The tomb of jesus christ in japan is one of six. Are direct descendants of Jesus Christ real? Are there descendants of Jesus Christ?

CHRONICLES WITHOUT POLITICAL CORRECTNESS

- I suppose you don’t serve dinner anymore? he asked at the next meeting.
- Where there to serve! Parishioners fled to the cities, looking for treasures.
I. Ilf, E. Petrov. "The twelve Chairs"

World has gone mad. The Michelin Guides of Paris have been thrown away. No one in the Vatican is interested in the Pope's sermons anymore. In London, tourists who have forgotten about the grave of Princess Diana are crowding near the majestic gravestone of Sir Isaac Newton. Tens of millions of people from more than forty countries of the world are looking for the main treasure of Christian civilization. The Book drives them.

This book is not Holy Scripture at all, as it might seem at first glance. It has no literary merit. There are no bright heroes in it, and the images of the characters are flat and poster-like. There is almost no action in this book. But there is a secret.

We are talking about the novel by the American writer Dan Brown "The Da Vinci Code", and the plot of this novel is extremely simple. In the Louvre, a famous art critic named Saunière is murdered. The deceased, before his death, manages to leave a coded message to his granddaughter Sophie, who works as a cryptographer in the police. She will have to decipher this message together with a professor at Harvard University (and what about without an American hero!) Robert Langdon. As a result of a small brainstorming session held among the greatest paintings and with the participation of the Mona Lisa, the accomplices learn that the deceased was the head of the secret society Priory of Sion, and also acquire the key to the safe in a Swiss bank. The safe contains an artifact called the "keystone", which hides something indicating the location of the biblical Grail.

Hiding from the police, the cryptographer and the professor come to visit a rich and extravagant scientist, whose main goal in life is the search for the aforementioned Grail. The story of this scientist about the essence of the desired Grail is the very essence of the novel. Over the course of dozens of pages, the reader learns with increasing excitement that his world is not as simple as it is taught in school. It turns out that Jesus Christ was married, and not to anyone, but to Mary Magdalene. And not just married, but had children in common with her. After the death of Jesus, Mary and her children fled to the territory of present-day France, where her family continued further. The descendants of Jesus Christ live among us, and the Holy Grail, it turns out, is a sarcophagus with the body of Mary Magdalene herself and four chests with documents accompanying it, which tell the harsh truth.

The funny thing is that Dan Brown almost never lied - the fact that Christ had children who, after the crucifixion, settled in Europe and became the founders of the Merovingian royal dynasty, is almost not denied by anyone, including the Church. That's just the secret revealed in the novel "The Da Vinci Code" is not really any secret. The main goal of the thousand-year activity of the Priory of Sion was not at all the preservation of the body of Mary Magdalene. The secret was quite different - and Dan Brown diligently avoids this question.

And in fact, everything was like this.

Noah, who escaped the flood, had three sons. A descendant of one of them, Shem, named Jacob (Israel) had eleven sons. The great-grandson of one of these sons (Levi) Moses (as a child was supposed to be sacrificed, but was hidden by someone in the reeds near the water, where he was found by the daughter of the Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II-Termutis, where she went to swim to be cured of AIDS or leprosy, but after touching Moses she was instantly cured), who about 3400 years ago led the Jews out of Egypt, where they were in slavery, and brought them to the land that we now know as Israel. To the descendants of each of the 10 sons of Jacob and 2 of his grandsons from the only daughter of Dinah, Menashe and Ephraim, Moses allocated his land - this is how the 12 tribes of Israel were formed. The descendants of Levi (they were not descendants of Jacob, but like Moses himself - Aaron, he is Asura, the son of Shem), the Levites, did not get their land - they were blessed by Moses for the priesthood and had to roam the Promised Land (that is, promised by God ). One day, a Levite who was crossing the territory of the tribe of Benjamin was attacked, and his concubine was raped by pagans. The injured Levite immediately gathered the rulers of Israel and demanded that the criminals be punished, but Benjamin refused to hand over the attackers. In response, the eleven tribes of Israel conduct a military operation, as a result of which the tribe of Benjamin is almost exterminated. Repenting for what they have done, the Jews give the descendants of Benjamin the land of Jerusalem for eternal hereditary use. However, most of the surviving representatives of the tribe leave Israel and move to Greece, to the center of the Peloponnese, Arcadia. A hundred years later, they participate in the siege of Troy, remain in the defeated city and become its kings (the tribe of Benjamin).

Another hundred years later, in the eleventh century BC, the Jewish people turned to the prophet Samuel (a prophet is a person who has a constant dialogue with God) with a request to elect a king. It must be said that this was a strange desire for the Jewish people, who had only one leader - God. The prophet did not really like this desire, but he, nevertheless, asked God: what to do? God answered Samuel in this way: “Why not? Let them choose, but tell them that kingship is fraught with consequences.”

The Jews chose the most beautiful and tallest of the Jews - Saul. Saul was the son of a noble Jew, Kisa, who came from the tribe of Benjamin.

Saul united the tribes of Israel, won a number of military victories, but soon pride took possession of him, and luck turned away from the king. Samuel was very upset, and God said to him: “Why be sad about Saul? Go to the city of Bethlehem, there is a better king there." Samuel went to Bethlehem and, at the direction of God, made King David from the tribe of Judah - a blond shepherd with blue eyes, who once killed the Philistine hero Goliath with a sling. David spent the first seven years of his reign in Hebron, after which he decided to make the capital of his state the only non-Jewish city in the Judean mountains - the impregnable city of Ir-shalem, which existed from time immemorial (more than 4000 years), inhabited at that time by the Jebusites.

David conquered Ir-shalem, renamed it Jerusalem (Jerusalem), built a rich royal palace there and drew up a plan for the construction of the Temple - the House of the Lord on earth. The main difference between the Jewish Temple and all others was that this Temple had to be alone - the only place where God allowed to bring sacrifices to him. God did not allow David to build the Temple and commanded that his youngest son Solomon be engaged in the construction, on which there is no blood from the wars of conquest.

Solomon became king of the Jews in 965 BC. Eight years after Solomon's accession, the construction of the temple begins. The temple was built in seven years in 950 BC. It was a stone building, trimmed inside with Lebanese cedar and gold. In the center of the Temple there was the holy of holies, a cubic room in which stood the Ark of the Covenant - an elegant casket made of acacia wood, upholstered with gold leaf (in it, twice a week, they sacrificed by releasing the blood of 6-day-old Jewish boys, since in sacrifice to God, according to his will, should be offered only individuals with Jewish blood). Inside the ark were kept the Tablets of the Covenant - two stone slabs on which the text of the Ten Commandments was inscribed by the hand of God himself. God personally gave these plates to Moses on Mount Sinai. During the construction of the Temple, a mysterious incident occurred. The builders did not like one of the stones intended for laying, and they threw it away. However, after some time, the builders saw that this stone was in the masonry of one of the corners of the building (it stood at the head of the corner). This stone became known as the "cornerstone" or "stumbling block".

After the death of Solomon, the united state of Israel breaks up into Israel and Judah, each of which is led by a separate king, and dynasties do not last longer than three generations. Since then, the Jews have been living in anticipation of the arrival of the messiah (meshiach) - the king blessed by God, who will be a descendant of Solomon and will again rule the Jews as it was in better times. (According to Kabbalah, he is in two persons: Mashiach ben Joseph - will take over torment for the sins of all the Jews already exists: M.H.!!! and the second is Mashiach ben David (a descendant of David the father of Solomon) (particle ben means not a son, but a descendant), which will show the Jews the direction in which to move where the new Promised Land and the new Main City will be) and as soon as it. The old (current) Jerusalem must be sacrificed - flooded like Sodom and Gomorrah. It should soon appear and the Jews are looking forward to it.

The Temple of King Solomon stood for 364 years. In 586 B.C. Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II captures Jerusalem, kills most of the Jews, and drives the rest into slavery in Babylon. The temple is destroyed, and the Ark of the Covenant perishes in the fire. After 48 (Jubilee) years, the Persians conquer Babylon, and the Persian king Cyrus lets the Jews go home. Not all return - some of the Jews settle outside the Holy Land. The Second Temple is built in 515 BC. The holy of holies is empty in it - the Ark burned down.

Shortly before the birth of Christ, the Jews commit perhaps the most stupid act in the history of their people. In 67 B.C. Queen Salome-Alexandra dies. Her sons in the struggle for the throne start a civil war. At this time, Rome had just completed the conquest of Syria and came close to Israel. The arguing brothers decided to surrender to the court of the Roman commander Pompey, who entered Jerusalem with his army, occupied it, and after a three-month siege captured the Temple. On this, the independent Jewish state ceased to exist - the Romans put the dynasty of non-Jews Herods as kings of Israel.

When the son Jesus is born in the family of the descendant of Kings David and Solomon Joseph (the tribe of Judah) (the first person with the IV blood group), the Jews live in a harsh occupation regime. Soon the direct rule of the Roman procurator is introduced in Judea, and the situation worsens even more. The new regime is very cruel - Jews are massively crucified, robbed, the Temple is constantly defiled.

Upon reaching the age of majority, according to Jewish law, Jesus marries Mary of Magdala, a girl from a wealthy family with a good pedigree living in Bethany. Subsequently, she will be called Mary Magdaelianka, or Mary Magdalene. At their wedding in Cannes, Jesus turns water into wine - after all, he is from the kind of kings marked by God, and they know how to arrange various spectacular things. Mary bears children to Jesus.

When the age of Jesus approaches 30 years, Pontius Pilate, an extremely cruel and evil man, is appointed procurator of Judea. The Jews almost despair and begin to look forward to the arrival of the Messiah (which in Greek sounds like “Christ”), a savior from the lineage of King Solomon, who will solve the problems of Israel and expel the adversary.

And then Jesus understands that it is time. At the age of thirty, he begins his three-year journey to Jerusalem to take the empty throne of the Jewish kings. This path is described in many sources, which are commonly called gospels. Along the way, Jesus performs the miracles that the Old Testament meshiach should perform. For example, he resurrects his brother-in-law Lazarus. Mary's brother, part-time beloved disciple of Jesus, Lazarus descends into the grave, from where Christ frees him. Just before entering Jerusalem, Jesus sends two of his disciples to the house of his wife, to Bethany, so that they find there a donkey prepared in advance for entering the capital.

Arriving in Jerusalem, Jesus understands that he will not be able to take the throne in the current political situation. And then an influential relative of Jesus, a member of the Sanhedrin (a council of elders that governs the Jewish community of Jerusalem under the auspices of the Romans) Joseph of Arimathea, who was briefly acquainted with Pilate, negotiates with the procurator for a large bribe to stage the execution of the prophet. This deal is beneficial for Pilate - Joseph promises the procurator that Jesus will "die" and will no longer claim the throne of the Jewish king. For Jesus, the mock martyrdom was necessary in order to fulfill the predictions of the Old Testament about the coming of the messiah. The crucifixion took place in Joseph's private garden, at the city gates. Simon from the Siren ascended the cross, and the closest relatives of Jesus, who were initiated into the mystery, watched the process of execution. Simon's body was laid in a tomb in the same garden, which turned out to be empty in the morning.

After the crucifixion, the family of Christ was divided. The heir to the kings himself remains in Judea, while Magdalene with her children, her brother Lazarus and Joseph of Arimathea flee the country by ship. They land near Marseille. Joseph goes to England, where he founds the Glastonbury Church, and Lazarus the first bishopric in Marseilles. Magdalene brings up children, and when the time comes, she dies a natural death in Provence, in the grotto of Aix, which has since been called Sainte-Baume. The children of Jesus have families and offspring.

The disciples of Jesus, who do not know that the teacher is alive, are sent to preach his teaching. One of them, Mark, 30 years after the crucifixion, writes the first Gospel. A couple of years later, the people of Israel rebel against the Roman yoke, which costs them very dearly - the Roman legions of Emperor Titus brutally suppress the rebellion, kill 20 thousand Jews, plunder and destroy the second temple. Jews are fleeing en masse from the Holy Land to the territory of the future Europe. The rest are fortified in the mountain fortress of Masad in the southeast of the Dead Sea. The fortress keeps the defense for four years, but the Romans take over. When the legionnaires enter the fortress, they see nine hundred and sixty corpses of men, women and children who have committed suicide. Among them was Jesus Christ, the crowned king of Israel.

In the next twenty-five years, many biographies of Christ were created, including the Gospels of Luke, Matthew and John, and the institution of the bishopric emerged. In 131, the Roman emperor Hadrian finally breaks the Temple, wipes Jerusalem off the face of the earth and allows Jews to visit the ruins of the Temple only once a year, on August 9th. Jews come to the only western wall left of the Temple and weep near it. Since then, this wall has been called the Wailing Wall.

In 140, the Bishop of Lyon, Irenaeus, compiled a list of the books of the Bible, which included the Gospels of Mark, Luke, Matthew, and John. Christianity at that time consisted of many small sects, each of which, in its own way, looked at the life of Christ and at his nature. Gnostic sects are the most common - they believe that Christ was a simple prophet, and insist on the personal communication of each person with God. This continues for one hundred and fifty years, during which the new religion gradually increases its influence. In 300, seeing the spread of Christianity, the pagan Roman emperor Diocletian orders the destruction of as many Christian writings as possible. But this does not help - already in 312, Constantine becomes emperor of Rome, who allows Christianity to be practiced, and thirteen years later he gathers the first Ecumenical Council in Nicaea, which establishes the day of Easter, determines the power of the bishops and, by voting, decides that Jesus was God, and not mere mortal prophet. The same Council condemns the Gnostic sects. Christianity is gradually beginning to take on the features familiar to us today. Constantine finances the publication of the Bible, which for the first time begins to be massively distributed. The texts of the gospels for this Bible are corrected by church editors in order to hide the human nature of Christ, and in this form they reach our days. In 330, Constantine creates the capital of Byzantium, Constantinople. The fall of Rome is 150 years away.

At the end of the 4th century, a Roman bishop proclaims himself pope. After 10 years, Rome is attacked by the Visigoths, who rob and destroy the city. Today's damage to the Colosseum is a reminder of that devastating raid.

At the same time, King Clodio, a descendant of the same Trojan kings who became the descendants of the tribe of Benjamin who fled from Israel, and his wife, who comes from the family of Jesus Christ, had a son, Merovei. For the first time, the descendants of the hereditary owners of the land of Jerusalem and the descendants of the kings named by God united. A royal dynasty was born, the equal of which in blood does not exist in the world. In 448, Merovei's son, Merovei II, is proclaimed king of the Franks and becomes the first monarch of the united people, from which, centuries later, France will be born. By the name of the founders of the new dynasty, the descendants of the Meroveans will be called the Merovingians. Each of the Merovingians wears long hair, has a special cut on his head for direct communication with God (Christ had the same cut) and a birthmark in the form of a cross.

In 480, the Visigoths finally finish off Rome and destroy all Christian churches. The pope finds himself in a desperate situation - the Roman Church is going through the most difficult moment in its history, it is just one of the many Christian sects, and its fate hangs literally in the balance. And then the Pope makes a brilliant political move - knowing about the origin of the Merovingians, he concludes a pact with the grandson of Merovei, King of the Franks Clovis I. Clovis accepts Catholic Christianity, and the Church names him New Constantine and allows him to rule all the lands of the rapidly collapsing Roman Empire. From that moment on, the Roman Catholic Church becomes the main Church of Europe, and the Merovingian hereditary kings receive the status of emperors of the new Holy Roman Empire, built on the ruins of old Rome. It was under Clovis I that the Franks adopted Christianity.

The main enemies of Clovis are the Visigoths. He begins to conduct constant military operations against them, and in 507, at the battle of Vuille, he finally defeats the army of the Visigoths. After this, Toulouse and Carcassonne fell, and the remaining Visigoths founded their last bastion at Razes, in Languedoc. Now this place in the south of France is called Rennes-le-Chateau.

Clovis I died in 511. The empire was divided among his four sons. For more than a hundred years, the Merovingians ruled almost all of Europe, relying on their majordomo administrators. They were nicknamed "idle kings", and this disregard for the processes of government led to the tragedy of the House of Merovingian.

In 570, in Mecca, the son of Muhammad was born to the widow of a poor merchant Abdallah. At the age of 20, Muhammad married the widow of a wealthy merchant, and at the age of 40, he first heard the voice of the archangel Gabriel. Muhammad spoke about the words of the archangel to the family, and his wife and children became the first Muslims in history. Over the next five years, there were already about 150 followers of Muhammad in Mecca. In the summer of 622, fleeing the persecution of the inhabitants of Mecca, the Muslims moved to the oasis of Yathrib, now called Madinat an-Nabi (“City of the Messenger of Allah of both worlds”), or Medina for short. The first mosque was built, the first imam and muezzin were chosen. Just as God once told Moses how to offer sacrifices to him, so now Allah told Muhammad how to organize the rites of Islam. The year of migration (hijra) of Muslims from Mecca to Medina became the starting point of the Muslim chronology. Over the next years, Muhammad is constantly fighting against the "infidels" - those who do not profess Islam. In 625, he expels all the Jews living there from Medina, which lays the foundation for religious enmity between Jews and Muslims. In 630, the Muslims conquer Mecca, and on June 8, 632, the sixty-two-year-old prophet Muhammad dies. After the death of Muhammad, his followers, the caliphs, continue to conquer everything that can be conquered. In terms of scale, their campaigns are comparable only to the campaigns of Alexander the Great. Among others, in 638 Muslims capture Jerusalem.

Merovingian Dagobert II was born in 651. His majordomo Grimoald, in order to prevent Dagobert from coming to power, kidnapped the boy at the age of five, sent him to Ireland and placed his son on the throne. At the age of 20, Dagobert marries the Visigothic princess Gisela, who lives in Razes. There, Dagobert is imbued with the ideas of Arianism (a religious movement of Christianity that denies the role of the Church in communion with God) and cools towards Roman Catholicism. Such behavior of Dagobert cannot but irritate the church. In 674, Dagobert II returns home and takes the throne that belongs to him by hereditary right. Two years later, Gisela gives birth to his son Sigibert IV. Dagobert prepares for new conquests and accumulates funds that are stored in his wife's house, in Razes. But the new conquests were not destined to come true: on December 23, 679, Dagobert II went hunting in the Wevres Forest, lay down to rest there and was killed in his sleep by a spear in the eye. The murderer returned to Dagobert's house with the intention of killing his entire family, but the king's sister managed to hide Sigibert IV and smuggle him to Rhazes. In the mother's house, the boy's name is Plant-Are, which means "ardent escape."

The Church justifies the assassination of Dagobert II, and from the moment of this betrayal, there will never be peace between the family of God-chosen Jewish kings and the Catholic Church.

The assassination of Dagobert II was organized by majordomo Pepin d'Eristal. His son Karl Martel began to actually rule the Franks, without occupying the throne, which rightfully belonged to the Merovingians.

In 692, on the site of the temple in Jerusalem, the second caliph of Muslims, Omar bin al-Khattab, begins the construction of the first Al-Aqsa mosque, which will become the third most important shrine of Islam and a huge golden dome of the current version of which towers over all of Jerusalem.

In 741, Charles Martel dies, and his son Pepin the Short seizes the throne, deposing the Merovingian king Childeric III. The new king names his dynasty in honor of his father the Carolingians, and the very word "king" etymologically comes from the name of Charles.

At the same time, a small independent state was formed around Razes, whose kings were the Merovingians - the descendants of the saved son of Dagobert, Sigibert IV. The Carolingians recognize these kings, and the Church pretends that they do not exist. The Church has other things to do - it publishes a fake "Dedication of Constantine" - a document by which the last Roman emperor allegedly donated all his rights and fortune to the bishop of Rome. From now on, the Church handed over to itself the right to appoint kings - something that only God did before it, pointing the prophet Samuel to David. And in 800, the Church crowns the son of Pepin the Short, who will go down in history as Charlemagne, the first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire - and this title, according to the pact concluded by Clovis I, could only be worn by Merovingian. The betrayal of the Catholic Church was finalized. Meanwhile, the Carolingians understand that they do not rightfully occupy the throne, and, if possible, marry Merovingian princesses - such is the wife of Charlemagne and his son Louis the Blessed. Since the power of the blood of the kings chosen by God is absolute, the descendants of Charlemagne are also Merovingians in the female line.

November 14, 2013 in Blog

With the filing of Dan Brown, who in his work "The Da Vinci Code", raised the Merovingians to the children of Jesus Christ himself from Mary Magdalene. What is to be explored. However, the Merovingian princes show one distinctive feature that definitely makes them related to the Dan tribe.

What do we know about the famous Merovingian dynasty - the kings of France, whom contemporaries called "long-haired" and even "lazy"? The Merovingians were the first dynasty of Frankish kings that ruled from the end of the 5th to the middle of the 8th century in a state located in the lands of modern France and Belgium. Their family descended from the rulers of the Salic (sea) Franks. This people was known to the Romans from the middle of the 3rd century AD, their ethnonym in translation means "free". In the 5th century, the Franks were divided into two ethnic groups: Salic (that is, sea), who lived closer to the sea, and Ripuan (that is, river), who lived along the banks of the Rhine. The name of the German region of Franconia, which has survived to our time, serves as a reminder of that era. The unity of the people of the Franks was symbolized by the dynasty of their rulers - the Merovingians, who belonged to an ancient royal family. The offspring of this dynasty possessed in the eyes of the Franks a sacred, mysterious power that brought good to the whole people. This was also indicated by one characteristic feature in the appearance of the Merovingians: they wore long hair, and their tonsure meant the loss of the ability to carry out a high mission. This distinguished the kings from their subjects, who wore short hair. According to legend, it was with long hair that the supernatural abilities of the Merovingians were associated. This is confirmed by one historical episode: in 754, when the last Merovingian king of the Franks, Childeric III, was imprisoned, his hair was cut by special order of the Pope. The kings of this dynasty were distinguished by literacy, which was an outstanding phenomenon against the backdrop of that era of the "dark ages". They could read books written not only in Latin, but also in Greek, Aramaic and Hebrew. But let us turn to the external outline of events and for this we will return to the era of the accession of the Merovingian dynasty. It was the 5th century, which became the watershed of two eras - the Ancient World and the Middle Ages. The Roman Empire was divided into two parts - Western and Eastern, or Byzantium. The Western empire is on the decline. In 410, the "eternal city" of Rome was conquered and plundered by the Visigoths under the leadership of King Alaric. At this time, the Salian Franks (one of the numerous Germanic peoples), led by King Chlodion, cross the border river Rhine and invade Roman Gaul. The Franks (translated as free) were very restless neighbors of the Romans. Merovei became the successor of King Chlodion. It is to this leader of the Salic Franks, who ruled from 448 to 457, that the Merovingian dynasty owes its generic name. Its origin is also covered with legends. It was believed that the ruler was born from a sea monster. Sometimes Merovei himself is called a monster that emerged from the depths of the sea. The legend about his birth is as follows: being pregnant, the mother of Merovei, the wife of King Clodio (Chlodion), went to swim in the sea, where she was kidnapped by a sea monster. It was believed that in the veins of Merovei flowed the blood of the king of the Franks Chlodion and the sea monster. This legend, when considered rationally, points to an international dynastic marriage. The origin of the king is thus connected with something overseas. The fish, by the way, is also a symbol of Christ. The ending of the name Merovei (Meroveus) is associated with the words “journey”, “road” and is translated as “beyond the sea” or “born of the sea”. Another translation of his name is "living being" or "demon". Under the son of Merovei, King Childeric, the territory of his state began to expand. But even more famous is his grandson, King Clovis. He became the founder of the powerful Frankish kingdom. Clovis annexed the north of Gaul to his possessions, expanded the borders of the state to the upper reaches of the Rhine. Around 498, the king was baptized. Unusual circumstances contributed to this. During the battle with the Almandians, when the scales were already tipped in favor of the enemies, Clovis remembered the stories of his wife, Clotilde, about the Christian faith, that Jesus is the Savior, and prayed: “Oh, merciful Jesus! I asked my gods for help, but they turned their backs on me. Now I think they just can't help me. Now I ask you: help me deal with my enemies! I believe you!" As soon as these words were uttered, the Franks went on the offensive and threw the Almandians into a disorderly flight from the battlefield. The baptism of Clovis took place in Reims. Since then, all the kings of France have been baptized in this city. During the reign of Clovis, the famous medieval code of laws "Salic Truth" was also published. Paris became the capital of the state of Clovis. It was with this ruler that the Merovingian period of French history began. Of interest is the religious policy of the Merovingian kings. Their state largely preserved paganism. Christianization was not a priority of state policy, and the spread of the Catholic faith was the concern of volunteer missionaries, often not even local ones, but those who arrived from neighboring regions of Europe. In the 5th-7th centuries, these preachers converted the pagans who lived in the center of the vast possessions of the Merovingians, including those in the vicinity of Paris and Orleans, to the faith of Christ. The head of the Catholic Church, the Pope, had practically no influence in this state. However, the overthrow of this dynasty from the throne was not without his sanction. One of the most successful and influential kings of the dynasty was Dagobert, who ruled the state of the Franks from 629 to 639. His reign was accompanied by successful military campaigns and culminated in the annexation of new lands to the kingdom. However, after the death of Dagobert, his heirs began to gradually lose power from their hands. The administration of the state began to shift more and more from them to my lords. This word comes from the Latin major domus - manager of the palace economy. It was the mayors who managed the income and expenses of the royal court, commanded the guards and were the representatives of the king before the Frankish nobility. Since then, the Merovingians have been dubbed "lazy kings". In the middle of the 8th century, Major Pepin the Short decided to become not only in fact, but also formally the first person of the country. Pepin enlisted the support of Pope Zacharias, who anointed him king and proclaimed him king of the Frankish kingdom. In November 751, the last Merovingian king, Childeric III, was shorn and imprisoned in a monastery. This is a known, visible part of Merovingian history. Let's look at something that is not so obvious. According to legend, the kings of this dynasty knew a lot about the occult sciences and esotericism. In the grave of Childeric I, son of Merovei, father of Clovis, found in 1653 in the Ardennes, in addition to the traditional weapons for royal burials, various jewelry and badges, there were also items related to the field of magic and witchcraft: a cut off horse head, a bull’s head made of gold and a crystal ball. About three hundred golden bees were also found there. The bee was one of the sacred symbols of the Merovingian dynasty. These golden bees of Childeric were later used by Napoleon, wishing to emphasize the historical continuity of his power. In 1804, during his coronation, Napoleon ordered that golden bees be attached to his coronation robe. The kings wore a kind of magic necklace and knew a secret spell that protected them. The found skulls of some representatives of this dynasty had ritual incisions similar to those that were applied to the skulls of Buddhist clerics in Tibet. In the distant Himalayas, they were made so that at the time of death the soul could leave the body. Legends have come down to us about the ability of the Merovingians to heal by the laying on of hands. For healing, even brushes hanging from their clothes were used. By the way, to make brushes of wisdom on clothes - tzitzit - is commanded by the Torah to the people of Israel. These kings were often called miracle workers by their adherents, and sorcerers by their ill-wishers. They also had the gift of clairvoyance and extrasensory communication, understood animals and the forces of nature. They were familiar with the secret of longevity, and on the bodies of representatives of the family of kings there was a special sign - a red birthmark in the form of a cross, located on the heart or between the shoulder blades. The origin of the royal family is shrouded in mystery. Medieval legend says that the kings of the Franks descended from the Trojans, the heroes of Homer<Илиады», прибывших в древние времена на земли Галлии. Хроники Средних веков называют предками Меровингов последнего царя Трои Приама или героя Троянской войны, царя-путешественника Энея. Бытует и другое мнение — не о греческих, а об иудейских корнях франкских королей. Согласно этой версии потомки иудейских царей после разрушения римлянами Иерусалима и Второго Храма в 70 году нашей эры «шли приют в землях франков, где положили начало династии королей Меровингов. Династия якобы происходит от потомков колена Биньямина, из которого некогда был выбран первый еврейский царь Шауль. И действительно, в роду Меровингов встречались ветхозаветные имена, например брата короля Хлотара II звали Самсоном. Если мы обратим внимание на библейского Самсона, древнеизраильского судью, он тоже носил длинные волосы, поскольку был назореем. Да и сборник законов, принятых королем Хлодвигом, «Салическая правда», имеет параллели с традиционным еврейским законодательством. Есть также мнение, что именно с династией Меровингов связана загадка чаши Грааля: ведь слово «Грааль» созвучно словам «sang raal» или «sang royal», что переводе означает «королевская кровь». «Граалем», «королевской кровью» легенда называет сына Иисуса Христа и Марии Магдалины. Сторонники этой версии приводят доказательства, что Иисус и Мария Магдалина были мужем и женой. Ученики обращаются к Иисусу «рабби» — учитель, а раввины, законоучители, по иудейским законам должны были быть женаты. Потомки же царя Давида должны были стать родителями не менее чем двух сыновей. Для жителя Святой земли тех времен был довольно прозрачным смысл действий Марии Магдалины, описанных в Евангелии от Иоанна (11:2): «Мария же… была та, которая помазала Господа миром и отерла ноги Его волосами своими». Это могла сделать лишь невеста потомка царского рода Давида. В Ветхом Завете и Давиду, и Соломону их невесты мазали голову миром и отирали ноги своими волосами. В Евангелии Филиппа, имеющем статус апокрифа, версия о том, что Иисус был женат, изложена еще более четко: «А верным другом Иисуса была Мария Магдалина. И любил Христос ее более остальных учеников Своих, и лобызал ее не единожды в уста ее. Остальные же ученики, оскорбленные тем, осуждали Его. Говорили они Ему: почему Ты привечаешь ее больше нас? Спаситель ответствовал им, и сказал так: почему же Мне не любить ее больше вас? Велико таинство супружества, — ибо без него не стало бы мира». Далее, согласно этой версии, после казни и воскресения Иисуса Мария с детьми бежала в тогдашнюю римскую провинцию Галлию, где скончалась в 63 году нашей эры. Могила Марии Магдалины находится на юге современной Франции, в окрестностях городка Сент-Бом. Позднейшее представление о Марии Магдалине как о блуднице сторонники этой точки зрения списывают на происки недоброжелателей: после свержения династии Меровингов теологи Римской церкви стали отождествлять ее с упомянутой в Евангелиях блудницей. В V веке потомки Иисуса породнились с Меровингами. И Меровей, согласно этим преданиям, был потомком Христа. Значительное число соборов, возведенных при Меровингах в их королевстве, были названы именем Марии Магдалины. В то же время в землях, где были сильны позиции Папы Римского, в честь этой святой храмов не называли. Когда династия пала и власть перешла к Каролингам, новой франкской правящей династии, приведенной к власти Пипином Коротким, многие из этих соборов были переименованы. Известно и то, что Меровинги именовали себя «деспозинами» («от Господа»). Прямым потомком Меровея был Готфрид Бульонский, один из вождей Первого крестового похода, правитель Иерусалима. Идя в завоевательный поход на Иерусалим, он, таким образом, возвращал себе «законное наследство» потомка Иисуса. Сам Готфрид Бульонский утверждал, что он происходит из колена Биньямина, младшего сына Якова, которому при разделе земли Израильской между коленами (эти события описывает Библия) достался Иерусалим. Также некоторые исследователи называют одним из потомков Меровея Гуго Шампанского, графа Шампани, в 1125 году отрекшегося от своего титула, для того чтобы уехать в Иерусалим и вступить там в орден тамплиеров. Естественно, существование потомков Меровингов тщательно скрывалось церковными и светскими властями. В раннем Средневековье династия Меровингов владела большей частью Западной Европы. Потомки Меровингов, зная о своем происхождении от Иисуса, держали это в тайне до поры до времени, поскольку боялись расправы над собой со стороны католической церкви, чьи догматы в таком случае оказались бы разрушенными. Тем более что печальный опыт расправы над членами династии имелся — франкский король из династии Меровингов, Дагоберт II, правивший в VII веке, был предательски убит в результате заговора церковников и части знати. Этот король противился расширению влияния римского престола. О своем истинном происхождении Меровинги собирались объявить после установления своей власти, а они стремились к воссозданию обновленной версии Франкского королевства в виде единой Европы. Оглашение того факта, что объединенной Европой правят потомки Христа, должно было энтузиазм и привести к религиозному ренессансу, так, как это случилось в Иране с приходом к власти аятоллы Хомейни в 1979 году. Одна из многочисленных легенд, окружающих династию Меровингов, гласит, что святой Ремигий, крестивший в христианскую религию короля Хлодвига, предсказал, что власть его династии продлится до конца света. Как известно, свержение династии произошло в 751 году, однако это не означает, что предсказание не сбылось. По одной из женских линий потомками Меровингов являются Каролинги — династия, сменившая их на королевском престоле. Династия Каролингов была родственна и другой династии — Капетингов. Потомками Хлодвига, таким образом, являлись почти все короли Франции, включая Бурбонов. Как известно, в настоящее время династия Бурбонов правит Испанским королевством. Прослеживаются и династические связи Меровингов с шотландской королевской династией Стюартов. Так в истории династии Меровингов переплелось прошлое и настоящее, история Древнего Израиля и средневековой Европы, легенды и предания, мистика и реальность. Автор: А.В.Дзюба

Oksana GOR “FOLLOWING THE FOOTSTEPS OF MARY MAGDALENE” Where are the descendants of Jesus and Mary hiding? - St. Petersburg: Vector, 2007. - 188 p. Circulation 3000 copies.

After the publication of Dan Brown's book, imitators are innumerable. So Oksana Gor's book is dedicated to the history of the descendants of Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene - the Merovingians.

The writer calls Jesus Christ a nameless god, because Jesus - Yeshue - in translation means both "savior", and "healer", and "doctor". The word "Christ" in Greek means "anointed, initiated", and in a special ancient sense - and in a special ancient sense - initiated into the secrets of occult knowledge. If we translate the word “Christ” into ancient Aramaic, we get the word “Nazarite”: Nzr is consecration, sanctification, and crowning with a high priestly crown. Mistranslated texts about him give a wrong idea of ​​Christ's social status. In Mark the Evangelist we read: “Is not He the carpenter, the son of Mary?”
Mark's “colleague”, known to us as Matthew, copying from Mark and apparently feeling awkward, changes the text: “…isn't He the son of carpenters? Isn't his mother called Mary?

The famous theologian M.M. Postnikov in his works notes that Mark used the word "tekton", which at that distant time meant "architect", that is, a scientist-architect, and possibly, in a figurative sense, a scientist in general. The fact is that the narrow clan of architects of that era was a semi-secret, closed organization with complex initiation rites. In more recent times, the heirs of this organization were lodges of Masons. (Let me remind you that "mason" means "mason").

Curious information about the "Priorate of Zion". It was this organization that had a hand in the destruction of the Grail and Merovingian researcher Otto Rahn. They say that it was the Priory of Sion that carried out the merger of European states, creating the European Union and a single currency - the euro.
In the "Younger Edda" it is written: "... Sigi had a son Rerir. They ruled the country that is now called the Country of the Franks, and from there the family called the Velsungs began. From all of them came many great families.

The Master of the Order of the Apostles over the Apostles, who allegedly talked with Oksana Gor, revealed to her that Sigi is Sigibert IV, the son of the murdered Dagobert, the last Merovingian. The rest of the Merovingians were forcibly cut, that is, deprived of the generic magical symbol - long hair - and sent to monasteries, where they soon died. And the true Merovingians go to the East and create a new Frankia. So who is Rerir? In the interpretation of Oksana Gor, this is the founder of Rus' Rurik. Rurik is one of the generic names of the Merovingians who went to the East. House Ruargov, descendants of the grandson of Clovis the Great Thierry II - later they will be called the counts of Limoges.

Do you know how in those distant times the Varangians who came to Rus' were actually called? And they called them "mer-ing" or "who came by the sea." Otherwise - Merovingian. The chronicler Continuer Theophanes calls the Prophetic Oleg - "the Franconian duke."

But we should not forget that there is the so-called Pisonian theory, which tries to present the emergence of Christianity as a major political intrigue. The instrument of intrigue allegedly became just the same grandiose hoax, carried out in the second half of the 1st and the first half of the 2nd century AD. The essence of the theory boils down to the assertion that all the canonical books of the New Testament were written by four generations of the Roman aristocratic family of Pisons between 50 and 125 AD. This family is well known to the historians of Rome. It was closely related to the Macedonian king Philip (father of Alexander the Great), Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, Cleopatra, Emperor Vespasian, and some emperors from the Antonian dynasty. They were familiar with Eastern cults firsthand (because they were the governors of Syria, to which Judea was also administratively subordinate). The tasks of Pison and Rome were to create a new religion, the religion of slaves, who made up almost 60% of the population of the empire. This religion was to become pacifist and not challenge the dominance of Rome.

How right is Oksana Gor in her hypotheses? How true are the assumptions about the "handmade" nature of Christianity and the role of the Pison family in this "super project"?

It's hard to answer...
Finding the truth is always difficult.

The claim that there are descendants of Jesus Christ in our time is one of the strongest themes in Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. Based on historical facts, this article attempts to figure out whether this is so.

Dan Brown's 2003 novel The Da Vinci Code was a bombshell. In his book, the author essentially accuses the Catholic Church of a grand conspiracy to distort the true teachings of Jesus Christ for their own political purposes.

To do this, the Vatican destroyed versions of the Bible that were objectionable to it, hid the documents of Jesus during his lifetime from the public, and, most importantly, for centuries led the persecution of the true followers of his teachings, led by the descendants of Christ.

Opposing the church in this unequal struggle is the secret organization Opus Dei, which at one time was headed by Leonardo da Vinci, Isaac Newton and other great people. The book is written so vividly and figuratively that many took these statements as true.

The author himself in an interview vaguely hinted that the facts given in the novel are, of course, his invention, but he allegedly was based on real sources known only to him.

So, can the shocking claim that there were descendants of Jesus Christ be true? Or it should be put on a par with the aliens who crash-landed in New Mexico or the second sniper who shot at Kennedy.

According to Brown, Mary Magdalene secretly married Jesus and had a child with him. About this, as if, there are unequivocal records in those versions of the Bible that are prohibited by the official church.

The secret organization Opus Dei has been protecting the descendants of Christ, as well as his personal records, for centuries. And it was this knowledge that was called the "da Vinci code"

Canonical gospel

We'll figure out. Dan Brown argues that in compiling the "New Testament" approved at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, Pope Constantine personally selected the gospel of four authors who arranged it in all respects.

They are called canonical. Overboard, however, there were more than 50 other options that did not fully or partially fit into the official policy of the church. Brown calls them "gnostic", that is, carrying secret knowledge.

It is authentically known about the works of two heretics: Marcion and Valentinus, who opposed themselves to the official church, which were written 200 years before the Council of Nicaea. They mention the "New Testament" and quote from it, and only the canonical Gospels are mentioned. It is difficult to accuse the authors of indulging church authorities, so it is natural to assume that the "New Testament" existed long before 325.

At present, in addition to the canonical Gospels, about fifty other works are known. Their numerous studies have been carried out, the language used, the facts and events mentioned, and the characters have been carefully analyzed.

And it has been unequivocally proven that only the works included in the "New Testament" can be attributed to the period of the life of Jesus Christ and a short interval after his death. All the rest were written much later.

The earliest of them saw the light 120-150 years after the crucifixion. They completely lack the clarity of presentation of facts and the harmony of the narrative, which is inherent in canonical works.

But even in so many books, a hint, and a very transparent one, of the closeness of Christ and Mary is made only in the Gospel of Philip. But since it is known for certain that this creation was written 200 years after the events described, it does not inspire much confidence.

Another argument advanced by Brown is that in first-century Israel, a man must be married and mentions the Qumran manuscripts as evidence.

However, the charter of the Qumran community allowed for diversity in resolving the marriage issue: for some communities, complete abstinence was offered, while others were allowed to have a family.

Therefore, the celibacy of Christ could surprise his contemporaries, but not be condemned by them. In addition, according to Brown's logic, the apostles should also be family people, but there is not a single mention of this in the canonical Gospel.

None of Dan Brown's arguments that there were descendants of Jesus Christ stand up to scrutiny. But it is so sweet to feel a touch of mystery, involvement in a conspiracy, even if they have nothing to do with reality.

Chapter Nine

Mary Magdalene

TSAR'S BRIDE AND MOTHER

Having lived in this world for sixty years, Mary Magdalene died in 63 AD. Her grave is located in the vicinity of the town of Sainte-Baume in the south of modern France - far from her father's house and the place where her husband is supposedly buried.

In the last chapters we have studied the life of Jesus and the meaning of some of its essential details. We have also followed in chronological order the incidents related to Jesus from the life of Mary. But we have not yet had time to explore its significance in connection with the history of the church of that and later period.

During the existence of the Qumran community, the word "Mary" served not only to designate a name, but also a distinctive influence. It was one of the forms of the name Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron. Mariam (Mary) participated in the solemn services performed within religious communities, similar to the ascetic Brotherhood of Healers.

While "Moses" performed divine services in the company of men, "Mariam" similarly celebrated the church service in the circle of women, holding a tambourine (tambourine) in her hand, as explained in the Book of Exodus (15:20).

In her first gospel description, Mary is presented as a woman “out of whom came seven demons” (Luke 8:2). Later in the same gospel, she is referred to as a "sinner." In addition, in all the Gospels she is portrayed as the closest and most devoted friend of Jesus. Luke's description of Mary is again in cryptographic form.

Before marriage, the "Maries" were under the supervision of the chief scribe, whose position at the time described was held by Judas Iscariot. The foreman of the scribes, according to tradition, was also called the "seventh demonic priest", who was part of the group of seven so-called "demon worshipers". These "ministers of darkness" were symbolically opposed to another group of priests, who were called "the seven lights of the menorah" (a Jewish ritual lamp with seven lamps). Their duty was to supervise the unmarried women of the community. Before marriage, Mary, quite naturally, got rid of such guardianship. Since "seven demons came out of her," she was allowed, as previously stated, to have sexual life according to the established rules. As already mentioned, her marriage was not ordinary, and Mary had to endure long periods of separation from her husband. During the entire time of separation, she was in the position not of a wife, but sisters(in a spiritual sense, like a nun). Together with Martha, they were "sisters" to the then "father" Simon the Zealot ("Lazarus"). The name Martha (meaning "lady"), as well as Mary, symbolized social status, and all the differences between the "Marthas" and "Marias" consisted in the fact that the former were allowed to have personal property, while the latter were not. Within the community, “sisters” were equated in social status with “widows” (“crippled women”), which was a rank lower than “alma”. Thus, when an "alma" (virgin) married, she "raised in rank" to the position of "mother"; during periods of separate existence with her husband, she “degraded” to her original “title” of an unmarried girl.

The father of Mary Magdalene belonged to the priestly family of Jairov. The clergy of this kind performed worship in the huge marble synagogue in Capernaum and enjoyed completely different rights than representatives of the dynasties of Abiathar and Zadok. This hereditary position was assigned to the descendants of Jairus during the reign of David (Numbers 32:41). This can be confirmed in 2 Kings (20:25-26): “Susa is a scribe; Zadok and Abiathar - priests; also Ira the Jarite was a priest to David.”

In fact, the very first mention of Mary Magdalene in the New Testament is the story of her being raised from the dead as the daughter of Jairus. The symbolic "resurrection" from eternal darkness implies either progress along the "Path" or deliverance from the spiritual death that accompanied the excommunication of the outcast by society. This term is still in use among representatives of modern Masonic lodges. Since the second (excommunication) was excluded, we can assume that the conversation was simply about the initiation of Mary.

According to tradition, the first "resurrection" of boys took place at the age of twelve, and girls - at the age of fourteen. Taking A.D. 17 as the starting date for her "raise out of darkness", after some simple calculations, we can determine that Mary was born in A.D. 3. Therefore, she was nine years younger than Jesus and entered into his “first marriage” in A.D. 30. at the age of twenty-seven. Having become pregnant in December A.D. 32, thirty-year-old Mary entered into a “second marriage” in the following (33rd) year A.D. and gave birth to a daughter, Tamar. Four years later, she gave birth to Jesus the Younger, and in A.D. 44, forty years old, Mary gave birth to her second son, Joseph. By that time, she was already in Massilia (now Marseilles), where Greek was considered the official language until the 5th century. Although this fact has not been widely recognized, it seems to be emphasized that the language of Jesus, the apostles, and all those who were related to Hellenized Judaism, was formed under the strong influence of Greek dialects. All Jews, of course, communicated in their native Hebrew. That is why such word formations as "Alpheus" and "Arimathea" are a combination of Hebrew and Ancient Greek roots. In addition, with such a long stay under the rule of Rome, the influence of the Latin language culture could not but affect. Communication with non-Jews and proselytes (new converts to Judaism) also made its linguistic contribution to the gospel vocabulary. In this way, with all the linguistic diversity, a universal understanding was achieved.

In accordance with the traditions of Gnosticism, the image of Mary Magdalene was associated with Wisdom (Sophia), symbolically depicted as the moon and sun surrounded by a starry halo. The feminine principle of Wisdom was considered the Holy Spirit, who incarnated in earthly life in the form of Mary Magdalene, carrying away the baby Jesus in the womb into exile. John in his Revelations (12:1-17), talking about Mary and her son, describes the persecution of her, the escape and the ongoing persecution by the Romans of "her other seed" (that is, descendants).

“And a great sign appeared in heaven - a woman clothed with the sun; the moon is under her feet, and on her head is a crown of twelve stars.

She was in the womb and screamed from the pains and pangs of birth.

And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, on his heads seven diadems.

... This dragon stood before the woman who was to give birth, so that when she gives birth, he would devour her baby.

And she gave birth to a male child...

And the wife fled into the wilderness, where a place was prepared for her by God…

And there was a war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon...

And the great dragon was cast down, the ancient serpent...

They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony...

When the dragon saw that he was cast down to the earth, he began to pursue the wife, who gave birth to a male baby.

And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her own place from the face of the serpent...

And the dragon was furious with the woman and went to make war with the rest of her seed, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimonies of Jesus Christ.”

In addition to Mary in Gaul by the year 44 AD. other settlers arrived, including Martha with her maid Marcellus. The apostle Philip, Maria Jacobleva, and Elena-Salome were also there at that time. The place of their landing on the coast of Provence was the small port town of Ratis, at a later time called La Saint-sur-Mer.

Although the figures of Mary and Martha occupy a prominent place in the gospel narratives, neither in the Acts of the Holy Apostles nor in the epistles of the Apostle Paul is there the slightest mention of them after their departure in 44 AD. in a westerly direction.

Many traditions about Mary, dating back to times before the beginning of the 5th century, are contained in the book of Raban Maar (776-856), Bishop of Mainz. A copy of Maar's manuscript, brought to light in the early 15th century from the archives of Oxford University, inspired William of Wayfleet in 1448 to found the College of Mary Magdalene. References to this work were also found earlier in the Great Chronicles of Matthew of Paris (published around 1190). Maar's treatise was also included in the Oxford "Register of spiritual literature on the history of royal families." King Louis XI of France (who ruled from 1461 to 1483) insisted that Mary belong to the dynasty of French monarchs. Particularly informative works on the subject are Saint Mary Magdalene by the Franciscan friar Pierre Lacordaire (published after the French Revolution) and The Legend of St. Mary Magdalene" by Jacopo de Voragini, Archbishop of Genoa. Both Maar and Voragini claim that Mary's mother, Eucharia, belonged to the royal family of Israel. Most likely, it was the royal family of the Hasmoneans, rather than the Davidic dynasty from the tribe of Judah.

Another famous work of Voragini is The Golden Legend, one of the first printed books, published by William Caxton in 1483 in Westminster Abbey. The first edition of the book was published in French and Latin. An English translation was also being prepared for publication, but it was incomplete, and some important sections were missing from it. At the urgent request of the Earl of Arundel, after reworking a number of disparate manuscripts, Caxton published a complete version of the text. The book is a collection of church chronicles that describe in detail the life of prominent righteous people. Public readings of this highly revered work were regularly held in the monasteries and churches of medieval Europe.

One of the narrations of Voragini's book, which deals with St. Martha of Bethany and her sister Mary Magdalene deserve special attention. The following passage is very reminiscent of a modern summary:

"St. Martha, the housekeeper of the Lord Jesus Christ, was born into a royal family. Her father's name was Sarius, and her mother's name was Eucharia; father was from Syria. Having received an inheritance from her mother along with her sister, Martha came into possession of real estate: castles in Magdalen, Bethany and Jerusalem. After the Ascension of our Lord, when the apostles scattered around the world, she, together with her brother Lazarus and sister Mary, as well as St. Maxim embarked on a ship, on which, thanks to the intercession of our Lord, everyone safely reached Marseilles. From there they headed towards Aix, converting the locals along the way.”

The nickname "Magdalene" comes from the word "migdal", which means "tower" in Hebrew. In fact, the statement that the “sisters” owned three castles is somewhat doubtful - especially because the “Marias” were not supposed to have personal property at all. In reality, joint inheritance implied personal status; in other words, they inherited a high position within the community (“castles” and “towers”) associated with guardianship, similar to the “tower of the flock” in the Book of Micah (4:8).

The cult of Mary Magdalene was especially widespread in Rennes-le-Chateau, in the province of Languedoc. Many temples and chapels in her honor were erected in other regions of France. Among the most revered holy places is the tomb of Mary in Sainte-Maxime, where the crypt and alabaster tombstone were preserved by Cassianite monks from the beginning of the 5th century.

The monastic order of the Cassianites has an interesting history. Although the "father of Western monasticism" is considered to be St. Benedict, he was, in fact, ahead of John Cassian, who founded the first Cassianite monastery around 410. Although he, to tell the truth, followed in this matter the innovative social initiatives of St. Maximus, Bishop of Tours, and Honoratius, Archbishop of Arles. An important provision of the monastic charter established by Cassian (the tradition of which was continued by St. Benedict and others) was its independence and separation from the organized Episcopal Church. Cassian denounced ordination as a "vicious practice" and stated that monks should "keep away from bishops at all costs". John Cassian, an anchorite from Bethlehem, founded two seminaries of the same type in Marseilles: one for women and the other for men. Over time, Marseille became a recognized monastic center and the birthplace of the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, which replaced the ancient torchlight procession in honor of the ancient goddess of the underworld, Persephone. Similarly, in the Marseille Basilica of St. Victor, the custom arose to celebrate the Nativity of the Virgin.

Another famous place of worship of Mary Magdalene was in Gellon, where during the 9th century in the monastery of St. William the Hermit, the Jewish Academy of Sciences flourished. In 1059, the church of St. Mary Magdalene, and in 1096 (the year of the First Crusade) the first stone was laid for the majestic basilica in Vezelay named after her. It was here in 1217 that St. Francis of Assisi founded his famous brotherhood of Franciscans, later called the Capuchins. In 1147, also at Vezelay, the Cistercian abbot of St. Bernard of Clairvaux called for the Second Crusade, addressing King Louis VII, Queen Eleanor, their knights, and a crowd of 100,000 people. Indeed, the enthusiasm of the Crusades owed much to the reverent veneration of Mary Magdalene.

The Cistercians, Franciscans, Dominicans and many other monastic brotherhoods of that era thus led a way of life independent of the bishop of the Roman church. But all of them were united by a common admiration for the image of Mary. When compiling in 1128 the charter of the knightly order of the Knights Templar, St. Bernard specifically mentioned the need for "a respectful attitude towards Bethany, the castle of Mary and Martha". Therefore, it is quite obvious that the greatest of European churches - Notre Dame Cathedral, built according to the plan of the Templars and Cistercians - is dedicated not to Mary, the mother of Jesus, but to the "Virgin Mary" Magdalene.

"WOMAN IN PURPLE" - "BLACK MADONNA"

In early Christian texts, Mary Magdalene is written as a woman who "knew everything"; she was one of those whom "Christ loved more than the rest of the disciples." She was an apostle, "considerably more than Peter endowed with knowledge, the gift of foresight and insight"; and she was also the beloved bride who anointed Jesus on the holy day of their marriage at Bethany.

Despite all this, the Roman Church, in an effort to glorify Mary's mother-in-law, the mother of Jesus, decided at one time to discredit her herself. To implement this plan, an ambiguous interpretation in the New Testament of the image of Mary Magdalene was launched. At the very beginning of the gospel narrative, unmarried Mary is presented as a "sinner"; in fact, this implied that she was a chaste "alma" who was put to the test after her betrothal.

The hypocritical bishops, however, decided that a sinful woman must certainly be a harlot, and therefore Mary was labeled a harlot! Even today, one of the definitions of the word "Magdalene" in the Oxford Dictionary is "reformed prostitute." Many artists, however, were very skeptical of this stain on her reputation put by the church, depicting Mary in a white dress, trimmed inside with a white silk cloak - symbols of her purity.

There is a striking resemblance between Mary and one of her acquaintances who had migrated to Gaul. The woman in question is Elena-Salomia.

Due to his hostile attitude towards women, and especially educated ones, Peter always considered Elena-Salome a sorceress. He didn't care about the fact that she was on friendly terms with the mother of Jesus and accompanied her to Calvary. Elena, as the wife of Simon the Zealot (Zebedee), was, in fact, the monastic “mother” of the apostles James and John Boanerges. Unlike Mary Magdalene, who was listed under the rank of Dan, Helen belonged to the rank of Usher, where women were allowed to have personal property. In her rank, Elena occupied the highest hierarchical level, corresponding to the rank of high priest, and because of this she had the right to wear red clothes, just like in our time, Catholic cardinals are dressed in red from head to toe. The Roman Church inherited from Peter his dislike and the same fear, for outside the nunneries there are no representatives of the weaker sex among the Catholic clergy. Thus, the once highly revered image of the “woman in purple” was transformed and transferred to prostitutes. "Priestesses of love" still use this image perverted by the church to wear red clothes or hang red lanterns near their habitats.

The women of the rank of Dan came from lay Nazarenes. Mary Magdalene as "Mariam" was called the "elder sister" of the brotherhood (which corresponded to the rank of archbishop) and, like all Nazarenes and priestesses of the goddess Isis, had the right to wear black clothes. It has also been established that, along with the ancient veneration of Mary Magdalene, there was a cult of the so-called "Black Madonna", the origin of which dates back to 44 AD. Among the many images of the "Black Madonna" that have survived to this day, one of the best is the statue exhibited in the Verviers Museum near Liège. A completely black statue of a woman holding a golden scepter in her hand is crowned with a crown surrounded by the starry halo of Sophia. The golden crown, as a sign of royal dignity, is also on the head of her baby.

In contrast to the gloominess of the image of the Black Madonna, Mary Magdalene was often depicted in a red dress with a green cloak thrown over it - a symbol of fertility. An example of this is the famous fresco "Saint Mary" by Piero della Francesca (circa 1461) in a Gothic church in Arezzo near Florence. She is dressed in the same clothes as in Botticelli's painting "Mary at the Foot of the Cross". The red color emphasizes (by analogy with the cassocks of cardinals) Mary's acceptance of a high spiritual dignity.

The idea of ​​a clergy woman wearing a cardinal's cap constantly infuriated the Vatican hierarchs. Despite the exceptionally reverent attitude of the church towards the mother of Jesus (especially after the III Ecumenical Council in 431 in Ephesus), Catholic bishops believed that artists should not honor her with the same privileges that were granted to Mary Magdalene. In 1659, Rome considered it its duty to issue a decree according to which the mother of Jesus (the "White Madonna") in all paintings was to be depicted exclusively in "blue and white robes." This had the desired effect, and the mother of Jesus Mary, exalted and even idolized by the church, was nevertheless denied recognition as a clergyman.

The Catholic hierarchy in every possible way prevented the elevation of a woman to the clergy. The reduction of women to the category of inferiority and the denial of the time-honored status of even the Mother of God increasingly pushed Mary Magdalene into the background. By the same method, the legitimate heirs of Jesus were completely pushed into the shadows; and the bishops were able to reinforce their claims to sacred power with the help of their own invented "male succession". The inheritance was not in the messianic line of Jesus, as it should have been. It was not even a continuation of the related branch of the "Prince of Arimathea" James the Righteous, brother of Jesus. The far-fetched "hereditary line" was conducted from the Apostle Peter - a stubborn rural Essenes who did not put women in anything.

At the same time, the early Christian church was stubbornly fighting the worship of the great Universal Goddess. The then peoples of the Mediterranean revered her especially, and faith in her was further strengthened during the disputes of the clergy on the issue of religious discrimination against women. Since prehistoric times, the Universal Goddess has taken on many forms and has been known by a variety of names, including Cybele, Diana, Demeter, and Juno. But, in whatever form she embodied, she was always identified with Isis - "the Universal Mother, the mistress of all the elements, the first-born of time, the mistress of all things and the only manifestation of everything."

For the ancient Egyptians, Isis was the sister and wife of the god Osiris, who founded civilization and judged the souls of the dead. Isis, as the Universal Goddess, was considered the patroness of motherhood, and her cult was widespread. The goddess was often depicted with a child in her arms - the god Horus, whose earthly incarnation was the pharaohs themselves. It is precisely established that the image of the "White Madonna" fully corresponds to the image of Isis in her incarnation of a nursing mother. It was she who breathed life into the mysterious "White Madonna" and in many ways inspired artists to create this image, embodied by the 16th century in France in almost two hundred sculptural and pictorial images. By now there are about 450 of them all over the world, and even the patron saint of the Holy Mother of God (“Notre Dame de Lumiere”), idolized by the French, goes back to the Universal Goddess.

Images of the "Black Madonna" with a baby were a constant headache for the church, especially the statues that were in the famous temples and erected in the holy places of Europe. Some of the statues were completely black, but in most of them only the faces, arms and legs were painted in slate color. And the problem was not the change in color, as some of the confused clerics believed. Some statues (to bring them in line with the idea of ​​the image of the Mother of God) were repainted in pale pink tones; others were treated even more simply, removed from public view. The features of the "Black Madonna", in a racial sense, are in no way Negro, just the statue itself of this color. Some statues have a rather modest decoration, very reminiscent in style of the traditional clothes of the "White Madonna"; others, flaunting luxury and splendor, are dressed in exquisitely decorated robes.

The spiritual prototype of the "Black Madonna" is Queen Isis, and her ideological roots go back to prehistoric Lilith. For this reason, she symbolizes the strength and equality of the female. A proud, resolute and strong-willed personality, she contrasts sharply against the background of the inexpressive image of the "White Madonna" - the traditional image of Mother Jesus imprinted in the church consciousness. It has already been said that both Lilith and Isis knew the secret name of God, a secret also kept by Mary Magdalene, "the woman who knew everything." Thus, the "Black Madonna" is also a symbolic image of Mary Magdalene, to whom, according to the teachings of the Gnostics, "Jesus revealed the secret of truth." Indeed, the traditional cult of Mary Magdalene is associated with those places where images of the Black Madonna have been located since ancient times. It is black, because it is the color of wisdom, it exists in the darkness of chaos before the creation of the world. Gnostics identified wisdom with the Holy Spirit, the great and immortal Sophia, who brought into being the Universal Forefather from the depths of non-existence. It was assumed that Sophia, in the form of the Holy Spirit, was embodied in the royal person of Mary Magdalene, and it was she who monitored the strict observance of faith.

MARY AND THE CHURCH

Despite the greatness of the ideal of the goddess, it happened that during the formation of orthodox Christianity, all supporters of the female fundamental principle of being were considered heretics. The conditions for this were created by early Christian church fathers like Tertullian long before Constantine the Great. Tertullian wrote about this:

“A woman is not allowed to speak in the church, or to perform the rite of baptism, or to serve a thanksgiving service, or to claim to perform any male duties, and most of all, to pastoral service.”

Tertullian merely expressed the opinion of the leaders of the church who lived before him, especially Peter and Paul.

The apocryphal gospel of Mary tells of Peter's questioning of Jesus' relationship with Mary: “Would he really speak secretly to a woman without first revealing himself to us? Why should we change our minds and trust her?” In a treatise written in Coptic called The Wisdom of Faith, Peter complains to Jesus about Mary's frequent moralizing and asks him to silence her so as not to undermine male authority. Jesus, however, rebukes Peter, and later Mary tells him in confidence: “Peter makes me doubt my own righteousness. I fear him because he hates women." To this Jesus replied: “Whatever the Holy Spirit inspires a person, whether a man or a woman, it is predestined from above to speak.” Mary had good reason to be afraid of Peter, since his attitude towards the weaker sex manifested itself in many cases. An example of this can be found in the non-canonical gospel of Thomas. Objecting to the presence of Mary in the company of the apostles, Simon Peter said to them: "Let Mary leave us, for women are not worthy of life."

The Gospel of Philip speaks of Mary Magdalene as "a symbol of divine wisdom." All such texts, however, were severely censored by the Roman bishops and mercilessly withdrawn from circulation, as undermining the foundations of a purely male clergy. Instead, the New Testament teaches Paul:

“Let the woman study in silence, with all humility;

But I do not allow a wife to teach, nor to rule over a husband, but to be in silence.

(First Timothy 2:11-12)

Such non-controversial indications were especially effective because they concealed the true purpose. The essence of the plan was to remove women from their path at any cost. Had this not happened, Mary Magdalene's prolonged presence would have been seen as her complete victory. As the wife of Jesus, she was not only the queen of the Messianic line, but also the mother of the legitimate heirs. For many centuries after the death of Mary, her inheritance was the greatest danger to the frightened church, which bypassed them the messianic offspring in favor of the “apostolic line”.

As a rule, those beliefs and religions that resisted the onslaught of Western Christianity and were treated by Rome as pagan and heretical were in reality neither ungodly, nor barbaric, nor satanic. But for the Latin Church, all of them, nevertheless, remained so, since they recognized the equality of the male and female principles. For adherents of Gnosticism feminine element, in essence, was Holy Spirit uniting God the Father and God the Son. Rome, however, proclaimed the Trinity "consubstantial God." And although on this basis a concession was made to Mary, the mother of Jesus, as the Mother of God, she did not become part of the Holy Trinity, whose representatives were purely male.

The result of the mission of Jesus was the adoption by Christianity of the God of the people of Israel. So did the Gnostics and Nazarenes, whose women were completely free to work as teachers, doctors, preachers and even clergymen. Among Latinized Christians, however, all relics of female equality quickly disappeared. One of the most famous matriarchal religious movements of the 2nd century preached a creed inherited directly from Mary Magdalene, Martha and Elena Salome. Tertullian angrily condemned this spiritual union:

"Heretics! How dare they! Not only did they have the shamelessness to teach and engage in discussion, but they also cast out demons, heal sickness, and perhaps even perform baptism!”

In the religious communities of the Jews, for a long time, women were practically removed from the daily life of the commune. They did not take part in the educational process, religious ceremonies and, indeed, did not show themselves in social and political activities outside the family circle. The situation was quite different in the Hellenistic communes. Here the ideals were inspired by the cultural life of Hellas and Asia Minor, where women, on a par with men, revered Isis. In the time of Jesus, the women of Egypt reached a particularly high level of emancipation. In the same way, women from the wealthy sections of Roman society could, like men, engage in labor activities, politics, literature, mathematics and philosophy. The only exception was the Roman church. And she was different from everyone for a paramount reason: she needed to deprive the descendants of Isis of the dynastic heritage, the symbol of which was Mary Magdalene.

Many educated women, officially called heretics, headed spiritual associations and spread the doctrine, based on the principles of the ascetic brotherhood of healers. Unlike the very pragmatic form of Christianity cultivated in Rome, this doctrine gravitated towards spirituality and, accordingly, was perceived as a mortal threat. Rome's tactics with respect to learned women were straightforward: they were all declared sinners, obliged to obey the authority of the apostle Paul.

“For Adam was created first, and then Eve;

And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman, being deceived, fell into a crime.

(First Timothy 2:13-14)

Just at this time, giving an additional shade of meaning to the expression "woman in red", these women teachers were first called harlots. The Church proclaimed them all as promiscuous girls, and this maliciously distorted view persists to this day.

By the beginning of the II century AD. the process of segregation within the Christian church was completed: men celebrated solemn worship, women worshiped God in complete silence. But by the end of the century, even such a degree of participation in the performance of religious rites became impossible - women were generally forbidden to perform any religious rituals. Any woman involved in this kind of religious activity was stigmatized as a "whore and sorceress."

As already mentioned, Levi (Matthew Anna), in accordance with the gospel of Mary, objected to Peter about the rights of Mary Magdalene: “If the Savior himself found her worthy, then who are you, in fact, to deny her faith? The Savior certainly knows her pretty well, and therefore loved more than all of us. In contrast to Peter and his brother Andrew, the rest of the disciples, as follows from the story, agreed with Levi, for, inspired by the words of Mary, they readily accepted her teaching. The gospels that painted the image of Mary in this light were simply declared apocrypha and not included in the canonical edition of the New Testament. But people for the most part, even in spite of any officially approved Bibles, clearly understood the significance of Mary. Tales about her, passed down from generation to generation in England and France, were carefully preserved from the dark Middle Ages to the era of the Proto-Renaissance. During this period, Mary Magdalene, personifying the image Our Lady, was an inspiring factor in the first crusades and the construction of majestic Gothic temples.

But if all this was the case, then how did the church manage to remove it from the forefront of its apostolic structure?

It all started with the fact that two passages from the Bible verses in the Book of Genesis (3:16) and in the First Epistle to the Corinthians (11:3) attracted special attention of the Roman church. Both of them are given in the "Apostolic Code" of the 4th century. The first passage says that the Lord God said to Eve about Adam: "And he will rule over you." In the second passage, where the words of St. Peter, it is said: "The head of a wife is the husband."

A special document was issued outlining the Church's position on Mary Magdalene. It was called the "Apostolic Rule" and was, in fact, a transcript of an imaginary conversation of the apostles at the end of the Last Supper. Partially refuting his own statements regarding women, he affirmed the fact of the presence of Mary and Martha, which was not given in any of the canonical gospels. The following is an excerpt from this alleged conversation.

“John said: When the Teacher blessed bread and wine, marked his action with the words “This is My Body and My Blood,” he did not invite the women who were with us to come to communion.

Martha said: He did not offer to take communion with Mary, because he saw that she laughed at it.

On the basis of this purest fiction, the church claimed that the early apostles had unequivocally declared that women, because of their frivolous temperament, were not allowed to be clergymen! The essence of this fictional conversation from beginning to end formed the basis of the official dogma of the church, and, as a result, Mary Magdalene was declared an untrustworthy dissident.

Much earlier, around A.D. 180, Bishop Clement of Alexandria wrote something quite the opposite. An eminent church father stated:

“Man and woman are equal in their perfection and therefore deserve the same education and well-being. For the concept of "the human race" is equally applicable to both men and women. And for us, Christ does not belong to either the female or the male sex.

In support of his words, Clement cites as an example many women who have taken a prominent place in history, especially in relation to academic education. His point of view found wide support among educated people of that time. It is not for nothing that those who later sat on the throne of St. Peter, the Roman pontiffs pointed out the delusions of Clement. They loudly declared with indisputable authority that “a woman cannot be a clergyman, since our Lord is a man”!

"LADY AT THE LAKE"

In 633, a mysterious boat entered the harbor of the city of Boulogne-sur-Mer in northwestern France. There was no one on board except for a three-foot statuette of the "Black Madonna" with a baby and a handwritten copy of the Gospel in Aramaic. Wherever the boat came from, its appearance thoroughly stirred up the city. The mysterious statue, called "Our Lady of the Sagrada Familia", has become a symbol of the cathedral in Boulogne. For more than a millennium, it was the object of mass worship until it was destroyed during the French Revolution.

The Boulogne "Black Madonna" further strengthened Mary's connection with the sea in the public mind. The image of "Mary on the Sea" (borrowed from the emblem of Boulogne) was used as a distinctive sign by pilgrims even before the time of Charlemagne. A variation of this emblem came to Scotland even before official seals were widely used in the British Isles. In the ninth century, the Edinburgh port village of Leith adopted as its official coat of arms the image of "Mary on the Sea" with her "child of the Grail", sailing on a ship under the shadow of a cloud (the latter seems to be an indirect allusion to James ["Joseph of Arimathea"], who was once called " cloud" - "guide of wanderers").

For certain reasons, specialists in heraldry considered it expedient to ignore the importance of this kind of female emblems. The blame for the neglect of genealogy along the female line also lies with the compilers of family genealogies and the Book of Peers. This is especially true during the reign of the George Kings and the Victorian era, which gave rise to a lot of volumes of poor quality information. Perhaps the coming age of Aquarius will put an end to the dominance of the stronger sex in history, but in the times in question, such works were certainly kept in the "good old spirit." However, it takes almost no time to make sure that the concept of a female-determined order of succession was fully accepted throughout the Middle Ages.

It is generally accepted that heraldry (the compilation and interpretation of family coats of arms) arose in the 12th century. In the British Isles, this may have been the case, but it was not the British, as the kings of arms are trying to convince us of this, who came up with the idea of ​​heraldry. The authorities known in this matter - the Heraldic and Armorial Chambers - were established to compile a register of coats of arms holders only at the end of the 14th century. In those days, the knight was obliged to wear a decorated coat of arms, so that he, clad from head to toe in armor, could be recognized upon meeting. Flags and other emblems indicating the family affiliation or place of residence of their owner appeared even earlier in Flanders and northern France.

But despite this, few in the British Isles saw emblems dating back to the time preceding the 12th century. And especially those symbols whose origin was not connected with chivalry. Thus, the coat of arms of the port city of Leith is unique both in relation to the era and in its non-feudal-clan, associated with a woman, origin.

Luxuriously designed manuscript of Archbishop Raban Maar "The Life of Mary Magdalene" consists of fifty chapters, bound in six volumes. Among other things, it tells how Mary, Martha and their companions left

“The shores of Asia and, driven by the east wind, sailed along the Mediterranean Sea between Africa and Europe, rounding Sicily from the west, moved along the coast of Italy to Rome. Then they successfully changed course, sending the ship to the northwest, and landed on the shores of the Gallic city of Massilia (Marseille) at the confluence of the Rhone River into the sea. After that, having thanked the Lord Almighty, they parted.

The libraries of Paris contain many ancient manuscripts, written even before the book of Maar, which contain facts from the considered period of Mary's life. Her trip to Provence is specifically mentioned in the song of praise number 600, placed in the collection entitled "Holy Deeds", a popular publication published in the 17th century by the Jesuit Jean Bolland. It is said that Mary's friends, Elena-Salomia and Elena Iakovleva, are buried in an underground chapel under the church of St. Mary in the Camargue. Long before this temple was erected in the 9th century, the church of St. Maria Ratisskaya. Here, near the main nave, the remains of the sculptural image of "Mary on the Sea" have been preserved.

The connection of Mary Magdalene with Gaul from an artistic point of view was displayed in two different ways: visual and allegorical. In some cases, she is depicted on her way to Marseille, as documents show. The most characteristic example of this pictorial style, apparently, is the exhibited in the church of St. Mary painting by the 9th century artist Henri de Gadermarie. It depicts the arrival of Mary on a ship to the shores of Provence; The painting was shown at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1886. Another famous painting with a similar plot is "Sea Voyage" by the German painter Lukas Moser. It is part of the altarpiece of St. Magdalen Church in Tiefenbronn in southern Germany.

On canvases with an allegorical plot, Mary was depicted moving above the earth to the heights of divine knowledge (in apocryphal literature, this was her daily occupation); sometimes in the pictures she rushed across the sky in a westerly direction, as described in the Revelations of St. John the Evangelist. A magnificent example of such a pictorial style is the canvas “Mary Magdalene Ascended by Angels” by the Italian artist of the early 17th century, Giovanni Lanfranco. The painting, exhibited at the National Gallery of Capodimonte in Naples, shows a naked Magdalene floating with three putti over a desert European landscape.

The remains of Martha rest in Tarascon, department of Vienne. A letter of commendation from Louis XI dated 1482 mentions a visit in the 5th century to the burial site of Saint King Frank Clovis of the Merovingian dynasty. The remains of Mary Magdalene herself were for a long time kept in the abbey of Sainte-Maxime, located about thirty miles from Marseille. In 1279, by order of the King of Sicily and Count of Provence, Charles II, the skull and humerus of Mary were cut off. Inserted for public viewing in frames of gold and silver, they have survived in this form to this day. The remaining ashes of Mary were collected in an urn and so kept until they were barbarously destroyed during the Great French Revolution.

Mary's "grotto of solitude" is located near the town of Sainte-Baume. It was this desert in 1254, upon returning from the Seventh Crusade, that the famous chronicler Joinville visited together with King Louis IX the Saint. He later wrote that they

“We got to the town of Aix in Provence in order to kneel before the tomb of the Blessed Magdalene, whose ashes rest one day's drive from here. We arrived at a village called Bom, located on rocky precipitous cliffs, where, as they say, the Blessed Mary led a hermit life for a long time.

Three centuries earlier, Vilerme Gerardu, Marquis of Provence, made a pilgrimage to these parts. Located in a high grotto, the church near Sainte-Baume, with its numerous altars and the sculpture of Mary Magdalene, has attracted crowds of pilgrims for centuries.

The city of Aix-en-Provence, where from the year 63 AD. the ashes of Mary Magdalene rested, during the time of the Roman Empire it was called Aqua-Sextia. The name of the city was given by the sources of hot water, which abound in this region. The Latin word "aqua" (water), as a result of consistent distortion during the Middle Ages, began to be pronounced as "aksa" ("exa"). In the traditions of the Languedoc, Mary is referred to as the "Mistress of the Waters". As we already know, she was also called "Mary on the Sea". Obviously, in both cases, there is an association of Mary Magdalene with water. The Gnostics (as well as the Celts) often associated women, who evoke a sense of religious reverence, with rivers, streams, springs and lakes. Knowledge ("gnosis") and Wisdom were associated with the feminine Holy Spirit who "floated over the waters" (Genesis 1:2). It was the Holy Spirit Sofia(Wisdom), later embodied in the image of Mary Magdalene.

In previous chapters, the priests who performed the rite of baptism were referred to as "fishers of men." From the moment Jesus was elevated to the priestly office of Melchizedek (Hebrews 5), he also came to be called a "fisherman." The hereditary line of the tribe of Judah, thus, turned into a kind of dynasty of kings-high priests. Their descendants, in accordance with the teachings of the Grail, in later times were called "kings of catchers."

The succession of the descendants of Jesus and Mary, who continued the dynastic traditions in the form of "kings of catchers", retained the spirit of the mother line of Aix, turning into a "family on the waters" - the dynasty of Akses.

This family occupied a prominent position in Aquitaine - the historical region of France, the name of which is also associated with the water element. In these parts, from the Merovingian clan, ascending the line of kinship through the "kings of catchers" to Jesus, came the counts of Toulouse, Narbonne and the princes of Septimania (Septimania is a region in southern France bordering Spain). Another branch of the family, which was related to the Messianic family through the female line, was granted the inheritance of the possessions of the Celtic church in Avallone. Their recognized hereditary owner, who bore the royal title, was Viviana d'Ax at the beginning of the 6th century. In Brittany, accordingly, the male line of the Provencal gens d'Axe inherited from the great-granddaughter of Viviana I, Morgana, the titles of counts of Leon.

Since Chrétien de Troyes wrote Ewen and the Lady at the Spring in the twelfth century - in which "lady" corresponds to "The Lady of the Waters" - the legacy of the Axes has been a constant theme in the Arthurian novel cycle.

The order of succession, which remained the main subject of conversation, was also directly related to the "sacred waters" associated with the Book of Genesis, Sophia and Magdalene. In 1484, Thomas Malory, in The Death of King Arthur, marginally brought the differences closer together by phonetically assimilation of the word "d'Ax" to the word "d'Lark". As a result of this replacement, "Lady at the Spring" (Viviana II, mother of the knight Lancelot) when translated into English turned into "Lady at the Lake".

As our story progresses, more and more branches of the descendants of Jesus and his brother James will be gradually revealed. We will also learn why the Arthurian novels and the teachings of the Grail continue to live a full life, despite the incessant accusations of heresy brought against them by the church.