Woe, woe to sinners
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ⲉϣⲱⲡⲉ ϩⲱⲱϥ ⲉⲣϣⲁⲛⲁⲣⲏⲥⲙⲛ̅ⲕⲣⲟⲛⲟⲥ ⲉⲓ̅ ⲙ̅ⲡⲉⲙⲧⲟ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ⲛ̅ⲧⲡⲁⲣⲑⲉⲛⲟⲥ ⲉⲣⲉⲍⲉⲩⲥ ⲙⲛ̅ⲧⲁⲫⲣⲟⲇⲓⲧⲏ ϩⲓⲡⲁϩⲟⲩ ⲙ̅ⲙⲟⲥ ⲉⲛⲥ̅ⲛⲁⲩ ⲉⲣⲟⲟⲩ ⲁⲛ· ⲯⲩⲭⲏ ⲛⲓⲙ ⲉⲧⲥ̅ⲛⲁⲛⲟϫⲟⲩ ⲉⲛⲥⲱⲛⲧ̅ ⲛ̅ⲧⲥⲫⲉⲣⲁ ⲙ̅ⲡⲛⲁⲩ ⲉⲧⲙ̅ⲙⲁⲩ ϣⲁⲩϣⲱⲡⲉ ⲙ̅ⲡⲟⲛⲏⲣⲟⲥ ⲁⲩⲱ ⲛ̅ⲣⲉϥϭⲱⲛⲧ̅ ⲁⲩⲱ ⲙⲉⲩϩⲉ ⲉⲙ̅ⲙⲩⲥⲧⲏⲣⲓⲟⲛ ⲙ̅ⲡⲟⲩⲟⲉⲓⲛ: ⲛⲁⲓ̈ ϭⲉ ⲉⲣⲉⲓ̅ⲥ̅ ϫⲱ ⲙ̅ⲙⲟⲟⲩ ⲛ̅ⲛⲉϥⲙⲁⲑⲏⲧⲏⲥ ϩⲛ̅ⲧⲙⲏⲧⲉ ⲛ̅ⲁⲙⲛ̅ⲧⲉ· ⲁⲩⲱϣ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ⲁⲩⲣⲓⲙⲉ ⲛ̅ϭⲓⲙ̅ⲙⲁⲑⲏⲧⲏⲥ· ϫⲉⲟⲩⲟⲓ̈ ⲟⲩⲟⲓ̈ ⲛ̅ⲣ̅ⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲛ̅ⲣⲉϥⲣ̅ⲛⲟⲃⲉ ⲛⲁⲓ̈ ⲉⲣⲉⲧⲁⲙⲉⲗⲓⲁ ⲛ̅ⲕⲟⲧⲕ̅ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ϩⲓϫⲱⲟⲩ ⲙⲛ̅ⲧⲃ̅ϣⲉ ⲛ̅ⲛ̅ⲁⲣⲭⲱⲛ ϣⲁⲛⲧⲟⲩⲉⲓ̅ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ϩⲛ̅ⲥⲱⲙⲁ· ⲛ̅ⲥⲉϫⲓⲧⲟⲩ ⲉⲛⲉⲓ̈ⲕⲟⲗⲁⲥⲓⲥ· ⲛⲁ ⲛⲁⲛ· ⲛⲁ ⲛⲁⲛ·
If, on the other hand, Ares and Kronos come before the face of the Virgin, and Zeus and Aphrodite are behind her, so that she does not see them, then all the souls which she shall cast in that hour into the creatures of the sphere will become wicked and wrathful, and they do not find the mysteries of the Light. When then Jesus said these things to his disciples in the midst of Amente, the disciples cried out and wept: Woe, woe to sinners, on whom the negligence and the forgetfulness of the rulers lie until they come out of the body and are led to these chastisements! Have mercy on us, have mercy on us.
The horoscope has a dark half. If the wheel turns the other way — Ares and Kronos before the Virgin’s face, Zeus and Aphrodite behind her, so that she does not see them — then the souls she casts into the creatures of the sphere in that hour are born wicked and wrathful, and do not find the mysteries of the Light. And then, for a moment, the frame of the whole book comes back into view: Jesus has been saying these things to his disciples in the midst of Amente — the school has been meeting in the land of the dead. The disciples cry out and weep: Woe, woe to sinners, on whom the negligence and the forgetfulness of the rulers lie until they come out of the body and are led to these chastisements. Have mercy on us, have mercy on us.
The wheel turns the other way and mercy inverts: with the malefics before her face and the light-stars hidden behind her, the Virgin sows souls that will be born wicked and wrathful and never find the mysteries. Said plainly, some people are born on the wrong hour of the wheel. The disciples hear this doctrine — and the narrator chooses this moment to remind the reader where the lessons have been happening: "in the midst of Amente." The classroom of these final chapters is the land of the dead itself; the tour of the punishments was a walking tour. And the disciples do what listeners in this book almost never do: they break. They cry out and weep, and their lament shifts the blame upward with precision — woe to sinners, on whom "the negligence and the forgetfulness of the rulers" lie like sleep until death delivers them to the chastisements. Not their wickedness: the rulers’ <em>negligence</em>.
The two nouns of that lament are a Greek reader’s jolt. Forgetfulness is <em>bshe</em>, the Lethe-cup of chapter 146; negligence is the Greek loan <em>ameleia</em> — and Amelēs, "Unheeding," is the name Plato gives the very river on the plain of Forgetting from which returning souls must drink. The two rivers of the <em>Republic</em>’s last myth lie here as a pair of blankets on the sleeping sinner. Then the cry turns personal: have mercy on us, have mercy on us — twice, liturgically, the Kyrie eleison before there was one. The disciples do not say "on them." Under a sky where birth-hours decide, the difference between the saved school and the sinners it studies has come to feel, to them, like luck — and the book is honest enough to let its last scene be that fear.
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