Overview

Over many years of studying and reflecting the question came to me: suppose the mothers of Jesus and John the Baptist were not two simple village girls, taken by surprise at every turn, but young women who had been educated and rigorously prepared for their roles? And where? Perhaps in a remote community not unlike that of the Essenes -those demanding spiritual retreats for men only? And how? Since my perspective on the biblical stories both in the Old and New Testaments would be in the form of a fable could I take magical liberties? Could I bring all the key women in those 'Testaments' to meet with Maryam and Elizabeth, starting with Eve and ending with Maryam of Magdala? Could I conjure up mystical, magical visitations in the cool of the evening among the olive groves? Did I dare suggest the deeper meaning of 'virgin' as expressed for example by Meister Eckhart is wholeness in one's being? And Judas? Did I dare to suggest - and I am not the only one - that he was not a betrayer but a most loyal friend, who accepted the hard role he was destined to play? There is a painting in a chapel in Italy which shows him embracing Jesus at the very moment of handing him over, the two looking into each other's eyes with loving connivance. And the serpent ? Not evil incarnate, but the embodiment of the life force in all its strength? And God? Not a capricious old man with a beard in the sky, but a fine vibration of colossal energy far beyond our comprehension? Truly the greatest cosmic mystery...

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Jenny Koralek is an established children's author and editor, having had numerous books and short stories published over the past 35 years with, among others, Penguin, Hamish Hamilton, Walker Books, Frances Lincoln, CUP and Egmont in the UK and with various noted publishers in the USA. In addition, several books have been translated into Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Italian and Norwegian. She is also the author of Mother, Do Not Weep for Me, a memoir of her son's life and untimely death and co-editor of A Lively Oracle, A Celebration of P L Travers, Creator of Mary Poppins. Initially inspired by her close friendship with P L Travers she became, alongside her writing career, a lifelong student of mythology and spiritual traditions.

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