I had to have an open mind when reading this book. While I was familiar with Mary Magdalene in the Christian tradition, I was interested in learning more about her life. I was surprised to know that what was provided in the book was based on information from past regressions - I am still processing much of what I read. Glad I was authorized to read the book.

Loved reading this. Whether or not it is ‘true’ was beside the point. I loved the way of life described, and the prose flowed well. An easy and informing read.

I started reading this book and initially liked it but after a while I lost interest in it and could not stay invested in the actual story. I liked the blub and the overview of what it was about, but sadly is just was not for me.

The Magdalene Lineage by Reena Kumarasingham
Book Review by Dawn Thomas

288 Pages
Publisher: John Hunt Publishing Ltd / O-Books
Released Date: March 27, 2020

Past Life, Spirituality, Religion, Health, Mind & Body

This book consists of interviews with several people that have past life experiences as Mary Magdalene. This gives us a better picture of her and her live from the age of six. The experiences are very detailed. One interviewer explains Mary’s first marriage including the turbulent relationship with her husband and son.

The past life regression details Mary’s work as a leader and teacher among women. As part of her teaching, she talks to women about pregnancy and childbirth and the differences between the births of her son and daughter. She goes into detail about what happened at the crucifixion.

I enjoyed the book and loved the subject matter. Sometimes I had a hard time distinguishing the past life and the opinions or input of the interviewer. If you are interested in learning more about Mary Magdalene and have an open mind about past life regression, I recommend this book.

Unfortunately this was not for me. My own fault, I am not sure what I thought this book was but it wasn’t what I expected.

This has been an interesting view into the sacred feminine and the mystery around Mary Magdalene. It has also helped me understand myself more as I read this book. In a time where the patriarch is crumbling, the rise of the feminine is taking place now. No better time to read this book!

This is an extra-ordinary book in all senses of the word, as it gives intimate and detailed insights into the life of Mary Magdalene from someone who lived her life in a previous incarnation. Using gentle past-life regression techniques the author has gleaned some amazing details of the lives of both Mary Magdalene and her daughter Sara, by her marriage to Jesus. These real life memories largely tally with the historical facts that we do have about Mary's life. The concept of re-incarnation may prove to be uncomfortable for some as it goes against the current teachings of the Church, however, for many on the planet, it is as natural as night and day. The teachings of the early Church taught that we live many lives and it was only later that this was dismissed.

The Magdalene Lineage brings to life some long buried truths about the life and times of Mary, that she was not, in fact, a prostitute, was married to Jesus and had three children and was an influential teacher and healer in her own right. Brought up as a Gnostic, Mary was a follower of The Way, as was Jesus, and they both continued to spread these gentle, loving teachings throughout their lives. Mary and later Sara, taught the Feminine Mysteries, that women's (and men's) bodies are sacred and that by honouring our bodies we discover our own divine purpose.

I found this to be a fascinating and very readable book which gives us a much clearer and truthful explanation of Mary's life and the great, but largely hidden, legacy she has left for us even today. It is high time that the truth about her life, lineage and teachings are more widely known so that humanity can benefit from the Ageless Wisdom of the teachings of The Way and the Sacred Feminine - I feel these are even more relevant and beneficial to our lives now in the twenty first century.

This is a insightful and fascinating book that I am glad I read. It has always disturbed me that the male based Bible and churches over the last two thousand years unfairly vilified Mary and buried her contributions to the world. It was as if she was to be silenced and through their false vilification deemed a unworthy woman and the churches have carried this belief over the years only to focus on no women's contribution much less Mary's. My own church vilified her at their Christmas show and the prejudice is still going on today against Mary and her true history.

So I was especially pleased to be offered this book for review . Thank you to the publisher and to Net Galley for the opportunity. I take this subject very seriously and as such took my time to read this book in its entirety and absorb the many interesting and educational parts of this book.

This book deal with past lives and how many of those intersected with Mary's bringing forth her true history. I found this fascinating and recommend you keep an open mind as the author request in the beginning of the book. This is a subject to be taken seriously and with great appreciation of the depth of work of the author.
The author interviewed women who believe that previously through their own past lives work they found out that they were part of her story . Through these stories Mary’s role in history and her love for Jesus is truly and truthfully being told and it is fascinating reading. I so appreciate the research the author put into this body of work.

I highly recommend this book for your reading enjoyment for all who enjoy Biblical history and especially women who are seeking the truth behind Mary's history and her true contributions.

Some information/history tied to what the regression of Mary through this session(s). What we know would have happened to Mary and Jesus before and after his death. What the situation was for her. It was alright, but it is not for those who don't have an interest in any way in past life regression type of books/experiences.

Mary Magdalene is a Much maligned and vilified character through the years with many painting her as a fallen woman and basically just a bi-line in the story of Jesus. Using past life regression the author of this book has interviewed women who believe that previously they were part of her story and are now telling their truth about Mary’s role in history and her love for Jesus and the family they created. What ever your religious views if you have any this is a fascinating book and left me with lots of questions but has also opened my mind to other possibilities of the story. It’s an insightful and interesting read to anyone regardless of their views just approach it with an open mind.

This book dives into an area of history where not much has been done and more research is needed. No one really knows or understands Mary Magdalene, either the saint or repugnant sinner. This book sheds some light on this subject. The book is, in part, based on regression, so the reader has to read the book with an open mind. I know I had never thought of Mary Magdalene in the way this book showed her to be. The regression parts are lengthy and detailed, so some of the book became almost too much for me as I read, probably because, in my case, the jury is still out on regression. I had learned about the Sophianic Gnostic traditions in school, but I had no idea what they really meant/were, and school was years ago. This book helped me better understand them. Still, there is a lot of unknown secrecy type stuff in the book, and the author is asking the reader to accept a lot of what is there on faith. I guess I may be just a little bit of a skeptic when it comes to accepting things without solid proof. Nevertheless, the book provided me a good insight into an area and person I never have really known. There are a lot of interesting things in the book, so it is a worthwhile read, if you are interested in the subject and accept things without putting them to the test. I received this from NetGalley to read and review.

For two 5housand years Mary Magdalene has been veiled as a silhouette. An enigmatic figure shrouded in mystery. Although this is an interesting read, the parts written about regression are quite lengthy and full of detail. You have to read this book with an open mind and in parts, that wasnt always easy for me. Not my usual type of read ut I did find parts intriguing.

I would like to thank NetGalley, John Hunt Publishing and the author Reena Kumarasingham for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sadly couldn't get into this book as it felt very disjointed, and I also had the strangest sensation while trying to read this that something was weighing heavy on my heart. Both did not make for a pleasant reading experience, though

This book contained ideas about a subject I had never researched and thus was different to me. However, I followed author Reena Kumarasingham’s request to “…have an open heart and mind (and) put preconceived notions on the back burner and decide for yourself.”

In the book description, I didn’t realize the meaning of regression in the context of the book, and was not familiar with Sophianic Gnostic traditions. The book will tell a story about Mary Magdalene (one I had not heard before) and if one is not familiar with Sophianic Gnostic traditions, you will gain knowledge through the author’s words.

These are new concepts for me, and open mind or not, when you teach me something new, I am going to examine that material to see if it makes sense and can stand up to scrutiny. The secrecy of the identity of the people involved raises questions and caused me to question the veracity of the book. Ms. Kumarasingham has arranged the book in a great manner for teaching, introducing a segment of the regression (told by a person who has discovered that she was Mary Magdalene in a past life) and then supporting that segment with the author’s knowledge. The support, however, always centered primarily on her book and one other, or we are asked to accept everything based on oral traditions. Basically, to accept the vast majority of what is in the book, one must accept those beliefs on faith alone.

My purpose was to write this review with great respect for those who follow these teachings while explaining my issues with the book so those not interested could move on to other subjects. Anyone who is a follower of these teachings will enjoy this book, and it did serve as a solid introduction for me to understand what they believe, and because of this presentation, I can also recommend the book to those who are curious. Having finished the book, I will probably not investigate this subject further but, because of the excellent layout of the information the author is presenting, I feel this book is worth four stars.

My thanks to NetGalley and John Hunt Publishing for a complimentary copy of this book.

First, thanks go out to Reena Kumarasingham and John Hunt Publishing, for allowing me to review this ARC.

I was quite drawn to this book, because as a meditator, I have regressed myself to visions of my own past lives. This book just felt right even before I started reading it. While reading, I would instantly go into a semi-meditative state as a reaction to the truth I was feeling. Within these accounts of two women who, guided by the author, regressed into visions of having lived Mary Magdalene and her daughter Tamar (Sara)'s lives, there is beauty, truth and freedom to be found. For those unfamiliar with Gnosticism, the book is a good starting point that goes more in depth as the book progresses.

Mary Magdalene, along with Jesus, taught The Way. She taught the women and children, and eventually, in some of her travels later in life, many men as well. They were sacred partners in their Great Work.

Near the end, the author asks how more than one person can have past life memories of having been the same person. Her answer is Jungian in that she talks about the collective unconscious, which everyone can tap into. I have a different experience of it and know several people who feel the same. People are composed of parts of past lives, which God puts together each time a person incarnates, to create that new person. This is so we can sense and hopefully find our soul family in each new incarnation; the people we are meant to be with to accomplish the things we incarnated for. So Jung was close, but it is not quite that people can just tap into anything and that means it is a part of their own experience. Only into what is necessary. Beyond that, as living beings, we are also all interconnected in a more basic loving way.

This is different from other books on Mary Magdalene, because rather than being simply a scholarly work, or the actual Gospel According to Mary Magdalene, it is a spiritual one which teaches the basics of Gnosticism through past life regressions. It is not fiction. But it is the sort of everyday magic that we can all bring into our lives.

I was expecting more about Mary Magdalene as a spiritual characters and less regression and retelling of the biblical story.
I have to admit I'm a bit sceptical and read the book as a novel.
Not my cup of tea but entertaining.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

The Magdalene Lineage by Reena Kumarasingham taught me so much about Regression Therapy and Biblical History.

Reena describes how each person experienced their experiences and how they are connected.

This book was definitely a huge undertaking that spanned many years. The way she explains each session and it's historical significance is amazing!

I plan to refer back to the book to keep learning and create discussions about biblical history and research.

Thank You Netgalley for the ARC.

4 stars: I will share my review on my bookstagram @aprilsbookishlife, as well as Twitter and Goodreads. When the book comes out I'll be glad to review it on Amazon with some combination of the following review:

'The Magdalene Lineage: Past Life Journeys into Sacred Feminine Mysteries' What a fascinating concept for a book. I received an advanced copy from author Reena Kumarasingham and publisher O-Books. It releases April/May 2020.

I was especially interested in Maya's description of the "web of life", as well as her time with Yeshua. I found a lot of the actual regression transcripts in the book to be dry but I understand the necessity for detail. Had it been written in more of a story form the information may have translated better. The author's summaries on gnosticism and her take on the regression content were much easier to get through. As a gnostic myself I found a lot of this content refreshing.

Mary's understanding that the feminine isn't dirty (in the context of her life at the time) is just as relevant today with emergence of the Me Too Movement. Tau Malach's contribution to the book as well as all the Nag Hammadi quotes and information on the Energetic Cross/connectedness all helped give the book focus.

I wish I could give this five stars but I ended up having to skim a lot of the regression material. I love Mary/Yeshua as people, it was just too mundane. Whether you believe past life regression to be truth or not, is irrelevant for me. I just felt the extensive detail in the regression transcripts weighed the book down too much and the overarching messages were sometimes lost. That being said, that is the only critical feedback I have. For anyone interested in past life regression, gnostic concepts or channeled material you will absolutely love this book. It's well worth the purchase.
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