The
Zoe (Eve) concept presupposes that
men are
evil and therefore
she must be the Mediatrix
(singing-drama-dance teams), Instructor (singing-drama-dance
teams) and the Mother of God her Father. All of her forces are
Chaotic and androgynous. On the Origin of the
World Translated by Hans-Gebhard Bethge and Bentley Layton
Seeing that everybody, gods of the world
and mankind, says that nothing existed prior to chaos, I, in
distinction to them, shall demonstrate that they are all mistaken,
because they are not acquainted with the origin of chaos, nor with
its root. Here is the demonstration. How well it suits all men, on the subject
of chaos, to say that it is a kind of darkness! But in fact it
comes from a shadow, which has been called by the name 'darkness'.
And the shadow comes from a
product that has existed since the beginning. It is, moreover, clear that it existed
before chaos came into being, and that the latter is posterior
to the first product. Let us therefore concern ourselves with the
facts of the matter; and furthermore, with the first product, from
which chaos was
projected. And in this way the
truth will be clearly demonstrated. After the natural structure of the immortal
beings had completely developed out of the infinite, a likeness
then emanated from Pistis (Faith); it is
called Sophia (Wisdom). It exercised volition and became a product
resembling the primeval
light. And immediately her will
manifested itself as a likeness of
heaven, having an unimaginable
magnitude; it was between the immortal
beings and those things that came into being after them, like
[...]: she (Sophia) functioned as a veil dividing mankind from the
things above. Now the eternal realm (aeon) of
truth
has no shadow outside it, for the limitless light is everywhere
within it. But its exterior is shadow, which has been called by
the name 'darkness'. From it, there appeared a force, presiding over
the darkness. And the forces that came into being subsequent to
them called the shadow 'the
limitless chaos'. From it, every kind of divinity
sprouted up [...] together with the entire place, so that also,
shadow is posterior to the first product. It was (in) the abyss
that it (shadow) appeared, deriving from the aforementioned
Pistis. Then shadow perceived there was
something mightier than
it, and felt envy; and when
it had become pregnant of its own
accord, suddenly it engendered jealousy.
Since that day, the principle of jealousy
amongst all the eternal realms and their worlds has been apparent.
Now as for that jealousy, it was found to be an abortion without any spirit in it. Like a shadow, it came into existence in a vast
watery substance. Then the bile that had come into being out
of the shadow was thrown into a part of chaos. Since that day, a
watery substance has been apparent. And what sank within it flowed
away, being visible in chaos: as
with a woman giving birth to a child - all her superfluities flow out; just so, matter
came into being out of shadow, and was projected apart.
And it did not depart from
chaos; rather, matter was in chaos, being in a part of it.
And when these things had come to pass,
then Pistis came and appeared over the matter of chaos, which
had been expelled like an aborted fetus - since there
was
no spirit in it. For all of it (chaos) was limitless darkness
and bottomless water. Now when Pistis saw what had resulted from her defect, she became disturbed. And the disturbance appeared,
as a fearful product; it rushed to her in the chaos. She turned to
it and blew into its face in the abyss, which is below all the
heavens. And when Pistis Sophia desired to cause the
thing that had no
spirit to be formed into a likeness
and to rule over matter and over all her forces, there appeared for the first
time a ruler, out of the
waters, lion-like in appearance,
androgynous, having great authority within him, and ignorant of
whence he had come into being. Now when Pistis Sophia saw him
moving about in the depth of the
waters, she said to him, "Child,
pass through to here," whose equivalent is 'yalda
baoth'. Since that day, there appeared the
principle of verbal
expression, which reached the gods
and the angels and mankind. And what came into being as a
result of verbal
expression, the gods and the angels
and mankind finished. Now as for the ruler Yaltabaoth,
he is ignorant of the force of Pistis: he did not see her face,
rather he saw in the water the likeness that spoke with him. And
because of that voice, he called himself 'Yaldabaoth'. But
'Ariael' is what the perfect call him, for he was like a
lion. Now when he had come to have
authority over matter, Pistis Sophia withdrew up to her
light. When the ruler saw his magnitude - and it
was only himself that he saw: he saw nothing else, except for
water and darkness - then he supposed that it was he alone who existed.
His [...] was completed by
verbal expression: it appeared as a spirit moving to and fro upon the
waters. And when that spirit
appeared, the ruler set apart the watery substance. And what was dry was divided into another
place. And from matter, he made for himself an abode, and he called
it 'heaven'. And from matter, the ruler made a footstool, and
he called it 'earth'. Next, the ruler had a thought -
consistent with his nature - and by means of verbal expression he
created an androgyne. He opened his mouth and cooed
to him. When his eyes had been opened, he looked at his father,
and he said to him, "Eee!" Then his father
called him Eee-a-o ('Yao'). Next he created the second son. He cooed to
him. And he opened his eyes and said to his father,
"Eh!"
His father called him 'Eloai'. Next, he created the third son. He cooed to
him. And he opened his eyes and said to his father,
"Asss!" His father called him 'Astaphaios'. These
are the three sons of their father. Seven
appeared in chaos, androgynous. They
have their masculine names and their feminine names. The
feminine name is Pronoia (Forethought) Sambathas, which is
'week'. And his son is called Yao: his feminine
name is Lordship. Sabaoth:
his feminine name is Deity. Adonaios:
his feminine name is Kingship. Elaios:
his feminine name is Jealousy. Oraios:
his feminine name is Wealth. And Astaphaios: his
feminine name is Sophia
(Wisdom). These are the seven forces of the
seven heavens of
chaos. And they were born
androgynous, consistent with the immortal pattern that existed
before them, according to the wish of Pistis: so that the likeness
of what had existed since the beginning might reign to the end.
You will find the effect of these names and the force of the male
entities in the Archangelic (Book)
of the Prophet Moses, and the names
of the female entities in the first Book of Noraia. Now the prime
parent Yaldabaoth, since he
possessed great authorities, created heavens for each of his
offspring through verbal expression - created them beautiful, as
dwelling places - and in each heaven he created great glories,
seven times excellent. Thrones and mansions and temples, and also
chariots and virgin
spirits up to an invisible one and
their glories, each one has these in his heaven; mighty armies of
gods and lords and angels and archangels - countless myriads -
so that they might serve. The account of these matters you will
find in a precise manner in the first Account of Oraia. And they were completed from this heaven to
as far up as the sixth
heaven, namely that of
Sophia. The heaven and his earth were destroyed by the
troublemaker that was below them all. And the six heavens shook
violently; for the forces of chaos knew who it was that had
destroyed the heaven that was below them. And when Pistis knew
about the breakage resulting from the disturbance, she sent forth
her breath and bound him and cast him down into Tartaros. Since
that day, the heaven, along with its earth, has consolidated
itself through Sophia the daughter of Yaldabaoth, she who is below
them all. Now when the heavens had consolidated
themselves along with their forces and all their administration,
the prime parent became insolent. And he was honored by all the
army of angels. And all the gods and their angels gave blessing
and honor to him. And for his part, he was delighted and
continually boasted, saying to them, "I have no need of anyone."
He said, "It is I who am God, and there is no other one that
exists apart from me." And when he said this, he sinned against
all the immortal beings who give answer. And they laid it to his
charge. Then when Pistis saw the impiety of the chief ruler, she was filled with anger. She was invisible. She
said, "You are mistaken, Samael," (that is,
"blind god"). "There is an immortal man of light who has been
in existence before you, and who will appear among your modelled
forms; he will trample you to scorn, just as potter's clay is
pounded. And you will descend to your mother, the abyss, along with
those that belong to you. For at the consummation of your (pl.)
works, the entire defect that has become visible out of the truth
will be abolished, and it will cease to be, and will be like what
has never been." Saying this, Pistis revealed her likeness of her
greatness in the waters. And so doing, she withdrew up to her
light. Now when Sabaoth, the son of
Yaldabaoth, heard the voice of Pistis, He sang praises to her, and he
condemned the father [...] at the word of Pistis; and he praised her because she had instructed them about the immortal man and his light. Then Pistis
Sophia stretched out her finger and
poured upon him some light from her light, to be a condemnation of
his father. Then when Sabaoth was
illumined, he received great authority against all the forces of
chaos. Since that day he has been called "Lord of the
Forces". He hated his father, the darkness, and his mother, the abyss, and
loathed his sister, the thought of the prime parent, which moved
to and fro upon the waters. And because of his light, all the
authorities of chaos were jealous of him. And when they had become
disturbed, they made a great war in the seven heavens. Then when
Pistis Sophia had seen the war, she dispatched seven archangels to
Sabaoth from her light. They snatched him up to the seventh
heaven. They stood before him as attendants. Furthermore, she sent
him three more archangels, and established the kingdom for him
over everyone, so that he might dwell above the twelve gods of
chaos. Now when Sabaoth had taken up the place of
repose in return for his repentance, Pistis also gave him her
daughter Zoe (Life), together with great authority, so that she
might instruct him about all things that exist in the eighth
heaven. And as he had authority, he made himself first of all a
mansion. It is huge, magnificent, seven times as great as all
those that exist in the seven heavens. And before his mansion he created a throne,
which was huge and was upon a four-faced chariot called
"Cherubin". Now the Cherubin has eight shapes per each of the four
corners, lion forms and calf forms and human forms and eagle
forms, so that all the forms amount to sixty-four forms - and
seven archangels that stand before it; he is the eighth, and has
authority. All the forms amount to seventy-two. Furthermore, from
this chariot the seventy-two gods took shape; they took shape so
that they might rule over the seventy-two languages of the
peoples. And by that throne he created other, serpent-like angels,
called "Seraphin", which praise him at all times. Thereafter he created a congregation of angels, thousands and
myriads, numberless, which
resembled the congregation in the eighth heaven; and a firstborn
called Israel -
which is, "the man that sees God"; and another being, called
Jesus Christ, who resembles the
savior above in the eighth heaven,
and who sits at his right upon a revered throne. And at his left, there sits the virgin of the holy
spirit, upon a throne and
glorifying him. And the seven
virgins stand before her, [...]
possessing thirty
harps, and psalteries and
trumpets, glorifying
him. And all the armies of the
angels glorify him, and they bless him. Now where he sits is upon
a throne of light (within a) great cloud that covers him.
And there was no one with him
in the cloud except Sophia (the daughter
of) Pistis, instructing him
about all the things that exist in the eighth
heaven, so that the likenesses of
those things might be created, in order that his reign might
endure until the consummation of the heavens of chaos and their
forces. See
The Hypostasis of the Archons. Now Pistis Sophia set him apart from the
darkness and summoned him to her
right, and the prime parent she put
at her left. Since that day, right has been called justice, and
left called wickedness. Now because of this, they all received a
realm in the congregation of justice and wickedness, [...] stand
[...] upon a creature [...] all. Thus, when the prime parent of chaos saw
his son Sabaoth and the glory that he was in, and perceived that
he was greatest of all the authorities of chaos, he envied him.
And having become wrathful, he engendered Death out of his death:
and he (viz., Death) was established over the sixth heaven, (for)
Sabaoth had been snatched up from there. And thus the number of
the six authorities of chaos was achieved. Then Death, being
androgynous, mingled with his (own) nature and begot seven
androgynous offspring. These are the names of the male ones:
Jealousy, Wrath, Tears, Sighing, Suffering, Lamentation, Bitter
Weeping. And these are the names of the female ones: Wrath, Pain,
Lust, Sighing, Curse, Bitterness, Quarrelsomeness. They had
intercourse with one another, and each one begot seven, so that
they amount to forty-nine androgynous demons. Their names and
their effects you will find in the Book of Solomon. And in the presence of these,
Zoe,
who was with Sabaoth, created seven good androgynous forces. These
are the names of the male ones: the Unenvious, the Blessed, the
Joyful, the True, the Unbegrudging, the Beloved, the Trustworthy.
Also, as regards the female ones, these
are their names: Peace, Gladness, Rejoicing,
Blessedness, Truth, Love, Faith (Pistis). And from these are many good and innocent
spirits. Their influences and their effects you will find in the
Configurations of the Fate of Heaven
That Is Beneath the Twelve.
And having seen the likeness of Pistis in
the waters, the prime parent grieved very much, especially when he
heard her voice, like the first voice that had called to him out
of the waters. And when he knew that it was she who had given a
name to him, he sighed. He was ashamed on account of his
transgression. And when he had come to know in truth that an
immortal man of light had been existing before him, he was greatly
disturbed; for he had previously said to all the gods and their
angels, "It is I who am god. No other one exists apart from me."
For he had been afraid they might know that another had been in
existence before him, and might condemn him. But he, being devoid
of understanding, scoffed at the condemnation and acted
recklessly. He said, "If anything has existed before me, let it
appear, so that we may see its light." And immediately, behold! Light came out of
the eighth heaven above and passed through all of the heavens of
the earth. When the prime parent saw that the light was beautiful
as it radiated, he was amazed. And he was greatly ashamed. As that
light appeared, a human likeness appeared within it, very
wonderful. And no one saw it except for the prime parent and
Pronoia, who was with him. Yet its light appeared to all the
forces of the heavens. Because of this they were all troubled by
it. Then when Pronoia saw that
emissary, she became enamored of him. But he hated her because she
was on the darkness. But she desired to embrace him, and she was
not able to. When she was unable to assuage her love, she poured
out her light upon the earth. Since that day, that emissary has been
called "Adam of
Light," whose rendering is "the
luminous man of blood," and the earth spread over him, holy
Adaman, whose rendering is "the Holy Land of Adamantine." Since
that day, all the authorities have honored the blood of the
virgin. And the earth was purified on account of the blood of the
virgin. But most of all, the water was purified through the
likeness of Pistis Sophia, who had appeared to the prime parent in
the waters. Justly, then, it has been said: "through the waters."
The holy water, since it vivifies the all, purifies it.
Out of that first blood Eros appeared, being
androgynous. His masculinity is Himireris, being fire from the
light. His femininity that is with him - a soul of blood - is from
the stuff of Pronoia. He is very lovely in his beauty, having a
charm beyond all the creatures of chaos. Then all the gods and
their angels, when they beheld Eros, became enamored of him. And
appearing in all of them, he set them afire: just as from a single
lamp many lamps are lit, and one and the same light is there, but
the lamp is not diminished. And in this way, Eros became dispersed
in all the created beings of chaos, and was not diminished. Just
as from the midpoint of light and darkness Eros appeared and at
the midpoint of the angels and mankind the sexual union of Eros
was consummated, so out of the earth the primal pleasure
blossomed. The woman followed earth. And marriage followed woman.
Birth followed marriage. Dissolution followed birth. After that Eros, the grapevine sprouted up
out of that blood, which had been shed over the earth.
Because of this, those who
drink of it conceive the desire of sexual union. After the grapevine, a fig tree
and a pomegranate tree sprouted up from the earth, together with
the rest of the trees, all species, having with them their seed
from the seed of the authorities and their angels. Then Justice created Paradise, being
beautiful and being outside the orbit of the moon and the orbit of
the sun in the Land of
Wantonness, in the East in the
midst of the stones.
And desire is in the midst of the
beautiful, appetizing trees. And the tree of eternal life is as it
appeared by God's will, to the north of Paradise, so that it might
make eternal the souls of the pure, who shall come forth from the
modelled forms of poverty at the consummation of the age.
Now the color of the tree of life is like
the sun. And its branches are beautiful. Its leaves are like those
of the cypress. Its fruit is like a bunch of grapes when it is
white. Its height goes as far as heaven. And next to it (is) the tree of knowledge
(gnosis), having the strength of God. Its glory is like the
moon when fully radiant. And its branches are beautiful. Its
leaves are like fig leaves. Its fruit is like a good appetizing
date. And this tree is to the north
of Paradise, so that it might arouse the
souls from the torpor of the
demons, in order that they might
approach the tree of life and eat of its fruit, and so condemn the
authorities and their angels. The effect of this tree is described in the
Sacred Book, to wit: "It is you who are the tree of knowledge,
which is in Paradise, from which the first man ate and which opened his mind; and
he loved his female
counterpart and condemned the other,
alien likenesses and loathed them." Now after it, the olive tree sprouted up,
which was to purify the kings and the high priests of
righteousness, who were to appear in the last days, since the
olive tree appeared out of the light of the first Adam for the
sake of the unguent that they were to receive. And the first soul (psyche) loved
Eros,
who was with her, and poured her blood upon him and upon the
earth. And out of that blood the rose first sprouted up, out of
the earth, out of the thorn bush, to be a source of joy for the
light that was to appear in the bush. Moreover, after this the
beautiful, good-smelling flowers sprouted up from the earth,
different kinds, from every single virgin of the daughters of
Pronoia. And they, when they had become enamored of Eros, poured
out their blood upon him and upon the earth. After these, every
plant sprouted up from the earth, different kinds, containing the
seed of the authorities and their angels. After these, the
authorities created out of the waters all species of beast, and
the reptiles and birds - different kinds - containing the seed of
the authorities and their angels. But before all these, when he had appeared
on the first the first day, he remained upon the earth, something
like two days, and left the lower Pronoia in heaven, and ascended
towards his light. And immediately darkness covered all the
universe. Now when she wished, the Sophia who was in the lower
heaven received authority from Pistis, and fashioned great
luminous bodies and all the stars. And she put them in the sky to
shine upon the earth and to render temporal signs and seasons and
years and months and days and nights and moments and so forth. And
in this way the entire region upon the sky was adorned.
Now when Adam of Light conceived the wish
to enter his light - i.e., the eighth heaven - he was unable to do
so because of the poverty that had mingled with his light. Then he
created for himself a vast eternal realm. And within that eternal
realm he created six eternal realms and their adornments, six in
number, that were seven times better than the heavens of chaos and
their adornments. Now all these eternal realms and their
adornments exist within the infinity that is between the eighth
heaven and the chaos below it, being counted with the universe
that belongs to poverty. If you want to know the arrangement of
these, you will find it written in the Seventh Universe of the Prophet
Hieralias. And before Adam of Light had withdrawn in
the chaos, the authorities saw him and laughed at the prime parent
because he had lied when he said, "It is I who am God. No one
exists before me." When they came to him, they said, "Is this not
the god who ruined our work?" He answered and said, "Yes. If you
do not want him to be able to ruin our work, come let us create a
man out of earth, according to the image of our body and according
to the likeness of this being, to serve us; so that when he sees
his likeness, he might become enamored of it. No longer will he
ruin our work; rather,we shall make those who are born out of the
light our servants for all the duration of this eternal realm."
Now all of this came to pass according to the forethought of
Pistis, in order that man should appear after his likeness, and
should condemn them because of their modelled form. And their
modelled form became an enclosure of the light. Then the authorities received
the knowledge (gnosis)
necessary to create
man. Sophia Zoe - she who
is with Sabaoth - had anticipated them. And she laughed at their decision. For they
are blind: against their own interests they ignorantly created him. And they do not realize what
they are about to do. The reason she anticipated them and
made her own man
first, was in order that he might instruct their modelled form how to
despise them, and thus to escape from them. Now the production of the instructor came about as follows. When Sophia let fall a
droplet of light, it flowed onto the water, and immediately a
human being appeared, being androgynous. That
droplet she molded first as a female
body. Afterwards, using the body
she molded it in the likeness of the mother, which had appeared.
And he finished it in twelve months. An androgynous human
being was produced, whom the Greeks call Hermaphrodites; and
whose mother the Hebrews call Eve of
Life
(Zoe), namely, the female instructor of
life. Her offspring is the creature that is lord. Afterwards, the authorities called it
"Beast", so that it might lead astray their modelled creatures. The interpretation of
"the beast" is "the
instructor". For it was found to be
the wisest of all beings. Now, Eve is the first virgin, the one
who without a husband bore her first
offspring. It is she who
served as her own
midwife. For this reason she is
held to have said: Now these through the will (...) The
souls
that were going to enter the modelled forms of the
authorities were manifested to Sabaoth and his Christ. And regarding these, the holy voice said,
"Multiply and improve! Be lord over all creatures." And it is they who were taken
captive, according to their destinies, by the prime parent. And
thus they were shut into the prisons
of the modelled forms until the
consummation of the age. And at that time, the prime parent then
rendered an opinion concerning man to those who were with him.
Then each of them cast his sperm into the midst of the navel of
the earth. Since that day, the seven rulers have fashioned man
with his body resembling their body, but his likeness resembling
the man that had appeared to them. His modelling took place by
parts, one at a time. And their leader fashioned the brain and the
nervous system. Afterwards, he appeared as prior to him. He became
a soul-endowed man. And he was called Adam, that is, "father",
according to the name of the one that existed before him.
And when they had finished Adam, he
abandoned him as an inanimate
vessel, since he had taken form
like an abortion, in that no spirit was in him. Regarding this
thing, when the chief ruler remembered the saying of Pistis, he
was afraid lest the true man enter his modelled form and become
its lord. For this reason he left his modelled form forty days
without soul, and he withdrew and abandoned it. Now on the fortieth day,
Sophia Zoe sent her breath into Adam, who had no soul.
He began to move upon the ground. And he
could not stand up. Then, when the seven rulers came, they saw
him and were greatly disturbed. They went up to him and seized
him. And he (viz., the chief ruler) said to the breath within him,
"Who are you? And whence did you come hither?" It answered and
said, "I have come from the force of the man for the destruction
of your work." When they heard, they glorified him, since he gave
them respite from the fear and the anxiety in which they found
themselves. Then they called that day
"Rest", in as much as they had rested from toil. And when they saw that Adam could stand up,
they were glad, and they took him and put him in Paradise. And
they withdrew up to their heavens. After the day of rest, Sophia sent her
daughter Zoe, being called
Eve, as an instructor,
in order that she might make Adam, who had no soul, arise, so that
those whom he should engender might become containers of light.
When Eve saw her male
counterpart prostrate, she had pity upon him, and she said, "Adam!
Become alive! Arise upon the earth!" Immediately her word became
accomplished fact. For Adam, having arisen, suddenly opened
his eyes. When he saw her, he said, "You shall be called 'Mother
of the Living'. For it is you who
have given me life." Then the authorities were informed that their modelled form was alive
and had arisen, and they were greatly troubled. They sent seven
archangels to see what had happened. They came to Adam. When they
saw Eve talking to him, they said to one another, "What sort of thing is this
luminous woman? For she resembles that likeness which appeared to
us in the light. Now come, let us lay hold of her and cast
her seed into her, so that when she
becomes soiled she may not be able to ascend into her
light. Rather, those whom she bears will be
under our charge. But let us not tell Adam, for he is not one of us.
Rather let us bring a deep
sleep over him. And let us instruct him in his sleep to the effect
that she came from his
rib, in order that his wife may
obey, and he may be lord over her." Then Eve, being a force,
laughed at their decision. She put mist into their eyes
and secretly left her likeness with
Adam. She entered the tree of
knowledge and remained there. And
they pursued her, and she revealed to them that she had gone into
the tree and become a
tree. Then, entering a great state
of fear, the blind creatures fled. Afterwards, when they had recovered from
the daze, they came to Adam; and seeing the likeness of this
woman with him, they were greatly disturbed, thinking it was she
that was the true
Eve. And they acted rashly; they
came up to her and seized her and cast their seed upon her. They
did so wickedly, defiling not only
in natural ways but also in
foul ways, defiling first the seal of her voice -
that had spoken with them, saying, "What is it that exists before
you?" - intending to defile those who might say at
the consummation (of the age) that they had been born of the true
man through verbal
expression. And they erred, not
knowing that it was their own body that they had defiled: it was
the likeness that the authorities and their angels defiled in
every way. First she
was pregnant with Abel, by the first ruler. And it was by the
seven authorities and their angels that she bore the other
offspring. And all this came to pass according to the
forethought of the prime
parent, so that the first mother
might bear within her every seed, being mixed and being fitted to
the fate of the universe and its configurations, and to Justice.
A prearranged
plan came into effect regarding
Eve, so that the modelled forms of the authorities might become
enclosures of the
light, whereupon it would condemn them
through their modelled forms. Now the first Adam, (Adam) of Light, is
spirit-endowed and appeared on the first day. The second Adam is
soul-endowed and appeared on the sixth day, which is called
Aphrodite. The third Adam is a creature of the earth, that is, the
man of the law, and he appeared on the eighth day [...] the
tranquility of poverty, which is called "The Day of the Sun"
(Sunday). And the progeny of the earthly Adam became numerous and
was completed, and produced within itself every kind of scientific
information of the soul-endowed Adam. But all were in
ignorance. Next, let me say that once the rulers had
seen him and the female creature who was with him erring ignorantly like beasts, they were very glad. When they learned that the
immortal man was not going to neglect them, rather that they would
even have to fear the female creature that had turned into a tree,
they were disturbed, and said, "Perhaps this is the true man -
this being who has brought a fog upon us and has taught us that
she who was soiled is like him - and so we shall be
conquered!" Then the seven of them together laid plans.
They came up to Adam and Eve timidly: they said to him, "The fruit
of all the trees created for you in Paradise shall be eaten; but
as for the tree of knowledge, control yourselves and do not eat
from it. If you eat, you will die." Having imparted great fear to
them, they withdrew up to their authorities. Then came the wisest of all creatures, who
was called Beast. And when he saw the likeness of their mother Eve
he said to her, "What did God say to you? Was it 'Do not eat from
the tree of knowledge'?" She said, "He said not only, 'Do not eat
from it', but, 'Do not touch it, lest you die.'" He said to her,
"Do not be afraid. In death you shall not die. For he knows that
when you eat from it, your intellect will become sober and you
will come to be like gods, recognizing the difference that obtains
between evil men and good ones. Indeed, it was in jealousy that he
said this to you, so that you would not eat from it." Now Eve had confidence in the words of the
instructor. She gazed at the tree and saw that it was beautiful
and appetizing, and liked it; she took some of its fruit and ate
it; and she gave some also to her husband, and he too ate it. Then
their intellect became open. For when they had eaten, the light of
knowledge had shone upon them. When they clothed themselves with
shame, they knew that they were naked of knowledge. When they
became sober, they saw that they were naked and became enamored of
one another. When they saw that the ones who had modelled them had
the form of beasts, they loathed them: they were very
aware. Then when the rulers knew that they had
broken their commandments, they entered Paradise and came to Adam
and Eve with earthquake and great threatening, to see the effect
of the aid. Then Adam and Eve trembled greatly and hid under the
trees in Paradise. Then the rulers did not know where they were
and said, "Adam, where are you?" He said, "I am here, for through
fear of you I hid, being ashamed." And they said to him
ignorantly, "Who told you about the shame with which you clothed
yourself? - unless you have eaten from that tree!" He said, "The
woman whom you gave me - it is she that gave to me and I ate."
Then they said to the latter, "What is this that you have done?"
She answered and said, "It is the instructor who urged me on, and
I ate." Then the rulers came up to the instructor.
Their eyes became misty because of him, and they could not do
anything to him. They cursed him, since they were powerless.
Afterwards, they came up to the woman and cursed her and her
offspring. After the woman, they cursed Adam, and the land because
of him, and the crops; and all things they had created, they
cursed. They have no blessing. Good cannot result from
evil. From that day, the authorities knew that
truly there was something mightier than they: they recognized only
that their commandments had not been kept. Great jealousy was
brought into the world solely because of the immortal man. Now
when the rulers saw that their Adam had entered into an alien
state of knowledge, they desired to test him, and they gathered
together all the domestic animals and the wild beasts of the earth
and the birds of heaven and brought them to Adam to see what he
would call them. When he saw them, he gave names to their
creatures. They became troubled because Adam had
recovered from all the trials. They assembled and laid plans, and they
said, "Behold Adam! He has come to be like one of us, so that he
knows the difference between the light and the darkness. Now
perhaps he will be deceived, as in the case of the Tree of
Knowledge, and also will come to the Tree of Life and eat from it,
and become immortal, and become lord, and despise us and disdain
us and all our glory! Then he will denounce us along with our
universe. Come, let us expel him from Paradise, down to the land
from which he was taken, so that henceforth he might not be able
to recognize anything better than we can." And so they expelled
Adam from Paradise, along with his wife. And this deed that they
had done was not enough for them. Rather, they were afraid. They
went in to the Tree of Life and surrounded it with great fearful
things, fiery living creatures called "Cheroubin", and they put a
flaming sword in their midst, fearfully twirling at all times, so
that no earthly being might ever enter that place. Thereupon, since the rulers were envious of
Adam they wanted to diminish their (viz., Adam's and Eve's)
lifespans. They could not (, however,) because of fate, which had
been fixed since the beginning. For to each had been allotted a
lifespan of 1,000 years, according to the course of the luminous
bodies. But although the rulers could not do this, each of the
evildoers took away ten years. And all this lifespan (which
remained) amounted to 930 years: and these are in pain and
weakness and evil distraction. And so life has turned out to be,
from that day until the consummation of the age. Thus when Sophia Zoe saw that
the rulers of the darkness had laid
a curse upon her counterparts, she was indignant. And coming out of the first
heaven with full power, she chased those rulers out of their
heavens, and cast them down into the sinful world, so that there
they should dwell, in the form of
evil spirits (demons) upon the
earth. [...], so that in their world it might pass
the thousand years in Paradise - a soul-endowed living creature
called "phoenix". It kills itself and brings itself to life as a
witness to the judgment against them, for they did wrong to Adam
and his generation, unto the consummation of the age. There are
[...] three men, and also his posterities, unto the consummation
of the world: the spirit-endowed of eternity, and the
soul-endowed, and the earthly. Likewise, the three phoenixes (in)
Paradise - the first is immortal; the second lives 1,000 years; as
for the third, it is written in the Sacred Book that it
is consumed. So, too, there are three baptisms - the first is the
spiritual, the second is by fire, the third is by water. Just as
the phoenix appears as a witness concerning the angels, so the
case of the water hydri in Egypt, which has been a witness to
those going down into the baptism of a true man. The two bulls in
Egypt possess a mystery, the sun and the moon, being a witness to
Sabaoth: namely, that over them Sophia received the universe; from
the day that she made the sun and the moon, she put a seal upon
her heaven, unto eternity. And the worm that has been
born out of the phoenix is a human being as well. It is written
(Ps 91:13 LXX) concerning it, "the just man will blossom like a
phoenix". And the phoenix first appears in a living state, and
dies, and rises again, being a sign of what has become apparent at
the consummation of the age. It was only in Egypt that these great
signs appeared - nowhere else - as an indication that it is like
God's Paradise. Let us return to the aforementioned rulers,
so that we may offer some explanation of them. Now, when the seven
rulers were cast down from their heavens onto the earth, they made
for themselves angels, numerous, demonic, to serve them. And the
latter instructed mankind in many kinds of error and magic and
potions and worship of idols and spilling of blood and altars and
temples and sacrifices and libations to all the spirits of the
earth, having their coworker fate, who came into existence by the
concord between the gods of injustice and justice. And thus when the world had come into
being, it distractedly erred at all times. For all men upon earth
worshiped the spirits (demons) from the creation to the
consummation - both the angels of righteousness and the men of
unrighteousness. Thus did the world come to exist in distraction,
in ignorance, and in a stupor. They all erred, until the
appearance of the true man. Let this suffice so far as the matter goes.
Now we shall proceed to consideration of our world, so that we may
accurately finish the description of its structure and management.
Then it will become obvious how belief in the unseen realm, which
has been apparent from creation down to the consummation of the
age, was discovered. I come, therefore, to the main points
regarding the immortal man: I shall speak of all the beings that
belong to him, explaining how they happen to be here. When a multitude of human beings had come
into existence, through the parentage of the Adam who had been
fashioned, and out of matter, and when the world had already
become full, the rulers were master over it - that is, they kept
it restrained by ignorance. For what reason? For the following:
since the immortal father knows that a deficiency of truth came
into being amongst the eternal realms and their universe, when he
wished to bring to naught the rulers of perdition through the
creatures they had modelled, he sent your likenesses down into the
world of perdition, namely, the blessed little innocent spirits.
They are not alien to knowledge. For all knowledge is vested in
one angel who appeared before them; he is not without power in the
company of the father. And (he) gave them knowledge. Whenever they
appear in the world of perdition, immediately and first of all
they reveal the pattern of imperishability as a condemnation of
the rulers and their forces. Thus when the blessed beings appeared
in forms modelled by authorities, they were envied. And out of
envy the authorities mixed their seed with them, in hopes of
polluting them. They could not. Then when the blessed beings
appeared in luminous form, they appeared in various ways. And each
one of them, starting out in his land, revealed his (kind of)
knowledge to the visible church constituted of the modelled forms
of perdition. It (viz., the church) was found to contain all kinds
of seed, because of the seed of the authorities that had mixed
with it. Then the Savior created [...] of them all -
and the spirits of these are manifestly superior, being blessed
and varying in election - and also (he created) many other beings,
which have no king and are superior to everyone that was before
them. Consequently, four races exist.
There are three that belong to the kings of the eighth heaven.
But the fourth race is
kingless and perfect, being the highest of all. For these shall enter the holy place of
their father. And they will gain rest in
repose and eternal, unspeakable glory
and unending joy. Moreover, they are kings within the
mortal domain, in that they are immortal. They will condemn the gods of
chaos and their forces. Now the Word that is superior to all beings
was sent for this purpose alone: that he might proclaim the
unknown. He said, "There is nothing hidden that is not apparent,
and what has not been recognized will be recognized." And these
were sent to make known what is hidden, and the seven authorities
of chaos and their impiety. And thus they were condemned to
death. So when all the perfect appeared in the
forms modelled by the rulers, and when they revealed the
incomparable truth, they put to shame all the wisdom of the gods.
And their fate was found to be a condemnation. And their
force
dried up. Their lordship was
dissolved. Their forethought became
emptiness, along with their glory. Before the consummation of the age, the whole place will shake with great thundering. Then the
rulers will be sad, [...] their death. The angels will mourn for
their mankind, and the demons will weep over their seasons, and
their mankind will wail and scream at their death. Then the age will begin, and they will be
disturbed. Their kings will be
intoxicated with the fiery sword,
and they will wage war against one another, so that the earth is
intoxicated with bloodshed. And the seas will be disturbed by those
wars. Then the sun will become dark, and the moon will cause its
light to cease. The stars of the sky will cancel their circuits.
And a great clap of
thunder will come out of a great
force that is above all the forces of chaos, where the firmament
of the woman is
situated. Having created the first
product, she will put away the wise
fire of intelligence and clothe herself
with witless wrath. Then she will pursue the gods of chaos,
whom she created along with the prime
parent. She will cast them down
into the abyss. They will be obliterated because of their
wickedness. For they will come to be like volcanoes and consume one
another until they perish at the
hand of the prime parent. When he has destroyed them, he will turn
against himself and destroy himself until he ceases to
exist. And their heavens will fall one upon the
next and their forces will be consumed by fire. Their eternal
realms, too, will be overturned. And his heaven will fall and
break in two. His [...] will fall down upon the [...] support
them; they will fall into the abyss, and the abyss will be
overturned. The light will [...] the darkness and
obliterate it: it will be like something that has never been. And
the product to which the darkness had been posterior will
dissolve. And the deficiency will be plucked out by the root (and
thrown) down into the darkness. And the light will withdraw up to
its root. And the glory of the unbegotten will appear. And it will
fill all the eternal realm. When the prophecy and the account of those
that are king becomes known and is fulfilled by those who are
called perfect, those who - in contrast - have not become perfect
in the unbegotten father will receive their glory in their realms
and in the kingdoms of the immortals: but they will never enter
the kingless realm. For everyone must go to the place from which
he has come. Indeed, by his acts and his knowledge, each person
will make his (own) nature known.