Sunday, October 23, 2005
Thunder, Perfect Mind
Currently working through The Gnostic Gospels, Elaine Pagels’ distillation of the thirteen codices discovered at Nag Hammadi in 1945 (under circumstances which make for quite an adventure story, involving treasure hunting, vendettas, murder!). Having always had a deep interest in comparative religions and the early history of the Catholic Church, it’s been a fascinating look into both subjects so far — not to mention containing beautiful writing from the Gnostics themselves, including the following poem from 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.
I’ve got The Nag Hammadi Library out from KCLS for later (also see: The Gnosis Archive), though I think Paul Ford’s Gary Benchley, Rock Star must slot in next on my reading list.
Also, goddess save us — before vince’s head explodes.