(1) It came to pass then, when the First Mystery had heard these words, that he said: "Well said, James, beloved one." And the First Mystery continued again in the discourse and said unto his disciples: "It came to pass, when I had led Pistis Sophia out of the chaos, that she cried out again and said: "'1. I am saved out of the chaos and loosed from the bonds of the darkness. I am come unto thee, O Light. "'2. For thou wert light on all sides of me, saving me and helping me. "'3. And the emanations of Self-willed, which fought against me, thou hast hindered through thy light, and they could not come nigh me; for thy light was with me and saved me through thy light-stream. "'4. Because in sooth the emanations of Self-willed constrained me, they took from me my power and cast me out into the chaos with no light in me. So I became as heavy-weighing matter in comparison with them. "'5. And thereafter came a light-stream unto me through thee which saved me; it shone on my left and on my right and surrounded me on all sides of me, so that no part of me was without light. "'6. And thou hast covered me with the light of thy stream and purged from me all my evil matters; and I shall be relieved of all my matters because of thy light. "'7. And it is thy light-stream which hath raised me up and taken from me the emanations of Self-willed which constrained me. "'8. And I have become sure-trusting in thy light and purified light in thy stream. "'9. And the emanations of Self-willed which constrained me, have withdrawn themselves from me; and I shone in thy great power, for thou savest for ever.' "This is the repentance which Pistis Sophia hath uttered, when she came forth out of the chaos and was freed from the bonds of the chaos. Now, therefore, who hath ears to hear, let him hear."

(1) And Jesus continued again in the discourse and said unto his disciples: "It came to pass then, when Pistis Sophia had finished saying these words in the chaos, that I made the light-power, which I had sent to save her, become a light-wreath on her head, so that from now on the emanations of Self-willed could not have dominion over her. And when it had become a light-wreath round her head, all the evil matters in her were shaken and all were purified in her. They perished and remained in the chaos, while the emanations of Self-willed gazed upon them and rejoiced. And the purification of the pure light which was in Pistis Sophia, gave power to the light of my light-power, which had become a wreath round her head. "It came to pass then moreover, when it surrounded the pure light in Sophia, and her pure light did not depart from the wreath of the power of the light-flame, so that the emanations of Self-willed should not rob it from it,--when then this befell her, the pure light-power in Sophia began to sing praises. And she praised my light-power, which was a wreath round her head, and she sang praises, saying: "'1. The Light hath become a wreath round

(1) "'2. Its plotting taketh away the light from me all the time, and as sharp iron have they taken away power from me. "'3. I chose to descend into the chaos rather than to abide in the thirteenth æon, the region of Righteousness. "'4. And they desired to lead me craftily, in order to consume my whole light. "'5. For this cause then will the Light take away their whole light, and also their whole matter will be made naught. And it will take away their light and not suffer them to abide in the thirteenth æon, their dwelling-place, and will not have their name in the region of those who shall live. "'6. And the four-and-twenty emanations will see what hath befallen thee, O lion-faced power, and will be afraid and not be disobedient, but give the purification of their light. "'7. And they will see thee and will rejoice over thee and say: Lo, an emanation which hath not given the purification of its light, so that it may be saved, but boasted itself in the abundance of the light of its power, because it did not emanate from the power in it, and hath said: I will take away the light from Pistis Sophia, which will now be taken from it.' "Now, therefore, let him in whom his power is raised, come forward and proclaim the solution of the eleventh repentance of Pistis Sophia." Then Salome came forward and said: "My Lord, concerning this thy light-power prophesied aforetime through David in the fifty-first Psalm, saying:

(3) And the disciples had not seen Jesus because of the great light in which he was, or which was about him; for their eyes were darkened because of the great light in which he was. But they saw only the light, which shot forth many light-rays. And the light-rays were not like one another, but the light was of divers kind, and it was of divers type, from below upwards, one [ray] more excellent than the other, . . ., in one great immeasurable glory of light; it stretched from under the earth right up to heaven.--And when the disciples saw that light, they fell into great fear and great agitation.

(3) On this subject the learned Jesuit, Athanasius Kircher, usually dependable, exhibits a striking inconsistency. In his Œdipus Ægyptiacus he writes: "Not a few of these ever-burning lamps have been found to be the devices of devils, * * * And I take it that all the lamps found in the tombs of the Gentiles dedicated to the worship of certain gods, were of this kind, not because they burned, or have been reported to burn, with a perpetual flame, but because probably the devil set them there, maliciously intending thereby to obtain fresh credence for a false worship."

(9) "Finally, O Shem, consider yourself pleasing in the thought of the light. Do not let your thought have dealings with the fire and the body of darkness, which was an unclean work. These things that I teach you are right.

(5) "Then you don't think that I have sought?" "Yes, if you think you do not know." So with the lamps of the wise virgins, lighted at night in the great darkness of ignorance, which the Scripture signified by "night." Wise souls, pure as virgins, understanding themselves to be situated amidst the ignorance of the world, kindle the light, and rouse the mind, and illumine the darkness, and dispel ignorance, and seek truth, and await the appearance of the Teacher.

(2) "'1. I will sing praises unto thee, O Light, for I desired to come unto thee. I will sing thee praises, O Light, for thou art my deliverer. "'2. Leave me not in the chaos. Save me, O Light of the Height, for it is thou that I have praised. "'3. Thou has sent me thy light through thyself and hast saved me. Thou hast led me to the higher regions of the chaos. "'4. May the emanations of Self-willed which pursue me, sink down into the lower regions of the chaos, and let them not come to the higher regions to see me. "'5. And may great darkness cover them and darker gloom come over them. And let them not see me in the light of thy power, which thou hast sent unto me to save me, so that they may not again get dominion over me. "'6. And let not their resolution which they have formed, to take away my power, take effect for them. And as they have spoken against me, to take from me my light, take rather from them theirs instead of mine. "'7. And they have proposed to take away my whole light and have not been able to take it, for thy light-power was with me. "'8. Because they have taken counsel without thy commandment, O Light, therefore have they not been able to take away my light. "'9. Because I have had faith in the Light, I shall not be afraid; and the Light is my deliverer and I shall not fear.' "Now, therefore, let him whose power is exalted, speak the solution of the words which Pistis Sophia hath uttered." And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished speaking these words unto his disciples, that Salome came forward and said: "My Lord, my power constraineth me to speak the solution of the words which Pistis Sophia hath uttered. Thy power hath prophesied aforetime through Solomon, saying:

(19) No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light. The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness. If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.

(12) And this is the condemnation, that light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

(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.

(1) With that "brightness of lightning" He kindled their souls That, which shone from Adam was gathered by Seth, When Noah received the gift of that lustre, By that light the soul of Abraham was led, Without fear he entered Nimrod's fiery furnace. When Ishmael sought out that light, He meekly laid his head beneath his father's bright knife. The soul of David was warmed by its heat, When Solomon was nurtured by its fruition, When Jacob bowed his head to the Divine decree, When moonlike Joseph saw that brilliant sun, When the staff drew might from the hand of Moses,

(40) Now I have said that there is a False Light; but I must tell you more particularly what it is, and what belongeth thereunto. Behold, all that is contrary to the True Light belongeth unto the False. To the True Light it belongeth of necessity, that it seeketh not to deceive, nor consenteth that any should be wronged or deceived, neither can it be deceived. But the false is deceived and a delusion, and deceiveth others along with itself. For God deceiveth no man, nor willeth that any should be deceived, and so it is with His True Light. Now mark, the True Light is God or divine, but the False Light is Nature or natural. Now it belongeth to God, that He is neither this nor that, neither willeth nor desireth, nor seeketh anything in the man whom He hath made a partaker of the divine nature, save Goodness as Goodness, and for the sake of Goodness. This is the token of the True Light. But to the Creature and Nature it belongeth to be somewhat, this or that, and to intend and seek something, this or that, and not simply what is good without any Wherefore. And as God and the True Light are without all self-will, selfishness, and self-seeking, so do the I, the Me, the Mine, and the like, belong unto the natural and false Light; for in all things it seeketh itself and its own ends, rather than Goodness for the sake of Goodness. This is its property, and the property of nature or the carnal man in each of us. Now mark how it first cometh to be deceived. It doth not desire nor choose Goodness as Goodness, and for the sake of Goodness, but desireth and chooseth itself and its own ends, rather than the Highest Good; and this is an error, and is the first deception. Secondly, it dreameth itself to be that which it is not, for it dreameth itself to be God, and is truly nothing but nature. And because it imagineth itself to be God, it taketh to itself what belongeth to God; and not that which is God’s, when He is made man, or dwelleth in a Godlike man, but that which is God’s, and belongeth unto Him, as He is in eternity, without the creature. For, as it is said, God needeth nothing, is free, not bound to work, apart by Himself, above all things, and so forth (which is all true); and God is unchangeable, not to be moved by anything, and is without conscience, and what He doeth that is well done; “So will I be,” saith the False Light, “for the more like God one is, the better one is, and therefore I will be like God and will be God, and will sit and go and stand at His right hand”: as Lucifer the Evil Spirit also said.45 Now God in Eternity is without contradiction, suffering and grief, and nothing can hurt or vex Him of all that is or befalleth. But with God, when He is made Man, it is otherwise. In a word: all that can be deceived is deceived by this False Light. Now since all is deceived by this False Light that can be deceived, and all that is creature and nature, and all that is not God nor of God, may be deceived, and since this False Light itself is nature, it is possible for it to be deceived. And therefore it becometh and is deceived by itself, in that it riseth and climbeth to such a height that it dreameth itself to be above nature, and fancieth it to be impossible for nature or any creature to get so high, and therefore it cometh to imagine itself God. And hence it taketh unto itself all that belongeth unto God, and specially what is His as He is in Eternity, and not as He is made Man. Therefore it thinketh and declareth itself to be above all works, words, customs, laws and order, and above that life which Christ led in the body which He possessed in His holy human nature.

In a vision an apostolic person saw people who were locked up in a house of fire, bound with [chains] of fire, and thrown [into]…fire [on account of…false] faith. It was said, “[They might have] saved [their souls], but they did not want to, so they got [this place of ] punishment called the [outer] darkness….”

Those who have gone astray, who are offspring of the spirit, go astray also because of the spirit. Thus from one spirit the fire blazes and the fire is extinguished.

(33) For by the great Longing of the Darkness after the Light and Virtue of God, this World has been generated out of the Darkness, where the holy Virtue of God [shone, or] beheld itself in the Darkness, and therefore this great Desiring and Longing after the divine Virtue, continues in the Spirit of the Sun, Stars, and Elements, and in all Things. All groan and pant after the divine Virtue, and would fain be delivered from the Vanity of the Devil: But seeing that cannot be, therefore all Creatures must wait till their Dissolution, when they [shall] go into their Ether, and get a Place in Paradise, yet only in the Figure and Shadow, and the Spirit [must] be dissolved, which here has had such Lust [or Longing.]

(7) 'Then they see (within themselves) the ever-present light of the old seed (of the world, the Sat), the highest, which is lighted in the brilliant (Brahman).' Rig-veda I, 50, 10:-- 'Perceiving above the darkness (of ignorance) the higher light (in the sun), as the higher light within the heart, the bright source (of light and life) among the gods, we have reached the highest light, yea, the highest light .'

(1) "'O Light of lights, thou wilt go to the Light and depart from me. And Tyrant Adamas will know that thou hast departed from me and will know that my saviour is not at hand. And he will come again to this region, he and all his rulers who hate me, and Self-willed also will bestow power unto his lion-faced emanation, so that they all will come and constrain me all together and take my whole light from me, in order that I may become powerless and again without light. Now, therefore, O Light and my Light, take from them the power of their light, so that they may not be able to constrain me from now on.'

(2) Numerous authorities have written on the subject of ever-burning lamps. W. Wynn Westcott estimates the number of writers who have given the subject consideration as more than 150, and H. P. Blavatsky as 173. While conclusions reached by different authors are at variance, a majority admit the existence of these phenomenal lamps. Only a few maintained that the lamps would burn forever, but many were willing to concede that they might remain alight for several centuries without replenishment of the fuel. Some considered the so-called perpetual lights as mere artifices of the crafty pagan priests, while a great many, admitting that the lamps actually burned, made the sweeping assertion that the Devil was using this apparent miracle to ensnare the credulous and thereby lead their souls to perdition.

(5) And their fathers were witnesses (of their destruc- tion), and after this they were bound in the depths of the earth for ever, until the day of the great con- demnation, when judgment is executed on all those who have corrupted their ways and their works before the Lord. n. And He | destroyed! all from their places, and there jwasf not left one of them whom He judged not according to all their wickedness.