Tanya Mead Mullen

Mary Magdalen has been called the Hidden Madonna as well as the Black Madonna for several centuries. Black was in reference to being kept in darkness or hidden. In this painting she is coming out of the darkness to be recognized again. Mary Magdalen holds a pomegranate as a symbol of abundance, fertility and sexuality, woman in her full blossom. The roses are an old symbol of Jesus and Mary. Many scholars believe she was the wife of Jesus. She was born from the house of Benjamin, a noble lineage. In ancient times the colors of the goddess were white, red and blue. These colors symbolized the three states of a woman; white for virginity and innocence, red for fertility, maturity and strength, blue for motherhood and the wisdom of the crone. The established church kept the blue and white but banned the red for political reasons. Mary Magdalen was falsely labeled a prostitute. Above her head is the union of two symbols, the cup or vessel representing woman which looks like a 'V', and the spade, representing man, which looks like an upside down 'V'. Together they form balance and harmony. Mary Magdalen holds an alabaster jar which holds the essential oil of spikenard. It was a highly valuable oil with which she anointed the head of Jesus. Before the occupation of the Romans the ancient culture which Jesus descends from, the king was not formally acknowledged as a king till the high priestess, the symbolic wife of God, anointed him. Mary's act of anointing Jesus was a powerful statement.