it out: Open up to fresh perspectives, new approaches…let’s face it, some of us have managed to ward off the gray in life…and not only because we dye our hair! Valued practices, experiences, models from the past yield the wisdom we sorely need, but we have to find new ways to reach the descendants to whom we will pass our purple stoles.
   
   
4. The demon of being too angry or not angry enough. One way to cast it out: Consider where anger paralyzes rather than motivates, alienates rather than inspires. Consider where too much uncritical acceptance, as well as too much anger, makes us twist everything to fit our own narrative or makes us put blinders on. Our mothers often cautioned, “Everything in moderation.” How boring, we thought, but maybe also how true.
   
   
5. The demon of being too busy or too lazy. One way to cast it out: Know the two imposters for what they are – excuses.
   
   
6. The demon of over-complication or over-simplification. One way to cast it out: Keep talking and listening. Nothing is so overwhelmingly difficult it cannot be mastered by a coalition of minds, hearts, and hands acting together; nothing is so overwhelmingly simple that it cannot profit from new insights sharing in a diverse community can bring.
   
   
7. The demon of judgmentalism. One way to cast it out: Realize the isolation it can bring to our lives; how it makes us truly alone in our quest.

One final thought: On a broken down shack in the woods near me, someone had spray painted
this: “Do no harm – but keep hurricanes at your fingertips!” I think Mary Magdalene would have
approved.