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, FOURTH BOOK 283 the Law hath not said this concerning the soul nor concerning the body nor concerning the counterfeiting spirit, for all these are sons | of 343. 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 more- over 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 com- pelleth the man until he sinneth.
'' Now, therefore, the rulers seal the counter- of the feiting spirit to the soul, [but] so that it doth not to^th?c?un^ agitate it every hour, making it do all sins and all g^^^jf ^^^ iniquities. And they give commandment more- over unto the counterfeiting spirit, saying: * If the soul Cometh out of the body, do not agitate it, being assigned to it and transferring it to all the regions of the judgments, region by region, on account of all the sins which thou hast made it do, in order that it may be chastized in all the regions of the judgments, so that it may not be able to go | on high to the Light and return into 344. changes of the body.'
** In a word, they give commandment to the 284 PISTIS SOPHIA counterfeiting spirit, saying: * Do not agitate it at all at any hour unless it doth not speak mysteries and undo all the seals and all the bonds with which we have bound thee to it. [But] if it sayeth the mysteries and undoeth all the seals and all the bonds and [sayeth] the apology of the region, and if it cometh, then let it go forth, for it belongeth to those of the Light of the Height and hath become a stranger unto us and unto thee, and thou wilt not be able to seize it from this hour onwards. If on the contrary it sayeth not the mysteries of the undoing of thy bonds and of thy seals and of the apologies of the region, then seize it and let it not out; thou shalt transfer it to the chastisements and all the regions of the judgments on account of all the sins which thou hast made it do. After this lead [such souls] before the Virgin of Light, who sendeth them once more into the circuit.'
Of the *' The rulers of the great Fate of the seons to^t^e^ser^^" hand these over to the counterfeiting spirit; and vitors. ^Y^Q rulers summon the servitors of their aeons, to the number of three-hundred-and-sixty-and-five, and give them the soul and the counterfeiting spirit, which are bound to one another. The counterfeiting spirit is the without of the soul, and the compound of the power is the within of the soul, being within both of them, in order that they 346. may be able to stand, for | it is the power which keepeth the two up-right. And the rulers give commandment to the servitors, saying unto them: ' This is the type which ye are to put into the body of the matter of the world.' They say unto them indeed: ' Put the compound of the power, the within of the soul, within them FOURTH BOOK 285 all, that they may be able to stand, for it is their up-rightness, and after the soul put the counter- feiting spirit.'
*' Thus they give commandment to their ser- Of concep- vitors, that they may deposit it into the bodies of the antitype. And following this fashion the servitors of the rulers bring the power and the soul and the counterfeiting spirit, bring them down to the world, and pour [them] out into the world of the rulers of the midst. The rulers of the midst look after the counterfeiting spirit; and also the destiny, whose name is Moira, leadeth the man until it hath him slain through the death appointed unto him, which the rulers of the great Fate have bound to the soul. And the servitors of the sphere bind the soul and the power and the counterfeiting spirit and the destiny. And they portion them all and make them into two portions and seek after the man and also after the woman in the world to whom they have given signs, in order that they may | send them 346. into them. And they give one portion to the man and one portion to the woman in a victual of the world or in a breath of the air or in water or in a kind which they drink.
'' All this I will tell unto you and the species of every soul and the type, how they enter into the bodies, whether of men or of birds or of cattle or of wild beasts or of reptiles or of all the other species in the world. I will tell you their type, in what type they enter into men; I will tell it you at the expansion of the universe.
*' Now, therefore, when the servitors of the rulers cast the one portion into the woman and the other into the man in the fashion which I 286 PISTIS SOPHIA Of the com- pulsion of the parents.
Of the pro- cess of ges- tation.
347.
Of the in- carnation of the soul.
have told you, then the servitors secretly compel them, even if they are removed at very great distance from one another, so that they concert to be in a concert of the world. And the counterfeit- ing spirit which is in the man, cometh to the portion which is entrusted to the world in the matter of his body, and lifteth it and casteth it down into the womb of the woman [into the portion] which is entrusted to the seed of wickedness.
*' And in that hour the three-hundred-and- sixty-and-five servitors of the rulers go into her womb and take up their abode in it. The servitors bring the two portions the one to the other, and moreover the servitors withhold | the blood of all the food of the woman which she will eat and which she will drink, and they withhold [it] in the womb of the woman up to forty days. And after forty days they knead the blood of the power of all the food and knead it well in the woman's womb.
" After forty days they spend another thirty days in building its members in the image of the body of the man; each buildeth a member. I will tell you the decans who will build it [sc, the body]; I will tell them you at the expansion of the universe.
'* If then after this the servitors shall have com- pleted the whole body and all its members in seventy days, after this the servitors summon into the body which they have built, — first indeed they summon the counterfeiting spirit; thereafter they summon the soul within them; and there- after they summon the compound of the power into the soul; and the destiny they put outside FOURTH BOOK 287 them all, as it is not blended with them, [but] following them and accompanying them.
*' And after this the servitors seal them one of the seal to the other with all the seals which the rulers JSLm. have given them. [And] they seal the day on which they have taken up their abode in the womb of the woman, — they seal [it] on the left hand | of 348. the plasm; and they seal the day on which they have completed the body, on the right hand; and they seal the day on which the rulers have handed it over to them, on the middle of the skull of the body of the plasm; and they seal the day on which the soul hath come forth out of the rulers, they seal it on the [left of] the skull of the plasm; and they seal the day on which they kneaded the members and separated them for a soul, they seal it on the right of the skull of the plasm; and the day on which they have bound the counterfeiting spirit to it [the soul], they seal on the back of the skull of the plasm; and the day on which the rulers have breathed the power into the body, they seal on the brain which is in the midst of the head of the plasm and also on the inside [? the heart] of the plasm; and the number of years which the soul will spend in the body, they seal on the forehead which is on the plasm. And so they seal all those seals on the plasm. I will tell you the names of all these seals at the expansion of the universe; and after the expansion of the universe I will tell you where- for all hath come to pass. And, if ye could understand it, I am that mystery.
*' Now, therefore, the servitors complete the whole man. And of all these seals with which they have sealed the body, | the servitors carry the 349.
288 PISTIS SOPHIA whole peculiarity and bring it to all the retributive rulers who [are] over all the chastisements of the judgments; and these hand it over to their receivers, in order that they may lead their souls out of the bodies, — they hand over to them the peculiarity of the seals, in order that they may know the time when they are to lead the souls out of the bodies, and in order that they may know the time when they are to bring to birth the body, so that they may send their ser- vitors in order that they may draw near and follow the soul and bear witness of all the sins it shall do, — they and the counterfeiting spirit, — on account of the manner and way, how they shall chastize it in the judgment. Of the *' And when the servitors have given the estmy. peculiarity of the seals to the retributive rulers, they withdraw themselves to the economy of their occupations which is appointed unto them through the rulers of the great Fate. And when the number of months of the birth of the babe is completed, the babe is born. Small in it is the compound of the power, and small in it is the soul; and small in it is the counterfeiting spirit. The destiny on the contrary is large, as it is not mingled into the body for their 350. economy, but followeth the soul | and the body and the counterfeiting spirit, until the time when the soul shall come forth out of the body, on account of the type of death by which it shall slay it [the body] according to the death appointed for it by the rulers of the great Pate. Of how a '* Is he to die by a wild beast, the destiny by hisXath. leadeth the wild beast against him until it slay him; or is he to die by a serpent, or is he to fall FOURTH BOOK 289 into a pit by mischance, or is he to hang himself, or is he to die in water, or through such [kinds of death], or through another death which is worse or better than this, — in a word, it is the destiny which forceth his death upon him. This is the occupation of the destiny, and it hath no other occupation but this. And the destiny followeth every man until the day of his death."
Mary answered and said: ** To all men then chap. 133. who are in the world, will all which is appointed them through the Pate, whether good or bad or sin or death or hfe, — in a word, will all which is appointed them through the rulers of the Fate, have to come unto them? " The Saviour answered and said unto Mary: There is no " Amen, I say unto you: All which is appointed theXstin^ unto every one through the Fate, whether all good or all sins, — in a word, all which is appointed them, Cometh unto them.
'* For this cause, therefore, have I brought | the 35if keys of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven; ^f^^^^^^l^ otherwise no flesh in the world would be saved, teries. For without mysteries no one will enter into the Light-kingdom, be he a righteous or a sinner.
" For this cause, therefore, have I brought the keys of the mysteries into the world, that I may free the sinners who shall have faith in me and hearken unto me, so that I may free them from the bonds and the seals of the aeons of the rulers and bind them to the seals and the vestures and the orders of the Light, in order that he whom I shall free in the world from the bonds and the seals of the aeons of the rulers, may be freed in the Height from the bonds and seals of the aeons of the rulers, and in order that he whom I 19 290 PISTIS SOPHIA 352.
The mys- teries are for all men.
A prophecy of John the Baptizer.
shall bind in the world to the seals and the vestures and the orders of the Light, may be bound in the Light-land to the orders of the inheritances of the Light.
*' For the sake of sinners, therefore, have I torn myself asunder at this time and have brought them the mysteries, that I may free them from the seons of the rulers and bind them to the inherit- ances of the Light, and not only the sinners, but also the righteous, in order that I may give them the mysteries and that they may be taken into the Light, for without mysteries they cannot | be taken into the Light.
" For this cause, therefore, I have not hidden it, but I have cried it aloud clearly. And I have not separated the sinners, but I have cried it aloud and said it unto all men, unto sinners and righteous, saying: * Seek that ye may find, knock that it may be opened unto you; for every one who seeketh in truth, will find, and who knocketh, to him it will be opened.' For I have said unto all men: They are to seek the mysteries of the Light-kingdom which shall purify them and make them refined and lead them into the Light.
** For this cause, therefore, hath John the Baptizer prophesied concerning me, saying: ' I indeed have baptized you with water unto repent- ance for forgiveness of your sins. He who Cometh after me, is stronger than me. Whose fan is in his hand, and he will purify his floor. The chaff indeed he will consume with un- quenchable fire, but the wheat he will gather into his barn.' The power in John hath prophesied concerning me, knowing that I would bring the mysteries into the world and purify the sins of FOURTH BOOK 291 the sinners who shall have faith in me and hearken unto me, and make them into refined light and lead them into the Light."
When then Jesus had said this, Mary answered CHAP. 134. and said: " My Lord, if men go to seek and they come upon the doctrines of error, | whence then 333, are they to know whether they belong to thee or not? " The Saviour answered and said unto Mary: ** I have said unto you aforetime: * Be ye as skilful money-changers. Take the good, throw the bad away.'
*' Now, therefore, say unto all men who would The crite- seek the godhead: ' If north wind cometh, orthodoxy, then ye know that there will be cold; if south wind cometh, then ye know that there will be burning and fervent heat.' Now, therefore, say unto them: ' If ye have known the face of the heaven and of the earth from the winds, then know ye exactly, if then any come now unto you and proclaim unto you a godhead, whether their words have harmonized and fitted with all your words which I have spoken unto you through two up to three witnesses, and whether they have har- monized in the setting of the air and of the heavens and of the circuits and of the stars and of the light-givers and of the whole earth and all on it and of all waters and all in them.' Say unto them: ' Those who shall come unto you, and their words fit and harmonize in the whole gnosis with that which I have said unto you, I will receive as belonging unto us.' This is what ye shall say unto men, if ye make proclamation unto them in order that they may guard them- selves from the doctrines of error. I 292 292 PISTIS SOPHIA 354.
The Books of Yew.
Few only will accom- plish the mystery of the First Mystery.
35fi.
*' Now, therefore, for the sake of sinners have I rent myself asunder and am come into the world, that I may save them. For even for the righteous, who have never done any evil and have not sinned at all, it is necessary that they should find the mysteries which are in the Books of Yew, which I have made Enoch write in Paradise, discoursing with him out of the tree of the Gnosis and out of the tree of the Life. And I made him deposit them in the rock Ararad, and set the ruler Kalapatauroth, who is over Skemmtit, on whose head is the foot of Yew, and who surroundeth all aeons and Pates, — I set up that ruler as watcher over the Books of Yew on account of the flood, and in order that none of the rulers may be envious of them and destroy them. These will I give you, when I shall have told you the expansion of the universe."
When then the Saviour had said this, Mary answered and said: ** My Lord, who now then is the man in the world who hath not sinned at all, who is pure of iniquities? For if he is pure of one, he will not be able to be pure of another, so that he may find the mysteries which are in the Books of Yew? For I say: A man in this world will not be able to be pure of sins; for if he is pure of one, he will not be able to be pure of another."
The Saviour answered and said unto Mary: " I say unto you: They will find one in a thousand and two in ten-thousand for the accomplishment | of the mystery of the First Mystery. This will I tell unto you when I have explained to you the expansion of the universe. For this cause, there- fore, I have rent myself asunder and have brought FOURTH BOOK 293 the mysteries into the world, because all are under sin and all are in need of the gift of the mysteries."
Mary answered and said unto the Saviour: chap. 136. ** My Lord, before thou didst come to the region of the rulers and before thou didst come down into the world, hath no soul entered into the Light? " The Saviour answered and said unto Mary: No soul had Amen, amen, 1 say unto you: Joeiore i did come the Lisht into the world, no soul hath entered into the^^^^ Light. And now, therefore, when I am come, ^^^ ^i^^t °. Mystery.
I have opened the gates of the Light and opened the ways which lead to the Light. And now, there- fore, let him who shall do what is worthy of the mysteries, receive the mysteries and enter into the Light."
Mary continued and said: *' But, my Lord, I have heard that the prophets have entered into the Light."
The Saviour continued and said unto Mary: of the *' Amen, amen, I say unto you: No prophet hath p^^p^^*^- entered into the Light; but the rulers of the seons have discoursed with them out of the aeons and,. given them the mystery of the aeons. And when I came to the regions of the aeons, I have turned EHas and sent him into the body of John the Baptizer, and the rest also I turned into righteous bodies, which will find the mysteries | of the Light, 356. go on high and inherit the Light-kingdom.
*' Unto Abraham on the other hand and Isaac of the and Jacob I have forgiven all their sins and their p^*"^^^^^- iniquities and have given them the mysteries of the Light in the aeons and placed them in the region of Yabraoth and of all the rulers who have repented. And when I go into the Height and 294 PISTIS SOPHIA Of the souls of the right- eous from Adam to Jesus.
357.
The dis- ciples know of a surety that Jesus is the Great Initiator.
am on the point of going into the Light, I will carry their souls with me into the Light. But, amen, I say unto you, Mary: They will not go into the Light before I have carried thy soul and those of all thy brethren into the Light.
" The rest of the patriarchs and of the righteous from the time of Adam unto now, who are in the aeons and all the orders of the rulers, when I came to the region of the seons, I have through the Virgin of Light made to turn into bodies which will all be righteous, — those which will find the mysteries of the Light, enter in and in- herit the Light-kingdom."
Mary answered and said: " Blessed are we before all men because of these splendours which thou hast revealed unto us."
The Saviour answered and said unto Mary and all the disciples: "I will still reveal unto you all the splendours of the Height, from the interiors of the interiors to the exteriors of the exteriors, | that ye may be perfected in all gnosis and in all fulness and in the height of the heights and the depths of the depths."
And Mary continued and said to the Saviour: " Lo, my Lord, we have openly, exactly and clearly known that thou hast brought the keys of the mysteries of the Light-kingdom, which forgive souls sins and purify them and make them into refined light and lead them into the Light."
[SUB-SCRIPTION:] A PORTION OF THE BOOKS OF THE SAVIOUR A FIFTH BOOK It came to pass then, when Jesus our Lord had chap. 136. been crucified and had risen from the dead on'^^f^^^v^ ciples gather the third day, that his disciples gathered round round. him, adored him and said: '* Our Lord, have mercy upon us, for we have abandoned father and mother and the whole world and have followed thee."
At that time Jesus stood with his disciples on The mvo- the water of the Ocean and made invocation with jesu" ° this prayer, saying: " Hear me, my Father, father of all fatherhood, boundless Light: aeeioiid iao adi oia psinother thernops nopsither zagoure pagoure nethmomaoth nepsiomaoth marachachtha ihobarrahau tharnachachan zorokothora ieou [= Yew] sabaoth,'' And while Jesus said this, | Thomas, Andrew, 358. James and Simon the Cananite were in the west 7^^^ f^^^' ing 01 the with their faces turned towards the east, and cUsciiDies. Philip and Bartholomew were in the south turned towards the north, and the rest of the disciples and the women-disciples stood back of Jesus. But Jesus stood at the altar.
And Jesus made invocation, turning himself The inter- towards the four corners of the world with his fal ^ ^^" ° disciples, who were all clad in linen garments, and saying: '* iao iao iao,'' This is its inter- pretation: iota, because the universe hath gone 295 296 PISTIS SOPHIA He continu- eth to make invocation.
The apoca- lypse of the heavens.
359.
The figures of the disk of the sun and of the moon.
forth; alpha, because it will turn itself back again; omega, because the completion of all the completeness will take place.
And when Jesus had said this, he said: *' iaphtha iaphtha mounaer mounaer ermanouer ermanouer,'' That is: '* 0 father of all fatherhood of the bound- less [spaces], hear me for the sake of my disciples whom I have led before thee, that they may have faith in all the words of thy truth, and grant all for which I shall invoke thee; for I know the name of the father of the Treasury of the Light."
Again did Jesus, — that is Aberamentho, — make invocation, speaking the name of the father of the Treasury of the Light, and said: ** Let all the mysteries of the rulers and the authorities and the angels and the archangels and all powers and I all things of the invisible god Agram- machamarei and Barbelo draw near the Leech [Bdella] on one side and withdraw to the right."
And in that hour all the heavens went to the west, and all the seons and the sphere and their rulers and all their powers flew together to the west to the left of the disk of the sun and the disk of the moon.
And the disk of the sun was a great dragon whose tail was in his mouth and who reached to seven powers of the Left and whom four powers in the form of white horses drew.
And the base of the moon had the type of a ship which a male and a female dragon steered and two white bulls drew. The figure of a babe was on the stern of the moon who guided the dragons who robbed the light from the rulers. And on its prow was a cat's face.
FIFTH BOOK 297 And the whole world and the mountains and the seas fled together to the west to the left.
And Jesus and his disciples remained in the Jesus and midst in an aery region on the ways of the way cipies^are of the midst, which Heth below the sphere. And t^t^hTwlyt they came to the first order of the way of the of the midst, midst. And Jesus stood in the air of its region with his disciples.
The disciples of Jesus said unto him: '* What is this region | in which we are? " 360.
Jesus said: " These are the regions of the way of there- of the midst. For it came to pass, when the unrepentant rulers of Adamas mutinied and persistently ^^^^^®- practised congress, procreating rulers, archangels, angels, servitors and decans, that Yew, the father of my father, came forth from the Right and bound them to a Fate-sphere.
*' For there are twelve aeons; over six Sabaoth, the Adamas, ruleth, and his brother Yabraoth ruleth over the other six. At that time then Yabraoth with his rulers had faith in the mysteries of the Light and was active in the mysteries of the Light and abandoned the mysterj^ of congress. But Sabaoth, the Adamas, and his rulers have persisted in the practice of congress.
*' And when Yew, the father of my father, saw that Yabraoth had faith, he carried him and all the rulers who had had faith with him, took him unto himself out of the sphere and led him into a purified air in face of the light of the sun between the regions of those of the midst and between [?] the regions of the invisible god. He posted him there with the rulers who had had faith in him.
** But he carried Sabaoth, the Adamas, and his into the five regents.
298 PISTIS SOPHIA rulers who had not been active in the mysteries of the Light, but have been persistently active in the mysteries of congress, and inbound them into the sphere.
Of the *' He bound eighteen-hundred rulers in every of the un- ^eou, and set three-hundred-and-sixty | over them, rXra^nd ^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^ other great rulers as lords over the the names three-huudred-and-sixtv and over all the bound of their five. i«i ii iif» i«i regents. rulers, who m the whole world of mankmd are 361. called with these names: the first is called Kronos, the second Ares, the third Hermes, the fourth Aphrodite, the fifth Zeus."
CHAP. 137. Jesus continued and said: "Hearken then. Of the that I may tell you their mystery. It came to YewTound^ P^ss then, when Yew had thus bound them, that he drew forth a power out of the great In- visible and bound it to him who is called Kronos. And he drew another power out of Ipsantachoun- chainchoucheoch, who is one of the three triple- powered gods, and bound it to Ares. And he drew a power out of Chainchoooch, who also is one of the three triple-powered gods, and bound it to Hermes. Again he drew a power out of the Pistis, the Sophia, daughter of Barbelo, and bound it to Aphrodite. Of the f line- " And moreover he perceived that they needed Zeus, the ^ helm to steer the world and the aeons of the chief regent, gpherc, SO that they might not wreck it [the world] in their wickedness. He went into the Midst, drew forth a power out of the little Sabaoth, the Good, him of the Midst, and bound it to Zeus, because he is a good [regent], so that he may steer them in his goodness. And he set thus estab- 362. lished the circling of his order, | that he should spend thirteen [? three] months in every aeon, FIFTH BOOK 299 confirming [it], so that he may set free all the rulers over whom he cometh, from the evil of their wickedness. And he gave him two aeons, which are in face of those of Hermes, for his dwelling.
" I have told you for the first time the names Theincorrup- of these five great rulers with which the men of of the re- the world are wont to call them. Hearken now ^^^*®* then that I may tell you also their incorruptible names, which are: Orimouth correspondeth to Kronos; Mounichounaphor correspondeth to Ares; Tarpetanouph correspondeth to Hermes; Chosi correspondeth to Aphrodite; Chonbal cor- respondeth to Zeus. These are their incorrup- tible names."
And when the disciples had heard this, they chap. 138. fell down, adored Jesus and said: " Blessed are we beyond all men, because thou hast revealed unto us these great wonders."
They continued, besought him and said: '' We beseech thee, reveal unto us: What are then these ways? " And Mary drew nigh unto him, fell down, Mary ques- adored his feet and kissed his hands and said: jesus on the *' Yea, my Lord, reveal unto us: What is the ^^J'^''^ *^^ use of the ways of the midst? For we have heard from thee that they are set over great chastise- ments. How then, my Lord, will we remove or escape from them? Or in what way do they seize the souls? Or | how long a time do they 363. spend in their chastisements? Have mercy upon us, our Lord, our Saviour, in order that the re- ceivers of the judgments of the ways of the midst may not carry off our souls and judge us in their evil judgments, so that we ourselves may inherit 300 PISTIS SOPHIA Of the mys- teries which Jesus will give unto his disciples.
364.
CHAP. 139.
the Light of thy father and not be wretched and destitute of thee."
When then Mary said this weeping, Jesus answered in great compassion and said unto them: " Truly, my brethren and beloved, who have abandoned father and mother for my name's sake, unto you will I give all mysteries and all gnoses.