§12Itaque omnes et forma et scientia peraequantur, facti omnes quod unusquisque; nemo aliud, quia alteri omnes.
Therefore, all are made equal both in form and in knowledge, all having become what each one was; no one was anything else, because all were as the other.
refunduntur in Nus omnes, in Homines, in Theletos, aeque feminae in Sigas, in Zoas, in Ecclesias, in Fortunatas, ut Ouidius Metamorphosis suas deleuisset, si hodie maiores cognouisset.
All are poured back into Nus, into Men, into Theletos, and likewise the females into Sigas, into Zoas, into Ecclesias, into Fortunatae, so that Ovid would have destroyed his Metamorphoses if he had known these elders today.
exinde refecti sunt et constabiliti sunt, et in requiem ex ueritate compositi magno cum gaudii fructu hymnis patrem concinunt.
Thereupon they were restored and established, and having been settled into rest in accordance with the truth, with great fruit of joy, they sing together to the father with hymns.
diffundebatur et ipse laetitia, utique bene cantantibus filiis (et) nepotibus.
He himself also was overflowing with joy, naturally when his children and grandchildren were singing so well.
quidni diffunderetur, omni iocunditati Pleromate liberato? quis nauclerus non etiam cum dedecore laetatur? uidemus cotidie nauticorum lasciuias gaudiorum.
Why should he not overflow, when the Pleroma was set free to every delight? What shipmaster does not rejoice, even to the point of indecency? We see daily the wanton joys of sailors.
itaque, ut nautae ad symbolam semper exultant, tale aliquid et Aeones: unum iam omnes etiam forma, nedum sententia, conuenientibus ipsis quoque nouis fratribus et magistris Christo et Spiritu Sancto, quod optimum atque pulcherrimum unusquisque florebat conferunt in medium.
Therefore, just as sailors always exult at a common contribution feast, so do the Aeons also: all being now one even in form, not to mention purpose, and with these new brothers and teachers, Christ and the Holy Spirit, also agreeing, they contribute to the common stock what best and most beautiful flourished in each.
uane, opinor.
In vain, I think.
si enim unum erant omnes ex supra dicta peraequatione, uacabat symbolae ratio, quae ferme ex uarietatis gratia constat.
For if all were one from the aforementioned equalization, there was no need for the contribution, which usually consists in the charm of variety.
. . unum omnes bonum conferebant, quod omnes erant.
They were contributing one and the same good, because they all were that.
de modo forsitan fuerit ratio aut de forma ipsius iam peraequationis.
The reason perhaps lay in the measure, or in the form of that very equalization.
igitur ex aere collaticio, quod aiunt, in honorem et gloriam patris pulcherrimum Pleromatis sidus fructumque perfectum compingunt, Iesum.
Therefore, from a common fund, as they say, in honor and glory of the father, they construct the most beautiful star and perfect fruit of the Pleroma, Jesus.
eum cognominant Soterem et Christum et Sermonem de patritis, et Omnia iam, ut ex omnium defloratione constructum: Gragulum Aesopi, Pandoram Hesiodi, Acci Patinam, Nestoris Cocetum, Miscellaneam Ptolomaei.
They name him Savior, and Christ, and Word from the father's heritage, and now "All things," as constructed from the defloration of all: Aesop's Jackdaw, Hesiod's Pandora, Accius's Platter, Nestor's Mixed Drink, Ptolemy's Miscellany.
quam propius fuit de aliquibus Osciae scurris t Pancapipannirapiam uocari a tam otiosis auctoribus nominum.
How much closer it would have been for so idle authors of names to call him "Pancapipannirapia" from some Oscan buffoons!
ut autem tantum sigillarium extrinsecus quoque inornassent, satellites ei angelos proferunt, par genus; si inter se, potest fieri, si uero Soteri consubstantiuos, — ambigue enim positum inueni — quae erit eminentia eius inter satellites coaequales?
But that they might also adorn so great a little puppet outwardly, they produce angels as his attendants, a similar kind; if among themselves, it may be, but if indeed they are consubstantial with the Savior—for I have found it put ambiguously—what will be his pre-eminence among his equal attendants?
§13Continet hic igitur ordo primus professionem pariter et nascentium et nubentium et generantium Aeonum, Sophiae ex desiderio patris periculosissimum casum, Hori oportuuissimum auxilium, Enthymeseos et coniunctae Passionis expiatum. Christi et Spiritus Sancti paedagogatum, Aeonum tutelarem reformatum, Soteris pauoninum ornatum, Angelorum comparaticium antistatum.
This first order, therefore, contains the profession alike of the Aeons who are born, marry, and procreate; the most dangerous fall of Sophia from her desire for the father; the most opportune help of Horos; the expiation of Enthymesis and her conjoined Passion; the pedagogy of Christ and the Holy Spirit; the protective reformation of the Aeons; the peacock-like adornment of the Savior; and the comparative attendance of the Angels.
quod superest, inquis, uos ualete et plaudite! immo quod superest, inquam, uos audite et explodite! ceterum haec intra coetum Pleromatis decucurrisse dicuntur, prima tragoediae scaena, alia autem trans siparium coturnatio est, extra Pleroma dico.
"As for the rest," you say, "farewell and applaud!" Nay, "as for the rest," I say, "listen and hiss them off!" However, these things are said to have run their course within the assembly of the Pleroma, the first scene of the tragedy, but another high-booted play is beyond the curtain, I mean outside the Pleroma.
et tamen (hic) exitus sub sinu patris intra ambitum Hori custodis: qualis extra iam in libero, ubi deus non erat?. -
And yet this end was under the bosom of the father within the circuit of Horos the guardian: what was it like already outside in the open, where there was no God?
§14Namque Enthymesis, siue iam Achamoth, quod abhinc scribam hoc solo ininterpretabili nomine, ut cum uitio indiuiduae Passionis explosa est in loca luminis aliena, quod Pleromatis res est, in uacuum atque inane illud Epicuri, miserabilis etiam de loco est.
For Enthymesis, or now Achamoth—which from here on I shall write with this single uninterpretable name—when she was hissed off with the defect of her inseparable Passion into places foreign to light (which is the property of the Pleroma), into that void and emptiness of Epicurus, is miserable also in respect of her place.
certe nec forma nec facies ulla, de uexatiua scilicet et abortiua genitura.
Certainly she had neither form nor any appearance, naturally from a vexatious and abortive birth.
dum ita rerum habet, flectitur a superioribus Christus, — deducitur per Horon — aborsum ut illud informet de suis uiribus, solius substantiae, non etiam scientiae forma.
While she is in this state, Christ is moved by the higher ones—he is led down by Horos—so that by his own power he may shape that abortion with the form of substance only, but not also of knowledge.
et tamen cum aliquo peculio relinquitur, id erat \'odor incorruptibilitatis\', quo compos casus sui potiorum desiderio suppararetur.
And yet she is left with some small savings; that was the "odor of incorruptibility," by which, being possessed of her case, she might be prepared for the desire of better things.
hac misericordia functus, non sine Spiritus Sancti societate, recurrit Christus in Pleroma.
Having performed this office of mercy, not without the companionship of the Holy Spirit, Christ runs back into the Pleroma.
usus est rerum ex liberalitatibus quoque nomina accedere: Enthymesis de actu fuit, Achamoth unde, adhuc quaeritur, Sophia de matre manat, Spiritus Sanctus ex angelo.
It is the custom of things that names also accrue from acts of generosity: "Enthymesis" was from the act, "Achamoth" whence is still sought, "Sophia" flows from the mother, "Holy Spirit" from the angel.
accipit Christi, a quo derelictam se statim senserat, desiderium.
She receives the desire for Christ, by whom she had immediately perceived herself abandoned.
itaque prosiluit et ipsa lumen eius inquirere.
Therefore, she too leaped forward to seek his light.
quem si omnino non nouerat, ut inuisibiliter operatum, quomodo lumen eius ignotum cum ipso requirebat? tamen temptauit et fortasse adprehendisset, si non idem Horos, qui matri eius tam prospere uenerat, nunc tam importune filiae occurrisset, ut etiam inclamauerit in eam \'Iao\'! quasi Porro Quirites\'! aut \'Fidem Caesaris\'! inde inuenitur Iao in scripturis.
If she did not know him at all, as having worked invisibly, how was she seeking his unknown light along with him? Yet she tried and perhaps would have apprehended him, if that same Horos, who had come so prosperously to her mother, had not now so importunely met the daughter, so that he even cried out against her "Iao!" as if "Help, Citizens!" or "By Caesar's Faith!" Hence Iao is found in the scriptures.
ita depulsa, quominus pergeret, nec habens superuolare Crucem, id est Horon, quia nullum Catulli Laureolum fuerit exercitata, ut destituta, ut passioni illi suae intricata multiplici atque perplexae, omni genere eius coepit adfligi: maerore, quod non perpetrasset inceptum, metu, ne sicut luce ita et uita orbaretur, ad haec consternatione, tum ignorantia, nec ut mater eius, — illa enim Aeon — (sed) pro condicione deterius, insurgente adhuc et alio fluctu, conuersionis scilicet in Christum, a quo uiuificata fuerat et in hanc ipsam conuersionem temperata.
Being thus driven back from proceeding, and not having the power to fly over the Cross, that is Horos, because she was not practiced in any Laureolus of Catullus, as if destitute, and entangled in that manifold and perplexed passion of hers, she began to be afflicted with every kind of it: with grief, because she had not accomplished her attempt; with fear, lest she should be deprived of life as well as light; in addition to these, with consternation, and then with ignorance, not like her mother—for she was an Aeon—but worse according to her condition, with still another wave rising up, namely of conversion to Christ, by whom she had been quickened and tempered for this very conversion.