pistis.sophia_book_3_part6 Chapter 1

When then Mary had said this, the Saviour called her most exceedingly blessed because of the words | which she had spoken. And the Saviour was in great compassion

“and said unto Mary: Unto all men who shall be in this type of which thou hast spoken, unto them while they [are] still in life, give ye the mystery of one of the twelve names of the dungeons of the dragon of the outer darkness,–those which I will give you when I have ended explaining unto you the universe from within without and from without within.”

“And all men who shall find the mystery of one of the twelve names of that dragon of the outer darkness, and all men even if they are very great sinners, and they have first received the mysteries of the Light and thereafter have transgressed, or they have performed no mystery at all,”

then if they have completed their circuits in the changes, and if such men go forth out of the body without having repented anew, and if they are led into the chastisements which [are] in the midst of the dragon of the outer darkness, and remain in the circuits and remain in the chastisements in the midst of the dragon,–these, if they know the mystery of one of the twelve names of the angels while they are in life and are in the world, and if they speak one of their names while they are in the midst of the chastisements of the dragon,–then, at the hour when they shall speak it, the whole dragon will be tossed about and most exceedingly convulsed,

and the door of the dungeon in which the souls | of those men are, openeth itself upward, and the ruler of the dungeon in which those men are, casteth the souls of those men out of the midst of the dragon of the outer darkness, because they have found the mystery of the name of the dragon.

“And when the ruler casteth out souls, straight-way the angels of Yew, the First Man, who watch the dungeons of that region, hasten to snatch away those souls to lead them before Yew, the First Man, the Envoy of the First Commandment. And Yew, the First Man, seeth the souls and proveth them; he findeth that they have completed their circuits and that it is not lawful to bring them anew into the world, for it is not lawful to bring anew into the world all souls which are cast into the outer darkness.”

[But] if they have not yet completed their number of circuits in the changes of the body, the receivers of Yew keep them with them until they perform for them the mystery of the Ineffable, and remove them into a good body which shall find the mysteries of the Light and inherit the Light-kingdom.

“But if Yew proveth them and findeth that they have completed their circuits and that it is not lawful to [re]turn them anew to the world, and that also the sign of the Ineffable | is not with them,”

then Yew hath compassion upon them and leadeth them before the seven virgins of the Light. They baptize them with their baptisms, but they do not give them the spiritual chrism. And they lead them into the Treasury of the Light,

but they do not put them in the orders of the Inheritance, because no sign and no seal of the Ineffable is with them.

But they save them from all chastisements and put them into the light of the Treasury, separated and apart by themselves alone until the ascension of the universe. And at the time when they will draw apart the veils of the Treasury of the Light,

“they cleanse those souls anew and purify them most exceedingly and give them anew mysteries and put them in the last order which [is] in the Treasury, and those souls will be saved from all the chastisements of the judgments.”

“And when the Saviour had said this, he said unto his disciples: Have ye understood in what manner I discourse with you?”

“Mary then answered and said My Lord, this is the word which thou hast spoken unto us aforetime, in a similitude, saying: 'Make to yourselves a friend out of the Mamōn of unrighteousness, so that if ye remain behind, he may receive you into I the everlasting tents.”

Who then is the Mamōn of unrighteousness, if not the dragon of the outer darkness? This is the word: He who shall understand the mystery of one of the names of the dragon of the outer darkness, if he remaineth behind in the outer darkness

“or if he hath completed the circuits of the changes, and speaketh the name of the dragon, he will be saved and go up out of the darkness and be received into the Treasury of the Light. This is the word, my Lord.”

“The Saviour answered again and said unto Mary: Well said, spiritual and pure [one]. This is the solution of the word.”

“Mary continued again and said: My Lord, doth the dragon of the outer darkness come into this world or doth he not come?”

“The Saviour answered and said unto Mary: When the light of the sun is outside [? above the world], he covereth the darkness of the dragon;”

but if the sun is below the world, then the darkness of the dragon abideth as veiling of the sun and the breath of the darkness cometh into the world in form of a smoke in the night,–that is, if the sun withdraweth into himself his rays,

“then indeed the world is not able to endure the darkness of the dragon in its true form; otherwise would it be dissolved and go to ruin withal.”

“When the Saviour had said this, Mary continued again and said unto the Saviour: My Lord, still do I question thee and | hide [it] not from me. Now, therefore, my Lord, who compelleth then the man until he sinneth?”

“The Saviour answered and said unto Mary: It is the rulers of the Fate who compel the man until he sinneth.” Mary answered and said unto the Saviour: “My Lord,”

“surely the rulers do not come down to the world and compel the man until he sinneth?”

“The Saviour answered and said unto Mary: They do not come down in this manner into the world. But the rulers of the Fate,”

when an old soul is about to come down through them, then the rulers of that great Fate who [are] in the regions of the head of the æons,–which is that region which is called the region of the kingdom of Adamas,

and which is that region which is in face of the Virgin of Light,

–then the rulers of the region of that head give the old soul a cup of forgetfulness out of the seed of wickedness, filled with all the different desires and all forgetfulness.

And straightway, when that soul shall drink out of the cup, it forgetteth all the regions to which it hath gone, | and all the chastisements in which it hath travelled.

And that cup of the water of forgetfulness becometh body outside the soul, and it resembleth the soul in all [its] figures and maketh [itself] like it,–which is what is called the counterfeiting spirit.

“If on the other hand it is a new soul which they have taken out of the sweat of the rulers and out of the tears of their eyes, or far rather out of the breath of their mouths,”

–in a word, if it is one of the new souls or one of such souls, if it is one out of the sweat,

then the five great rulers of the great Fate take up the sweat of all the rulers of their æons, knead it together withal, portion it and make it into a soul. Or far rather if it is refuse of the purification of the Light, then Melchisedec taketh it up from the rulers. The five great rulers of the great Fate knead the refuse together, portion it and make it into different souls, so that every one of the rulers of the æons, every one of them putteth his portion into the soul.

“For this cause they knead it jointly, so that all may [par]take of the soul. And the five great rulers, if they portion it and make it into souls, bring it out of the sweat | of the rulers.”

But if it is one out of the refuse of the purification of the Light, then Melchisedec, the great Receiver of the Light, taketh it [sc. the refuse] up from the rulers, or far rather if it is out of the tears of their eyes or out of the breath of their mouth,–in a word, out of such souls,

when the five rulers portion it and make it into different souls,–or far rather if it is an old soul, then the ruler who is in the head of the æons, himself mixeth the cup of forgetfulness with the seed of wickedness, and he mixeth it with every one of the new souls at the time when he is in the region of the head.

“And that cup of forgetfulness becometh the counterfeiting spirit for that soul, and bideth outside the soul, being a vesture for it and resembling it in every way, being envelope as vesture outside it. And the five great rulers of the great Fate of the æons and the ruler of the disk of the sun and the ruler of the disk of the moon”

inbreathe within into that soul, and there cometh forth out of them a portion out of my power which the last Helper hath cast into the Mixture.

“And the portion of that power remaineth within in the soul, | unloosed and existing on its own authority for the economy unto which it hath been inset, to give sense unto the soul, in order that it may seek after the works of the Light of the Height always. And that power is like the species of the soul in every form and resembleth it.”

“It cannot be outside the soul, but remaineth inside it, as I have commanded it from the beginning. When I willed to cast it into the first Commandment, I gave it commandment to remain outside [? inside] the souls for the economy of the First Mystery. And so I will tell you at the expansion of the universe all these words concerning the power and also concerning the soul, after what type they are fashioned, or what ruler fashioneth them, or what are the different species of the souls. And so will I tell you at the expansion of the universe how many fashion the soul.”

And I will tell you the name of all of them who fashion the soul.

And I will tell you the type, how the counterfeiting spirit and the destiny have been prepared.

And I will tell you the name of the soul before it is purged, and moreover its name when it hath been purged and become pure.

And I will tell you the name of the counterfeiting spirit;

and I will tell you the name of the destiny. And I will tell you the name of all the bonds with which the rulers bind the counterfeiting spirit | to the soul.

And I will tell you the name of all the decans who fashion the soul in the bodies of the soul in the world; and I will tell you in what manner the souls are fashioned.

And I will tell you the type of every one of the souls;

and I will tell you the type of the souls of the men and of those of the birds and of those of the wild beasts and of those of the reptiles. And. I will tell you the type of all the souls and of those of all the rulers which are sent into the world, in order that ye may be completed in all gnosis.

All this will I tell you at the expansion of the universe. And after all this I will tell you wherefor all this hath come to pass.

“Hearken, therefore, that I may discourse with you concerning the soul according as I have said: The five great rulers of the great Fate of the æons and the rulers of the disk of the sun and the rulers of the disk of the moon breathe into that soul, and there cometh out of them a portion of my power, as I have just said.”

And the portion of that power remaineth within the soul, so that the soul can stand. And they put | the counterfeiting spirit outside the soul, watching it and assigned to it;

and the rulers bind it to the soul with their seals and their bonds and seal it to it, that it may compel it always, so that it continually doeth its mischiefs and all its iniquities, in order that it may be their slave always and remain under their sway always in the changes of the body;

and they seal it to it that it may be in all the sin and all the desires of the world.

“For this cause, therefore, have I in this manner brought the mysteries into this world which undo all the bonds of the counterfeiting spirit and all the seals which are bound to the soul,–those which make the soul free and free it from its parents the rulers, and make it into refined light and lead it up into the kingdom of its father, the first Issue, the First Mystery, for ever.”

“For this cause therefore, have I said unto you aforetime: 'He who doth not abandon father and mother and come and follow after me, is not worthy of me.”

“I have, therefore, said at that time: Ye are to abandon your parents the rulers, that I may make you sons of the First Mystery for ever.”

“And when | the Saviour had said this, Salome started forward and said: My Lord, if our parents are the rulers, how standeth it written in the Law of Moses: 'He who shall abandon his father and his mother, let him die the death'?”

“Hath not thus the Law made statement thereon?”

And when Salome had said this, the light-power in Mary Magdalene

“bubbled up in her and she said to the Saviour: My Lord, give commandment unto me that I discourse with my sister Salome to tell her the solution of the word which she hath spoken.” 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, the Law hath not said this concerning the soul nor concerning the body nor concerning the counterfeiting spirit, for all these are sons | of 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 moreover 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 compelleth the man until he sinneth.”

“Now, therefore, the rulers seal the counterfeiting spirit to the soul, [but] so that it doth not agitate it every hour, making it do all sins and all iniquities.”

And they give commandment moreover 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 changes of the body.'

“In a word, they give commandment to the 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.' The rulers of the great Fate of the æons hand these over to the counterfeiting spirit; and the rulers summon the servitors of their æons, 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 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 all, that they may be able to stand, for it is their up-rightness,

“and after the soul put the counterfeiting spirit.' Thus they give commandment to their servitors, 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 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 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 counterfeiting 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,