Gnostic Priest Authors "The da Vinci Prayerbook"

Victoria BC (PRWEB), May 19, 2006 – An ordained Gnostic Priest Jordan Stratford has just released a response to the The da Vinci Code phenomenon. Dan Brown's bestselling novel and upcoming film have drawn out countless critics deriding the work as "Gnostic", and now for the first time Gnostics are taking the opportunity to speak for themselves.

The irony is that the premise of Brown's novel isn't Gnostic at all, and the word never occurs in the book. Rather than reject the divinity of Jesus, Gnostics in the early Christian Church understood that the Logos, the incarnated Word of God, was always immortal.

Gnosticism is a 2200 year old religion that greatly influenced early Christianity, Islam, and medieval Judaism. Its origins lie in a community of Greek-speaking and -educated Jews living in Egypt around 200 B.C., and blended Jewish mysticism, Greek philosophy, and the Mystery religions of the ancient world. Similar to Buddhism, Gnosticism stresses personal responsibility, compassion, and enlightenment.

So do Gnostics believe that Jesus really married Mary Magdalene?

"Literally, no," says Stratford. "This myth can be understood as the "marriage" of both the Christian tradition and the older religions of the Divine Feminine.

"Gnostics have always used myth deliberately not to obscure but to explore with its symbolism, as part of a search for meaning – much the way artists have always done, and psychologists do today."

The da Vinci Prayerboook: Gnostic Reflections on the Divine Feminine is an exploration of the myths around the Magdalene, the Grail, the Templars, and Leonardo himself in this light. Rather than attempt to revise history or propose conspiracies, the book is a small collection of scriptural references from Gnostic, Christian, and Jewish literature, and one Gnostic's reflection on these sacred writings.

The da Vinci Prayerboook (Azrael Press, 100pp) is available at the book's website, thedavinciprayerbook.com

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Sent this out to local media and PR Web today, and I post this not out of more book hype but to show that Gnostics are speaking for themselves.

Represent!