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by the buckets of the souls, until it saves its own part of the soul. For he says that every soul and every moving living creature partakes of the substance of the good father. Therefore, when the moon conveys the cargo of souls to the aeons of the father, they remain in the pillar of glory, which is called the perfect air. And this air is a pillar of light, since it is full of souls being purified. This is the cause through which souls are saved. 27. And the cause of men dying is this: a certain beautiful, adorned, and very persuasive virgin attempts to despoil the 3.61 archons in the firmament who were brought up and crucified by the living spirit, appearing to males as a comely female, but to females as a handsome and desirable youth. And when the archons see her beautifully adorned, they are stung by desire and, being unable to seize her, they burn terribly, their minds 3.62 carried away by erotic longing. Therefore, when as they run the virgin disappears, then the great archon casts forth clouds from himself, so that with his anger he might darken the world and if he is greatly distressed, like a sweating man he is cut off. And his sweat is the rain. Likewise, if the archon of harvest is despoiled by the virgin, he pours down a plague upon all the earth, in order to kill men. For this body * is called a world in relation to this great world, and all men have roots below bound to those above. Therefore, whenever it is despoiled by the virgin, it then begins to cut the roots of men. And when their roots are cut, then a plague begins to occur and thus they die. And if the upper parts of the root should shake with a strain, an earthquake both happens and follows, with the Omophoros being moved as well. This is the cause of death. 28. And I will also tell you this, how the soul is transferred into other bodies. First a small part of it is purified, then it is transferred 3.63 into the body of a dog or a camel or of another animal. And if it is a soul that has committed murder, it is transferred into the bodies of lepers; and if it is found to have harvested, into stammerers. And these are the names of the soul: mind, thought, prudence, reflection, reasoning. And the harvesters, as many as harvest, are like the archons who from the beginning were in darkness, when they ate 3.64 from the panoply of the first man. Therefore, it is necessary for them to be transferred into grass or beans or barley or an ear of corn or vegetables, so that they too may be harvested and cut down. And if someone again eats bread, it is necessary for him too to be eaten, having become bread. If someone kills a little bird, he too will be a little bird; if someone kills a mouse, he too will be a mouse. If someone again is rich in this world, and if he should depart from his tabernacle, it is necessary for him to be transferred into the body of a poor man, so that walking about he might beg, and after this to depart to eternal punishment. And since this body belongs to the archons and to matter, it is necessary for the one who plants a persea tree to pass through many bodies, until that persea tree is thrown down. And if someone builds a house for himself, he will be torn apart into all the bodies. If someone bathes, he fixes his own soul in the water. And if anyone does not 3.65 give piety to his elect, he will be punished in Gehenna and will be reincarnated into the bodies of catechumens, until he gives many pieties. And for this reason they offer to the elect whatever is finest among foods. And when they are about to eat bread, they pray first, speaking thus to the bread: “I neither reaped you nor ground you nor pressed you nor cast you into an oven, but another did these things and brought you to me; I have eaten without guilt.” And when he has said these things to himself, he says to the catechumen, “I have prayed for you,” and thus that one departs. For as I said to you a little while ago, if anyone reaps, he will be reaped, so if he casts grain into a machine, he too will be cast, or having kneaded, he will be kneaded, or

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ὑπὸ τῶν κάδων τῶν ψυχῶν, ἄχρις οὗ τὸ ἴδιον αὐτοῦ μέρος σώσῃ τῆς ψυχῆς. τῆς γὰρ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ πατρὸς οὐσίας πᾶσαν ψυχὴν καὶ πᾶν κινούμενον ζῷον μετέχειν λέγει. τῆς οὖν σελήνης μεταδιδούσης τὸν γόμον τῶν ψυχῶν τοῖς αἰῶσι τοῦ πατρός, παραμένουσιν ἐν τῷ στύλῳ τῆς δόξης, ὃς καλεῖται ἀὴρ ὁ τέλειος. ὁ δὲ ἀὴρ οὗτος στῦλός ἐστι φωτός, ἐπειδὴ γέμει ψυχῶν τῶν καθαριζομένων. αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ αἰτία δι' ἧς αἱ ψυχαὶ σῴζονται. 27. Ἡ δὲ τοῦ ἀποθανεῖν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἔστι πάλιν αὕτη· παρθένος τις ὡραία κεκοσμημένη, πιθανὴ πάνυ, συλᾶν ἐπιχειρεῖ τοὺς 3.61 ἄρχοντας τοὺς ἐν τῷ στερεώματι ὑπὸ τοῦ ζῶντος πνεύματος ἀνενεχθέντας καὶ σταυρωθέντας, φαινομένη δὲ τοῖς ἄρρεσι θήλεια εὔμορφος, ταῖς δὲ θηλείαις νεανίας εὐειδὴς καὶ ἐπιθυμητός. καὶ οἱ μὲν ἄρχοντες ὁπόταν ἴδωσιν αὐτὴν κεκαλλωπισμένην, οἰστροῦνται τῷ φίλτρῳ καὶ μὴ δυνάμενοι αὐτὴν καταλαβεῖν δεινῶς φλέγονται, τῷ ἐρωτικῷ πόθῳ 3.62 τὸν νοῦν ἐξαρπασθέντες. ὅταν οὖν τρεχόντων αὐτῶν ἡ παρθένος ἄφαντος γένηται, τότε ὁ ἄρχων ὁ μέγας προβάλλει τὰς νεφέλας ἐξ αὐτοῦ, ὅπως σκοτίσῃ τῇ ὀργῇ αὐτοῦ τὸν κόσμον καὶ οὗτος ἐὰν θλιβῇ πάνυ, καθάπερ ἄνθρωπος ἱδρῶν ἀποκοποῦται. ὁ δὲ ἱδρὼς αὐτοῦ ἐστιν ἡ βροχή. ὁμοῦ καὶ ὁ θερισμὸς ἄρχων ἐὰν συληθῇ ὑπὸ τῆς παρθένου, καταχέει λοιμὸν ἐφ' ὅλης τῆς γῆς, ὅπως θανατώσῃ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους. τὸ γὰρ σῶμα τοῦτο * κόσμος καλεῖται πρὸς τὸν μέγαν τοῦτον κόσμον καὶ οἱ ἄνθρωποι πάντες ῥίζας ἔχουσι κάτω συνδεθείσας τοῖς ἄνω. ὁπόταν οὖν συληθῇ ὑπὸ τῆς παρθένου, τότε ἄρχεται κόπτειν τὰς ῥίζας τῶν ἀνθρώπων. καὶ ὅταν κοπῶσιν αἱ ῥίζαι αὐτῶν, τότε ἄρχεται λοιμὸς γίνεσθαι καὶ οὕτως ἀποθνῄσκουσιν. ἐὰν δὲ τὰ ἄνω τῆς ῥίζης τόνῳ σαλεύσῃ, σεισμὸς γίνεταί τε καὶ ἐπακολουθεῖ, συγκινουμένου μὲν τοῦ Ὠμοφόρου. αὕτη ἡ αἰτία τοῦ θανάτου. 28. Ἐρῶ δὲ ὑμῖν καὶ τοῦτο, πῶς μεταγγίζεται ἡ ψυχὴ εἰς ἕτερα σώματα. πρῶτον καθαρίζεται μικρόν τι ἀπ' αὐτῆς, εἶτα μεταγγίζεται 3.63 εἰς κυνὸς ἢ εἰς καμήλου ἢ εἰς ἑτέρου ζῴου σῶμα. ἐὰν δὲ ᾖ πεφονευκυῖα ψυχή, εἰς κελεφῶν σώματα μεταφέρεται· ἐὰν δὲ θερίσασα εὑρεθῇ, εἰς μογγιλάλους. τῆς δὲ ψυχῆς ἐστι τὰ ὀνόματα ταῦτα· νοῦς, ἔννοια, φρόνησις, ἐνθύμησις, λογισμός. οἱ δὲ θερισταί, ὅσοι θερίζουσιν, ἐοίκασι τοῖς ἄρχουσι τοῖς ἀπ' ἀρχῆς οὖσιν εἰς τὸ σκότος, ὅτε ἔφαγον 3.64 ἐκ τῆς τοῦ πρώτου ἀνθρώπου πανοπλίας. διὸ ἀνάγκη αὐτοὺς μεταγγισθῆναι εἰς χόρτον ἢ εἰς φασήλια ἢ εἰς κριθὴν ἢ εἰς στάχυν ἢ εἰς λάχανα, ἵνα καὶ αὐτοὶ θερισθῶσι καὶ κοπῶσι. καὶ εἴ τις πάλιν ἐσθίει ἄρτον, ἀνάγκη καὶ αὐτὸν βρωθῆναι ἄρτον γενόμενον. εἴ τις φονεύσει ὀρνίθιον, καὶ αὐτὸς ὀρνίθιον ἔσται· εἴ τις φονεύσει μῦν, καὶ αὐτὸς μῦς ἔσται. εἴ τις πάλιν ἐστὶ πλούσιος ἐν τούτῳ τῷ κόσμῳ, καὶ ἐὰν ἐξέλθῃ ἐκ τοῦ σκηνώματος αὐτοῦ, ἀνάγκη αὐτὸν εἰς πτωχοῦ σῶμα μεταγγισθῆναι, ὥστε περιπατοῦντα αὐτὸν ἐπαιτῆσαι, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ἀπελθεῖν αὐτὸν εἰς κόλασιν αἰώνιον. τοῦ δὲ σώματος τούτου ὄντος τῶν ἀρχόντων καὶ τῆς ὕλης ἀνάγκη τὸν φυτεύοντα περσέαν διελθεῖν πολλὰ σώματα, ἕως ἂν καταβληθῇ ἡ περσέα ἐκείνη. εἰ δέ τις οἰκοδομεῖ ἑαυτῷ οἰκίαν, διασπαραχθήσεται εἰς τὰ ὅλα σώματα. εἴ τις λούεται, εἰς τὸ ὕδωρ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ψυχὴν πήσσει. καὶ εἴ τις οὐ 3.65 δίδωσι τοῖς ἐκλεκτοῖς αὐτοῦ εὐσέβειαν, κολασθήσεται εἰς τὰς γεέννας καὶ μετενσωματοῦται εἰς κατηχουμένων σώματα, ἕως οὗ δῷ εὐσεβείας πολλάς. καὶ διὰ τοῦτο εἴ τι κάλλιστον ἐν βρώμασι τοῖς ἐκλεκτοῖς προσφέρουσι. καὶ ὅταν μέλλωσιν ἐσθίειν ἄρτον, προσεύχονται πρῶτον, οὕτω λέγοντες πρὸς τὸν ἄρτον· «οὔτε σε ἐγὼ ἐθέρισα οὔτε ἤλεσα οὔτε ἔθλιψά σε οὔτε εἰς κλίβανον ἔβαλον, ἀλλὰ ἄλλος ἐποίησε ταῦτα, καὶ ἤνεγκέ μοι· ἐγὼ ἀναιτίως ἔφαγον.» καὶ ὅταν καθ' ἑαυτὸν εἴπῃ ταῦτα, λέγει τῷ κατηχουμένῳ «ηὐξάμην ὑπὲρ σοῦ», καὶ οὕτως ἀφίσταται ἐκεῖνος. ὡς γὰρ εἶπον ὑμῖν πρὸ ὀλίγου, εἴ τις θερίζει, θερισθήσεται, οὕτως ἐὰν εἰς μηχανὴν σῖτον βάλλῃ, βληθήσεται καὶ αὐτός, ἢ φυράσας φυραθήσεται ἢ