Interpretations of Mary's Journey of the Soul

And desire said, I did not see you descending, but now I see you ascending. Why do you lie since you belong to me ? The soul answered and said, I saw you. You did not see me nor recognize me. I served you as a garment and you did not know me. When it said this, it (the soul) went away rejoicing greatly. Again it came to the third power, which is called ignorance. The power questioned the soul, saying, Where are you going? In wickedness are you bound. But you are bound; do not judge ! And the soul said, Why do you judge me, although I have not judged? I was bound, though I have not bound. I was not recognized. But I have recognized that the All is being dissolved, both the earthly things and the heavenly. When the soul had overcome the third power, it went upwards and saw the fourth power, which took seven forms. The first form is darkness, the second desire, the third ignorance, the fourth is the excitement of death, the fifth is the kingdom of the flesh, the sixth is the foolish wisdom of flesh, the seventh is the wrathful wisdom. These are the seven powers of wrath. They asked the soul, Whence do you come slayer of men, or where are you going, conqueror of space? The soul answered and said, What binds me has been slain, and what turns me about has been overcome, and my desire has been ended, and ignorance has died. In a aeon I was released from a world, and in a Type from a type, and from the fetter of oblivion which is transient. From this time on will I attain to the rest of the time, of the season, of the aeon, in silence.
– The Gospel of Mary

The special teaching that Mary receives from Jesus in this particular work is unique because it details the journey of the soul in Christian literature. While it is focused on the afterlife, the story detailed is a parable of the trials we must overcome in our life. The powers that the soul encounters are attachments that prevent us from being authentic individuals. There are forces in our everyday life that hold us back from learning about who we are. We must challenge the physical, mental, and spiritual authorities within and outside of us that want to rule our lives if we are to find true peace. While it reads like a "Book of the Dead," it could be viewed more as a parable about how to live.

We do not know what the first power is due to the text being fragment so we will begin by looking at the second power, Desire. Desire is anything we crave; what we believe that we cannot live without. Desire’s challenge to the soul is “why do lie since you belong to me”. The illusion that Desire tries to create is that we are the sum of our desires. That our desires define who we are as people and that desires is all that there is to our personhood. The soul’s response is that “it is a garment”. Being the animals that we are, we are going to have desires and goals that we wish to obtain; but those desires do not define our personhood. Desires are an outer shell of what makes us people. We have a core that is unique in shape but similar in substance to every other person. Like clothing, desires fade and wear out with time. They make you feel accomplished when you obtain them, they may even make you feel special, but they do not complete us. They do not make us whole and they do not fill that void that is within us. If anything, they make the void bigger and make us lose sight of what makes others and ourselves human. A rich person without clothes is still a person, just a as poor person without clothing is still a person. When we understand that our desires can be put away and removed like clothing; not only can we forgive ourselves but we can forgive the transgressions of others. We recognize the humanity of others and ourselves.

The next power encountered is Ignorance. The challenge that ignorance proposes to the soul is, “In wickedness you are bound. But you are bound; do not judge!” While this power is called ignorance it could more modernly described as unreflective guilt. This is the guilt one feels for no reason. It is guilt felt for committing some wrong, whether you have committed it or not and extends to assuming that others are guilty of committing the same sin one feels guilty. The soul’s reply is “Why do you judge me, although I have not judged? I was bound, though I have not bound. I was not recognized. But I have recognized that the All is being dissolved, both the earthly things and the heavenly.” The solution is to not judge others and to be reflective of your life. We all commit wrongs either intentionally or unintentionally, that’s part of living in a world where we have to compete for resources. Accept the wrongs that you have done and try to fix them if you can. If you cannot, accept that it was done and learn from it. Either way you are forgiven and are not bound by them. You only bound yourself to sin when you refuse to let it go and remain in ignorance concerning them. Being forgiven, you can and should forgive others. You do not know the struggles and hearts of others so you cannot judge their soul. Judging their souls just binds your soul even more tightly to your own guilt and prevents you from accepting your own forgiveness that you have already received.

The last power listed is the seven powers of wrath. This power is the external world or rather what one perceives to be the external world. This interpretation is based on Marvin Meyer’s, The Nag Hammadi Scriptures, where the footnote comments that this is a reference to the seven planets that was once believed to make up the universe. The question of this power is, “Whence do you come slayer of men, or where are you going, conqueror of space?” reinforces the idea that this power is the external world. Couple it with the fact that this power is listed last makes the case even stronger. It calls the soul “slayer of men” because we live in a world where we have to compete with each other. While most of us in the first world do not have to literally kill others to survive, we still have to compete for limited resources. We have to “conquer” our space when we compete. The soul’s response is “What binds me has been slain, and what turns me about has been overcome, and my desire has been ended, and ignorance has died. In a aeon I was released from a world, and in a Type from a type, and from the fetter of oblivion which is transient. From this time on will I attain to the rest of the time, of the season, of the aeon, in silence.” This is basically making peace with one’s life and the final recognition that we are not one but two. We are a spirit and body with a soul/mind that filters what the spirit experiences through the body. When we die, our desires, our guilt, and our instincts die with us. All that is left when we leave our body is ourselves. Have you removed desires like the garments that they are or are you still clinging to them? Are you still seeking something you do not need anymore or are you ready to make peace with yourself?

While we are not dead and I do not know what the afterlife holds, we can still apply these teachings to our life in the present. What desires are we ready to let go? What guilt are we ready to be forgiven for so we can more readily forgive others? How are we willing to cooperate with our competitors and show compassion to people that the world tells us are our enemies? I do not have the answers to these questions but these are questions to think about as we go through our lives. Now this interpretation is based on the English translation since I do not know Coptic. There may be puns or references within this text that may have eluded me due to my own ignorance. This is the layer of this passage that I understand and wish to share with you. Feel free to find more layers that I have missed and build from it. Reflect on your life so you do not get trapped and enslaved by the worldview that you create. Create a worldview that is based on truth for truth does not enslave nor ensnare but it grows and sets you free.

On: www.aeonbytegnosticradio.com/2014/07/interpretations-of-marys-journey-of.html