(44) The Father of the universe, as far as in lies, of His tireless might. e elements, however, and the stars - that is, the administrative powers - are ordained for the accomplishment of what is essential to the administration, and are influenced and moved by what is commanded to them, in the way in which the Word of the Lord leads, since it is the nature of the divine power to work all things secretly. He, accordingly, who alleges that he has conceived or made anything which pertains to creation, will suffer the punishment of his impious audacity.

(15) The gods, the Anunnaki, he 2 created at one time

(14) Before the times of the created heavens, the stars, and the elements, and before the creation of angels, there was no such wrath of God, no death, no devil, no earth nor stones, neither were there any stars. But the Deity generated itself very meekly and lovingly, and formed, framed and figured itself in ideas, shapes, and images, which were incorporated according to the qualifying or fountain spirits in their generating, wrestling, and rising up, and passed away again also through their wrestling, and figured or framed themselves into another form or condition, all according to the primacy or predominancy of each qualifying or fountain spirit, as you may read before.

(22) "He was given great authority, and he ruled over the creation of poverty. He created gods and angels, archangels, myriads without number for retinue, from that Light and the tri-male Spirit, which is that of Sophia, his consort. For from this, God originated divinity and kingdom. Therefore he was called 'God of gods' and 'King of kings'.

(19) Understand and consider it aright, O Man! God the Father made Man; the Beginning of whose Body is out of the [one] Element, or Root of the four Elements, from which they proceed, which [one Element] is the fifth Essence, [or Quintessence,] hid under the four Elements, from whence the dark Chaos [Mist, Cloud, or Dust] had its Being, before the Times of the Earth; whose Original is the Spring of Water, and out of which this World with the Stars and Elements, as also the Heaven of the third Principle, were created.

(12) Through Immortal Man appeared the first designation, namely, divinity and kingdom, for the Father, who is called 'Self-Father Man' revealed this. He created a great aeon for his own majesty. He gave him great authority, and he ruled over all creations. He created gods and archangels and angels, myriads without number for retinue.

(16) The Cosmos is all-formed - not having forms external to itself, but changing them itself within itself. Since, then, Cosmos is made to be all-formed, what may its maker be? For that, on the one hand, He should not be void of all form; and, on the other hand, if He's all-formed, He will be like the Cosmos. Whereas, again, has He a single form, He will thereby be less than Cosmos. What, then, say we He is? - that we may not bring round our sermon (logos) into doubt; for naught that mind conceives of God is doubtful. He, then, hath one idea, which is His own alone, which doth not fall beneath the sight, being bodiless, and [yet] by means of bodies manifesteth all [ideas]. And marvel not that there's a bodiless idea.

(11) There, in the person of the God of gods, Arjuna beheld the whole universe, with its manifold divisions, all gathered together in one.

(60) The simple saith, God made all things out of nothing. But he knoweth not that God; neither does he know what God is: for when he beholdeth the earth, together with the deep above the earth, he thinketh, verily all this is not God; or else he thinketh, God is not there. He always imagineth that God dwelleth only above the azure heaven of the stars, and ruleth, as it were, with some spirit which goeth forth from him into this world; and that his body is not present here upon the earth, nor in the earth.

(8) Pyruacoras saith:—I affirm that God existed before all things, and with Him was nothing, as He was at first. But know, all ye Philosophers, that I declare this in order that I may fortify your opinion concerning these four elements and arcana, as well as in the sciences thereof, at which no one can arrive save by the will of God. Understand, that when God was alone, He created four things—fre, air, water, and earth, out of which things He afterwards created all others, both the sublime and the inferior, because He predestinated from the beginning that all creatures extracted from water should multiply and increase, that they might dwell in the world and perform His judgments therein. Consequently, before all, He created the four elements, out of which He afterwards created what He willed, that is to say, diverse creatures, some of which were produced from a single element.*

The Turba saith:—Which are these, O Master?

And he:—They are the angels, whom He created out of fire. But the Turspa:—Which, then, are created out of two?

And he:—Out of the elements of fire and air are the sun, moon, and stars composed. Hence the angels are more lucid than the sun, moon, and stars, because they are created from one substance, which is less dense than two, while the sun and the stars are created from a composition of fire and air.

The Turba saith: And what concerning the creation of Heaven?

Then he:—God created the Heaven out of water and air, whence this is also composed of two, namely, the second of the rarer things, which is air, and the second of the denser things, which is water. And they:—Master, continue thy discourse concerning these three, and rejoice our hearts with thy sayings, which are life to the dead. But the

other answereth:—I notify to you that God hath further made creatures out of three and out of four; out of three are created flying things, beasts, and 4 vegetables; some of these are created out of water, air, and earth, some out of fire, air, and earth. But the Turba saith:—Distinguish these divers creatures one from another.

And he:— Beasts are created out of fire, air, and earth; flying things out of fire, air, and water, because flying things, and all among vegetables which have a spirit, are created out of water, while all brute animals are from earth, air, and fire. Yet in vegetables there is no fire, for they are created out of earth, water, and air. Whereat the Turba saith:—Let us assume that a fire, with your reverence’s pardon, does reside in vegetables.

And he:—Ye have spoken the truth, and I affirm that they contain fire. And they:—Whence is that fire?

He answereth:—Out of the heat of the air which is concealed therein; for I have signified that a thin fire is present in the air, but the elementary fire concerning which you were in doubt is not produced, except in things which have spirit and soul. But out of four elements our father Adam and his sons were created,* that is, of fire, air, water, and likewise earth. Understand, all ye that are wise, how everything which God hath created out of one essence dies not until the Day of Judgment. The definition of death is the disjunction of the composite, but there is no disjunction of that which is simple, for it is one. Death» consists in the separation of the soul from the body, because anything formed out of two, three, or four components must disintegrate, and this is death. Understand, further, that no complex substance which lacks fire eats, drinks, or sleeps, because in all things which have a spirit fire is that which eats.*

The Turba answereth:—How is it, Master, that the angels, being created of fire, do not eat, seeing thou assertest that fire is that which eats! And he: Hence ye doubt, each having his opinion, and ye are become opponents, but if ye truly knew the elements, ye would not deny these things. I agree with all whose judgment it is that simple fire eats not, but thick fire. The angels, therefore, are not created out of thick fire, but out of the thinnest of very thin fire; being created, then, of that which is most simple and exceedingly thin, they neither eat, drink, nor sleep.

And the Turba:— Master, our faculties are able to perceive, for by God’s assistance we have exhausted thy sayings, but our faculties of hearing and of sight are unable to carry such great things. May God reward thee for the sake of thy disciples, since it is with the object of instructing future generations that thou hast summoned us together from our countries, the recompense of which thou wilt not fail to receive from the Judge to come!

ArisLEeus saith:— Seeing that thou hast gathered us together for the advantage of posterity, 1 think that no explanations will be more useful than definitions of those four elements which thou hast taught us to attain.

And he:—None of you are, I suppose, ignorant that all the Wise have propounded definitions in God. The

Tureva answereth:—Should your disciples pass over anything, it becomes you, O Master, to avoid omissions for the sake of future generations.

And he:—If it please you, I will begin the disposition here, since envious men in their books have separated that, or otherwise I will put it at the end of the book.* Whereat the

Turba saith:—Place it where you think it will be clearest for future generations.

And he:—I will place it where it will not be recognised by the foolish,+ nor ignored by the Sons of the Doctrine, for it is the key, the perfection and the end.

A voice called from the exalted heavenly realm, The human exists and the human child. The first ruler, Yaldabaoth, heard the voice and thought it had come from his mother. He did not realize its source. The holy perfect mother-father, the complete forethought, the image of the invisible one, being the father of everything, through whom everything came into being, the first human— this is the one who showed them, and appeared in human shape. The entire realm of the first ruler quaked, and the foundations of the abyss shook. The bottom of the waters above the material world was lighted by this image that had appeared. When all the authorities and the first ruler stared at this appearance, they saw the whole bottom as it was illuminated. And through the light they saw the shape of the image in the water.

(1) He existed before anything other than himself came into being. The Father is a single one, like a number, for he is the first one and the one who is only himself. Yet he is not like a solitary individual. Otherwise, how could he be a father? For whenever there is a "father," the name "son" follows. But the single one, who alone is the Father, is like a root, with tree, branches and fruit. It is said of him that he is a father in the proper sense, since he is inimitable and immutable. Because of this, he is single in the proper sense, and is a god, because no one is a god for him nor is anyone a father to him. For he is unbegotten, and there is no other who begot him, nor another who created him. For whoever is someone's father or his creator, he, too, has a father and creator. It is certainly possible for him to be father and creator of the one who came into being from him and the one whom he created, for he is not a father in the proper sense, nor a god, because he has someone who begot him and who created him. It is, then, only the Father and God in the proper sense that no one else begot. As for the Totalities, he is the one who begot them and created them. He is without beginning and without end.

Yaldabaoth is the first ruler, who took great power from his mother. Then he left her and moved away from the place where he was born. He took control and created for himself other realms with luminous fire, which still exists. He mated with the mindlessness in him and produced authorities for himself: The name of the first is Athoth, whom generations call the reaper. The second is Harmas, who is the jealous eye. The third is Kalila-Oumbri. The fourth is Yabel. The fifth is Adonaios, who is called Sabaoth. The sixth is Cain, whom generations of people call the sun. The seventh is Abel. The eighth is Abrisene. The ninth is Yobel. The tenth is Armoupieel. The eleventh is Melcheir-Adonein. The twelfth is Belias, who is over the depth of the underworld. Yaldabaoth stationed seven kings, one for each sphere of heaven, to reign over the seven heavens, and five to reign over the depth of the abyss. He shared his fire with them, but he did not give away any of the power of the light that he had taken from his mother. For he is ignorant darkness. When light mixed with darkness, it made the darkness shine. When darkness mixed with light, it dimmed the light and became neither light nor darkness, but rather gloom. This gloomy ruler has three names: the first name is Yaldabaoth, the second is Sakla, the third is Samael. He is wicked in his mindlessness that is in him. He said, I am god and there is no other god but me, since he did not know where his own strength had come from. The rulers created seven powers for themselves, and the powers created six angels apiece, until there were 365 angels. These are the names and the corresponding appearances: The first is Athoth and has the face of sheep. The second is Eloaios and has the face of a donkey. The third is Astaphaios and has the face of a hyena. The fourth is Yao and has the face of a snake with seven heads. The fifth is Sabaoth and has the face of a snake. The sixth is Adonin and has the face of an ape. The seventh is Sabbataios and has a face of flaming fire. This is the sevenfold nature of the week. Yaldabaoth has many faces, more than all of these, so that he could show whatever face he wanted when he was among the seraphim. He shared his fire with them and lorded it over them because of the glorious power he had from his mother’s light. That is why he called himself god and defied the place from which he came. In his thought he united the seven powers with the authorities that were with him. When he spoke, it was done. He named each of the powers, beginning with the highest: First is goodness, with the first power, Athoth. Second is forethought, with the second power, Eloaios. Third is divinity, with the third power, Astaphaios. Fourth is lordship, with the fourth power, Yao. Fifth is kingdom, with the fifth power, Sabaoth. Sixth is jealousy, with the sixth power, Adonin. Seventh is understanding, with the seventh power, Sabbataios. Each has a sphere in its own realm. They were named after the glory above for the destruction of the powers. While the names given them by their maker were powerful, the names given them after the glory above would bring about their destruction and loss of power. That is why they have two names. Yaldabaoth organized everything after the pattern of the first realms that had come into being, so that he might create everything in an incorruptible form. Not that he had seen the incorruptible ones. Rather, the power that is in him, that he had taken from his mother, produced in him the pattern for the world order. When he saw creation surrounding him, and the throng of angels around him who had come forth from him, he said to them, I am a jealous god and there is no other god beside me. But by announcing this, he suggested to the angels with him that there is another god. For if there were no other god, of whom would he be jealous?

Yaldabaoth said to the authorities with him, Come, let us create a human being after the image of god and with a likeness to ourselves, so that this human image may give us light. They created through their respective powers, according to the features that were given to them. Each of the authorities contributed a psychical feature corresponding to the figure of the image they had seen. They created a being like the perfect first human and said, Let us call it Adam, that its name may give us power of light. The powers began to create: The first one, goodness, created a soul of bone. The second, forethought, created a soul of sinew. The third, divinity, created a soul of flesh. The fourth, lordship, created a soul of marrow. The fifth, kingdom, created a soul of blood. The sixth, jealousy, created a soul of skin. The seventh, understanding, created a soul of hair. The throng of angels stood by and received these seven psychical substances from the authorities in order to create a network of limbs and trunk, with all the parts properly arranged. The first one, who is Raphao, began by creating the head, Abron created the skull, Meniggesstroeth created the brain, Asterechme the right eye, Thaspomocha the left eye, Yeronumos the right ear, Bissoum the left ear, Akioreim the nose, Banen-Ephroum the lips, Amen the teeth, Ibikan the molars, Basiliademe the tonsils, Achcha the uvula, Adaban the neck, Chaaman the vertebrae, Dearcho the throat, Tebar the right shoulder, N——the left shoulder, Mniarchon the right elbow, ——e the left elbow, Abitrion the right underarm, Euanthen the left underarm, Krus the right hand, Beluai the left hand, Treneu the fingers of the right hand, Balbel the fingers of the left hand, Krima the fingernails, Astrops the right breast, Barroph the left breast, Baoum the right shoulder joint, Ararim the left shoulder joint, Areche the belly, Phthaue the navel, Senaphim the abdomen, Arachethopi the right ribs, Zabedo the left ribs, Barias the right hip, Phnouth the left hip, Abenlenarchei the marrow, Chnoumeninorin the bones, Gesole the stomach, Agromauma the heart, Bano the lungs, Sostrapal the liver, Anesimalar the spleen, Thopithro the intestines, Biblo the kidneys, Roeror the sinews, Taphreo the backbone, Ipouspoboba the veins, Bineborin the arteries, Aatoimenpsephei the breaths in all the limbs, Entholleia all the flesh, Bedouk the right buttock, Arabeei the left buttock, . . . the penis, Eilo the testicles, Sorma the genitals, Gormakaiochlabar the right thigh, Nebrith the left thigh, Pserem the muscles of the right leg, Asaklas the muscle of the left, Ormaoth the right leg, Emenun the left leg, Knux the right shin, Tupelon the left shin, Achiel the right ankle, Phneme the left ankle, Phiouthrom the right foot, Boabel its toes, Trachoun the left foot, Phikna its toes, Miamai the toenails, Labernioum. . . . Those who are appointed over all these are seven in number: Athoth, Armas, Kalila, Yabel, Sabaoth, Cain, Abel. Those who activate the limbs are, part by part: the head, Diolimodraza, the neck, Yammeax, the right shoulder, Yakouib, the left shoulder, Ouerton, the right hand, Oudidi, the left one, Arbao, the fingers of the right hand, Lampno, the fingers of the left hand, Leekaphar, the right breast, Barbar, the left breast, Imae, the chest, Pisandraptes, the right shoulder joint, Koade, the left shoulder joint, Odeor, the right ribs, Asphixix, the left ribs, Sunogchouta, the abdomen, Arouph, the womb, Sabalo, the right thigh, Charcharb, the left thigh, Chthaon, all the genitals, Bathinoth, the right leg, Choux, the left leg, Charcha, the right shin, Aroer, the left shin, Toechtha, the right ankle, Aol, the left ankle, Charaner, the right foot, Bastan, its toes, Archentechtha, the left foot, Marephnounth, its toes, Abrana. Seven have been empowered over all these: Michael, Uriel, Asmenedas, Saphasatoel, Aarmouriam, Richram, Amiorps. Those who are over the senses are Archendekta, the one who is over perception is Deitharbathas, the one who is over imagination is Oummaa, the one who is over arrangement is Aachiaram, the one who is over all impulse to action is Riaramnacho. The source of the demons that are in the entire body is divided into four: heat, cold, wetness, dryness. The mother of them all is matter. The one who is lord over heat is Phloxopha, the one who is lord over cold is Oroorrothos, the one who is lord over what is dry is Erimacho, the one who is lord over wetness is Athuro. The mother of all these, Onorthochras, stands in the midst of them, for she is unlimited and mingles with them all. She is matter, and by her they are nourished. The four principal demons are: Ephememphi, the demon of pleasure, Yoko, the demon of desire, Nenentophni, the demon of grief, Blaomen, the demon of fear. The mother of them all is Esthesis-Ouch-Epi-Ptoe. From the four demons have come passions: From grief come jealousy, envy, pain, trouble, distress, hardheartedness, anxiety, sorrow, and others. From pleasure comes an abundance of evil, vain conceit, and the like. From desire come anger, wrath, bitterness, intense lust, greed, and the like. From fear come terror, servility, anguish, and shame. All these are like virtues and vices. The insight into their true nature is Anaro, who is head of the material soul, and it dwells with Esthesis-Z-Ouch-Epi-Ptoe. This is the number of angels. In all they number 365. They all worked together until, limb by limb, the psychical and material body was completed. Now, there are others over the remaining passions, and I have not told you about them. If you want to know about them, the information is recorded in the Book of Zoroaster.

(1) In two and thirty most occult and wonderful paths of wisdom did JAH the Lord of Hosts engrave his name: God of the armies of Israel, ever-living God, merciful and gracious, sublime, dwelling on high, who inhabiteth eternity. He created this universe by the three Sepharim, Number, Writing, and Speech.

Now, after these things happened, Pistis came and appeared over the matter of chaos, which was cast off like an aborted fetus, since there was no spirit in it. For all of that is a boundless darkness and water of unfathomable depth. And when Pistis saw what came into being from her deficiency, she was disturbed. And the disturbance appeared as something frightful, and it fled to her in the chaos. She turned to it and breathed into its face in the abyss, which is beneath all of the heavens. Now, when Pistis Sophia wanted to cause the thing that had no spirit to be formed into a likeness and rule over matter and over all its powers, a ruler first appeared out of the waters, lionlike in appearance, androgynous, with great authority within himself but ignorant of whence he came into being. When Pistis Sophia saw him moving in the depth of the waters, she said to him, “Youth, pass over here,” which is interpreted as “Yaldabaoth.” Since that day, the first principle of the word that referred to the gods and angels and people has appeared. And the gods and angels and people constitute that which came into being by means of the word. Moreover, the ruler Yaldabaoth is ignorant of the power of Pistis. He did not see her face, but he saw in the water the likeness that spoke with him. And from that voice he called himself Yaldabaoth. But the perfect ones call him Ariael because he was like a lion. And after he came to possess authority over matter, Pistis Sophia withdrew up to her light.

(61) When we nominate heaven and earth, stars and elements, and all that is therein, and all whatsoever is above the heaven, then thereby is nominated the total God, who has made himself creaturely in these abovementioned beings, in his power which goeth forth from him.

(8) But as I was in great astonishment, He saith to me again: Thou didst behold in Mind the Archetypal Form whose being is before beginning without end. Thus spake to me Man-Shepherd. And I say: Whence then have Nature's elements their being? To this He answer gives: From Will of God. [Nature] received the Word (Logos), and gazing upon the Cosmos Beautiful did copy it, making herself into a cosmos, by means of her own elements and by the births of souls.

(23) Him ever first, Him last too, they adore: Hail Father, marvel great - great boon to men." And before him, Homer, framing the world in accordance with Moses on the Vulcan-wrought shield, says: "On it he fashioned earth, and sky, and sea, And all the signs with which the heaven is crowned." For the Zeus celebrated in poems and prose compositions leads the mind up to God. And already, so to speak, Democritus writes, "that a few men are in the light, who stretch out their hands to that place which we Greeks now call the air. Zeus speaks all, and he hears all, and distributes and takes away, and he is king of all." And more mystically the Boeotian Pindar, being a Pythagorean, says: "One is the race of gods and men, And of one mother both have breath;" that is, of matter: and names the one creator of these things, whom he calls Father, chief artificer, who furnishes the means of advancement on to divinity, according to merit.

(1) When the gods in their assembly had made [the world