Mary Magdalene and Sacred Sex: Interview With Dr. Jenny Martin

"I had never understood your work with Mary Magdalene until I attended Dr. Jenny Martin's workshop."

This comment was expressed by a participant in the virtual workshop that Dr. Jenny Martin generously shared with all the guests who attended the Mary Magdalene Celebration 2022 through Zoom.

Dr. Jenny Martin's work with Mary Magdalene comes from personal experience as well as her scientific mind, offering an important contribution to the study of the role of Mary Magdalene in the lives of 21st-century women and men. Dr. Jenny Martin's Why Didn't I Know? Podcast offers a step forward in discovering Mary Magdalene as she leads us on a journey that helps us connect body, mind, soul, and spirit, on the path to becoming fully human.

In an interview with Magdalene.org, Dr. Jenny Martin shared some of her experiences along her spiritual path:

Tell us about your journey with Mary Magdalene. Growing up, I felt a strong sense of spiritual connection when I was in nature. However, I never felt close to the divine when I attended mass as part of my Catholic school education. I didn’t see myself reflected in any church leadership, as they were all male. I didn’t realize it when I was young, but I had internalized the narrative that women are secondary to men based on what I had been taught in religious study classes. This was not helpful because I was already struggling with self-esteem issues due to sexual trauma in my childhood. When I started to learn about the real story of Magdalene’s life, I felt an affinity to her as a symbol of the divine feminine. She felt more relatable to me than the Virgin Mary. I started to internalize the belief that women are far more powerful than I ever imagined. This realization was profound for me. Magdalene represented an empowered woman who was also fully embodied as a woman. She has been a guide to me ever since. Having a personal relationship with her has been so important in my healing and transformation. When did you first realize that there was a Mary Magdalene different from what you had previously heard? How old were you? When I was 28 years old, my fiance told me that he felt Magdalene was God’s greatest gift to the world. I had no idea what he was talking about. Next thing I knew, he had gifted me with the book, The Woman with the Alabaster Jar, by Margaret Starbird. I loved questioning things when I was growing up and attending Catholic school. If someone had talked about this book earlier in my life, I would have read it – eagerly. For me, it wasn’t just about learning new information. Reading Margaret Starbird’s book felt more like a re-remembering - my heart told me it was true. How did reading The Woman with the Alabaster Jar by Margaret Starbird influence you? What stood out to you when you read it? Before reading that book, I had no idea that sex could be sacred. I had never heard of the Hieros Gamos ritual that was practiced for thousands of years. In this sacred sexual sacrament, it was through a woman’s body that the man received a blessing from the divine. I learned that the anointing of Jesus by Magdalene was a sexual act that bestowed a higher consciousness on Jesus. This understanding led to my personal healing. I had a spiritual awakening through the practice of sacred sexuality and was healed from sexual trauma. What other books have been important in your journey with Mary Magdalene? I ended up reading every book Margaret Starbird mentioned in her bibliography. However, the scripture banned from the bible, the Gospel of Philip, has captivated me. How has learning about Mary Magdalene and your experiences with her help you help other people? I believe that healing our sexual experiences can transform our entire life. I lead a Mary Magdalene and Sacred Sexuality Journey that guides women along this transformative pathway. Having experienced this transformation myself and witnessing so many women go through this process, I am passionate about guiding women through this sacred experience. What is DMT, how did you become interested in DMT, and how does it connect to Mary Magdalene? When I read Rick Strassman's book, DMT: The Spirit Molecule, I first learned about DMT.

Psychedelics have been used for thousands of years in ceremonial rituals. I believe psychedelics are linked to the ancient ritual of hieros gamos - people were given a psychedelic to have a visceral experience of the mystical realm. Then they were taught how to replicate that experience through sexual practice in a sacred way. We now know that the most potent psychedelic on the planet exists within human beings naturally and can potentially be produced at psychedelic levels during sex. In my work, I teach people how to access a psychedelic state sober through sexual intimacy. My teaching is based on science and the ancient wisdom of Jesus and Magdalene. The anointing of Jesus by Magdalene was symbolic of the hieros gamos act. Christ in Greek means anointed. Therefore, the sacred sex act between Magdalene and Jesus brought about Christ consciousness. And from that elevated state of consciousness, Jesus returned in his luminous body. What would you recommend to women who want to explore sacred sexuality? Where to start? It starts with a personal relationship with Magdalene, feeling a direct connection with her. And then beginning to practice embodiment, really being present in your body, dropping out of your mind and into your body. When you know what it feels like to be present in your sensual being, you can invoke Magdalene and begin the spiritual practice of solo pleasure. There is so much to explore and it gets even more magical with a partner!