From the book, "The Gnostic Gospels"

[mountaingal]

<span style="font-style: italic">reading &quot;The Gnostic Gospels&quot; by well known Biblical scholar Elaine Pagels, and found this poem mi just cyaan stop read, a poem alluding to a &quot;feminine divine power&quot; (according to the author), found among the gnostic texts discovered in Upper Egypt.</span>

THUNDER, PERFECT MIND

For I am the first and the last.
I am the honored one and the scorned one.
I am the whore and the holy one.
I am the wife and the virgin....
I am the barren one,
and many are her sons....
I am the silence that is incomprehensible...
I am the utterance of my name.

[quodlibet]

Re: From the book, &quot;The Gnostic Gospels&quot;

that's mystic...

[DC]

Re: From the book, &quot;The Gnostic Gospels&quot;

<span style="font-style: italic">I am the whore and the holy one.</span>

This paradox is the most interesting to me. Thought of Mary Magdalene when I read this.
Feminine divine power..alluding to &quot;God is both HER and HIM?

<span style="font-style: italic">...and the truth lies somewhere in these paradoxes..mystical fi true </span>

[Peasie]

Re: From the book, &quot;The Gnostic Gospels&quot;

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: MGee</div><div class="ubbcode-body">

THUNDER, PERFECT MIND

For I am the first and the last. </div></div>

This is like &quot;I am the alpha and omega&quot; in the book of Revelations. I looked up the full poem and it is indeed beautiful. A thought occurred to me while reading this poem ... &quot;I am that I am&quot; the statement made several times in the bible.

More on gnostic tradition is found at www.gnosis.org.

[rudemonk]

Re: From the book, &quot;The Gnostic Gospels&quot;

great post.

I like her work.

[DC]

Re: From the book, &quot;The Gnostic Gospels&quot;

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Peasie</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
A thought occurred to me while reading this poem ... &quot;I am that I am&quot; the statement made several times in the bible.
</div></div>

funny you should say that, that came to mind when I read the last line: <span style="font-style: italic">I am the utterance of my name. </span>

[rudemonk]

Re: From the book, &quot;The Gnostic Gospels&quot;

A U M

the sound of the hum of the universe.

[mountaingal]

Re: From the book, &quot;The Gnostic Gospels&quot;

wow, am glad to see responses to this post. thanks to pz for the note that it is part of a larger poem. am printing and will read on the subway tonite.

am still making my way thru the gnostic gospels (2nd time reading it). can't remember if it was this book by the author that explained how the feminine divine power came to be all but excised from judeo-christianity. if i run across any discussion about that i will share.

[mountaingal]

Re: From the book, &quot;The Gnostic Gospels&quot;

there's an excellent commentary on this poem from an anonymous author. the commentary identifies three poetic traditions in the full version of <span style="font-style: italic">Thunder, Perfect Mind</span>.

* <span style="font-weight: bold">Isis aretalogies</span> - &quot;I am...&quot; poems that define a divinity and/or their role in the creation of the cosmos.

e.g.,
<span style="font-style: italic">For I am the first and the last.
I am the honored one and the scorned one.
I am the whore and the holy one.
I am the wife and the virgin. </span>


* <span style="font-weight: bold">Hebrew wisdom texts</span> which exhort followers to certain action

e.g.<span style="font-style: italic">,
Look upon me, you who reflect upon me,
and you hearers, hear me.
You who are waiting for me, take me to yourselves.
And do not banish me from your sight.
</span>

* <span style="font-weight: bold">Platonic dialogue</span> - questions and answers that lead followers to the truth
e.g.,
<span style="font-style: italic">Why, you who hate me, do you love me,
and hate those who love me?
You who deny me, confess me,
and you who confess me, deny me.
You who tell the truth about me, lie about me,
and you who have lied about me, tell the truth about me.
You who know me, be ignorant of me,
and those who have not known me, let them know me.</span>

[mountaingal]

Re: From the book, &quot;The Gnostic Gospels&quot;

like most other people in this thread, i am fascinated by what has been called the &quot;i am dichotomies&quot; of Thunder, Perfect Mind. (I'm still struggling with what the name of the poem means, and I feel that it is a gnostic test in itself )

I am the one who has been hated everywhere
and who has been loved everywhere.
I am the one whom they call Life,
and you have called Death.
I am the one whom they call Law,
and you have called Lawlessness.
I am the one whom you have pursued,
and I am the one whom you have seized.
I am the one whom you have scattered,
and you have gathered me together.
I am the one before whom you have been ashamed,
and you have been shameless to me.
I am she who does not keep festival,
and I am she whose festivals are many.
I, I am godless,
and I am the one whose God is great.
I am the one whom you have reflected upon,
and you have scorned me.
I am unlearned,
and they learn from me.
I am the one that you have despised,
and you reflect upon me.
I am the one whom you have hidden from,
and you appear to me.