The Psalter Of Sophia

THE PSALTER OF SOPHIA: A MYSTERY OF MYSTERIES During the “Story of Pistis Sophia” in the Books of the Saviour (Pistis Sophia) Book 1, Chap. 30 - Book 2, Chap. 82, Jesus describes for the disciples the fall of Pistis Sophia into the realms of darkness, and her redemption therefrom. During the exposition, the character of Pistis Sophia, from whom the darkness has resulted (yet all due to the Will of the Limitless Light), delivers Thirteen Repentances to the Light before she is rescued from the abyss. Following her rescue, she delivers Ten Songs of Praise, or Odes to the Light, as well as a single Rebuke to the Archon who rules the realm of Darkness. According to the author of these texts, the 13 Repentances, 10 Odes and Rebuke are reflected in traditional canonical scripture, specifically the Book of Psalms and the Odes of Solomon. During the exchange as detailed in the text, the disciples present interpret the Repentances, Odes and Rebuke based on the specific scriptural references which they reflect. As this is the case, and as it is generally understood that the Books of the Saviour are a kind of “Instruction Manual” for initiates into the sect which utilized this text, and it strikes the reader that the compiler of these books may have intended the Repentances, Odes and Rebuke as a Psalter for personal and liturgical use by the practicing Gnostic. The character of Sophia herself indicates that this is the case in one of the Repentances, in which she askis the Light, “May my song to the Light please you as a perfect mystery which leads to the gates of the Light, which they who repent will sing so the light will purify them.” As most Books of Common Prayer contain the Psalter, which consists of the Book of Psalms, so have we isolated and lightly redacted the Psalms of Pistis Sophia from the Books of the Saviour, G.R.S. Mead translation, as a possible “Psalter” for use by modern Gnostics.

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THE REPENTANCES First Repentance O Light of lights, in whom I have had faith from the beginning, hear my repentance. Save me, O Light, from the evil thoughts that have entered into me. I gazed, O Light, into the Abyss and saw another light. I thought to myself, I will go down into that region, so that I might have that light. And I went and found myself in the darkness which is in the chaos below, and I could not escape from there and speed back to my region, because the servants of the Self-willed Archon pressed all around me, and the lion-faced Archon took my light from me. And I cried for help, but my voice did not reach out from the darkness. And I looked up to the heights, asking that the Light, in which I believed, might rescue me. When I looked up to the height, I saw all the rulers of the æons rejoicing among themselves, and they all looked down on me and reviled me without knowing why. And when the servants of the Self-willed Archon saw the rulers of the æons rejoicing above me, they knew that the rulers of the æons would not come to my aid; and those servants which violently oppressed me took courage, and the light which I had not taken from them, they took from me. Now, O Light of Truth, you know that I did this in innocence, thinking that the lion-faced light-power belonged to you; and so I confess my sin before you. Restore to me what I have lost, O Lord, for I have had faith in your light since the beginning; O Lord, O Light of the powers, restore my light to me. Because of your Will and for the sake of your light I have fallen into this oppression, and shame has covered me. And because of the illusion of your light, I am a stranger to my brethren, the invisibles, and to the great emanations of Barbēlō. This has happened to me me, O Light, because I desired your realm; and the wrath of the Archon has come upon me–of he

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who does not know you or your Powers–because I was in his æon without performing his mystery. And all the rulers of the æons mocked me. And I was in that Abyss, mourning and looking for the light which I had seen from above. And the guardians of the gates of the æons looked for me, and all who remained in their places mocked me. But I looked up to the height towards you and had faith in you. Now, O Light of lights, I am oppressed by the darkness of chaos. If you will come to save me,–great is your mercy,–then hear me, in truth, and save me. Save me from the matter of this darkness, so I may not be submerged, so I may be rescued from the servants of the false god which oppress me, and from their evil doings. Do not let this darkness overwhelm me, and do not let this lion-faced power swallow my power, and do not let this chaos shroud my power. Hear me, O Light, for your grace is precious, and look down on me according to your great merciful Light. Do not turn your face from me, as I am greatly tormented. Hurry, listen to me and save my power. Save me because of the rulers who hate me, for you know my oppression and my torment, and the torment of my power which they stole from me. They who put me into this evil place stand before you; deal with them according to your goodness. My power looked forth from the midst of the chaos and darkness, and I waited for my brother, that he should come and fight for me, but he did not come, and I looked for him so that he could lend me power, but did not find him. And when I looked for the light, they gave me darkness; and when I asked for my power, they gave me matter. Now, O Light of lights, may the darkness and the matter in which the servants of the Archon have trapped me be a trap

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for them, and may they be trapped within it, and pay them back and make them stumble, and banish them from their own regions. May they live in the darkness without the light; may they behold the chaos for ever, restricted always to the Abyss. Take your revenge on the Archons, and judge them according to your judgement. Restrict them forever from their regions and from their god, because he is impious and self-willed, and he thought that he had created this abyss himself, not realizing that, if I had not been brought low according to your will, he would never have had any authority over me. But when you had, by your understanding, brought me low, they pursued me even more, and their duplicities added pain to my humiliation. And they have taken light-power from me and began oppressing me, in order to take away all of my light. Because of this, do not let them ascend to the thirteenth æon, the region of Righteousness. Do not let them be counted among those who purify themselves and the light, and do not let them be counted among those who will repent so that they may receive mysteries in the Light. Because they have taken my light from me, and my power has begun to fail in me and I am lacking my light. Now, O Light, who is in you and with me, I sing praises to your name, O Light, in glory. May my song to the Light please you as a perfect mystery which leads to the gates of the Light, which they who repent will sing so the light will purify them. Now, let all things rejoice; seek the Light, that the power of the stars which is in you may live. The Light has heard you, nor will it leave any without having purified you.

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Let all things praise the Lord of all æons, and let all matter and all that is it praise him. God shall save their souls, and a city shall be prepared in the Light, and all the souls who are saved will dwell in, and inherit that city. And the souls of those who will receive mysteries will live in that region, and they who have received mysteries in its name will live within.

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Second Repentance Light of lights, in whom I have faith, do not leave me in the darkness forever. Help me and save me through your mysteries; bend your ear to me and save me. May the power of your light save me and carry me to the higher æons; for you will save me and lead me into your heights. Save me, O Light, from the hand of this lion-faced power and from the hands of the expressions of the Self-willed god. For it is you, O Light, in whose light I have faith and in whose light I have trusted from the beginning. And I have had faith in it since the time when it emanated me, and you made me emanate; and I have had faith in your light since the beginning. And when I had faith in you, the rulers of the æons mocked me, saying: She has quitted her mystery. You are my saviour and you are my deliverer and you are my mystery, O Light. My mouth was filled with glorifying, so I may always tell of the mystery of your grandeur. Therefore, O Light, do not leave me in chaos forever; do not forsake me, O Light. For all of the archons have taken my whole light-power from me and have surrounded me. They desired to take away my light from me completely and are watching over my power, Saying one to another: The Light has forsaken her, let us kidnap her and take away her light. Because of this, O Light, do not abandon me; turn towards me, O Light, and save me from the hands of the merciless. May they who would take away my power fall down and become powerless. May they who would take away my light-power from me, be wrapped in darkness and sink into powerlessness.

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Third Repentance O Light of powers, listen to me and save me. May they who would take away my light lack light and be in the darkness. May they who would take away my power, turn into chaos and be put to shame. May they turn quickly to darkness, who oppress me and say, “We are her masters.” May all those who seek the Light, rejoice and exult, and those who seek after your mystery say, “May the mystery be exalted.” Save me now, O Light, for I lacked my light, which they have taken away, and I needed my power, which they have taken from me. You then, O Light, you are my saviour, and my deliverer, O Light. Save me quickly from this chaos.

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Fourth Repentance O Light, who has my trust, listen to my repentance and let my voice reach up to your residence. Do not turn away your light-image from me, but listen to me if they oppress me; and save me quickly when I cry up to you. For my time is vanished like breath and I have become matter. They have taken my light from me, and my power is dried up. I have forgotten the mystery that I was supposed to accomplish. Because of the voice of Fear and the power of the Archon my power is vanished. I have become like a demon who dwells in matter and darkness, and I have become like a counterfeiting spirit, which has a material body and lacks light-power. And I have become like a decan, alone in the air. The archons have oppressed me, and my twin brother has said, “They have stolen her light and replaced it with chaos.” I have eaten the sweat of my body and drunk the tears of my eyes so that the oppressors cannot take the rest. All this happened to me, O Light, by your will, and it is your will that I am here. Your will brought me down, and I descended as a power of the chaos, and cannot feel my power. But you, O Lord, are eternal Light, and visit those who are oppressed. Now, O Light, rise up and find my power and my soul. Your will is accomplished, which you decreed for me in my afflictions. My time is come, that you should seek my power and my soul, and this is the time which you set aside to seek me.

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Your saviours sought the power which is in my soul, because the number is completed, so that its substance may be saved. At that time all the rulers of the material æons shall be in fear of your light, and all the expressions of the thirteenth material æon shall be in fear of the mystery of your light, so that the others may purify their light. For the Lord will seek the power of your soul. He has revealed his mystery, So that he might regard the repentance of those below; he has not disregarded their repentance. This is the mystery which has been established for those not yet born; and those not yet born will sing praises to the height. For the Light has looked down from the height of its light. It will look down on the total substance, To hear the sighing of those in chains, to free the power of the souls whose power is bound,– So that it may lay its name in the soul and its mystery in the power.

Fifth Repentance

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Light of my salvation, I sing praises to you in the regions of the heights and the depths. I sing praises to you in my hymn, which I sang in the height and which I sang to you when I was in chaos. Let it rise into your presence, and listen, O Light, to my repentance. Because my power is filled with darkness, and my light has fallen into chaos. I have become like the archons of chaos, who are gone into the darknesses below; I have become like a material body, which has no one in the height to save it. I have become like substances from which the power has been stolen, fallen down into chaos,–substances which you have not saved, which are utterly condemned by your will. Now they have put me into darkness below, in dead, powerless darknesses and substances. You brought your will to me and to all things you have decreed. And your spirit has withdrawn and abandoned me. And by your will the expressions of my aeon have not helped me, but have despised me and abandoned me. But I am not yet completely destroyed. My light is diminished, and I cried up to the light with all the light in me, and I stretched forth my hands to you. Now, therefore, O Light, will you accomplish your will in the chaos, and will the deliverers, who come according to your will, rise up in the darkness and be your disciples? Will they speak the mystery of your name in the chaos? Or will they not instead speak your name in a substance of the chaos, which you will not purify? But I sang praises to you, O Light, and my repentance will reach you in the height. Let your light come upon me,

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For they have stolen my light, and I am in pain on account of the Light since the time when I was emanated. And when I looked into the height to the Light, then I looked down below at the light-power in the chaos, I rose up and went down. Your will came upon me, and the terrors, which you decreed for me, have brought me into illusion. And they have surrounded me, in numbers as water, they have captured me. And by your will you have not allowed my fellow-expressions to help me, nor have you suffered my twin to save me from my afflictions.

Sixth Repentance

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I sang praises to you, O Light, in the darkness below. Listen to my repentance, and may your light pay attention to the voice of my supplication. O Light, if you consider my sin, I will not be able to stand before you, and you will abandon me, For you, O Light, are my saviour; because of the light of your name I have had faith in you, O Light. And my power has had faith in your mystery; and my power has trusted in the Light when it was among those of the height, and it trusted in it when it was in the chaos below. Let all the powers in me trust in the Light when I am in the darkness below, and may they again trust in the Light if they come into the region of the height. For it is the Light which has compassion on us and delivers us; and a great saving mystery is in it. And it will save all powers out of chaos because of my transgression. Because I have left my region and fallen down into the chaos.

Seventh Repentance

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O Light, I lifted up my power to you, my Light. I have faith in you. Do not scorn me; do not let the rulers who hate me celebrate my fall. For all who have faith in you shall not be put to shame. Let those who have stolen my power, remain in darkness; and do not let them profit by it, but take it away from them. O Light, show me your ways, and I shall be saved in them; and show me your paths, so that I will find my way out of the chaos. And guide me in your light, and let me know, O Light, that you are my saviour. In you will I trust as long as I exist. Listen and save me, O Light, for your mercy endures forever. As for my transgression, which I committed from the beginning due to my ignorance, do not hold it against me, O Light, but save me through your great mystery of the forgiveness of sins because of your goodness. The Light is good and sincere. Because of this, it will grant me salvation from my transgression; And for my powers, which are weakened through the fear of the material expressions of the Archon, it will draw near as it wills, and will teach my powers, which are weakened because of the merciless, its gnosis. For all gnoses of the Light are saving means and are mysteries for all who seek the regions of its Inheritance and its mysteries. For the sake of the mystery of your name, O Light, forgive my transgression, for it is great. To every one who trusts in the Light it will give the mystery which suits that person; And his soul will abide in the regions of the Light, and his power will inherit the Treasury of the Light. The Light gives power to those who have faith in it; and the name of its mystery belongs to those who trust in it.

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And it will show them the region of the Inheritance, which is in the Treasury of the Light. But I have always had faith in the Light, for it will save my feet from the bonds of the darkness. Listen to me, O Light, and save me, for they have taken away my name in the chaos. Because of all the expressions my afflictions and my oppression have become exceedingly difficult. Save me from my transgression and this darkness. And look upon the grief of my oppression and forgive my transgression. Give heed to the rulers who have hated me because they are jealous of me. Watch over my power and save me, and do not let me remain in this darkness, for I have had faith in you. And they have made a great fool of me for having had faith in you, O Light. Now, therefore, O Light, save my powers from the expressions of the Archon, by whom I am oppressed.

Eighth Repentance

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On you, O Light, I have hoped. Do not leave me in the chaos; deliver me and save me according to your gnosis. Listen to me and save me. Be my saviour, O Light; save me and lead me to your light. For you are my saviour and will lead me to you. Because of the mystery of your name, lead me and give me your mystery. You will save me from this lion-faced power, which they have laid as a snare for me, for you are my saviour. And in your hands I will place the purification of my light; you have saved me, O Light, according to your gnosis. You are angry with those who keep watch over me and will not be able to lay hold of me. But I have had faith in the Light. I will rejoice and will sing praises that you have had mercy upon me and have listened and saved me from my oppression. And you will set free my power from the chaos. And you have not left me in the hands of the lion-faced power; but you led me into a region which is not oppressed. Have mercy on me, O Light, for they have oppressed me again. Because of your will, the light in me is distracted and my power and my understanding. My power is waning while I am afflicted, and my days are numbered while I am trapped in the chaos. My light is lessened, because they have taken my power from me, and all the powers in me are tossed about. I am powerless in the presence of all the rulers, who hate me, and in the presence of the twenty-four expressions, in whose region I was. And my brother, my twin, was afraid to help me, because of that chaos in which they have trapped me. And all the rulers of the height have abandoned me as substance in which no light dwells. I have become like a material power which has fallen out of the rulers,

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And all who are in the æons said, “She has become chaos.” And after that all the pitiless powers encompassed me together and proposed to take away the whole light in me. But I have trusted in you, O Light, and said: You are my saviour. And my will, which you have decreed for me, is in your hands. Save me from the hands of the expressions of the Archon, which oppress me and persecute me. Send your light over me, for I am nothing before you, and save me through your compassion. Do not let me be despised, as I have sung praises unto you, O Light. Let chaos drown the expressions of the Archon, let them be taken down into the darkness. Let their mouth be shut up, those who would devour me, who say, “Let us take the whole light in her,” even though I have done no ill to them.

Ninth Repentance

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O Light, strike down those who have taken my power from me, and take away the power from those who have stolen mine away from me. For I am your power and your light. Come and save me. Let great darkness cover my oppressors. Tell my power, “I will save you.” Let all those who would take away my light lack their own power. Let them return to chaos and become powerless, those who would take away my light from me. Let their power be as dust, and let Iao, your angel, strike them down. And if they try to go into the height, let darkness seize them and let them fall down and turn to chaos. And let your angel Yew pursue them and cast them down into the darkness. For they have set a lion-faced power as a trap for me, although I have done them no wrong, and they have oppressed the power in me, which they will not be able to take away. Now, O Light, take away the purity from the lion-faced power without its knowing it– the thought which the Archon has thought, to take away my light. Let the light be taken away from the lion-faced power, which set the trap for me. But my power will exult in the Light and rejoice that it will be saved. And all the portions of my power shall say: There is no saviour but you. For you will save me out of the hand of the lion-faced power, which has taken my power from me, and you save me out of the hands of those who have taken my power and my light from me. For they have risen up against me, lying against me and saying that I know the mystery of the Light which is in the height, the Light in which I have had faith. And they have constrained me, saying, “Tell us the mystery of the Light in the height,” that which I do not know.

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And they requited me with all this because I have had faith in the Light of the height; and they have made my power lightless. But when they captured me, I sat in the darkness, my soul bowed down in mourning. And you, O Light–for that reason I sing praises to you–save me. I know that you will save me because I fulfilled your will ever since I was in my æon. I fulfilled your will, as the invisibles who are in my region, and as my twin. And I mourned, looking unceasingly and searching for the Light. Now, therefore, have all the expressions of the Archon surrounded me and celebrated my fall over me and oppressed me without my knowing them. And they fled away and ceased from me but have had no pity on me. They have returned again and made trial of me and they have oppressed me and ground their teeth against me, because of their desire to take away my light from me . How long, therefore, O Light, will you allow that they oppress me? Save my power from their evil thoughts and save me from the hand of the lion-faced power; for I alone of the invisibles am in this region. I will sing praises to you, O Light, in the midst of all who are gathered together against me, and I will cry up to you in the midst of all who oppress me. Now, therefore, O Light, do not let them who hate me and desire to take away my power from me rejoice over me–those who hate me and flash their eyes against me, though I have not done anything to them. For indeed they have flattered me with sweet words, asking me concerning the mysteries of the Light of which I know nothing, and have craftily spoken against me and raged against me, because I have had faith in the Light in the height. They have opened their chops against me and said, “Well indeed, we will take her light from her.” Now, O Light, you know their guile; do not let them do this, and do not restrict your help from me.

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Quickly, O Light, vindicate and avenge me, And give judgment on me according to your goodness. Now, therefore, O Light of lights, do not let take away my light, And do not let them not say, “Our power is glutted with her light.” And do not let them say, “We have eaten her power.” Instead, let darkness come upon them, and let those who long to take away my light from me, become powerless, and clothe them with chaos and darkness. Save me so that I may rejoice, for I long for the thirteenth æon, the region of Righteousness, and I shall say forever, “May the light of your angel Yew shine more and more.” And my tongue will sing praises to you in your gnosis my whole time in the thirteenth æon.

Tenth Repentance

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I cried to you, O Light of lights, in my oppression, and you listened to me. O Light, save my power from unjust and lawless lips and from crafty traps. The light which was being taken from me in crafty snaring will not be brought to you. The traps of the Archon and the nooses of the merciless are spread out. Woe to me, that my dwelling was far away, and I was in the dwellings of the chaos. My power was in regions which are not mine. And I entreated those merciless ones; and when I entreated them, they fought against me without cause.

Eleventh Repentance

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Why has the mighty power raised itself in evil? Its plotting takes away the light from me all the time, and they have taken away power from me like sharp iron. I chose to descend into the chaos rather than to stay in the thirteenth æon, the region of Righteousness. And they wanted to lead me craftily, in order to consume my whole light. Because of this the Light will take away their whole light, and also their whole substance will be nothing. And it will take away their light and will not allow them to reside in the thirteenth æon, their dwelling-place, and will not have their name in the region of those who shall live. And the twenty-four expressions will see what has befallen you, O lion-faced power, and will be afraid and not be disobedient, and will purify their light. And they will see you and rejoice over you and say, “Behold, an expression whose light has not been purified so that it may be saved, that boasted about the abundance of the light of its power, because it did not emanate from the power, and said ‘I will take away the light from Pistis Sophia,’ which will now be taken from it.”

Twelfth Repentance

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O Light, do not forget my praise-singing. For the Archon and his lion-faced power have opened their mouths against me and have acted craftily against me. They have surrounded me, wishing to take away my power, and hated me, because I sang praises to you. Instead of loving me they slandered me, but I sang praises. They crafted a plot to steal my power, because I sang praises to you, O Light; and hated me, because I loved you. Let the darkness come over the Archon, and let the ruler of the outermost darkness dwell at his right hand. And when you pass sentence, take his power from him; and the deed which he plotted, to take my light,–may you take his from him. And may all his powers of his light in him end, and let a different one of the three triple-powers receive his realms. May all the powers of his expression be lightless and may his substance be without any light. May his expressions remain in the chaos never dare to go to their home. May their light in them die away and let them never go to the thirteenth æon, their region. May the Receiver, the Purifier of the lights, purify all the lights which are in the Archon, and take them from them. May the rulers of the lower darkness rule over his expressions, and let no one give them shelter in his region; and let no one listen to the power of his expressions in the chaos. Let them take away the light in his expressions and blot out their names from the thirteenth æon; take his name out of that region forever. And as for the lion-faced power, let them bring the sin of him who emanated it before the Light, and not wipe out the error of the substance which brought him forth.

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And may their sin be together before the Light eternally, and may they not look beyond the chaos and take their names out of all regions; Because they have not spared me and have oppressed him whose light and whose power they have taken away, and also with those who set me there, they desired to take away my whole light from me. They loved to descend to the chaos; so let them live there forever, and do not ever bring them up. They did not desire the region of Righteousness for their dwelling-place, and they shall not be allowed there from now on. He put on darkness as a garment, and it entered into him as water, and it entered in into all his powers as oil. Let him wrap himself in the chaos as in a garment, and armour himself with the darkness as with a leather girdle forever. Let this happen to them who brought this upon me for the Light’s sake and have said, “Let us take away her whole power.” But you, O Light, have mercy upon me for the sake of the mystery of your name, and save me in the goodness of your grace. For they have stolen my light and my power; and my power has inwardly fallen, and I could not stand upright in their midst. I have become like a substance which is fallen; I am tossed back and forth as a demon in the air. My power has perished, because I possess no mystery; and my substance has become lessened because of my light, for they have taken it away. And they mocked me; they looked at me, nodding at me. Help me according to your mercy. Thirteenth Repentance Listen to me singing praises to you, O Light of lights. Listen to me repenting for the thirteenth æon, the region

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out of which I have descended, in order that the thirteenth repentance of the thirteenth æon may be accomplished,–those which I have passed by and from which I have descended. Now, O Light of lights, listen to me singing praises to you in the thirteenth æon, my region out of which I descended. Save me, O Light, in your great mystery and forgive my transgression in your forgiveness. And give the baptism to me, and forgive my sins, and purify me from my transgression. And my transgression is the lion-faced power, which will never be hidden from you; for because of it I have gone down. And I alone among the invisibles, in whose regions I was, have transgressed, and have gone down into the chaos. Moreover I have erred, that your will may be accomplished.

ODES TO THE LIGHT First Ode to the Light

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I will sing praises to you, O Light, for I desired to come to you. I will sing you praises, O Light, for you are my deliverer. Do not leave me in the chaos. Save me, O Light of the Height, for I have praised you. You sent me your light through yourself and saved me. You led me to the higher regions of the chaos. May the expressions of the Archon which pursue me, sink down into the lower regions of chaos, and do not let them come to the higher regions to see me. And may great darkness cover them and darker gloom come over them. And do not let them see me in the light of your power, which you have sent to me to save me, so that they may not dominate me. And do not let their resolution to take away my power take effect for them. And as they have spoken against me, and tried to take from me my light, take theirs from them instead of mine. And they have proposed to take away my whole light and have not been able to take it, for your light-power was with me. Because they have taken counsel without your will, O Light, therefore they have not been able to take away my light. Because I have had faith in the Light, I shall not be afraid; and the Light is my deliverer and I shall not fear.’

Second Ode to the Light The Light has become a wreath around my head; and I shall not leave it, so that the expressions of the Archon may not rob it from me.

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And though all the substances be shaken, I will not be shaken. And though all my substances perish and remain in the chaos, I will not perish. For the Light is with me, and I myself am with the Light.

Third Ode to the Light O Light, it is you who have helped me; let your light rain over me.

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For you are my protector, and I come to you, O Light, having faith in you, O Light. For you art my saviour from the expressions of the Archon and of Adamas, the Tyrant, and you shall save me from all his violent threats.

Fourth Ode to the Light I am saved from the chaos and loosed from the bonds of the darkness. I have come to you, O Light.

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For you were light on all sides of me, saving me and helping me. And the expressions of the Archon, which fought against me, you hindered through your light, and they could not come near me; for your light was with me and saved me through your light-stream. Because the expressions of Self-willed truly constrained me, they took my power from me and cast me out into the chaos with no light in me. So I became as heavy-weighing substance in comparison with them. And after that a light-stream came to me through you which saved me; it shone on my left and on my right and surrounded me on all sides, so that no part of me was without light. And you have covered me with the light of your stream and purged from me all evil substances; and I shall be relieved of all my substances because of your light. And it is your light-stream which has raised me up and taken from me the expressions of the Archon which constrained me. And I became sure-trusting in your light and purified light in your stream. And the expressions of the Archon which constrained me have withdrawn from me; and I shone in your great power, for you save forever.

Fifth Ode to the Light I sing a song to you; through your will you led me down out of the higher æon, and led me up to the regions which are below.

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And again through your will you saved me from the regions which are below, and through you taken there the substance in my light-powers, and I have seen it. And you have scattered the expressions of the Archon far from me, those which constrained me and were hostile to me, and have bestowed power on me to free myself from the bonds of the expressions of Adamas. And you have stricken the seven-headed basilisk and cast it out with my hands and have set me above its substance. You destroyed it, so that its seed may not raise itself from now on. And you were with me, giving me power in all things, and your light surrounded me in all regions, and through you all the expressions of the Archon have been made powerless. For you have taken the power of their light from them and made straight my way to lead me out of the chaos. And you removed me from the material darknesses and took from them all my powers, from which the light had been taken. You put into them purified light and into all my limbs, in which was no light, you have given purified light from the Light of the Height. And you have made straight the way for them my limbs, and the light of your face has become for me life eternal. You have led me forth above the chaos, the region of chaos and extermination, in order that all the substances in that region, might be freed and all my powers be renewed in your light, and your light be in them. You have deposited the light of your stream in me and I have become purified light. Sixth Ode to the Light I will declare: You are the higher Light that saved me and led me to you, and you have not let the expressions of the Archon, which are hostile to me, take my light.

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O Light of lights, I sing praises unto you; you saved me. O Light, you have led up my power out of chaos; you saved me from them who have gone down into the darkness. The Light has become my saviour. And it has changed my darkness into light, and it has destroyed the chaos which surrounded me and girded me with light. My power, sing praises to the Light and do not forget all the powers of the Light which it has given to you. And the powers which are in you sing praises to the name of his holy mystery; Who forgives all your transgressions, who saves you from all the afflictions with which the expressions of the Archon have snared you; Who has saved your light from the expressions of the Archon which belong to destruction; who has wreathed you with light in his compassion, until he saved you; Who has filled you with purified light; and your beginning will renew itself as an invisible of the Height.’

Seventh Ode to the Light In faith I have had faith in the Light; and it remembered me and listened to my song.

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It led my power up out of the chaos and the nether darkness of the whole substance. It removed me to a higher and surer æon, lofty and firm; it changed my place on the way which leads to my region. And it has given me a new mystery, which is not that of my æon, and given me a song of the Light. Now, therefore, O Light, all the rulers will see what you have done to me, and be afraid and have faith in the Light.

Eighth Ode to the Light O Light of lights, I have had faith in you. Save me from all these rulers who pursue me, and help me,

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That they may never take my light from me, as the lionfaced power did. For your light is not with me and your light-stream to save me. Adamas is even more enraged against me, saying, “You have imprisoned my power in the chaos.” O Light of lights, if I have done this and have imprisoned it, if I have done any injustice at all to that power, Or if I have constrained it, as it has constrained me, then let all these rulers who pursue after me take my light from me and leave me empty; And let the enemy, Adamas, pursue my power and seize it and take my light from me and cast it into his dark power in the chaos, and keep my power there. Now, O Light, lay hold on me in your wrath and lift up your power above my enemies who have lifted themselves up against me to the very end. Quicken me quickly, as you have said to me, “I will help you.”

Admonition to the Darkness Why do you pursue me and say I should not have help, that the Light should not save me from you?

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Now my rescuer is the Light, and a strong one, but it is abiding until the time comes when it will come and help me. And it will not always bring its wrath upon you. This is the time, however, of which he has spoken to me. Now, if you do not turn back and stop chasing after me, then the Light will make its power ready; it will make all of its powers ready. And in its power it has readied itself so that it may take the lights from within you, so you become darkness; and its power brought it to pass, so that it may take your power from you and you may go to ground.

Ninth Ode to the Light O Light, behold! Adamas, the doer of violence, is wrathful; he has a dark expression,

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And he has emanated another chaos and made another dark and chaotic one. See, O Light, the chaos which he has made, in order to cast me down there and take my light-power from me. Take, then, from him his own. And the plan which he has devised, to take my light, they are to take his from him; and the injustice which he has spoken, to take my lights from me, take then all of his.

Tenth Ode to the Light I give thanks unto you, O Light, for you are a saviour; you are a deliverer for all time.

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I utter this Ode to the Light, for it has saved me and brought me out of the hand of the archons, my enemies. And you have preserved me in all the regions, you have saved me from the height and the depth of chaos and out of the æons of the archons of the sphere. And when I was come out of the Height, I wandered round in regions of darkness, and I could not return to the thirteenth æon, my dwelling-place. For there was no light in me nor power. My power was utterly weakened. And the Light saved me in all my afflictions. I sang praises to the Light, and it listened to me when I was constrained. It guided me in the creation of the æons to lead me up to the thirteenth æon, my dwelling-place. I give thanks to you, O Light, that you saved me, and for your wondrous works for humanity. When my power failed, you gave me power; and when my light failed, you filled me with purified light. I was in the darkness and in the shadow of the chaos, bound with the mighty fetters of the chaos, and no light was in me. For I have provoked the will of the Light and have transgressed, and I angered the will of the Light, because I left my region. And when I had gone down, I failed my light and became without light, and no one helped me. And in my affliction I sang praises to the Light, and it saved me from my afflictions. And it has also shattered all my bonds and led me up out of the darkness and the affliction of the chaos. I give thanks unto you, O Light, that you saved me and that your wondrous works have been wrought in humanity.

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And you have shattered the upper gates of the darkness and the mighty bolts of the chaos. And you let me depart out of the region in which I had transgressed, and in which my light was taken. And I ceased from my mysteries and went down to the gates of the chaos. And when I was constrained, I sang praises to the Light. It saved me from all my afflictions. You sent your stream; it gave me power and saved me from all my afflictions. I give thanks unto you, O Light, that you have saved me, and for your wondrous works in humanity.

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