LITERATURE OF GNOSTIC WISDOM 445
DERDEKEAS BRIGHTENS THE
LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT
"But from the time it appeared I was seen, the son of the majesty, that the light
of the spirit might not become faint, and that nature might not reign over it,
because it gazed at me.
"And by the will of the greatness my equality was revealed, that what is of
the power might become apparent. You are the great power that came into
being, and I am the perfect light that is above the spirit and the darkness, the
one who puts to shame the darkness for the intercourse of impure rubbing.
For through the division of nature the majesty wished to be covered with
honor up to the height of the thought of the spirit. And the spirit received rest
in his power. For the image of the light is inseparable from the unconceived
spirit. And the lawgivers did not name him after all the clouds of nature, nor
is it possible to name him. For every likeness into which nature had divided
is a power of the chaotic fire, which is the material seed. The one who took to
himself the power of the darkness imprisoned it in the midst of its members.
And by the will of the majesty, in order that the mind and the whole light of
the spirit might be protected from every burden and from the toil of nature,
a voice came forth from the spirit to the cloud of the hymen. And the light of
the astonishment began to rejoice with the voice that was granted to him. And
the great spirit of light was in the cloud of the hymen. He honored the infinite
light and the universal likeness, who I am, the son of the majesty, saying,
Anasses Duses,^22 you are the infinite light who was given by the will of the
majesty to establish every light of the spirit upon the place, and to separate
the mind from the darkness. For it was not right for the light of the spirit to
remain in Hades. For at your wish the spirit arose to behold your greatness.'
DERDEKEAS DISTURBS THE POWERS OF NATURE
"For I said these things to you, Shem, that you might know that my likeness,
the son of the majesty, is from my infinite thought, since I am for him a uni-
versal likeness that does not lie, and I am above every truth and am the origin
of the word. His appearance is in my beautiful garment of light, which is the- This name is known only from this text. It probably derives from Greek words for "rising"
(or "east") and "setting" (or "west"), to indicate the rising and setting of the light (see Michel
Roberge, La Paraphrase de Jem, p. 139).