Hypostasis of the Archons

Concerning the rulers of darkness — their origin in the boasting of Samael, the heavenly intervention, and the creation of Adam from the dust.

1On account of the reality of the authorities — inspired by the spirit of the Father of truth — the great apostle, referring unto them which are of the powers of darkness, said unto us: Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers of the world, and against the spirits of wickedness.

2I have sent thee this writing because thou hast inquired about the reality of the authorities.

3Their chief is blind. Out of his power, and his ignorance, and his arrogance he said, with his power: I am God; there is none other but me.

4When he said this, he sinned against the All. And his speech ascended unto Incorruptibility. Then there came a voice forth from Incorruptibility, saying: Thou art mistaken, Samael — that is, the blind god.

5His thoughts became blind. And, having expelled his power — that is, the blasphemy he had spoken — he pursued it down to the abyss and the chaos. The female spiritual presence came in the shadow above. And she beheld the chaos. And the chaos became matter — by reason of the shadow of the spirit.

6Then the authorities came up from the matter, and from the shadow above. They came forth in their orders. Their chief is Yaldabaoth; his face is the face of a lion. He is the offspring of error. He hath the strength of fire; the form of a lion's eye.

7And he is androgynous. And he hath six other rulers under him. They are: Pravity, Jealousy, Wrath, Wailing, Wickedness, and Lamentation. They have all of them their portions in the matter.

8And the rulers planned together, and said: Come, let us make a man, that he may worship us.

9And they fashioned a man out of the dust of the ground. They moulded him after their own likeness. He was a creature of the earth — soulless, formless, lifeless. They could not raise him up.

10Then the Spirit, looking down upon the soulless body, came forth from above; she breathed into his face; and the man received a soul.

11And the rulers were jealous of him. He was wiser than they. They cast him into the deepest part of the All. They desired to keep him under their hand.

12But the Father of all, in His pity, sent forth the Spirit of life. She entered into the man as a holy breath; and she taught him the way.

13And she became Eve — the spiritual, the mother of the living. And she said unto the man: Adam, arise. And he arose. And he beheld her; and he said: Thou shalt be called the mother of the living, for thou it is that hath given me life.

14Then the rulers came unto Adam. And when they saw Eve speaking with him, they said one to another: What is this that hath come forth from the man? Let us seize her, and cast our seed into her. So shall they that are born of her be subject unto us.

15But the spiritual Eve, perceiving their intent, withdrew herself into the tree. And she became the tree of knowledge. And she left the likeness of herself with Adam. The rulers seized the likeness, and defiled it. But they touched not the spiritual.

16And from the defilement came forth Cain — even he that slew his brother. From the seed of Adam came forth Abel. And Eve bare again, and bare Seth — the seed of the spiritual race.

17Then the rulers said unto Adam: Of every tree that is in the garden thou mayest eat; but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat. For in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die.

18But it was not so. The fruit of the tree was the knowledge of the spiritual. The rulers feared lest Adam, eating thereof, should know himself; and knowing himself, should despise them; and despising them, should ascend to the Father.

19Then the spiritual Eve came in the form of a serpent — even she who is called the Instructor. And she said unto Adam and unto the woman: What is it that the rulers have said unto you?

20And they said: They have said unto us, of every tree thou mayest eat, but of this tree thou shalt not eat.

21And the Instructor said: Ye shall not surely die. The rulers know that in the day ye eat thereof, your minds shall be opened, and ye shall be as the gods, knowing good and evil. They have said it unto you out of jealousy.

22And they ate. And their minds were opened. And they knew that they were stripped of the spiritual. And they took fig leaves, and bound them about their waists.

23And the chief ruler came, and said: Adam, where art thou? — for he knew not what had happened. And Adam said: I heard Thy voice, and was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself.

24And the ruler said: Why hast thou hidden, save that thou hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee not to eat? And Adam said: The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.

25Then the rulers cast them out of the garden. And they cursed the ground for their sake. And they set a guard at the gate, with a flaming sword. But the spiritual Eve had already withdrawn; she was not cast out, for she was never within their grasp.