Mary of Nazareth and Civil Courage

MARIHAM, THE REBELLIOUS VIRGEN

Much have been said about her son, but, apart from the primarily teocratic and secular convinience of a growing santification of Mary, closely related to the changing needs of the patriarchate, this poorly educated rural woman of the narrowminded insignificant village of Nazareth has made an astonishing journey from a carpenter´s wife to become the Mother of God and, in the last Vatican Concilium, given the status of co-Saviour with her son, if I am not misinformed.

Gradually this extraordinary woman, who most probably ended her days in the shadow of the enormous Artemis statue in Ephesos, the cosmopolitan centre and a prominent meltingpot of creeds, ideologies, cultures and people of shifting ethnic origins, and forcibly exiled from her native country a second time, was one of the first members of the Judae-Christian congregations in Jerusalem although without any divine status.

Mariham may have been persecuted not so much for the crucified son, but for leaving her husband´s grave and, without permission, stepping out into the public room in a world where a respectable woman did not travel without a husband, a father, a son, a brother or brother in law, a violation of etiquette which was reserved for women paupers, mad women or prostitutes. She had enfathomed the Judae Christian belief in the equality of the genders and the prohibition of private possessions, all in a provoking contrast to the Roman and Greek legislation, which governed her native country.

According to early traditions she followed her mazmer (lunatic, crazed) son although he hardly acknowledged her publically except for at the wedding in Canaan, leaving the children (her own or the children of Joseph) and the homestead which was a greater danger than roaming the countryside as one of the many holy men and prophets who had been common since the beginning of time.

Maria was virtually a nobody until the third century A.C. when the church fathers had erased all traces of unorthodox evangelists such as Mary Magdalene and started to hint at the latter of being a common prostitute, which by no means is a scientific truth. And even so, it would have made no difference to Jesus. Her prominent position in the first gender equal Judae-Christian congregations and as a preacher seems to have become a threat to the teocrats who suddenly introduced celibacy and reintegrated the Greek and Roman Laws, robbing the woman of her equal status and reinforcing the gender differentiated right to private property until the 1920:s in Europe (still not accomplished) and a continous political challenge in most parts of the world, except for in egalitarian Hunters and Gatherers societies.

Man´s need to be sure to be the genitor of his offspring promoted a stern concept of chaste and obedient women, initially in Nomad cultures but with a renaissance in turbulent times in urban and city state contexts, apparently grew paramount by gradually pointing at Maria, declared a virgin when giving birth to Jesus, (this idea has been common in almost every religion or cosmology on a global scale, no matter the time and or the location) as the example and the optimal representative of female virtues for all women to follow as far as reproductional biology would permit.

Gods, Greek, Indoarian and Pre Columbian heroes often were born by virgin mothers which gave them a divine status already from the start. My interest is in Mariham, the aramaic speaking woman of no means who dared to challenge a system which easily could have led to her execution, either by her relatives (honor related violence) or must probably the public. The Patrilocal pattern of life was rigid and no women were allowed to go astray or leave their husband´s family grave.

The infected discussion regarding the brothers of Christ seem to preoccupy people and, this is a common fact, a cousin could be called a brother and an aunt a mother, as is common on the Horn of Africa today, but we know that his brothers (adelpho) were leaders of the first congregations and that tension may have occurred regarding the legacy between Saint Peter and James, Judas, Joses and Simon, and last, but certainly not least, Maria Magdalena.

Jesus´ emancipation, if not of Mary, but of women in general ("All women are my Mother"), the socializing with fallen women in the eyes of his contemporaries and the fact that it is a woman who is the first to witness his resurrection is astonishing. The Evangelists were all brought up in a strict Patriarchy and it would be truly astonishing if they all lied in consensus about Christ´s apparent will to validate women and to show it publically for everyone to see. We may assume that Christ had far more than twelve apostles (messengers) but probably hundreds and many of them women who´d risked everything to walk beside him and daring to speak in front of strangers.

We have to remember that it is the apostle Paulus, of Greek background and gender ideology who demands the woman to be silent in the congregation, which reflects his background and has nothing to do with Jesus teachings.

Nor does Jesus lash out at homosexuals or any other particular group except for the men who had greed as their profession. Jesus speaks sparingly of sin, whereas his followers seem totally occupied wih the concept. A pattern of early domination and control is growing but not by referring to the actual sayings of Jesus.

Where did his perception of a woman stem from? Probably his strongwilled grandmother Anna and his mother Maria, Mariham. His love for his mother becomes obvious on the cross where he tries to comfort her by encouraging her to see his disciple John as her son. He demonstrates for the world to see that he is not only the son of God but also the son of Maria.

Whether you see Mariham, Maria, Mary, as a divine human, or not, you cannot belittle her immense stamina and devotion. Not because of all the adornements and golden crowns in Christian Palatial churches but of her independency and loyalty to her mazmer son and her preparedness to risk her life, her reputation, her social status in order to follow her conviction and first born son.

The idea of a Supreme Being as a woman is commonly spread and Gaia ruled unchallenged until Zeus and Jupiter ursurped her position. The preocuppation with gender is human. To let it be is divine.

Douglas Modig
Easter Day 2012