Here is another post with some MidJourney A.I. generated artwork. For these three variants of “the first source”, I used the opening section of the “Untitled text” from the Bruce Codex. I have spoken highly of this text before (it is one of my favorites) and was quite pleased with these results. As you can see with all three variants, they all have the same look to them but in different styles. I love how there is a central light/figure that then splits into various aspects. My favorite of the three is the main photo above, but the other two are really neat as well. I like how there are “garments” that lay on the floor next to the figures on that main photo. That type of imagery is present throughout numerous gnostic texts in that you must shed your worldly garment (flesh suit, if you will) to ascend to the pleroma.
Here is the text used to generate the photos:
He set him up so that they should strive against the city in which was their image. And it is in that they move, and in it that they live. And it is the house of the Father, and the garment of the Son, and the power of the Mother, and the image of the Pleroma. This is the First Father of the All. This is the first eternity. This is the king of unassailables. This is he in whom the All is unconscious. This is he who gave form to it within himself. This is the self-originated and self-begotten place. This is the deep of the All, this is the great abyss, in truth. This is he to whom the All reached. There was silence concerning him. He was not spoken of, for he is an ineffable one, he cannot be understood. This is the first source. This is he whose voice has penetrated everywhere. This is the first sound until the All perceived and understood. This is he whose members make a myriad myriad powers to each of them.
While the source is unthinkable / unknowable, it is interesting to see how A.I. interprets these texts. More experiments to come…
With this post, I decided to include my MidJourney A.I. artwork based on saying 107 from the Gospel of Philip as well as a reading of it. For the artwork and reading, I used the translation by Daniel McCoy, that can be found at: https://gnosticismexplained.org/the-gospel-of-philip/
I highly enjoy Daniel’s translations, and recommend you all check out his site. Above you can see the artwork that the MidJourney bot outputted. It has a sort of ancient temple “bridal chamber” look, in a literal sense. Now granted the bridal chamber in the religious context is the relationship between oneself and the divine, but I did like what it created. It has that dream-like quality to it, an inviting aspect to it that pulls in the observer.
Below is my reading of the text and I placed a transcript below the video clip:
Each person who enters the bridal chamber will spark the light. This is not like earthly marriages that are practiced under cover of darkness. Their fire burns at night, but is dead by daybreak. No, the mysteries of this marriage take place during a day whose light never sets.
Whoever becomes an attendant of the bridal chamber will receive the light. If the light is not received there, it will not be received elsewhere.
Whoever receives the light can be neither seen nor grasped. Nothing can disturb him, even while he lives in this world. And when he leaves this world, he will have already received the truth through images and symbols. The Fullness, the eternal world, is his world. It has been revealed to him alone; it is hidden from others not by darkness and night, but by perfect day and holy light.
July 22 is the “Feast Day” for Mary Magdalene, so I thought it would be fitting to post various texts from different traditions. Those into “Gnosticism” like to champion Mary as a leader of the movement, but we really have no idea if the historical Mary Magdalene was actually of this mindset. However, gnostic groups did highly venerate her as she does appear in such texts like “The Gospel of Mary”, “The Gospel of Philip”, “Pistis Sophia”, “The Dialogue of the Savior”, “The First Apocalypse of James”, “The Sophia of Jesus Christ”, etc.. etc…
So light a candle, burn some incense and say a prayer to Mary and do some reading!
Gnostic Source:
The Gospel of MaryChapter 8 (part of Mary's teaching to the other disciples)
10) And desire said, I did not see you descending, but now I see you ascending. Why do you lie since you belong to me?
11) The soul answered and said, I saw you. You did not see me nor recognize me. I served you as a garment and you did not know me.
12) When it said this, it (the soul) went away rejoicing greatly.
13) Again it came to the third power, which is called ignorance.
14) The power questioned the soul, saying, Where are you going? In wickedness are you bound. But you are bound; do not judge!
15) And the soul said, Why do you judge me, although I have not judged?
16) I was bound, though I have not bound.
17) I was not recognized. But I have recognized that the All is being dissolved, both the earthly things and the heavenly.
18) When the soul had overcome the third power, it went upwards and saw the fourth power, which took seven forms.
19) The first form is darkness, the second desire, the third ignorance, the fourth is the excitement of death, the fifth is the kingdom of the flesh, the sixth is the foolish wisdom of flesh, the seventh is the wrathful wisdom. These are the seven powers of wrath.
20) They asked the soul, Whence do you come slayer of men, or where are you going, conqueror of space?
21) The soul answered and said, What binds me has been slain, and what turns me about has been overcome,
22) and my desire has been ended, and ignorance has died.
23) In a aeon I was released from a world, and in a Type from a type, and from the fetter of oblivion which is transient.
24) From this time on will I attain to the rest of the time, of the season, of the aeon, in silence.
MidJourney generated art based on this teaching from the Gospel of Mary
The Pistis Sophia has a LOT of Mary Magdalene quotes in it. It is perhaps the largest source of Mary information out there. If you have not read it, I highly recommend it. The following exchange in the PS is between Salome and Mary, in which Mary removes doubt from Salome:
Salome, as envisioned by the MidJourney A.I.
Gnostic Source:Pistis Sophia - Chapter 132
And when the Saviour had said this, Salome started forward and said: "My Lord, if our parents are the rulers, how standeth it written in the Law of Moses: 'He who shall abandon his father and his mother, let him die the death'? Hath not thus the Law made statement thereon?"
And when Salome had said this, the light-power in Mary Magdalene bubbled up in her and she said to the Saviour: "My Lord, give commandment unto me that I discourse with my sister Salome to tell her the solution of the word which she hath spoken."
It came to pass then, when the Saviour had heard Mary say these words, that he called her most exceedingly blessed. The Saviour answered and said unto Mary: "I give commandment unto thee, Mary, that thou speak the solution of the word which Salome hath spoken."
And when the Saviour had said this, Mary started forward to Salome, embraced her and said unto her: "My sister Salome, concerning the word which thou hast spoken: It standeth written in the Law of Moses: 'He who shall abandon his father and his mother, let him die the death,'--now, therefore, my sister Salome, the Law hath not said this concerning the soul nor concerning the body nor concerning the counterfeiting spirit, for all these are sons of the rulers and are out of them. But the Law hath said this concerning the power which hath came forth out of the Saviour, and which is the light-man within us to-day. The Law hath moreover said: Every one who shall remain without the Saviour and all his mysteries, his parents, will not only die the death but go to ruin in destruction."
When then Mary had said this, Salome started forward to Mary and embraced her anew. Salome said: "The Saviour hath power to make me understanding like thyself."
It came to pass, when the Saviour had heard the words of Mary, that he called her most exceedingly blessed. The Saviour answered and said unto Mary in the midst of his disciples: "Hearken, therefore, Mary, who it is who compelled the man until he sinned.”
The next reading is from a Manichaean Psalm book, particularly the Psalms of Heracleides that details and expands the encounter between Mary and the resurrected Jesus.
Don’t touch me
Manichaean Source:
Manichaean Psalm Book / Psalms of Heracleides
Stem the tears of thy eyes and know me that I am thy master.
Only touch me not, for I have not seen the face of my Father.
Thy God was not stolen away, according to the thoughts of thy littleness: thy God did not die, rather he mastered death.
I am not the gardener: I have given, I have received the….., appeared (?) not to thee, until I saw thy tears and thy weakness…for (?) me.
Cast this sadness away from thee and do this service: be a messenger for me to those lost orphans.
Make haste rejoicing, and go unto the Eleven. Thou shalt find them gathered together on the bank of the Jordan.
The traitor persuaded them to be fishermen as they were at first and to lay down their nets with which they caught men unto life.
Say to them, ‘Arise, let us go, it is your brother that calls you.” If they scorn my brotherhood, say to them, ‘It is your master.’
If they disregard my mastership, say to them, ‘It is your Lord.’ Use all skill and advice until thou hast brought the sheep to the shepherd.
If thou seest that their wits are gone, draw Simon Peter unto thee; say to him, ‘Remember what I uttered between thee and me.
‘Remember what I said between thee and me in the Mount of Olivers: “I have something to say, I have none to whom to say it.”
"Rabbi, my master, I will serve thy commandment in the joy of my whole heart.
I will not give rest to my heart, I will not give sleep to my eyes, I will not give rest to my feet until I have brought the sheep to the fold."
Glory to Mariamme, because she hearkened to her master, she served his commandment in the joy of her whole heart.
Glory and victory to the soul of the blessed Mary.
To end with Gnostic sources (I could go on for days), here is a short quote from the Dialogue of the Savior which really nails it on the head with Mary (the last part of the quote):
Gnostic Source:
The Dialogue of the Savior
Mary said, "Thus with respect to 'the wickedness of each day,' and 'the laborer is worthy of his food,' and 'the disciple resembles his teacher.'" She uttered this as a woman who had understood completely.
Up next is a phrase that I just found here recently. It is from a third century writing titled The Didascalia Apostolorum which has a section in it where the disciples are at the last supper and each giving a lesson/ talk about various topics. In this, Martha makes mention that Mary is laughing, but Mary points out what exactly she is laughing. I thought it’s pretty interesting:
Third Century Source:
The Didascalia Apostolorum
Martha said about Mary, I saw her laughing between her teeth joyfully.
Mary said, I did not surely laugh, but I remember the words of our Lord, and I rejoiced, for ye know that He said to us before, when He was teaching, He that is weak shall be saved by the means of the strong.
Next up is from the Eastern Orthodox tradition and is pulled from an Akathist Hymn to Saint Mary Magdalene. This particular section relates to the popular scene in Eastern Orthodoxy that portrays Mary holding the red egg.
Eastern Orthodox Source:Akathist Hymn: Saint Mary Magdalene, Equal of the ApostlesKontakion Xl & Ikos XI
Kontakion Xl
There are no words which suffice fittingly to hymn the divine joy of Thy resurrection, O Christ, which, with the other women, the glorious Mary announced to the apostles on this appointed and holy day, the feast of feasts and solemnity of solemnities. Wherefore, bowing down before the magnitude of the ineffable compassions which Thou hast bestowed upon us, O Christ our King, with humility and love we cry out to Thee: Alleluia!
Ikos XI
Thou wast shown to be a radiant star shedding thy light upon our sinful world, O Mary Magdalene, when, after the glorious ascension of the Savior, thou didst go about the cities and villages, proclaiming the word of the Gospel everywhere and laying the easy yoke of Christ upon many. And when thou didst reach ancient Rome, thou didst stand manfully before Caesar Tiberius and didst explain to him, by means of a red-dyed egg and thy wise words, the life-bearing power of Christ. And thou didst also denounce the wicked Pilate and the ungodly high priest, that they might receive a recompense worthy of their iniquitous deeds. And marveling at this great feat of thine apostolate, with joy we cry out to thee thus:
Rejoice, glorious herald of the teaching of Christ;
Rejoice, radiant dispeller of the darkness of paganism!
Rejoice, thou who didst release many men from the bonds of sin;
Rejoice, thou who hast taught the wisdom of Christ unto all!
Rejoice, thou who hast brought many people out of the darkness of ignorance into the wondrous light of Christ;
Rejoice, thou who hast provided us with a model for standing steadfastly for the righteousness of Christ!
Rejoice, thou who loved the salvation of sinners' souls more than thine own life;
Rejoice, thou who understood well the commandments of Christ!
Rejoice, thou who followed them faithfully; rejoice, thou who boldly denounced the darkness of the heathen!
Rejoice, thou who didst not fear the wrath of Caesar;
Rejoice, thou who showed him the malice and designs of the enemies of Christ!
Rejoice, O holy Mary Magdalene, equal of the apostles, who loved the sweetest Lord Jesus more than all good things!
The next section is from the Roman Catholic “The Golden Legend of Mary Magdalene”, a story I did a modern translation of. This particular section relates to when Mary was a hermit and would receive daily visits from angels who provided for her.
Roman Catholic source:The Golden Legend of Mary Magdalene
And then the good pilgrim received his wife and child, and went to the ship. Soon after, they came to the port of Marseille and found the blessed Mary Magdalene preaching with her disciples. They kneeled down to her feet and recounted to her all what had happened to them, and then received baptism of Saint Maximin. They then destroyed all the temples of the idols in the city of Marseille, and made churches of Jesus Christ. And with one accord, they chose the blessed Saint Lazarus to be bishop of that city. Afterward, they came to the city of Aix, and by great miracles and preaching, they brought the people there to the faith of Jesus Christ. There, Saint Maximin was ordained to be bishop. In the meanwhile, the blessed Mary Magdalene, desirous of sovereign contemplation, sought a right sharp desert and took place there which was ordained by an angel of God, and to abode there for thirty years without knowledge of anyone. In this place, she had no comfort of running water, no solace of trees and no herbs. That was because our Redeemer had ordained for her to not partake of bodily meats but rather that of a celestial nature. Everyday at each canonical hour, she was lifted up in the air of angels, and heard the glorious song of the heavenly companies with her bodily ears. She was fed and filled with right sweet meats, and then was brought again by the angels to her proper place, in which she had no need of bodily nourishing.
And for one more tidbit, this comes from the Speculum Sacerdotale, yet another Roman Catholic tale I translated for this site earlier. Like the Golden Legend, it speaks of various post-resurrection tales involving Mary. This section is about one of her devotees who has an encounter with her:
The Skull of Mary Magdalene
Roman Catholic Source:Speculum Sacerdotale
Also there was a clerk of Flaundres who fell into a stream of multiple crimes, and he was in such vices that he would neither do good nor hear of it. Nevertheless he had great devotion to Mary Magdalene. He worshiped her on her feast and fasted for her devoutly. So in time, he had visited her sepulchre. As he lay in his devotion, he had fallen into a half awake, half sleeping state, Mary Magdalene appeared to him. She appeared as a celestial body, appearing in between two angels. She said to him “Answer me now. Why does thou act so wickedly against the prayers and merits that I make for thee? I make for thee great instance and speak to my Lord, that thou should not perish, and thou will not amend, for I have prayed for thee to God, for the great devotion that thou has had for me. Therefore, rise and amend it, and I shall never leave thee until thou be reconciled to God.” And at that moment, this clerk felt the grace of God and Mary Magdalene, that he forsake the world and entered into religion and was of an exceptionally perfect life. At the time of his death, Mary Magdalene was seen standing with angels beside his bed. She took up his soul, like a white dove, to heaven.
I hope you enjoyed all these tidbits! I’ll do more compilations like this in the future.
Axion Estin, or it’s translation meaning “It is truly meet”, is the name of a Eastern Orthodox magnification and hymn to the Theotokos (Virgin Mary). It also refers to an icon of the same name. Below is a reading of the hymn (sorry, you don’t want to hear my singing voice, LOL) that I did on the grounds of an orthodox church outside Bloomington, Indiana. They have a nice forest walking path through their grounds and at one point, they have a gazebo featuring two icons of the Theotokos. I want to do some more recordings in this are in the future (perhaps when it’s not quite so hot outside!).
It is truly right
to bless thee, O Theotokos,
the ever blessed, and most pure,
and the Mother of our God.
More honorable than the cherubim,
and beyond compare more glorious than the seraphim,
who without corruption gavest birth to God the Word,
the true Theotokos,
we magnify thee.
I figured I would share this interesting artwork I was able to put together with the help of AI. Here lately it seems that artificial intelligence artwork software is all the rage. Most of these programs have you input words / phrases and it will create various artworks based on those words. Most of these programs put out interesting results but still have a long way to go IMO. However, Mid-Journey (www.midjourney.com) may be the best one out there, at least with what I have tried. The software is currently in the beta testing / invites only stage right now, but I was able to get an invite for a free trial. This limited trial allowed me to do a handful of pictures and I toyed around with it to create some interesting results. Some of those pictures I will use in future blog posts, but for this post, I wanted to include the Barbelo pictures it generated. So when it asked me to prompt in the words I wanted to convert to artwork, I used this phrase from the Secret Book of John:
“She is Barbelo, the most perfect glory of all beings, the glory of the disclosure of the Father’s thought. Her own first thought was to glorify and praise the Virgin Spirit from whom she had come forth.”
So after processing for a few minutes, it spit out a picture featuring four different versions of Barbelo. With the software, you can make adjustments to each of the pictures. I decided to make adjustments to 3 of the 4 pictures. Now I did not save that original picture, so I am not able to show that for this post. These other three pictures, I find merit in all of them, with the last one being my absolute favorite. To me, they do resemble the same character, just from different view points. Now I realize this software is personifying an entity/concept which is a reflection of an unknowable source, but let’s just play along for a moment.
Up first:
Something I have noticed with A.I. software is the fetish with reptilian / blob like creatures. Not sure what is up with that and it would be interesting to know why it does that. This particular version of Barbelo looks like something that is just forming, perhaps an early version. The way the clothes melds with the skin shows a sense of oneness with itself. This is a version of Barbelo I could see Clive Barker putting together.
Next up:
So this second picture brings us up close and personal. Now she represents the traditional Madonna look with the halo surrounding her head. I do like the oft-ness of her face and fingers though. Yes it resembles human-like qualities but it’s not quite there, nor should it. I do realize this may appear slightly nightmarish to some but I adore the look.
And finally:
This is my favorite of them all. The halo is a bit different and is blue rather than gold/amber. She now has a spark of light at her crown as well as her throat (one could say these correspond with the chakras). The face of this picture I find to be quite mesmerizing. The eyes are different from each other but has that stare that just pulls you in. The multi-colored veil is very beautiful. I plan on using this picture in meditation as it really does take my mind to somewhere else. The picture does sort of remind me when I would use psychedelics and look at my reflection in the mirror with the colors and the slightly off features of the face.
This A.I. software is something else. I haven’t decided yet to buy into their subscription tier (I hate getting subscriptions after subscriptions on stuff) but this software has some very esoteric implications that one could use. I would like to enter other gnostic phrases into the software, as well as ritual passages. Who know what it may conjure up……?
I mentioned before about my visits to the Saint Meinrad Archabbey and encountering the Lady of Einsiedeln. Well, with the school out of session for the summer, I’ve been exploring more of the monastery and first off, there is a second statue of Einsiedeln at the entrance to another chapel on the grounds. This copy of our Lady is a bit smaller than the one in the cathedral, but impressive none the less. See below:
Our Lady of Einsiedeln, outside the Saint Thomas Aquinas chapel at the St Meinrad Archabbey
Awhile back I heard that the archabbey has a statue of Our Lady of Montserrat. I eventually found her the other week at a chapel in the middle of the monastery (name of the particular chapel escapes me at the moment, but I will update this post next time I visit it). I’ve always been fascinated with Our Lady of Montserrat and the “golden ball” which is held in her hand. The history and mythology behind that statue is quite interesting. The statue here is a little bit different than the actual one. The colors are slightly different and the statue is smaller. I have posted several pics below, as well as a youtube “short” where I walk up to the statue.
Our Lady of MontserratOur Lady of Montseratt
The stand in which the statue sits presents the Madonna and child at eye level to me, and it’s quite hypnotizing when you look at her straight on. Side note, there is a second statue of her on the third floor in the “hallway of the Virgin Mary”, which is a long hallway that features various incarnations of Mary from various cultures. The statue up there is quite smaller and is one that would be seen on a home altar.
Out of the recent recordings I did, I thought I’d edit three segments together. The first segment is an excerpt from the Gospel of Thomas, the second segment is the oldest known prayer to the Theotokos and the third segment is an excerpt from the First Apocalypse of James.
First segment, Gospel of Thomas saying 50:
Jesus said, 'If they say to you, "Where did you come from?", say to them, "We come from the light, the place where the light came into being of its own accord and established itself and became manifest through their image." If they say to you, "Who are you?," then say, "We are its sons, and we are the elect of the living father." If they ask you, "What is the sign of your father in you?," say to them, "It is movement and repose."
Second segment, the 3rd century Marian (Theotokos) prayer, “Beneath Thy Protection“. See this page for more information on the prayer. I used the English translation from the Greek version.
Beneath your compassion,
We take refuge, O Theotokos:
do not despise our petitions in time of trouble:
but rescue us from dangers,
only pure, only blessed one.
The third segment is an excerpt from the First Apocalypse of James:
You have come with knowledge,
that you might rebuke their forgetfulness.
You have come with recollection,
that you might rebuke their ignorance.
But I was concerned because of you.
For you descended into a great ignorance,
but you have not been defiled by anything in it.
For you descended into a great mindlessness,
and your recollection remained.
You walked in mud,
and your garments were not soiled,
and you have not been buried in their filth,
and you have not been caught.
And I was not like them, but I clothed myself with everything of theirs.
There is in me forgetfulness,
yet I remember things that are not theirs.
Barbelo, the reflection of the source. The first thought. Mother of us all. She is mentioned in numerous Gnostic texts but I wanted to share this passage from the Secret Book of John. I think it does a fairly good job of introducing her to the mythos.
Continuing with my readings, I have put together a video of this passage. See below:
The translation I used to read this passage is from https://gnosticismexplained.org/the-secret-book-of-john/. That website is truly amazing and I recommend everyone check it out if you haven’t. The website creator has done a few other translations as well. Here is the passage:
She is Barbelo, the most perfect glory of all beings, the glory of the disclosure of the Father’s thought. Her own first thought was to glorify and praise the Virgin Spirit from whom she had come forth.
Barbelo became the womb of the Fullness, for she was the first being, the Mother-Father, the first human, the holy spirit, the thrice-male, the triple power, the three-named androgynous being, the first among the invisible beings.
Barbelo requested that the Invisible Virgin Spirit grant her a gift: Foreknowledge. The Spirit agreed and revealed Foreknowledge, which stood at rest next to Forethought. Foreknowledge glorified the Spirit and Barbelo, the perfect power of the Spirit, for it was because of her that Foreknowledge had come to be.
Barbelo made another request: that she be given Incorruptibility. The Spirit agreed, and Incorruptibility appeared and stood at rest next to Forethought and Foreknowledge. Incorruptibility glorified the Invisible Spirit and Barbelo, those who had enabled it to live.
Barbelo made another request: that she be given Eternal Life. The Spirit agreed, and Eternal Life appeared and stood at rest next to the others. They glorified the Invisible Spirit and Barbelo, those who had enabled them to live.
Again Barbelo asked for a gift – this time, it was Truth. The Invisible Spirit agreed, and Truth appeared and stood at rest next to the others. They glorified the Invisible Spirit and Barbelo, those who had enabled them to live.
These are the five entities of the Father: The first human, the reflection of the Invisible Spirit, Forethought, Barbelo; Foreknowledge; Incorruptibility; Eternal Life; Truth.
These are the five androgynous beings, who with their partners are a group of ten entities, and together they are the Father.
As Barbelo now stood amidst the untainted light that surrounds the Father and upon which the Father gazes, the Father gazed into her, and she conceived by him. She begot a spark of light that resembled the Father’s blessed light, but was not as great. This spark was the only-begotten Son of the Mother-Father and the only-begotten Son of the Father, the pure light.
Here is another short prayer video, this time I read a Catholic prayer to Saint Mary Magdalene. Here is the text of the prayer:
Saint Mary Magdalene! You heard from the loving lips of Jesus that your many sins were forgiven because you loved much. Pour out your love at his sacred feet on our behalf. Your tears of repentance and of love won for you the pardon of your sins and the vision of your risen Jesus on Easter morning. Surely, dear Saint, he who refused nothing to your love on Earth, will graciously replenish us with those blessings, for which we implore your prayers. Amen.
I wanted to try something new with this site. I’ve been experimenting with recording videos of myself reading various scripture, as well as prayers, to see how it would come off on a video recording. I admit, I am not a big fan of how I sound on video, but who is? lol However, I do like this particular prayer and wanted to share it. I recently purchased a small altar statue of “Our Lady of Einsiedeln” from www.sagrada.com and while I was on the site, I noticed a home made card of that particular Madonna, so I purchased it to go along with the statue. When I received it (which was only two days after placing an order!!), I noticed a small prayer on the back of the card written by Mary Busby, co-owner of the website. So I decided to do a video reading of the prayer. Enjoy.
Here is the prayer for those curious:
She calls us to deepen, stirring within us a sacred knowing. She whispers our name in every tree and creature in every stone– remembering us to Oneness. She beckons us to open our hearts as compassion and creativity emerge from sorrow. In her darkness, there is life. O Beloved Mother of Mystery, awaken and transform us.
Culmination of Wisdom 