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Act I: IN THE BEGINNING
Prologue
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The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.
The Name that can be Named is not the eternal name.
The unnamable is the eternally real.
Naming is the origin of all particular things.
Free from desire, you realize the mystery.
Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations.
Yet mystery and manifestations
arise from the same source.
This source is called darkness.
Darkness within darkness.
The gateway to all understanding.
-From the Tao De Ching
SCENE ONE: BEFORE THE BEGINNING
Greetings! I want you to know that all men born from the foundation of the world until now are dust. While they have inquired about God, who he is and what he is like, they have not found him. The wisest among them have speculated about the truth from the ordering of the world. And the speculation has not reached the truth.
Now we have come to teach you what is, what was, and what is to come, that you may understand what is invisible and what is visible; and to teach you about the unshakable race of perfect humankind. So now, lift up your head that you may understand the things we shall tell you today, and that you may relate them to your spiritual friends, who are from the unshakable race of perfect humankind.
Since everyone—the gods of the world and people—says that nothing existed prior to chaos, we shall demonstrate that they all are mistaken, since they do not know the origin of chaos and its root. Here is the demonstration.
How agreeable it is to all people to say that chaos is darkness! But actually chaos comes from a shadow that has been called darkness. The shadow comes from something existing from the beginning. So it is obvious that something in the beginning existed before chaos came into being, and that chaos came after what was in the beginning.
Now let us consider the facts of the matter, and in particular what was in the beginning, from which chaos came. In this way the truth will be clearly demonstrated.
SCENE TWO: THE FATHER
We begin with the Father, who is the root of the Totality. He existed before anything other than himself came into being. The Father is a single one, like a number, for he is the first one and the one who is only himself.
Let us tell you about THE ONE. Please understand this, The One is a sovereign that has nothing over it. It is god and father of all, the invisible one that is over all, that is incorruptible, that is pure light at which no eye can gaze.
The One is the invisible spirit. We should not think of it as a god or like a god. For it is greater than a god, because it has nothing over it and no lord above it.
It does not exist within anything inferior to it, since everything exists within it alone.
It is eternal, since it does not need anything. For it is absolutely complete. It has never lacked anything in order to be completed by it. Rather, it is always absolutely complete in light.
The One is illimitable, since there is nothing before it to limit it. Unfathomable, since there is nothing before it to fathom it.
Immeasurable, since there was nothing before it to measure it.
Invisible, since nothing has seen it.
Eternal, since it exists eternally.
Unutterable, since nothing could comprehend it to utter it.
Unnamable, since there is nothing before it to give it a name.
The One is the immeasurable light, pure, holy, immaculate.
The One is unutterable and is perfect in incorruptibility. Not that it is part of perfection or blessedness or divinity: it is much greater.
The One is not corporeal and is not incorporeal. The One is not large and is not small.
It is impossible to say,“How much is it? What kind is it?” For no one can understand it.
The One is not among the things that exist, but it is much greater. Not that it is greater. Rather, as it is in itself, it is not a part of the eternal realms or of time. For whatever is part of a realm was once prepared by another.
Time was not allotted to it, since it receives nothing from anyone: what would be received would be on loan.
The one who is first does not need to receive anything from another. Such a one beholds itself in its light.
The One is majestic and has an immeasurable purity.
The One is a realm that gives a realm, life that gives life, a blessed one that gives blessedness, knowledge that gives knowledge, a good one that gives goodness, mercy that gives mercy and redemption, grace that gives grace.
Not as if the One possesses all this. Rather, it is that the One gives immeasurable and incomprehensible light.
What shall I tell you about it? Its eternal realm is incorruptible, at peace, dwelling in silence, at rest, before everything.
It is the head of all realms, and it sustains them through its goodness.
It is the Virgin Spirit!
It is not appropriate to think about It as god or that It is something similar. For It surpasses divinity.
It is a dominion having nothing to rule over It. For there is nothing existing before It nor does It have need of them.
It does not need life. For It is eternal. It does not need anything. For It cannot be made perfect as though It were deficient and only required perfecting. Rather It is always totally perfect.
It is light!
It cannot be limited because there is nothing before It to limit It.
It is inscrutable for there is no one before It to scrutinize It.
It is an eternity existing forever.
It is ineffable because no one has comprehended It in order to speak about It.
It is the one whose name cannot be spoken because no one exists before It to name It.
Nothing from the All exists before It.
It’s aeon is indestructible, being in a state of tranquility, at rest in silence.
Unchanging good. Faultless. Everlasting. Blessed. Unknowable, while he nonetheless knows himself.
He is called 'Father of the Universe’.
The Lord of the Universe is not rightly called 'Father' but 'Forefather'. For the Father is the beginning (or principle) of what is visible. For he is the beginningless Forefather.
Now the Unknowable is ever full of imperishableness and ineffable joy. They are all at rest in him, ever rejoicing in ineffable joy, over the unchanging glory and the measureless jubilation that was never heard or known among all the aeons and their worlds.
But this much is enough, lest we go on endlessly
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SCENE 3: ONE BECOMES TWO OR BARBELO APPEARS
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Now, this Father is the One who beholds Itself in the light surrounding him. This light is the spring of living water, and provides for all the realms.The spring of the Spirit flowed from the living water of the light and it abundantly supplied all the aeons and the worlds.
It is the one who knows Itself alone in the light-water that surrounds It, which is the spring of living water, the light which is full of purity. He reflects on his image everywhere, sees it in the spring of the spirit, and becomes enamored of his luminous water, for his image is in the spring of pure luminous water surrounding him. In every way It perceived Its own image, seeing It in the pure light-water which surrounds It.
And Its thinking became a thing. She appeared.
She stood in Its presence in the brilliance of the light; she is the power which is before the All. It is she who appeared, she who is the perfect Pronoia or Forethought of the All, the light, the likeness of the light, the image of the Invisible, she who is the perfect power, Barbelo, the perfect aeon of the glory.
The father’s thought became a reality, and she who appeared in the presence of the father in shining light came forth.
She is the first power who preceded everything and came forth from the father’s mind as the Forethought of all. Her light shines like the father’s light; she, the perfect power, is the image of the perfect and invisible Virgin Spirit.
She, the first power, the glory of Barbelo, the perfect glory among the realms, the glory of revelation, she glorified and praised the Virgin Spirit, for because of the Spirit she had come forth. She glorifies It because she appeared through It and she perceived It. Her glory glorifies It because she appeared through It. She is the primal Thought (Protennoia), Its image.
First Thought speaks:
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I am first thought, the thought that is in light. I am movement that is in all, she in whom the realm of all takes its stand, the firstborn among those who came into being, she who exists before all. She who is called by three names, although she exists alone, since she is perfect. I am invisible within the thought of the invisible one. I am revealed in the immeasurable, ineffable things. I am intangible, dwelling in the intangible. I move in every creature.
She is the first thought, the image of the spirit and thus she became the universal womb, for she precedes everything,
the mother-father,
the first human,
the holy spirit,
the triple male,
the triple power,
the androgynous one with three names,
the eternal realm among the invisible beings,
the first to come forth.
SCENE 4: FIRST THOUGHT ASKS FOR FOUR GIFTS AND GLORIFIES THE VIRGIN SPIRIT
Barbelo asked the Invisible Virgin Spirit to give her foreknowledge, and the Spirit consented.
When the spirit consented, immediately Foreknowledge appeared and stood by Forethought, the first one who came from the thought of the invisible Virgin Spirit.
Foreknowledge glorified the spirit and the spirit’s perfect power, Barbelo, for because of her, Foreknowledge had come into being.
Foreknowledge: I glorify your perfect power. Because of the Virgin Spirit and because of Barbelo, I have come into being.
Barbelo, Forethought asked again to be given another gift: Incorruptibility so that she should would be imperishable and indestructible. The Virgin Spirit consented.
When the spirit consented, immediately Incorruptibility appeared and stood by thought and foreknowledge.
Incorruptibility glorified the invisible One and Barbelo. Because of her they had come into being.
Incorruptibility: I glorify your perfect power. Because of the Virgin Spirit and because of Barbelo, I have come into being.
Barbelo asked to be given the gift of Life Eternal, and the Invisible Spirit consented.
When the Spirit consented, immediately Life Eternal appeared, and came and stood with Forethought (Barbelo), Foreknowledge and Incorruptibility.
They glorified the invisible spirit and Barbelo. Because of her they had come into being.
Life Eternal: I glorify your perfect power. Because of the Virgin Spirit and because of Barbelo, I have come into being.
Barbelo asked again to be given one more gift. The gift of Truth. The Invisible Spirit who is The All consented. Truth immediately appeared, and stood together with Barbelo, Foreknowledge, Incorruptibility and Life Eternal. They glorified the good invisible spirit and its Barbelo. Because of her they had come into being.
Truth: I glorify your perfect power. Because of the Virgin Spirit and because of Barbelo, I have come into being.
This is the father’s realm of five.
1. Barbelo who is the first human, the image of the invisible spirit, that is, Forethought, which is Primal thought.
2. The second realm is Foreknowledge.
3. The third is Incorruptibility.
4. The fourth is Life Eternal.
5. The fifth is Truth.
This is the androgynous realm of five, which is actually the realm of ten, because it includes both masculine and feminine.
This is the pentad (meaning five) of the Aeons of the Mother, who is the primal Human, the image of the Invisible one, namely: Barbelo, Thought, Foreknowledge, Incorruptibility, and Eternal Life. This is the androgynous pentad which is the decad (or ten parts) of the Aeons, the Mother from the unbegotten Father.
First Thought Speaks to the Earth Humans:
I am the life of my afterthought that is within every power and every eternal movement, and in invisible lights, and within the powers and angels and demons and every soul in Tartaros (Hades), and in every material soul. I live in those who came into being. I move in everyone and I enter them. I walk upright, and those who sleep I awaken. And I am the sight of those who dwell in sleep.
I am the invisible one in all. I counsel those who are hidden, since I know the whole realm of all that exists in it. I am numberless beyond everyone. I am immeasurable, ineffable, yet whenever I wish, I shall reveal myself. I am the head of all. I am before all, and I am all, since I am in everyone.
I am a voice speaking softly. I am from the beginning. I am in the silence that surrounds every one of them. And the hidden voice is in me, in intangible, immeasurable thought, in the immeasurable silence.
I descended into the underworld and shone down on the darkness. I poured water. I am hidden in radiant waters. I gradually dawn on all by my thought. I am weighed down with the voice. Through me knowledge comes. I am in the ineffable and unknowable. I am perception and knowledge, uttering a voice by means of thought. I am the real voice. I cry out in everyone, and they recognize it, since a seed lives in them. I am the father’s thought, and through me came the voice: the knowledge of everlasting things. I am as thought for all. I am joined to unknowable and intangible thought. I revealed myself in all who know me, for I joined everyone in hidden thought and exalted voice, and in a voice from the invisible thought.
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SCENE 5: TWO BECOMES THREE OR THE ANOINTED ONE IS CONCEIVED
The father gazed into Barbelo, with the pure light surrounding the invisible spirit, and its radiance. Barbelo conceived from It’s pure light, and it produced a spark of light similar to the blessed light but not as great.
Barbelo gazed intently into It, the pure light. She turned herself toward It. She gave birth to a spark of blessed light, but it was not equal to her in greatness. This is the Only-begotten who appeared from the Father, the divine
This was the only child of the mother-father that had come forth, Its only offspring, the only child of the father, the pure light.
The “Self-conceived” or Autogenes, the first-born son of the All of the Spirit of pure light.
The invisible Spirit rejoiced over the light which had come into being, the one who was the first to appear from the primal power, which is Its Pronoia, Barbelo or Forethought.
The Invisible Spirit anointed the child with Its goodness or Christhood so that the child became perfect.
There was no lack of good or Christ within him because he was anointed in the invisible Spirit's goodness or Christhood which It poured out for him.
The child received the anointing through the Virginal Spirit, who is the All and The One.
The child stood in the presence of the spirit as the spirit anointed the child.
He stood in Its presence, glorying the Invisible Spirit and the perfect Pronoia, from whom he had appeared.
When the child received the anointing from the Spirit, at once it glorified the Spirit it’s father and perfect Forethought, it’s mother.
Because of her it had come forth.
ANOINTED CHILD: I glorify your perfect powers. Because of the Virgin Spirit and because of Barbelo, I have come into being.
This first beloved child asked to be given one single thing. It wanted Mind as a companion to work with. He wanted Mind as a fellow worker.
And the Virgin Spirit consented and Mind appeared.
Mind stood with Christ, glorifying the Spirit and Barbelo.
Mind: I glorify your perfect powers. Because of the Virgin Spirit and because of Barbelo, I have come into being.
Now all these beings came into existence in silence and thought. But Mind wished to create something by means of the word of the Invisible Spirit. Its Will became a reality and appeared, with Mind and the light. Glorifying both.
Will: I glorify the Mind and the light. Because of them, I have come into being.
The Will asked to be given The Word as The Words always follows the Will.
This was grated and The Word came and stood by the Will and the Mind and glorified them all.
THE WORD: I glorify the Mind and the Will, the Anointed one, Barbelos and the Virgin Spirit. Because of them, I have come into being.
The anointed, the self-conceived Christ, created everything by the word.
For through the Word, Christ, the Self-conceived created everything.
Life eternal, Will, Mind, Foreknowledge and the Self-conceived who is the anointed one, stood together and glorified the invisible spirit and Barbelo, since they had come into being through her.
The Virgin Spirit brought the self-conceived divine child of itself and Barbelo to perfection, so that the child might stand before the great, Invisible Virgin Spirit as the self-conceived god, the anointed, who honored the spirit with loud acclaim.
The Spirit perfected the divine eternal Autogenes, the son of Barbelo, so that he could set the true, self-conceived god over everything. It gave to him all authority and It caused the truth which is in It to be subject to him in order that he might know the All.
The One called by a name greater than every name, for that name will be told to those who are worthy of it.
The Virgin Sprit Speaks and Barbelos speaks:
The son is perfect in every respect. He is the word who originated through that voice, who came from on high, who has within him the name, who is light. The son revealed the everlasting, and all the unknown was known. He revealed what is hard to interpret and what is secret, and he preached to those who live in silence with first thought, and he revealed himself to those who are in darkness, and he clarified himself to those in the abyss. To those in the hidden treasuries he told ineffable mysteries, and he taught unspeakable doctrines to all those who became children of the light.
Now the voice that came from my thought exists as three permanences: the father, the mother, the son. The voice is perceptible speech containing a word rich in every glory. It has three masculinities, three powers, and three names. They are in the manner of the triad of three shapes, which are quadrangles, secretly in silence of the ineffable one.
He alone came into being as the anointed. I anointed him with goodness as the glory of the invisible spirit. I established these three alone in glory over the eternal realms in living water: glory surrounding him who first appeared to the light of the exalted aeons and realms. He persists in light.
And he stood in a light surrounding him who is the eye of light gloriously shining on me. He gave aeons for the father of all aeons, I the thought of the father, first thought, Barbelo, the perfect glory and the immeasurable invisible hidden one. I am the image of the invisible spirit. Through me all took shape. I am the mother as well as the light whom she appointed as virgin, she who is called Meirothea, the intangible womb, the unrestrained and immeasurable voice.
Then the perfect son revealed himself to his aeons who came through him. He revealed, glorified, and enthroned them, and stood in the glory made for himself.
They blessed the perfect child, the anointed, the god who came into being by himself. And they gave glory, saying:
“He is! He is! God’s son! God’s son! He is!
The being of eternal beings!
He sees the eternal beings that he conceived. For you have conceived by your own desire!
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So we glorify you: MA! MO! You are O, O, O. You are A.
You are being!
The eternal realm of the eternal realms! The eternal realm he gave!
End of Act I
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The Creation Story of the Archons and their Decedents
Or A Creation Story for Realized Humans
Compiled by Arorah and Tess Nagdeo
