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self-condemned, whom Paul commands us after a first and second warning to reject. But John, the disciple of the Lord, intensified their condemnation, willing that not even a greeting should be spoken to them by us; “for he who says to them,” he says, “greeting, shares in their evil works.” And reasonably; “for there is no greeting for the impious,” says the Lord. And these are impious beyond all impiety, who say that the creator of heaven and earth, the only God almighty, above whom there is no other God, was projected from a Defect, and it itself having come from another Defect; so that according to them he is the projection of a third Defect. This opinion we must truly despise and curse, and flee somewhere far and distant from them, and by how much more they insist and rejoice in their inventions, by so much more should we know that they are more worked upon by the ogdoad of wicked spirits, just as those who have fallen into a state of frenzy 2.27 † or the more they laugh and seem to be strong and do all things as if they were healthy, and some things even beyond what is healthy, by so much more are they in a bad way. And likewise these also, by how much more they seem to be proud and unstring themselves by shooting excessively high, by so much more are they not of sound mind. For the unclean spirit of folly, having gone out, then finding them unoccupied not with God, but with worldly inquiries, taking with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and puffing up their mind as if they were able to conceive of things above God, and having prepared it to be suitable for excess, has lodged in them the ogdoad of the folly of wicked spirits. 14. But I wish also to relate to you how they say the creation itself was constructed by the Demiurge according to the image of the invisible things, as if he were ignorant, through the Mother. First, they say the four elements, fire, water, earth, air, were projected as an image of the first tetrad above, and that their enumerated activities, such as hot and cold, dry and wet, accurately represent the ogdoad. Next * they enumerate ten powers as follows: seven † corporeal circles, which they also call heavens; then the circle that contains them, which they also name the eighth heaven; and in addition to these, the sun and the moon. These, being ten in number, they say are images of the invisible decad, which proceeded from Logos and Zoe. And the dodecad is indicated by the circle called the zodiac. For the twelve signs of the zodiac, they say, most clearly foreshadow the daughter dodecad of Man and Church. And 2.28 since the heaven above, which is near the vault itself, was yoked against, they say, the most rapid motion of the whole, weighing down and counterbalancing their rapidity by its own slowness, so that it makes its circuit from point to point in thirty years, they say it is an image of Horos who contains their Mother of thirty names. And the moon in turn, circling its own heaven in thirty days, by means of the days represents the number of the thirty Aeons. And the sun, too, circling in twelve months and completing its circular course, makes the dodecad manifest through the twelve months, and the days themselves, having the measure of twelve hours, are a type of the non-luminous dodecad. But indeed they also say the hour, the twelfth part of the day, is composed of thirty parts on account of the image of the Triacontad. And the perimeter of the zodiacal circle itself is three hundred sixty degrees; for each sign has thirty degrees. Thus indeed also through the circle, they say, the image of the connection of the twelve to the thirty has been preserved. Moreover, also the earth has been divided into twelve zones

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αὐτοκατάκριτοι, οὓς ὁ Παῦλος ἐγκελεύεται ἡμῖν μετὰ μίαν καὶ δευτέραν νουθεσίαν παραιτεῖσθαι. Ἰωάννης δέ, ὁ τοῦ κυρίου μαθητής, ἐπέτεινε τὴν καταδίκην αὐτῶν, μηδὲ χαίρειν αὐτοῖς ὑφ' ἡμῶν λέγεσθαι βουληθείς· «ὁ γὰρ λέγων αὐτοῖς» φησί «χαίρειν κοινωνεῖ τοῖς ἔργοις αὐτῶν τοῖς πονηροῖς». καὶ εἰκότως· «οὐκ ἔστι γὰρ χαίρειν τοῖς ἀσεβέσιν» λέγει κύριος. ἀσεβεῖς δὲ ὑπὲρ πᾶσαν ἀσέβειαν οὗτοι οἱ τὸν ποιητὴν οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς, μόνον θεὸν παντοκράτορα, ὑπὲρ ὃν ἄλλος θεὸς οὐκ ἔστιν, ἐξ Ὑστερήματος καὶ αὐτοῦ ἐξ ἄλλου Ὑστερήματος γεγονότος προβεβλῆσθαι λέγοντες· ὥστε κατ' αὐτοὺς εἶναι αὐτὸν προβολὴν τρίτου Ὑστερήματος. ἣν γνώμην ὄντως καταφυσήσαντας καὶ καταθεματίσαντας δέον πόρρω που καὶ μακρὰν φυγεῖν ἀπ' αὐτῶν καὶ ᾗ πλέον διισχυρίζονται καὶ χαίρουσιν ἐπὶ τοῖς παρευρέμασιν αὐτῶν, ταύτῃ μᾶλλον εἰδέναι πλέον αὐτοὺς ἐνεργεῖσθαι ὑπὸ τῆς ὀγδοάδος τῶν πονηρῶν πνευμάτων, καθάπερ οἱ εἰς φρενίτιδα διάθεσιν 2.27 ἐμπεσόντες † ἢ πλέον γελῶσι καὶ ἰσχύειν δοκοῦσιν καὶ ὡς ὑγιαίνοντες πάντα πράττουσιν, ἔνια δὲ καὶ ὑπὲρ τὸ ὑγιαίνειν, ταύτῃ μᾶλλον κακῶς ἔχουσιν. ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ οὗτοι ᾗ μᾶλλον ὑπερφρονεῖν δοκοῦσι καὶ ἐκνευρίζουσιν ἑαυτοὺς ὑπέρτονα τοξεύοντες, ταύτῃ μᾶλλον οὐ σωφρονοῦσιν. ἐξελθὸν γὰρ τὸ ἀκάθαρτον πνεῦμα τῆς ἀνοίας, ἔπειτα σχολάζοντας αὐτοὺς οὐ θεῷ, ἀλλὰ κοσμικαῖς ζητήσεσιν εὑρόν, προσπαραλαβὸν ἕτερα πνεύματα ἑπτὰ πονηρότερα ἑαυτοῦ καὶ χαυνῶσαν αὐτῶν τὴν γνώμην ὡς δυναμένων τὰ ὑπὲρ τὸν θεὸν ἐννοεῖν καὶ ἐπιτήδειον εἰς ὑπερέκκρουσιν κατασκευάσαν, τὴν ὀγδοάδα τῆς ἀνοίας τῶν πονηρῶν πνευμάτων εἰς αὐτοὺς ἐνεθήκωσεν. 14. Βούλομαι δέ σοι καὶ ὡς αὐτὴν τὴν κτίσιν κατ' εἰκόνα τῶν ἀοράτων ὑπὸ τοῦ ∆ημιουργοῦ, ὡς ἀγνοοῦντος αὐτοῦ, κατεσκευάσθαι διὰ τῆς Μητρὸς λέγουσιν διηγήσασθαι. πρῶτον μὲν τὰ τέσσαρα στοιχεῖά φασιν, πῦρ ὕδωρ γῆν ἀέρα, εἰκόνα προβεβλῆσθαι τῆς ἄνω πρώτης τετράδος, τάς τε ἐνεργείας αὐτῶν συναριθμουμένας, οἷον θερμόν τε καὶ ψυχρόν, ξηρόν τε καὶ ὑγρόν, ἀκριβῶς ἐξεικονίζειν τὴν ὀγδοάδα. ἑξῆς * δέκα δυνάμεις οὕτως καταριθμοῦσιν· ἑπτὰ μὲν † σωματικὰ κυκλοειδῆ, ἃ καὶ οὐρανοὺς καλοῦσιν· ἔπειτα τὸν περιεκτικὸν αὐτῶν κύκλον, ὃν καὶ ὄγδοον οὐρανὸν ὀνομάζουσι· πρὸς δὲ τούτοις ἥλιόν τε καὶ σελήνην. ταῦτα δέκα ὄντα τὸν ἀριθμὸν εἰκόνας λέγουσιν εἶναι τῆς ἀοράτου δεκάδος, τῆς ἀπὸ Λόγου καὶ Ζωῆς προελθούσης. τὴν δὲ δωδεκάδα μηνύεσθαι διὰ τοῦ ζῳδιακοῦ καλουμένου κύκλου. τὰ γὰρ δώδεκα ζῴδια φανερώτατα τὴν τοῦ Ἀνθρώπου καὶ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας θυγατέρα δωδεκάδα σκιαγραφεῖν λέγουσιν. καὶ 2.28 ἐπεὶ ἀντεπεζεύχθη, φασί, τῇ τῶν ὅλων φορᾷ ὠκυτάτῃ ὑπαρχούσῃ ὁ ὕπερθεν οὐρανὸς ὁ πρὸς αὐτῷ τῷ κύτει βαρύνων καὶ ἀντιταλαντεύων τὴν ἐκείνων ὠκύτητα τῇ ἑαυτοῦ βραδυτῆτι, ὥστε αὐτὸν ἐν τριάκοντα ἔτεσι τὴν περίοδον ἀπὸ σημείου ἐπὶ σημεῖον ποιεῖσθαι, εἰκόνα λέγουσιν αὐτὸν τοῦ Ὅρου τοῦ τὴν τριακοντώνυμον Μητέρα αὐτῶν περιέχοντος. τὴν σελήνην τε πάλιν τὸν ἑαυτῆς οὐρανὸν ἐμπεριερχομένην τριάκοντα ἡμέραις διὰ τῶν ἡμερῶν τὸν ἀριθμὸν τῶν τριάκοντα Αἰώνων ἐκτυποῦν. καὶ τὸν ἥλιον δὲ ἐν δεκαδύο μησὶν περιερχόμενον καὶ τερματίζοντα τὴν κυκλικὴν αὐτοῦ ἀποκατάστασιν, διὰ τῶν δώδεκα μηνῶν τὴν δωδεκάδα φανερὰν ποιεῖν, καὶ αὐτὰς δὲ τὰς ἡμέρας, δεκαδύο ὡρῶν τὸ μέτρον ἐχούσας, τύπον τῆς οὐ φαεινῆς δωδεκάδος εἶναι. ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ τὴν ὥραν φασί, τὸ δωδέκατον τῆς ἡμέρας, ἐκ τριάκοντα μοιρῶν κεκοσμῆσθαι διὰ τὴν εἰκόνα τῆς τριακοντάδος. καὶ αὐτοῦ δὲ τοῦ ζῳδιακοῦ κύκλου τὴν περίμετρον εἶναι μοιρῶν τριακοσίων ἑξήκοντα· ἕκαστον γὰρ ζῴδιον μοίρας ἔχειν τριάκοντα. οὕτως δὴ καὶ διὰ τοῦ κύκλου τὴν εἰκόνα τῆς συναφείας τῶν δώδεκα πρὸς τὰ τριάκοντα τετηρῆσθαι λέγουσιν. ἔτι μὴν καὶ τὴν γῆν εἰς δώδεκα κλίματα διῃρῆσθαι