Author:  Tau Malachi
ISBN: 0-7387-0783-X

The following interview was  conducted by: Mary Simmons:  Click Here To Read Mary's Reviews

Mary:

For those who are unfamiliar with the term, can you briefly describe what it means to be a Gnostic Christian?

Malachi:

Gnostic Christianity is a mystical or esoteric form of Christianity and represents the "way of inner knowing"; akin to what we encounter in the wisdom traditions of the East, it is a path to enlightenment. This reflects the view Gnostic Christians hold of Yeshua - he is an embodiment of divine illumination or enlightenment, and teaches a path of enlightenment (gnosis). Thus, while faith in Yeshua as a realized individual, or even as an embodiment of the divine may play a role in Christian Gnosticism, what is essential is the experience of gnosis - knowledge acquired through direct spiritual and mystical experience of Christ within oneself. This, of course, is a very different message than that of mainstream Christianity, for rather than to "atone for our sins"
Christ comes as a Gnostic Revealer to show us our true nature and to liberate is from ignorance (agnosis). It's all about the recognition and realization of the truth and light within us, and of our innate unity with the source of our being, God and Godhead. We are Christian, which is to say "Christ-like," until we become Christ - enlightened. Thus, rather than being instructed in a dogmatic creed and doctrines that we must take on "blind faith" we receive teachings on the spiritual life and practice through which we can enter into the experience of gnosis - the experience of enlightenment.

Mary:

For those who want to learn more about the Gnostic Gospels and the secret teachings of Yeshua and Mary, where can they turn for insight?

Malachi:

If a person wishes to learn more about the Gnostic Gospels there are many different Gnostic circles and churches emerging in the modern movement and quite a few of them have websites, so an internet search can be a good place to start. Some of these groups represent older Gnostic lineages, and others are newer, but whether older or newer a person can begin to gain some insight into the larger movement of Gnosticism in modern times - truly, Gnosticism represents a vast spectrum of views and practices, so each person must explore a bit and find what they resonate with, as with any other form of spirituality. In terms of exploring the secret teachings of Yeshua and Mary, there are a few Gnostic lineages that focus on this, such as our Sophian Gnostic lineage, which is represented by Sophia Fellowship and Ecclesia Pistis Sophia. We have an extensive website that shares both teachings and practices, and includes interactive forums for the discussion of the Sophian tradition - our web address is www.sophian.org. We also provide links to other Gnostic sites on our website.

Mary:

You say the book is a record of an oral tradition, where "the legends and sayings are a fluid and flowing body of teachings, ever in flux and ever changing with each telling of the tale." Did this make it difficult to decide what to include and how to record the messages?

Malachi:

It was a delightful experience writing St. Mary Magdalene. Essentially I wrote it in the same way we impart the oral tradition - in the flow of the moment, allowing the cycles of stories to unfold in a natural and spontaneous way. After about two and a half to three weeks the book was complete, just as it is, and that was that, all the dance of the Holy Bride. It is like I'm sitting with the reader telling the legends, just as I would in person, but it is in writing. Of course, there are many more stories in the oral tradition, including different versions of the stories told in the book - so put into writing it is a bit more narrow and linear than our actual oral tradition. But, really, it is composed of what flowed out in the power of the moment, just as when we tell the tales, and when a person reads them it is the flow of the moment as they listen and hear - only the reader needs to remember its only one version of the stories, and if the book were written today another version would flow out, which would be equally true from a spiritual and creative perspective. The real point isn't so much the story itself, but the spiritual teachings and energy it conveys - the experience in consciousness it invokes.

Mary:

The attainment of Christhood is referred to in the introduction of your book. Is this what all human beings should be striving for?

Malachi:

There are many different stages in the development and evolution of the human soul towards Christhood, or towards Christ Consciousness; and our development and evolution spans many lives and takes us through the entire range of human experience. According to Sophian teachings, every human soul is destined to attain Christhood eventually, but not everyone is destined to it in this lifetime. It is all a question of where we are at, sort of speak, in the development and evolution of our soul-being and whether or not we are experiencing an impulse or call to give birth to Christ in us. If we think of it like the soul becoming pregnant with Christ, then until it is time, perhaps we are not called to go into the labor room; hence not called to a full push towards Christ Consciousness. Yet, incarnate as human beings it seems our task is to cultivate and refine our humanity - to live as a human being to the best of our ability. In doing this we are evolving towards Christhood, and if we experience the impulse for the final push, then we can strive directly for self-realization in Christ. If a person has the impulse within them, it is good to strive towards Christhood in this life. If not, in the meantime, we all can strive to develop our humanity and, if we are inclined, we can all cultivate Christ-like qualities: the qualities of divine or enlightened being.

Mary:

You say Yeshua and Mary "must be understood to reflect something in us that we are meant to experience and to recognize and realize inwardly." Having said this, why do you think so many people put such a strong emphasis on the historical aspects of traditional Christianity?

Malachi:

If we remain in surface consciousness, strongly identified with name and form, and personal history, it stands to reason that we will project this tendency onto our spirituality; hence, grasping at historical aspects of traditional Christianity, literalistic interpretations of scripture, and the dogmatic creeds and doctrines that go along with this. In essence, it's a kind of spiritual materialism that supports our egoistic condition. After all, what would inspire any of us to think we have the "only truth" in the world? That's pretty wild and, as we know,
it can be very dangerous!

Mary:

Mary has been ignored and labelled a whore by ignorant men who were threatened by her. Do you think people are now more receptive to the teachings of powerful female figures?

Malachi:

In the Sophian tradition the metaphor of prostitution associated with Mary Magdalene is also used, though not in a literal sense, but rather to tell the classical Gnostic tale of the fall and redemption of Sophia as told, for example, in the Gnostic Gospel entitled Pistis Sophia. In the Sophian Gospel Mary personifies Sophia and is viewed as an embodiment of Sophia, thus the mysteries of Sophia are told through her life story. Likewise, it was a way of transforming the story of Mary as a "prostitute" into another tale before the dawn of modern scholarship, taking the propaganda and shifting it to convey deep spiritual and metaphysical mysteries. This is why we maintain the story in our oral tradition to this day, though there are also other versions of her early life in our oral tradition, including one that speaks of her as Mary of Bethany. The larger interest in Mary Magdalene does seem to reflect that many people are becoming more receptive to the teachings of powerful female figures in western society, though I'd also say that we still have a long way to go for a full and true coequality between women and men in our own culture. The patriarchal dominion continues to be quite prevalent in our society, culture and religion. It is very interesting, the Sophian view of Mary Magdalene is typically considered extremely "radical," because we speak of her as coequal with Yeshua and as a spiritual master in her own right. If we listen to many of the leading voices of Magdalene today, most seem to be unwilling and unable to go quite that far - she can be accepted as a close disciple of Yeshua and as his wife, and even as the mother of his children, but not as co-equal with him or as a spiritual master in her own right. This definitely seems to reflect that we have a long way to go before we will fully accept and receive the guidance of enlightened women, though we are certainly more open to the idea than ever before and I believe we have made much progress.

Mary:

What is the main misconception about Mary that you want to clear up?

Malachi:

I honestly can't say that there is a central misconception about Mary that I want to clear up, but rather I seek share my own experience of the Holy Bride and the teachings of a Gnostic tradition that honors her as coequal with Yeshua. I seek to be a voice of Mary Magdalene as the apostle of the apostles and an enlightened woman, an embodiment of Christ the Sophia.

Mary:

Along the same line, what is the main message you want to share with readers?

Malachi:

The most essential message I'm trying to share with readers is
the need for a restoration of the Divine and Sacred Feminine in our spirituality, and the equal potential for divine illumination in women and men alike - that's the essence of the Sophian Gospel, or the Sophian Tradition of Gnostic Christianity.

Mary:

This is your fourth book about Gnosticism. Are you working on another book and if so, can you discuss the subject matter and when it will be available?

Malachi:

Yes, I am working on another book in the series entitled The Gnostic Judas: Revolutionary Christianity. Our own Gnostic tradition views the  role of Judas in a positive light, as reflected in one tale told about Judas in my most recent book, St. Mary Magdalene. So I was quite taken by the Gospel of Judas and I am presently writing a commentary on it from the Sophian Gnostic perspective. This book will include legends from our oral  tradition about Judas and his role as a disciple, as well as explore how the reader can apply some of the more radical  teachings of classical Gnosticism to their own spiritual life. If all goes well I'd imagine the book will be available sometime in 2007, though an actual date for its release has not been set.

Mary:

Is there anything else you would like to share with the public?

Malachi:

Christian Gnosticism does not believe in a collective or vicarious "salvation" as taught in the atonement theology within mainstream
Christianity, but rather it teaches that every woman and man has the potential for gnosis in them, and teaches a path of self-knowledge and self-realization through which that divine potential is actualized. Gnostic Christianity is founded upon direct spiritual and mystical experience, what may be called the "Gnostic experience," of which there are three aspects: The experience of higher levels of consciousness; the opening of consciousness to new dimensions, specifically inner or metaphysical dimensions; and the experience of conscious unification with the divine, God and Godhead. Thus, more than a religion it is a spiritual path, and more than a belief it is a spiritual experience - it is a mystical journey to Christ Consciousness.