The Nag Hammadi library

[sh]

Here's some interesting quotes from "The Gnostic gospels and texts."

Scholars investigating the Nag Hammadi find discovered that some of the texts tell the origin of
the human race in terms very different from the usual reading of Genesis: the Testimony of Truth,
for example, tells the story of the Garden of Eden from the viewpoint of the serpent! Here the
serpent, long known to appear in Gnostic literature as the principle of divine wisdom, convinces
Adam and Eve to partake of knowledge while "the Lord" threatens them with death, trying
jealously to prevent them from attaining knowledge, and expelling them from Paradise when they
achieve it. Another text, mysteriously entitled The Thunder, Perfect Mind, offers an extraordinary
poem spoken in the voice of a feminine divine power:

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.

...


"And the man came forth because of the shadow of the light which is in him. And his thinking
was superior to all those who had made him. When they looked up, they saw that his thinking
was superior. And they took counsel with the whole array of archons and angels. They took fire
and earth and water and mixed them together with the four fiery winds. And they wrought them
together and caused a great disturbance. And they brought him (Adam) into the shadow of death,
in order that they might form (him) again from earth and water and fire and the spirit which
originates in matter, which is the ignorance of darkness and desire, and their counterfeit spirit.
This is the tomb of the newly-formed body with which the robbers had clothed the man, the bond
of forgetfulness; and he became a mortal man. This is the first one who came down, and the first
separation. But the Epinoia of the light which was in him, she is the one who was to awaken his
thinking.
"And the archons took him and placed him in paradise. And they said to him, 'Eat, that is at
leisure,' for their luxury is bitter and their beauty is depraved. And their luxury is deception and
their trees are godlessness and their fruit is deadly poison and their promise is death. And the tree
of their life they had placed in the midst of paradise.
"And I shall teach you (pl.) what is the mystery of their life, which is the plan which they made
together, which is the likeness of their spirit. The root of this (tree) is bitter and its branches are
death, its shadow is hate and deception is in its leaves, and its blossom is the ointment of evil, and
its fruit is death and desire is its seed, and it sprouts in darkness. The dwelling place of those who
taste from it is Hades, and the darkness is their place of rest.
"But what they call the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which is the Epinoia of the light, they
stayed in front of it in order that he (Adam) might not look up to his fullness and recognize the
nakedness of his shamefulness. But it was I who brought about that they ate."
And to I said to the savior, "Lord, was it not the serpent that taught Adam to eat?" The savior
smiled and said, "The serpent taught them to eat from wickedness of begetting, lust, (and)
destruction, that he (Adam) might be useful to him. And he (Adam) knew that he was disobedient
to him (the chief archon) due to light of the Epinoia which is in him, which made him more correct
in his thinking than the chief archon. And (the latter) wanted to bring about the power which he
himself had given him. And he brought a forgetfulness over Adam."
And I said to the savior, "What is the forgetfulness?" And he said "It is not the way Moses wrote
(and) you heard. For he said in his first book, 'He put him to sleep' (Gn 2:21), but (it was) in his
perception. For also he said through the prophet, 'I will make their hearts heavy, that they may not
pay attention and may not see' (Is 6:10).

-f

[sh]

And just FYI, I'm neither Christian nor do I believe in any other religion. But when I see knowledge, I grab it, regardless of where it is.

I just can't deny that the Nag Hammadi library is a masterpiece. I can only imagine the brilliance and awesome wit of the writers.. And it makes me feel puny and ignorant.


-f

[karlsie]

In some ways, i really envy your location. You have the ready availability of some extremely interesting written ancient history. I'm afraid i was raised in some rather simplistic views of religion. I was raised a Christian, but i think my parents didn't have a very traditional Christian view. My mother didn't really see religion. She simply saw people. My father was a science fiction addict. He taught us that the stories in the Old Testament were the stories of an early tribe of nomads who sought to explain the words of creation in terms the others would understand. He strongly suspected that many of the events described, such as the flaming bush and the chariot of fire, were alien visits. He believed the calamity of Sodom and Gomorrah was a nuclear explosion. So forgive any of my quirky views.

The Arctic story of creation is shared, with a few variations, by the Tlinget and the Athabascan. First there was the sun, and the sun gave birth to all manner of animal and human spirit. To Raven, was given a coat of feathers,immaculate, and gleaming white, cunning and intelligence. Raven grew vain with his beauty and with his sharp mind. He became jealous of the sun, shining over everything, and sought to be its master.

He waited until the winter had come in and the sun had shrunk to a small ball in the sky, then flew up one day and caught it in his beak. He took the sun to his home, where he hid it in a woodpile. The other spirits were unhappy because now all they had was the darkness. A young girl spirit had an idea. She went to Raven's house and hired herself out as his servant. She cooked, cleaned and made tea for him, and went out to gather firewood.

When she returned and opened the wood box, she saw the sack hiding in the corner that held the sun. She made Raven his tea, but this time, she put a secret herb in it that made him fall asleep. While he was sleeping, she returned to the wood box, removed the sun and swallowed it.

She then ran away from Raven and returned to her tribe. The other spirits were astonished to see she was pregnant, but she explained to them she was carrying the sun. After a certain amount of time, she gave birth to the sun, which flew back up into the sky.

The sun was very grateful to the young girl and blessed her and her tribe so they could have many earth children, but it was very angry with Raven. The sun cursed Raven so he would never again be a bird that could fly as high as the eagle, and the sun changed his magnificent white feathers to feathers as black as coal.

This story is as much about the solstice as it is about creation, i think, which shows how geography can effect the development of myths.

[sh]

Your story left me speechless for a moment.

I see Prometheus stealing fire from Zeus.

Really wonderful. Thanks for sharing!

-f

[grainnerhuad]

Karla, I too love the storytelling and I have a thought that maybe we should compile some of these types of stories from all of our writers-who live worldwide for publication.

[asiaticdarkperson]

This is "The Thunder, Perfect Mind" as translated by George W. MacRae.

I was sent forth from the power,
and I have come to those who reflect
upon me,
and I have been found among those who
seek after me.
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.
And do not make your voice hate me, nor your
hearing.
Do not be ignorant of me anywhere or any
time.
Be on your guard!
Do not be ignorant of me.
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 mother> and the daughter.
I am the members of my mother.
I am the barren one
and many are her sons.
I am she whose wedding is great,
and I have not taken a husband.
I am the midwife and she who does not bear.
I am the solace of my labor pains.
I am the bride and the bridegroom,
and it is my husband who begot me.
I am the mother of my father
and the sister of my husband
and he is my offspring.
I am the slave of him who prepared me.
I am the ruler of my offspring.
But he is the one who begot me before the
time on a birthday.
And he is my offspring in (due) time,
and my power is from him.
I am the staff of his power in his youth,
and he is the rod of my old age.
And whatever he wills happens to me.
I am the silence that is incomprehensible
and the idea whose remembrance is
frequent.
I am the voice whose sound is manifold
and the word whose appearance is
multiple.
I am the utterance of my name.
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.
For I am knowledge and ignorance.
I am shame and boldness.
I am shameless; I am ashamed.
I am strength and I am fear.
I am war and peace.
Give heed to me.
I am the one who is disgraced and the great
one.
Give heed to my poverty and my wealth.
Do not be arrogant to me when I am cast out
upon the earth,
and you will find me in those that are to
come.
And do not look upon me on the dung-heap
nor go and leave me cast out,
and you will find me in the kingdoms.
And do not look upon me when I am cast out
among those who
are disgraced and in the least places,
nor laugh at me.
And do not cast me out among those who are
slain in violence.
But I, I am compassionate and I am cruel.
Be on your guard!
Do not hate my obedience
and do not love my self-control.
In my weakness, do not forsake me,
and do not be afraid of my power.
For why do you despise my fear
and curse my pride?
But I am she who exists in all fears
and strength in trembling.
I am she who is weak,
and I am well in a pleasant place.
I am senseless and I am wise.
Why have you hated me in your counsels?
For I shall be silent among those who are silent,
and I shall appear and speak,
Why then have you hated me, you Greeks?
Because I am a barbarian among the
barbarians?
For I am the wisdom of the Greeks
and the knowledge of the barbarians.
I am the judgement of the Greeks and of the
barbarians.
I am the one whose image is great in Egypt
and the one who has no image among the
barbarians.
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.
But whenever you hide yourselves,
I myself will appear.
For whenever you appear,
I myself will hide from you.
Those who have [...] to it [...] senselessly [...].
Take me [... understanding] from grief.
and take me to yourselves from
understanding and grief.
And take me to yourselves from places that are
ugly and in ruin,
and rob from those which are good even
though in ugliness.
Out of shame, take me to yourselves
shamelessly;
and out of shamelessness and shame,
upbraid my members in yourselves.
And come forward to me, you who know me
and you who know my members,
and establish the great ones among the
small first creatures.
Come forward to childhood,
and do not despise it because it is small
and it is little.
And do not turn away greatnesses in some
parts from the smallnesses,
for the smallnesses are known from the
greatnesses.
Why do you curse me and honor me?
You have wounded and you have had mercy.
Do not separate me from the first ones whom
you have known.
And do not cast anyone out nor turn anyone
away
[...] turn you away and [... know] him not.
[...].
What is mine [...].
I know the first ones and those after them
know me.
But I am the mind of [...] and the rest of [...].
I am the knowledge of my inquiry,
and the finding of those who seek after
me,
and the command of those who ask of me,
and the power of the powers in my
knowledge
of the angels, who have been sent at my
word,
and of gods in their seasons by my
counsel,
and of spirits of every man who exists
with me,
and of women who dwell within me.
I am the one who is honored, and who is
praised,
and who is despised scornfully.
I am peace,
and war has come because of me.
And I am an alien and a citizen.
I am the substance and the one who has no
substance.
Those who are without association with me are
ignorant of me,
and those who are in my substance are
the ones who know me.
Those who are close to me have been ignorant
of me,
and those who are far away from me are
the ones who have known me.
On the day when I am close to you, you are far
away from me,
and on the day when I am far away from
you, I am close to you.
within.
of the natures.
I am [...] of the creation of the spirits.
[...] request of the souls.
I am control and the uncontrollable.
I am the union and the dissolution.
I am the abiding and I am the dissolution.
I am the one below,
and they come up to me.
I am the judgment and the acquittal.
I, I am sinless,
and the root of sin derives from me.
I am lust in (outward) appearance,
and interior self-control exists within me.
I am the hearing which is attainable to
everyone
and the speech which cannot be grasped.
I am a mute who does not speak,
and great is my multitude of words.
Hear me in gentleness, and learn of me in
roughness.
I am she who cries out,
and I am cast forth upon the face of the
earth.
I prepare the bread and my mind within.
I am the knowledge of my name.
I am the one who cries out,
and I listen.
I appear and [...] walk in [...] seal of my [...].
I am [...] the defense [...].
I am the one who is called Truth
and iniquity [...].
You honor me [...] and you whisper against me.
You who are vanquished, judge them (who
vanquish you)
before they give judgment against you,
because the judge and partiality exist in
you.
If you are condemned by this one, who will
acquit you?
Or, if you are acquitted by him, who will
be able to detain you?
For what is inside of you is what is outside of
you,
and the one who fashions you on the
outside
is the one who shaped the inside of you.
And what you see outside of you, you see
inside of you;
it is visible and it is your garment.
Hear me, you hearers
and learn of my words, you who know
me.
I am the hearing that is attainable to
everything;
I am the speech that cannot be grasped.
I am the name of the sound
and the sound of the name.
I am the sign of the letter
and the designation of the division.
And I [...].
(3 lines missing)
[...] light [...].
[...] hearers [...] to you
[...] the great power.
And [...] will not move the name.
[...] to the one who created me.
And I will speak his name.
Look then at his words
and all the writings which have been
completed.
Give heed then, you hearers
and you also, the angels and those who
have been sent,
and you spirits who have arisen from the
dead.
For I am the one who alone exists,
and I have no one who will judge me.
For many are the pleasant forms which exist in
numerous sins,
and incontinencies,
and disgraceful passions,
and fleeting pleasures,
which (men) embrace until they become
sober
and go up to their resting place.
And they will find me there,
and they will live,
and they will not die again.