Thoughts About the Hymn to the Pearl

Since my last Super-archangel working the previous weekend, I have been thinking about the seed or pearl that has been planted into my soul by Metatron. I remember the famous Gnostic tract that I particularly loved called the Hymn to the Pearl. I retrieved it and started to read it, and was amazed at how relevant it was to my currently situation. I decided to reprint it here for all to read.

The Hymn to the Pearl is a poem found in the apocryphal Acts of Thomas. The pearl symbolizes wisdom, which must be extracted from the darkness of life in order to be truly realized and celebrated. The quest for the pearl is the quest for enlightenment, and the seeker is of course, one who seeks for a complete revelation - wisdom that is activated. That the seeker gets seduced by the commonness of mundane existence and falls asleep represents the fact that all seekers are asleep and weighted down with the cares of life. The letter symbolizes a revelation, a kind of gnostic transmission of illumination, that leads the seeker to complete the quest for the pearl.

Perhaps, I have unwittingly been given the quest of the pearl myself, and must find the means to retrieve it and awaken it to its full potential. It certainly resonates with me as an important mythic element added to my Abramelin Lunar Ordeal. So for this reason, I have included a version of it here.

Frater Barrabbas

When I was a little child
Living in my kingdom, in my father's house
Happy in the glories and riches
Of my family that nurtured me.
My parents gave me provisions
And sent me forth from our home in the east.
From their treasure house
They made up a bundle for me.
It was big though light
So I might carry it alone,
And it held gold from the house of the highest ones
And silver of Gazzak the great
And rubies of India
And opals from the land Kushan,
And they girded me with Adamant
Which can crush iron.
And they took off my bright robe of glory,
Which they had made for me out of love,
And took away my purple toga,
Which was woven to fit my stature.
They made a covenant with me
And wrote it in my heart so I would not forget:
“When you go down into Egypt
And bring back the one pearl
Which lies in the middle of the sea
And is guarded by the snorting serpent,
You will again put on your robe of glory
And your toga over it,
And with your brother, our next in rank,
You will be heir in our kingdom”.
I left the east and went down
With my two royal envoys,
Since the way was dangerous and harsh
And I was very young to walk alone.
I crossed the borders of Maishan,
The gathering place of merchants of the east,
And came into the land of Babel
And entered the walls of Sarbug.
I went down into Egypt
And my companions left me.
I went straight to the serpent
And settled in close by his inn,
Waiting for him to sleep
So I could take my pearl from him.

Since I was all alone
I was a stranger to others in the inn,
Yet I saw one of my own people there,
A nobleman from the east,
Young, handsome, lovable,
A son of kings -- an anointed one,
And he came and was close to me.
And I made him my confidante
With whom I shared my mission.
I warned him against the Egyptians
And of contact with the unclean ones.
Then I put on a robe like theirs
Lest they suspect me as an outsider
Who had come to steal the pearl;
Lest they arouse the serpent against me.
But somehow they learned
I was not their countryman,
And they dealt with me cunningly
And gave me their food to eat.
I forgot that I was a son of kings,
And served their king.
I forgot the pearl
For which my parents had sent me.
Through the heaviness of their food
I fell into a deep sleep.
But when all these things happened
My parents knew and grieved for me.
It was proclaimed in our kingdom
That all should come to our gate.
And the kings and princes of Parthia
And all the nobles of the east
Wove a plan on my behalf
So that I would not be left in Egypt.
And they wrote me a letter
And every noble signed it with his name.
“From your father, the king of kings,
And you mother, the mistress of the east,
And from your brother, our next in rank,
To you, our son in Egypt, greetings:
Awake and rise from your sleep
And hear the words of our letter!
Remember that you are a son of kings
And see the slavery of your life.
Remember the pearl
For which you went into Egypt!
Remember your robe of glory
And your splendid mantle
Which you may wear
When your name is named in the book of life,
Is read in the book of heroes,
When you and your brother inherit
Our kingdom.”
And serving as messenger
The letter was a letter
Sealed by the king with his right hand

Against the evil ones, the children of Babel
And the savage demons of Sarbug.
It rose up in the form of an eagle,
The king of all winged fowl;
It flew and alighted beside me,
And became speech.
And its voice and the sound of its rustling
I awoke and rose from my sleep.
I took it, kissed it,
Broke its seal and read.
And the words written on my heart
Were in the letter for me to read.
I remembered that I was a son of kings
And my free soul longed for its own kind.
I remembered the pearl
For which I was sent down into Egypt,
And I began to enchant
The terrible and snorting serpent.
I charmed him into sleep
By naming the name of my father over him,
And the name of the next in rank,
And of my mother, the queen of the east.
I seized the pearl
And turned to carry it to my father.
Their filthy and impure garment
I stripped off, leaving it in the fields,
And directed my way
Into the light of our homeland, the east.
On my way the letter that awakened me
Was lying on the road.
And as it had awakened me with its voice
So it guided me with its light;
It was written on Chinese silk,
And shone before me in its own form.
Its voice soothed my fear
And its love urged me on.
I hurried past Sarbug,
And Babel on the left,
And came to Maishan,
The haven of merchants,
Perched next to the sea.
My robe of glory which I had taken off
And the toga over it
Were sent by my parents
From the heights of Hyrcania.
They were in the hands of treasurers
To whom they were committed
Because of their faith,
And I had forgotten the robe's splendor
For as a child I had left it
In my father's house.
And as I gazed on it
Suddenly the garment seemed a mirror
Of myself. I saw it in my whole self,
And in it I saw myself apart,
For we were two entities
Yet one form.
The treasurers brought me one robe:

They were two of the same shape
With one kingly seal.
They gave me wealth,
And the bright embroidered robe
Was colored with gold and beryls,
With rubies and opals,
And sardonyxes of many colors
Were fastened to it in its high home.
All its seams were fastened
With stones of adamant;
And the image of the king of kings
Was embroidered upon it,
And it glowed with sapphires
Of many colors.
I saw it quiver all over
With movements of gnosis,
And as it prepared to speak
It moved toward me,
Murmuring the sound of its songs
As it descended:
“I am the one who acted for him
For whom I was brought up in my father's house.
I saw myself growing in stature
According to his labors.”
With regal movements
It was spreading toward me,
Urging me to take it,
And love urged me
To receive it.
And I stretched forth and received it
And put on the beauty of its colors.
 I cast my toga of brilliant colors
All around me.
Therein I clothed myself and ascended
To the gate of salutation and adoration,
I bowed my head and adored
The majesty of my father who sent it to me.
I had fulfilled what he promised,
And at the gate of princes
I mingled with his nobles.
He rejoiced in me and received me
And I was with him in his kingdom,
And all his servants praised him
With resounded voices.
He promised me that I would journey quickly
With him in his kingdom,
And all his servants praised him
With resounding voices.
He promised me that I would journey quickly
With him to the gate of the king of kings,
And with my gifts and my pearl
I would appear with him before our king.