 The Magdalen imagery further draws on the idea of Christ as the word , represented by a book , with the Magdalen as the reader learning of her own life story in a moment of reflection and repentance . Her devotion to reading reflects her traditional status as the <unk> repentant <unk> , as well as a <unk> or seer . According to legend , the Magdalen lived the last 30 years of her life as a <unk> in <unk> @-@ <unk> and is often shown with a book , reading or writing , symbolizing her later years of contemplation and repentance . By the 13th century she acquired the imagery of a once @-@ <unk> woman who , clothed in long hair , now hid her nakedness in exile and " borne by angels , floats between heaven and earth " . 
