Support WATCHTOWER: A Mary Magdalene Film Project

Greetings and thank you stopping by :)

This is Roxanne Ruby and Rose Heartsong here.

We are setting out share a story of Mary Magdalene through film and this is our invitation for you to be an important part of this vision becoming a reality.

MARY MAGDALENE..... PROSTITUTE OR PRIESTESS?

An important and misrepresented woman in history, Mary Magdalene is a key in unlocking transformational insights that are needed at this time. Her story is rippling around the world and we are documenting the path of discovery by following in her footsteps through mixed media.

This project offers a beautiful new narrative to society, an audio-visual illustration of the majesty of life, friendship, spirituality, sexuality, and love. It is an artistic narrative about the legacy of Mary and how what she represents can be a source of nourishment to the modern world.

*LARGE CONTRIBUTIONS CAN BE CREDITED AS PRODUCERS WITH OTHER BENEFITS. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN THIS OPPORTUNITY, REACH OUT DIRECTLY TO THE CAMPAIGN CREATORS, ROXANNE & ROSE


We have partnered with SoSimple.Studios, a not-for-profit production company so we can maximize our potential ensuring that we create something meaningful and magical.

Please support our campaign to raise the resources and produce the pilot episode for this project. Every dollar makes a difference :) We have some larger investors in the wings and this campaign is meant to provide social proof of the desire for this story to be told. Even $1 from 200 people will help tremendously. If you can afford to give more, please do.

Everything is in place to shoot the pilot in Los Angeles this November 9-12 and we are gathering the resources to fund the budget. We need to raise the funds by Oct 17.
If we go beyond our goal for the pilot, the additional budget will go towards the production of the full series which is planned to begin shooting in the summer of 2024.


This is not a religious film.

This is a film to dismantle the constructs that have been built around the ineffable essence of Spirit. It is an initiative to place the feminine side of God back on her throne.

In this audio-video delicacy, we will use the magic of media to share a story that reveals the mysterious legacy of Mary Magdalene from the perspective of a diverse group of women following her story on a pilgrimage around the world.

This is a call to the allies, the ones who feel resonant with creating a piece of art that can offer a new narrative of the spiritual role of women in society. And how integrating these stories can reshape the socio-cultural relationship to community, spirituality, sexuality, and more.


It is a film meant to offer hope and an invitation to always return to love.
It is the revival of the priestess.
The revival of the Goddess.

Thank you for reading.
Thank you for supporting.
Thank you for donating.


> > > > > THE FILM PROJECT < < < < <
This fundraiser will go to the production of our pilot episode which will then be presented to our documentary contacts at Paramount, Netflix, and Gaia to acquire the full budget for the series.

In many ways, the feminine spirit has been marginalized as either the virgin or the whore.
While sex is taboo, it is also a central selling point for pop culture.
This has created dizziness around our very origin point of life.

Mary Magdalene is a clear example of how fear has changed the historical narrative to suppress the power of women.

Mary represents the feminine aspect of Christ.
In her true story, she is a symbol of divine love, transformation, union, devotion, and sacrifice.


She is a prominent historical figure and clearly an important character in the story of the life of Jesus Christ, mentioned in the bible (the #1 selling book on earth) at the most pivotal moments of the origins of Christianity. And yet, through centuries of retelling of the same story, the role of this woman was twisted into a whore (an identification removed by the Catholic church in 1969 and Sainted with her own feast day in 2016) rather than the more historically probable possibility that she was the spiritual partner and wife of Jesus.

We are setting out to follow the geographical path of Mary's life.
The story begins in Egypt with the Cosmology of Isis, then leads us to Israel for the crucifixion, then to England where Mary is known to have fled after the resurrection, and finally to France where she lived out the end of her years.

We will follow this story and find the teachings along the way, filming the discovery as we go.
With original music (produced by Ruby Chase and more) to score the films with a sonic landscape crafted through the journey.

The 7 part docuseries is designed to feel like an extended music video with a magical, historical narrative. It will not present a "factual" history of Mary but will share what we find along the path, perspectives of various teachers, elders, authors, and historians, and a living diary of how this ritual-infused adventure impacts our personal lives as we follow the Rose Path.



> > > > > THE FINANCES < < < < <
The pilot is set to shoot this November in Los Angeles. Initially, we set this up as a public event to invite women to come and participate in a weekend immersion with genuine ritual practice, sisterhood connection, the study of Mary, and content creation.


We have received a lot of interest from women who feel the resonance of Mary's work and we want to eliminate the barrier to entry for women to join. While we are still sellling seats to the event, we are also opening this fundraiser to cover the production cost and be able to sponsor seats for the women who feel the call to join. Perhaps one of these women has shared this page with you in an effort to crowd-source her seat for this special event.

To move forward with this project, these are the financial landmarks we must hit:
Venue Cost : $6,000 by Sept 29th. FIRST GOAL MET THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!!!
Food Cost and Media Crew Cost : $27,000 by Oct 27
Team Compensation and Misc. Prod Costs : $44,444 by Nov 9

Working in collaboration with SoSimple.Studios, we are developing an open-source model for entertainment.

The core values for this project include:
  • Media as medicine
  • Transparent, open-source production
  • Paying the artists! Those who are working on this project will be compensated for their efforts.
  • Including a multi-generational voice to bring forth the wisdom of the elders and the youth
  • Intention-driven creativity that is rooted in genuine ritual

You can connect with us on IG and see some of the short-form content we are starting to put out as we bring this project to life.

Roxanne Ruby @loverofthegarden
Jenny Rose Heartsong @jennyroseheartsong


> > > > > MORE ABOUT US < < < < <
Jenny Rose and Roxanne have been close friends for over a decade. Since the origin of their connection, they have been inspired to use their friendship and their voice to make a beautiful and beneficial impact.


Through the years, they have each been uniquely devoted to different forms of spiritual cultivation and personal growth. They also have years of experience with production, with Roxanne founding her production company in LA in 2015 and Jenny Rose working with events for Tony Robbins and other large-scale transformational experiences.

We each came to Mary in our own way and have deepened that relationship in various forms. Jenny Rose has been holding Mary Magdalene book clubs for women in California and Mexico for the past three years and organized the painting of a mural of Her on a church in Todos Santos. Roxanne has been hosting various forms of ritual for her community since she was 18 and has been in a committed course of study with her teacher Isis Indriya for the past 8 years, with a focus on Egyptian Cosmology, Hermetic Magic, Divination, and Qabalah.

They share a passion for Mary and a mission of using the magic wand of media to cast a new spell ~ one that is inspiring, encouraging, and activating. Their path with Mary has been highly transformative in their own lives and they are determined to share the blessings of Her legacy with a public audience.

Thanks for being a part of this prayer :)


> > > > > MORE ABOUT MARY < < < < <
The Catholic Chuch officially declared her the Apostle of Apostles and She is mentioned by name twelve times in the canonical gospels, more than most of the apostles and more than any other woman in the gospels, other than Jesus's family.

The Gospel of Mary was not included in the modern version of the bible, which was made to be what it is during The Council of Nicaea, an assembly of religious delegates arranged by Constantine I between May to August AD 325, which defined the Christian Church doctrine and beliefs, particularly relating to the holy trinity and relationship between God and Jesus, as is still accepted today. This council of Men eliminated the role of Women in the church (aside from the revered Virgin mother) and formed a narrative that serves the power of the patriarchy.

The Gospel of Luke chapter 8 lists Mary Magdalene as one of the women who traveled with Jesus and helped support his ministry "out of their resources", indicating that she was probably wealthy and funded his work.

The portrayal of Mary Magdalene as a prostitute began in 591, when Pope Gregory I conflated Mary Magdalene, who was introduced in Luke 8:2, with Mary of Bethany (Luke 10:39) and the unnamed "sinful woman" who anointed Jesus's feet in Luke 7:36–50. Pope Gregory's Easter sermon resulted in a widespread belief that Mary Magdalene was a repentant prostitute or promiscuous woman.

In 1969, Pope Paul VI removed the identification of Mary Magdalene with Mary of Bethany and the "sinful woman" from the General Roman Calendar, but the view of her as a former prostitute has persisted in popular culture.

It is widely accepted among secular historians that, like Jesus, Mary Magdalene was a real historical figure. Nonetheless, very little is known about her life.

Because she was the first to witness Jesus's resurrection, Mary Magdalene is known in some Christian traditions as the "apostle to the apostles". She is a central figure in later Gnostic Christian writings, including the Dialogue of the Savior, the Pistis Sophia, the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Philip, and the Gospel of Mary. These texts portray her as an apostle, as Jesus's closest and most beloved disciple, and the only one who truly understood his teachings. In the Gnostic texts or Gnostic gospels, Mary's closeness to Jesus results in tension with another disciple, Peter, due to her sex and Peter's envy of the special teachings given to her. In the Gospel of Philip's text, she is described as Jesus's companion, as the disciple Jesus loved the most, and the one Jesus kissed on the mouth, which has led some people to conclude that she and Jesus were in a relationship.

Traditionally, rabbis were expected to marry women who were devoted to Judaism. The convention was a logical one. As a symbolic exemplar of Judaism, everything a rabbi does should reflect his commitment to the Jewish religion.

The conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount confirms the special status of Jesus as not only Rabbi but Prophet (Matt. 7:28-8:1): "And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.


Donations (68)

  • Taylor Fruge
    • $584 
    • 12 d
  • Anonymous
    • $200 
    • 24 d
  • Hollie Hope
    • $1,111 
    • 25 d
  • Sanelly Astral
    • $55 
    • 27 d
  • Dana Graham
    • $25 
    • 1 mo

Organizer

Roxanne Ruby
Organizer
Los Angeles, CA
SoSimple.Love
 
Registered nonprofit
Donations are typically 100% tax deductible in the US.

Your easy, powerful, and trusted home for help

  • Easy

    Donate quickly and easily.

  • Powerful

    Send help right to the people and causes you care about.

  • Trusted

    Your donation is protected by the  GoFundMe Giving Guarantee.