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What if Mary Magdalene's uncovered hair wasn't just a break from tradition, but a revolutionary act of spiritual and feminine liberation?

As we approach Mary Magdalene's feast day on July 22nd, Shelley and Heather dive into one of the most overlooked yet profound aspects of her story – her hair. In ancient times, a woman's hair was simultaneously considered her "glory" and something to be hidden away from public view. The cultural mandate requiring women to cover their hair wasn't simply about modesty; it was fundamentally about control and power.

Mary Magdalene shattered these conventions when she not only uncovered her hair in public but used it to dry Jesus's feet after anointing them with expensive oils and her own tears. This act of devotion wasn't just spiritually significant – it was politically and culturally subversive. She transformed what patriarchal systems had deemed should be hidden into a sacred instrument of connection and worship.

Through vivid imagery and thoughtful exploration, Shelley and Heather unpack how Mary's wealthy status intersected with her beauty, creating a platform that she chose to use not for personal gain but for devotion. They consider how this ancient story speaks to our modern experiences of beauty standards, cultural control, and the search for authentic self-expression. What does it mean when we reclaim aspects of ourselves that we've been conditioned to hide? How might we find liberation in seeing our physical bodies as sacred vessels rather than objects to be controlled?

This conversation opens windows into a radical understanding of embodied spirituality, where tears, hair, and presence become holy offerings. Mary Magdalene's example challenges us to expand our concept of the sacred and invites us to find transcendence not by escaping our humanity but by fully inhabiting it with love, courage, and radical authenticity.

Join us on this journey of expansionist thinking as we reimagine what it means to follow the path of Mary Magdalene – a path where beauty isn't hidden away but becomes the very story that liberates us all. Share your own reflections and join our community at expansionisttheology.com.

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Could Mary Magdalene be a missing part of the Christ story? This question forms the heart of our exploration as we approach her feast day on July 22nd. While neither of us come from Catholic traditions, we recognize the profound wisdom in celebrating feast days that awaken our consciousness to spiritual truth—and Mary Magdalene holds truths too long overlooked.

Mary represents a pathway to transformation that embraces feminine wisdom and embodied spirituality. When the Gospel of Mary was discovered in Egypt in the 19th century, it revealed a woman who understood Christ's message so deeply that male disciples questioned how Jesus could have shared such mysteries with her. Yet Jesus himself declared that wherever his story was told, hers would be told alongside it—a commission we've collectively failed to honor for centuries.

What might Christianity look like if we restored Mary Magdalene to her rightful place? If Jesus is understood as the Second Adam in theological tradition, might Mary represent the Second Eve—not replacing Mary the mother of Jesus, but complementing our understanding of feminine spiritual presence? The evidence suggests she continued as an evangelist after the resurrection, particularly in France, spreading a message of embodied, Spirit-led devotion. Her understanding of anointing—exemplified when she recognized the significance of Jesus's approaching sacrifice—shows spiritual insight beyond what other disciples grasped. When we embrace her witness alongside Christ's, we discover a more complete spirituality that honors both masculine and feminine expressions of divine wisdom. Ready to explore the full story? Join us as we uncover what traditional narratives have too often left untold.