81 midwives and pharmacists: Ehrenreich and English, Witches, Midwives and Nurses.
82 Aristotle's wife Pythias: Achterberg, Woman as Healer.
82 Cleopoatra Ibid.
82 By Pliny's own admission: Quoted in Jackson, Doctors and Diseases.
82 art and science of herbal healing: Historical sources include Jackson, Doctors and Diseases in the Roman Empire, and Preuss, Biblical and Talmudic Medicine. For specific Middle Eastern practices, see Crowfoot and Baldensperger, From Cedar to Hyssop, and Abu Rabia, Traditional Bedouin Medicine. I am also indebted to Dr. Stephen Fulder of Klil for sharing his knowledge and expertise.
84 raising the widow's son from the dead: Luke 7:12-15.
87 the visionary Wisdom of Solomon: a.k.a. the Book of Wisdom, in The Jerusalem Bible.
87 fourth-century B.C. bas-relief: In the collection of the National Archaeological Museum, Athens. Photograph in Achterberg, Woman as Healer.
87 "talitha kumi": Literally, "girl, arise." Mark 5:41.
88 Jesus mixes spittle with clay: John 9:6.
88 more to clay and spittle: See Hull, Hellenistic Magic.
88 Isis kneads the spittle: Witt, Isis in the Graeco-Roman World.
88 call on the guardian deity: Cumont, Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism.
88 re-named with each new conqueror: A practice that continued worldwide, into the twentieth century. For instance, the United States replaced Native American place names (e.g., Mount Tacoma became Mount Rainier), Australian settlers did the same with Aboriginal tribal names (e.g., Uluru became Ayer's Rock), and Israel replaced Arabic names with Hebrew ones (e.g., Saffuriya, once Sepphoris, became Zippori). In the Middle East, the succession of conquerors over the centuries means that one place can accumulate as many as six or seven names. Which name is used then becomes a kind of political statement in itself.
89 commanding the demon to leave: Smith, Jesus the Magician.
89 "Adjured are you, spirit': In Naveh and Shaked, Magic Spells and "Adjured are Formulae.
89 "I abjure you, fever and sickness": Ibid.
89 lack of divine grace: Discussed feelingly by Crossan in The Historical Discussed feelingly by Crossan Jesus. See also Sontag, Illness as Metaphor.
90 "Master, who sinned": John 9:2.
90 the hemorrhaging woman: Mark 5:25, Matthew 9:20, Luke 8:43.
90 the leper as unclean: Mark 1:40, Matthew 8:2, Luke 5:12. Mark 1:40, Matthew 8:2, Luke 91 "eyes of the blind shall be opened": Isaiah 35:5-6.
91 Messianic Apocalypse: In Complete Dead Sea Scrolls.
92 Book of Enoch: In Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament.
93 Contraception was widely used: In the following discussion of contraception and abortion, I am particularly indebted to Riddle, Contraception and Abortion from the Ancient World to the Renaissance, and McLaren, History of Contraception.
94 artemisia—wormwood: The World Health Organization now recommends artemisinin, the active ingredient in artemisia, as the artemisinin, the active ingredient in artemisia, best long-term option for the treatment of malaria.
94 chasteberry bush: In 2001, German researchers reported in the British Medical Journal that a dried extract of chasteberry fruit (Vitex agnus castus) reduces most symptoms of premenstrual syndrome.
96 women's fertility would be equated: See Eliade, Sacred and the Profane, and Burkert, Ancient Mystery Cults.
97 "God needed Mary's yes"': David M. Neuhaus sj of the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Jerusalem, in the sermon "Mary and the New Covenant," Easter 2001. Also Maeckelberghe, Desperately Seeking Mary. Michael Downey, the cardinal's theologian for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, puts it this way in The Cathedral at the Heart of Los Angeles: "The whole of her mystery rests in a word:fiat. 'Yes.' By it, she became the Mother of God. And us."
V
98 makes offerings: On paganism at the time, see Hopkins, World Full of Gods. Also Cumont, Oriental Religions, and Flusser, "Paganism in Palestine," in Safrai and Stern, Jewish People.
99 the story of the Great Virgin: See especially Witt, Isis in the Graeco- Roman World. Also Burkert, Ancient Mystery Cults, and Benko, Virgin Goddess.
100 gnostic gospel of Philip: In The Nag Hammadi Labrary.
101 Isis suckling the infant Horus: Photographic plates in Tran, Isis Lactans.
101 a sense of the sacred: Cioran, in The New Gods, notes that "in the eyes of the ancients, the more gods you recognize, the better you serve divinity, of which they are but aspects, or faces."
102 more accessible gods: As Shaye Cohen notes in From the Maccabees to the Mishnah, "monotheism is an ambiguous concept . . . The Jewish monotheism of antiquity did not exclude belief in many and diverse supernatural beings."
102 A degree of polytheism: See Hillman, "Psychology: Monotheistic, See Hillman, "Psychology: Polytheistic" in Miller, New Polytheism.
103 "the rich native religious stew": Fredriksen, From Jesus to Christ.
103 "In the pre-Christian epoch": Burkert, Ancient Mystery Cults.
103 "no gods before me": Karen Armstrong discusses this excellently in A History of God.
104 "Peer Gynt's famous onion": Cox, Seduction of the Spirit.
106 "biologically insignificanttissues": Holtzman and Kulish, Nevermore. Holtzman 107 Hymen, the god of marriage: Ibid.
107 dire punishment: Deuteronomy 22:20-21.
108 "Behold, a virgin": Matthew 1:23 refers to Isaiah 7:14.
108 the Greek word: parthenos See Schaberg, Illegitimacy of Jesus. Illegitimacy 109 "virgin births": Hall, Moon and the Virgin.
109 a widow became a "marriageable maiden": Leach, Genesis as Myth.
110 a web of dualisms: Levi-Strauss, Raw and the Cooked.
113 virgin goddesses: I am deeply indebted to Stephen Benko's superb I am deeply indebted to Stephen Benko's book The Virgin Goddess in the pages that follow.
113 "the enigmatic virgin": Giulia Sissa's irresistibly titled Greek Virginity is an extended philosophical essay on virginity.
114 "Nuth the mighty mother": Ashe, Virgin.
114 "It is I alone": Ibid.
115 Diana of Ephesus: In the Museo Nazionale, Naples. Photograph in In the Museo Neumann, Great Mother.
116 Untamed, untouchable: See Shinoda Bolen, Goddesses in Everywoman.
116 the essence offertility: Benko discusses this in depth in The Virgin the essence Goddess.
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120 father provides the white stuff. From the Talmud (Niddah 31a: Eccles. Rabah 5:10), quoted in Preuss, Biblical and Talmudic Medicine.
120 "man lies with the woman": Granqvist, Birth and Childhood.
121 the angel Gabriel kneads soil: Ibid.
122 "A biography may be considered complete": Virginia Woolf in Orlando (London, 1928). Interestingly quoted by Norman Mailer in his (London, 1928). Interestingly quoted by Norman "speculative biography" of Marilyn Monroe.
123 "No sooner have you grabbed hold": Calasso, Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony.
123 Truth is an evolving idea: James, Pragmatism.
124 "so far as man stands for anything": James, Will to Believe.
124 "Blessed be the Name": "The name" is used instead of "God" since "The name" is used instead of Jewish tradition forbids uttering the name of God.
125 "Blessed art thou": Luke 1:28.
125 the Trobriand islanders: Leach, Genesis as Myth.
127 "daughter of a strange god": Malachi 2:11.
127 apocalyptic battle: "The War Scroll" in Complete Dead Sea Scrolls.
127 "Leda and the Swan": In Collected Poems of W. B. Yeats, New York, 1956.
127 the full version of the legend: In Benko, Virgin Goddess.
128 gods siring legendary humans: See Graves, Greek Myths, and Phipps, gods siring legendary Sexuality of Jesus.
128 "Hatshepsut shall be the name": In Phipps, Sexuality of Jesus.
128 "son of the living god": M. Smith, Jesus the Magician.
129 the Holy Ghost "coming upon": Maryam Luke 1:3
5, "the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee."
130-31 his first appearance: Matthew 1:1-20.
131 fetching him from the temple: Luke 2:44—45.
131 "Hail, holy Joseph, hail": In The Westminster Hymnal, London 1939.The Westminster 132 "the carpenter's son": Matthew 13:55.
133 Wisdom of Solomon: a.k.a. the Book of Wisdom, in The Jerusalem Wisdom Bible.
133 Book of Enoch: In The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament.
133 to establish Jesus' lineage: Matthew 1:1-17, Luke 3:23-38.
133 "the son of Mary": Mark 6:3.
133 "son of man": An impassioned scholarly debate has developed onthe possible messianic implications of this phrase. Particularly good on the subject are Lindars, Jesus, Son of Man, and Collins,Apocalyptic Imagination.
134 a metaphorical beard: In his novel Fifth Business, Robertson Davies has Pere Blazon, an iconoclastic Jesuit priest of great age and greater learning, call Joseph "the world's most celebrated cuckold."
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137 as a result of rape: I am indebted to Jane Schaberg's courageous examination of this possibility in The Illegitimacy of Jesus.
137 "coveryou with its shadow": This is the Jerusalem Bible translation of Luke 1:35. The King James version reads: "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee."
137 "Behold the handmaid": Luke 1:38. Mirrors 1 Samuel 1:18, where Hannah says "Let thine handmaid find grace in thy light."
137 model rape victim: Daly, Church and the Second Sex.
137 the Magnificat: Luke 1:46-55 and 1 Samuel 2:1-10.
138 anti-Christian diatribes: Panthera appears in pagan philosopher Celsus' work "True Doctrines." Writing in the year 178 A.D., Celsus probably drew on earlier sources. See Schiissler-Fiorenza, Jesus, and Schaberg, Illegitimacy ofJesus.
139 revealed rape for what it is: Brownmiller's book identified rape as an act of violence, not sexuality, and dispelled the notion that rape had anything to do with provocativeness on the woman's part.
140 if a man rapes a betrothed girl: Deuteronomy 22:23-27.
142 Protevangelium of James: a.k.a. the Infancy Gospel of James, in The Apocryphal New Testament.
142 A ward of the temple: See also the Gospel of Bartholomew, in The New Testament Apocrypha, where Mary, talking to the disciples, mentions living "in the temple of God" at age ten.
143 Fathers did sell their daughters: See Schiissler-Fiorenza, In Memory of Her.
144 the law stated: Deuteronomy 22:28-29.
144 "about my father's business": Luke 2:49.
145 "Blessed are the poor": Matthew 5:3, the first line of the Sermon on the Mount.
145 "Is not this Joseph's son?": Luke 4:22.
145 "Jesus, the son of Joseph": John 1:45, 6:42.
146 "made of the seed of David": Romans 1:3.
146 "woman," not "Mother": John 2:4, 19:26.
146 "If anyone does not hate": Luke 14:26.
147 "Call no man father": Matthew 23:9.
147 "Unless a man is born again": John 3:3.
147 Nearly a third of all births: Sarah Lyall, "For Europeans, Love Yes, Marriage Maybe," in The New York Times, March 24, 2002.
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153 "was lost and now is found": Luke 15:32.
153 "For many are called": Matthew 22:14.
154 throwing dice: Matthew 27:35, a reference to Psalm 22:18.
156 They used iron nails: See Hengel, Crucifixion in the Ancient World for details of crucifixion and its use.
157 one detail that is rarely mentioned: Noted by Catherine Clement in her correspondence with Julia Kristeva in The Feminine and the Sacred.
158 "purest forms of governmental violence": Horsley and Silberman, "purest forms of governmental Message and the Kingdom.
159 The Temple Scroll: In Complete Dead Sea Scrolls.
159 "Anyone who was put to death": Wilson, Paul.
160 "to fulfill the scripture": John 19:24, 19:28, 19:36, 19:37.
160 "why hast thou forsaken me": Matthew 27:46, Psalm 22:1. Matthew 27:46, 160 "into thy hands": Luke 23:46, Psalm 31:5. Luke 23:46, Psalm 31:
160 "darkness over the land": Amos 8:9.
160 "the foal of an ass": Zechariah 19:9.
160 vinegar-soaked sponge: Psalm 69:21.
160 pierced hands and feet: Psalm 22:16.
161 "prophecy historicized": Crossan, Historical Jesus.
161 earthquake . . . eclipse . . . rending: Matthew 27:51, Mark 15:33.
161 massacre of the innocents: Matthew 2:16.
161 flight into Egypt: Matthew 2:15 refers to Hosea 11.1, where Yahweh calls his son out of Egypt. Jesus thus becomes a second calls his son Moses or Joseph.
161 visits of the three magi: Matthew 2:11.
161 "adventure of the hero": Campbell, Power of Myth.
161 "Those who told the story": Carroll, Constantine's Sword.
162 Overturning the money changers' tables: Mark 11:15, Matthew 21:12.
162 somewhere between 4 B.C. and 6 A.D.: Morton Smith (Jesus the Magician) estimates Jesus being born "probably within eight or ten years of the beginning of the current era." Hopkins (World Full of Gods) notes the census in 6 A.D. as a likely time.
163 "in the days of Herod the king": Matthew 2:1.
163 "atypical tyrant-legend":Smallwood, Jews Under Roman Rule.the census—the given reason: Luke 2:1-5.
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170 The bodies were left to hang: Hengel, Crucifixion in the Ancient World, Horsley and Silberman, Message and the Kingdom.
170 disintegrated into dust: Genesis 3:19, Psalm 104:29, Ecclesiastes disintegrated 3:20.
171 a body left unburied: Morgenstern, Rites of Birth, Marriage, Death.
171 the bones ofJoseph brought home: Exodus 13:9, Joshua 24:32.
Exodus 171 burned the bones of his enemy: Amos 2:1.
171 exhume and burn the bones: 2 Kings 12:14—20.
171 asked Pilate to give him the body: Mark 15:43.
172 they marched and demonstrated: See Mothers of the Disappeared, by Jo Fisher (Boston, 1989).
173 "a muddle of Marys": Warner, Alone of All Her Sex.
173 Mary the mother of James and Joses: Matthew 27:56.
Matthew 173 Mary the wife of Cleopas: John 19:25. John 19:
173 "the other Mary": Matthew 28:1.
174 "many women which came up with him": Mark 15:41.
Mark 174 appears at the crucifixion: John 19:25-26.
175 devoted to pagan worship: 1 Kings 18:4, 18:13. Jezebel's gruesome Kings death is in 2 Kings 9:33-37.
175 paradigm of unfaithfulness: See Schiissler-Fiorenza, In Memory of paradigm Her.
175 any woman who dares criticize: Sabbagh, Palestinian Women.
Palestinian 176 a woman of some means: Haskins, Mary Magdalen.
Mary 176 Only Luke identifies her: Luke 8:2.
176 "neither male nor female": Galatians 3:28.
177 "the most successful attempt': Cox, Seduction of the Spirit.
177 the unnamed sinner: Luke 7:36-50.
177 the adulteress in John: John 8:3-7.
177 the many-husbanded Samaritan: John 4:18.
177 repository of sinful sexuality: In the sixth century, Pope Gregory the Great—he of the Gregorian chant—declared that the sinner, the adulteress, and the Samaritan woman were all Mary the adulteress, Magdalene.
177 "only a small fragment': Hopkins, World Full of Gods.
177 used to kiss on the mouth: Gospel of Philip in The Nag Hammadi used to kiss Library.
177 gnostic gospel of Mary: In The Nag Hammadi Library.
178 "Mary received Jesus": In Murray, Symbols of Church and Kingdom.
178 "It was she who bore the Son": Ibid.
178 The Twentieth Discourse: Full title "The Twentieth Discourse of Cyril of Jerusalem," in The Apocryphal New Testament. Also titled "The Discourse on Mary Theotokos by Cyril, Archbishop of Jerusalem," in F. Robinson, editor, Coptic Apocryphal Gospels (Cambridge, 1896). Cyril was indeed a
rchbishop of Jerusalem in the late fourth century, but modern scholars doubt his authorship of this series of discourses, and refer to the author as PseudoCyril of Jerusalem.
179 "three who walked with the Lord": The Gospel of Philip in The Nag Hammadi Library.
179 "a state of inextricable confusion": Murray, Symbols of Church and Kingdom. See also F. Jones, Which Mary?
179 "myth-splitting": Levi-Strauss, Myth and Meaning.
180 an explanation of sorts: Matthew 28:11-15.
181 bringing spices and oils: Mark 16:1.
181 ignores the contradiction: John 19:40.
182 planned to steal the body: Schonfield's Passover Plotkeeps conspiracy theorists happy.
183 "It was love that raised Jesus": Renan, Life of Jesus.
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184 "Woman, behold thy son": John 19:26.
184 "including Mary the mother": Acts of the Apostles 1:14.
184 one trend in apocryphal writing: See Marina Warner's discussion of the Assumption in Alone of All Her Sex.
185 Discourse of Theodosius: Full title "The Discourse of Theodosius, Archbishop of Alexandria," in The Apocryphal New Testament.
185 Homily ofEvodius: Full title "The Homily Attributed to Evodius, Archbishop of Rome," in The Apocryphal New Testament.
186 a new kind of community: Ashe, in The Virgin, speculates on such a community, centered on Mary as their prophet, and on a vernacular Gospel of Mary assembled from her prophecies and recollections.
186 dormit, "she fell asleep": See for instance "The Discourse of St. John the Divine Concerning the Falling Asleep of the Holy Mother of God," in The Apocryphal New Testament.
190 new shoots had sprung up: See Rosenblum, Olives.
191 the prophetess Hanna: All the women in this paragraph appear in the New Testament gospels.
192 Caletha the daughter ofNicodemus: The "Syriac Narrative A" in The Apocryphal New Testament tells how Mary "left Jerusalem and went to Bethlehem with her three virgins, Caletha daughter of Nico-demus, Neshra daughter of Gamaliel, Tabitha daughter of Archelaus."
192 divine femalefigure: Elizabeth A. Johnson, She Who Is, and Schiissler- Fiorenza, In Memory of Her are particularly good on Wisdom/ Hochma/Sophia.
193 Her earliest appearance: Proverbs 1:20-33, 8:1-36.
193 the Book of Wisdom: a.k.a the Wisdom of Solomon, in The Jerusalem Bible.
193 "the structure of the world": Ibid., 7:17-20. 193 twenty-one attributes: Ibid., 7:22-23. 193-94 Ecclesiasticus: In The Jerusalem Bible.
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