I began writing for publication in the 1990s. Many of my articles were either business oriented or interviews with artists. I found my voice writing fiction and completed a novel about a psychic vampire hunting in a witch’s coven in San Francisco. I had barely finished the book when I met Joni Kozina, a Magdalene scholar and, like me, a student of the occult.
Joni read the unpublished draft of my book. When she was finished she asked if I had ever considered writing about Mary Magdalene. Of course I had heard of Mary Magdalene, but beyond the name she meant nothing to me.
Joni asked me to accompany her on a tour of Magdalene sites in Southern France in May of 2001. On the tour we visited many sites where the Magdalene was said to have traveled, lived, taught, and spent her last days. The reverence for the Magdalene is still strong in these areas and I found that I, too, had a deep simpatico for her and decided to write her story.
But how to tell her story in a way that is unique and compelling? As a writer, I had been very much influenced by The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. In her book Ms. Bradley takes a story known by nearly everyone, the Arthurian Legend, and tells it for the first time from the point of view of the women. I also greatly enjoyed The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. In this novel the male dominated story from Genesis is given new life and interest when told by a woman.
I decided to follow the story of Jesus as told in the synoptic gospels as closely as possible but from the Magdalene’s perspective. To do so, I researched and studied multiple versions of the Old and New Testament, as well as Hebraic versions of the Old Testament and commentary on life in Judea during the first century. I was fortunate to have extensive conversations with Hebraic scholar, Shannah Laxx, who clarified women’s roles in ancient Israel and Judea. When time permits, I will include an extensive bibliography on this site, should you be interested in doing your own research.
The title, A Woman Unto Herself, is a rough translation of the word in Aramaic which was used to describe Mary of Nazareth in the early versions of the gospels. Since the Greeks had no concept of a woman who did not belong to a man, they translated the word as Virgin, meaning a woman who had not known (in the sexual sense) a man—a misconception which has lasted millennium.
In addition to Magdalene sites, Joni and I also visited the grotto of Sara Kali, the daughter of the Magdalene and Jesus. My next book, Song of Sara will be about her life.
I hope you will enjoy A Woman Unto Herself when it is published.