The Apocryphon of John
FRONT MATTER — p. 462: History of The Apocryphon of John
The Apocryphon, or "Secrets" of John forms the cornerstone of Gnostic mythology and cosmology. In this text we are introduced to the major entities of creation and lordship. We learn how the universe, including earth and man, came into being. The origin of evil, the creator god, and the material world are explained in detail. The story seems to be a mixture of various belief systems, including those of Plato, and seems to have borrowed freely from the format of Greek mythology.
The basic text of the Apocryphon [illegible] based on Genesis chapters 1 through 3 [illegible]. The story is loosely based on John who seems to [illegible]. The Apocryphon of John existed in some form before 185 C.E. when a book called the Apocryphon of John was referred to by Irenaeus in his book, Against Heresies (Adversus Haereses), written in that year. Irenaeus reported about the Gnostic texts saying that teachers in 2nd century Messiahian communities were writing their own books to gain converts. He called these books, "an indescribable number of secret and illegitimate [illegible]" (A.H. 1.20.1) forged, to bewilder the minds of foolish people, who are ignorant of the true scriptures.
The Apocryphon of John continued to be circulated, expanded, and embellished for the next seven hundred years. The document was reportedly in use during the eighth century A.D. The Audians of Mesopotamia, [illegible] of Yeshua as well as other Gnostic texts.
[Illegible — a paragraph concerning Irenaeus, lost and recovered at Nag Hammadi in 1945:] so angered Irenaeus was lost and remained so until 1945, when a library of papyrus codices from the 4th century A.D. were found at Nag Hammadi in Egypt. The Apocryphon of John was among the texts. Four versions have been found thus far. These are comprised of a long version, of which we have two identical Coptic manuscripts. A short version is also Coptic but differs from the others by eliminating certain details. Among the texts, a third manuscript had been found that differs slightly from the first shorter manuscript in style and vocabulary. A fragment has been found that shows some minor differences which distinguish it from the other. It is the longer version that is presented here. Which, if any, of these texts are original has not been determined, however, an overall cohesion of thought [illegible]. This could be due to additions and embellishments sown through the shorter, less detailed versions.
Since we have already covered the general idea behind Gnostic mythology it need not be repeated here. However, a chart showing the main characters and their position on the divine family tree might serve us well. It is shown below.
Simplified Cast Of Characters [The chart is laid out as a descending diagram, top to bottom:]
"Divine All", "Spirit" or "Father" | Divine Thought or Barbelo | Fore- [knowledge?] / Indestruct- [ibility?] / Fore- [knowledge?] / Eternal / Truth / knowledge / ability / thought / Life | Messiah, Self-created one, Perfect man | Sophia or wisdom | Elohim and Yaldabaoth (who is also known as Yahweh) | Man and the material universe
[Note: the middle row of the chart is partially obscured in the photograph; the visible fragments read "Fore-", "Indestruct-", "Fore-", "Eternal", "Truth", "knowledge", "ability", "thought", "Life" — the aeons/attributes descending from Barbelo to Messiah.]
THE APOCRYPHON OF JOHN (pp. 463-469)
The teaching of the savior, that will reveal the mysteries of things hidden which he taught John, his disciple, in silence. On the day when John, the brother of James, the sons of Zebedee, had come to the temple, a Pharisee named Arimanius came up to him and said, "Where is your master whom you followed? He said to him, He has gone back to the place he came from. The Pharisee said to him, "This Nazarene deceived you with his deception. He filled your ears with lies, and closed your hearts and turned you all away from your fathers' traditions."
When I, John, heard these things I walked away from the temple into the desert. I grieved greatly in my heart, saying, How was the savior appointed, and why was he sent to the world by his Father, and who is his Father who sent him, and to which kingdom shall we go? What did he mean when he said to us, This kingdom which you will go to is an imperishable kingdom, but he did not teach us what kind it is.
Then, while I was meditating on these things, I saw the heavens open and the whole creation below heaven was shining and the world shook. I was afraid, and I saw in the light a young man who stood by me. As I was looking at him he became an old man. And he changed his visage again and become like a servant. There were not many beings in front of me, but there was a single being with many forms composed of light, and they could be seen through each other, and there were three forms within the one being.
He said to me, John, why do you doubt, and why are you afraid? (Mat. 28:17) Do you understand this image, do you not? Do not be afraid. I am the one who is with all of you always. I am the Father and the Mother, and I am the Son. I am the undefiled and incorruptible one. I have come to teach you what is and what was and what will be, so that you may know the things visible and invisible, and to teach you concerning the upright, immutable (unshakable / unwavering) race of the perfect Man. Now, therefore, lift up your face, that you may receive the things that I shall teach you today, and may give them to your fellow spirits who are from the upright, immutable (unwavering/ unshakable) race of the perfect Man. (Eph. 4:13)
And I asked if I might understand it, and he said to me, The One Yahweh is a king with nothing above it. It is he who exists as Yahweh and Father of everything, the invisible One who rules over everything, who exists as incorruptible, which is in the pure light that no eye can look upon.
He is the invisible Spirit. It is not correct to think of him as a god, or anything similar. He is more than god, since there is nothing above him, for no one is above him. He does not exist within anything inferior to him, because everything exists within him. He has established himself. He is eternal, and self-sustaining. He is complete perfection. He did not lack anything to be complete and he is continually perfect in light. He is unlimited, since there was no one before him to limit him. He is unknowable, since there exists no one prior to him to comprehend him. He is immeasurable, since no one was able to measure him. He is invisible, since no one has seen him. He is eternal, since he exists always. He is an enigma, since no one was able to apprehend him or explain him. He is unnamable, since there is no one who came before him to give him a name.
He is One, immeasurable light, which is pure, holy and immaculate. He is too sacred to speak of, being perfect and incorruptible. He is beyond perfection, blessedness, and divinity, because he is vastly superior to them all. He is not corporeal nor is he incorporeal. He is One and cannot be qualified or quantified, for no one can comprehend him. He is not among other beings; instead, he is far superior to all. He is superior to all things in that his essence is not part of the kingdoms, nor is he part of time. He who is part of a kingdom was created beforehand. Time does not matter to him, since he does not receive anything from another, for it would be received on loan. He who comes first needs nothing from anyone. Such a one expects nothing from another, for it would be received on loan. He who comes first needs nothing from anyone. Such a one expectantly beholds himself in his own light. He is majestic perfection. He is pure, immeasurable mind. He is the blessed One that blesses all. He is the giver of life, and he bestows life on you from himself. He is the merciful, and he gives knowledge. He is goodness that gives goodness. He is mercy and redemption and he bestows mercy. He is grace that gives grace. He does not give because he has these things but he gives the immeasurable, incomprehensible light from which all things flow.
How am I to speak with you about him? His kingdom is indestructible, at peace and existing in silence, at rest before everything was. He is the head of all the kingdoms (kingdoms), and he gives them strength in his goodness. For we know not the things that are unspeakably sacred, and we do not understand that which cannot be measured, except for him who was created from him, namely from the Father. It is he alone who told it to us.
He who beholds himself in the light which surrounds him and comes from him is the spring of the water of life. It is he who sustains the entire kingdom in every way, and it is he who gazes upon the image which he sees in the spring of the Spirit. It is he who puts his desire in the liquid light which is in the spring of the pure liquid light which surrounds him. The Father's thought performed a deed and she was created from it. It is she who had appeared before him in the shining of his light. This is the first power which was before all of them and which was created from his mind. She is the Thought of the All and her light shines like his light. It is the perfect power of the invisible, the perfect glory of the kingdom (kingdoms), the glory of the invisible. She is the first power, the glory of Barbelo, the perfect glory, because thanks to him she had come forth, agreed, the Foreknowledge, pure, undefiled Spirit, and it was she who praised him who preceded them all. She is the Mother-Father, the first man, the Holy Spirit, the threefold male, the triple power, the androgynous one with three names, and the eternal kingdom among the invisible ones, and the first to come forth.
She asked the invisible, pure, undefiled Spirit, Barbelo, to give her Foreknowledge, and the thought agreed. And when he had agreed, the Foreknowledge was created, and it stood by the Thought. It originates from the thought of the invisible, pure, undefiled Spirit. Foreknowledge glorified him and his perfect power, Barbelo. It was because of her that Foreknowledge had been created.
And she asked again to grant her Indestructibility, and he agreed. When he had agreed, Indestructibility was created, and it stood by the Divine Thought and the Foreknowledge. It glorified the invisible One and Barbelo, because of whom it had been created.
And Barbelo asked to grant her Eternal Life. And the invisible Spirit agreed. And when he had agreed, Eternal Life was created, and they attended and glorified the invisible Spirit and Barbelo, the one because of whom they had been created. And she asked again to grant her Truth. And the invisible Spirit agreed. And when he had agreed, Truth was created, and they attended and glorified the invisible, excellent Spirit and his Barbelo, the one because of whom they had been created. This is the five-fold creation of the kingdom of the Father, which is the first man and the image of the invisible Spirit, which came from Barbelo, who was the divine Thought, Foreknowledge, Indestructibility, Eternal Life, and Truth. This is the androgynous five-fold being of the kingdom, which is the ten types of kingdoms, which is the Father. (Five, being both male and female, or neither male nor female, become ten.)
And he looked at Barbelo with his pure light which surrounds the invisible Spirit, and his sparks, and she was impregnated by him. And a spark of light produced a light resembling his blessedness but it did not equal his greatness. This was the only-begotten child of the Mother-Father which had come forth. It is the only offspring and the only begotten of the Father, the pure Light.
And the invisible, pure, undefiled Spirit rejoiced over the light which was created, that which was produced by the first power of his Thought, which is Barbelo. And he poured his goodness over it until it became perfect and did not lack in any goodness, because he had anointed the child with the goodness of the invisible Spirit. It was his child and the child was there with him and he poured upon the child an anointing. And immediately when the child had received the Spirit, it glorified the Holy Spirit and the perfect Divine Thought, because the child owed these its existence.
And it asked to be given Mind as a fellow worker, and he agreed gladly. And when the invisible Spirit had agreed, the Mind was created, and it attended the anointed one (Messiah), glorifying him and Barbelo. And all these were created in silence.
And Mind wanted to initiate an action through the word of the invisible Spirit. Thus, his will became an action and it appeared with the mind; and the light glorified it. And the word followed the will. It was because of the word that Messiah, the divine self-created one, created everything. And Eternal Life and his will and Mind and Foreknowledge attended and glorified the invisible Spirit and Barbelo, because of whom they had been created.
And the Holy Spirit perfected and matured the divine Self-created one, and brought the son, together with Barbelo, so that he might present himself to the mighty and invisible, pure, undefiled Spirit as the divine Self-created one, the Messiah (the anointed one) who loudly proclaimed honor to the spirit. He was created through Forethought. And the invisible, pure, undefiled Spirit placed the divine Self-created one of truth over everything. And he caused every authority to be subject to him and to Truth, which is in him, so that he may know the name of the "All," whose name is exalted above every name. That name will only be spoken to those who are worthy of it.
From the light, which is the Messiah, there is incorruptibleness and through the gift of the Spirit four lights shone from the divine Self-created one. He wished that they might be with him. And the three are will, thought, and life. And the four powers are Understanding, Grace, Perception, and Thoughtfulness.
And Grace belongs to the everlasting realm of the luminary Harmozel, which is the first angel. And there are three other kingdoms with this everlasting kingdom: Grace, Truth, and Form. And the second luminary is Oriel, who has authority over the second everlasting realm. And there are three other kingdoms with him: Conception, Perception, and Memory. And the third luminary is Daveithai, who has authority over the third everlasting realm. And there are three other kingdoms with him: Understanding, Love, and Idea. And the fourth luminary, Eleleth, was given authority over the fourth everlasting realm. And there are three other kingdoms with him: Perfection, Peace, and Wisdom (Sophia). These are the four luminaries which serve the divine Self-created one. These are the twelve kingdoms which serve the child of god, the Self-created one, the Messiah. They serve him through the will and the grace of the invisible Spirit. The twelve kingdoms belong to the child of the Self-created one. All things were established by the will of the Holy Spirit through the Self-created one.
From the Foreknowledge of the perfect mind, through the expression of the will of the invisible Spirit and the will of the Self-created one, the perfect Man came into being. He was the first revelation and the truth. The pure, undefiled Spirit called him "Adam, The Stranger" (not of the earthly being, but belonging to the divine realm). The spirit placed him over the first realm with the mighty one, the Self-created one, the Messiah, by the authority of the first luminary, Harmozel, and with him are his powers. And the invisible one gave Adam The Stranger an invincible spiritual power. And Adam The Stranger spoke, glorifying and praising the invisible Spirit, saying, "It is because of you that everything has been created and therefore, everything will return to you. I shall praise and glorify you and the Self-created one and all the realms, the three: the Father, the Mother, and the Son, who make up the perfect power."
And Adam The Stranger placed his son Seth over the second realm in which the second luminary Oriel is present. And in the second realm the children of Seth were established over the third luminary, Daveithai. And the souls of the saints were lodged there. In the fourth realm the souls are kept of those who do not know the pleroma and who did not repent at once. These are they who persisted for a while and repented afterwards; they are in the area of the fourth luminary, Eleleth. These are those which glorify the invisible Spirit.
And the Sophia of the eternal realm manifested a thought from herself through the invisible Spirit and Foreknowledge. She wanted to produce a likeness out of herself without the consent of the Spirit, but he had not approved. She attempted this without the Spirit and without a male deity, and without permission. She had no male approval thus, she had not found her agreement. She had considered this without the consent of the Spirit and the knowledge of her compliment, but she brought forth her creation anyway. Because of the invincible power she possessed her thought did not remain idle, and something came out of her which was imperfect and different from her appearance because she had produced it without her compliment. It did not look like its mother because it has another form.
As she beheld the results of her desire, it changed into a form of a lion-faced serpent. Its eyes were like fire-like lightning which flashed. When she saw it she cast it away from her and threw it outside the realm so that none of the immortal ones might see it, for she had created it in ignorance. She surrounded it with a brightly glowing cloud and she put a throne in the middle of the cloud that no one might see it except the Holy Spirit who is called the mother of all that lives. And she called his name Yaldabaoth.
This is the first Archon who took great power from his mother. And he left her and moved away from the realm in which he was born. He became strong and created for himself other kingdoms with a flame of glowing fire which still existed. And he mated with his own mindless ego that he had with him (he masturbated / or he was like his mother and did the same act of creation by himself) and brought into existence authorities for himself.
The name of the first one is Athoth, whom the generations call the reaper. The second one is Harmas, who is the eye of envy. The third one is Kalila-Oumbri, The fourth one is Yabel. The fifth one is Adonaou, who is called Sabaoth (fool or chaos). The sixth one is Cain, whom the generations of humans call the sun. The seventh is Abel. The eighth is Abrisene. The ninth is Yobel. The tenth is Armoupieel. The eleventh is Melceir-Adonein. The twelfth is Belias, he is who is over the depth of Hades. (These could be the 12 stations of the zodiac.)
There he placed seven kings corresponding to the sections of heaven to reign over the seven heavens and he placed five to reign over the depth of the abyss. (There were 7 known planets at the time of writing.) And he shared his fire with them, but he did not relinquish any power of the light which he had taken from his mother, for he is ignorant darkness.
And when light is added to darkness, it made the darkness bright. When darkness is added to light, it dims the light and it became neither light nor dark, but it became like dusk.
Now the Archon who is like the gloaming (gloom) has three names. The first name is Yaldabaoth (fool / son of chaos), the second is Saklas, and the third is Samael. And he is evil in the arrogance and thoughtlessness that is in him. For he said, "I am God and there is no other God beside me." (Isaiah chapters 45 and 46). He said this because he did not know where his strength originated, nor from where he himself had come.
And the Archons created seven powers for themselves, and the powers created for themselves six angels for each one until they became 365 angels (the number of days in the solar year). And these are the bodies belonging with the names. The first is Athoth, he has a sheep's face; The second is Eloaio, he has a donkey's face; The third is Astraphaio, he has a hyena's face; The fourth is Yao, he has a snake face with seven heads; The fifth is Sabaoth, he has a dragon's face; The sixth is Adonin, he has an ape's face; The seventh is Sabbede (or Sabbataios), he has a face that shone like fire. This is the nature of seven types within the week.
But Yaldabaoth had a plethora of faces, more than all of them, so that he could exhibit any face he wished to any of them, when he is in the midst of seraphim (seraphim plural of seraph. Seraphim are a class or type of angel of which, according to this text, Yaldabaoth seems to be the head). He shared his fire with them and became their lord. He called himself God because of the power of the glory (brightness) he possessed that was taken from his mother's light. He rebelled against the place from which he came.
And he united the seven powers of his thoughts with the authorities that were with him. And when he spoke it became (happened).
And he named each power beginning with the highest: The first is goodness with the first authority, Athoth; The second is foreknowledge with the second power, Eloaio; The third is divinity with the third one, Astraphaio); The fourth is lordship with the fourth power, Yao; The fifth is kingdom with the fifth one, Sabaoth; The sixth is envy with the sixth one, Adonin; The seventh is understanding with the seventh one, Sabbateon. And these each has a kingdom (sphere or influence) within the realm (kingdom of heaven). They were given names according to the glory belonging to heaven for the powers of their destructiveness. And there was power in the names given to them by their creator. But the names they were given according to the glory of heaven would mean their loss of power and their destruction. Thus they have two names.
He (Yaldabaoth) created all things and structured things after the model of the first kingdom created so that he might create things in an incorruptible manner. It was not because he had ever seen the indestructible ones, but the power in him, which he had taken from his mother, produced in him the image of the order of the universe. And when he saw the creation surrounding him the innumerable amount of angels around him that had come from him, he said to them, "I am a jealous God, and there is no other God beside me." (Exodus 20:5) But by announcing this he had let the angels who were with him know that there is another Yahweh. If there were no other god, why would he be jealous?
Then the mother began to move here and there. She realized she has lost part of herself when the brightness of her light dimmed. And she became darker because her partner had consorted with her.
I (John) said, Yeshua, what does it mean that she moved here and there? Yeshua smiled and said, "Do not think it happened the way that Moses said it did 'above the waters.' (Genesis 1:2) No, it did not, but when she had seen the wickedness which had happened, and the fact her son had stolen from her, she repented. In the darkness of ignorance she began to forget and to be ashamed." She did not dare to go back there, but she was restless. This restlessness was the moving here and there.
And the prideful one stole power from his mother. For he was ignorant and thought that there was no other in existence except his mother. When he saw innumerable angels he had created he exalted himself above them. When the mother repented and wept greatly. The entire pleroma heard the prayer of her repentance, and they praised the invisible, pure, undefiled Spirit on her behalf. And the Spirit agreed and when he agreed the Holy Spirit anointed her from the invisible, pure, pleroma. For her consort did not come to her alone, but he brought to her through the pleroma that which was needed to restore what she was lacking. And she was allowed to ascend, not to her own kingdom but to the kingdom above her son, that she could remain in the ninth (heaven / kingdom) until she restored what she lacked in herself.
And a voice called from the highest kingdom of heaven: "The Man exists and the son of Man." And the head Archon, Yaldabaoth, heard it and thought that the voice had come from his mother. He did not know whence it came. He taught them, the holy and perfect Mother-Father, the complete Foreknowledge, the image of the invisible one who is the Father of the all things and through whom everything came into being, the first Man. He is the one who revealed his image in human form.
And the whole kingdom of the first (head) Archon quaked, and the foundations of the abyss shook. And the underside of waters, which are above material world, were illuminated by the appearance of his image which had been revealed. When all the authorities and the head Archon looked, they saw the whole region of the underside (of the waters) that was illuminated. And through the light they saw the form of the image (reflected) in the water.
And he (Yaldabaoth) said to the authorities of him, "Come, let us make a man using the image of Yahweh as a template to our likeness, that his image may become a light for us." And they created by the means of their various powers matching the features of the image which had appeared to them. Each authority supplied a feature in the form of the image which Yaldabaoth had seen in its natural form. He created a being resembling and relating to the likeness of the first, perfect Man. And they said, "Let us call him Adam (man), that his name may be a power of light for us."
And the powers began to create. The first one, goodness, created a bone essence; and the second, Foreknowledge, created a sinew essence; the third, Divinity, created a flesh essence; and the fourth, the Lordship, created a marrow essence; the fifth, the Kingdom created a blood essence; the sixth, Envy, created a skin essence; the seventh, Understanding, created a hair essence. The multitude of the angels were with him and they received from the powers the seven elements of the natural (form) so they could create the proportions of the limbs and the proportion of the buttocks and correct functioning of each of the parts together.
The first one began to create the head. Eteraphaope-Abron created his head; Meniggesstroeth created the brain; Asterechme created the right eye; Thasopomocha, the left eye; Yeronmos, the right ear; Bissoum, the left ear; Akioreim, the nose; Banen-Ephroum, the lips; Amen, the teeth; Ibikan, the molars; Basilademe, the tonsils; Achcha, the uvula; Adaban, the neck; Chaaman, the vertebrae; Dearcho, the throat; Tebar, the right shoulder; [illegible] the left shoulder; Mniarcon, the right elbow; [illegible] the left elbow; Abitrion, the right underarm; Evanthen, the left underarm; Krys, the right hand; Beluai, the left hand; Treneu, the fingers of the right hand; Balbel, the fingers of the left hand; Kriman, the nails of the hands; Astrops, the right breast; Barroph, the left breast; Baum, the right shoulder joint; Ararim, the left shoulder joint; Areche, the belly; Phthave, the navel; Senabin, the abdomen; Geheth, the buttocks; [illegible] the left hip; Chouk, the right hip; Phine, the [illegible]; Abenlenarchei, the marrow; Chnoumeninorin, the bones; Gesole, the stomach; Agromauna, the heart; Bano, the lungs; Sostrapal, the liver; Anesimular, the spleen; Thopithro, the intestines; Biblo, the kidneys; Roeror, the sinews; Taphreo, the spine of the body; Ipouspoboba, the veins, Bineborin, the arteries; Ationpnepheris, theirs are the breaths which are in all the limbs; Entholleia, all the flesh; Bedouk, the right buttock; Arabei, the penis; Eilo, the testicles; Sorma, the genitals; Gorma-Kaiochlabar, the right thigh; Nebrith, the left thigh; Pserem, the kidneys of the right leg; Asaklas, the left kidney; Ormaoth, the right leg; Emenun, the left leg; Knyx, the right shin-bone; Tupelon, the left shin-bone; Achiel, the right knee; Phnene, the right knee; Phiouthrom, the right foot; Boabel, its toes, Trachoun, the left foot; Phikna, its toes; Miamai, the nails of the feet; Labernioumim.
And those who were appointed over all of these are: Zathoth, Armas, Kallxa, Jabel, (Sabaoth, Cain, Abel). And those who are particularly active in the limbs are the head Diolimodraza, the neck Ymmeax, the right shoulder Yakouib, the left shoulder Verton, 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 Pisandriaptes, the right shoulder joint Koadle, the left shoulder joint Odeor, the right ribs Asphix, the left ribs Synogchouta, the belly Arouph, the womb Sabalo, the right thigh Charcharb, the left thigh Chthaon, all the genitals Bathoumoth, the right leg Choux, the left leg Charcha, the right shin-bone Aroer, the left shin-bone Toechtha, the right knee Aol, the left knee Charaner, the right foot Bastan, its toes Archentechtha, the left foot Marephnounth, its toes Abrana.
Seven have power over all of these: Michael, Ouriel, Asmenedas, Saphasatoel, Aarmouriam, Richram, Amiorps. And the ones who are in charge of the senses are Archendekta; and he who is in charge of the receptions is Deitharbathas; and he who is in charge of the imagination is Oummaa; and he who is over creativity Aachiaram, and he who is over the whole impulse Riaramnacho.
The origin of the demons that are in the entire body is known to be these four: heat, cold, wetness, and dryness. And the mother of all of them is the material creation. And he who rules over the heat is Philoxpha; and he who rules over the cold is Oroorrothos; and he who who rules over what is dry is Erimacho; and he who rules over the wetness is Athuro. And the mother of all of these is Onorthochrasesaei, who stands in with them without limits, and she cohorts with all of them. She is truly material and they are sustained by her.
The four ruling demons are: Ephmemphi, who is attached to pleasure, Yoko, who is attached to desire, Nenentophni, who is attached to grief, Blaomen, who is attached to fear, and the mother of them all is Aesthesis-Ouch-Epi-Ptoe. And from the four demons passions was created. And grief, vanity, pride, and similar things. Desire spawned anger, wrath, anxiety, mourning, and more. Pleasure spawned wickedness, and similar things. Fear spawned dread, subservience, agony, and bitterness, and driving passion, the inability to be satisfied, and similar things.
[The body] had constructed (fashioned) the physical body. And their creation was completely devoid of activity and was motionless for a long time.
And when the mother (Sophia) wanted to recapture the power which was taken from her by the head Archon, she prayed to the Mother-Father of the All, who is most merciful. He sent a holy decree containing the five lights down to the place where the angels of the head Archon reside. They advised him (Yaldabaoth) that he should bring forth the power of the mother. And they said to Yaldabaoth, "Blow some of your spirit into his face and his body will arise." And he blew the spirit power of the mother into his (Adam's) face. (Genesis 2:7) Yaldabaoth did not know to do this because he was in ignorance. And the power of the mother went out of Yaldabaoth into Adam's physical body, which they had fashioned after the image of the one who exists from the beginning. The body moved and gained strength, and it was enlightened.
And in that instant the other powers became jealous, although he (Adam) had been created through all of them. They were jealous because they had given Adam their power and now he was more intelligent than those who had made him, and his mind was greater than that of the head Archon. And when they recognized that he was enlightened, and that he could think better than they, and that he was free of evil, they took him and threw him into the lowest material realm.
But the blessed One, the Mother-Father, the giving and gracious One, had mercy on the power of the mother which had been transmitted from the head Archon because he did not want the Archons to gain power over the material body again. Therefore, he sent, a helper to Adam through his giving Spirit and his great compassion. The enlightened Thought which comes out of him is called "Life" (Zoe means life and is the name of Eve in certain Greek texts and the Septuagint). And she assists the whole creature, by working with him and restoring him to his fullness and by teaching him about the descent (flaws) of his seed and by teaching him about the way of ascent (to go upward again), which is based on the way he came down. (Rom. 8:22)
And the enlightened Thought was hidden within Adam so that the Archons would not know she was there, but that the Thought might restore (correct) what was lacking of the mother.
And the man was revealed because of the shadow of light in him. And his thinking was higher than all those who had made him. When they looked up they realized that his thinking was superior. Then they conspired with the entire force of Archons and angels. They took fire and earth and water as a mixture and added the four fiery winds. And they worked them together and caused a great noise. And they brought Adam into the shadow of death so that they might re-make him from earth, water, fire and the spirit (wind) which make up matter. This was the ignorance of their darkness and desire, and their lying (false) spirit. This is the tomb of the re-formed body that the thieves had clothed Adam in. It contained the bonds of forgetfulness and cause him to become a mortal entity. He is the first one who came down, and the first to be separated (from the Divine All). Now, it is up to the Thought of the light which was in him to awaken his thinking.
And the Archons took him and placed him in paradise. And they said to him, "Eat at your leisure." (Genesis 2:16) for their pleasure is bitter and their beauty is twisted. Their pleasure is entrapment and their trees lack any holiness and their fruit is deadly poison and their promise is death. And the tree of their life they had placed in the center of paradise (Genesis 2:9).
And I (Yeshua) shall teach all of you the mystery of their life. It is the plan that they made together, which is made from the template of their spirit. The root of this tree is bitter and its branches are death; its shadow is hate. Its leaves are a trap, and its blossom is the ointment of evil. Its fruit is death and its seed is desire. It sprouts (blooms) in darkness. Those who taste it dwell in Hades, and they rest in darkness.
But what they call "the tree of knowledge of good and evil" is the Thought of the light. They stationed themselves in front of it so that Adam might not understand his fullness and recognize his nakedness and be ashamed. But it was I (Yeshua) who made them decide what they ate.
I said to the savior, Yeshua, wasn't it the serpent that instructed Adam to eat? The savior smiled and said, The serpent instructed them to eat because of its evil desire to produced sexual lust and destruction so that Adam would be useful to him. Adam knew that he was disobedient to Yaldabaoth because the sexual lust of the Thought lived in him and made him stronger and more accurate in his thinking than the head Archon. Yaldabaoth wanted to harvest the power that he himself had given Adam. And he caused Adam to forget.
And I said to the savior, "What is this forgetfulness?" He said, "It is not how Moses wrote and it is not how you have heard. He wrote in his first book, 'He put him to sleep' (Genesis 2:21), but that was how Adam perceived it. For also he said through the prophet, 'I will make their minds heavy, that they may not perceive nor understand.' (Isaiah 6:10)."
The Thought of the light hid herself in Adam. The head Archon wanted to bring her out through his rib but the Thought of the light cannot be apprehended. Although darkness pursued her, it did not catch her. Yaldabaoth brought out part of Adam's power and he created another and formed a woman, using the template of the Thought which he had seen. The power he had taken from the Adam was formed into the female. This is what happened and not as Moses said, "She was formed from the bone of his rib." (Genesis 2:21)
Adam saw the woman beside him. In that instant the enlightened Thought appeared. She lifted the veil which occluded his mind. Adam sobered from the drunkenness of darkness and recognized his counterpart (compliment / agreement), and he said, This is indeed bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. (Genesis 2:23) Therefore the man will leave his father and his mother, and he will cleave to his wife, and they will both be one flesh. (Genesis 2:24) For his partner will be sent to him and he will leave his father and his mother.
Our sister Sophia is the one who came down innocently in order to reclaim what she has lost. That is why she was called Life, because she is the mother of all things living, by the Foreknowledge of the sovereignty of heaven. Through her they that live have tasted the perfect Knowledge. I (Yeshua) appeared in the form of an eagle on the tree of knowledge, which is the Thought from the Foreknowledge of the pure light. I did this so that I might teach them and wake them from the deep sleep. For they were both in a fallen state, and they recognized that they were naked. The Thought appeared to them in the form of light and she awakened their minds.
When Yaldabaoth noticed that they fled from him, he cursed the earth he had made. He found the woman as she was preparing herself for her husband. He was lord over her, though he did not know the mystery was instated through the holy plan, so they were afraid to rebel against Yaldabaoth. And he demonstrated to his angels the ignorance in him by casting them out of paradise, and he clothed them in darkening blackness.
And the head Archon, Yaldabaoth, saw the virgin standing beside Adam, but he was ignorant to the fact that the enlightened Thought of life had appeared in her. But when the Foreknowledge of All noticed it, she sent agents and they quickly stole the life (Zoe) out of Eve.
Then, the head Archon seduced her and he conceived two sons in her. The first is Eloim and the second is Yahweh. Eloim has a face like a bear and Yahweh has a face like a cat. The one is righteous but the other is unjust. (Yahweh is related to the New Testament and is considered a jealous, revengeful, wrathful God.) He set Yahweh over fire and wind, and he set Eloim over water and earth. And he name them Cain and Abel in an attempt to deceive.
Sexual intercourse continues to this very day because of the head Archon. He instilled sexual desire in the woman who belongs to Adam. And Adam, through intercourse caused bodies to be replicated, and Yaldabaoth breathed into them with his fraudulent spirit.
And he set the two Archons (Elohim and Yahweh) over principal elements, so that they might rule over the tomb (body). When Adam recognized the image of his own Foreknowledge, he begot the image of the son of man (Yeshua) and he called him Seth, according to the fashion of the divine race living in the ethereal kingdoms. The mother (Sophia) sent her spirit also. It was in her image and was a replica of those who are in the pleroma. In this way she will prepare a dwelling place for the kingdoms to come.
Yaldaboath made them drink water of forgetfulness that he had made so that they might not remember from where they came