Who was Mary Magdalene? What does her story add to our understanding of the religious beliefs and ideas abroad in the era when Jesus of Nazareth revealed Christianity? San Francisco Opera has engaged Kayleen Asbo to help lead explorations into the mythology of Mary Magdalene for both the audiences and the artists working on Mark Adamo’s opera, The Gospel of Mary Magdalene. Here’s your SFCV cheat sheet for the opera – the background, sources, story, controversy, and some interpretive ideas, expertly boiled down to a few minutes by Asbo.
Kayleen Asbo holds masters degrees in music, mythology, and psychology and is now on the faculty of Sonoma State University, and San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Her online webinar, Myths of Mary Magdalene, is meeting weekly now through June 12, on a pay-what-you-can basis.
The Gnostic Gospels and the Gospel of Mary Magdalene
Here, Asbo explains what the Gnostic Gospels and the Gospel of Mary Magdalene are and why they were banned by the established Christian Church.
The Gnostic Gospels and the Gospel of Mary Magdalene on YouTube
Gnostic Gospels Image of Mary Magdalene
Asbo compares the canonical Gospels image with the Gnostic Gospels image of Mary Magdalene, and surveys how the iconic conflation of various early Christian Marys occurred and explanations for why it occurred.
Gnostic Gospels image of Mary Magdaleneon YouTube
Interpreting the Christian traditions
What do the various Mary Magdalene stories tell us about interpreting the Christian traditions? What is relevant in these stories to contemporary society and theological interpretation? What is the opera saying about this?
Interpreting the Christian traditions on YouTube