Before we get to the book, let’s talk about the journey . . .
Early on, before any of my colleagues published their books on social media announcing that the megaphone was open for the masses and everyone had a voice with a button click, I could have written a book about this digital explosion. In fact, many people expected me to. For some reason, I held back despite knowing it could have easily boosted my career. It felt overdone even before it was “done.” For all the authenticity (buzzword at the time), I didn’t feel it. I’ll admit, it was a paradigm shifter to be sure, one that people capitalized on just as so many are doing now with the AI explosion. But I never wrote that social media book everyone told me I should pen.
When I wasn’t working tirelessly for clients, I was consumed by other passions: travel, photography and food. Luckily, I made time for nature since the wonder of Her has always been a priority in my life. Gaia kept me grounded and still does to this day, an even closer friend than you dear blog.
Somewhere along the way, TravelingGeeks was birthed and then this site: We Blog the World. Travel also began to take over and I can’t say that I minded. I’ve traveled to 96 countries and lived in eleven of those. Life was always interesting and so were my clients. My friends, communities and their worlds were riveting.
Re-Visiting Spirituality and Consciousness
Amidst all this, the nagging topic I faced in childhood occasionally reared itself to be viewed in a different light again: religion and spirituality, except that I realized they were two different things very early in my life. If you’ve ever read Yann Martel’s Life of Pi, then you’ll understand a little bit of my backstory. My family couldn’t decide where to go with religion or what to do with it. Although we rarely talked about God, my family’s own structured background (French, English, German, Welsh, Eastern Europe) taught them that some faith was better than none at all.
My grandfather fell asleep in the church pews—the back row naturally—although he subscribed to having faith in something, a God I suppose, but he was far from religious. I could sum up his deeper beliefs in two words: discipline and love, although they were often at odds with each other. My great-grandmother Bertha insisted I attend Lutheran Sunday School classes because it was the strictest religion and the only church that was sure to keep me straight and narrow. This was ironic since there was nothing straight and narrow about me or Bert (Great Grandma’s shortened nickname), whom I even lived with for short periods of time. She was married several times, including to a politician and story has it that she threw one of her husband’s belongings on the curb sometime in the 1930s. Bert owned her own property, a rarity for a woman born in 1892, and she always spoke her mind despite how her directness bothered people. In fact, I remember her hitting a policeman with her purse once because she disagreed with him over her driving abilities.
What makes the Lutheran connection even odder is that we’re pretty sure that old Bertha was Jewish since her family had changed their name and would never answer the question why. The party line was that they were English, but their features looked a helluva lot more like Eastern German Jews, which is what a little digging uncovered. That might explain why my grandfather applauded me when I joined the JCC in high school. He seemed to resonate with Judaism even though we rarely spoke of it.
The rest of the family was equally confused. To balance Bert’s strict rules on one side, I was baptized Episcopalian (the other grandparents insisted) and Presbyterianism (not sure where that came from) and later went to my stepmother’s Methodist Church. In the middle of all this dancing between religions, I was sent to a Catholic School (and even sang in its choir), and went with my almost-adopted parents (that’s a story for another time) to a Baptist Church for a couple of years, which led to a few-year stint teaching canoeing at a local born-again summer camp. Yes, really. I did it all and it all did me. Luckily, the dogma didn’t do me in.
Rest assured, I went through religious trauma that some of you reading this may have experienced, but luckily, it didn’t linger. Good, old-fashioned reason and decades spent in science and technology helped cure me of the Fear of God game. Traveling to (and living in) other countries also helped. Simply put, I was exposed to far too many other cultures, religions, belief systems, ideologies, science, and philosophy to get stuck in an archaic patriarchal belief system, regardless of whether it was spiritual or secular. I had no idea just how entrenched the patriarchy was embedded into the very fabric of our daily lives until years later, thanks to the work of Merlin Stone, Gerda Lerner, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Sarah Penner and others. And also its connection to the written word from Dr. Leonard Shlain.
That said, I always believed in so much more than what science could prove or explain and had my own mystical experiences, long before I was introduced to Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra and Tony Robbins and I don’t mean just their work. I actually met all three of them and several others of their ilk along the way.
I went to seminars, workshops, silent retreats, ashrams, meditation centers, and temples and even lived on a kibbutz near the Gaza strip for a while. I was a seeker despite the fact that I actually trusted my intuition . . . that innate knowing we all have access to. I suppose you could say it was stronger in my twenties and thirties, but the disillusion with Silicon Valley’s direction and obsession with flipping start-ups caused me to second guess that innate-ness, so much so that I stepped back from the technology industry altogether.
Disillusioned by the Always On World
This is not to say that I didn’t have plenty of magic moments (as Tony Robbins calls them) in the world of tech. Truth be told, I met awe-inspiring entrepreneurs, learned how to launch start-ups through to acquisition, write a funding proposal, and navigate my personal brand in an industry that was largely dominated by men. The most pressing issue was the biggest catalyst: I lost a sense of purpose. I wasn’t launching products that would change people’s lives. Dragon’s speech recognition software helped thousands of people in significant ways, but over the next ten years or so, I wasn’t seeing life-changing products and services float across my desk. Apps, apps, and more apps. Platforms, platforms, and more platforms. And then the Internet of Things (IoT) trend took over and I wasn’t subscribing to the idea that everything (and everyone) had to be connected.
I love helping people succeed, speak their truth and become successful. Philosophical discussions that explored the meaning of life really juiced me up. I had always imagined that my life would be spent filming otherworldly experiences (and things) from helicopters, mountain tops and small remote villages, not sitting in board rooms or walking the chaotic halls of COMDEX and CES sifting through devices that felt like they were draining the soul, not feeding it.
It was in the wave of the Internet of Things that I walked away from it all. Big data had become the new best thing — am obsession really. Before you think I turned into a naysayer or luddite, I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge big data’s benefits on humanity, particularly related to our health and well-being. I understand that when this data is applied creatively and strategically, it can not only help us become proactive co-creators of our health, but the collective content can actually save lives. I don’t deny any of that. But gradually, I saw people becoming robots to their devices, not the other way around.
Technology can be a beautiful enabler when its used in balance, but I wasn’t seeing that balance. People were spending more time with their devices than committing to personal connection and being present with that connection, which is the true healer. When we feel out of balance, perhaps we haven’t taken time for us to just sit and BE with ourselves. It’s a scary idea for many to slow down and just connect to our inner self, our soul self, our Higher Self, whatever name you choose to give it. Be present with oneself, love oneself and then open up that presence and love to others, as the great Buddha and many other spiritual masters across millennia have taught.
You see, technology had stopped making my heart sing. It was on a lengthy trip to Iceland that brought back the wonder in my life. Yup, Gaia again, bringing me back to nature where I belonged. Hanging out with puffin birds did make my heart sing.
Capturing someone’s personal story in a small South American village did make my heart sing. Rolling on the grass with giggling Rwandan children who had never seen white skin before did make my heart sing. Seeing a woman overcome physical abuse and then speak her truth to help other women have the same courage also makes my heart sing. Seeing women in places like Afghanistan and Ukraine demonstrate the resilience and take charge of their destinies against all odds makes me weep but then there’s the story of one woman who breaks through and tells her story, shifting the playing field for so many. Holocaust survivors who share their stories and are able to forgive when rational logic says they never should is astonishing to me. The strength to forgive. The courage. The love. The inner peace. Gandhi had it. Mandela had it. Rosa Parks had it.
The Birth of Magdalene’s Journey as a Story
The wonder of the human potential is what lights me up and makes my heart sing. This brings me to the book about Mary Magdalene’s life, co-created with my partner Anthony: Magdalene’s Journey.
The turning point came when Mary Magdalene surfaced in our lives. Anthony and I weren’t seeking her out; you might say that she found us. We began to discover that her life may have been different than the one religion dictated about her and Yeshua of Nazareth who the world most knows as Jesus. Who were they really? Part of me feared going there. After all, why explore names that have always been associated with Christianity and Catholicism, the very things I ran away from because of the dogma?
We asked: “Why were non-Christian and non-Jewish mystics writing about Mary Magdalene and Jesus?” After all, Adyashanti (whose name means “primordial peace” btw) even wrote a book about Jesus. Why had Harvard scholar Meggan Watterson written a book about Mary Magdalene? Both of them were emerging outside of religious circles, which made me curious.
Doing some research didn’t provide clear answers, but it led us to the Gnostic Gospels, the Nag Hammadi Library, the Kabbalah, the teachings of ancient mystics and beyond. How many pivotal women had been written out of history and so-called holy books? Further digging into the origins of Patriarchy resulted in many sleepless nights. I couldn’t get it out of my head.
How had I—a well-read woman who studied Women Across Cultures at a London-based university and who had marched for women’s rights in more than one country—missed the roots of patriarchy?
Sure, I knew about the Goddess religions and pagan traditions, but what I didn’t see (couldn’t see?) was how deeply entrenched patriarchy was in our society, even in modern Western circles where women were CEO’s. Cognitive dissonance was far too strong.
So back to Mary Magdalene. Why her? I guess my first answer is, “Why not?” But it goes much deeper as you’ll discover when you read the book. Through her narrative, many of the answers to life’s most paradoxical questions I’ve always wanted the answers to are discussed.
The Book’s Premise
Magdalene’s Journey shares Miriam’s relationship with the apostles—both male and female—and her experiences with Yeshua (Jesus). The narrative challenges a much-filtered and archaic narrative that has dictated to humanity how to understand history, the Abrahamic religions, and women’s pivotal roles during that time. This account is a significant upgrade to an outdated paradigm and patriarchal storyline.
Tossed aside like an inconvenient truth by the powers behind patriarchal Roman thrones and later the Catholic hierarchy, she was mostly unknown. People who took the time to probe deeper still looked through that tainted lens, leading them to misunderstand and devalue her role as a healer and teacher. This role, one could argue, was equal to that of Yeshua’s as the yin to his yang—complementary and interconnected forces that together amplified the power of their abilities.
In response to the distorting power for far too many years, the book also shares the need to rebalance the masculine and feminine energy in the world, starting within each of us. This task involves understanding not just Miriam’s important role, but also the vital, never-recorded roles women have played over millennia. It attempts to capture a universal message about their lives, now recreated in a period that can show us a fuller, more tangible understanding of it.
BUY THE BOOK: eBook is only 0.99 cents until Jan 19, 2025 although we encourage the physical copy.
LEAVE A REVIEW: Verified simply means you ordered a copy of the book – hard copy or eBook. Verified is what counts when it comes to enhancing our position on Amazon apparently. This will help us get to best seller status and more importantly, help us in search engine rankings and reach more people.
Can we count on you to help us get over the bestseller threshold?
Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.
She is also the CEO and founder of Magic Sauce Media, a new media services consultancy focused on viral marketing, social media, branding, events and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped companies from 12 countries get traction in the market. Known for her global and organic approach to product and corporate launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an active user of social media, she helps clients navigate digital waters from around the world. Renee has been blogging for over 16 years and regularly writes on her personal blog Down the Avenue, Huffington Post, BlogHer, We Blog the World and other sites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Magazine and is listed as a new media influencer and game changer on various sites and books on the new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed as the 6th most influential woman in social media by Forbes Magazine on a Top 20 List.
Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
Renee is also the co-founder of Traveling Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to other countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote innovative technologies.
