Margaret Starbird

In her 1993 book The Woman with the Alabaster Jar: Mary Magdalen and the Holy Grail, Margaret Starbird developed the hypothesis that Saint Sarah was the daughter of Jesus and Mary Magdalen and that this was the source of the legend associated with the cult at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer. She also claimed that the name "Sarah" meant "Princess" in Hebrew, thus making her the forgotten child of the "sang réal", the blood royal of the King of the Jews. Her works contain many references to ancient alphanumeric codes known as Hebrew Gematria and Greek Isopsephy. She also exposes secrets encoded in classical art. Starbird believes that the patriarchal Roman Catholic church suppressed the veneration and devotion of the sacred feminine, leading to an unbalanced spirituality in mainstream Christianity.

From 1988 to 1989, Starbird took classes at Vanderbilt Divinity School, later teaching religious education and Scripture in Catholic parishes. Starbird was a basic skills instructor at Central Texas College's extension program at the Fort Lewis military base in Tacoma, Washington from 1992 to 2004.

Born Margaret Leonard in West Point, New York, Starbird married Army Colonel Edward Starbird in 1968. They had five children, including computer scientist and former professional basketball player Kate Starbird.

Starbird holds Bachelor of Arts (1963) and Master of Arts (1966) degrees from the University of Maryland, College Park, where she majored in medieval studies, comparative literature and German language. During her graduate studies, Starbird taught German courses at the University of Maryland. Then from 1969 to 1970, Starbird taught foreign language courses at North Carolina State University.

Margaret Leonard Starbird (born June 18, 1942) is the author of seven books arguing for the existence of a secret Christian tradition that held Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, calling it the "Grail heresy", after having set out to discredit the bloodline hypothesis contained in The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail.

Margaret Starbird's father was Army Major General Charles Leonard, who won a Silver Medal in the modern pentathlon at the 1936 Olympic Games held in Berlin, Germany.