Mid-bite of his falafel and lettuce pita, as he sits in a spot of shade along the Acropolis wall in Athens, American graduate student Tonio Fletcher's jaw drops. His breathing stops as the beautiful young Maia Spiros, guiding a group of students, enters the Theatre of Dionysus just below him. Maia's graceful gestures and vivid descriptions of long-forgotten events that took place there evoke the drama of the past and bring the ancient site, and him, suddenly to new life. The Magdalene Gates is a suspense-filled love story and a spiritual mystery novella, set mainly in Athens, Ephesus (the resting place of Mary) and Crete. Mysteriously attractive, it centers on Maia and Tonio's discovery of long-buried Magdalene letters -threads in a teaching Jesus entrusted to Mary Magdalene as the most advanced of his disciples. Intrigue surrounds this potentially earth-shaking discovery as a growing love brings spiritual awakening and new life to both characters. Through his relationship with Maia and her contemporary family of seekrs immersed in Mary's anti-institutional teachings, Tonio is initiated into a spiritual practice that leads toward spiritual maturity and enlightened consciousness through a series of Gates, or levels of development. | The Magdalene Gates by Richard G. Geldard, Paperback | Indigo Chapters