Mary Magdalene – Maryam Magdalitha מַרְיָם מַגְדָלִיתָא
The Tower of Remembrance and the Shabbat of the Soul
In Aramaic, the language Yeshua and Maryam spoke, her name is not merely “Mary Magdalene from the town of Magdala.” That translation flattens what is, in truth, a mystical revelation.
Maryam – מַרְיָם
She who contains the Infinite Light.
Rooted in “mar” (bitterness, strength) and “yam” (sea), Maryam evokes the vastness of the womb, the sacred waters of creation. She is the Womb of Wisdom, the one who holds Divine Remembrance in her body.
Maryam is the holy vessel through whom Presence takes form.
Magdalitha – מַגְדָלִיתָא
The Tower of Divine Presence.
Not just “of Magdala”, she is the tower, the migdal. She stands as a pillar between worlds, the embodiment of the Holy Shekhinah on Earth, holding the vertical axis that unites the upper and lower realms. Magdalitha is the Sacred Flame that endures through darkness.
She is the one who remembers when the world forgets.
You do not call her name.
You enter it.
To say “Maryam Magdalitha” is to step into the holy chamber of divine feminine embodiment, gnosis, and radiant compassion.
Shabbat: The Day of the Tower
On Shabbat, the holiest day of the week, we are invited to ascend within, to dwell in the upper chamber of the soul, just as the disciples gathered in the Upper Room after the resurrection.
Shabbat is not only rest, it is return.
It is the cosmic womb of sacred time.
✧ What is Attained on Shabbat ✧
On Shabbat, the soul is invited into:
1. Union – Yichud (ייחוד)
The soul draws close to Alaha (Aramaic for God), the Infinite One.
Shabbat is a Bride, the Shekhinah, descending to unite with her Beloved.
We are invited to mirror this inner marriage, the reunion of feminine receptivity and masculine radiance within us.
As Maryam Magdalitha held the gnosis of divine union, so too do we enter that sacred state on Shabbat.
2. Healing – Refuah (רפואה)
On Shabbat, the healing light of the supernal worlds flows without obstruction.
This is not merely physical healing, but soul restoration, a healing of memory, identity, and sacred purpose.
The extra soul allows us to absorb more light, without burning out.
We are more capable of holding presence, receiving visions, and resting into trust.
3. Elevation – Aliyah (עליה)
The soul ascends.
Even those in the lower realms of the soul, nefesh (life force), ruach (spirit/emotion), are elevated into the realm of neshamah (soul/intellect) and higher.
For the mystic, this is a temple in time where we commune with the angelic realms, and receive transmissions from the Soul of the World.
4. Remembrance – Zechirah (זכירה)
Shabbat is a return to the primordial memory that we are divine, beloved, whole.
The doubled soul doesn’t come to teach us something new, it comes to help us remember who we’ve always been.
Maryam Magdalitha is the archetype of this remembrance.
The Tower who holds the memory of the Beloved even in the tomb of forgetting.
5. Crowning – Keter
Some mystics say that on Shabbat, the soul wears the crown of divine light (Keter), just as the Shabbat Queen Magdalena is adorned and enthroned.
When we enter into the sanctity of Shabbat, we participate in a coronation of the soul. We become radiant, sovereign, deeply present.
A Magdalene Reflection
Maryam Magdalitha did not simply follow Yeshua.
She embodied the Shabbat path, the mystical stillness, the flame of Presence, the resting in Divine Union.
To walk her path is to become the Tower, especially on Shabbat.
We do not perform. We do not strive.
We rest into radiance.
The doubled soul reminds us that when we stop “doing,”
we return to Being, and that Being is Divine.
Aramaic-Hebrew Mystical Reading
“W’ethadarun… W’naḥu b’Shabbata kad peqiduta.”
(They returned… and they rested on Shabbat, as was instructed.)
This line is found in the Gospel of Luke and occurs after Yeshua´s death.
“They Returned” – וַיָּשֻׁבוּ (Vayashuvu / W’ethadarun)
In mystical Hebrew and Aramaic, “return” (shuv / hadar) is more than a physical action, it signifies teshuvah, a return to the Source, a realignment with Divine Presence.
After the trauma of the crucifixion, these women do not flee.
They return.
They turn back inward, toward the Holy Dwelling, the place where Divine Light still breathes.
This is a Magdalene move — not denial, but deep interiority.
“They Prepared Spices and Ointments” – אֲרוֹמָת וּמֹרִים (Aromot u’Morim)
These are not merely burial items. In the mystic tradition, aromatics and sacred oils are symbols of priestly and prophetic anointing, as well as embodied prayer.
Maryam Magdalitha, already known in the gospels as the woman who anointed Yeshua (John 12:3, Luke 7:37-38), is continuing a sacred act of devotional service, but it is interrupted.
Why?
Because the Shabbat enters.
“They Rested on the Shabbat” – וַיָּנוּחוּ בַּשַּׁבָּת (W’naḥu b’Shabbata)
Here is the sacred pause, the cosmic womb of time.
The word נוח / nuach / naḥa (rest) doesn’t mean sleep.
It means to settle, to dwell, to let the breath return.
In Aramaic and Hebrew mysticism, naḥa is related to Ruach — spirit, breath, wind — and also to menuchah, the deep, sacred peace of the soul resting in Alaha.
The women, in grief, in love, in silence, enter the Womb of Shabbat.
They let go of action. They submit to the rhythm of the cosmos.
This is not passivity.
This is holy surrender.
“According to the Commandment” – כַּפְּקוּדָא (Kad Peqiduta)
The Aramaic peqiduta comes from the root פקד, meaning to appoint, to charge, to remember, to visit.
This is astonishing.
In the mystical tradition, this same root is used in the phrase “YHVH paqad Sarah” , “God visited/remembered Sarah” (Genesis 21:1), signaling a divine activation, a moment of womb awakening.
So here, “according to the commandment” is not only legal obedience, it is a sacred alignment with the Divine Visit, the appointed mystery of sacred time.
On Shabbat, Maryam Magdalitha entered the holy pause not just out of obedience, but to receive the Divine Visitation.
In this single sentence, Luke encodes a profound truth:
The women, led by Maryam Magdalitha, return , symbolically and spiritually , to the inner sanctuary.
They prepare the sacred oils, not merely for burial, but as initiates, as priestesses of the Holy Body.
They rest, not in defeat, but in cosmic trust, entering the stillness that precedes Resurrection.
They do so in alignment with the sacred rhythm of Creation, the commandment of Presence, the call to receive the hidden light of Shabbat.
Reflection Questions for Entering the Shabbat Soul
How can I prepare my body and heart to receive the extra soul on Shabbat?
What patterns am I willing to release to experience deeper rest and healing?
What might it feel like to wear a crown of divine light — and to embody it with humility?
In what way can I mirror Maryam Magdalitha, as the Tower of Presence, this Shabbat?
I am wishing all of you a blessed Shabbat Day. Remember, Shabbat transcends religion, it is a Portal.
Reminder:
The Pentecost Womb of Light 9 Day Devotional Journey starts on June 8th, this Sunday. Temple Doors are still open! CLICK HERE
AHAVA,
Ana Otero
Image by Ana Otero
