Second Book of Jeu 52

Translated by Claude from C. Schmidt's German translation (1905) of the Coptic; neither is shown

“When you come out of the body and reach the first aeon, and the archons of that aeon step before you, seal yourselves with this seal: this is its name: [name]; say it only once; grasp this number, 1119, with both your hands. When you have sealed yourselves with this seal and have spoken its name only once, say these defences: ‘Withdraw, [names], you archons of the first aeon, for I call on [names].’ But when the archons of the first aeon hear these names, they will be very much afraid and will withdraw and flee to the west, to the left, and you will go upward. When you reach the second aeon, [name] will step before you. Seal yourselves with this seal: this is its name: [name]; say it only once; grasp this number, 2219, with your hands. When you have sealed yourselves with this seal and have spoken its name only once, say these defences: ‘Withdraw, [name], O archon of the second aeon, for we call on [names].’ Again the archons of the second aeon will withdraw and flee to the west, to the left, and you will go upward. When you reach the third aeon, Ialdabaoth and [name] will step before you. Seal yourselves with this seal: this is its name: [name]; say it only once; grasp this number, 3349, with your hands. When you have sealed yourselves with this seal and have spoken its name only once, say these defences: ‘Withdraw, Ialdabaoth and [name], you archons of the third aeon, for we call on [names].’ Again the archons of the third aeon will withdraw and flee to the west, to the left, and you will go upward. When you reach the fourth aeon, [two archons] will step before you. Seal yourselves with this seal: this is its name: [name]; say it only once; grasp this number, 4555, with your hands. When you have sealed yourselves with this seal and have spoken its name only once, say these defences: ‘Withdraw, [names], you archons of the fourth aeon, for we call on [names].’ When you have said these defences, the archons of the fourth aeon will withdraw to the west, to the left. But you go upward. When you reach the fifth aeon, [three archons] will step before you. Seal yourselves with this seal: this is its name: [name]; say it only once; grasp this number, 5369, with your hands. When you have sealed yourselves with this seal and have spoken its name only once, say these defences: ‘Withdraw, [names], for we call on [names].’ When you have said these defences, the archons of the fifth aeon will withdraw and flee to the west, to the left. But you go upward. When you reach the sixth aeon, which is called ‘the little Midst’ — for it belongs to the six aeons which have believed; but the archons of those places have a small good, because the archons of those places have believed — then [names], the archons of the little Midst, step before you, thinking that perhaps you have not received mysteries. Say the mystery and seal yourselves with this seal, that is: [seal]. This is its name: [name]; say it only once; grasp this number, 6915, with your hands. When you have sealed yourselves with this seal and have spoken its name only once, say these defences: ‘Withdraw, [names], you archons of the little Midst; for we have received the mystery of the twelve aeons and their defences, for we call on [names].’ At the moment when you say these names too, those archons will withdraw and allow you the way and will not seize you. For they stepped before you thinking that perhaps you had not received mysteries. But they will rejoice with you in great joy, because you have received the mystery while you are in the body. Again, they will envy you, because you have passed through them. Again you will go upward. When you reach the seventh aeon, [names] will step before you. Seal yourselves with this seal: this is its name: [name]; say it only once; grasp this number, 7889, with your hands. When you have sealed yourselves with this seal and have spoken its name only once, say these defences: ‘Withdraw, [names], for we call on [names].’ Again the archons of the seventh aeon will withdraw and flee to the west, to the left, and you will go upward. When you reach the eighth aeon, those archons, that is, [names] will step before you. Seal yourselves with this seal: this is its name: [name]; say it only once; grasp this number, 8054, with your hands. When you have sealed yourselves with this seal and have spoken its name only once, say these defences: ‘Withdraw, [names], for we call on [names].’ Again the archons of the eighth aeon will withdraw and flee to the west, to the left, and you will go upward. When you reach the ninth aeon, [names], the archons of the ninth aeon, will step before you. Seal yourselves with this seal: this is its name: [name]; say it only once; grasp this number, 2889, with your hands. When you have sealed yourselves with this seal and have spoken its name only once, say these defences: ‘Withdraw, [names], for we call on [names].’ Again the archons of the ninth aeon will withdraw and flee to the west, to the left, and you will go upward. When you reach the tenth aeon, [names], the archons of that aeon, will step before you. Seal yourselves with this seal: this is its name: [name]; say it only once; grasp this number, 4559, with your hands. When you have sealed yourselves with this seal and have spoken its name only once and sealed yourselves only once, say these defences: ‘Withdraw, [names], for we call on [names].’ Again the archons of the tenth aeon will withdraw and flee to the west, to the left, and you will go upward. When you reach the eleventh aeon, [names], the archons of that aeon, will step before you. Seal yourselves with this seal: this is its name: [name]; say it only once; grasp this number, 5558, with your hands. When you have sealed yourselves with this seal and have spoken its name only once, say these defences: ‘Withdraw, [names], for we call on [names].’ Again the archons of the eleventh aeon will withdraw and flee to the west, to the left, and you will go upward. But when you reach the twelfth aeon, there in that place are the invisible God and Barbelos and the unbegotten God; and the invisible God is in a place alone in the twelfth aeon, and veils are drawn before him. For in that aeon there are many other gods, who in the Treasury of the Light are called ‘archons’, that is, the great archons who rule over all the aeons, they who serve the invisible God, Barbelos, and the Unbegotten. Again the archons of that aeon step before you, whose names are these: [names]. Seal yourselves with this seal: this is its name: [name]; say it only once; grasp this number, 9885, with your hands. But when you have sealed yourselves with this seal and have spoken its name only once, say these defences: ‘Withdraw, [names], for we call on [names].’ Again the archons of the twelfth aeon of the invisible God will withdraw, because you have received the twelve defences of the twelve aeons. Again you will go upward. When you reach the thirteenth aeon, there are the great invisible God and the great virginal Spirit and the twenty-four emanations of the invisible God, which are in that place. But the twenty-four emanations of the invisible God step before you to seize you because of the mysteries which you have received. These are the incorruptible names of the twenty-four emanations which step before you: the first is [name], the second [name], and so on to the twenty-fourth [names]. These are the names of the twenty-four emanations of the invisible God, that is, those which I have just said. They step before you to seize you, since they envy you because of these mysteries which you have received. Say these defences: ‘Withdraw, you twenty-four emanations of the invisible God’, and speak the name of the twenty-four (emanations). Seal yourselves with this seal: [seal]. This is its name: [name]; say it only once, and put this number, 8855, in your hands. When you have sealed yourselves with this seal and have spoken its name only once, say these defences: ‘We call on [names and vowels].’ But when you have called on these names of the Treasury of the Light, say: ‘Withdraw, you twenty-four emanations of the invisible God, whose names we have just spoken from the beginning.’ At the moment when one has spoken the names of the Treasury of the Light and its defence, they will withdraw, and you will go upward. But when you reach the fourteenth aeon, there is the second great invisible God, and the great God who in the fourteenth aeon is called ‘the great righteous God’, being a power of these three archons of the light who are within all the aeons, that is, of the three gods who are outside the treasuries of the light. For there are a multitude of powers in that aeon, but they are not so numerous as those which are in the aeons outside them. But those powers step before you, wishing to seize you, since they envy you because of the mysteries which you have received, so that they may hold you back and you may perform my mysteries in their places, so that they too may receive powers from the powers of the Treasury of the Light. But I say to you: seal yourselves with this seal: this is its name: [name]; say it only once, and put this number, 8869, in your hands. Again say: ‘Withdraw, all you powers of the second invisible God, for we call on [names].’ And the powers of that aeon will withdraw, and you will go upward. But when you reach this place of these three archons who are within all these Invisibles, that is, the triple-powered gods who are outside the Treasury of the Light, that is, the archons of the light — for those three archons are within all these aeons, and they, who are outside all the treasuries, are more excellent than all the gods in all the aeons — when you reach that place, they will see on you that you have received these mysteries. They too have received the mysteries of the Treasury of the Light, because, when the first power came forth, they were the first who remained in it, and when they had come down, the kingdom of the light was proclaimed to them. It (the first power) also gave them these mysteries which I have given you, but I have not seen the mystery of the forgiveness of sins. Therefore they are not yet received into the Treasury of the Light, since they have not yet received the mystery of the forgiveness of sins. Therefore I say to you: when I am about to gather in all the aeons, I will give the mystery of the forgiveness of sins to these three archons of the light, who are the last of all the aeons, because they have believed in the mystery of the kingdom of the light. But when you reach that place, they will see on you that you have received all these mysteries except the mystery of the forgiveness of sins. They will seize you in that place, because they have not yet received the mystery of the forgiveness of sins, so that you may perform with them these mysteries which you have received. Therefore I say to you: you cannot go into their interior until you have first received the mystery of the forgiveness of sins. Do not be afraid, then, because I have said to you: you cannot go into the Treasury of the Light until you have received the mystery of the forgiveness of sins, but they will hold you back in the place of the three archons of the light. Therefore I say to you that in those places there is no place of punishment, because those who belong to that place have received mysteries; nor can they punish you in those places, but they will seize you in those places until you receive the mystery of the forgiveness of sins. Seal yourselves with this seal: this is its name: [name]; say it only once, and grasp this number, 4554, with your hands. But when you have sealed yourselves with this seal and have spoken its name only once, say these defences: ‘We call on you, [names].’ When you have called on these names, the receivers of those places recognize you and take you to themselves, because you have (received the mystery of the forgiveness of sins) …” [The end of the book is lost.] [Appendix A: Fragment of a Gnostic prayer] (Hear me as I praise you, O first mystery, who shone forth in his mystery; it caused Jeu to set up the fifth aeon and appointed archons, decans and liturgi) in the fifth aeon, whose incorruptible name is this: [name]. Save all my members which since the foundation of the world are scattered in all the archons and decans and liturgi of the fifth aeon, and gather them all in and receive them into the light. Hear me as I praise you, O first mystery, who shone forth in his mystery; it caused Jeu to set up the sixth aeon and appointed archons, decans and liturgi in the sixth aeon, whose incorruptible name is this: [name]. Save all my members which since the foundation of the world are scattered in all the archons and decans and liturgi of the sixth aeon; gather them all in and receive them into the light. Hear me as I praise you, O first mystery, who shone forth in his mystery; it caused Jeu to set up the seventh aeon and appointed archons, decans and liturgi in the seventh aeon, whose incorruptible name is this: [name]. Save all my members which since the foundation of the world are scattered in all the archons and decans and liturgi of the seventh aeon; gather them all in and receive them into the light. Hear me as I praise you, O first mystery, who shone forth in his mystery; it caused Jeu to set up the eighth aeon and appointed archons, decans and liturgi in the eighth aeon, whose incorruptible name is this: [name]. Save all my members which since the foundation of the world are scattered in all the archons and decans and liturgi of the eighth aeon; gather them all in and receive them into the light. Hear me as I praise you, O first mystery, who shone forth in his mystery; it caused Jeu to set up the ninth aeon and appointed archons, decans and liturgi in the ninth aeon, whose incorruptible name is this: [name]. Save all my members which since the foundation of the world are scattered in all the archons and decans and liturgi of the ninth aeon; gather them all in and receive them into the light. Hear me as I praise you, O first mystery, who shone forth in his mystery; it caused Jeu to set up the tenth aeon and appointed archons, decans and liturgi in the tenth aeon, whose incorruptible name is this: [name]. Save all my members which since the foundation of the world are scattered in all the archons and decans and liturgi of the tenth aeon; gather them all in and receive them into the light. Hear me as I praise you, O first mystery, who shone forth in his mystery; it caused Jeu to set up the eleventh aeon and appointed archons, decans and liturgi in the eleventh aeon, whose incorruptible name is this: [name]. Save all my members which since the foundation of the world are scattered in all the archons and decans and liturgi of the eleventh aeon; gather them all in and receive them into the light. Hear me as I praise you, O first mystery, who shone forth in his mystery; it caused Jeu to set up the twelfth aeon and appointed archons, decans and liturgi in the twelfth aeon, whose incorruptible name is this: [name]. Save all my members which since the foundation of the world are scattered in all the archons and decans and liturgi of the twelfth aeon; gather them all in and receive them into the light. Hear me as I praise you, O first mystery, who shone forth in his mystery; it caused Jeu to set up the place of the twenty-four invisible emanations with their archons, their gods, their lords, their archangels, their angels, their decans and their liturgi in an order of the thirteenth aeon, whose incorruptible name is this: [name]. Save all my members which since the foundation of the world are scattered in the twenty-four invisible emanations and in their archons, their gods, their lords, their archangels, their angels, their decans and their liturgi; gather them all in and receive them into the light. Hear me as I praise you, O first mystery, who shone forth in his mystery; it set up the thirteenth aeon and appointed the three gods and the Invisible in the thirteenth aeon, whose incorruptible name is this: [name]. Save all my members which are scattered in the three gods and the Invisible; gather them all in and receive them into the light. Hear me as I praise you, O first mystery, who shone forth in his mystery; and it set up all the archons and Jabraoth, who have believed in the kingdom of the light, in a pure place of air, whose incorruptible name is this: [name]. Save all my members which since the foundation of the world are scattered in all the archons and decans and liturgi; gather them all in and receive them into the light. Amen, Amen, Amen. [Appendix B: Fragment of a second Gnostic prayer] Hear me as I praise you, O mystery existing before every Uncontainable and every Infinite. Hear me as I praise you, O mystery who shone forth in his mystery, so that the mystery existing from the beginning might be completed. And when it had shone forth, it became the water of the Ocean, whose incorruptible name is this: [name]. Hear me as I praise you, O mystery existing before every Uncontainable and every Infinite, who shone forth in his mystery. The earth in the midst of the Ocean was cleansed, whose incorruptible name is this: [name]. Hear me as I praise you, O mystery existing before every Uncontainable and every Boundless, who shone forth in his mystery. The whole mighty matter of the Ocean was cleansed, that is, the sea and all the kinds that are in it, whose incorruptible name is this: … Hear me as I praise you, O mystery existing before every Uncontainable and every Infinite, who shone forth in (his) mystery. And when it shone forth, it sealed the sea and all that is in it, for the power which is in them had rebelled, whose incorruptible name (is this): …