THE

W EDDING
SO NG O F
W ISDO M

T HE
TH O S O PHICAL
E
P UBL I S HI NG
SOC I ETY
G N O SIS .

n e this gen e l ti tle is w bei g p bl i hed

U d r ra no n u s

a se ie f m ll v l me d wn f m
r s o s a b edo u s, ra ro ,
or as

u p n the my ti th e phi
o ,
d gn ti w iting
s c, oso c an os c r s

o f t he n i ent a c t m k e m e e il y
s, so as d ible o a or as au

f
or th e v e widening i cle f th e w h l v e h
e r- c r o os o o su c

t hing me e h e
s , so f t h m ysti e pe i en e
c o s o d e c x r c s an

ini ti t y l e f thei pi it l n e t y The e

a or or o r s r ua a c s r . r

are m ny w h l v e the l ife f th

a o pi it d w h
o o e s r ,
an o

l ng f th ligh t f gn ti i ll min t i n b t w h
o or e o os c u a o , u o

are n o t u ffi iently eq ipped t

s c tudy the w iting u o s r s

of the ancien ts at fir st h an d, or to follow un

a ided th lab u f ch la T h e little v lum e

e o rs o s o rs . es o s

are the ef e intended t serve

r or int d ti n o as ro uc o

t th
o tud y r the m e di fi lt liter tu e f the
e s o or cu a r o

su bject : a d it i h ped th t t th m e time

n s o a a e sa

t hey m y b e me f
a me w h h v e
co y t t or so , o a as e no

even he d f the Gn i tepping st n e t

M
ar o os s, s -
o s o

u t t1 1 8 — 13 8
 G NO SIS TH E MI ND
OF .

VOL. II. Em s OP HERM E S .

V OL . III . VISI ON O P AR I DE US .

HYHN OF JES US .

Vow V .THE M YSTB R IBS O F m m

. .

Von VI
. A MI TH R I A C R ITU AL
. .

THE G NO STIC CR UCIP I XI ON .

von vm m a CHALDE AN O R ACLBS I

'
.
,

V ox xx TB B CHAL D E AN ORA CLE S n

. .
,
.

VOL X
. THE HYMN OF THE R OBE
.

O P G LORY .

VOL XI THE WED D I N G SON G O P

. .
-
 T HE WEDDIN G SO N G OF
M
'

WISDO .

C ONT ENT S .

Panam a

Tu us u r i o u s

F m the O m k V m i
ro s on

F om the C th li i ed Sy iac Te t
r a o c z r x

F m th L t A meni n Ve i n
ro e a er r a
'

rs o

Cowma nt a
-

S y ian W edding Fe ti vitie

r s s

The S ng f S ng o o o s

The Sac ed M a iage in the Kabalah

r rr

In the W iting f Phil l ad

r s o o e n:

In th N w Te tament
e e s

Wi d m s o

T h S ac ed M a i age in Ch i ti n G o t i
e r rr r s a n s sm
el

I th T i megi ti Gn i
n e r s s c os s

In th Ch ldm C l
e a reo es

In th Mi th i c My te ie
e r a s r s

The Seven
The Choir of the B oas
Thilo (j . Ac“ 5 T homa Apostoh .
'

( L eipzig .

W righ t w Apon yphal Acts n n

S ii 1 50
. of the Apostles (L o d o .

1 87 1 - 1 52 .

N b ldeche R ev oi W i t . Zei tschrijt dcr den tist /am

mamm rsh pp G
.

fl 67 ili a n
f
a sd ‘
o ‘f . 0 .

M ke (K ) Sy h Lied e gn ti hen U p ungs ac e

: i fibe d i p yph y i he
ac r os sc rs r
Ein e S u dr
. .

n r e a o cr en s r sc n
Th m t o T hmb gi h Q td h ift (T ub in
asac en . sc s uar sc r
gen pp fl
, . 1
'

Li psi us ( D i: apoa yphm A std gcsd tickmi

R u
un wic pp
. .

Apomllcgmdm (Br s k, 1 3. i . .

3 0 1 if .

Bo nnet (M ) Ad Apostolom m Apoci y ha ( edd Li pei us

fi
a
t B nn et) ii
. .

e o . vol pt
. i i (L e i pz i
. . . .
.

Zwei Hymnen d Th er o masekten ,

( G le n es e , v l i v pp 95 3 9
o . . . 2 —
0 .

Pren schen E
( ), I od
z p artisan Hysi m ( G ie sen s .

1 904 )
i F
Rev iew of P eusche Thw logisclt
erdam) M
B ur k tt ( r n,

905 pp 70 282
.

Tijdsclt rifi (Amst ay . . 1 , . 1 —

.

F Mead (G R
a Frag an t: a] a Fai th Forgotten r

( nd ed London
. .

a .
.

H . M ead (G R
a Tlm u Gu s to“ Hm . .
'
T HE WEDDIN G SO N G
M
'

OF WISDO .

PR E A MBLE.

The Hym n which forms the subject of

this little volume has no traditional tit le .

Like The Hymn of the R obe of Glory ,

which formed the las t of these Echoes ,

it is found in the Syriac A cts of judas
T homas, where it is put in the mouth of
the Apostle who is said on his travels to
, ,

h ave been guest of honour at a bridal

In addition to the Syriac we have a

Greek text which is plainly a trans lation .

The Greek is in prose but the Syriac for

,

t he m ost part in verses of twelve syllables ,

”
in couplets j ust like The Hymn of the
,

R obe of Glory As Macke tells us ( p

. .

where the Greek and Syriac agr ee the

9
 verses are of si x syllables ; or more
correctly as Burkitt has pointed out
,

(.p norma l
l y 6 1 6
-
but
-
so
, m etimes
Moreover the Greek can be trans
,

lated back into m et red Syriac where

the present Syriac departs from the
metre .

An Armenian version also e xisted of ,

which unfortunately we now possess

, ,

only the opening and closin g lines .

All scholars agree that the origin l

a
Hymn was composed in Syriac ; but i s
our Syriac text as it stands the ori inal
It plainly is not ; it has been over g
”
worked as the Germans call it by an
, ,

editor and that too to serve certain

, ,

theological interests while the scraps of

,

the Armenian version show that it in its

turn had been still further over worked -
.

The first thing that strikes the c areful

reader is that where the Greek difiers
most widely from the Syriac there the ,

Syriac has been over worked -

for it
,

is precisely in such pl aces that the m etre

is broken It is again precisely in these
.

10
 W EDDIN G
Gnostic while the Syriac is as str ongly SONG OF
,

Catholic .

It is therefore to be concluded with ,

al l reasonable certainty that the Greek ,

preserves the ori gi nal Syri ac more closely ,

and that this ori ginal Syri ac was the

com position of a Gnostic poet .

As to this there has been an unbr oken

,

con sensus of opinion from Thilo (Acts

Thomas p 1 2 1 ii ) onwards ; but lately
, . .

Professor Burkitt has put forward

another view He first of all remarks
.

( p
. that the contents and styles of
the tw o Hym ns the Bridal Song and the
,

Hymn of the R obe are so difi eren t that

,

they m ust be treated enti rely apart from

one another ; and with this I am quite
fi sposed to agree Dr B urkitt however
. .
, ,

g oes on to say ( p I venture

. to “

think that the Brid al Od e is an integral

part of the Acts of Thom as and that it ,

was co m posed for the ve ry position which

”
it now occupies and further to conten d
,

that it is not a Gnostic Hymn but quit e ,

in keepin g wi th the early orthodoxy
of the Syriac Church .

Professor Burkitt would himself admit

that his belief ( p that the theo
.
“

logy of the Hymn would pass as or thodox

when j udged by the stand of the
”
early Syriac speaking Church is diffi cult
-
,

of proof unless we allow that tha t

,

ort hodoxy is referable to a tim e

when Gnostic and Catholic were

His main contention is that C u oa

” ”
ticism is intellectual an d not moral
“
,

and that the whole atmosphe re of the

Thomas Acts is the latter and not the
-

former Preuschen strongly argues the

.

contrary an d shows that the mai n pre

,

occupation of the Gnostics was the

sche me of moral salvation and not an
intellectual science an d with this I f ully
,
'

agree ; for the whole of the Gnosis

appears to me to have been of the nature
of a vitalrealization mystically conceived ,

operated chiefly by a moral co nversion

or regeneration an d not a rati onal syste m
,

13
of knowledge of the nat ure of a scien ce ;
and I do not see how the Gnosis can
possibly be understood on any but the
former hypothesis .

Among the apocryphal religious t o

m ances The Acts of Thomas have
hitherto been regarded as strongly tinc
turod with Gnosticism The Acts of .

Thome s were I hold originally Gnostic ;

, ,

but have since passed through the h ands

of Catholic editors The general state
.

of afi airs concerning the Gnostic Acts

romances may be seen in the Preamble
to Vol IV of these lit tle books T he
. .
,

Hymn of j esus ; and I will he re requote

what Lipsi us whose authority on the
,

subj ect is great has said :

,

Almost every fresh editor of such

n arratives using that freedom which all
,

antiquity was wont to allow itself in dealing

with literary monuments wo uld recast ,

the m aterials which lay before him ,

excluding whatever might not suit his

theological point of view dogmatic —

statements ,for example speeches , ,

3 I3
THE prayers [hymns we might add] etc for
WEDDING , ,
.

SONG OF which he wou ld substitute other form u la:

WISDOM .

expanding and abridging after hi s own

‘

pleas ure or as the immediate obj ect

,

which he had in view might dictate .

Catholic bishops and teachers knew

not how better to stem this flood of
Gnostic wri tin gs and their in fluen ce
amon g t he faithful than by boldly ,

adopting the most popular narratives from

the heret ical books and after carefully
, ,

eli mi nati ng the p oi s on of false doctri ne ,

replacing them in this purified form in

”
the hands of the public .

With the general cri ticism of the extant

forms of the te xt of The Acts of Thomas
we cannot concern ourselves in this little
treatise but as against Professor Burkitt s
,
’

view of our Hymn whi ch he himself has

—

characterised as rather ex treme I —

venture to associate myself with the

opinion that the Hymn was origin ally

,

from the pen of a Gn ost ic poet N ot .

1 4
only so but it m ay be contended that
,
tag .

the whole of the Ad a Thom were origin 4

ally Gnostic Di d the ori ginal compiler
.
,

then write the Hymn or did he incorporate

, ,

it from some other source ? I am inclined

to adopt the latter hypothesis thoug h ,

I grant it is open to obj ecti on Bu t in .

any case according to what has been

,

said above it was originally Gnostic

,

rather than what subsequently became

Catholic and some later Ca tholic hand
,

has carefully eliminated from the

on
g n a l Syriac the poison of f alse
doctrin e , to quote the phrase of Li psi us
—

which I have italicized while the Greek —

translator has more or less faithf t

followed hi s original When for instance
.
, ,
’
we find such a phrase as the Son s
“

Twelve Apostles p we a ree

M ( g
.

with ack s ( p . that D ec a

“
lte

g n osti sc he T ex t i st k atholi s ch fi be m r
beitet ( T he ori gi na l Gnostic text has
been worked over in a Catholic sense ) .

In brief the la ter Syrian redactor has

,

cooked the tex t to suit his orthodoxy

THE whereas the Greek translator thoug h
W DDING
E
,

not very skilful is trustworthy (see

,

WISDOM. Preuschen p , The Greek form is

.

nearest the origin al ; still it is not pure ,

for it has additions and exclusions while ,

in places it is somewhat paraphrastic

( i bi
. d p
.

If then the Hymn was incorporated by

the Syrian compiler of the Acts fro m
some ot her source was it taken over j ust
,

as it stood ? That is to say Was it ,

originally composed as a Gnostic Hymn ?

I think it was ; and if it be suggested ,

as it has been by early critical op inio n ,

that it was origi nally a profane Syria n

B rid al Ode and that it was subsequent ly
,

Gnostici z ed t his two stage hypothesis

,
-

see m s unnecessary if we admit wi th ,

Preuschen ( pp 7 an d . the sim p ler

probability that it was built on the m odel
of sim ilar Syrian wedding songs and -

customs even as they obtain to d ay

, ,

during the seven days festivities when the ,

bride and bridegroom are represen ted

as a royal couple .
 An d now what shall we call our Ode ,

for it has no title On the whole I think

The W eddin g Song of W isdom
”
th at -

is a good d escription if we take , of

Wisdom to signify in praise of Wis
d om,
”
where Wisdom stan ds for the
Gnostic Sophia the purified hum an soul
, ,

awaiting the comin g of her Divine Spouse

an d Comple m ent the Christ That this .

is a legitimate title may be seen from

the Hymn itself which in the Greek ends
,

with the couplet :

So with the Livin g Spirit they sang
praise and hym n unto T ruth s Father ’

and to Wisdom s Mother

’ ”
.

This plainly stood in the lost Syriac

original for which in the present text
,

the redactor or over worker has sub -

stituted an orthodox doxology from som e

liturgy begi nning
, .

Praise ye the Father the Lord ,

.

As to the contents and style of this

Song it m ust be confessed that we h ave
,

to do with a poe m of far less originality

than the Hymn of the R obe of Glory and ,

I7
m I have taken it as a subj ect not so
m m much for its intrinsic merits as because
,

it affords an opportunity to set forth

some information on that great m ystery
which was in antiquity generally known
as the Sacred Marriage .

With these brief introductory remarks

the reader may perhaps approach the
perusal of the translation of the Greek ,

Syriac and Armenian with greater under

standing For the Syriac I have com
.

pared all the existin g versions and for

,

the Armenian fragm ents I have translated

from the German the version print ed
by Preuschen .
 Her M hiout p
s o en ed, and me tly
e
Two -
ah d o
thrrty are they who si n g prai sbs .

15 Her Tougue i s li ke the D oor hangi n g -

S et i n moti on by those who e nter .

S tep wi se her N eck ri seth a Stai rway

- —

The fir st of all B uilders hath bui lded .

The Two P alms of her H ands

20 S uggest the Choi r of the li on s .

Her Fi ngers are secretly setti n g

The Gates of the Ci ty afar .

Her B ri dechamber s hi neth wi th Light ,

Forth pour i n g scent of balsam and sweet

p

her bs ,

Exhali ng the sweet p erf u me both

an d s avou ry p l ants ,
And cr ow ds of scen ted flowers .

20
I nsi de ti s str ewn with myrtle boughs
’
-

I ts Foldi ng doors ar e beauti fied wi th reeds

-
.

Her Bri desmen are grou p ed r oun d her ,

S even i n n u mbe r , whom she hath i nvited .

Her Bridesmai ds , too, ar e S even ,

Who lead the D an ce before her .

A nd Twelve ar e her S ervants before her ,

Thei r gaze looki ng out [ or the B ri degr oom

That at Hi s si ght they may be filled wi th
Li ght .

A nd then for ever more shallthey be wi th Hi m

I n that etern al everlasti ng joy

A n d share i n that eter nal Weddi n g feast, -

At whi ch the Gr eat Ones [all] assemble

A n d so abi de i n that Deli ght

O] whi ch the Ever li vi n g are deemed worthy
-
.

Wi th K i ngly Clothes shall they be cl

ad ,
A nd put on R obes of Li ght .

21
45 An d both shall be i n j oy Exultati on and
an d p r ai s e the F ather of the Whales ,

Whose Li ght magni ficen t they have recei ved .

For at thei r Mst a er

’
s si ght they were now

filled wi th L i ght

They tasted of Hi sLi vi ng F ood

That hath no waste at all,

50 A nd dran k of that [eter nal] Wi n e

That caus es thi rst and lon gi n g never mor e .

[So] wi th Li vi ng Sp i ri t they sang

the
pr ai se and hymn
Unto Truth s F ather an d to Wi sdorn s
M
’ ’

other

FR OM T HE CAT H O LICIZED
I My B ri d e is a D aughter of Li ght
Of the K i ngs she p ossesseth the Splendour
’
.

Stately and char mi ng her Asp ect,

F ai r , wi th pu re beauty adorned .

22
Her R obes are li ke unto blossoms ,

Whose scent i s fr agr ant and pleasant .

On the Crown of her Head the K i ng thr oneth ,

Gi vi ng F ood to her P i llars beneath Hi m .

Joy eddi eth forth from her F eet .

Her M hi
out s o enp —
and well doth i t su i t
her

I n her the Son s Twelve A{rostles

’

A nd the S eventy two are all thu nder ous

— -
.

Her Ton gue s the H angi ng of the Door

’
,

The P ri est u p li fts and ente rs .

A Stai rway i s her Neck

That the first B ui lder hath bui lded .

T he P alms of her Hands , fu rthermore,

P redi ct the Land of the L i vi ng .

23
 A n d of her fingers the D ecad
S et for her op en the H eaven s Door
’
.

Her B ri dal Chamber s a light

’
-
,

And filled wi th the s cen t of S alvati on .

25 I n cense i s set i n her Mi ds t, f

o L ove,
and of F ai th,
An d of Hope, an d maki ng al
l scented .

Wi thi n i s Truth strewn

I ts D oors wi th Ver i ty are decked .

3 0 Her B ridesmen rr ou nd her

su ,

All, whom she hath i nvi ted .

A nd her Bri des mai ds , grou p ed with them,

A r e si ngi n g the P rai se hymn befor e her
-
.

Befor e her there s er ve L i vi n g Ones ,

An d watch for the B ri degroom s comi ng
’
35 .

That by Hi s R adi ance they may be fill

e d
wi th Light,
And wi th hi m enter i n Hi s K i ngdom,
That never more shall p ass away ,

A nd go un to that F east
Where all the R i ghteou s shall assemble 40

And so attai n to that D eli ght

Wherei n they each and all shall enter .

Thereon they clothe themselves i n R obes of

Li ght,
And ar e wrapp ed i n the R adi ance of thei r
Lord,

A nd to the Li vi ng F ather pr ai ses si n g ,

45
I n that they have recei ved the Li ght mag
n i ficent,

And by thei r Lord s R esplendence made

’
ar e
Light,

An d they have tasted of Hi s Li vi ng F ood

T hat never more hath waste ,

And of the Li vi ng [ Water ] they have dru n k, 50

That sufiers them to pa nt and thi rst no more .

25
P rai se ye the Father, the L ord,
A nd [p rai se ye] the S on S ole begotten ,
-

And than ks gi ve u nto the S pi ri t

A s [than ks gi vi ng] u nto Hi s Wi sdom .

Gr eat i s the Li ght s D aughter , the Church

’

S he i s the D esi re of thy K i ngs, longed for

and bat t y

We shall go to the Heavenly Mrria age

A n d dri nk the Wi ne that makes glads ome

We shall [then ] be wi th Hi m for eve r ,

From the B ou nds o/ the East beari ng

wi tness.

The Scribe has un fortunately copied

only the first and last lines , and omitted
the Whole body of the Hymn .

26
T HE hom age of t he i r ne i ghbours ; the crown
m oms however is
.

confin ed to the
,

WISDOM bride The bridegroom has his train of

. .

companions
‘
The bride too
.
, ,

has her friends the maidens of the place, ,

who take an important part in the re

”
caption of the bridegroo m .

Before the weddi ng a son g called was/

”
laudatory d escription ) is sun g
“

in honour of the bri de Other so ngs are .

also sung before and after the wedding .

O
T HE S N G O F S N GS O .

The m ost famous ancient collection

of s uch songs is The S ong of S on gs ( Shi r
ha S hi ri m), which the most recent research
-

( see Cheyne characteri

, zes as an
anthology of son gs used at m arriage
festi vals in or near Jerusalem revised ,

and loosely co n nected by an editor

”
without regard to temporal sequence .

Hirsch an d Toy s article Song of Songs

’
,

in the jewi s h Encyclopa di a gives the ,

date of compilation as probably in the

period 200 1 00 B C but it of course
-
. .
,

contains more ancient material .

collection in their R evised Version may

, ,

with advantage be compared with our

How beautiful are t hy feet in san dals ,

0 prince s daughter '

’

Thy rounded thig hs are like j ewels ,

The work of the hands of a cu nning

workm an .

Thy neck is like the tower of ivory ;

upon thee is like Carmel ,

An d the hair of t hine head like purple ;

The king is held captive in the tresses
thereof .

C
THE W e might almost be persuaded that
these very lines wer e in the mind of our
Gnostic poet when he wrote hi s Ode ;
but as the was} was invariably in praise
of the person al attraction s of the bride ,

describing her ch arms with the intimacy

of unabashed re alism such songs must
,

have been very similar to one anot her ,

and must have become in time quit e

convention alized We n eed not there
.
,

for e in seeking for the prototype of our

,

Ode be sure we have found it in thi s

,

particular was] of the S ong of Songs

Though these songs wer e origin ally secu

”
lar once they were collected as scripture
, ,

and doubtlessly over written

-
in the
interests of religion they were regarded
,

as portrayin g the phases of spiritual and

not earthly love They were thus made
.

susceptible of an allegori calinterpretation ,

and perhaps such interpretations were

attempt ed almost as soon as they wer e
t hus collected indeed the very collection
,

of them m ay have been for th is very

purpose They were t hen regarded as
.

setting forth the Love of Yahweh and His

people Isr ael Of any such in terpre
, .

tat ion s prior to the Christian era we

have no definite knowledge but similar ,

in terpretations were general en ough amon g

the J ewish mystics in the d ays of Philo
( a c
.
3 0 A D —
and
. m
. ust have been
attem pted long before his time as we are ,

j ustified in concludi ng fr om his statements

about the allegori zing art of the Thera
pents . Both Midrash and T argum
prove conclusively that the oldest inter
p r et ati on of Th e S on g of S on gs was
allegori cal It therefore follows that
.
, ,

the allied schools of the Christianized

Gnosis must have as fully delighted in
allegorizing Canticles and not only so , ,

b ut have created new son gs the better to

express the in nermost meaning of the
g reat m ystery of the Sacred Marriage ,

which was one of their chiefest sacraments .

Later on this allegorizin g passed into the

Catholic Chur ch As The jewi sh En .

cycl op e di a article says The allegorical

3 I
 con ception of it passed o ver into the
SOHG OF Christian Church an d has been elaborated
,

by a long line of workers from Origen

down to the present time the deeper ,

meaning being assumed to be the relation

between God or Jesus [the Christ rather]
”
and the Church or the individual soul .

Whe ther or not The S on g of S ongs

collection was originally intended to be
allegorized it is quite evident that our
,

Ode was composed chiefly for this purpose ;

indeed for the most part it interprets
,

itself in technical Gnostic terms .

From the T almud we know that R .

S hi meon son of Gam aliel the teacher of

, ,

Paul interpreted The S ong of Son gs

,

allegorically R Shim eon was one of

. .

”
the Tannaim of the first generation “
,

and flourished about the first quarter of

the second century A D ( See H L Strack
. . . .
,

Ei nleitung i n den T halrnud Lei p zig —

ro oc p
—
.
 7 3 8
It is not possible here to discuss the date WEDDING
It is not possible here to discuss the date THE
and sources
sou rces of of the
the 2 0t
Zoharic docu m ents SONG OF
documents
which form
which form the th e mmainain corpus
corpu s of theex
of the tant WISDOM.
extant
K abalah (The
Kabalah ( Th e T radition
Tradition parp a ll
excellence,
r exc e e n c e ,

according to
according to thethe Jewish mystics ) ; it
Jewish mystics); it is
is
enough to
enough to say that that theset hos e documents
cont ai n ancient
contain ancien t material
material and and traditions,
traditions ,

which find
which find their
t heir nearest
nearest relatives
relatives in in thethe
rem ai ns of
remains of the the Jewish
Jewish and Christian Christian
Gnosi s
Gnosis. . It will
It will be be sufficient
sufii cien t for for our
present purpo
present purpose se to to set
set downdown a passage
passage
from Jean
from J ean de Paul's Pauly s recent
’
recent French
French
translation of
translation of the S epher ha Zohar or
the Sepher-ha-Zohar - -
or
Book of
Book Splen dou r the
of Splendour, , the first
first complete
complet e
translati on which
translation which has ever ever appeared,
appe ared ,

and is is now being bei ng published

published by by thethe
devotion of of M. M Emile
. Lafuma Giraud
Emile Lafuma-Giraud -

( Paris
(Paris, ,
1 9 0 6
1906, ,inin pr og ress
progress). )
. T his
This passa
passage g e
purports to to preserve
preserve the the tradition
tr adition oof f R R. .

Shi m eon sviews view son onthe the Sacred

Sacred Marriage,
Marriage
’
Simeon's ,

andruns
and runsasasfollows
follows (i.( i434 3
. ff., ,Zohar i.i 8a)
fi Zohar, ,8a): .

$ G
R abbi Shimeon
Rabbi Shimeon consecrated
co nsecrated to to thethe
study of the mystic
of the m ystic doctrine
doctrine the the who
whole le
ni h
night
g t on
on w h
whichich the
the Heaven
Heavenly ly B ride
Bride isis
united
united with with her Heavenly Spouse."
her Heavenly Spouse .

33
33
 This is said to have been the eve of
the Feast of Pentecost the day when the
,

Law ( Torah)was revealed to the I sraelites ,

and the Covenant ( regarded as a marriage

contract ) contracted between Yahweh
and His people .

For as it has been taught all the

, ,

Members of the Palace of the He aven ly

Bride should spend the whole n ight with
her and on the m orrow lead her beneath
,

the weddin g canopy beside her Spouse

, ,

and rej oice with her They should con

.

secrate the eve of the Heavenly Marriage

to the study of the Law the Prophets,

and the Sacred Writings to the inter,

p re t at i on of the ver ses and to the

mysteries ; for t he esoteric science
gn osis ] is as it were the j ewe s
l of the

Heavenly Bride .

She and her young maidens who ,

surround her rej oice the whole night ;

,

and on the morrow she goes beneath the

weddi ng can opy surro unded by them ,

called the guests [lit the

‘ ’
 On this there follows a further inter
p r et ati on ; but enough has been sai d to
indicate to the re ader the st riking
similari ties between the tradition of
R Shimeon b Gam aliel and the m atter
. .

of our Ode With the writing of the name

.

in the Book of Life m ay be com pared

T he Hymn of the R obe of Glory (1 .

When thy N am e is read in the Book of

the Heroes and the note upon it ( p
,
.

The number 66 is the double of 3 3

, ,

the full number of e on s in the Christian

Gnostic Pler om a or Fulness The n um .

ber of the Kabali stic Ways in the Sepher

Yetsi r a the oldest extant Kabalistic
,

tr eatise VIIth K lth centuri es ) is 3 2

—

, .

This B ook of P erfecti ng ( see E Bischo ff .

,

Di e K abbalah : Ei nfithr n ng i n di e
i ndi sche yM
sti k an d G e hei mw i ss en schaft
Leip zi g, 1 903 pp 8 and 1 0)is based upon
—
.

the 2 2 letters of the Hebr ew alphabet as

the 2 2 elem ents of all things , and the
1 0 num bers of the decad (Sephiroth ), as
categories of all Bein g These are all .

summed up in one absolute Unity , 3 3 in

3 6
al
l . Perhaps this m ay throw light on 1 .
THE

12 of our Ode (Greek text ) SONG

Tw o and thirty are they who sing WISDOM
- -
.

IN 1 1 113-
w m r m cs or PHI LO J um s us .

But already a century before R abbi

Shimeon Philo of Alexandria w as filled
,

with the idea of the Mystic Union or

Sacred Marriage ; it was the favourite
doctri ne of his circle and of similar circles
of allied mystics of the tim e I have .

already at length ( H i 2 1 6 22 4 ) set forth

. .
-

hi s doctrines on the subj ect wit h full ,

references to his works and must here

,

be content with a few quotations only ,

which embody the doctrine apart from ,

the scriptur al references which he would

have us take as the foundation on
which the doctrine is built ; whereas it is
quite evident that the doctrines were
shared in by m any who had no knowled e
g
of the Covenant documents and that it
-
,

is Philo himself who accommod ates the

scripture of his r ace to the doctrines .

37
THE Philo writes
80146 0?
Bu t it is not lawful for Vi rtues in ,

g ivin g birth to their many perfections ,

to have part or lot in a mortal husband .

An d yet they will never bring for th of

themselves without conceivin g their off
spring of an other .

“
Who then is He who soweth in
, ,

the m their glorious progeny if not the ,

Father of W holes the God beyond all

—

g enesi s,who yet is Sire of everyt h ing

that is ? For for Himse lf God doth
, ,

create no single thing in that He stands

,

in need of naught bu t for the man who

”
prays to have them He creates all things .

An d agai n

God is both Home the incorporeal ,

Lan d of incorporeal ideas an d Fat her of,

all things in that He did create the m

, ,

and Husban d of Wisdom sowing for the ,

race of mankind the seed of blessedness

 For it is fitting God should converse
with an und efiled an untouched and pure m
,

n ature with her who is in very truth

,

the Virgin in fashion very different fro m

,

ours.

For the congress of men for the

procreation of childr en makes virgins
wives But when God begins to asso
.

ciate with the soul He brings it to pas s

,

that she who was formerly wife becomes

virgi n again For banishin g the foreign
.

and degenerate and non virile desires

-
,

by which it was made womanish He ,

su bstitutes for them native and noble

Wherefore is it not fitting that God ,

who is beyond all genesis and all change ,

should sow in us the ideal seeds of the

immortal virgin virtues an d not t hose
,

of the woman who chan ges the form of

her virginity

Thus , Speaking of the impure soul ,

 For when she is a multitude of
passi ons and filled with vi ces her ,

children swarmin g over her pleasures —

appeti t es folly intemperance unright

, , ,

eousn ess inj ustice

, s he is weak and sick
—

an d lies at death s door dying ; but

’
,

when she becom es sterile and ceases to ,

bring them forth or ev en casts them from

,

her forthwith from the chan ge she

, , ,

becometh a chaste virgin and receiving ,

the Divine Seeds she fashions and en

genders marve l
l ous exce l
l encies that
n ature prizeth highly pruden ce courage —

, ,

tem perance j ustice holiness piety and

, , , ,

the res t of the virtues and good dis

”
positions .

Soalso speakin g oi the Ther apeutrides ,

the women disciples of the Therapeut

-

communities he writes ,

Their longing
is not for mortal
childr en but for a deathless pr ogeny
, ,

which the soul that is in love with God

can alone bring forth when the Father ,

4c
hath sown into it the spiritual Light
beams by means of which it shall be able
,

to contemplate the laws of Wisdom ”

.

An d a little later he adds

An d Wi sdom who after the fashion

, ,

of a mother brings forth the self taught

,
-

”
R ace declares that God is the Sower of it
, .

An d yet again speaking of this spiritual

,

Bu t all the Servantsof God (Thera

peu ts ) w ho are lawf t begotten shall ,

fulfil the law of their nature which ,

commands them to be parents For .

the men s hall be fathers of m any sons ,

”
an d the women mot hers of many children .

They shall be true Godfathers and

Godmothers .

Still contemplating the m ystery though ,

from another st andpoint he writes ,

4 1
 For ome Wisdom judges en tirely
s
wor thy of living with her while others ,

seem as yet too young to support such

admirable and wise hou se sharing these -

latter she hath permitted to sole mnize

the pr eliminary initiator y rites of Mar
ri ege holding out hopes of its future
,
”
consummation .

Bu t , indeed Philo is never weary of

,

descanting on what he eviden tly regarded

as the highest consummation of the holy
li fe the rai son d étre of which he sets
’
,

forth as follows

We should accordingly understand

, ,

that the True R eason [Logos Atman in

Sanskri t ] of nature has the potency
of both father an d husband for different
purposes of a husband when He cas ts
—

the seed of virtues into the soul as into

a good field of a father in t hat it is His
,

n ature to beget good counsels and fair ,

and virtuous deeds and when He hath

,

begotten them He nourisheth them with

,

42
m Wise R eason to play physician to her
‘m ”
song transgression s either as husband and
,

WISDOM . consort or as fat her and begetter

,
”
.

As examples of Philo s allegorizing’

ring to Jacob s dr eam of the white and

’

spotted and otherwise m arked kine Philo ,

insists that it must be taken allegorically .

The first class of souls he says are

, ,
”
white .

The m eanin g is that when the Soul

receives the Divine Seed , the fir st born -

births are spotless ly white like unto ,

light of utmost purity , to radiance of the

gr eatest brilliance as though it were the
,

shadowless ray of the sun s beams from

’

”
a cloudless sky at noon .

Even the realistic primitive cultur e -

story of T amar does not dismay him for ,

he writes

For being a widow she was com

m an ded to sit in the House of the Father ,

44
the Saviour ; for whose sake for ever
abandoning the congress and associati on SONG
with mortal t hin gs she is bereft and
,

widowed of all human pleas u res and ,

recei ves the Divine quickenin g and full

, ,

filled with the Seeds of Virtue conceives

,

an d is in travail with fair deeds An d .

when she brin gs them forth she carri es

,

an dis inscri bed as Vict or receivin g as

,
”
a sym bol the palm of victory .

or se lf regeneration is but a shadow of the

-

mystery of cosmic cr eation whi ch Philo

,

s 1 a
1
-

up as follows

be quite
THE of Gen es is An d she receiving the Seed
.
,

SONG OF of God br ought forth with perfect labour

,

( 30811108 .

Did Philo in all this write all he knew ;

or is b e rai sing one veil of the mystery
only ? Virtue is most admirable , the

but virtu es are also powers and regenera ,

fecti oning on all plan es and in , al

l stat es .

Before giving some indications of how

the Gnostics regarded the m ystery of the
Sacred Marriage we m ay set down a
,

summ ary of what Pater son has to say

from an orthodox B iblical standpoint on ,

Marriage as a Symbol of Spiri tual

”
Truths in his arti cle in Hastin gs Di cti on
,
’

wry of the Bi ble ( Edin burgh whence ,

all the references can be obtained .

The germ of the idea has been traced

45
 R bertso S
b ’ where the God
y o n m ith to Semitic h eath en
w as regarded as m OF
the husband of the motherland .

After B w ea it became a commonplace

of prophecy that Yahweh was to Israel as
a Bri degr oom and Israel to Yahweh as a
Bride . Thi s conception passed over into
Christianity with modifi cation s the
Bridegroom being n ow God in Christ ,
an d the Bride the Church , the spiritual
Isr ael chosen out of every nation .

How large a portion of the body of

Christian doctrine may be set forth , an d
wi th the sanction of Scripture , under the
category of the marriage relation may .

be bri e fly indicat ed
Under the doctri ne of God this
representation
stress on the attribu tes of clemency and
long su fi er i ng while it saf
, ds the
holiness of God by show ing gn e

and provoked to anger by contum acy

t of view . As husband
THE “
m m
wannmc .
( )
z Th e doctn of si n is , fro this
SONG OF point of view characterized as adultery
,

WISDOM. a designation whi ch , as regards (a ) the

natu re of si n , indicates that i ts essence
consists in in difi er en ce or even hatred
towards God , and the givin g of the afl ec
d
tions towar s other obj ects ; ( 6) the
hei nou sm ss of si n draws attention to i ts
aggravation as unfaithfulness to solemn
obligations and in gratitude for high fa
vours ; an d ( c) thc p umsl n wnt of si n
r
teaches that persistance in it entails a
cas ting off of which hum an divorce is a
-
,
”
p ale emblem .

and the Christian Gnostics followed on

them .

(3 ) In the Christological doctrin e the

the conception are the lo ve of C hrist ,

His kingly ofiice as exercised in His head

s hip over the Church and His in t imate
,

union with it through the ind welli ng

spirit.
 The key passages are
-
I . Cor . xi . 2
' u se

For I am j ealous over you wi th a

jealousy of God for I espoused you to one
husban d that I might present you as a
,

pure virgin to Christ .

An d the Letter to the Ephesi ans , v . 23 -

3 2

For the husband is the head of the

wife as is the Head of the
Christ also
Church , being Himself the Saviour of the
Even as Christ also loved
M
Body .

the Church , an gave H

that he mi ght d up for it ;
cti fy it , havin g cleans e d
it with the LaVer of Water by the Word ,

spot or wrmkle or any su ch thi ng ; but

'

that she should be holy and without

 or ( if it be preferred ) whoe ver wrote the
song 0? Letter knew that the above was on e
,

interpretation only and that there was

,

another and mor e intimate revelation of

the myst ery when the individual Soul
,

gather ed together the Chur ch or Assembly, ,

of its scatter ed Members or Powers as ,

in the Osirio Mystery .

(4 ) In close relat ion to the las t the ,

doctrine of the Church is elucidated an d

and of its essential note of sanctity

the ~
latter which in cludes all the graces
,

(5) Finally as regards eschato

,
logy ,

the figure concentrates attention on the

momentous event of the Second Coming ,

which is sudden as the comin g of the

bridegroom and places in a clear light
,

50
into manifestation was regarded as His
Divine Spou se ; and so it is even to day -

in Indi an theosophy every God has his

,

Thiswas apparently ( apart from J udai sm )

a common feature in all the an cient
Semitic traditions , as may be seen in

the Hi stories of Philo Bybli us ( H i 1 2 2 ff ) . . .

In Babylonian cosmogony the Spouse

of the Supreme was Wi sdo m Wisdom .

dwelt in the Depths of the Gre at Sea

with Ea the Creative Deity Ea is the .

Bel n imequi the Lord of Unfathom able

-
,

Wisdom ; m équ = to be deep and to be

wise The Deep or Depth i s therefor e
,

.
, ,

symbol of Unfathomable Wisdom ; com

pa re Apsfi = Water deep and House of
Wi sdom ( See Hehn p 2 in the work
.
, .
,

referred to later on p , .

The post exilic scriptures of the Hebrews

-

( and pre e-
xilic for a matter of that ) were
stron gly tinctured with Babylonian ideas ,

and a Wisdom literature was gradually

-

developed which later on became strongly

influen ced by the philosophizing of
Hellas This .
H ok m ah literature for
( ” -

referen ces see Kohler s art Wisdom ’

.

in The jewis h Encyclop e di a) was partly

included in the later canon but the m aj or ,

been lost , w as apocryphal .

Intelli gence of God t he Helper of the,

Creator the Fou n dation of the World

, .

was believed to be the God of the un iver se ,

Wisdom was regarded as the Cosmic

Power God s Master Workman [lit
,
’
-
.

while at the sm e tim e Wisdom be a' r

the law of life and the Divine guide and

ruler of man .

Under the influen ce of Greek philo

of a personal character so that Philo ,

f
‘

iti 99 the Mother Of the

Creative Word
ma
“

Wisdom became the cen tre of specu

Ws nmms
sci ro cs
law n

In the las t sen tence we would reverse

the or der , the doctrines were Gentile first
of all and were later Chri stian ized .

Wisdom as a Constructive Formative

Energy The Gnostics regarded Her as a
.

Conceptive all encompassing Power t hat

,
-
,

received and brought forth the Ideas of

the Divine Mind and manifested the
,

In brief Wisdom was the World 50111 for

,
-

cosmos and the individual sou l for man

,

and what specially interested the Gnostics ,

what indeed is the special interest of all

mystics was that the myth of the on e
,

was the m yth of the other To use .

Sanskri t terms she is Mah a buddhi G reat

,
-
,

Buddhi the World So ul or Divine I ns tinct

,
-
,

and indi vi dual Buddhi in man We will .

,

therefore turn to the doctrines of the

,

Christianized Gnosis on this m ys tery .

54
 Wisdom ( Hokmah in Hebrew Sophia ,

in Greek both fem in ine ) dwelt with God

,

before the Creation of the World and ,

viii ) Wisdom is the L iId or Spor t of

M
.

Deity His, dyd in Sanskri t which does ,

n ot m ean Illusion but rather Creative

M
,

Power from
, to m easure , .

In the Syrian Gnosis perhaps the

“ ”
,

oldest form of the Christian ized Gnosis ,

to Wisdom is asi gned both the conception

s

of the manifested worlds and the pro

duction of its Seven R uling Powers
( t he Hebdomad ) She herself was t hr
.o ned
above them all in the Place of t he Midst
,

( th e Ogdoad ) betwee n the Spiritua

, l W o rld
proper that is the Divine Mind ( the Pleroma
,

or Fuln ess ) and the Sensible World (the

K en oma or Emptiness or Hysterém a or ,

Insuffi cien cy ) The same idea is seen in

.

P r overbs ix 1 , .

Wisdom hath built for herse lf a

House and un de rpr opped it with Seven
”
Pillars .
 What these Seven may be we will
a
' ; enquire later on They are referred to in
her Pillars beneath
.

of our Syriac
Ode (l .

That there was already a fully developed

Gnosis among the J ewish Mystics when

may be seen from the graphic descri ption

( viii . 2,

Wisdom is on the lofty Hei ghts she

standeth in the Mi dst of the Paths ; for
she sitt eth by the Gat es of the Mi ghty ,

and singeth Hymns at the Entrances .

The Gnostics knew that this referred

to Sophia sitting in the Place of the Midst ,
above the Seven Fate spheres , in the
-

Eighth or Ogdoad , at the Gates of the

Mighty , that is the Entrances of the

which the Paths of R eturn lead .

She is thus the Medi atrix between the

Upper and the Lower and br ings forth the
,

m undane appearances after the spiritual

56
prototypes She is thus called Mother
.
,

and Mother of the Living (All the .

references may be obtained fro m Lipsi us

'

art. Sophi a
“ ”
in Smith and Wace s
,
’

Di et of Chr i st
. She is also called
.

the Power Above and from her all

,

spiritual souls draw their origin .

Bu t how is it that the Divine Spouse ,

in bringin g the universe into m anifest a

tion had herself apparently fallen fro m
,

the Perfection and stood between it and

,

the Im perfection ? T here were many

myths which speculated concerning t his
m ystery but as it would take se veral
,

sm all volumes to set them forth in detail ,

we must content ourselves with a few

brief indications on ly .

To quote from Li ps ius ( foe ci t ) . .

The fate of the Mother was re

garded as the prototype of what is repeated
in the historv of all individual souls ,

ito si ] origin have fallen from

, the upper
57
THE Wor ld of Light their Home an d come
WEDDING u der the sway of evilpowers fro w om
, ,

SONG OF n m h ,

WI SDOM they must endure a long series of sufferings

.

in transm igrati on till a R eturn to the

taught that the

souls of the Pneumatici [Spiri tual] having ,

deri vation required to become once more

,

part akers of Gnosis or knowledge of their

,

own pneumatic essen ce [n ot intellectu al

order to make a R eturn to the R ealm

Gnosis con sists according to the doctrine

,

common to all Gnostics the R edemption

,

brought and vouchsafed by Chri st to all

pneumatic souls Bu t the various for
.

tunes of all such sou ls were wont to be

contemplated in t hose of this mythi cal
personage Sophia and so it was taugh t
,

wrought by Chri st , by whom she is

an d her passi ons, an d will at the end

58
m without whom ho wever there would be
, ,

m OF no manifestation ] and of her continuous

,

strivin g to recover again and again the

hidden in hum an nature till at le ngth

, , ,

Christ [the Logos ] comes to her assista nce

and in answer to her prayers proceeds
, ,

to draw allthe Sparks of Light to Himself ,

unites himse lf with Sophia as the Bride

g roo m with the B ride descends
, on J esus
[ purified m an ] who has been prepared ,

as a pure vessel for His recepti on by ,

Sophia [ Jesu s as the purified soul is also

Sophia from another point of view ] and ,

[ here me aning the death of the body ] ,

ascending with Sophia into the {Eon that

”
will never pass away .

On e of the n am es given to Wi sdom

by the Gnostics was Prun icus (IIpk ucog)
which is generally rendered the Lustful
or Lewd but which mystically refers to
,

her attempts to entice away again

from the Cosmic Po wers [the Powers
60
forth to procreation ] t he Seeds of Divine
Li ght .

She is called the Harlot because she ,

un ites with the Light sp arks Thus in

-
.

the Simonian legend Helen (Sophia ) , ,

the consort of Simon ( Shamash the ,

Sun the Christ ) is fabled to have been

, ,

a harlot whom he picked up in a brothel

at Tyre This betrays a Phoenician
background and Tyre probably equates
,

with the J erusalem Below and Egypt , ,

the manifested world of physical nature .

The Sophia was further regarded as

the World Womb and the sym bolism
-

worked out instructi vely for the mystic .

T his is the Jagad yo n i of the Hindus

-
.

All these theories are ancient and cer ,

fai nly did not derive from the Wisdom

of the Old Testament it was rather the
latter t hat was acco m modated to them .

We therefore agree with Lipsius when

, ,

he writes :

It is obvious that allthese cosmogonic

theories have t heir source or archetype
61
n ot in the Sophia of the Old Testament ,

but in the Thalatth or Moledet of Syrian

paganism the Life Mother of whom
,
-

Ber ossus has so m uch to relate or in ,

the World Egg out of which when cloven

-

asunder Heaven and Earth and all things

proceed .

It is true that some very ancien t

wisdom was at the back of it all whether ,

ori gin ating with Thalatth or not an d ,

modern scien ce entirely corroborates

this ancient wide spread mysticism ;
-

indeed it is difficult to find a sym bolism

that works out more n aturally and satis
fact orily .

Another name for Sophi a used by the

Greek writi ng Gnostics was Acham ot h
-
,

the transliteration of the Aramaic Hach

mti th Hebrew Hokm ah ) Another
'

of her nam es of which however the

, , ,

derivation is very unce rtain is Barbelé , ,

or Barb ér o In the P i sti s S op hi a (p

. .

B arbelé is the Mother of the repentant

or returnin g Sophia the human sou l
,
.

62
If in one of her aspects she was called 73 3

the Harlot equally so was she called the

, SONG 0p
Virgin and Virgin of Light .

In the system of Bardai san Hachmii th

'

gives birt h to two dau ghters probab ly ,

typifying the twin soul of man who are ,

poetically called Sham e of the D ry

Land and I m age of the Waters earthy
”
,

and watery We also hear of the Maiden

.

who having sunk down from the upper

,

Paradise od ers up prayers

, for
help from above an d being heard returns, ,
”
to the joys of the Upper Paradise .

As the Mot her of the twin daughters ,

H hm i h is elsewhere called by B
'

a c i t a r
dai san the Holy Dove that is the Divine ,

Mother Bird who lays and hatches both

,
”
cosmic and human Eggs The two .

poet ical names given to the daughters

of Hachm ri th Wisdom ( Buddhi ) have
'

, ,

hitherto proved an insoluble puzzle The .

Mother however is always on the sub

, ,

stance si de of things and ther efore her ,

daughters as all daughters must be are

, ,

equ ally on the substance side N ow the .

63
“
Image of the W aters is also referred
“
to as the type of the watery body .

The nam es may t hus esignate the cosmic

d
prototypes of what i n the indi vidual are
the subtle or watery vehicle an d the ,

That t his is not so wild a specula tion

m ay be seen from the Hellenistic mystery
poem known as the Chaldz an Grad es ,

consisting of Chaldaean ( t hat is Syrian ) ,

st ufi elaborately philosophized In .

them ( ii 3 7 81
.
,t he physical body
,

is characterized as the dung

“
shame of gross matter ( kyle) This .

Hyle or Gross Matter is not rega rded as

the Fruitful Substance of the Universe the .
“
Land flowin g with Milk and Ho n ey
( the J erusa lem A bove or Soph i a Moth
,er ,

of all living) but as the dry an d sq u alid

,

element beneath the Moon which Proclus , ,

tells us, is call

ed in the 0racles , the
”
Unwatered that is which is in itself
, ,

Unfruitful the D esert as compared with

,

the Promised Land .

Equally so as to Image of the Waters

64
we have information (11 57 For we 'm
,
mm
8015
16 01?

WI SDOM .

Exten d on every side the reins of

”
Fire [ Min d ] to guide the unformed soul .

That is to say constrain the flowing

,

watery natur e of the soul by means of

the Fire of the Spirit ; and this seems
also to be the meanin g of the difi cult

Ifthou ex ten dest Fiery Mind to

flowing work of pi et y t hou shalt preserve
,
”
thy body too .

This seems to mean that when by ,

m eans of purification the soul is made

flui d that is to say is no longer bound
—

to any configuration of extern al things ,

when it is freed fr om prej u dice or opinion

, ,

and personal passion and sen timen t and ,

is with pure purities now purifie d as ”

M
the ithn ac R itual ( p 20) has it then
.
—
,

is this regen erat ed soul an d plasm the ,

65
THE erm of the perf ct body ready f
”
g e or ,

50m; 01? uni on with the true Mind of the Father .

of the Acts of Thomas Li ps i us

Speaking ,

writes after mention ing The Hymn of

,

the S oul

Of the other hymns which are pre

served in the Greek version m ore faith
fully than in the Syriac text which has
undergone Catholic revision the fi rst ,

deserving of notice is the Ode to the S op hi a ,

which describes of the

Mai den with her Heavenly
and her intr oduction into the
R ealm of Light
’
T his Maiden called ‘
.
,

D ughter of Light is not as the Ca tholic

’

a , ,

reviser supposes the Church but Hach , ,

m uth ( ophia ) over whose head the

‘ S ’
.
,

King i a the Father of the Living Ones

, .

[ L ight sparks
-
] sits ent h roned ; her Bride
g room is accordin
, g to the most probab le
interpretation the Son of the Living On e
, ,

i s Christ
. With her the Living Ones
.
,

si c. p neumatic souls enter into the ,

66
m two of the most stri ki ng may be set dow n .

The fir st has al
ready b een referred to in
the above quotati ons from Lipsius but ,

it is worth while to give a full translation

from the Old Latin version of Iren mu s ’

lost Greek ( I xxx . Ir enm ascri bes

.

the doctrine to those whom he calls

Ophites but who called themselves simply
,

Gnostics and whom Theodoret calls

,

at the end of the Church Father s ex ’

position oi what in its cosmogony is

bably an ancient and very generally held

of which have alr eady been given in the

commen ts on The Hymn o/ the R obe of
Glory under the heading The Dual
“
,
”
Sonship (pp It runs as follows :
.

An d since she herself [Wi sdom Below

“

or m manifestation ] had no rest either

in heaven or on ear th , in her dist ress she
invoked the Mother [Wisdom Above ] to
her aid .Accordin gly her Mot her t he ,

First Wom an had pity on the repen tan ce

,

68
of her Daughter and asked the First,

Man [the Father ] that Christ [the Son ]

should be sent to help her .

So He emanated and des cended to

”
His own Sister the Moistening of Light
, .

That is to the Light that had become

,

wat ery or descended into the Water y

An d she the , Downward Sophia [that

m atter] becoming conscious that her

,

Br other was descending to her both ,

an d made ready the Baptism of re

m tance and adopted J esus befor ehand

,

t is chose him as her Son ] ; so that

,

vessel [The pre

. s ent reading of the rest
of the sen tence is hopeles s ]
He descen ded thr ough the Seven
“

H eavens makin g Himself lik e to their

,

Sons [that is taking on the forms of

,

their
them of their Power
sparks or Pneum atic souls that they had

69
m imprisoned ] ; for the whole Moistening
SONG op of Light ran together to Him
-
.

An d the Christ descending into t his

World [of gross matter] first clothed
Himse lf with His own Sister Sophia and ,

both were in bliss in mutual refres hment ,

the one wit h the o t her this is the Bride

groo m and the Bride .

N ow J esus bein g [t e generated from

the Virgin by the energiz in g of God was ,

wiser and purer and more righteous than

all men so
[ ] the C hrist b lended
-
with -

Sophia [two in one male fem ale ] de

- -
,
-

scended on him and he became Jesus

,
”
Christ .

To t his we m ay append the follow ing

section ( 51 3 ) to give the reader some
idea of one of the great Gnostic traditions
concern ing Jesus Iren aeus continues
.

They say that many of his Disciples

were not conscious of the Descent of the
Christ upon hi m it was only when the
Christ descended upon Jesus t hat he
70
 announce the [ hitherto ] unknown Father
and confess openly that he was Son of
the First Man .

At these t hings the R ulers and the

“

Father of Jesus [ that is the Father of,

his body the Demiurge or Former of the

,

physical world which they equated with

,

the J ewish idea of God ] grew angry and

set to work to have him killed The .

m om ent this was brought about the

Christ toget her wit h Wisdom departed
-

into the Incorruptible [ Eon [Eternity] ,

while it was the Jesus who suffered the

death of crucifixion .

Yet the Christ did not forget his

[ Be loved,] bu t sent down fro m above a
certain Power unto him which raised ,

him up in the body in that body which

,

they call both vital and spiritual ; for

he sent the m undane elements [of his
physical body] back again into the world .

The Disciples however though they

, ,

saw he had risen did not kn ow him [ after

deat h] nay [they did not really know]
, ,

7 1
m even J esu s hi mself [in life] whose Grace
W
,

3? [
“

that is t he , certain Power rose from

error pr evailed among the Disciples , that

they b elieved he had risen in a mun dane
body .

the meaning of Gr a in ( Grace ) in the last

sentence but one taking cujus grati n
,
“
to mean for whose sake or through
”
whom It is sufi ci en t to refer the reader
.

to The Hymn 01 1 m (pp 29 3 2 49 52 . . . .

62, to show that the lost Greek

ori gin al of Iren aaus must have read Chari s ,

one of the syon yms of Sophia in one of

her aspects That which rose from the
.

dead was the Power or incorruptible

”
Body of Ligh t the Perfect Body
, ,
”
or R obe of Glory or of—
Power .

Our Ode sets forth the per fections of

the Bride adorned for the Bridegr oom ;
but the mys tery could be set forth from
the complemen tary point of view as we

72
have already (p 42 ) seen from Philo
.

of Alexandria In the Naassen e Docu

.

m ent which so strikingly reveals to us

,

the main moments in the evolution of

one lin e of Ophite Gnostic tradition
( see H . i .pp 1 3 9 1 98
.
“
-
The My,
t h of
Man in the Mysteries the early Hel
—

len ist ic writer tell us

M
An d the law is that after they have
n initiated into the Little Mysteri es

[ t hose of Ge n era tion ] they shou

,ld be
fu rther initiated into the Great [those of

Mysteries , he adds

These are the Litt le Mysteries ,

them , they should cease for a little and ,

”
become initiated in the Great .

Whereupon the early Jewish Gn o

m “
For this Mystery is the Gate of
m 0p Heaven and this is the House of God
, ,

where the Good God dwells alone ; into

which House no impure m an shall come
but it is kept un der watch for the Spiritual
alone where when t hey com e they
—

, ,

m ust cast away their garments and all ,

become Bridegrooms obtain ing their true

,
”
Manhood through the Vir ginal Spirit .

( H.i 1
. 80 ,

The Virgin al Spiri t is the Great Mother ,

the Sophi a Above This reminds us .

strongly of the prim itive culture initiatory -

rite of young m an m akin g as it is

- -

called ; but that belongs to the m ost

gr ossly realistic form of the L esser
Mysteries What a marvellous trans
.

formation is wrought in passing from the

Below to the Above into the Greater ,

Mysteries which the later Christian

,

Gnostic comm entator ri ghtly characterizes

as Heavenly

The R ite of the Sacred Marriage m ust

have been dramatically set forth in som e
74
THE one or two of these sen tences The
W DDING
.

E
SONG OF
WISDOM soul or
. Sophia , and the Initiator or

I would be wounded .

01 I would be pierw d Thi s sug.

g ests the entrance of the R ay th e Hig her ,

Self into the Heart whereby the Knot

‘‘
,

in the Heart as the Upani shads phras e

,
”
,

it may be unloosed or di ssolved or in

, , ,

order that the purified Low er Self may

receive the Divine R adiance of the Higher .

This interpret ation is borne out by the

alternative readi ng from an old Latin
translation which may have originat ed
,

in a gloss by one who knew

“
for he writes : I would be
”
t hat is consumed by love
, .

An d so we continue with the mysteries

Union .

I would be begotten .

76
 THE
Thi s is the Myst ery of the Immaculate
Con cept ion or Self birth ( pp 57-
SONG OE . .

’
I would be adorned .

The original Greek term s uggests the

idea of rightly ordered It
m ay also rnean clothed in fit garments
that is the soul prays that her litt le
,

cosmos which has been previously out of

order m ay be made like unto the Great
”
Order and so she may be clad in Glories
,
” ”
or R obes of Glory or Power like , ,

unto the Gr eat Glories of the Heavenly

Spheres .

I would be at -
oued .

We now appr oach the Mystery of Union ,

when the soul abandons with j oy its

separatenes s and frees itself from the
,

limitations of its possesi on s of that s —

”
which is mine as apart fr om the rest
“

6
( pp 9.
Enough has now been gi ven to assure
77
 the reader that the Sacred
SONG OF

Thus in the Sacr ed Sermon called

The Key, we read

Further there is an in tercou rse or

( koi n é i a ),of souls ; thos e

of men and those of men with souls of

,

creatu res which poss ess no reason .

The hig rer further have in charge

“
, ,

the lower ; the gods look after m em men

after an imals irr ational while God ha th
,

char ge of all ; for He is hi gher than them

”
all and all are less than He ( H i
. i . .

1 55. 1 73

Again in the Discourse called The

r ead ( me)
 Wherefore I got me read y
Tat .
,

and made the thought in me a stranger

An d now do thou fill up [suggesting

the Plé rbma] the t hin gs t hat fall short
[ gg the H m or K en om a
'

su es y ste r é a

( f
c .p 55)
. in me wit h w hat th ou sai dst
would give one the traditi on of R e birth -

speech or as the secret way .

I know not 0 Thr ice greatest one

,
-
,

from out what matter and what womb

Man [the Spiritual Man ] comes to birth ,

or of w hat seed .

in Silence [such is the Matter and the

Womb from out which Man is bor n ] and ,

the True Good t he Seed .

Tat Who is the sower father

. For ,

I am altogether at a 10m .

Her It is the Will of God my son

.
, .

Tat An d of what kind is he who is

.

begotten father ?
, For I have no share
of that m ence in me that doth transcend
79
THE the senses The on e that is b egot w ill
W EDD ING_
.

m be anothe one from God God s Son ?

’
ay r ,

Her
All in all, ou t
. of al
l Pow er s
composed [ C/ the Christ
. . as the Common
Fruit of the Pler oma ] .

Tat . Thou
tellest me a riddle ,

father , and dost not speak as father

Her . Thi s R ace ,

my son is never ,

taugh t ; but when He willeth it its ,

”
memor y is rest ored by God ( H ii . . .

2 20 2 2 1
, 24 0 f )
, .

This is the Mystery of the Virgin Birth .

This Mystic Union was also the supr em e

mystery of the Hellenized Mago Chal -

dwanism to whi ch the first century

mystery poem known as the Chaldeean
-

Grad es belonged as we have shown in ,

two of these little volumes Thus speak .

in g of the fragment which set forth The

En d of Understanding we wrot e
80
 The whole instruction might be
term ed a method of yoga or mystic union
( u n i o my sti ca ) of the spiri tual or ki n gly
mind the mind t hat rules itself R aja
,
—

y g
o a , the R o yal A rt proper ( i 2 7 .

An d again ( 11 Thus Proc lus

.

Speaks of the soul according to a certain

,

i n efi able At one ment leading that which

- -
,
-

is filled [or the Ken orn a] into sameness

-

with that which fills [or the Plé rorna]

- -
,

m aking one portion of itself in an im ,

mater ial and impalpable fashion a t e ,

cept acl e for the In shmi ng and r ovoking

p
-
,

the other to the I mparti g of i ts Light

’

n .

This he says is the m eaning of the verse

, ,

When the currents mingle in con

summation of the Works of Deathless

Indeed the Pagan Mystics interpreted

the Loves of the Gods in the only way
it was possible to do so namely as Sacred , ,

(see p .
75 above ) . Thus
81
m Proclus in , his Commen tary on Plato s ’

P ar m Stallbaum Leipzig
’

3 0106 0, eru des —

1 84 1 p
—
. wri tes :

The Theologers riddle these [ Divine

Marri ages ; for wit hout ex ception they

commun ion of the Divine Causes Mar

an d call it the Mi g
HEra an d Zeus
arr a e of ,

of Ouran os ( Heaven ) and Gé ( Earth) of ,

inferior (or deficient ) with the superior

an d cal
l
it the arri age o M
eus an d
,

Dem et er ; an d again sometimes in the

superior with the lower , and call it the

of the Gods some are communions with

those prior to t hes e and again others ,

with those subseq u ent to them ; and it is

necessary to have a thorough under
standin g of the special character of each
82
m3 “
The Sons of the Sages in the Pet gect -

mg R ites that must not be disclosed sin g .

of the Blessed Marriage of H era an d

”
Ze us .

An d Proclus again in , his

Commentary
on Plato s Ti m us (i
’
. writes

T hat the same [Goddess ] has union

with different
[ Gods ] an d the same [ God ]
,

with more [ Goddesses ] you m ay learn,

fro m the Mystic D iscourses and what

are called in the Mysteries the Sacred

m m m rmmc rmrsr m ms x
—

In the m yste ry traditions the stages

-

of inner development which the human

soul passes through in its transmutation
from mortality to im mortality from man ,

to God wer e set forth as births ( and

,

deaths also and risings from the dead )

, ,

and marriages It is mor eover not

.
, ,

difficult for the e xperi en ced mystic to

84
assu re himself by the kn ow led ge of his
own “‘
passi on that there m ust be

instructive R itual which preserves for us

perhaps the innermost rite or mystic
sacrament of the ithriaca (A M alm ae M '

R du al Vol VI, we treated it as a whole

. .

from the standpoint of R ebirth or R e

generation there is,in each stage im plicitly
a union before the birth of new conscious
ness This is im plicit and not declared
.

H
mg of
ig her
up of the
the God is the
Self in to the man
into Hi m The Higher
m an
descent
an d
.
the
of his
taking

and the Lower Self are at length united .

An d so the last invocation prays

Oh Lord of me , abide with me within

”
m y Soul ' Oh ' leave me not '

Then com es t he en d ; even as on the

Cross the bitter cry :
, My God my “
,

85
T HE God why hast Thou for saken me ?
'

wm w sc ,

an d , having been made Great

- - -
, I die .

Being b orn from ou t the st ate of

birth~and ~death ( Gk Gen esi s , Sk 5
. m ], . m
that givet h birth to mortal lives I now , ,

set free to the state tr anscendin g

,

birth as , ou hast stablished it accor ding ,

as Thou hast ordained an d mad e the

”
Mystery (9 33 )

This is achieved after the Doors

of the Heavens are thr own open for the
third time Doors within and within to
the wit hout and without three m
, ,

of extended consciousn ess or deeper ,

N ow it is to be remarked t hat j ust as

in our Ode the Bride stands waiting for
the Comin g of the Bridegroom surrounded
by Seven Bridesmaids an d Seven Brides
86
men so in the Mithriac R itual the rubric
,

declares that the symbolic vision pre

cedin g the Comin g of the God shal l be

Thou shalt behold the Doors thrown

open and i ss uing from
, the Depth , Seven
These are they who

Thes e are the so -

called
’ ”
Heaven s Pole lords ( pp 29
-
.
,

It is en ou gh to say that mystically , ,

t he R itual su ggests the bringing into

activity of seven twin powers or sense -

faculties in the new bor n Perfect 01 -

B arri e Body the Body of Wholeness in

, ,

which ever y sense is of the nature of

wholeness that is this Body becomes
, ,

all ear when it hears , al

l eye when it
sees and so forth
, .

Bu t why Seven ? The reader will of

T HE SEV EN .

Bu t bo th m ysticism and the m os t recemt

Sun an dMoon were at a comparatively

,

late date accommodated to the Seven .

treatise of Dr Johannes Hehn Si abenzahl

.
,

W Sabbat bei den Babylon i an : an d

i n: Allen Testamen t : Ei ne reli gi onsge
scl u chthche Stud“ in the Lei pzi g” semi
,

h sche Studi en Bd ii Hi t v ( Leipzig

’

.
, . .
, .
,

leaves no doubt on the subject .

VII when translated by the Baby

loni ans from the Sum erian appears as ,

whole totality all= un iversu m (pp 4

, ,
.
,
’
6, This is R eb u s main contention ,

and he proves it in m any ways On .

p 1 4 there is a hint that it means the

.

Seven Directions of Space ] but this ,

suggestion he does not follow up We .

wi ll take up this point later on for we ,

know that Di k (in Sanskrit ) the Directions ,

of Space is one of the chief categories

,
 VII he says is the expression of the ,

highest Elevation or Clim ax ( compare ,

the Stai rway of the N eck of Wisdom in

our Ode) of the highest Co mpletion or
,

Fuln ess (that is Pler om a ) and Power ,

( p
.

Quotin g from a tex t ( p w hich .

speaks of the Seven Limbs of the

Father house he says t hese naturally
-
, ,

mean all the Limbs or Members .

Compare this with the Pillars of our

Ode and the Pillars of the House of
,

Wisdom in P rover bs .

Excellen tly too d oes he point out

, ,

(p. that in the B abyl o n ian r eligion ,

N ature accordin g to this view of the

,

world is not ruled over by dead Laws

, ,

but it is the out working of li ving Per -

son alities that is Living Powers or

—

The VII then r egar ded as a Divine ,

Power is not a Group of Gods but is

,
“
,

equi valent to the All Godhead and thus -

,

im plies a comprehen sion of the whole

pantheon ( p .

89
 M
oreover , it is of interest to remark
m o, that 2 >< 7 0ften occurs , as in the phrase
the Seven Go ds the T win Gods , who
“ ’
-
,

( PP 20 , 2 3 )
Also again in the invoca tion s both in ,

high magic and in sorcery the Twice ,

Seven occur : Seven are they Seven ,

”
are they , Twice Seven are they 1 (pp 28,
-
.

3 ,
0
what is the origin of this sacred
Bu t
number The old theory of the planets ,

anything for so many centuries must be

, ,

On ething is certain that the sacred

ch aracter of the VI I goes back to very
.

ancient times to demonstrably pre Baby

,
-

Ionian days for it is found as a common

,

place in Sumerian culture ( p .

are frequen t groupings of st ars (not

90
al
l due defer ence venture to dis agre e
, .

In this w ay a seven w as foun d in n atural

phe omena but was it the origin of the
nIf VI I was the Perfect N umber i n
,

veryancient culture as I think Hehn

.

has pr oved and as we shall see it can b e

,

shown a long many other lines of resea ch

r ,

t hen it i s far more probable in my o pinion , ,

that there was on ce a numbering by

sevens a system of notation where seven
,

was the radix j ust as we have in Bab y

,

lon itself du odecim alas w ell as a decimal

a
system Bu t what lay at the back of
.

this ? Why was it that VII completed .

the seri es ; six , then seven , and then

Is it so wild a par tial hypothesis ( for

I believe still far more was at the back
of it ) that VII completed or perfec ted
, .

the physi cal or visible that is brought , ,

it into manifestation t hat there m ust ,

be 6 before there was any appearance

here that there must be the 6 directi on s
complete before anyt hi ng could be seen
,

92
take away one and our space is not , .

A three dimensional thing that has no top

-
,

or bot tom etc is unthink able in our space

, .
, .

”
As to directions therefore ther e , ,

m ust be first a Within and a Wit hout ,

an d either of these m ust be measured by

3 dimensions 3 pairs makin g 6 directi ons

, ,

in all (up down right left front back )

, , , , , ,

plus a m onad or unity of the 3 or 6 .

Fu rther there was a 7 W ithin and a 7

,

Without m aking in all 7 Twins m ale

, ,

and female posi tive an d negative etc , , .

T rue we have not yet got at the root of

the matter bu t it is not so diffi cult to
,

see that here we have a 1 (m onad ) a ,

2 ( dyad twins ) and a 3 ( triad ) ; an d

, ,

agai n the permutations and co mbinations

of 3 things taken I at a time 2 at a time , ,

and 3 at a ti m e or all together are 7 , , ,

eg
. .a b c
, , ab ac be ; abs
, according
, , ,
—

to the form ula 2 I ,

°-
.

How enormously wide spre ad was this -

category of VII m ay be seen by turning

M
.

to the index of Gerald assey s two ’

massi ve volumes A nci en t Egypt : The ,

93
r an u g/u of the World ( London , where
m
u se u
the referen ces to seven occu py two
m m?

olumn The germ of his theor y (p 2 5)

c s
. .

Mother] was the Mother who br ought

forth Seven Children at a birth or as a ,

companio nship accor ding to the cat egory

,

of phenomena Her Seven Children w ere

.

the N ature Powers of all mythology

-
.

This theory he develops with en dless

illustration s it is the vital si de and
,

that I have indicated it is the femin ine

t he Virgins and the Pole lor ds of

-
the
Mith ri ac R itual .

Bu t indeed every God or Divine Power, ,

in the Babylonian reli gion had a speci al

94
number and the N umber was the God ;
,

an d ther e is little doubt that Pythagoras

derived his mathosts in the fiis t place
from initiation into the Babylonian mys
teries .

The Gods were E ons or Eternities , ,

and it is interesting to remark t hat one

of the names for a God in t he Babylo nian
lan guage is Igig this is probably the
origin of the term Iynx ( Gk Iygx pl .
, .

Th e whole of the Christian Gnostic

ogy is based on
a on ol such N umbers as ,

may be seen from the study Som e

”
Outlin es of Z Eon ology in Fr agmen ts,

( zu d
. cd pp 3 1.1 , B u
. t we have
already over run our space an d cannot
-
,

treat of the 1 0 an d 1 2 and tot al 3 2 or 3 3

, , ,

of the whole Pleroma or Dynamic Pan

theon t he Modes of the Divine Mind and
, ,

Powers of the Divine Soul The rest .

of our space m ust be given to a few

neces sary N otes .
 The R adiance , Splendou r or R es
ence ( Syr zim i , Gk apa i igasma ),
. .

Aves tan lwaren b, or Presence

M
.

ithri ac R itual p
, . It is the
of the Kings , the R oyal Pair , God a:
Spiri t , or the Sophia Above .

She, the Sophia Below or in m i ,

o

tati on , is now pure N ature decked

spri ng flowers , Buddhi , the
Enli ghtenment , or Spiri tual Soul .

6 The sweet odour

-
is the
savour of the Holy Spirit as Ba
,

calls it ( F p
. .

7 The King is Atman the Highest,

His Home is the Hi ghest Heights

He pou rs forth His Power into a
96
Members of the Pure or Perfected Body .

The Pillars are the totali ty of the Limbs ,

and not the vertebral column only ( Hoff

mann ) .

The Divine Ichor from the Cup of

Atman ( or Chris m ) pours throughout
her whole econom y and out at her feet , ,

into the outer world .

suggested that they stand for the teet h .

This may be so for in the Naassene ,

Document the Jewish mystic comment

,
”
in g on the term R ock in a verse of
“

Hom er writes ,

The means Adamas This

‘
R ock
’
.

is the Co m er stone which I insert in

-

the foundation of Zion

’
.

By t his he ( Isaiah ) means allegori ,

cally the plasm of man For the Adamas

, .

‘
who is inserted is the [inner man and
.

the foundations of Zion are ] the teeth

‘ ’ ‘ ’

‘
the fence of teeth as Homer says
’
—
,

97
the Wall an d in which is the
Palisade
inn er man fallen in to it fr om the P rimal
,

Man the Adamas Above or [the Stone ] ,

’
‘
cut without hand s cutting it an d ,

br ought down into the plasm of forget

fulness , the earthy , clayey
( H i
. .

Thisshows that the teeth wer e

regarded as symbols of the Palisade a ,

t erm used of the Limit of the /B on

World in Gnostic tradition For this sym .

holism however the number 3 0 (which

, ,

is found as a varian t reading ) would ,

per haps be mor e appropriate for the ,

Eman ation of the Limit that shut off

the E oni c Immensities from the un
perfect manifested world ih one of the ,

most famous variants of the Sophia

myt hus known to us comes as a 3 rst , ,

after the completion of 3 0 ( F pp 342 it ) . . .

Perhaps instead of those

who en ter we should rather
”
“
pr iests ( lepolc) who enter
'

98
Wisdom the last of the £ons separatin g
, ,

hers elf from her Divine Comple men t ,

an d so falling in to the real m of the

opposites .

Five G reat Limbs Thus in yet another

.

Hymn to Wisdo m in The Acts of Thomas

, ,

Thou Mother of Compassion come ; ,

come Spouse of Him the Man ; come ,

Thou R evealer of the Mysteries concealed

Thou Mother of the Seven Mansions
co me who in the Eighth hath found Thy
,

R est
“
Come Thou who art the essengm M
of the Five Holy Lim bs Mind ,
Thought , R eflection , Thin king, R easoning
commune with t hose of later birth

The City and t he chamber are

Bride
-

the same the most secret place

—
.

In the P i stts S ophia the City is a

'

synonym of the Inheritance it is in the ,

1 00
Midst of the
h ighest Plér orn a ( P MS pp .

to i t leads the Gate of Life

(P m)
From it the Supernal Mouth was born
, ,

t he Word of Prophecy when the Secret ,

Place was re arded

g as the wi thin of the
Head an d it must be remembered th at
the Gods were all re garded as He ads ,

Spheres as for instance among the

,

Trismegistic Mysti cs .

See the Sacr ed Sermon called The

Key ( 51 1 )

Since Cosmos is a sphe re that is —

to say a head
, .

An d head itself moved in a sphere

like way that is to say as head should
—

m ove is mind
—

( H ii . .

The following M arcosian R itual of the

Sacrament of the Illumin ation of Prophe y
c
( Iren. I xiii
.
3) is highly instructive
. i n

thi s con nection The C hrist as Mas ter

.
a
“
m
I ‘W ‘fld have thee e in Y m
innimate Glor y Power since the Father of Wholes
G ce M
m 0, [ , ] ,

M
Face [that is in His Presence]
, .

N ow the Place of thy Greatness [ t

is Angel] is mUs We must be at oned
.
-
.

First rew i ve from Me and through

Make thyself ready as a Bride re

cei ving her Bridegr oom in order that ,

thou m ayes t be what I am an d I what ,

thou art .

De dicate in thy Bridal Chamber the

Seed of Light .

Take from Me thy Bridegroom and ,

make way for Him and be made way ,

ded upon
thee
Open thy mouth and prophesy
“

m en t
was of the same n atur e asthe final
consummation of the whole scheme of

1 02
73 ? inte lligences ] en tering the Pler oma with
, ,

some op ou t the Opposing Powers being able to

again as Brides to the Angels who sur

”
round the Saviour .

An d again 5)

The Spiritual [ Seeds ] after t hey have

been deemed worthy of perfection are
restored as Brides to the Angels of the
”
Saviour to enjoy bliss for ever .

40 The Great Ones ( m i c Hives) might -

”
perhaps be translated Grandees or ,

Satraps .

45 It is not q uite clear what both

refers to unless to the company ( Kg
, .

p ]
a d of the B ride both m a
,
le and fe m ale .

Waste m ystically stands for

”
deficiency Their food will henceforth
.

”
be Ambrosia the Food of Immortal
,

ity the Heavenly Manna the Substance

, ,

m4
of the Plér om a, or Fulness , as set over
agai nst the food of earth, the delights of
the world the deficiency Bu t the
, .

Gnostics were also ascetics and yogins and ,

knew of the m ysteries of the body Thus .

the Valen tinians taught that the free

utterance , or pe rfect expr ession , of the
Alon e Good can only be man ifested by
the man made perfect Such an one was
.

Jesus . An d so we find Valentinus writ

in g to Agathopus ( Cle m Alex Strom
. . .

I II vii
. .
59)

It was by his unremitting self deni al -

in all thin gs that J esus di gested divinity

he ate an d drank in a peculiar manner
without any waste The power of con
.

tinence was so great in hi m tha t his food

,

did not decay in him for he himself was

,

without decay ( F p . .

The power referred to by Valen

tinus is one of the si ddhi s ( powers )
mentioned in ev ery tr eatise on yoga
1 05
 ( mystic un ion ) in In dia and in the Up
,

wast e is one of the first signs of suc

cem
”
in haw yoga the physical dis
-
,

ci plin e of the art.

As to the Living Food in reference

—

to the Miracle of the Loaves the writer ,

of the Four th Gospel puts the following

[0303 into the mouth of the Master
(1 0 h .vi .

Digest not the food that perisheth ,

but the food that abideth un to aeo nian

life which the Son of the Man shall give
,

unto you , for on this hath the Father set

”
His seal .

51 B urkitt , in his review of

translates this line

Which is longed for an d thirsted for

”
by them who drin k it .

We have already overstepped our space ,

 -
r n cv L o ri n , n o n pa ni c s AN D co LT D.
ss
.
,

r u n coo u r n r P u , en c r o ac

AN D

3, u m : CO R N E R , Lo n n o n , mo .

( i BOaS)