Dyed white

On the road this morning, I passed a real estate agency which had a picture like this prominently displayed. (I didn't take a photo; this is a similar image I found online.)

The agency is called Pacific Realtor. The Chinese word for "ocean," which is part of the name Pacific (太平洋), sounds the same as the word for "sheep" (羊), which is why their mascot is a sheep. The second character in the two-character word "sun" (太陽) is another homophone -- pronounced the same as "ocean" and "sheep" -- and so this sheep's name is Little Sun, but with the last character written as "sheep" (小太羊). I guess this sheep's solar nature is why its wool is red (though golden fleece would have been a more natural choice, I would have thought).

Anyway, it caught my eye for two reasons: First, it's a farm animal holding a golden cup, suggesting that ridiculous book about farm animals finding the Holy Grail (see "The modified Book of the Lamb"). Second, it's another link to that line from Isaiah about sins "red like crimson" becoming "as wool" (see "Shaved by Tessa while contemplating a Rose or Lotus"). Just last night, Bill referenced this again in a comment about fuller's soap.

Shortly after seeing the sheep with the red wool, I noticed that the motorcyclist in front of me was wearing a T-shirt that said "The Last Supper" in big letters. Under that was a black-and-white version of Leonardo's famous painting by that name, and under that was some smaller text I couldn't read. When we stopped at a red light, I got close enough to make it out: "Christ loved her more than any disciple."

I recognized that as a quote from one of the Gnostic gospels about Jesus' special love for Mary Magdalene -- but what does that have to do with the Last Supper? Maybe a reference to the theory that the Beloved Disciple -- traditionally "John" -- was actually Mary Magdalene, represented as male as a way of concealing her true identity. Just yesterday I was discussing in email the theory (not my own) that the Seer of 2 Nephi 3, normally understood to be Joseph Smith, might actually be a woman despite being portrayed as male in the Book of Mormon, so that's something of a sync.

When I looked up the reference, I found that it is in the Gospel of Philip, and that the immediate context is relevant to the idea of brightly colored sins being made white. (The bracketed ellipses are lacunae in the text.)

The Lord went into the dye works of Levi. He took seventy-two different colors and threw them into the vat. He took them out all white. And he said, "Even so has the Son of Man come as a dyer."

As for the Wisdom who is called "the barren," she is the mother of the angels. And the companion of the [...] Mary Magdalene. [...] loved her more than all the disciples, and used to kiss her often on her mouth. The rest of the disciples [...]. They said to him "Why do you love her more than all of us?" The Savior answered and said to them,"Why do I not love you like her? When a blind man and one who sees are both together in darkness, they are no different from one another. When the light comes, then he who sees will see the light, and he who is blind will remain in darkness."