Tuesday's Serials: "The Epic of Hades" by Lewis Morris (in English) - VI

HELEN

                                              And next I knew

A woman perfect as a young man's dream,

And breathing as it seemed the old sweet air

Of the fair days of old, when man was young

And life an Epic. Round the lips a smile

Subtle and deep and sweet as hers who looks

From the old painter's canvas, and derides

Life and the riddle of things, the aimless strife,

The folly of Love, as who has proved it all,

Enjoyed and suffered. In the lovely eyes

A weary look, no other than the gaze

Which ofttimes as the rapid chariot whirls,

And ofttimes by the glaring midnight streets,

Gleams out and chills our thought. And yet not guilt

Nor sorrow was it; only weariness,

No more, and still most lovely. As I named

Her name in haste, she looked with half surprise,

And thus she seemed to speak:

                                                          "What? Dost thou know

Thou too, the fatal glances which beguiled

Those strong rude chiefs of old? Has not the gloom

Of this dim land withdrawn from out mine eyes

The glamour which once filled them? Does my cheek

Retain the round of youth and still defy

The wear of immemorial centuries?

And this low voice, long silent, keeps it still

The music of old time? Aye, in thine eyes

I read it, and within thine eyes I see

Thou knowest me, and the story of my life

Sung by the blind old bard when I was dead,

And all my lovers dust. I know thee not,

Thee nor thy gods, yet would I soothly swear

I was not all to blame for what has been,

The long fight, the swift death, the woes, the tears

The brave lives spent, the humble homes uptorn

To gain one poor fair face. It was not I

That curved these lips into this subtle smile,

Or gave these eyes their fire, nor yet made round

This supple frame. It was not I, but Love,

Love mirroring himself in all things fair,

Love that projects himself upon a life,

And dotes on his own image.

                                                       Ah! the days,

The weary years of Love and feasts and gold,

The hurried flights, the din of clattering hoofs

At midnight, when the heroes dared for me,

And bore me o'er the hills; the swift pursuits

Baffled and lost; or when from isle to isle

The high-oared galley spread its wings and rose

Over the swelling surges, and I saw,

Time after time, the scarce familiar town,

The sharp-cut hills, the well-loved palaces,

The gleaming temples fade, and all for me,

Me the dead prize, the shell, the soulless ghost,

The husk of a true woman; the fond words

Wasted on careless ears, that seemed to hear,

Of love to me unloving; the rich feasts,

The silken dalliance and soft luxury,

The fair observance and high reverence

For me who cared not, to whatever land

My kingly lover snatched me. I have known

How small a fence Love sets between the king

And the strong hind, who breeds his brood, and dies

Upon the field he tills. I have exchanged

People for people, crown for glittering crown,

Through every change a queen, and held my state

Hateful, and sickened in my soul to lie

Stretched on soft cushions to the lutes' low sound,

While on the wasted fields the clang of arms

Rang, and the foemen perished, and swift death,

Hunger, and plague, and every phase of woe

Vexed all the land for me. I have heard the curse

Unspoken, when the wife widowed for me

Clasped to her heart her orphans starved for me;

As I swept proudly by. I have prayed the gods,

Hating my own fair face which wrought such woe,

Some plague divine might light on it and leave

My curse a ruin. Yet I think indeed

They had not cursed but pitied, those true wives

Who mourned their humble lords, and straining felt

The innocent thrill which swells the mother's heart

Who clasps her growing boy; had they but known

The lifeless life, the pain of hypocrite smiles,

The dead load of caresses simulated,

When Love stands shuddering by to see his fires

Lit for the shrine of gold. What if they felt

The weariness of loveless love which grew

And through the jealous palace portals seized

The caged unloving woman, sick of toys,

Sick of her gilded chains, her ease, herself,

Till for sheer weariness she flew to meet

Some new unloved seducer? What if they knew

No childish loving hands, or worse than all,

Had borne them sullen to a sire unloved,

And left them without pain? I might have been,

I too, a loving mother and chaste wife,

Had Fate so willed.

                                    For I remember well

How one day straying from my father's halls

Seeking anemones and violets,

A girl in Spring-time, when the heart makes Spring

Within the budding bosom, that I came

Of a sudden through a wood upon a bay,

A little sunny land-locked bay, whose banks

Sloped gently downward to the yellow sand,

Where the blue wave creamed soft with fairy foam,

And oft the Nereids sported. As I strayed

Singing, with fresh-pulled violets in my hair

And bosom, and my hands were full of flowers,

I came upon a little milk-white lamb,

And took it in my arms and fondled it,

And wreathed its neck with flowers, and sang to it

And kissed it, and the Spring was in my life,

And I was glad.

                             And when I raised my eyes

Behold, a youthful shepherd with his crook

Stood by me and regarded as I lay,

Tall, fair, with clustering curls, and front that wore

A budding manhood. As I looked a fear

Came o'er me, lest he were some youthful god

Disguised in shape of man, so fair he was;

But when he spoke, the kindly face was full

Of manhood, and the large eyes full of fire

Drew me without a word, and all the flowers

Fell from me, and the little milk-white lamb

Strayed through the brake, and took with it the white

Fair years of childhood. Time fulfilled my being

With passion like a cup, and with one kiss

Left me a woman.

                                   Ah! the lovely days,

When on the warm bank crowned with flowers we sate

And thought no harm, and his thin reed pipe made

Low music, and no witness of our love

Intruded, but the tinkle of the flock

Came from the hill, and 'neath the odorous shade

We dreamed away the day, and watched the waves

Steal shoreward, and beyond the sylvan capes

The innumerable laughter of the sea!

 

      Ah youth and love! So passed the happy days

Till twilight, and I stole as in a dream

Homeward, and lived as in a happy dream,

And when they spoke answered as in a dream,

And through the darkness saw, as in a glass,

The happy, happy day, and thrilled and glowed

And kept my love in sleep, and longed for dawn

And scarcely stayed for hunger, and with morn

Stole eager to the little wood, and fed

My life with kisses. Ah! the joyous days

Of innocence, when Love was Queen in heaven,

And nature unreproved! Break they then still,

Those azure circles, on a golden shore?

Smiles there no glade upon the older earth

Where spite of all, gray wisdom, and new gods,

Young lovers dream within each other's arms

Silent, by shadowy grove, or sunlit sea?

 

Ah days too fair to last! There came a night

When I lay longing for my love, and knew

Sudden the clang of hoofs, the broken doors.

The clash of swords, the shouts, the groans, the stain

Of red upon the marble, the fixed gaze

Of dead and dying eyes,—that was the time

When first I looked on death,—and when I woke

From my deep swoon, I felt the night air cool

Upon my brow, and the cold stars look down,

As swift we galloped o'er the darkling plain;

And saw the chill sea glimpses slowly wake,

With arms unknown around me. When the dawn

Broke swift, we panted on the pathless steeps,

And so by plain and mountain till we came

To Athens, where they kept me till I grew

Fairer with every year, and many wooed,

Heroes and chieftains, but I loved not one.

 

      And then the avengers came and snatched me back

To Sparta. All the dark high-crested chiefs

Of Argos wooed me, striving king with king

For one fair foolish face, nor knew I kept

No heart to give them. Yet since I was grown

Weary of honeyed words and suit of love,

I wedded a brave chief, dauntless and true.

But what cared I? I could not prize at all

His honest service. I had grown so tired

Of loving and of love, that when they brought

News that the fairest shepherd on the hills,

Having done himself to death for his lost love,

Lay, like a lovely statue, cold and white

Upon the golden sand, I hardly knew

More than a passing pang. Love, like a flower,

Love, springing up too tall in a young breast,

The growth of morning, Life's too scorching sun

Had withered long ere noon. Love, like a flame

On his own altar offering up my heart,

Had burnt my being to ashes.

                                                        Was it love

That drew me then to Paris? He was fair,

I grant you, fairer than a summer morn,

Fair with a woman's fairness, yet in arms

A hero, but he never had my heart,

Not love for him allured me, but the thirst

For freedom, if in more than thought I erred,

And was not rapt but willing. For my child,

Born to an unloved father, loved me not,

The fresh sea called, the galleys plunged, and I

Fled willing from my prison and the pain

Of undesired caresses, and the wind

Was fair, and on the third day as we sailed,

My heart was glad within me when I saw

The towers of Ilium rise beyond the wave.

 

      Ah, the long years, the melancholy years,

The miserable melancholy years!

For soon the new grew old, and then I grew

Weary of him, of all, of pomp and state

And novel splendour. Yet at times I knew

Some thrill of pride within me as I saw

From those high walls, a prisoner and a foe,

The swift ships flock at anchor in the bay,

The hasty landing and the flash of arms,

The lines of royal tents upon the plain,[132]

The close-shut gates, the chivalry within

Issuing in all its pride to meet the shock

Of the bold chiefs without; so year by year

The haughty challenge from the warring hosts

Rang forth, and I with a divided heart

Saw victory incline, now here, now there,

And helpless marked the Argive chiefs I knew,

The spouse I left, the princely loves of old,

Now with each other strive, and now with Troy:

The brave pomp of the morn, the fair strong limbs,

The glittering panoply, the bold young hearts,

Athirst for fame of war, and with the night

The broken spear, the shattered helm, the plume

Dyed red with blood, the ghastly dying face,

And nerveless limbs laid lifeless. And I knew

The stainless Hector whom I could have loved,

But that a happy love made blind his eyes

To all my baleful beauty; fallen and dragged

His noble, manly head upon the sand

By young Achilles' chariot; him in turn

Fallen and slain; my fair false Paris slain;

Plague, famine, battle, raging now within,

And now without, for many a weary year,

Summer and winter, till I loathed to live,

Who was indeed, as well they said, the Hell

Of men, and fleets, and cities. As I stood

Upon the walls, ofttimes a longing came,

Looking on rage, and fight, and blood, and death,

To end it all, and dash me down and die;

But no god helped me. Nay, one day I mind

I would entreat them. 'Pray you, lords, be men.

What fatal charm is this which Até gives

To one poor foolish face? Be strong, and turn

In peace, forget this glamour, get you home

With all your fleets and armies, to the land

I love no longer, where your faithful wives

Pine widowed of their lords, and your young boys

Grow wild to manhood. I have nought to give,

No heart, nor prize of love for any man,

Nor recompense. I am the ghost alone

Of the fair girl ye knew; she still abides,

If she still lives and is not wholly dead,

Stretched on a flowery bank upon the sea

In fair heroic Argos. Leave this form

That is no other than the outward shell

Of a once loving woman.'

                                                 As I spake,

My pity fired my eyes and flushed my cheek

With some soft charm; and as I spread my hands,

The purple, glancing down a little, left

The marble of my breasts and one pink bud

Upon the gleaming snows. And as I looked

With a mixed pride and terror, I beheld

The brute rise up within them, and my words

Fall barren on them. So I sat apart,

Nor ever more looked forth, while every day

Brought its own woe.

                                        The melancholy years,

The miserable melancholy years,

Crept onward till the midnight terror came,

And by the glare of burning streets I saw

Palace and temple reel in ruin and fall,

And the long-baffled legions, bursting in

By gate and bastion, blunted sword and spear

With unresisted slaughter. From my tower

I saw the good old king; his kindly eyes

In agony, and all his reverend hairs

Dabbled with blood, as the fierce foeman thrust

And stabbed him as he lay; the youths, the girls,

Whom day by day I knew, their silken ease

And royal luxury changed for blood and tears,

Haled forth to death or worse. Then a great hate

Of life and fate seized on me, and I rose

And rushed among them, crying, 'See, 'tis I,

I who have brought this evil! Kill me! kill

The fury that is I, yet is not I!

And let my soul go outward through the wound

Made clean by blood to Hades! Let me die,

Not these who did no wrong!' But not a hand

Was raised, and all shrank backward as afraid,

As from a goddess. Then I swooned and fell

And knew no more, and when I woke I felt

My husband's arms around me, and the wind

Blew fair for Greece, and the beaked galley plunged;

And where the towers of Ilium rose of old,

A pall of smoke above a glare of fire.

 

      What then in the near future?

                                                              Ten long years

Bring youth and love to that deep summer-tide

When the full noisy current of our lives

Creeps dumb through wealth of flowers. I think I knew

Somewhat of peace at last, with my good Lord

Who loved too much, to palter with the past,

Flushed with the present. Young Hermione

Had grown from child to woman. She was wed;

And was not I her mother? At the pomp

Of solemn nuptials and requited love,

I prayed she might be happy, happier far

Than ever I was; so in tranquil ease

I lived a queen long time, and because wealth

And high observance can make sweet our days

When youth's swift joy is past, I did requite

With what I might, not love, the kindly care

Of him I loved not; pomps and robes of price

And chariots held me. But when Fate cut short

His life and love, his sons who were not mine

Reigned in his stead, and hated me and mine:

And knowing I was friendless, I sailed forth

Once more across the sea, seeking for rest

And shelter. Still I knew that in my eyes

Love dwelt, and all the baleful charm of old

Burned as of yore, scarce dimmed as yet by time:

I saw it in the mirror of the sea,

I saw it in the youthful seamen's eyes,

And was half proud again I had such power

Who now kept nothing else. So one calm eve,

Behold, a sweet fair isle blushed like a rose

Upon the summer sea: there my swift ship

Cast anchor, and they told me it was Rhodes.

 

      There, in a little wood above the sea,

Like that dear wood of yore, I wandered forth

Forlorn, and all my seamen were apart,

And I, alone; when at the close of day

I knew myself surrounded by strange churls

With angry eyes, and one who ordered them,

A woman, whom I knew not, but who walked

In mien and garb a queen. She, with the fire

Of hate within her eyes, 'Quick, bind her, men!

I know her; bind her fast!' Then to the trunk

Of a tall plane they bound me with rude cords

That cut my arms. And meantime, far below,

The sun was gilding fair with dying rays

Isle after isle and purple wastes of sea.

 

      And then she signed to them, and all withdrew

Among the woods and left us, face to face,

Two women. Ere I spoke, 'I know,' she said,

'I know that evil fairness. This it was,

Or ever he had come across my life,

That made him cold to me, who had my love

And left me half a heart. If all my life

Of wedlock was but half a life, what fiend

Came 'twixt my love and me, but that fair face?

What left his children orphans, but that face?

And me a widow? Fiend! I have thee now;

Thou hast not long to live. I will requite

Thy murders; yet, oh fiend! that art so fair,

Were it not haply better to deface

Thy fatal loveliness, and leave thee bare

Of all thy baleful power? And yet I doubt,

And looking on thy face I doubt the more,

Lest all thy dower of fairness be the gift

Of Aphrodité, and I fear to fight

Against the immortal Gods.'

                                                   Even with the word,

And she relenting, all the riddle of life

Flashed through me, and the inextricable coil

Of Being, and the immeasurable depths

And irony of Fate, burst on my thought

And left me smiling in the eyes of death,

With this deep smile thou seëst. Then with a shriek

The woman leapt on me, and with blind rage

Strangled my life. And when she had done the deed

She swooned, and those her followers hasting back

Fell prone upon their knees before the corpse

As to a goddess. Then one went and brought

A sculptor, and within a jewelled shrine

They set me in white marble, bound to a tree

Of marble. And they came and knelt to me,

Young men and maidens, through the secular years,

While the old gods bore sway, but I was here,

And now they kneel no longer, for the world

Has gone from beauty.

                                           But I think, indeed,

They well might worship still, for never yet

Was any thought or thing of beauty born

Except with suffering. That poor wretch who thought

I injured her, stealing the foolish heart

Which she prized but I could not, what knew she

Of that I suffered? She had loved her love,

Though unrequited, and had borne to him

Children who loved her. What if she had been

Loved yet unloving: all the fire of love

Burnt out before love's time in one brief blaze

Of passion. Ah, poor fool! I pity her,

Being blest and yet unthankful, and forgive,

Now that she is a ghost as I, the hand

Which loosed my load of life. For scarce indeed

Could any god who cares for mortal men

Have ever kept me happy. I had tired

Of simple loving, doubtless, as I tired

Of splendour and being loved. There be some souls

For which love is enough, content to bear

From youth to age, from chesnut locks to gray,

The load of common, uneventful life

And penury. But I was not of these;

I know not now, if it were best indeed

That I had reared my simple shepherd brood,

And lived and died unknown in some poor hut

Among the Argive hills; or lived a queen

As I did, knowing every day that dawned

Some high emprise and glorious, and in death

To fill the world with song. Not the same meed

The gods mete out for all, or She, the dread

Necessity, who rules both gods and men,

Some to dishonour, some to honour moulds,

To happiness some, some to unhappiness.

We are what Zeus has made us, discords playing

In the great music, but the harmony

Is sweeter for them, and the great spheres ring

In one accordant hymn.

                                             But thou, if e'er

There come a daughter of thy love, oh pray

To all thy gods, lest haply they should mar

Her life with too great beauty!"

                                                          So she ceased.

The fairest woman that the poet's dream

Or artist hand has fashioned. All the gloom

Seemed lightened round her, and I heard the sound

Of her melodious voice when all was still,

And the dim twilight took her.

Monday's Illustrated Word: "Strangers on Satellite C" by Unknown Writer (in English)

   art by John Belcastro - Planet Comics #73 - Fiction House, Winter 1953.

 

 

 

 

Good Reading: Quotes from Saint Catherine of Siena (translated into Portuguese)

Avalia-se o bom soldado de cavalaria no campo da batalha.Também vossa alma tem de ser experimentada na luta das grandes dores.

 

Quem é perseguido e atribulado neste mundo, depois será saciado, consolado e iluminado na contemplação da divindade

 

Quem não ama a Deus, não lhe agradece.

 

Quem ama a si mesmo, não conhece a Deus, ardente chama de amor.

 

Sobretudo os sacerdotes, que Deus chama de “ungidos” (Sl 104,15; 2Rs 1,14), devem ser anjos, não homens!

 

O sacerdote desempenha o ofício dos anjos!

 

Há padres e religiosos cruéis consigo mesmos, amigos do demônio e companheiros dele antes da hora. São cruéis também com os outros, pois não amam o próximo na caridade. Não protegem as almas; devoram-nas.

 

O remédio contra o egoísmo é este: permanecer na cela do coração, reconhecer que por nós mesmos nada somos, reconhecer a bondade divina, pois de Deus tudo recebemos, reconhecer os próprios defeitos, reprimir a sensualidade.

 

a caridade, roupa nupcial indispensável para a vida eterna.

 

odiai o pecado mortal, odiai a culpa contra Deus, odiai a sensualidade, odiai a lei perversa (Rm 7,23), sempre rebelde ao Senhor.

 

Odiai o ódio ao próximo. Quem odeia outra pessoa ofende a Deus.

 

Nem os inimigos, que sem razão nos ofendem e prejudicam, podemos odiar.

 

Quem odeia mortalmente alguém, de fato odeia mais a si mesmo que ao adversário.

 

O caminho de Cristo é seguro, sem ameaças de inimigos, sejam demônios, sejam homens.

 

Desde agora o homem pode saborear a vida eterna, convivendo com Deus em diálogo de amor.

 

Se nos acharmos pecadores, ofensores de Deus, imploremos misericórdia. Se não estamos a julgar e condenar os outros, Deus nos perdoará. Pois devo usar com o próximo a misericórdia que desejo para mim.

 

Afogai-vos no sangue de Cristo, pregai-vos na cruz com ele, banhai-vos no seu sangue.

 

O desejo de Deus é que nos santifiquemos. Tudo o que Ele nos manda ou permite tem esta finalidade.

 

O criador sempre nos ama como criaturas suas. Somente o pecado Deus detesta em nós.

 

É condição da amizade que eu ame tudo aquilo que meu amigo ama.

 

Escondei‐vos no peito de Cristo crucificado, que é uma gruta (...); banhai‐vos no seu dulcíssimo sangue.

 

...confesso, e não o nego, que sois vigário de Cristo, que tendes as chaves do celeiro da Santa Igreja, onde está o sangue do imaculado Cordeiro;

 

...vindes tomar e possuir o lugar do vosso antecessor e campeão, apóstolo Pedro. Porquanto vós, como vigário de Cristo, deveis repousar no lugar que vos é próprio.

 

O caminho para atingir o conhecimento verdadeiro e a experiência do meu ser - Vida eterna que sou - é este: nunca abandones o autoconhecimento!

 

Ao conhecer a Verdade, a alma sofrerá terrivelmente, pois toma consciência dos próprios pecados e vê a cega ingratidão humana.

 

Alimenta, pois, a chama do teu amor! Não deixes passar um só minuto sem clamar diante de mim, com oração humilde e contínua, em favor dos pecadores.

 

É na adversidade que se prova ter paciência e amor. Comportai-vos, portanto, virilmente.

 

Para fazer o mal, basta que se deixe de fazer o bem.

 

O egoísmo envenenou o mundo inteiro e fez adoecer a hierarquia da Igreja e o povo cristão.

 

Quem me ama, procura ser útil ao próximo.

 

Como nada podeis fazer de útil para mim, deveis ser de utilidade ao homem.

 

Quem se apaixona por mim, jamais cessa de trabalhar pelos outros

 

Assim, graças ao amor que o une a mim, o homem torna-se útil ao próximo; preocupado com a salvação alheia, ama o próximo, presta-lhe serviços em suas necessidades.

 

... é obrigação de todos edificar os demais com uma vida boa, santa e honesta.

 

Quem me ama, pratica todo o bem possível, em seu estado de vida, para o benefício dos outros.

 

...pagando o mal com o bem, tais pessoas frequentemente atiram brasas de amor, as quais consumirão a raiva e o rancor do coração

 

Quem se penitencia há de valorizar o amor, desprezar a si mesmo, ser humilde...

 

... paciente cumpre para com os outros a grande dívida do amor e da oração humilde e contínua...

 

... como é seu dever; ensina, dá bom exemplo, auxilia materialmente segundo as necessidades.

 

Quem tem discernimento, qualquer que seja seu estado de vida - patrão, prelado ou súdito - sempre trata o próximo com amor.

 

A alma é uma árvore nascida para o amor; sem ele não vive.

 

 

Friday's Sung Word: "Mentiras de Mulher" by Noel Rosa and Arthúr Costa (in Portuguese)

São mentiras de mulher,
Pode crer quem quiser.

Que eu tenho horror ao batente,
Que não sou decente,
Poder crer quem quiser,
Que eu sou fingido e malvado,
E até sou casado,
São mentiras de mulher.

Quando no reino da intriga,
Surge uma briga,
Por um motivo qualquer,
Se alguém vai pro cemitério,
É porque levou a sério,
As palavras da mulher.

Esta mulher jamais se cansa,
De fazer trança,
Na mentira é um colosso!
Sua visita é tão cacete,
Que escrevi no gabinete:
"Está fechado para almoço".

Esta mulher, de armar trancinha,
Ficou magrinha,
Amarela e transparente,
Quando vai ao ponto marcado,
De um encontro combinado,
Dizem que ela está ausente...

 

You can listen "Mentiras de Mulher" sung by Noel Rosa and Arthúr Costa here.

Thursday's Serial: "Against Heresies" by St. Irenaeus of Lyon (translated into English by Alexander Roberts and William Rambaut) - I

BOOK I

 

Preface

1. Inasmuch as certain men have set the truth aside, and bring in lying words and vain genealogies, which, as the apostle says, "minister questions rather than godly edifying which is in faith," and by means of their craftily-constructed plausibilities draw away the minds of the inexperienced and take them captive, [I have felt constrained, my dear friend, to compose the following treatise in order to expose and counteract their machinations.] These men falsify the oracles of God, and prove themselves evil interpreters of the good word of revelation. They also overthrow the faith of many, by drawing them away, under a pretence of [superior] knowledge, from Him who founded and adorned the universe; as if, forsooth, they had something more excellent and sublime to reveal, than that God who created the heaven and the earth, and all things that are therein. By means of specious and plausible words, they cunningly allure the simple-minded to inquire into their system; but they nevertheless clumsily destroy them, while they initiate them into their blasphemous and impious opinions respecting the Demiurge; and these simple ones are unable, even in such a matter, to distinguish falsehood from truth.

2. Error, indeed, is never set forth in its naked deformity, lest, being thus exposed, it should at once be detected. But it is craftily decked out in an attractive dress, so as, by its outward form, to make it appear to the inexperienced (ridiculous as the expression may seem) more true than the truth itself. One far superior to me has well said, in reference to this point, "A clever imitation in glass casts contempt, as it were, on that precious jewel the emerald (which is most highly esteemed by some), unless it come under the eye of one able to test and expose the counterfeit. Or, again, what inexperienced person can with ease detect the presence of brass when it has been mixed up with silver?" Lest, therefore, through my neglect, some should be carried off, even as sheep are by wolves, while they perceive not the true character of these men, — because they outwardly are covered with sheep's clothing (against whom the Lord has enjoined Matthew 7:15 us to be on our guard), and because their language resembles ours, while their sentiments are very different — I have deemed it my duty (after reading some of the Commentaries, as they call them, of the disciples of Valentinus, and after making myself acquainted with their tenets through personal intercourse with some of them) to unfold to you, my friend, these portentous and profound mysteries, which do not fall within the range of every intellect, because all have not sufficiently purged their brains. I do this, in order that you, obtaining an acquaintance with these things, may in turn explain them to all those with whom you are connected, and exhort them to avoid such an abyss of madness and of blasphemy against Christ. I intend, then, to the best of my ability, with brevity and clearness to set forth the opinions of those who are now promulgating heresy. I refer especially to the disciples of Ptolemæus, whose school may be described as a bud from that of Valentinus. I shall also endeavour, according to my moderate ability, to furnish the means of overthrowing them, by showing how absurd and inconsistent with the truth are their statements. Not that I am practised either in composition or eloquence; but my feeling of affection prompts me to make known to you and all your companions those doctrines which have been kept in concealment until now, but which are at last, through the goodness of God, brought to light. "For there is nothing hidden which shall not be revealed, nor secret that shall not be made known." Matthew 10:26

 

3. You will not expect from me, who am resident among the Keltæ, and am accustomed for the most part to use a barbarous dialect, any display of rhetoric, which I have never learned, or any excellence of composition, which I have never practised, or any beauty and persuasiveness of style, to which I make no pretensions. But you will accept in a kindly spirit what I in a like spirit write to you simply, truthfully, and in my own homely way; while you yourself (as being more capable than I am) will expand those ideas of which I send you, as it were, only the seminal principles; and in the comprehensiveness of your understanding, will develop to their full extent the points on which I briefly touch, so as to set with power before your companions those things which I have uttered in weakness. In fine, as I (to gratify your long-cherished desire for information regarding the tenets of these persons) have spared no pains, not only to make these doctrines known to you, but also to furnish the means of showing their falsity; so shall you, according to the grace given to you by the Lord, prove an earnest and efficient minister to others, that men may no longer be drawn away by the plausible system of these heretics, which I now proceed to describe.

 

Chapter 1

Absurd ideas of the disciples of Valentinus as to the origin, name, order, and conjugal productions of their fancied Æons, with the passages of Scripture which they adapt to their opinions.

1. They maintain, then, that in the invisible and ineffable heights above there exists a certain perfect, pre-existent Æon, whom they call Proarche, Propator, and Bythus, and describe as being invisible and incomprehensible. Eternal and unbegotten, he remained throughout innumerable cycles of ages in profound serenity and quiescence. There existed along with him Ennœa, whom they also call Charis and Sige. At last this Bythus determined to send forth from himself the beginning of all things, and deposited this production (which he had resolved to bring forth) in his contemporary Sige, even as seed is deposited in the womb. She then, having received this seed, and becoming pregnant, gave birth to Nous, who was both similar and equal to him who had produced him, and was alone capable of comprehending his father's greatness. This Nous they call also Monogenes, and Father, and the Beginning of all Things. Along with him was also produced Aletheia; and these four constituted the first and first-begotten Pythagorean Tetrad, which they also denominate the root of all things. For there are first Bythus and Sige, and then Nous and Aletheia. And Monogenes, perceiving for what purpose he had been produced, also himself sent forth Logos and Zoe, being the father of all those who were to come after him, and the beginning and fashioning of the entire Pleroma. By the conjunction of Logos and Zoe were brought forth Anthropos and Ecclesia; and thus was formed the first-begotten Ogdoad, the root and substance of all things, called among them by four names, viz., Bythus, and Nous, and Logos, and Anthropos. For each of these is masculo-feminine, as follows: Propator was united by a conjunction with his Ennœa; then Monogenes, that is Nous, with Aletheia; Logos with Zoe, and Anthropos with Ecclesia.

2. These Æons having been produced for the glory of the Father, and wishing, by their own efforts, to effect this object, sent forth emanations by means of conjunction. Logos and Zoe, after producing Anthropos and Ecclesia, sent forth other ten Æons, whose names are the following: Bythius and Mixis, Ageratos and Henosis, Autophyes and Hedone, Acinetos and Syncrasis, Monogenes and Macaria. These are the ten Æons whom they declare to have been produced by Logos and Zoe. They then add that Anthropos himself, along with Ecclesia, produced twelve Æons, to whom they give the following names: Paracletus and Pistis, Patricos and Elpis, Metricos and Agape, Ainos and Synesis, Ecclesiasticus and Macariotes, Theletos and Sophia.

3. Such are the thirty Æons in the erroneous system of these men; and they are described as being wrapped up, so to speak, in silence, and known to none [except these professing teachers]. Moreover, they declare that this invisible and spiritual Pleroma of theirs is tripartite, being divided into an Ogdoad, a Decad, and a Duodecad. And for this reason they affirm it was that the "Saviour"— for they do not please to call Him "Lord"— did no work in public during the space of thirty years, Luke 3:23 thus setting forth the mystery of these Æons. They maintain also, that these thirty Æons are most plainly indicated in the parable Matthew 20:1-16 of the labourers sent into the vineyard. For some are sent about the first hour, others about the third hour, others about the sixth hour, others about the ninth hour, and others about the eleventh hour. Now, if we add up the numbers of the hours here mentioned, the sum total will be thirty: for one, three, six, nine, and eleven, when added together, form thirty. And by the hours, they hold that the Æons were pointed out; while they maintain that these are great, and wonderful, and hitherto unspeakable mysteries which it is their special function to develop; and so they proceed when they find anything in the multitude of things contained in the Scriptures which they can adopt and accommodate to their baseless speculations.

 

Chapter 2

The Propator was known to Monogenes alone. Ambition, disturbance, and danger into which Sophia fell; her shapeless offspring: she is restored by Horos. The production of Christ and of the Holy Spirit, in order to the completion of the Æons. Manner of the production of Jesus.

1. They proceed to tell us that the Propator of their scheme was known only to Monogenes, who sprang from him; in other words, only to Nous, while to all the others he was invisible and incomprehensible. And, according to them, Nous alone took pleasure in contemplating the Father, and exulting in considering his immeasurable greatness; while he also meditated how he might communicate to the rest of the Æons the greatness of the Father, revealing to them how vast and mighty he was, and how he was without beginning — beyond comprehension, and altogether incapable of being seen. But, in accordance with the will of the Father, Sige restrained him, because it was his design to lead them all to an acquaintance with the aforesaid Propator, and to create within them a desire of investigating his nature. In like manner, the rest of the Æons also, in a kind of quiet way, had a wish to behold the Author of their being, and to contemplate that First Cause which had no beginning.

2. But there rushed forth in advance of the rest that Æon who was much the latest of them, and was the youngest of the Duodecad which sprang from Anthropos and Ecclesia, namely Sophia, and suffered passion apart from the embrace of her consort Theletos. This passion, indeed, first arose among those who were connected with Nous and Aletheia, but passed as by contagion to this degenerate Æon, who acted under a pretence of love, but was in reality influenced by temerity, because she had not, like Nous, enjoyed communion with the perfect Father. This passion, they say, consisted in a desire to search into the nature of the Father; for she wished, according to them, to comprehend his greatness. When she could not attain her end, inasmuch as she aimed at an impossibility, and thus became involved in an extreme agony of mind, while both on account of the vast profundity as well as the unsearchable nature of the Father, and on account of the love she bore him, she was ever stretching herself forward, there was danger lest she should at last have been absorbed by his sweetness, and resolved into his absolute essence, unless she had met with that Power which supports all things, and preserves them outside of the unspeakable greatness. This power they term Horos; by whom, they say, she was restrained and supported; and that then, having with difficulty been brought back to herself, she was convinced that the Father is incomprehensible, and so laid aside her original design, along with that passion which had arisen within her from the overwhelming influence of her admiration.

3. But others of them fabulously describe the passion and restoration of Sophia as follows: They say that she, having engaged in an impossible and impracticable attempt, brought forth an amorphous substance, such as her female nature enabled her to produce. When she looked upon it, her first feeling was one of grief, on account of the imperfection of its generation, and then of fear lest this should end her own existence. Next she lost, as it were, all command of herself, and was in the greatest perplexity while endeavouring to discover the cause of all this, and in what way she might conceal what had happened. Being greatly harassed by these passions, she at last changed her mind, and endeavoured to return anew to the Father. When, however, she in some measure made the attempt, strength failed her, and she became a suppliant of the Father. The other Æons, Nous in particular, presented their supplications along with her. And hence they declare material substance had its beginning from ignorance and grief, and fear and bewilderment.

4. The Father afterwards produces, in his own image, by means of Monogenes, the above-mentioned Horos, without conjunction, masculo-feminine. For they maintain that sometimes the Father acts in conjunction with Sige, but that at other times he shows himself independent both of male and female. They term this Horos both Stauros and Lytrotes, and Carpistes, and Horothetes, and Metagoges. And by this Horos they declare that Sophia was purified and established, while she was also restored to her proper conjunction. For her enthymesis (or inborn idea) having been taken away from her, along with its supervening passion, she herself certainly remained within the Pleroma; but her enthymesis, with its passion, was separated from her by Horos, fenced off, and expelled from that circle. This enthymesis was, no doubt, a spiritual substance, possessing some of the natural tendencies of an Æon, but at the same time shapeless and without form, because it had received

5. After this substance had been placed outside of the Pleroma of the Æons, and its mother restored to her proper conjunction, they tell us that Monogenes, acting in accordance with the prudent forethought of the Father, gave origin to another conjugal pair, namely Christ and the Holy Spirit (lest any of the Æons should fall into a calamity similar to that of Sophia), for the purpose of fortifying and strengthening the Pleroma, and who at the same time completed the number of the Æons. Christ then instructed them as to the nature of their conjunction, and taught those who those who possessed a comprehension of the Unbegotten were sufficient for themselves. He also announced among them what related to the knowledge of the Father — namely, that he cannot be understood or comprehended, nor so much as seen or heard, except in so far as he is known by Monogenes only. And the reason why the rest of the Æons possess perpetual existence is found in that part of the Father's nature which is incomprehensible; but the reason of their origin and formation was situated in that which may be comprehended regarding him, that is, in the Son. Christ, then, who had just been produced, effected these things among them.

6. But the Holy Spirit taught them to give thanks on being all rendered equal among themselves, and led them to a state of true repose. Thus, then, they tell us that the Æons were constituted equal to each other in form and sentiment, so that all became as Nous, and Logos, and Anthropos, and Christus. The female Æons, too, became all as Aletheia, and Zoe, and Spiritus, and Ecclesia. Everything, then, being thus established, and brought into a state of perfect rest, they next tell us that these beings sang praises with great joy to the Propator, who himself shared in the abounding exaltation. Then, out of gratitude for the great benefit which had been conferred on them, the whole Pleroma of the Æons, with one design and desire, and with the concurrence of Christ and the Holy Spirit, their Father also setting the seal of His approval on their conduct, brought together whatever each one had in himself of the greatest beauty and preciousness; and uniting all these contributions so as skilfully to blend the whole, they produced, to the honour and glory of Bythus, a being of most perfect beauty, the very star of the Pleroma, and the perfect fruit [of it], namely Jesus. Him they also speak of under the name of Saviour, and Christ, and patronymically, Logos, and Everything, because He was formed from the contributions of all. And then we are told that, by way of honour, angels of the same nature as Himself were simultaneously produced, to act as His bodyguard.

 

Chapter 3

Texts of Holy Scripture used by these heretics to support their opinions.

1. Such, then, is the account they give of what took place within the Pleroma; such the calamities that flowed from the passion which seized upon the Æon who has been named, and who was within a little of perishing by being absorbed in the universal substance, through her inquisitive searching after the Father; such the consolidation [of that Æon] from her condition of agony by Horos, and Stauros, and Lytrotes, and Carpistes, and Horothetes, and Metagoges. Such also is the account of the generation of the later Æons, namely of the first Christ and of the Holy Spirit, both of whom were produced by the Father after the repentance [of Sophia], and of the second Christ (whom they also style Saviour), who owed his being to the joint contributions [of the Æons]. They tell us, however, that this knowledge has not been openly divulged, because all are not capable of receiving it, but has been mystically revealed by the Saviour through means of parables to those qualified for understanding it. This has been done as follows. The thirty Æons are indicated (as we have already remarked) by the thirty years during which they say the Saviour performed no public act, and by the parable of the labourers in the vineyard. Paul also, they affirm, very clearly and frequently names these Æons, and even goes so far as to preserve their order, when he says, "To all the generations of the Æons of the Æon." Nay, we ourselves, when at the Eucharist we pronounce the words, "To Æons of Æons" (for ever and ever), do set forth these Æons. And, in fine, wherever the words Æon or Æons occur, they at once refer them to these beings.

2. The production, again, of the Duodecad of the Æons, is indicated by the fact that the Lord was twelve Luke 2:42 years of age when He disputed with the teachers of the law, and by the election of the apostles, for of these there were twelve. Luke 6:13 The other eighteen Æons are made manifest in this way: that the Lord, [according to them,] conversed with His disciples for eighteen months after His resurrection from the dead. They also affirm that these eighteen Æons are strikingly indicated by the first two letters of His name [᾿Ιησοῦς], namely Iota and Eta. And, in like manner, they assert that the ten Æons are pointed out by the letter Iota, which begins His name; while, for the same reason, they tell us the Saviour said, "One Iota, or one tittle, shall by no means pass away until all be fulfilled." Matthew 5:18

3. They further maintain that the passion which took place in the case of the twelfth Æon is pointed at by the apostasy of Judas, who was the twelfth apostle, and also by the fact that Christ suffered in the twelfth month. For their opinion is, that He continued to preach for one year only after His baptism. The same thing is also most clearly indicated by the case of the woman who suffered from an issue of blood. For after she had been thus afflicted during twelve years, she was healed by the advent of the Saviour, when she had touched the border of His garment; and on this account the Saviour said, "Who touched me?" Mark 5:31 — teaching his disciples the mystery which had occurred among the Æons, and the healing of that Æon who had been involved in suffering. For she who had been afflicted twelve years represented that power whose essence, as they narrate, was stretching itself forth, and flowing into immensity; and unless she had touched the garment of the Son, that is, Aletheia of the first Tetrad, who is denoted by the hem spoken of, she would have been dissolved into the general essence [of which she participated]. She stopped short, however, and ceased any longer to suffer. For the power that went forth from the Son (and this power they term Horos) healed her, and separated the passion from her.

4. They moreover affirm that the Saviour is shown to be derived from all the Æons, and to be in Himself everything by the following passage: "Every male that opens the womb." Exodus 13:2; Luke 2:23 For He, being everything, opened the womb of the enthymesis of the suffering Æon, when it had been expelled from the Pleroma. This they also style the second Ogdoad, of which we shall speak presently. And they state that it was clearly on this account that Paul said, "And He Himself is all things;" Colossians 3:11 and again, "All things are to Him, and of Him are all things;" Romans 11:36 and further, "In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead;" Colossians 2:9 and yet again, "All things are gathered together by God in Christ." Ephesians 1:10 Thus do they interpret these and any like passages to be found in Scripture.

5. They show, further, that that Horos of theirs, whom they call by a variety of names, has two faculties, — the one of supporting, and the other of separating; and in so far as he supports and sustains, he is Stauros, while in so far as he divides and separates, he is Horos. They then represent the Saviour as having indicated this twofold faculty: first, the sustaining power, when He said, "Whosoever does not bear his cross (Stauros), and follow after me, cannot be my disciple;" and again, "Taking up the cross, follow me;" Matthew 10:38 but the separating power when He said, "I came not to send peace, but a sword." Matthew 10:34 They also maintain that John indicated the same thing when he said, "The fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge the floor, and will gather the wheat into His garner; but the chaff He will burn with fire unquenchable." Luke 3:17 By this declaration He set forth the faculty of Horos. For that fan they explain to be the cross (Stauros), which consumes, no doubt, all material objects, as fire does chaff, but it purifies all those who are saved, as a fan does wheat. Moreover, they affirm that the Apostle Paul himself made mention of this cross in the following words: "The doctrine of the cross is foolishness to those who perish, but to us who are saved it is the power of God." 1 Corinthians 1:18 And again: "God forbid that I should glory in anything save in the cross of Christ, by whom the world is crucified to me, and I unto the world."

6. Such, then, is the account which they all give of their Pleroma, and of the formation of the universe, striving, as they do, to adapt the good words of revelation to their own wicked inventions. And it is not only from the writings of the evangelists and the apostles that they endeavour to derive proofs for their opinions by means of perverse interpretations and deceitful expositions: they deal in the same way with the law and the prophets, which contain many parables and allegories that can frequently be drawn into various senses, according to the kind of exegesis to which they are subjected. And others of them, with great craftiness, adapted such parts of Scripture to their own figments, lead away captive from the truth those who do not retain a steadfast faith in one God, the Father Almighty, and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

 

Chapter 4)

Account given by the heretics of the formation of Achamoth; origin of the visible world from her disturbances.

1. The following are the transactions which they narrate as having occurred outside of the Pleroma: The enthymesis of that Sophia who dwells above, which they also term Achamoth, being removed from the Pleroma, together with her passion, they relate to have, as a matter of course, become violently excited in those places of darkness and vacuity [to which she had been banished]. For she was excluded from light and the Pleroma, and was without form or figure, like an untimely birth, because she had received nothing [from a male parent]. But the Christ dwelling on high took pity upon her; and having extended himself through and beyond Stauros, he imparted a figure to her, but merely as respected substance, and not so as to convey intelligence. Having effected this, he withdrew his influence, and returned, leaving Achamoth to herself, in order that she, becoming sensible of her suffering as being severed from the Pleroma, might be influenced by the desire of better things, while she possessed in the meantime a kind of odour of immortality left in her by Christ and the Holy Spirit. Wherefore also she is called by two names — Sophia after her father (for Sophia is spoken of as being her father), and Holy Spirit from that Spirit who is along with Christ. Having then obtained a form, along with intelligence, and being immediately deserted by that Logos who had been invisibly present with her — that is, by Christ — she strained herself to discover that light which had forsaken her, but could not effect her purpose, inasmuch as she was prevented by Horos. And as Horos thus obstructed her further progress, he exclaimed, Iao, whence, they say, this name Iao derived its origin. And when she could not pass by Horos on account of that passion in which she had been involved, and because she alone had been left without, she then resigned herself to every sort of that manifold and varied state of passion to which she was subject; and thus she suffered grief on the one hand because she had not obtained the object of her desire, and fear on the other hand, lest life itself should fail her, as light had already done, while, in addition, she was in the greatest perplexity. All these feelings were associated with ignorance. And this ignorance of hers was not like that of her mother, the first Sophia, an Æon, due to degeneracy by means of passion, but to an [innate] opposition [of nature to knowledge]. Moreover, another kind of passion fell upon her (Achamoth), namely, that of desiring to return to him who gave her life.

2. This collection [of passions] they declare was the substance of the matter from which this world was formed. For from [her desire of] returning [to him who gave her life], every soul belonging to this world, and that of the Demiurge himself, derived its origin. All other things owed their beginning to her terror and sorrow. For from her tears all that is of a liquid nature was formed; from her smile all that is lucent; and from her grief and perplexity all the corporeal elements of the world. For at one time, as they affirm, she would weep and lament on account of being left alone in the midst of darkness and vacuity; while, at another time, reflecting on the light which had forsaken her, she would be filled with joy, and laugh; then, again, she would be struck with terror; or, at other times, would sink into consternation and bewilderment.

3. Now what follows from all this? No light tragedy comes out of it, as the fancy of every man among them pompously explains, one in one way, and another in another, from what kind of passion and from what element being derived its origin. They have good reason, as seems to me, why they should not feel inclined to teach these things to all in public, but only to such as are able to pay a high price for an acquaintance with such profound mysteries. For these doctrines are not at all similar to those of which our Lord said, "Freely you have received, freely give." Matthew 10:8 They are, on the contrary, abstruse, and portentous, and profound mysteries, to be got at only with great labour by such as are in love with falsehood. For who would not expend all that he possessed, if only he might learn in return, that from the tears of the enthymesis of the Æon involved in passion, seas, and fountains, and rivers, and every liquid substance derived its origin; that light burst forth from her smile; and that from her perplexity and consternation the corporeal elements of the world had their formation?

4. I feel somewhat inclined myself to contribute a few hints towards the development of their system. For when I perceive that waters are in part fresh, such as fountains, rivers, showers, and so on, and in part salt; such as those in the sea, I reflect with myself that all such waters cannot be derived from her tears, inasmuch as these are of a saline quality only. It is clear, therefore, that the waters which are salt are alone those which are derived from her tears. But it is probable that she, in her intense agony and perplexity, was covered with perspiration. And hence, following out their notion, we may conceive that fountains and rivers, and all the fresh water in the world, are due to this source. For it is difficult, since we know that all tears are of the same quality, to believe that waters both salt and fresh proceeded from them. The more plausible supposition is, that some are from her tears, and some from her perspiration. And since there are also in the world certain waters which are hot and acrid in their nature, you must be left to guess their origin, how and whence. Such are some of the results of their hypothesis.

5. They go on to state that, when the mother Achamoth had passed through all sorts of passion, and had with difficulty escaped from them, she turned herself to supplicate the light which had forsaken her, that is, Christ. He, however, having returned to the Pleroma, and being probably unwilling again to descend from it, sent forth to her the Paraclete, that is, the Saviour. This being was endowed with all power by the Father, who placed everything under his authority, the Æons doing so likewise, so that "by him were all things, visible and invisible, created, thrones, divinities, dominions." Colossians 1:16 He then was sent to her along with his contemporary angels. And they related that Achamoth, filled with reverence, at first veiled herself through modesty, but that by and by, when she had looked upon him with all his endowments, and had acquired strength from his appearance, she ran forward to meet him. He then imparted to her form as respected intelligence, and brought healing to her passions, separating them from her, but not so as to drive them out of thought altogether. For it was not possible that they should be annihilated as in the former case, because they had already taken root and acquired strength [so as to possess an indestructible existence]. All that he could do was to separate them and set them apart, and then commingle and condense them, so as to transmute them from incorporeal passion into unorganized matter. He then by this process conferred upon them a fitness and a nature to become concretions and corporeal structures, in order that two substances should be formed — the one evil, resulting from the passions, and the other subject indeed to suffering, but originating from her conversion. And on this account (i.e., on account of this hypostatizing of ideal matter) they say that the Saviour virtually created the world. But when Achamoth was freed from her passion, she gazed with rapture on the dazzling vision of the angels that were with him; and in her ecstasy, conceiving by them, they tell us that she brought forth new beings, partly after her own image, and partly a spiritual progeny after the image of the Saviour's attendants.

 

Chapter 5)

Formation of the Demiurge; description of him. He is the creator of everything outside of the Pleroma.

1. These three kinds of existence, then, having, according to them, been now formed — one from the passion, which was matter; a second from the conversion, which was animal; and the third, that which she (Achamoth) herself brought forth, which was spiritual, — she next addressed herself to the task of giving these form. But she could not succeed in doing this as respected the spiritual existence, because it was of the same nature with herself. She therefore applied herself to give form to the animal substance which had proceeded from her own conversion, and to bring forth to light the instructions of the Saviour. And they say she first formed out of animal substance him who is Father and King of all things, both of these which are of the same nature with himself, that is, animal substances, which they also call right-handed, and those which sprang from the passion, and from matter, which they call left-handed. For they affirm that he formed all the things which came into existence after him, being secretly impelled thereto by his mother. From this circumstance they style him Metropator, Apator, Demiurge, and Father, saying that he is Father of the substances on the right hand, that is, of the animal, but Demiurge of those on the left, that is, of the material, while he is at the same time the king of all. For they say that this Enthymesis, desirous of making all things to the honour of the Æons, formed images of them, or rather that the Saviour did so through her instrumentality. And she, in the image of the invisible Father, kept herself concealed from the Demiurge. But he was in the image of the only-begotten Son, and the angels and archangels created by him were in the image of the rest of the Æons.

2. They affirm, therefore, that he was constituted the Father and God of everything outside of the Pleroma, being the creator of all animal and material substances. For he it was that discriminated these two kinds of existence hitherto confused, and made corporeal from incorporeal substances, fashioned things heavenly and earthly, and became the Framer (Demiurge) of things material and animal, of those on the right and those on the left, of the light and of the heavy, and of those tending upwards as well as of those tending downwards. He created also seven heavens, above which they say that he, the Demiurge, exists. And on this account they term him Hebdomas, and his mother Achamoth Ogdoads, preserving the number of the first-begotten and primary Ogdoad as the Pleroma. They affirm, moreover, that these seven heavens are intelligent, and speak of them as being angels, while they refer to the Demiurge himself as being an angel bearing a likeness to God; and in the same strain, they declare that Paradise, situated above the third heaven, is a fourth angel possessed of power, from whom Adam derived certain qualities while he conversed with him.

3. They go on to say that the Demiurge imagined that he created all these things of himself, while he in reality made them in conjunction with the productive power of Achamoth. He formed the heavens, yet was ignorant of the heavens; he fashioned man, yet knew not man; he brought to light the earth, yet had no acquaintance with the earth; and, in like manner, they declare that he was ignorant of the forms of all that he made, and knew not even of the existence of his own mother, but imagined that he himself was all things. They further affirm that his mother originated this opinion in his mind, because she desired to bring him forth possessed of such a character that he should be the head and source of his own essence, and the absolute ruler over every kind of operation [that was afterwards attempted]. This mother they also call Ogdoad, Sophia, Terra, Jerusalem, Holy Spirit, and, with a masculine reference, Lord. Her place of habitation is an intermediate one, above the Demiurge indeed, but below and outside of the Pleroma, even to the end.

4. As, then, they represent all material substance to be formed from three passions, viz., fear, grief, and perplexity, the account they give is as follows: Animal substances originated from fear and from conversion; the Demiurge they also describe as owing his origin to conversion; but the existence of all the other animal substances they ascribe to fear, such as the souls of irrational animals, and of wild beasts, and men. And on this account, he (the Demiurge), being incapable of recognising any spiritual essences, imagined himself to be God alone, and declared through the prophets, "I am God, and besides me there is none else." Isaiah 45:5-6, Isaiah 46:9 They further teach that the spirits of wickedness derived their origin from grief. Hence the devil, whom they also call Cosmocrator (the ruler of the world), and the demons, and the angels, and every wicked spiritual being that exists, found the source of their existence. They represent the Demiurge as being the son of that mother of theirs (Achamoth), and Cosmocrator as the creature of the Demiurge. Cosmocrator has knowledge of what is above himself, because he is a spirit of wickedness; but the Demiurge is ignorant of such things, inasmuch as he is merely animal. Their mother dwells in that place which is above the heavens, that is, in the intermediate abode; the Demiurge in the heavenly place, that is, in the hebdomad; but the Cosmocrator in this our world. The corporeal elements of the world, again, sprang, as we before remarked, from bewilderment and perplexity, as from a more ignoble source. Thus the earth arose from her state of stupor; water from the agitation caused by her fear; air from the consolidation of her grief; while fire, producing death and corruption, was inherent in all these elements, even as they teach that ignorance also lay concealed in these three passions.

5. Having thus formed the world, he (the Demiurge) also created the earthy [part of] man, not taking him from this dry earth, but from an invisible substance consisting of fusible and fluid matter, and then afterwards, as they define the process, breathed into him the animal part of his nature. It was this latter which was created after his image and likeness. The material part, indeed, was very near to God, so far as the image went, but not of the same substance with him. The animal, on the other hand, was so in respect to likeness; and hence his substance was called the spirit of life, because it took its rise from a spiritual outflowing. After all this, he was, they say, enveloped all round with a covering of skin; and by this they mean the outward sensitive flesh.

6. But they further affirm that the Demiurge himself was ignorant of that offspring of his mother Achamoth, which she brought forth as a consequence of her contemplation of those angels who waited on the Saviour, and which was, like herself, of a spiritual nature. She took advantage of this ignorance to deposit it (her production) in him without his knowledge, in order that, being by his instrumentality infused into that animal soul proceeding from himself, and being thus carried as in a womb in this material body, while it gradually increased in strength, might in course of time become fitted for the reception of perfect rationality. Thus it came to pass, then, according to them, that, without any knowledge on the part of the Demiurge, the man formed by his inspiration was at the same time, through an unspeakable providence, rendered a spiritual man by the simultaneous inspiration received from Sophia. For, as he was ignorant of his mother, so neither did he recognise her offspring. This [offspring] they also declare to be the Ecclesia, an emblem of the Ecclesia which is above. This, then, is the kind of man whom they conceive of: he has his animal soul from the Demiurge, his body from the earth, his fleshy part from matter, and his spiritual man from the mother Achamoth.

 

Chapter 6)

The threefold kind of man feigned by these heretics: good works needless for them, though necessary to others: their abandoned morals.

1. There being thus three kinds of substances, they declare of all that is material (which they also describe as being "on the left hand") that it must of necessity perish, inasmuch as it is incapable of receiving any afflatus of incorruption. As to every animal existence (which they also denominate "on the right hand"), they hold that, inasmuch as it is a mean between the spiritual and the material, it passes to the side to which inclination draws it. Spiritual substance, again, they describe as having been sent forth for this end, that, being here united with that which is animal, it might assume shape, the two elements being simultaneously subjected to the same discipline. And this they declare to be "the salt" Matthew 5:13-14 and "the light of the world." For the animal substance had need of training by means of the outward senses; and on this account they affirm that the world was created, as well as that the Saviour came to the animal substance (which was possessed of free-will), that He might secure for it salvation. For they affirm that He received the first-fruits of those whom He was to save [as follows], from Achamoth that which was spiritual, while He was invested by the Demiurge with the animal Christ, but was begirt by a [special] dispensation with a body endowed with an animal nature, yet constructed with unspeakable skill, so that it might be visible and tangible, and capable of enduring suffering. At the same time, they deny that He assumed anything material [into His nature], since indeed matter is incapable of salvation. They further hold that the consummation of all things will take place when all that is spiritual has been formed and perfected by Gnosis (knowledge); and by this they mean spiritual men who have attained to the perfect knowledge of God, and been initiated into these mysteries by Achamoth. And they represent themselves to be these persons.

2. Animal men, again, are instructed in animal things; such men, namely, as are established by their works, and by a mere faith, while they have not perfect knowledge. We of the Church, they say, are these persons. Wherefore also they maintain that good works are necessary to us, for that otherwise it is impossible we should be saved. But as to themselves, they hold that they shall be entirely and undoubtedly saved, not by means of conduct, but because they are spiritual by nature. For, just as it is impossible that material substance should partake of salvation (since, indeed, they maintain that it is incapable of receiving it), so again it is impossible that spiritual substance (by which they mean themselves) should ever come under the power of corruption, whatever the sort of actions in which they indulged. For even as gold, when submersed in filth, loses not on that account its beauty, but retains its own native qualities, the filth having no power to injure the gold, so they affirm that they cannot in any measure suffer hurt, or lose their spiritual substance, whatever the material actions in which they may be involved.

3. Wherefore also it comes to pass, that the "most perfect" among them addict themselves without fear to all those kinds of forbidden deeds of which the Scriptures assure us that "they who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." Galatians 5:21 For instance, they make no scruple about eating meats offered in sacrifice to idols, imagining that they can in this way contract no defilement. Then, again, at every heathen festival celebrated in honour of the idols, these men are the first to assemble; and to such a pitch do they go, that some of them do not even keep away from that bloody spectacle hateful both to God and men, in which gladiators either fight with wild beasts, or singly encounter one another. Others of them yield themselves up to the lusts of the flesh with the utmost greediness, maintaining that carnal things should be allowed to the carnal nature, while spiritual things are provided for the spiritual. Some of them, moreover, are in the habit of defiling those women to whom they have taught the above doctrine, as has frequently been confessed by those women who have been led astray by certain of them, on their returning to the Church of God, and acknowledging this along with the rest of their errors. Others of them, too, openly and without a blush, having become passionately attached to certain women, seduce them away from their husbands, and contract marriages of their own with them. Others of them, again, who pretend at first to live in all modesty with them as with sisters, have in course of time been revealed in their true colors, when the sister has been found with child by her [pretended] brother.

4. And committing many other abominations and impieties, they run us down (who from the fear of God guard against sinning even in thought or word) as utterly contemptible and ignorant persons, while they highly exalt themselves, and claim to be perfect, and the elect seed. For they declare that we simply receive grace for use, wherefore also it will again be taken away from us; but that they themselves have grace as their own special possession, which has descended from above by means of an unspeakable and indescribable conjunction; and on this account more will be given them. Luke 19:26 They maintain, therefore, that in every way it is always necessary for them to practise the mystery of conjunction. And that they may persuade the thoughtless to believe this, they are in the habit of using these very words, "Whosoever being in this world does not so love a woman as to obtain possession of her, is not of the truth, nor shall attain to the truth. But whosoever being of this world has intercourse with woman, shall not attain to the truth, because he has so acted under the power of concupiscence." On this account, they tell us that it is necessary for us whom they call animal men, and describe as being of the world, to practise continence and good works, that by this means we may attain at length to the intermediate habitation, but that to them who are called "the spiritual and perfect" such a course of conduct is not at all necessary. For it is not conduct of any kind which leads into the Pleroma, but the seed sent forth thence in a feeble, immature state, and here brought to perfection.

Excellent Readings: Sonnet LXXXVI by William Shakespeare (in English)

Was it the proud full sail of his great verse,
Bound for the prize of all too precious you,
That did my ripe thoughts in my brain inhearse,
Making their tomb the womb wherein they grew?
Was it his spirit, by spirits taught to write
Above a mortal pitch, that struck me dead?
No, neither he, nor his compeers by night
Giving him aid, my verse astonished.
He, nor that affable familiar ghost
Which nightly gulls him with intelligence,
As victors of my silence cannot boast;
I was not sick of any fear from thence:
   But when your countenance filled up his line,
   Then lacked I matter; that enfeebled mine.