BARBELO 24kt GOLD COPTIC
November 2022
This 24kt GOLD edition features hand inked Coptic script extracts from The Thunder, Perfect Mind:
ⲁⲩⲱ ⲛ̄ⲣⲉϥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ ⲉⲣⲟⲓ̈
Hearers, hear me
ⲛⲉⲧ⳿ϭⲟϣⲧ̄⳿ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ϩⲏⲧ⳿ ϣⲟⲡⲧ̄⳿ ⲉⲣⲱⲧⲛ̄
Those expecting me, receive me
ⲁⲛⲟⲕ ⲧⲉⲧⲁϣⲕⲁⲕ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ⲁⲩⲱ ⲁⲛⲟⲕ ⲉⲧ⳿ϫⲓ ⲥⲙⲏ
I am she who shouts out and it is I that listens
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"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."
- from The Thunder, Perfect Mind
Written in Coptic, The Thunder, Perfect Mind was found at Nag Hammadi in 1945. It is a long and intensely potent, divinely contradictory riddle-like declaration from a female (sometimes androgynous) deity. The author, date, and place of composition are unknown, but it seems that the text was originally composed in Greek well before 350 C.E., the approximate date of the Coptic manuscript. Read the entire astonishing utterance here: http://gnosis.org/naghamm/thunder.html
BARBELO is the supreme female divinity in various forms of Gnostic cosmogony.
She is the primal feminine force, the first emanation of God. In her union with the pure god-force, all came into being.
“It is she who appeared, she who is the perfect Pronoia of the All, the light, the likeness of the light, the image of the Invisible, she who is the perfect power, Barbelo, the perfect aeon of the glory.”
“She became a primal Human, which is the virginal Spirit, the triple male, the one belonging to the triple power, the triple named, the triple begotten one, the androgynous aeon which does not grow old, who came from Its Pronoia.”
“She glorified the Invisible one and the perfect power, Barbelo, for they came into being through her.”
“Barbelo gazed intently into It, the pure light. She turned herself toward It. She gave birth to a spark of blessed light…”
- Extracts from The Apocryphon of John, Short Version
Berlin Codex (BG 8502, 2) & Nag Hammadi Codex III, 1
Translated by Michael Waldstein and Frederik Wisse
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Beautiful quality fine art print from original pencil drawing,
with additional hand embellishments in 24kt gold and black ink.
272 x 324mm
on 297 x 420 mm paper.
(white border all round, with larger border at bottom)
Printed on heavyweight 315gsm archival watercolour paper,
with Epson UltraChrome HD inks.
Signed and editioned and backed with board in a transparent sleeve.
Limited edition of 50 ONLY
All large prints come beautifully wrapped in tissue and ribbon, in a robust flat card box, with a hand written message included. Gift messages can also be included.
Worldwide shipping available.
*Option to pay in 3 or 4 interest-free instalments with Klarna or Clearpay at checkout.*
**PLEASE ALLOW UP TO 2 WEEKS FOR DESPATCH**
- as each print is individually and lovingly hand embellished.
If you need yours urgently, please let me know so I can move it to the front of the queue!
(With thanks to my gorgeous model Sara Pinna)