My personal religious beliefs are, like many people's, idiosyncratic. I suppose I'm a sort of Pagan Christian, believing in the magic of the universe, but also a follower of Jesus – who surely wasn't exactly a Christian as the term is understood today.
I try to read St John's Gospel, my favourite of the four, every year at Easter. And as a follower of Jung – if I've understood him correctly, which is always a problem with Jungian psychology – I'm not fussed about whether the gospel stories actually happened in the literal world. The fact that the story has been created is, for me, enough for it to exist in the mythical dimension. And whatever your religious beliefs or lack of them, the New Testament tells a brilliant story, and it seems a shame that the whole Bible has had such a bad press about being a 'goody goody' publication, for it's not – all human life is there, as the tabloid press used to claim.
Years ago, having read
The Golden Bough, I asked my committed Christian classics teacher why there were so many variant stories of the dying and resurrected god, and her rather unsatisfactory answer was along the lines of 'there was a lot of it about in AD 33 – but they only anticipated the Christian version'. I wasn't satisfied with her answer then and I'm not now. More convincing for me is the work of Margaret Starbird, the American theologian. As an erstwhile good Catholic, and having read
The Woman with the Alabaster Jar, I set about trying to prove there was no truth in its suggestion that Jesus and Mary Magdalen were a married couple – only to be convinced of its veracity (apparently
The Da Vinci Code was based on her research).
I've shared a fascinating email correspondence with Margaret so am probably biased, but I find her ideas completely convincing. Essentially, she believes that Mary was airbrushed out of the Jesus story to protect her and their family, but removing her might just be an example of 1st-century sexism. The Jungian view would be that Jesus and Mary were channelling the archetype of the Lord and Lady – the Yin and Yang of the universe. Margaret believes that the couple really existed in this world – I'm agnostic about that – but regardless of its literal truth, the story of Jesus' descendants won't go away. If you have ever been to Kilmore Church on the Isle of Mull (I have and it's a magical place) you can see a beautiful early 20th-century stained glass window depicting Mary and Jesus as a handfasting couple, and Mary is clearly pregnant.
Easter mysteries
I will refrain from commenting on the Murrell case just now as too much has been said about it already and much of it unhelpful. However, it's interesting that another theologian I know suggested that there was something sinister about Easter which meant that there was always the death or otherwise destruction of a public figure at this time. when I was in the church choir years ago, I preferred Easter to Christmas. As I once tried to explain to someone: 'I like more mystery in my religion', although it came out as I like more misery, and I guess that's true. I could never enjoy the happy and jolly sort of hymns, especially when, as a fellow sufferer in the choir remarked: 'They contain these awful echoes of Empire'. I prefer to listen to Bach's Passion music, although a little Bach can go a long way. I've often thought that being cast away on a desert island with only Bach to listen to would be a recipe for suicide.
But it is worth a reminder that both of these major Christian festivals were originally Pagan celebrations taken over by the victorious religion. I think Jesus would have been happy to acknowledge this, and as far as we can judge from the gospel stories, he enjoyed a good old party, often using it as a metaphor to describe the Kingdom of Heaven…
Scaredy cat
I have now more or less become established in my new home, although there is still the feeling that I'm house-sitting for someone else. I am avoiding buying any of those 'Do up your home' magazines in case I find there are before and after pictures of my ex-residence, with the new owners remarking 'the house was in a dreadful state when we arrived – the wallpaper hadn't been changed for 20 years' (true, I just painted over it). 'And the garden was full of trees and plants – of course we chopped all those down and now it's a concrete paradise…'. (I'm joking – I'm sure they have improved it beyond recognition!)
Freddy le Chat is less happy – he has been chased by the spaniel next door (who is a softie and probably just wanted to be friends) and fallen out with the tabby opposite as well as the piebald feline up the road. The cats around here must be of a more aggressive nature than those in Banchory who Freddy was determined to bully, as now he just watches from the window and won't go out unless I accompany him as his minder. He's even scared of the rather cheeky pigeons who have taken over the bird feeder.
I'm not a birdwatching expert but it's interesting that there's a flock of crows or ravens who live in the nearby wood, who will come into the garden when the pigeons aren't around, but very few small birds – have they all been eaten by the bullies? Freddy is not keen to take on a crow – he's basically a wimp who doesn't take any risks, apart from nipping my ankle when he wants something. But as we have had monsoon weather for the last week or so, both of us have had to stay in. I'm not sure which of them is easier to entertain – my six-year-old granddaughter or Freddy. Olivia is less fussy about food though and at the moment is fixated on Easter eggs.
Dr Mary Brown is a freelance education consultant
