“Mary Magdalene” is a name that when spoken can electrify any situation—and for good reason, because her name holds meaning that goes well beyond the surface.
Names, as cloaks of identity, greatly influence how we think of others, especially when it comes to figures in history. “Magdalene” has been shrouded in mystery since the very beginning, sometimes dismissed as a simple footnote, and at others elevated as a point of reverence.
Here, we peel back the layers, examining each theory of what “Magdalene”—and “Mary”—might mean, syllable by syllable. This is a process that inspires curiosity and leads to a larger question, arguably the most essential one in all of religion: what is allegorical and what is literal?
In this episode, we cover:
All the competing theories on what “Magdalene” means, from the city on the Sea of Galilee to an honorific title
How Mary Magdalene may be linked to ancient prophecy and what her name has to do with that
What her name has to do with Mary’s connection to Egypt and priestesses
How Mary’s name ties her to a famous Biblical poem that is very ancient, and connected to the goddess
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A selection of sources mentioned in this episode include:
Mary Magdalene, Bride in Exile by Margaret Starbird
Mary Magdalene: Myth and Metaphor by Susan Haskins
Mary Magdalene's Turn: Text Criticism and Reception History of John 20:16 by Michael Peppard, Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses (2020)
Mary the Tower by Diana Butler Bass
The Meaning of 'Magdalene': A Review of Literary Evidence by Elizabeth Schrader Polczer & Joan Taylor, Journal of Biblical Literature140:4 (2021)
Was Martha of Bethany Added to the Fourth Gospel in the Second Century? by Elizabeth Schrader Polczer, Harvard Theological Review 110:3 (2017)
The Woman with the Alabaster Jar: Mary Magdalene and the Holy Grail by Margaret Starbird
Read our full source list here.
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The Power of a Name