Maggy Whitehouse (born 1956) is an Independent Sacramental priest, a stand-up comedian, [1] a broadcaster and an author and specialist in Judaeo-Christian mysticism, [2] particularly Bible interpretation for interfaith [ clarification needed ].
She is a radio presenter and former BBC journalist, a travel documentary presenter and producer for Carlton TV, has acted as host moderator for BBC's Religion and Ethics message boards and was producer of BBC's now defunct holistic health and spirituality website. [3]
Whitehouse is the author of books on Judaism, Christianity and faith, including four on the Judaic mystical system known as Kabbalah. She was co-founder and Consultant Editor of the holistic magazine Tree of Life. [4]
Whitehouse is also literary agent for the British novelist Norah Lofts.
Maggy Whitehouse trained as a stand-up comedian in 2012 at the age of 56. She is unique for her no-holds-barred interpretation of religion and priesthood and is now a professional comic gigging throughout the UK. In 2014 she took her one-hour show The Maggy Whitehouse Experience [5] to the Edinburgh Fringe. [6] She was a finalist in the 2015 UK Funny Women Awards,. [7] In 2018 she joined forces with two Anglican clergy, Rev. Ravi Holy of the Wye Benefice and Rev. Kate Bruce, RAF Chaplain to form White Collar Comedy. The three performed at Edinburgh Fringe from 1 to 10 August 2019 at Sofi's Southside. [8]
Maggy Whitehouse is an author and teacher of the Judaic mystical system of Kabbalah with particular reference to the mystical interpretation of the teachings of Jesus and the place and role of women in the Bible era.
Her latest book is A Woman's Worth, The Divine Feminine in the Hebrew Bible.
Whitehouse's 2007 book The Marriage of Jesus explored the social and economic times in which Jesus lived. Her theory is that Jesus would have married, like any other young man of his times, at the age of approximately 14. Working from historical knowledge of the times (and referring to Suzanne Dixon's book The Roman Mother) Whitehouse begins from the premise that the average lifespan of a woman in Jesus' time was 27 years. As Jesus is said to have begun his ministry at approximately 30 years old, she finds it likely that he was a widower by that time.
In the 1990s Whitehouse wrote a fictional trilogy about a female cousin of Jesus, including The Book of Deborah.
Whitehouse's novel The Miracle Man, an updated version of the story of Christ, was published in November 2010.
From 1993 to 2009 Whitehouse studied the Toledano Tradition of Kabbalah with Z'ev ben Shimon Halevi (Warren Kenton). She has acknowledged Kenton as the inspiration for her books on Kabbalah, which she calls "primers" for Kenton's own work.
Whitehouse studied New Testament Greek at Birmingham University for a year with Mark Goodacre and David Parker. She became an interfaith funeral minister in 2003. In 2007 she was ordained into the Apostolic Church of the Risen Christ, an Independent Catholic church, part of the Ascension Alliance.
Whitehouse presented the Sunday morning breakfast show on BBC Radio Devon between August 2016 and October 2017. [9] She worked as breakfast presenter for BBC Radio WM and Hereward Radio in the 1980s and as assistant producer on BBC Pebble Mill At One. In 1989, Whitehouse presented and co-produced the documentary Manchuria Express, [10] about steam engines in China as part of Channel 4's 'Voyager' series. Her father Patrick Whitehouse was an advisor on the series. [11]
Kabbalah is an esoteric method, discipline, and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist in Judaism is called a Mekubal. The definition of Kabbalah varies according to the tradition and aims of those following it, from its religious origin as an integral part of Judaism, to its later adaptations in Western esotericism. Jewish Kabbalah is a set of esoteric teachings meant to explain the relationship between the unchanging, eternal God—the mysterious Ein Sof —and the mortal, finite universe. It forms the foundation of mystical religious interpretations within Judaism.
Mark Steel is an English author, broadcaster, comedian and newspaper columnist. A stand-up comedian, he has made many appearances on radio and television shows as a guest panellist, and has written regular columns in The Guardian, The Independent and Daily Mirror. He is perhaps best known for presenting The Mark Steel Lectures, The Mark Steel Solution and Mark Steel's in Town.
Angela May Rippon is an English television journalist, newsreader, writer and presenter. Rippon presented radio and television news programmes in South West England before moving to BBC One's Nine O'Clock News, becoming a regular presenter in 1975. She was the first female journalist permanently to present the BBC national television news, and the second female news presenter on British television after Barbara Mandell on Independent Television News (ITN) in 1955.
The Kabbalah Centre International is a non-profit organization located in Los Angeles, California that provides courses on the Zohar and Kabbalistic teachings online as well as through its regional and city-based centers and study groups worldwide. The Kabbalah Centre's presentation of Kabbalah was developed by its director, Philip Berg, along with his wife, Karen Berg.
Samael Aun Weor, born Víctor Manuel Gómez Rodríguez, was a spiritual teacher and author of over sixty books of esoteric spirituality. He taught and formed groups under the banner of "Universal Gnosticism", or simply gnosis. A prolific author of syncretistic books, Gómez first made a name in the early gnostic movement in his natal country of Colombia, before moving to Mexico in 1956, where his movement gained increased popularity, and his works became popular among practitioners of occultism and esotericism, and were translated to other languages.
Chokmâh is the Biblical Hebrew word rendered as "wisdom" in English Bible versions.
The tree of life is a motif in various mythologies and a metaphor for the common descent of life on Earth.
Sybil Leek was an English witch, astrologer, occult author and self-proclaimed psychic. She wrote many books on occult and esoteric subjects, and was dubbed "Britain's most famous witch" by the BBC.
Miranda Katherine Hart Dyke is an English actress, comedian and writer. Following drama training at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts, Hart began writing material for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and making appearances in various British sitcoms, including Hyperdrive (2006–2007) and Not Going Out (2006–2009).
Debbie Thrower is an English journalist and broadcaster who presented BBC national news bulletins in the 1980s and ITV Meridian's flagship news programme Meridian Tonight from its inception in 1993 to 2009. She is the founder and pioneer of Anna Chaplaincy for Older People, part of The Bible Reading Fellowship, BRF.
Jewish meditation includes practices of settling the mind, introspection, visualization, emotional insight, contemplation of divine names, or concentration on philosophical, ethical or mystical ideas. Meditation may accompany unstructured, personal Jewish prayer, may be part of structured Jewish services, or may be separate from prayer practices. Jewish mystics have viewed meditation as leading to devekut. Hebrew terms for meditation include hitbodedut or hitbonenut/hisbonenus ("contemplation").
Hermetic Qabalah is a Western esoteric tradition involving mysticism and the occult. It is the underlying philosophy and framework for magical societies such as the Golden Dawn, Thelemic orders, mystical-religious societies such as the Builders of the Adytum and the Fellowship of the Rosy Cross, and is a precursor to the Neopagan, Wiccan and New Age movements. The Hermetic Qabalah is the basis for Qliphothic Qabala as studied by left hand path orders, such as the Typhonian Order.
Carol Ann Klein is an English gardening expert, who also works as a television presenter and newspaper columnist.
Harry Freedman is a British author who writes on history, religion and culture.
Pamela Armstrong is a British journalist and news presenter.
Eleanor Jane Taylor is an English comedienne, television personality, actress, and writer. After appearing on Show Me the Funny in 2011, Taylor has appeared on numerous television shows, including 8 Out of 10 Cats (2011–2017), Fake Reaction (2013–2014), Mock the Week (2015–2019), The Lodge (2016–2017), Stand-Up Central (2017), The Mash Report (2017–2021), and Plebs (2018–2019). She has also presented the shows Snog Marry Avoid? (2012–2013) and Live at the Apollo (2016–2018).
Katherine Rundell is an English author and academic. She is the author of Rooftoppers, which in 2015 won both the overall Waterstones Children's Book Prize and the Blue Peter Book Award for Best Story, and was short-listed for the Carnegie Medal. She is a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford and has appeared as an expert guest on BBC Radio 4 programmes including Start the Week, Poetry Please, and Seriously....
The Bible and humor is a topic of Biblical criticism concerned with the question of whether parts of the Bible were intended to convey humor in any style. Historically, this topic has not received much attention, but modern scholars generally agree that humor can be found in biblical texts.
Catherine Joy "Catie" Wilkins is a British comedian, writer, and podcaster.
Catherine Bohart is an Irish stand-up comedian, writer and actor based in the United Kingdom.