Lucifer April 1890

INTRODUCTION.

IN the present translation and annotation of the Gnostic Gospel Pistis-Sophia, it is proposed to treat this most mystical and interesting treatise in the simplest manner possible. As the text contains much verbiage and many repetitions which are wearisome and of no importance to the main narrative, such passages will be condensed or omitted. As yet, no translation of Pistis-Sophia exists in English, with the exception of some passages which will be found in The Gnostics and their Remains by the late C. W . King. In France a translation has been attempted in the Encyclopédie Thèologique of the Abbé Migne, vol. xxiii. As a reliable version, however, it is worthless, for some of the most important passages, sometimes as many as thirty pages of the original Coptic text, are bodily omitted, and in other respects scant justice is done to the “heretics” by the pious translators, who, at the end of their introduction, discredit their own labours by declaring: "Le but qui nous a guidés dans cette tentative pénible et ingrate, a été de montrer ce qu'étaient les incompréhensibles et stériles aberrations ou s'égaraient aux premiers siècles de I'ère chrétienne les penseurs qui s'écartaient des routes de la véritè." [The goal that guided us in this arduous and thankless endeavor was to show what the incomprehensible and sterile aberrations were, or into which the thinkers who strayed from the paths of truth went astray in the early centuries of the Christian era. — e-Ed.]

The simplest and fairest account of the text, from an exoteric standpoint, is to be found in the interesting and learned work of the late C. W. King, in which he speaks of Pistis-Sophia with the greatest enthusiasm, as the most precious and perfect relic of the followers of the Gnosis. Throughout his work he continually refers to it as the highest authority of Gnosticism still extant. On page 14 of the Second Edition we read:—

"This treatise, ascribed to Valentinus (I know not on what authority), was discovered by Schwartze in a Coptic MS. preserved in the British Museum(1). He transcribed the Coptic text and translated it into Latin; both texts and version were published by Petermann in the year 1853(2). The original is copiously interspersed with Greek words and phrases; in fact, the Coptic was evidently so poor a language as to have no terms of its own to express any but the most materialistic ideas. . . . The authorship of this record is assigned by itself in several places to Philip the Apostle, whom the Saviour bids to sit down and write these things! This circumstance made me at first conclude it to be the lost gospel of Philip quoted by Epiphanius, but the particular anecdote adduced by him from that gospel is not to be discovered anywhere in this. But as the original is full of wide lacunae, which often fall in very interesting places, as if purposely defaced to escape the eyes of the profane, such an omission is not altogether conclusive against the identity of the two."

As to the date of the text, there is no certainty, and we must conclude with M. Matter in his Histoire du Gnosticisme, that it is "difficult to make any precise statement," even so far as to place it, as he does, "between the ends of the second and fifth centuries".

The present translation is made from the Latin and Greek version of the shortlived German orientalist Maurice G. Schwartze, which was edited and copiously emendated by Petermann. Whenever these scholars disagree,

the rendering most in keeping with the spirit of this mystical allegory of Initiation is preferred. Coptic scholars are a rarity even outside the T. S.; in fact, as we are informed by one of them, in Europe they may be counted on the fingers of one hand. Therefore, we must take things as we find them, and though we cannot hope to give the exact translation of the original, still, we may promise ourselves a rendering of Pistis-Sophia which will sufficiently inform us of the main ideas of the Gnostic scheme, especially as the original is innocent of elaborate constructions and meta-physical dissertations.

It will greatly add to the clear understanding of the mystic narrative if the reader bears in mind that the term "Jesus" stands for Christos, the glorified Initiate; and that Christos is the typical term for its prototype—the Higher Ego or Manas merged in Atma-Buddhi, and thus becomes one in three. Those unacquainted with the theosophical terminology may be informed that the word Atma means Universal Spirit; Buddhi, "Universal Spiritual Soul"; and Manas, the "Universal Mind"—of which only the latter two are individualised in man (1).

PISTIS-SOPHIA (2).

[1] (3) It came to pass when Jesus had risen (4) from the dead and passed eleven years speaking with his Disciples, and teaching them only up to the

Regions (1) of the First Precepts (2) and of the First Mystery, the Mystery within the Veil, within the First Precept, to wit, the Four-and-Twentieth Mystery, and below those (Precepts) which are in the Second Space of the First Mystery, which is before all Mysteries, the Father in the likeness of a Dove (3), that Jesus said to his Disciples: "I am come from that First Mystery, which also is the Last (4), the Four-and-Twentieth Mystery". Now the Disciples knew not this Mystery, nor did they understand it, because (as they supposed) there was not anything within that Mystery (5); but they thought that it, indeed, was the Sum of the Universe and the Head of all things which are, and verily the End of all Ends. For Jesus told them that it comprehends the First Precept [2] and the Five Impressions, and the Great Light, and the Five Supporters, and also all the Treasure of Light.

Moreover, Jesus had not told his Disciples the whole emanation of all the Regions of the Great Invisible and of the Three Triple-Powers, and of the Four-and-Twentieth Invisibles (6), and of all their Regions, Æons and Orders, (that is to say) the manner in which the latter, which are also the Projections of the Great Invisible, are distributed.

Nor (had he spoken of) their Ungenerated, Self-generated, and Generated (7), their Light-givers and UUnpaired (8), their Rulers and Powers, their Lords and Archangels, their Angels and Decans, their Ministers

and all the Houses of their Spheres, and all the Orders of each one of them.

Nor had Jesus told his Disciples the whole emanation of the Projections of the Treasure, and their Orders; nor of their (1) Saviours and their Orders; nor what is the Guardian beside each (Projection) of the Treasure of Light; nor the Region of the Saviour of the Twins, [3] who is the Child of the Child (2); nor in what Regions the Three Amens emanate; nor yet the Region of the Five Trees and Seven Amens, which are also the Seven Voices (3), according to the manner of their emanation.

Nor had Jesus told his Disciples of what type are the Five Supporters and the Region of their emanation; nor of the Five Impressions and the First Precept, in what type they are evolved (4); but in his teaching he merely stated that such things exist, and had not spoken of the emanation and Order of their Regions. This is the reason why they did not know that there were other Regions within that Mystery.

Moreover, he had not told his Disciples through what Region he passed while he was entering into that Mystery and while he was coming out therefrom; but teaching them he said (simply): "I am come from that Mystery". Therefore they thought that it was the End of all Ends [4] and the Sum of the Universe and the whole Plerôma (5).

It came to pass, therefore, when the Disciples were sitting by themselves on the Mount of Olives, speaking these words and rejoicing with great joy and being exceeding glad, saying one to another, "Blessed are we before all men who are on the earth, for the Saviour has revealed these things to us and we have received all fullness (6) and perfection," that Jesus sat a little removed from them.

It was on the fifteenth day of the moon of the month Tobe (7), the day of the full moon, when the sun had risen in its going, that there came forth after it a great flood of most brilliant light (8) of immeasurable brightness. For it came forth from the Light (8) of Lights from the Last Mystery, [5] to wit, the Four-and-Twentieth Mystery, from the Interiors to the Exteriors, which

are in the Orders of the Second Space of the First Mystery. Such a flood of Light came upon Jesus and surrounded him entirely. And the Disciples saw not Jesus because of the great Light with which he was surrounded, or which proceeded from him. For their eyes were darkened because of it. But they gazed upon the Light only, shooting forth great rays of light. Nor were the rays equal to one another, and the Light was of divers modes and various aspect, from the lower to the higher part thereof, each ray more admirable than its fellow in infinite manner, in the great radiance of the immeasurable Light. It stretched from the earth to the heavens. And the Disciples seeing the Light were in great fear and confusion. [6] It came to pass, therefore, when the flood of Light came upon Jesus, that it gradually surrounded him. Then Jesus was carried or soared into the Height, shining greatly with the immeasurable Light. And the Disciples gazed after him, none of them speaking, as long as Jesus was ascending into Heaven. But they remained all in deep silence. These things, then, were done on the fifteenth of the month Tobe, the day of the full moon (1).

It came to pass, therefore, when Jesus ascended into Heaven after the third hour that all the Powers of the Heavens were confused and shaken one with another, they and all their Æons, and Regions, and Orders, and the earth was disturbed, and all the inhabitants thereof. And confusion was upon all men in the World, and also among the Disciples, and all feared that the World was being destroyed. Nor did all the Powers which are in the Heaven cease to be in confusion one with another, even from the third hour of the fifteenth day to the ninth hour of the following day.

And all the Angels and their Archangels and all the Powers of the Height [7] sang hymns (2) in the Interior of Interiors, so that the whole World heard their voice, for they ceased not until the ninth hour of the next day. But the Disciples sat together in fear and were in the greatest possible distress. They feared because of the great confusion, and wept together, saying, What will be? Surely the Saviour will not destroy all the Regions? But on the ninth hour of the morrow, the Heavens were opened, and they saw Jesus descending, shining most exceedingly, with immeasurable rays. Nor was the light constant, but of divers modes and various aspects, some rays being more admirable than others in infinite manner. Yet it was light in every part. It was of three degrees, one surpassing the other in infinite manner. The second, which was in the midst, excelled the first which was below it, and the third, the most admirable of all, surpassed the other two.

The first radiance was placed below all like to the light which came upon Jesus [8] before he ascended into the Heavens, and was very regular as to its own peculiar Light. And the three degrees of the Light were of various light and aspect, excelling one another in infinite manner (3). Now it came to pass, when the Disciples had seen these things, that they feared exceedingly and were troubled. Jesus, therefore, being compassionate and merciful-minded, when he saw his Disciples thus troubled spoke with them saying: "Have courage; it is I, be not a fraid". And when the Disciples heard these words, they said, "Master! if thou drawest to thyself the radiant light, we shall be able to stand; but if not, our eyes

become blinded, and we are troubled, and the whole World is also troubled because of thy great Light". Then Jesus drew to himself the radiance of his Light; and all the Disciples taking heart came to him and bowed themselves together, beseeching him, and rejoicing with great joy, said unto him, "Rabbi, whither wentest thou? Or on what ministry didst thou go? Or wherefore are all these confusions and shakings? Then Jesus, in compassion, said unto them: "Rejoice and be glad from this hour, for I am come to the Regions from which I came out. [9] Wherefore, from this day forth, I will speak with you openly, from the beginning of Truth to th eend thereof, and I will speak to you face to face, without a parable. From this hour I will hide nothing from you of the things which pertain to the Height and to the Region of Truth. For authority has been given me by the Ineffable, the First Mystery of all Mysteries, to speak with you from the Beginning (1) to the Completion (2), both from the Interiors to the Exteriors, and from the Exteriors to the Interiors. Hearken, therefore, that I may tell you all things.

It came to pass when I was sitting a little removed from you on the Mount of Olives, reflecting on the Orders (duties?) of my Ministry, for which I was sent, how that it was fulfilled and the last Mystery had not yet sent me my Vesture which I placed in it, until its time should be completed; as the sun rose, the First Mystery, which was from the beginning, on account of which the universe was created and from which also now am I come out [1O] (now only, not when they had not yet crucified me),— caused my Vesture of light to be sent me by him who gave it to me from the very beginning; which, indeed, I laid up with that Mystery until I should begin to speak with the human race, and should reveal to them all things from the beginning of the Truth to the end thereof. Rejoice, therefore, in that this has been given you.

Moreover, also, I have chosen you from the beginning through the First Mystery. Rejoice, therefore, and be glad, [11] for that after I came forth into the World I brought with me twelve Powers, as I told you from the beginning. I took them from the Twelve Saviours of the Treasure of Light according to the command of the First Mystery. These, therefore, when I came into the world, I cast into the womb of your mothers, which are in your body (3) to-day. For these Powers have been given to you before all the World, in that ye are to save the whole World, and in order that ye may be able to bear the threat of the Rulers of the World and the calamities thereof; and, moreover, all the dangers and persecutions that must be brought upon you by the Rulers of the Height. Many times have I said that I have brought the Power which is in you from the Twelve Saviours who are in the Treasure of Light, and that ye are not of the World . I also am not of it. For all men who are in the World, have taken their Soul from the Rulers of the Æons (4). But

the Power, which is in you, is from me. Of a truth your soul pertains to the Height (1). I brought twelve Powers from the Saviours of the Treasure of Light, which I took from a portion of the Power which I first received. [12] And when I had entered into the World, I came into the midst of the Rulers of the Sphere, like unto Gabriel the angel of the Æons, nor did the Rulers of the Æons know me, but thought that I was the angel Gabriel (2).

It came to pass, when I had come into the midst of the Rulers of the Æons, having looked from above into the World of men, I found Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist, before she had conceived him. I planted the Power in her, which I had received from the Little iaô, the Good, who is in the Midst (3), that he should preach before me, and prepare my way, and baptize with water the remission of sins. This Power then is (4) in the body of John. Moreover, in the place of the Soul of the Rulers, appointed to receive it, I found the Soul of the prophet Elias in the Æons of the Sphere (5), and I took him, and receiving his Soul also, brought it to the Virgin of light, and she gave it to her Receivers, who led it to the Sphere of the Rulers and carried it into the womb of Elizabeth. So the Power of the Little iaô (6), the Good, who is in the Midst, and the Soul of the prophet Elias, are bound together in the body of John the Baptist.

[13] "For which cause, therefore, did ye doubt at that time, when I said unto you; John said, 'I am not the Christ': and ye said unto me: 'it is written in the Scriptures, if the Christ come, Elias comes before him, and will prepare his way'. And I replied: 'Elias, indeed, is come, and has prepared all things according as it was written; and they have done unto him whatsoever they would'. And when I perceived that you did not understand those things which I spake to you concerning the Soul of Elias, as bound in John the Baptist; I then answered openly and face to face: 'If ye will receive it, John the Baptist is that Elias who', I said, 'was coming'."

Lucifer May 1890

Pistis-Sophia.

AS perhaps many of our readers are unfamiliar with the general scheme of the Gnosis, and as the Pistis-Sophia presupposes a thorough knowledge of the outlines of this scheme, we are compelled to depart somewhat from our original plan and insert a résumé of this sublime system. It is somewhat invidious to select any particular school, but perhaps that of Valentinus who flourished at the beginning of the second century a.d., will best serve our purpose.

The following is translated from the Refutation of All Heresies (1) attributed to Hippolytus, Bishop of Ostia (Portus), who was put to death a.d. 222. There is, however, doubt as to the identification and date of this writer; but, be that as it may, he is the fairest and most accurate of all the Church Fathers and his Refutation is one of the most reliable chronicles of the Gnostic period that we possess. (2)

After a most interesting review of the Pythagorean and Platonic systems of numbers and a comparison between these systems and that of Valentinus, in order to prove that the teaching of the latter was from the former philosophers and not of Christ, our author continues:—

For them, the beginning of all things is the Monad, (3) ingenerable, imperishable, incomprehensible, inconceptible, the creator and cause of the generation of all things that are generated. (4) This Monad is called by them the Father. Now as to its nature there is a difference of opinion among them; for some declare that the Father is devoid of femininity and without a syzygy (consort, pair, or sakti) and solitary; whereas others think that it is impossible that from a single male principle, the generation of all things should be, and so they are compelled to add to the Father of All, in order that it (5) may be a Father, the syzygy Silence (Sigê). But as to whether Silence is a syzygy or not, let them settle this dispute among themselves. (6)

In the Deginning, says (Valentinus), naught was that was generated. The Father alone was, ungenerated, without space (or region), time, counsellor, or any other essence (or attribute) capable of being conceived by any means. It was alone, solitary, and at rest, itself in itself, alone. But since it had the power of creating (emanating rather), it seemed good to it

at length to generate and produce that which was most beautiful and most perfect in itself, for it loved not solitude. For Love, said (Valentinus), was all, but Love is not Love if there is nothing to be loved.

"Therefore, the Father, solitary as it was, emanated and generated Mind and Truth, the Duad, which is the Lady and Beginning and Mother of all the Æons which they reckon in the Plerôma. And Mind and Truth having emanated from the Father, possessing the power of generation like their parent, in imitation of the Father, emanated themselves also the Logos and Life. (1) And the Logos and Life emanate Man and the Assembly (ekklesia, Church). But Mind and Truth, when they saw that their own generations had become generators in their turn, gave thanks to the Father of All and offered it Ten Æons, the perfect number. For, said he, Mind and Truth could not offer the Father a more perfect number than this. For it was necessary that the Father which was perfect, should be worshipped with a perfect number, and the Ten is perfect because it is the first number of the plurality of digits. But the Father was more perfect still, because being itself ingenerable, alone through one and the first syzygy, Mind and Truth, it was able to emanate all the roots of all things which are."

[30] And when the Logos and Life also saw that Mind and Truth had celebrated the Father of All (All-Father) with a perfect number. The Logos together with Life wished to worship their own father and mother, Mind and Truth. But since Mind and Truth were generable and had not their own fatherhood perfect, viz., the quality of being themselves parentless, the Logos and Life do not worship their own father Mind with a perfect, but with an imperfect number, and offer their parents Twelve Æons.

"Now the following are the first roots of the Æons according to Valentinus: Mind and Truth, the Logos and Life, Man and the Assembly; Ten from Mind and Truth, and Twelve from the Logos and Life; eight-and-twenty in all. (2) These are called by the following names: Bythius and Mixis, Agêratus and Henôsis, Autophyês and Hêdonê, Akinêtus and Synkrásis, Monogenês and Makaria. These are the Ten Æons, which some derive from Mind and Truth, and others from the Logos and Life. Some again derive the Twelve of which we have been speaking from Man and the Assembly, and others from the Logos and Life; and the names they give these Twelve are—Paraklêtus and Pistis, Patrikus and Elpis, Mêtrikus and Agapê, Aênûs (Aeinous) and Synesis, Ekklesiastikus and Makariotes, Thelêtus and Sophia. (3)

Now, the twelfth of these Twelve, and the youngest of the eight-and-

(1) The verbs in this passage are singular, Mind and Truth being regarded as one duad.

(2) That is four sevens, three being still unmanifested even in the Divine Mind.

(3)

DECAD.		DODECAD.
Bythius (Bythus-like)	Mixis (Mingling)	Paraklêtus (Advocate or Comforter)	PISTIS (Faith or Confidence)
Agêratus (Unaging)	Henôsis (Union or Oneness)	Patrikus (Father-like)	Elpis (Hope)
Autophyês (Self-existent)	Hêdonê (Bliss)	Mêtrikus (Mother-like)	Agapê (Love or Charity)
Akinêtus (Immovable)	Synkrásis (Mixing)	Aênûs (Everlasting or Everflowing)	Synesis (Understanding)
Monogenês (Only-begotten)	Makaria (Blessedness)	Ekklesiastikus (Ecclesia-like)	Makariotes (Happiness)
		Thelêtus (The Longed-for or Desired)	SOPHIA (Wisdom)

twenty Æons, Sophia by name, a female Æon, beholding the multitude and power of the Æons which had generated, returned to the depth of the Father and perceived that all the rest of the Æons, being in their nature generated, generated through a syzygy. But the Father alone generated without a syzygy. She, therefore, desired to imitate the Father and generate by herself without her syzygy, in order that she might perform a work not inferior to that of the Father, being ignorant that the ungenerable, as it is fundamentally the beginning and root, and the deep and depth of all, could generate alone, whereas Sophia being generated and produced after many, could not possess the power of the ungenerated. For in the ungenerated, he said, are all things together, whereas in the generated the feminine has the power of emanating the essence, while the masculine has the power of informing the essence emanated by the feminine. Sophia, therefore, emanated the only thing which she could, viz., a formless and uninformed (unwrought) essence. This is what, he said, Moses said: 'The earth was invisible and unformed.' (1) This is, he said, the good and Celestial Jerusalem, into which God promised to lead the sons of Israel, saying: 'I will lead you into a land flowing with milk and honey.' (2)

"[31] And so ignorance having been produced through Sophia, within, in the Plerôma, and formlessness also by the generation (production) of Sophia, tumult arose in the Plerôma lest the generations (progeny) of the Æons should in like manner become formless and imperfect, and destruction in no long time seize on the Æons. All the Æons, therefore, betook themselves to praying to the Father to stop the sorrowing Sophia. For she was bewailing and groaning because of the Abortion generated by herself; for thus they call it. Therefore, the Father taking pity on the tears of Sophia and giving ear to the prayers of the Æons, ordered an additional emanation. For it was not himself that emanated, but Mind and Truth which (emanated) the Christos and Holy Spirit for the informing and differentiation of the Abortion and for the consolation and appeasing of the complaints of Sophia. So that together with the Christos and the Holy Spirit there are thirty Æons. (3) Now some of them think that she (the Holy Spirit) is the thirtieth Æon, while others maintain that Sigê co-exists with the Father, and that the Æons should be reckoned together with them. The Christos and Holy Spirit then, being after-emanated by Mind and Truth, immediately separated this formless Abortion of Sophia, which was generated by her alone without her syzygy, from the universal Æons, lest the perfect Æons seeing it should be thrown into confusion by its formlessness. In order then that the Abortion should not appear to the perfect Æons in all its formlessness, the Father again emanated additionally one Æon, the Staurus (Cross or Stock), which having become great, in as much as it was from the great and perfect Father, having been projected into the custody and stockade of the Æons, became the Hǒrus (Boundary) of the Plerôma (Completion) having within itself all

the Thirty Æons together. (1) Now it is called the Boundary, because it bounds the Hysterêma (Incompletion, Inferiority) without, from the Plerôma; again, it is called the Participator, because it partakes of the Hysterêma, and the Stake (or Stock), because it is fixed, without inclination and incapable of change ( lit: without repentance) (2), so that nothing of the Hysterêma should approach the Æons within the Plerôma.

"Without, then, this Boundary, Stake or Participator, is what they call the Ogdoad, (3) which is the Sophia-Without the Plerôma, which the Christos, who was an after-emanation of Mind and Truth, formed and fashioned into a perfect Æon, by no means inferior to those within the Plerôma. When then Sophia-Without had been fashioned, the Christos and Holy Spirit, emanated from Mind and Truth, as they could not in like manner remain outside the Plerôma, ascended from her whom they had informed, to Mind and Truth within the Boundary, glorifying the Father together with the rest of the Æons.

[32] When, then, there was, so to speak, a unity of peace and concord among all the Æons within the Plerôma, it seemed good to them, not only that they should have magnified the Father by their syzygies, but also that they should magnify him by the offering of fit fruits. All the Thirty Æons accordingly agreed to emanate one Æon as the common fruit of the Plerôma, as the sign of their unity, unanimity and peace. Now the only common emanation of all the Æons for the Father is that which they call the Common Fruit of the Plerôma. (4) Thus it was done within the Plerôma.

"So the Common Fruit of the Plerôma was emanated, viz., Jesus (for this was its name), the great High Priest (or Pontifex). (5) Now the Sophia without the Plerôma, missing the Christos who had informed her, and the Holy Spirit, was thrown into great alarm lest she should perish, now that he who had informed and strengthened her, was removed. So she mourned and was in great distress, pondering who was her informer (fashioner); what the Holy Spirit; whither they had departed; who prevented them from being with her; and who envied the beautiful and blessed spectacle thereof. In these sufferings she betook herself to prayer and beseeching him who had abandoned her. (6) And as she prayed the Christos within the Plerôma and all the other Æons took pity on her, and

sent out from the Pleroma the Common Fruit of the Pleroma, the syzygy of Sophia-Without and the corrector of her sufferings which she suffered, seeking for the Christos. So the Fruit becoming without the Pleroma and finding her in the first four afflictions, viz., fear, grief, helplessness and need (entreaty or prayer), set right her sufferings; but in doing so he perceived that it was not meet that those affections (or afflictions) which were of the Æons (or eternal) and peculiar to Sophia, should be destroyed, nor on the other hand that Sophia should be in such afflictions as fear, grief, supplications and distress. Accordingly, as he was so great an Æon and the progeny of the whole Pleroma, he made her afflictions depart from her, and transformed them into substantial essences. And fear he made a soulish (animal) essence; grief, a material; distress, a daemonial; and conversion (i.e. a turning to any one for help) and prayer and supplication he made the path of return (way up), (1) and repentance and the power of the soulish essence which is called 'right'. The Demiurge was made of fear. And this is the meaning of the scripture, he said, 'The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom (Sophia)'. (2) For this (fear) was the beginning of Sophia's woes. For she was first in fear, then in thus betook herself to prayer and supplication. Now the soulish (animal) essence, he said, was fiery and was called the Middle (or Mean), and the Hebdomad (3) and the Ancient of Days; of this essence was the Demiurge.

Now the power of fire, he said, was twofold. For there is a fire which is all-devouring and which cannot be quenched and . . . . [a lacuna occurs here unfortunately]. From this kind of fire then, the soul is a mortal thing, being a sort of mean; for it is the Hebdomad and Pause. It is, however, below the Ogdoad, (4) where is Sophia . . . . and the Common Fruit of the Pleroma, but it is above the Hyle (Matter) of which is the Demiurge. (5) If, therefore, it (the soul) is assimilated with the above, viz., the Ogdoad, it becomes immortal and passes to the Ogdoad, which is, according to Valentinus, the Celestial Jerusalem but if it is assimilated with Hyle, that is with material qualities, it will be destroyed and perish. (6)

"[33] As, therefore, the first and greatest power arose from the soulish essence . . . . [a lacuna occurs here] the image Diabolus, the ruler of this world: whereas Beelzebub is of the essence of the Daemons which are bred of doubt (incapacity or distress), Sophia energizing from above, from the Ogdoad unto the Hebdomad. The Demiurge, they said, knows nothing at all, but is mindless and foolish, according to them, and he knows not what he does or operates. And as he knows not what he does, Sophia operates and strengthens all, and when she does so, he imagines that he is making the foundation of the world of himself: wherefore he began to say: 'I am God and besides me there is no other'. (7)

[34] "The Valentinian Tetractys ,(8) then, is the 'Source containing the roots of sempiternal (lit. ever-flow ing) nature', and Sophia that from which the soulish and material foundation (creation) was constituted. And Sophia is called Spirit; the Demiurge, Soul; Diabolus, the Ruler of this world; and Beelzebul, the (Ruler) of Daemons. Such are their teachings.

“Moreover, there is a mathematical side to their doctrines; and they make the Thirty Æons in the Pleroma emanate again other Æons by

analogy, so that the Pleroma should be collected in a perfect number. For like as the Pythagoreans divided into twelve, and thirty, and sixty; (1) so also they sub-divide the contents of the Pleroma. The numbers of the Ogdoad also are sub-divided; and Sophia who, according to them is the Mother of All Living, and the Common Fruit of the Pleroma, emanated Seventy Logoi, (2) which are celestial Messengers (angels), dwelling in Jerusalem, which is above in the Heavens. For this (mundane) Jerusalem is the Sophia without, and the Common Fruit of the Pleroma is her spouse. Moreover, it was the Demiurge who is the emanator of souls; for he is the essence of souls. According to them, the former is Abraham and the latter the children of Abraham (3). The Demiurge then, made bodies for the souls from the material (hylic) and diabolical essence. This is as it was said: 'And God shaped man, taking dirt from the earth, and breathed into his face (or appearance) the breath of life; and man becam e a living soul.' (4) This is, according to them the inner man, the soulish (principle), dwelling in the material body, which is material, perishable, imperfect, fashioned from the diabolical essence. The latter is the material man, according to them, as it were an inn or habitation, at one time of the soul alone, at another of the soul and Daemons, at another of the soul and Logoi, which are the Logoi from above scattered from the Common Fruit of the Pleroma and Sophia into this world, dwelling in a Choïc body (i.e. the body of "dirt" or "slime" above mentioned), whenever the Daemons do not cohabit with the soul. This, he said, was what was written in the scripture: 'For this cause I bow my knees unto the God and Father and Lord of our Lord Jesus Christ, in order that God may grant you that the Christos may dwell in your inner man', (5) that is the soulish and not the corporeal (man), 'that ye may be strong to know what is the depth', that is to say, the Father of All, 'and the breadth', which is the Stake, the Boundary of the Pleroma, 'or length', (or height), which means the Pleroma of the Æons. Therefore, he said: 'the soulish (animal) man does not perceive those things which are of the Spirit of God; for he is foolish'. (6) Now foolishness, he said, is the power of the Demiurge: for he was foolish and mindless and thought that he himself was fabricating the world, being ignorant that it was Sophia, the Mother, the Ogdoad, (7) who operated all for the constitution of the world for him not knowing.

"[35] All the prophets, therefore, and law babbled (8) under the

inspiration of the Demiurge, foolish know-nothings (inspired by) a foolish God, according to him. For which cause, said he, the Saviour said: 'All who came before me are thieves and robbers', (1) and the Apostle: 'the mystery which was not known to former generations (2) For none of the prophets, he said, spake about these things of which we speak; for they were not known: all things [a lacuna occurs here], inasmuch indeed as they were babbled forth under the inspiration of the Demiurge alone. When, therefore, the creation (or constitution) came to an end, and the manifestation of the Sons of God, that is of the Demiurge, had thereafter to take place—the manifestation that had been hidden and in which, he said, the soulish man had been concealed, having a veil over his heart—when, therefore, the veil had to be raised and these mysteries were to be perceived, Jesus was born through Mary the Virgin, according to what was written: 'the Holy Spirit (Ghost) shall come upon thee', the Spirit is Sophia, 'and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee', the Highest is the Demiurge, 'for that which shall be born from thee shall be called holy'. (3) For he was not born from the Highest alone, as those who were constituted according to Adam were constituted from the highest alone, that is the Demiurge. But Jesus the new man was born of the Holy Spirit, that is of Sophia and the Demiurge, in order that the Demiurge might make up the moulding and arrangement of his body, but the Holy Spirit provide the essence thereof, and he might be the celestial Logos from the Ogdoad, born through Mary.

Now concerning this tenet there is a great questioning among them and it is the cause of schisms and dissension. Hence their doctrine is divided into two schools, of which one is called the Eastern and the other the Italian. Now the Italian school maintains that the body of Jesus was soulish (animal), and it was because of this that the Spirit descended as a dove at his baptism, that is, the Logos of his Mother the Sophia-Above, and approached his soulish principle and awoke him from the dead. (4) This is that which was spoken, he said : 'he who aroused Christos from the dead, will vivify also your mortal bodies', (5) that is to say, your soulish (bodies). For it is the 'slime' that came under the curse, 'for earth thou art, and unto earth thou shalt return'. (6) The Eastern school, on the other hand, declares that the body of the Saviour was spiritual: for the Holy Spirit, that is to say, Sophia and the power of the Highest, the demiurgic art, came upon Mary, in order that that which had been given by the Spirit to Mary, might be fashioned.

[36] Moreover, he goes on to say, as the failures which pertain to the Æons which are within, had been rectified, and also those that pertain to the Ogdoad, viz., the Sophia-Without, so also those which pertained to the Hebdomad. (For the Demiurge was taught by Sophia, that he was not the one only God, as he imagined, and that there were no others besides himself, as he supposed; and so being instructed by Sophia, he understood that there was a higher. For he was instructed, and initiated, and taught by her the great mystery of the Father of the Æons, and he told it to no one; this is, he said, what he (the Demiurge) spoke to Moses: I am the God of Abraham the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and the name of God I have not declared unto them', (7) that is I have not spoken nor revealed the mystery, 'Who is God', but I have kept in secret with myself the mystery which I heard from Sophia). Since, therefore, the higher (mis-deeds or failures) had been corrected, by the same sequence it was necessary that those of our lower plane should also be set right. For this cause was born Jesus the Saviour, through Mary, in order that the failures (or mistakes) here should be set right; just as the Christos, who was after-emanated by

Mind and Truth, set right the sufferings of Sophia-Without, that is of the Abortion. And so again the Saviour, born through Mary, came to set right the sufferings of the soul. There are, therefore, thee Christs, viz., he who was after-emanated by Mind and Truth together with the Holy Spirit; and the Common Fruit of the Pleroma, the syzygy of the Sophia-Without, who is also called the Holy Spirit inferior to the first; and the third, he who was bom through Mary for the correction of our human constitution."

Our author was right in comparing the Valentinian system with those of Pythagoras and Plato and in declaring that it had a mathematical basis. The Gnosis at all times and in all countries has been based on natural laws, and the different branches of mathematical science are simply the methods of expressing these laws. To vindicate these sublime systems of antiquity, and to prove that they were based on something more than "supertitious imagination", some figures will now be given, and some hints to their explanation attempted. It must, however, be remembered that as such figures are infinite, and that the permutations and combinations of their properties, correspondences and qualities are equally infinite, no more than the roughest possible outline can be given in a short paper. As, however, in the sequel, reference will often be made to these figures, it is necessary for the reader to be put into possession of their general scheme at the beginning of our undertaking. It is hoped that by these figures students will be given the clearest possible proof that, as Plato said, "The Deity geometrizes".

First the • (Point), the Monad, Bythus (the Deep), the unknown and unknowable Father. Then the (Triangle), Bythus and the first emanated pair or Duad,

Nous (Mind) and its syzygy Aletheia (Truth). Then the (Square), the dual Duad, Tetractys or Quaternary, two males ‖, the Logos (Word) and Anthrôpos (Man), two females, their syzygies, ＝ Zoê (Life) and Ekklesia (the Church or Assembly), Seven in all. The Triangle the Potentiality of Spirit, the Square the Potentiality of Matter; the Vertical Straight Line the Potency of Spirit, and the Horizontal the Potency of Matter. Next comes the Pentagram the Pentad, the mysterious symbol of the Manasáputras or Sons of Wisdom, which together with their syzygies make 10, or the Decad; and last of all, the Hexalpha or interlaced Triangles the Hexad, which with their syzygies make 12, or the Dodecad. Such are the Contents of the Pleroma or Completion, the Ideas in the Divine Mind, 28 in all, for Bythus or the Father is not reckoned, as it is the Root of all. The two small circles within the Pleroma are the syzygy Christos-Pneuma (Christ and the Holy Spirit); these are after-emanations, and, as such, from one aspect, typify the descent of Spirit to inform and evolve Matter, which essentially proceeds from the same source; and from another, the descent or incarnation of the Kumâras or the Higher Egos of Humanity.

The Circle of the Pleroma is bounded by a circumference emanated from Bythus (the Point), this is called the Horus (Boundary), Staurus (Stock, Stake, or Cross) and Metæcheus (Participator); it shuts off the Pleroma (or Completion) from the Hysterêma (the Inferiority or Incompletion), the larger from the smaller Circle, the Unmanifested from the Manifested. Within the Circle of the Hvsterêma is the Square of primordial Matter, or Chaos, emanated by Sophia, called the Ektrôma (or Abortion). Above this is a Triangle, primordial Spirit, called the Common Fruit of the Pleroma, or Jesus, for to all below the Pleroma it appears as a unity. Notice how the Triangle and Square of the Hysterêma are a reflection of the Triangle and Square of the Pleroma. Finally, the plane of the paper, enclosing and penetrating all, is Sigê (Silence) (1).

Some General Hints towards an Explanation of the Figures

In all the figures except Fig. 8 the great Hermetic axiom, "As above, so below" is triumphantly shown forth, as also the idea of the Syzygy, pair or opposite. Let us begin with Fig. 8, remembering that the Point produces the Line; the Line the Superficies; and the Superficies the Solid.

In this figure we have a symbol of Fire or Spirit. The vertical line, in the centre of the figure, is the subtlest Fire; this gradually falls into the shape of triangles, their vertical angles growing less and less acute, as their bases expand and at the same time rise to higher planes. Six planes or bases in all, and six triangles, with the point the seventh. The seventh figure generated from the point is the right-angled triangle, the most perfect. The more acute the angle the subtler the Fire, until it finally reaches the right angle, the balance or turning-point of all angles.

Now let us take the central point of the whole figure and join it with the extremities of the bases of the triangles; we shall then find that with the point again we have a second series of Seven, viz., the point, two acute-angled, one right-angled, two obtuse-angled triangles, and the horizontal diameter of the Figure. These are the Rupa Planes, the first septenary being the seven fiery Logoi, the second septenary the seven Globes on the four lower planes of the great septenate, &c., &c. Notice again the series of quadrilaterals formed by the intersection of the bases and sides of the triangles, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10, the perfect number. Therefore starting from our perpendicular, or Spirit, we arrive by a series of angles through every variety of acuteness to the right-angled triangle, and pass from it through every variety of obtuseness to the horizontal diameter, Matter.

This great fact may be more plainly seen in Figs. 11–18, where the same series is traced in rectangular quadrilaterals, of which the balance or turning-point is the Square. Of course it must be remembered that only the perfect types are given, the intermediate types being infinite. For instance, to get from Fig. 11 to Fig. 12 an infinity of points are required; from Fig. 12 to Fig. 13 an infinity of lines; from

(1) It is hardly necessary to point out the wonderful concordance of this system with that of the Secret Doctrine. The mysteries of the Higher and Lower Ego are presented, perhaps, almost too clearly.

Fig. 13 to Fig. 14 an infinity of intermediate figures, &c., seven infinities and seven eternities in all.

In these figures also it should be noticed that the Vertical has expanded and again decreased into the Horizontal, but in doing so has changed its direction, in other words the wheel has turned. In one of the following papers it is hoped to show the generation of the Svastica and its connection with these figures.

Having now obtained our most perfect triangular figure, viz., the right-angled Triangle, let us proceed to trace the operations of a pair of these. In the series of figures 1–8, we notice the triangle of Spirit with its apex upward and the triangle of Matter with its apex downward. Let those who wish to understand the two Circles surrounding these triangles and gradually involving into one another until finally they became one (Fig. 7), remember the Caduceus, and think over what is said in the Secret Doctrine (vol. pp. 550 et seqq.), about the "lemniscate" and also about the development of a germ-cell (vol. ii, pp. 117 et seqq.).

These Triangles produce Squares by their intersection, and we get the following series of Points generated, 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36 and 49, which is 1², 2², 3², 4², 5², 6², 7².

Thus are the Forty nine Fires generated.

At the fourth stage the primal type of the spindle () is repeated, but as a duality; in the two succeeding figures this duality is repeated but on a smaller and smaller scale until in Fig. 8, it disappears entirely.

Let us now combine our previous figures and we obtain Fig. 9. All is generated from the Point (the First Logos). Thus from it we have six descending triangles six spheres of matter, which together with the point make seven. So also with the fainter triangles and circles of spirit which ascend. And yet the two points of departure are essentially one in nature. The horizontal diameter is neither dark nor light, neither spirit nor matter, as is also the greatest circumscribing circle.

Fig. 10 is an amplification of Fig. 7. It is the Pyramid unfolded, and the "Four-faced Brahm", the "four Maharahjas," etc., and all the quaternaries; it is also the expansion of the Tetractys. Notice the two series of three Squares each and the Point in the centre, seven in all. Notice also that the Square of Twelve Fires is bounded by Triangles of Ten. The representation of the Pythagorean Tetractys was a triangle containing ten Yods.

Our figure being a perfect type, if the comers are folded to the central point, the Fires, or syzygies, coincide, and this process can be repeated until the whole figure disappears in the Point. But in nature the type is imperfect, and the Fires are at unequal distances, so that in folding over the four corners, the Solid Pyramid is formed, its spiritual axis and its material basal diameters varying with the proportion of spirit and matter in any manifestation.

Fig. 7 will give us all our pairs, and initiate us into the mystery of Reflection. Thus we have 2 ones, 2 twos, 2 threes, 2 fours, 2 fives, 2 sixes, but only one seven. Here then we have all the mysterious gnostic numbers; from 1 to 7, then 8, or the Ogdoad, 10 or the Decad, and 12 or the Dodecad.

Much more, indeed, might be written; but, perhaps, enough has already been said to direct the attention of students to the mystery of the Forty-nine Fires, and give them a key to the comprehension of the hitherto hopeless obscurity of the Gnostic writers in the eyes of the moderns.