Non-fiction Sources for the Da Vinci Code:
The hypothesis presented in The Da Vinci Code, that Mary Magdalene is the
real Holy Grail because she carried
the blood of Christ in her womb, was borrowed
from the 1982 book titled, The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail by British author Henry Lincoln, and coauthors Michael Baigent
and Richard Leigh. Bloodline theories were first published in Holy Blood Holy Grail.
The idea that Mary Magdalene makes an appearance
in Leonardo Da Vinci's painting The Last Supper was taken from the book The Templar Revelation
by Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince. The book by author Margaret Starbird, The Woman with the Alabaster Jar
,
presents an understanding of Mary Magdalene as the Sacred Bride. Through Margaret's view,
we see Mary Magdalene as a loving, wise, and beloved
partner of Jesus. Starbird presents their Sacred Marriage as one that was created in love,
and is the archetypal sacred partnership much needed by the world.
With these literary influences in place, Dan Brown wrote a work of fiction that was interesting enough to land in both
the best seller list and in your local theater as an equally interesting
film. Through the success and popularity of both mediums, many of the theories from these books
have been viewed in the cinema. To some extent, elements of Pagan Religion (such as the Sacred Feminine)
have connected with mainstream interests.
I highly recommend all of the above books (which are of varying views), plus the book by Gnostic Christian, Stephan A. Hoeller,
Jung and the Lost Gospels. Hoeller writes about the myth of Sophia, Gnostic Christian views, and the scriptures of
the Nag Hamadi Scrolls.
Regarding the Divine Feminine and the Goddess there are many books on the
market such as the classic The Spiral Dance;
20th Anniversary Edition by Starhawk. My book Mysteries of Demeter; Rebirth of the Pagan Way presents
the ancient Greek view of these ideas.
Worthy lines from The Da Vinci Code...
SUBJECT ~ ORIGIN OF THE BIBLE
~ Chapter 55: (Sir Teabing speaking to Sophie)
"The Bible did not arrive by fax from heaven."
"I beg your pardon?"
"The Bible is a product of man my dear. Not of God. The Bible did not fall magically
from the clouds. Man created it as a historical record of
tumultuous times, and it has evolved through countless translations, additions,
and revisions. History has never had a definitive version of the book."
SUBJECT ~ PAGAN RITES AND SYMBOLS ~ Chapter 55: (Langdon speaking to Sophie and Teabing)
"Pictograms of Isis nursing her miraculously conceived son Horus became the blueprint
for our modern images of the Virgin Mary nursing Baby Jesus. And virtually all the
elements of the Catholic ritual-the miter, the altar, the doxology, and communion,
the act of 'God-eating'- were taken directly from earlier pagan mystery religions."
SUBJECT ~ THE SACRED FEMININE ~ Chapter 56: (Langdon speaking to Sophie)
"The power of the female and her ability to produce life was once very sacred, but it posed
a threat to the predominently male church, and so the sacred feminine was demonized and called unclean.
It was man, not God, who created the concept of 'original sin'..."
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