ANCIENT X-FILES

SEASON 2 EPISODE 10: THE MARY MAGDALENE MYSTERY

Ancient X Files is similar in content to Ancient Aliens although it covers wider ground that merely aliens, examining ancient mysteries which may uncover hidden or suppressed history. The Mary Magdalene story is one such case.

Mary Magdalene has been the subject of new speculation since Dan Brown released "The DaVince code". The program examines evidence from across the globe, from France, Israel and the USA. The basic questions raised are: Mary Magdalene, Saint or Whore? And has the Vatican been guilty of a cover up?

The program begins in St. Maximin in the south of France. Every year there is a ceremony in honor of St. Mary who was said to have fled to France to avoid the persecution of Christians. She is venerated by the Cathars, a fringe Christian group whose teachings are not accepted by the Vatican. They believed that Mary Magdalene was the wife of Christ and that the couple had a child.They also believed that there were two creators, one good and one evil In the past they were the victims of a crusade authorized by Pope Innocent the third. Their Churches were destroyed and followers killed.

The documentary follows the investigation of writer Margaret Starbird, who has traced the history of the Coptic sect and is an expert in medieval church art.She meets a priest from the order who is not very forthcoming with details but does allow her to attend a service. As the service gets underway the priest reads from texts that are not approved by the Vatican. The priest's coat has the all seeing eye on the back of it which I found interesting but no mention was made of it.As the ceremony reached its climax the priest asked the author and camera crew to leave.

The next stop on the journey was the middle east. In 1945 a pot was found in the desert that contained fifty gnostic gospels which indicated that there was an intimate link between Jesus and Mary. The origins of the church were examined and a visit was made to Megido in Israel where there is an ancient floor mosaic. An inscription on the mosaic tells that it was paid for by a Roman Centurion. From here the link between Christianity and the worship of a Roman god Mythra were examined and it was suggested that the Roman Legionnaires found it easy to convert to Christianity because of the similarity between the story of Mythra and Jesus Christ. In fact, it is suggested that there are similarities between many pagan beliefs and Christianity, which helped the spread of early Christianity.

Starbird then looks at how the decision was made as to what went in to the bible and what was left out. The 27 New Testament books were chosen by Archbishop Athenatius. No gospels written after the resurrection were included it is claimed. It is back to France next, to the church of St. Victors in Marseilles. It was built in the 12th century atop of an older church. Starbird goes down in to the crypt of the church to look at a wall relief of a heavily pregnant Mary Magdalene kneeling before the crucified Christ. She next visits the USA where a collector has scraps of a rug said to be circa 2nd century which shows, allegedly, both Buddhist and Christian symbols and is said to have originated in Egypt. It shows four figures with Halos and it is said to show Jesus, Mary and their child. The documentary finishes back in France at St. Balbe where it is claimed Mary lived until death.

There is no historic evidence to back the claim that Mary went to France but this does not mean the documentary isn't interesting or thought provoking. Religion is a matter of belief rather than proof so I doubt it matters to the church members.

To accept that Jesus and Mary existed does mean that you have to believe that Christ rose from the dead and was the son of god. Alternately it could mean that Christ the man, the preacher did exist. His message was at odds with the established church which he saw as greedy and out of touch with the congregation and that led to his death. It is possible to accept that Jesus existed and was married to Mary and that this became known much later than the New Testament was assembled as Starbird suggests.

This is the first of this series I have watched and it has made me want to watch more. An interesting show that is well put together.