The Whore and the Holy one...

(Gnostic poetry found in Egypt dated 380 a.d.)

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.
...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 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 bride and the bridegroom,
and it was 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 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.

...You who deny me, confess me,
and you who confess me, deny 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.
...Give heed to me
...Give heed to my poverty and my wealth.
...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.
...I, I am compassionate and I am cruel.

Be on your guard! 
...I am she who exists in all fears
and strength in trembling.
...For I am the judgement of the Greeks and the barbarians. 
....I am the one whose image is great in Egypt
and the one who has no image...
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, I am godless,
and I am the one whose God is great.
...I am unlearned,
and they learn from me.
I am the knowledge of my inquiry,
...and of women who dwell within me.
I am peace,
and war has come because of me.
I am the substance and the one who has no substance.
...I am control and the uncontrollable.
...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 listen.
...I am the one who is called Truth
...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 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.

...I was sent forth from the power.

Exerpts From"The Thunder, Perfect Mind." Part of the Nag Hammadi Library, a collection of mostly Gnostic writings from the third century CE, discovered in Egypt in 1945.Translated by George W. MacRae

I have made this special selection for a dance performance with spoken word in my Tantra Theater Production of Sacred Slut Series. For details go to http://www.tantratheater.tv/