(5) Then the darkness together with Hades took the fire. And he (the darkness) will release from himself what is mine. His eyes were not able to endure my light. After the spirits and the waters moved, the remainder came into being: the whole aeon of the creation, and their . The fire came forth from them and the Power came in the midst of the powers. And the powers desired to see my image. And the soul became its replica.

(37) And indeed he has done somewhat, in that he has set the divine power into a burning, which appeareth even in the sun and stars; also the fire in the Salitter in the elements is often kindled, so that it seemeth as if the deep were of a burning fire; of which I shall speak in another place. [He stept back out of the meekness into the anxious fire-will, and fell into darkness. The Reader is advertised that he must not understand in any place, as if the devil had kindled or fired the light of God; no, but the forms of nature only, out of which the light shineth. For he has not comprehended the light, as little as the fire does, which cannot lay hold on " the light: But he entered into the fire, and is expelled into the darkness, and has neither fire nor light, besides, without or distinct from his creature." [Or his own creaturely- ness.]

(4) E'en with these words His aspect changed, and straightway, in the twinkling of an eye, all things were opened to me, and I see a Vision limitless, all things turned into Light - sweet, joyous [Light]. And I became transported as I gazed. But in a little while Darkness came settling down on part [of it], awesome and gloomy, coiling in sinuous folds, so that methought it like unto a snake. And then the Darkness changed into some sort of a Moist Nature, tossed about beyond all power of words, belching out smoke as from a fire, and groaning forth a wailing sound that beggars all description. [And] after that an outcry inarticulate came forth from it, as though it were a Voice of Fire.

(2) "'9. Have mercy upon me, O Light, for they have oppressed me again. Because of thy commandment, the light in me is distracted and my power and my understanding. "'10. My power hath begun to wane whiles I am in these afflictions, and the number of my time whiles I am in the chaos. My light is diminished, for they have taken away my power from me, and all the powers in me are tossed about. "'11. I am become powerless in the presence of all the rulers of the æons, who hate me, and in the presence of the four-and-twenty emanations, in whose region I was. And my brother, my pair, was afraid to help me, because of that in which they have set me. "'12. And all the rulers of the height have counted me as matter in which is no light. I am become as a material power which hath fallen out of the rulers, "'13. And all who are in the æons said: She hath become chaos. And thereafter all the pitiless powers encompassed me together and proposed to take away the whole light in me. "'14. But I have trusted in thee, O Light, and said: Thou art my saviour. "'15. And my commandment, which thou hast decreed for me, is in thy hands. Save me out of the hands of the emanations of Self-willed, which oppress me and persecute me. "'16. Send thy light over me, for I am as naught before thee, and save me according to thy compassion. "'17. Let me not be despised, for I have sung praises unto thee, O Light. Let chaos cover the emanations of Self-willed, let them be led down into the darkness. "'18. Let the mouth of them be shut up, who would devour me with guile, who say: Let us take the whole light in her,--although I have done them no ill.'"

(4) "'1. I have cried unto thee, O Light of lights, in my oppression and thou hast hearkened unto me. "'2. O Light, save my power from unjust and lawless lips and from crafty traps. "'3. The light which was being taken from me in crafty snaring, will not be brought unto thee. "'4. For the traps of Self-willed and the nooses of the merciless [one] are spread out. "'5. Woe unto me, that my dwelling was far off, and I was in the dwellings of the chaos. "'6. My power was in regions which are not mine. "'7. And I entreated those merciless [ones]; and when I entreated them, they fought against me without a cause.'"

(2) "'1. I will give thanks unto thee, O Light, for thou art a saviour; thou art a deliverer for all time. "'2. I will utter this song to the Light, for it hath saved me and saved me out of the hand of the rulers, my foes. "'3. And thou hast preserved me in all the regions, thou hast saved me out of the height and the depth of the chaos and out of the æons of the rulers of the sphere. "'4. And when I was come out of the Height, I wandered round in regions in which is no light, and I could not return to the thirteenth æon, my dwelling-place. "'5. For there was no light in me nor power. My power was utterly weakened (?). "'6. And the Light saved me in all my afflictions. I sang praises unto the Light, and it hearkened unto me, when I was constrained. "'7. It guided me in the creation of the æons to lead me up into the thirteenth æon, my dwelling-place. "'8. I will give thanks unto thee, O Light, that thou hast saved me, and for thy wondrous works unto the race of men. "'9. When I failed of my power, thou hast given me power; and when I failed of my light, thou didst fill me with purified light. "'10. I was in the darkness and in the shadow of the chaos, bound with the mighty fetters of the chaos, and no light was in me. "'11. For I have provoked the commandment of the Light and have transgressed, and I have made wroth the commandment of the Light, because I had gone out of my region. "'12. And when I had gone down, I failed of my light and became without light, and no one had helped me. "'13. And in my affliction I sang praises unto the Light, and it saved me out of my afflictions. "'14. And it hath also broken asunder all my bonds and led me up out of the darkness and the affliction of the chaos. "'15. I will give thanks unto thee, O Light, that thou hast saved me and that thy wondrous works have been wrought in the race of men. "'16. And thou hast shattered the upper gates of the darkness and the mighty bolts of the chaos. "'17. And thou didst let me depart out of the region in which I had transgressed, and my light was taken, because I have transgressed. "'18. And I ceased from my mysteries and went down to the gates of the chaos. "'19. And when I was constrained, I sang praises to the Light. It saved me out of all my afflictions. "'20. Thou sentest thy stream; it gave me power and saved me out of all my afflictions. "'21. I will give thanks unto thee, O Light, that thou hast saved me, and for thy wondrous works in the race of men.' "This then is the song which Pistis Sophia hath uttered in the midst of the four-and-twenty invisibles, desiring that they should know all the wondrous works which I had done for her, and desiring that they should know that I have gone to the world of men and have given them the mysteries of the Height. Now, therefore, who is exalted in his thought, let him come forward and say the solution of the song which Pistis Sophia hath uttered."

(2) "'1. O Light of lights, I have had faith in thee. Save me from all these rulers who pursue after me, and help me, "'2. That in sooth they may never take from me my light, as the lion-faced power [did]. For thy light is not with me and thy light-stream to save me. Nay, Adamas is the more enraged against me, saying unto me: Thou hast imprisoned my power in the chaos. "'3. Now, therefore, O Light of lights, if I have done this and have imprisoned it, if I have done any injustice at all to that power, "'4. Or if I have constrained it, as it hath constrained me, then let all these rulers who pursue after me, take my light from me and leave me empty; "'5. And let foe Adamas pursue after my power and seize upon it and take my light from me and cast it into his dark power which is in the chaos, and keep my power in the chaos. "'6. Now, therefore, O Light, lay hold on me in thy wrath and lift up thy power above my foes who have lifted themselves up against me to the very end. "'7. Quicken me quickly, as thou hast said unto me: I will help thee.'

(101) For the light of God, and the spirit of God, cannot comprehend the sharp birth or geniture, and therefore they are two distinct Persons; and so lord Lucifer could no more touch, see, feel or taste the Heart of God and the Holy Spirit of God, with his austere, cold and hard firebirth, but was spewed out with his fire-spirit into the outermost nature, wherein he had kindled the wrath-fire.

(3) "'1. Light of my salvation, I sing praise unto thee in the region of the height and again in the chaos. "'2. I sing praise unto thee in my hymn with which I sang praise in the height and with which I sang praise unto thee when I was in the chaos. Let it come into thy presence, and give heed, O Light, to my repentance. "'3. For my power is filled up with darkness, and my light hath gone down into the chaos. "'4. I am myself become as the rulers of the chaos, who are gone into the darknesses below; I am become as a material body, which hath no one in the height who will save it. "'5. I am become also as matters from which their power hath been taken, when they are cast down into the chaos,--[matters] which thou hast not saved, and they are condemned utterly by thy commandment. "'6. Now, therefore, have they put me into the darkness below,--in darknesses and matters which are dead and in them [is] no power. "'7. Thou hast brought thy commandment upon me and all things which thou hast decreed. "'8. And thy spirit hath withdrawn and abandoned me. And moreover by thy commandment the emanations of my eon have not helped me and have hated me and separated themselves from me, and yet am I not utterly destroyed. "'9. And my light is diminished in me, and I have cried up to the light with all the light in me, and I have stretched forth my hands unto thee. "'10. Now, therefore, O Light, wilt thou not accomplish thy commandment in the chaos, and will not the deliverers, who come according to thy commandment, arise in the darkness and come and be disciples for thee'? "'11. Will they not utter the mystery of thy name in the chaos? "'12. Or will they not rather utter thy name in a matter of the chaos, in which thou wilt not [thyself] purify? "'13. But I have sung praises unto thee, O Light, and my repentance will reach unto thee in the height. "'14. Let thy light come upon me, "'15. For they have taken my light, and I am in pain on account of the Light from the time when I was emanated. And when I had looked into the height to the Light, then I looked down below at the light-power in the chaos; I rose up and went down. "'16. Thy commandment came upon me, and the terrors, which thou didst decree for me, have brought me into delusion. "'17. And they have surrounded me, in numbers as water, they have laid hold on me together all my time. "'18. And by thy commandment thou hast not suffered my fellow-emanations to help me, nor hast thou suffered my pair to save me out of my afflictions.' "This then is the fifth repentance which Pistis Sophia hath uttered in the chaos, when all the material emanations of Self-willed had continued and oppressed her."

(3) "And all rulers and all authorities and all angels therein were thrown all together into agitation because of the great light which was on me. And they gazed at the radiant vesture of light with which I was clad, and they saw the mystery which contains their names, and they feared most exceedingly. And all their bonds with which they were bound, were unloosed and every one left his order, and they all fell down before me, adored and said: 'How hath the lord of the universe passed through us without our knowing?' And they all sang praises together to the interiors of the interiors; but me they saw not, but they saw only the light. And they were in great fear and were exceedingly agitated and sang praises to the interiors of the interiors.

(2) And the sun's face, uprising, overshadowed So that by tempering influence of vapours For a long interval the eye sustained it; Thus in the bosom of a cloud of flowers Which from those hands angelical ascended, And downward fell again inside and out, Over her snow-white veil with olive cinct Appeared a lady under a green mantle, Vested in colour of the living flame. And my own spirit, that already now So long a time had been, that in her presence Trembling with awe it had not stood abashed, Without more knowledge having by mine eyes, Through occult virtue that from her proceeded Of ancient love the mighty influence felt. As soon as on my vision smote the power Sublime, that had already pierced me through Ere from my boyhood I had yet come forth, To the left hand I turned with that reliance With which the little child runs to his mother, When he has fear, or when he is afflicted, To say unto Virgilius: "Not a drachm Of blood remains in me, that does not tremble; I know the traces of the ancient flame."

(1) "'1. Why pursue ye after me and say: I should not have help, that it [ sc. the Light] should save me from you? "'2. Now, therefore, my vindicator is the Light and a strong [one]; but it is long-suffering until the time of which it hath said unto me: I will come and help thee. And it will not bring its wrath upon you always. But this is the time of which he hath spoken unto me. "'3. Now, therefore, if ye turn not back and cease not to pursue after me, then will the Light make ready its power, and it will make itself ready in all its powers. "'4. And in its power hath it made itself ready, so that it may take your lights which are in you, and ye may become dark; and its power hath brought it to pass, so that it may take your power from you and ye go to ground.' "And when Pistis Sophia had said this, she looked at the region of Adamas and saw the dark and chaotic region which he had made, and saw also the two dark exceedingly violent emanations which Adamas had emanated, in order that they might seize Pistis Sophia and cast her down into the chaos which he had made, and constrain and harass her in that region, until they should take her light from her. It came to pass then, when Pistis Sophia had seen those two dark emanations and the dark region which Adamas had made, that she feared and cried unto the Light, saying:

(23) Then again was heard the voice of Poimandres, but His form was not revealed: "I Thy God am the Light and the Mind which were before substance was divided from spirit and darkness from Light. And the Word which appeared as a pillar of flame out of the darkness is the Son of God, born of the mystery of the Mind. The name of that Word is Reason. Reason is the offspring of Thought and Reason shall divide the Light from the darkness and establish Truth in the midst of the waters. Understand, O Hermes, and meditate deeply upon the mystery. That which in you sees and hears is not of the earth, but is the Word of God incarnate. So it is said that Divine Light dwells in the midst of mortal darkness, and ignorance cannot divide them. The union of the Word and the Mind produces that mystery which is called Life. As the darkness without you is divided against itself, so the darkness within you is likewise divided. The Light and the fire which rise are the divine man, ascending in the path of the Word, and that which fails to ascend is the mortal man, which may not partake of immortality. Learn deeply of the Mind and its mystery, for therein lies the secret of immortality."

(25) Now thus the eternal Light, and the Virtue of the Light, or the heavenly Paradise, moves in the eternal Darkness; and the Darkness cannot comprehend the Light; for they are two several Principles; and the Darkness longs after the Light, because that the Spirit beholds itself therein, and because the divine Virtue is manifested in it. But though it has not comprehended the divine Virtue and Light, yet it has continually with great Lust lifted up itself towards it, till it has kindled the Root of the Fire in itself, from the Beams of the Light of God; and there arose the third Principle: And it has its Original out of the first Principle, out of the dark Matrix, by the Speculating of the Virtue for Power] of God. But when the kindled Virtue in this springing up [of the third Principle] in the Darkness became fiery, then God put the Fiat therein, and by the moving Spirit, which goes forth in the Virtue of the Light, created the fiery Source in a bodily Manner, and severed it from the Matrix, and the Spirit called the fiery created Properties Stars, for their Quality.

(129) For at the very hour when Lucifer elevated himself the Father was moved to wrath in the qualifying or fountain spirits against the legions of Lucifer; and the Heart of God hid itself in the firmament of heaven, where the Salitter, effect, product or fabric of the corporeity was burning already; for without or distinct from the light is the dark chamber of death.

(63) But when he elevated himself, intending to rule the whole Deity with his animated or soulish spirit, then the stock and heart of light, which is the kernel, marrow or pith of love in the sweet water, became a fierce and hotly pursuing fire, source or quality, from whence in the whole body existed a very trembling, burning government and birth or geniture.

(1) Darkness of hell, and of a night deprived Of every planet under a poor sky, As much as may be tenebrous with cloud, Ne'er made unto my sight so thick a veil, As did that smoke which there enveloped us, Nor to the feeling of so rough a texture; For not an eye it suffered to stay open; Whereat mine escort, faithful and sagacious, Drew near to me and offered me his shoulder. E'en as a blind man goes behind his guide, Lest he should wander, or should strike against Aught that may harm or peradventure kill him, So went I through the bitter and foul air, Listening unto my Leader, who said only, "Look that from me thou be not separated." Voices I heard, and every one appeared To supplicate for peace and misericord The Lamb of God who takes away our sins. Still "Agnus Dei" their exordium was; One word there was in all, and metre one, So that all harmony appeared among them. "Master," I said, "are spirits those I hear?" And he to me: "Thou apprehendest truly, And they the knot of anger go unloosing."

(12) And in his pride he struck and smote himself with darkness and blindness, and made himself a devil, and that he must be, and abide so eternally. ["In God he knew only the Majesty, and not the Word in the centre, which has the fan or casting shovel: He blinded himself with the astringent darkness; for he would needs in flame himself, and rule in the fire over the light, and over the meekness."]

(23) But now the holy God would not let this place of his body (understand the space or room of this world) stand in eternal darkness and ignominy, and leave it to the devils for their proper own, but generated a new regimen or dominion of light, and of all the seven qualifying or fountain spirits of the Deity; which the devil could neither apprehend, nor lay hold on, nor touch; neither was it useful or profitable to him at all.

(22) And we find greater Mysteries yet in Evidence of the horrible Fall; for after that the four Elements had thus set themselves every one in a several Region, then they made themselves Lords over the Spirit of the Soul, which was generated out of the Essences, and they have taken it into their Power, and qualify with it. The Fire, viz. the mightiest of them, has taken it into its Region [or Jurisdiction] in the Heart; and there it must mkeep, and the Blossom and Light thereof goes out of the Heart, and moves upon the Heart, as the kindled Light of a Candle, where the Candle resembles the fleshly Heart, with the Essences out of which the Light shines. And the Fire has set itself over the Essences, and continually reaches after the Light, and it supposes that it has the Virgin, viz. the divine Virtue [or Power.]