Author: Lauri Ann Lumby

Featured Course: Victory of the Holy Bride

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What is your current understanding of the Book of Revelation?

Doomsday Prophecy?

Historical Reflection?

Heavenly Vision?

Big Fat Mystery?

To learn more and enroll click on the image above.

Come and explore this mysterious and often confusing book of the Bible from a different perspective while reclaiming the role of the Divine Feminine as the true heroine of this epic mythological tale. 

Victory of the Holy Bride shatters over 2000 years of patriarchal dogma that cast the Book of Revelation in the role of doomsday prophecy and presents to you the tools for discovering a profoundly simple truth that is the key to inner peace and the formula through which we endure the “times of tribulation” while building a whole new world – one rooted in peace, understanding, wisdom, harmony and love. 

Discover the secret of the Book of Revelation and learn how to apply that secret in your everyday life so that you might know peace.

In knowing that peace, you will have the freedom to begin creating a whole new world for yourself.

Course Outline:

Lesson One: Introduction to the Book of Revelation

Lesson Two: The Structure of Revelation

Lesson Three: Alpha and Omega

Lesson Four: The Mystical Seven and its place in Revelation

Lesson Five: The Time of Tribulation

Lesson Six: The Dragon and the Woman

Lesson Seven: The Fall of Babylon/The New Jerusalem

From the course introduction by Lauri Ann Lumby:

Victory of the Holy Bride shatters over 2000 years of patriarchal dogma that cast the Book of Revelation in the role of doomsday prophecy and presents to you the tools for discovering a profoundly simple truth that is the key to inner peace and the formula through which we can build a whole new world – one rooted in peace, understanding, wisdom, harmony and love.

The inspiration for this course came long before its birth in a tiny whispering voice that said, “There is something in the Book of Revelation…..there is something in the Book of Revelation.” This something was somehow connected with the 7 chakras and the trademarked protocol that I created (was given) that I call Authentic Freedom. For years this whispering continued all the way through the development of Authentic Freedom, Deepening Freedom, Living in Freedom and the other examples of the “secret of seven” that is hidden in the depths of the Judeo-Christian tradition and as it is communicated through scripture.

I approached the Book of Revelation many times before it yielded its secrets to me, but once they were revealed my mind was blown! Not because what I was shown was complicated or profound, but because it was so dang simple! Then I wondered, how is it that in 2000 years no one had uncovered the simple truth revealed in the Book of Revelation? Maybe someone had, but nowhere in my Catholic-Christian upbringing (including almost 12 years in Catholic school) or in seven years of ministry training had this simple truth been explained. Instead, the Book of Revelation was either spoken of as doomsday prophecy or ignored all together. It was as if the Church had no use for the Book of Revelation unless as a tool for manipulating others through fear and if there might be something more to it, they would rather not know (or would rather we didn’t know).

But here’s the secret: there is absolutely nothing to fear about the Book of Revelation! Instead, it is a message of profound hope – the simple truth of the human condition, along with the even simpler formula for enjoying the peace and freedom brought forth by this truth.

It really is that simple. But first, we must comb through the layers of symbolic language and metaphor used by its author (attributed to St. John the Divine) to veil this simple truth from those who are not yet ready, and perhaps to protect those who would know this truth from those whose power might be threatened.

For those in patriarchal power, there is much to fear in the simple truth of the Book of Revelation for when we understand and do the work of embodying the truth revealed in this book, we are no longer subject to the fearful manipulations of the outside perceived patriarchal authority. Instead, we discover our own sovereignty and the Divine power within that guides us on the path to our truth and which frees us to live that truth fully. Here we discover a whole new world of peace, contentment, empowerment and joy dwelling within us and which seeks to be known in the world through us.

Learn more and enroll

Testimonials from past students of this course:

I’ve enjoyed Lauri’s course as much as any I can remember. She is insightful and very well informed, but often with an original take on the material. I enjoy that she both understands Christianity, from her years as a Catholic, and Judaism, but also the priestess path. So her work is a hybrid of understandings, both historical and fresh. Her lecture delivery is clear. She has innovative activities and reflections which she invites us to do.

This course especially feels very timely, as is all Lauri’s work. I also really enjoyed interacting live, but the course is engaging on its own – so much so that I stayed up to the small hours (due to the time difference) to be able to participate.

I also love Lauri’s pricing policy, her generosity, and her values. This is a spiritual leader and teacher (though she’d probably be too modest to call herself as such) who is rooted in soul and heart work first before the ‘I’m worth it’ high charging mentality of other spiritual businesses. This is why I’m doing courses with Lauri. I heartily commend her. ER, United Kingdom

Whispers from the Cave

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Interactive Web Series

Whispers from the Cave tells the true story of an 800 year old monk (I’m actually not quite sixty, but I feel like I’m 800!) living in a 150 year old school house that just happens to be haunted!

  • Part old-time radio show.
  • Part history.
  • Part investigative journalism.
  • Part penny dreadful.
  • Part autobiography.

Whispers from the Cave features limited edition, exclusive content examining the daily life and reflections of a modern monk living in a “cave” surrounded by ghosts.

  • 4+ episodes per month (written and recorded)
  • Exclusive content (not available anywhere else)
  • Interactive discussion (bring your burning questions)
  • Educational and Informative
  • Inspiring and Supportive
  • Special pricing for the first 100 subscribers

Grab your morning cup, your favorite blanket, and snuggle in as you prepare to meet:

The Monk.

The Cave.

The Ghosts.

and their stories.

Learn more and subscribe by clicking the image above.

The Monk: Lauri Ann Lumby

I’m what one might call a modern monastic. No, I haven’t joined a convent, or taken up the habit and I have no interest in a vow of celibacy (though having celibacy imposed upon me these past many years, I can’t say celibacy is a bad thing….just leaving my options open!).  However, I have increasingly found myself living a monastic kind of life. 

Having stepped away from the trappings of the material world, I live a quiet, simple life. Most of my days are spent in solitude, immersed in meditation and prayer, simple chores, writing, creating, and seeing an occasional client or teaching an occasional online course. I have no interest in the things “of this world,” especially those things imposed upon us by the capitalistic “ideal.”  I spent my earlier life driving, striving, and trying to achieve, finding myself with nothing but a bloody forehead. Now I prefer a life free from sacrifice, the pressure to perform, and the desire to be seen.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I’m a somewhat of a prophet. I see and know what is happening and about to happen in our world. Rather than participate in the impending collapse of the empire, I’m choosing to get out of the way while quietly building a whole new world. Perhaps you’d like to join me?

The Cave

Dale School is an Italianate style brick school building designed by William Waters and constructed in three stages: 1870, 1889, and 1908. It was last used as a school in 1981 after which it was converted into character loft apartments. There are now sixteen units in the building famous for their soaring ceilings, nature hardwood floors, three-foot thick walls, and twelve-foot windows.

Dale School has been my home since 2019, where I have carved out a quiet, solitary life, increasingly so after my adult children moved out and into their own homes. My apartment has become my cave, my temple, and my sanctuary. Those I love are welcome here, including those few special clients who come for counsel and healing.

Oh yeah, and the ghosts who also live here!

The Ghosts

I’m not kidding when I say “I see dead people.” I don’t see them in the way others might, but I do see them. Strangely, I first became aware of this gift after moving to this strange swamp town where I’ve lived since 1992.  In fact, every apartment or house that I’ve lived in these past thirty years has been otherwise occupied (by ghosts!). I’ve always found myself sharing my accommodations with those who lived there before me and have since gone on from this physical life. For whatever reason, they have chosen to remain on this plane in ghostly form. Some have asked for my assistance in moving on from this plane, but many have chosen to stay.

Dale School, I quickly learned, is no different. Since moving in, I have become intimately acquainted with the four ghosts who have chosen to remain here:

The School Teacher

The Custodian

The Little Boy

The Hall Monitor

When asked if they would like help moving on, their emphatic answer is NO.  For their own reasons they have all chosen to stay. I welcome the Teacher when she visits my room (I’m pretty sure my apartment was once her classroom). I greet the Custodian and the Little Boy as they putter about their chores in the lower level. I ask the Hall Monitor for permission to pass when I need to visit the second floor. They all have their own stories and I’m happy to share my home with them.

The Unsettled Spirits of Dale School live elsewhere.  They’re in the nooks and crannies of the cobweb infested basement, in the bowels of the ancient boiler, and in the sewers of abandoned lavatories.  They are also in the attic with the guano and air conditioning vents. I stay away from those dark and unsettled spaces, but for the sake of this series, I will bravely go where only HVAC and phone system technicians have dared to go.

Learn more and subscribe HERE

Understanding the Book of Revelation

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Revelations – the great mystery book of the bible.  For centuries, used as a tool to strike fear in the hearts of humanity.  Touted as a prophecy of things to come if humanity doesn’t get their moral act together, and told as bedtime stories to scare children into good behavior.  If we don’t obey God we will suffer “His” wrath…but wait, even if we are good, kind, loving, and obedient, the end times will still come…..and it is coming soon!  (It’s been coming soon for 2000 years!) With the end time comes war, pestilence, frightening beasts, and terrifying portents in the skies.  But if we can endure the trauma, then we will be rewarded with the coming of the King, and the New Jerusalem will come down from heaven, heralding the reign of peace.  It seems no matter what we do, the apocalypse is coming and only the few and the brave will be rewarded with an eternity in heaven.  The question that hangs in the balance is “Are you one of the 144,000?” 

But here’s the deal, the Book of Revelations has nothing to do with the end times.  It never did.  It has always been about NOW.  Revelations is not a book of prophecies; neither is it a warning of God’s wrath; nor a manual for the end times.  While Tim LaHaye and his buddies made millions on their Left Behind series, Revelations has forever and always been about RIGHT NOW.  Revelations, plain and simple, is an allegory expressing the difference between a life with “God” and a life without.  When we lose track of our connection with the Divine, we suffer torment and unspeakable horrors.  When we remember this connection, we experience heaven on earth.  But here’s the twist – when we suffer it isn’t because God is punishing us.  It is simply the natural consequence of turning away from our true nature which is in Union with God (Love).  When we are One with our true nature (God/Love), we know peace, joy, contentment, and are able to live from compassion and love. 

It really is this simple.  And the formula is even easier:

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last,
the beginning and the end.”

This single proclamation of the Divine, repeated over and over and over throughout the Book of Revelation, is the key to it all.  When we make our union with the Divine the center of our life, we know peace.  When we forget this union, we are disturbed.  That’s it!  End of story!

But, maintaining our attention to this union is easier said than done.  We live in a world of distractions.  The human condition is a distraction.  There are (seem to be) a million things vying for our attention.  TV.  Work.  Family.  Friends.  Money, OBLIGATIONS.  Ugh!  Yes, we must provide for ourselves and our families.  Yes, our relationships require our attention.  But really, how much of our time is simply wasted on unnecessary tasks, unfulfilling “obligations,” things that we are simply doing out of habit or because we were told we had to do this by our societal conditioning.  Or maybe we are keeping ourselves busy to avoid the real task at hand which is the invitation to get right with Ourselves. 

Right with Ourselves!  Not right with God.  God loves us for who we are….IN THIS AND EVERY MOMENT!  We are the ones who are not right with ourselves.  Every time we deny the yearning and calling of our Soul.  Every time we ignore our inner pain.  Each time we distract ourselves from our true self and its needs and wants.  When we are not right with ourselves, we suffer anxiety, worry, restlessness, fear, emotional and physical pain.  When we are not one with ourselves, we are not one with God.  Or rather, we have forgotten our Oneness with God…..because in spite of all our efforts to separate ourselves from our Truth, God remains.

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last,
the beginning and the end.”

God is all there is.  All there is is God.  And we are part of and an expression of the Divine Source that is within and through us all.  If we are feeling unrest, it is because we forgot this singular truth.  This IS the truth that will set us free – if and when we remember it. 

So this is our task – to remember our Union with the Divine and in remembering this Union, coming home to ourselves.  The “New Jerusalem” isn’t a castle in the clouds, and neither is it happening in some future time in a Heaven light years away. It is NOW.  It is within us.  WHEN we remember this Truth.  So, let’s get to it, shall we?

Suggested Spiritual Practice

This is the hard part.  Remembering our Union with the Divine is an every moment of every day job.  It requires discipline, persistence and PRACTICE.  And we will never, ever, ever, in our human experience perfect this remembering.  All we can do is take it moment by moment, day by day and practice forgiveness of ourselves WHEN we forget.  J  We will forget and we will fail.  But the task is to keep coming back, again and again and again, to this truth:

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last,
the beginning and the end.”

In the coming week, I invite you into a practice of observation.  Through this practice, you are invited to observe where you are remembering this truth and feeling that sense of Union with God and your higher self and where you are not.  You will notice oneness vs. separation in the following:

Oneness = peace, contentment, joy.

Separation = anxiety, worry, fear.

I also invite you take note of where your attention is placed.  When is your attention on your Soul and God and when is it elsewhere?  Make note of the difference you feel within yourself when you are connected to Soul/God and when you are not.

Connection = peace, contentment, joy, fulfillment, flow.

Separation = restlessness, boredom, anxiety, worry, fear, frustration, impatience.

Simply take note.  Then, if you feel so-called, begin the work of turning away from those experiences that cause separation and turning instead toward those that support you in feeling Union.

Victory of the Holy Bride shatters over 2000 years of patriarchal dogma that cast the Book of Revelation in the role of doomsday prophecy and presents to you the tools for discovering a profoundly simple truth that is the key to inner peace and the formula through which we endure the “times of tribulation” while building a whole new world – one rooted in peace, understanding, wisdom, harmony and love. 

Learn more HERE

Featured Course: Mary Magdalene and the Path of Beloved Partnership

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Thirteen Sessions

online and at your own pace

Beloved Partnership is a term that has been alternatively associated with concepts such as soulmate or twin flame. Beloved Partnership is neither of these. Beloved Partnership has nothing to do with the human pursuit of external love.

Instead, the longing for Beloved Partnership and its resulting pursuit can only be satisfied from within.

The journey of Beloved Partnership has been portrayed throughout history in legend, myth, and fairytale. The story of Jesus and Mary Magdalene is one such tale – one that institutional religion would like to ignore, and which popular culture has turned into a romance. Whether Mary Magdalene and Jesus of Nazareth enjoyed a romantic partnership is immaterial to the Beloved Partnership that they both embodied within themselves.

This course explores Beloved Partnership as the process of human self-realization reflected in the embodiment of the Beloved within as it was achieved through both Mary, called Magdalene, and Jesus, called Christ.

Beloved Partnership is nothing short of the embodiment of that which some might call God.

Week One: Lovers Meet

Week Two: Courtship/Infatuation

Week Three: Consummation

Week Four: Marriage

Week Five: Dark Night of the Soul

Week Six: Abandonment

Week Seven: Solitude

Week Eight: The Void

Week Nine: The Final Trial

Week Ten: Breakthrough

Week Eleven: Living as the Beloved

Week Twelve: Alchemical Fulfillment

Week Thirteen: Holy Matrimony

Each session will include:

  • An opening meditation, song or prayer.
  • A scripture reading reflective of the week’s theme.
  • A live lesson given by Lauri Ann Lumby spiritual director of the Order of the Magdalene.
  • A spiritual practice that will be completed inside or outside of class.
  • Moderated discussion and sharing
Learn More and Enroll HERE

Mary Magdalene and the Kabbalah

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Beyond the trappings of pop-culture commercialization, the Kabbalah is an ancient and sacred system of mysticism firmly rooted in Judaism, whose origins may truly precede the culture which embraced and then formalized it.  Like the mystical beliefs and contemplative practices of Christianity, the Kabbalah has been guarded for centuries by those who could comprehend and responsibly employ her teachings and practices.  The Kabbalah is at once a theology (a study of and discussion about the Divine), a cosmology (an articulation of how the universe is ordered), and a developmental psychology (the study of human nature and how to support its development). The purpose of the Kabbalah is to support us in coming to know ourselves through our intimate understanding of and relationship with the Divine and to support us in becoming our most authentic selves. In this, the Kabbalah is at once a guide and a tool.

Unfortunately, human beings have twisted the meaning of the Kabbalah as something to use for their own personal gain – to get what they want by using the Kabbalah as a tool of magic.  This was and has never been the intention of the Kabbalah. While the Kabbalah can be thought of as a system of and for the purpose of magic, this is true only when we understand how magic is defined in the authentic Kabbalistic system.  The magic brought about through the proper study of and engagement with the Kabbalah is Union – Union with the Divine, Union with ourselves, Union with each other and Union with all of creation.  In this, our true Divine nature becomes fully embodied and fully engaged in our human form.  The earthly goal of the Kabbalah is Malkuth – what Jesus referred to as “the Kingdom of God.”

Kingdom of God, however, is an error in translation.  Being feminine in form, Malkuth can more accurately be described as the Queendom of God – or more accurately, The Bride.  The fulfillment of the Kabbalah is the revelation of the ineffable Source (Keter) through The Bride (Malkuth).  It is only in knowing and embodying The Bride that the Source can be known and fulfilled.  In the passion play lived out through Jesus and Mary Magdalene, Jesus was the Son (Tiferet) and Mary Magdalene was the Bride.

Mary Magdalene and her beloved Jesus provide the archetypal examples of the fulfillment of the Kabbalah.  Through diligent study of the Kabbalah and applying its principles in their lives, they ascended beyond the ignorance of the human condition to discover their true, Divine nature. They then brought that Divine nature into their human experience through the process of descent.  Through the process of descent, they faced their demons, unhealed wounds, past traumas, unacknowledged fears and societal conditioning so that they could fully embody LOVE, thereby fulfilling the mission and purpose of their Soul.  Mary Magdalene and Jesus both became fully Divine and fully Human which is the goal of the Kabbalistic process.

Learn more about the Kabbalah and its connection with the Magdalene through these courses. Click on the image to learn more and enroll.

Featured Course: Mary Magdalene and the Path of the Holy Bride

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Mary Magdalene and the Path of the Holy Bride

(it’s not what you think!)

Online course, at your own pace.

13 Lessons including “Putting on the Red” final ritual

Created and facilitated by Lauri Ann Lumby, OM, OPM, MATS

Mary Magdalene and the Path of the Holy Bride provides an opportunity to discover, learn and embody the path completed by Mary Magdalene in becoming the Holy Bride.** The Holy Bride is the fulfillment of the journey of merging with and embodying the Divine – both for our own sake and in service to the betterment of the world.

Explored through the lens of the Divine Feminine and gathering from traditional and gnostic scripture in partnership with the Jewish mystical tradition of the Kabbalah, you will learn the path that Mary Magdalene followed in becoming the Holy Bride. Like Mary, you will discover the deepest secrets hidden within these sacred texts of becoming The Holy Bride and you will be given the resources, tools and support to need to grow in that journey of becoming.

Course Outline:

Week One: Introduction to the Course

Week Two: Mother of the Living

Week Three: The Sophian Mysteries

Week Four: Immaculately Conceived

Week Five: Logos

Week Six: Full of Grace

Week Seven: The Fierce Mother

Week Eight: The Holy of Holies

Week Nine: The Bridal Chamber

Week Ten: The Dark Mother

Week Eleven: The Shekinah

Week Twelve: The Holy Bride

Week Thirteen: Putting on the Red

**Contrary to popular belief, the Holy Bride has nothing do with the human construct of marriage or sexual union.

Learn more and enroll here

The Search for Beloved Partnership

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I cannot say exactly when my search began, but for as long as I can remember, I have felt (what I now know to be) the longing that fuels this search.  It was both a longing and a deep inner knowing of a “love” that was deep, abiding, honest, loyal, supportive, and uplifting. In hindsight, I experienced glimpses of this love during the times of silent prayer. But mostly, I was inclined to look outside of myself for that love – primarily in the search for “the one” with whom I would enjoy the fairytale “happily ever after.”

Happily Ever After eluded me, even in marriage to who I thought would be “the man of my dreams.” As my marriage was falling apart, dreams of this elusive love became more potent and urgent.  I began having dreams of “the one” and visions of “him” while in prayer.  This “one” took on the appearance of any number of Jesus-looking men and started showing up in movies, television, advertisements, etc. Along with “hot Jesus,” a woman cloaked in red began to make her appearance. She revealed herself as Mary, called Magdalene, who I somewhat already knew through my academic studies. 

All of this was happening as I was experiencing the most profound emotional and spiritual crisis of my life.  The Universe had pulled the rug out from under my feet, and I was in the throes of clinical depression and spiritual collapse.  Through the help of a therapist and my spiritual director, I was brought back to the practices I had learned in my ministry training and began a deep, soul-eviscerating dive into the wounded areas of my Soul and began stitching myself back together.

As I was stitching, my marriage came to an end, and I began the search for the “one” to take my now former husband’s place. I continued to believe in a “love out there” that would make me happy, whole, and complete. In this I turned to the romantic ideas of Jesus and Mary Magdalene as ones who have lived and modeled the external love I imagined.

The “one” I dreamed of never came.  Instead, what arose out of that search was the profound realization that the love I was seeking for “out there” could only be found within.  This is the love that Jesus described as the kingdom of God and which both he and Mary Magdalene embodied in what gnostic scripture refers to as anthropos. This is the love that I have been seeking, nurturing, and cultivating since 1999 when the foundation of my life began its collapse.

As demonstrated by both Jesus and Mary Magdalene, Beloved Partnership is Union with the Divine within.  In this Union, we come to know the Love that we are in Union with our Source.  In this we know that there is no separation between ourselves and Source.  Who and what we are, and our purpose in this life, is to be the full embodiment of the Divine who lives in and dwells through us – through our own unique giftedness and calling. 

At 58, I cannot claim to have fully realized Beloved Partnership within, but I am much closer than I ever have been.  With this I feel I have the experience and wisdom to share what I have learned of this journey while providing a map for those who have heard a similar calling. 

Happily Ever After – the Transformational Journey from “You Complete Me” to Beloved Partnership presents a new model for intimate partnership along with the process for getting there. Happily Ever After recognizes that as long as we are looking outside of ourselves for completion, our relationships are doomed to fail.  Through personal narrative, informative dialogue, poetry, mindfulness practices, and creativity exercises; you will be invited to deconstruct existing and former patterns of co-dependency while building the foundation upon which you can find happiness and fulfillment within while preparing for the possibility of a mutually loving and supportive relationship with another. Interdependence, rather than co-dependency is the goal of this book and the outcome of this process.

BUY IT HERE

Featured Course: The Holy Bride in Exile

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The Secret Teachings of The Holy Bride in Exile 

Permission and support for those called to a more interior way of sacred living.

Seven Lessons:

Mary Magdalene as the Bride in Exile

The Holy Bride in Exile in Mythology and Folklore

The Shekinah as The Bride in Exile

Personal Power Gained through Exile

The Promise of Provision in Exile

Creating and Being Your Own Temple

Click on image above to learn more and enroll

Genesis of this Course:

The Holy Bride in Exile course has come about in both a logical and an illogical way. The logical includes almost thirty years of intensive study of the Magdalene, my own education and experience in scripture study, theology, religious history, human development, psychology, Christian and Jewish mysticism, etc. etc. etc. Also logical are all the courses I’ve developed and facilitated including the Magdalene Priesthood training, the Order of Melchizedek Alchemist training, and my most recent courses on the Gospel of Mary Magdalene and Mary Magdalene and the Path of the Holy Bride. All of this work, and my own integration of these studies provided the framework out of which exploration of the Bride in Exile became possible.

The illogical is the lightening bolt that pierced through me while reading Raphael Patai’s The Hebrew Goddess. When I came upon Patai’s words, “The Holy Bride in Exile,” the whole world turned on its axis, everything stopped, and the downloads began. It literally felt as if the top of my head had been opened up and someone/something was pouring awareness and knowledge into me. If this wasn’t exciting (terrifying) enough, what was being shown to me validated and affirmed a calling that has likely been present within me my whole life, but now had become increasingly urgent:

The call to a more interior way of sacred living.

It is because I know I am not alone in this calling that I share this course with you. This, I believe, is so much more than a course, it is:

Permission and Support for a way of living that has been lost in our society – one that was once valued (more on that later), but with the advent of the patriarchy, and more recently of capitalism, interior living has been cast aside as ridiculous, or at the very least, counter-cultural.

“Only crazy or morbidly depressed people would want to spend most of their time in solitary contemplation and study, moving slowly and gently upon this earth.”

The Holy Bride in Exile says otherwise. Not only is the Holy Bride in Exile an ancient archetype, it is, I believe, a critical stage in the Soul development of those who are either called to exile as a way of living, or who find themselves in temporary states of exile as part of their Soul’s journey of unfolding. Society needs its hermits for reasons that we will uncover in this course.

My greatest heart desire in sharing this journey with you is that you feel validated and affirmed in your own unique calling and that you discover the empowerment that is inherent in our times of exile. Additionally, I hope that through this support you can harness the courage and strength to boldly live your interior life knowing that by doing so you are offering a powerful gift not only to yourself, but also to the world.

Thank you for embarking upon this journey with me!

Start Your Journey of Solitude HERE

The New Monasticism

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Contemplative Living in the Modern World

As the Institutional Church continues its decline, and monastic communities along with it, we are invited to Re-Vision Church, while at the same time re-visioning monasticism. What does it mean to be contemplative, in community, and in service to the betterment of the world without taking vows of chastity and poverty?  What does it mean to be called to the contemplative life while living in the modern world?   In this week’s lesson, we are going to explore these questions. I invite you to join in this exploration with me!

Church, as we have known it, is dying.  Included in this death is the dramatic decline of women and men entering religious orders. In the Eastern Orthodox, Catholic and Episcopal traditions, these monastic orders have been the guardians of the contemplative traditions while dedicating their lives in service to the Divine and to the betterment of our world. These are the women and men who serve the needs of the poor, bring healing to the sick, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and who are continually working for social justice and the rights of the vulnerable and oppressed.  These are the people who are “boots on the ground.”

In the modern age, however, the number of those who are “boots on the ground” has drastically declined. To put it simply, few are called to the vows of chastity or poverty that are required for in most monastic orders. Additionally people (in the first world anyway) are not looking toward religious life as an escape or as a means to an education. As our world becomes increasingly pluralistic (embracing the truths present within a multitude of belief systems) and institutional religion continues to decline, there are quite simply fewer to choose from as potential candidates for religious life.

This does not mean, however, that women and men are not looking for what monastic life has provided:

  • A life centered in contemplation, meditation and prayer.
  • Spiritual Formation and Empowerment.
  • A Community of like-minded women and men.
  • Meaningful and fulfilling work that is both personally enriching and which serves the betterment of the world.

How can women and men get these needs met outside of institutional religion, while embracing a multitude of beliefs? 

I have shared this quandary with many of my friends, students and clients.  There seems to be a deep hunger among people to connect – and to do so along a similar intention or goal.  One friend for example, has carries within him the long-standing vision of building a sustainable community – one whose focus is on agricultural sustainability and permaculture – living away from the distractions of the capitalistic world and providing for their own needs while providing for others.  He has seen this as a collaborative collective of like-minded people dedicated to building community, while caring for the earth with sustainable farming practices.  This is a vision that he has held for the six years (lifetimes) I have known him.  He has been slowly working toward this vision and only recently have the pieces fallen into place which are allowing him to fulfill this vision. 

A former student has held a similar vision, but for her the vision isn’t centered on agriculture, but is instead about providing a place for women to be safe (her focus is women who have been abused and their children), where they can heal and become empowered through a sisterhood of supportive women.  The focus of this community would be on ritual, healing practice, meditation and prayer.  Additionally, shamanic healing practices, counseling and empowerment would be offered to help these women create a new life for themselves – either within or outside of the community.

Another example of attempts that are being made to support women and men in receiving the benefits that monastic life used to provide is the way that many Catholic retreat centers have re-visioned themselves.  Many are housed within former convents or monasteries, providing a place of prayer, contemplation, formation, healing and stewardship.  The FSPA (Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration) sisters, for example, have several retreat centers that share a common mission – stewardship of the earth, sustainability, contemplation and prayer, outreach to the community. 

These are all examples of how women and men are finding creative answers to the deep calling within themselves that would have formerly been met within vowed religious life. The one thing that all of these examples have in common is PLACE.  They all require land and buildings – a place people have to go to be a part of these communities. While these examples meet the needs of some, what about the needs of those who are not called to “place”?

I am one of those people, and I suspect if you are part of this community, you might be too.  How do we live a monastic life outside the confines of place and within the rhythm of our everyday lives?  Most of the women and men in this community have “day jobs” and/or a family to care for.  We are called from a wide range of professions, vocational callings and life circumstances – all of which preclude living out a contemplative life defined by place.  Instead, we are called to create space within our everyday life for the benefits of monasticism:

  • A life centered in contemplation, meditation and prayer.
  • Spiritual Formation and Empowerment.
  • A Community of like-minded women and men.
  • Meaningful and fulfilling work that is both personally enriching and which serves the betterment of the world – work which we may or may not get paid for.

It isn’t easy, but it can be done. In order to fulfill this calling we will likely have to defy the rules and conditioning of our patriarchal world – rules that say our value is determined by what we do, how hard we work, how many people know us, how much money we make and by association, what we own.  Living a contemplative life in the modern world requires a shifting of priorities – creating space for the above mentioned items.  Carving out time for meditation and prayer. Making a commitment to our spiritual formation and to the calling which comes forth from that exploration and study.  Taking time to connect with those who are choosing to share in this journey.  Turning away from work, relationships, activities and expectations that no longer serve our Divine calling and turning toward that which fulfills and serves the betterment of the world.  All of this while ceasing from judging the paths and choices of those within our community, understanding that we are all on our own path – just trying to find our way home (to ourselves and our “God”).

I have been and continue to work on this for myself.  I can attest that it is a continued unfolding and a continued deepening.  Every day, it seems, I am called more and more fully into living out the contemplative life I have envisioned.  This alone is a practice.  In addition to my daily meditation and prayer, is the constant evaluation of the rhythm of my life and to what I am giving my energy.  Each day I am observing, witnessing, tweeking – what is life giving and what is not? What is an energy drain and what gives me life?  What makes me feel safe (peaceful, calm, content) and what is overstimulating, taxing, anxiety-producing?  It is an ongoing practice and my hope is that in doing this for myself, I can in turn, support you in doing the same – in the way that works for you!  (Not everyone is called to transmute the darkness of the world – you lucky souls! )

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Suggested Spiritual Practice:

In the Christian tradition, Jesus provides the perfect example of the contemplative life. 

  • A life rooted in contemplation and prayer.
  • Ongoing spiritual formation.
  • Engagement with a like-minded community.
  • Meaningful work in service to the betterment of the world.

When his disciples asked Jesus how he did this, he answered was simple, PRAYER. He instructed them as such:

Whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Divine Parent who is in secret; and your Divine Parent who sees in secret will reward you. MT 6:6

Jesus prayed (meditated) a lot!  He invited his disciples to do the same.  He did this because he knew:

Seek ye first the kingdom of God (within) and everything will be given unto you. MT 6:33

It is within this intimate connection with God that we find ourselves and in finding ourselves, we discover who we are, who we are called to be and how we are called to live our lives.  We also find this in the quiet discernment of our heart where we know what is “of God” and what is not. 

My invitation to all of this this week, is to enter into our quiet place and ask how we are individually and personally called to live out the contemplative life in our modern world?  As the pieces come through for you, please feel free to share them with our community, either in the discussion section below or if you are part of the social network, please share it there.

With love,

Lauri

Will the Real Magdalene Please Stand Up?

/ Lauri Ann Lumby / 1 Comment

In the forty years (or so) that I have been working with Mary Magdalene I have come across at least a million different theories about who she was/is, what her life looked like, where she lived, who she slept with and who her children might be. In the twenty years (or so) that I have been actively studying and researching the Magdalene, I have read at least a hundred books specifically dedicated to her which also bears their own theories of the Magdalene.  Some call her an Ascended Master, others an Essene High Priestess, others a prostitute, others an adulterous woman, others the Sang Grael and the mother of a dynasty of European kings and queens (Jesus’ own progeny), and some claim her as a goddess.  Most of these books are based entirely on theory, oral legend or claim to have been “directly channeled” from the Magdalene herself.

Scholars who study the Magdalene refrain from making such claims and instead stick to what they are able to glean from archeological evidence, scripture itself, and ancient re-discovered manuscripts.  My personal preference is to lean toward a more scholarly approach while avoiding the temptation to either define the Magdalene or condemn another’s theory.  It is for this reason that I call my book Song of the Beloved – the Gospel According to Mary Magdalene fiction.  At the end of the day, unless we were there, we know nothing certain about the Magdalene, and until we have passed from this plane, we will never know.

All that being said, I cannot discount the direct, personal experiences and revelations I have had of the Magdalene (and Jesus) through my meditation and prayer.  These revelations have guided and informed my work – my writing and publishing, but most importantly, these revelations guided and informed the human development courses that I have developed and which now make up the Magdalene Priest/ess Training.  This work is rooted in scripture (canonical as well as non-canonical) and embraces the rich tradition of Christian contemplative meditation and prayer practices as its foundation. This work is further supported by modern theories of human development as they have been expressed through Humanist and Transpersonal Psychology. 

Through the integration of scholarly research and personal revelation, what I have come to understand about the Magdalene and the view I present to the world is that:

  • She was not the adulterous woman of scripture.
  • The “healed of seven demons” said of her is likely referring to a formal process of initiation that supported her journey of self-actualization which she underwent with Jesus’ guidance, successfully completed, and then went on to teach others.
  • She is the only one is scripture said to have completed such a process.
  • She stood beside Jesus (unlike his other disciples who hid in the Upper Room) through his trial, crucifixion, death and burial.
  • She was the one to whom the Resurrected Christ was revealed and THE ONE commissioned to bring the news to the other disciples.
  • She continued to have direct, personal and private visitations by Christ through which he imparted upon her his secret teachings. When she tried to share these teachings with the other disciples they ridiculed and condemned her.

All of these “theories” of the Magdalene are taken directly from scripture and affirmed through scholarship (See resources below).

Beyond this, I personally like to believe that Jesus and Mary were husband and wife and that they were equal, co-ministers in sharing the law of love.  I also like to believe that Mary is the only one to have received the full understanding and knowledge of what Jesus came to teach and that she was chosen by Jesus to continue his work.  Legend tells us that she went forth from Palestine and ventured to Alexandria, Egypt, the South of France and perhaps even Glastonbury, England in her journey of sharing the message of love.  None of this can be verified, but it resonates as truth to me.

While these are the “truths” I embrace regarding the Magdalene, none of these am I attached to, because again, unless we were there, we will never know.  What I have come to understand about the Magdalene is that she reveals herself to us in the ways that are consistent with our temperament, our personalities, our unique lens into the world and in concert with our unique giftedness and calling in this life.  As such, the Magdalene has revealed herself to me through the lens of my Catholic-Christian upbringing and education and through the reasoned lens of scholarship where the scientific method might provide some assurance of truth.  For others, she reveals herself as an Essene High Priestess, a Priestess of Isis, a pseudo-pagan priestess and goddess, to others an Ascended Master and to others still, the Goddess herself. 

As St. Paul once said of himself, Mary Magdalene has become all things for all people for the sake of fulfilling her mission which is to complete the mission that Jesus began of turning our world from one in fear to one ruled by and for the purpose of love.

And you, O tower of the flock,
hill of daughter Zion,
to you it shall come,
the former dominion shall come,
the sovereignty of daughter Jerusalem.

Now why do you cry aloud?
Is there no king in you?
Has your counselor perished,

that pangs have seized you like a woman in labor?
Writhe and groan,O daughter Zion,
like a woman in labor;
for now you shall go forth from the city
and camp in the open country;
you shall go to Babylon.

There you shall be rescued,
there the Lord will redeem you
from the hands of your enemies.

Now many nations
are assembled against you,
saying, “Let her be profaned,
and let our eyes gaze upon Zion.”
But they do not know
the thoughts of the Lord;
they do not understand his plan,
that he has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor.
Arise and thresh,
O daughter Zion,
for I will make your horn iron
and your hoofs bronze;
you shall beat in pieces many peoples,
 and shalldevote their gain to the Lord,
 their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth.

Micah 4: 8-13

Select Resources

Bourgeault, Cynthia, The Meaning of Mary Magdalene – Discovering the Woman at the Heart of Christianity, Shambhala Publications, 2010.

Haskins, Susan, Mary Magdalene – Myth and Metaphor, Harcourt Brace & Company, 1993.

King, Karen, L., The Gospel of Mary of Magdala – Jesus and the First Woman Apostle, Polebridge Press, 2003.

Leloup, Jean-Yves, Judas and Jesus – Two Faces of a Single Revelation, Inner Traditions, 2006.

Leloup, Jean-Yves, The Gospel of Mary Magdalene, Inner Traditions, 2002.

Leloup, Jean-Yves, The Gospel of Philip, Inner Traditions, 2003.

Leloup, Jean-Yves, The Gospel of Thomas, Inner Traditions, 2005.

Leloup, Jean-Yves, The Sacred Embrace of Jesus and Mary – The Sexual Mystery at the Heart of the Christian Tradition, Inner Traditions, 2005.

MacDermot, Violet, The Fall of Sophia – A Gnostic Text on the Redemption of Universal Consciousness, Lindisfarne Books, 2001.

Malachi, Tau, The Gnostic Gospel of St. Thomas – Meditations on the Mystical Teachings, Llewellyn Worldwide, 2004.

Malachi, Tau, Gnosis of the Cosmic Christ – a Gnostic Christian Kabbalah, Llewellyn Worldwide, 2005.

Malachi, Tau, Living Gnosis – A Practical Guide to Gnostic Christianity, Llewellyn Worldwide, 2005.

Malachi, Tau, St. Mary Magdalene – The Gnostic Tradition of the Holy Bride, Llewellyn Worldwide, 2006.

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