How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"The Grail is literally the ancient symbol for womanhood, and the Holy Grail represents the sacred feminine and the goddess, which of course has now been lost, virtually eliminated by the Church. The power of the female and her ability to produce life was once very sacred, but it posed a threat to the rise of the predominantly male Church, and so the sacred feminine was demonized and called unclean. It was man, not God, who created the concept of 'original sin', whereby Eve tasted of the apple and caused the downfall of the human race. Woman, once the sacred giver of life, was now the enemy."
"I should add," Teabing chimed, "that this concept of woman as life-bringer was the foundation of ancient religion. Childbirth was mystical and powerful. Sadly, Christian philosophy decided to embezzle the female's creative power by ignoring biological truth and making man the Creator. Genesis tells us that Eve was created from Adam's rib. Woman became an offshoot of man. And a sinful one at that. Genesis was the beginning of the end for the goddess. (56.18-19)
All of this makes you really question everything you've been taught about religion, doesn't it? That's part of why Da Vinci Code became so popular. It takes everything we have been taught and turns it on its head in a very believable way—which gave rise to criticism for many reasons, one being that people were suddenly unable to distinguish between the facts Brown presented, and total fallacies.
Quote #8
Sophie looked at him. "You're saying the Christian Church was to be carried on by a woman?"
"That was the plan. Jesus was the original feminist. He intended for the future of His Church to be in the hands of Mary Magdalene."
"And Peter had a problem with that," Langdon said, pointing to The Last Supper. (58.75-76)
Hoo boy. This is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the controversy over Mary Magdalene's true role in the Bible. Scholars the world over have debated her identity, her role in Jesus's new Church, and historical influences on how we view her. You can read just some of the varying viewpoints about who she was here. Once again, Dan Brown's ingeniously tapped into an academic gray area and made it his own. Pretty cool.
Quote #9
Most of Disney's hidden messages dealt with religion, pagan myth, and stories of the subjugated goddess. It was no mistake that Disney retold tales like Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Snow White— all of which dealt with the incarceration of the sacred feminine. Nor did one need a background in symbolism to understand that Snow White— a princess who fell from grace after partaking of a poisoned apple— was a clear allusion to the downfall of Eve in the Garden of Eden. Or that Sleeping Beauty's Princess Aurora— code-named "Rose" and hidden deep in the forest to protect her from the clutches of the evil witch— was the Grail story for children. (61.20)
Whether or not this was Disney's true intention, you'll never look at his movies the same way ever again, huh?