“The Thunder, Perfect Mind” is a mesmerizing poem dating perhaps to the second century CE. It reflects the mingling of many different belief systems in the Roman Empire, such as those ideas popular with the Cult of the Egyptian Goddess Isis, shown here in a Roman-styled rendition.
It takes the voice of a female divine being, who consistently defines herself in terms of opposites. By calling attention to the idea that her essence is equipresent in all forms, the speaker suggests, in the words of historian Elaine Pagels, that “the divine appears in every, and the most unexpected, forms . . . “. Here are sections to illustrate: “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 she whose wedding is great, and I have not taken a husband. . . . For 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 . . . .”
Source(s): Poem translated by George W. MacRae. Cited, asking with Elaine Pagels, in _Frontline: from Jesus to Christ_. DOI: pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/maps/primary/thunder.html. Statue of Isis in the Capitoline Museums, wikipedia.
