you for a while

We’ve all made the connection between Tori Amos’ personal theory on religion and Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code. In her autobiography Piece by Piece, Tori calls for the respect of Mary Magdalene as not only a follower of Christ, but also as someone who loved him in a very deep, spiritual, and…yes…sexual way. She explores this theme in many of her songs including Past the Mission and Marys of the Sea. Brown’s book alludes to these same themes…a respectful love between Jesus and Mary Magdalene.

In a recent blog post, Eduardo Velásquez also makes the connection between Tori’s postulations in Piece by Piece and The Da Vinci Code. He also calls attention to the fact that Tori Amos does not necessarily worship Mary Magdalene…she just wants the world to pay as much attention to her as they do to the Mother Mary who she believes also deserves admiration. To Tori, Mary Magdalene and the Virgin Mary represent both sides of women…Christianity has separated the sexual from the spiritual in honoring one and chastising the other. She says in her book:

“The Virgin Mary has been stripped of her sexuality but has retained her spirituality; the Magdalene has been stripped of her spirituality but has retained her sexuality…I’ve asked myself, Is there a way to reach an orgasm and keep your spirituality intact?…Can we put body and soul together after it was torn asunder?”

This connection isn’t really news to Tori fans, but it is interesting that a non-fan site is discussing Tori Amos’ theory and personal quest, especially given that so many non-fans are tempted to write her musings off as quirky, strange, or heathenistic. Blog posts like this serve to solicit respect for our beloved artist…more power to you Eduardo. Keep up the good work and thank you.

Click here to read this post in A Consumer’s Guide to the Apocalypse.

Filed under: Press/Articles on September 29th, 2007