Hymn to Isis ( 3rd or 4th century AD)

by Paulo Coelho on January 5, 2010

For I am the first and the last

I am the venerated and the despised

I am the prostitute and the saint

I am the wife and the virgin

I am the mother and the daughter

I am the arms of my mother

I am barren and my children are many

I am the married woman and the spinster

I am the woman who gives birth and she who never procreated

I am the consolation for the pain of birth

I am the wife and the husband

And it was my man who created me

I am the mother of my father

I am the sister of my husband

And he is my rejected son

Always respect me

For I am the shameful and the magnificent one

discovered in Nag Hammadi, 1947

( one hour after I posted this text here, Methaper wrote me: “Sorry Paulo, but this original koptic text Nag Hammadi Codex NHC VI,2 is 3rd-4th century “AD”, not “BC”. It has the greek-koptic Titel βροντη “bronté” and is NOT explicitely an hymn to goddess Isis, even if some historians regard it as “not impossible”.Kindest regards Metapher”)

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{ 104 comments… read them below or add one }

erica and the much loved May 3, 2011 at 12:05 pm

Thankyou so much Paul and all contributors for the inspiration! (sorry its taken a few months)

*Hymn to Isis* is now a track on our new CD *BareBones*.

We really do hope you like it. You can preview/hear it at Reverbnation:the Indie Music Channel:Amazon:iTunes.

Please let us know what you think and don’t be afraid to hurt our feelings.
Erica and the much loved

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Carol Rindal June 23, 2010 at 8:46 am

This is my first time i visit here. I found so many interesting stuff in your siteespecially its discussion. From the tons of comments on your articles, I guess I am not the only one having all the enjoyment here keep up the finework. Thanks.

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Jenn Besonia April 8, 2010 at 1:31 pm

She’s the Goddess of Fertility in Egypt, right?

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Ilva Asote March 14, 2010 at 8:19 pm

1] Isis and Osiris. The great mystery.
Fourteen parts of Osiris were scattered across the land of Egypt. There is said that the only part of Osiris’s body that Isis could not find remains forever lost in the world…

I found it. — In the room with no furniture, just one beautiful, aristocratic orchid on the windowsill. In front of the window > doors. On the doors > a mirror… Nothing more.

Orchid = the divine (& beautiful) part of a Man

http://www.tattoo-meanings.com/orchid-tattoos.html

2] As I told it before, one of the most magnificent mysteries of the Goddess: “And I found the body with an Acacia tree at the head of the coffin of my beloved…”

Standing in the room with an orchid in my hands and looking in the mirror, I suddenly realised that for twenty seven years already I was living in a house named Acacias… Life is a mystery. GREAT mystery.

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Ilva Asote January 20, 2010 at 9:25 pm

I was 19 when I went for my studies abroad. I had nothing. Neither money, nor place where to spend my nights… It was my first ‘quest of the sword’.

I attracted men, that’s true. I attracted very wealthy men, that’s also true. Seems, I could live very good if only… We met and some of them told me how they made love with their wives/girlfriends/lovers, but though of ME while having sex…

Life is strange. I was the prostitute (in very unusual way) and the saint, as I never sold my time. Eleven minutes have always been a treasure for me & probably it was the wave of breath that turned into the Stone after some years.

You may ask – how did I survive being “saint”? Sacrificing death, not sex.

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Cristina January 9, 2010 at 12:33 pm

one of my favourite poems.
thank you for having written in on your blog.
Love
Chris

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karoline klerk January 8, 2010 at 11:55 pm

In June 2008 I wrote this poem. Now for the first time I see “Hymn to Isis”. As you say Paulo, Anima Mundi.

I am solitude and the company
I am complicated and the very simple
I am the amalgamator and the divider
I am the hard rock and the soft sand
I am the gentle wave and the breaker
I am the mistress and the humble servant
I am the parent and the child
I am intense happiness and the deep sorrow
I am masculine femininity
I am feminine masculinity
I am the veiled unveiled and the unveiled veiled

I am all roads and yet one path
I kill to preserve life
My mind is here and afar
My voice is silence and the clear tone
My darkness is all light and my light the manifestation of darkness

In the storm I go with the wind and yet trim my sails to stay on course
I want the one and embrace many

I am the beginning I am the end

Once you label me you negate me

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cheese January 10, 2010 at 1:12 pm

Karoline, it’s beautiful n deep.

Thank you

rasha January 8, 2010 at 10:04 pm

in our ideas the woman is created from the man ‘s chest bone.thought woman are a part of man and she is very close to him.
woman is a goddess because God gives her the ability of creation . the abiltiy of giving birth . so i agree with this verse.
please give us something like “eleven minutes “again

salam

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Meenu January 8, 2010 at 10:20 am

Good one!

The verse reminds of a Hindu Goddess
In Hinduism, there is Dhumavati who is depicted as hungry, unsatisfied and frowny faced widow. Her vehicle is crow and the background shows a graveyard(Not to be mistaken with Kali). The idea is that the Godess can assume any form, no concept of good or evil. Mother is Mother and should always be worshipped.

Jai Jagadambe Ma!

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THELMA January 7, 2010 at 9:56 am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sunG-40mGmE
Casta Diva.
LOVE,
Thelma xxx

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Theresa Goubran-Keshta January 8, 2010 at 2:49 am

O Goddess! “Scatter on the earth the peace thou make reign in the sky.”
Sublime !!!
Thank you, Thelma

James January 7, 2010 at 4:54 am

The appears to me as a commentary of how one woman saw Woman in her time. How Woman are the source of so much that happens or doesn’t happen. How the Woman is so important in Civilization and in our beliefs. If you ever visit the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City you can feel the love the faithful have for Our Lady of Guadalupe. It is difficult to move around the plaza when there are crowds because entire families walk side by side together. The people come from everywhere all year round hiking, on bicycles, buses, cars, planes.

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Maes Bruno January 7, 2010 at 10:02 am

Woman is referring to “mother earth” and ” father” is the universe. And we as human should take care off ourselves and our mother.

Reham January 7, 2010 at 4:37 am

Greetings

I have been having some trouble with this verse:
“And it was my man who created me”

Does “create” here means “appointed”?
Or actual creating, which by that it would be that man was first in existence and then he created her?
I’m finding trouble with the second idea because by theory the female Goddess supposed to be the source of life and by that she should be the first to exist and to create, shouldn’t she?

Regards,
Reham

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