Souls from the residue
Read the full text in our reader
ⲁⲩⲱ ⲧⲉⲩϩⲩⲗⲏ ⲧⲏⲣⲟⲩ ϩⲓⲛⲉⲩⲉⲣⲏⲩ ϣⲁⲩⲥⲟⲟⲩϩⲟⲩ ⲉϩⲟⲩⲛ ⲛ̅ϭⲓⲛ̅ⲗⲉⲓⲧⲟⲩⲣⲅⲟⲥ ⲛ̅ⲛ̅ⲁⲣⲭⲱⲛ ⲧⲏⲣⲟⲩ· ⲁⲩⲱ ϣⲁⲩϫⲓⲧⲟⲩ ⲛ̅ϭⲓⲛ̅ⲗⲉⲓⲧⲟⲩⲣⲅⲟⲥ ⲛ̅ⲛ̅ⲁⲣⲭⲱⲛ ⲧⲏⲣⲟⲩ ⲛ̅ⲑⲓⲙⲁⲣⲙⲉⲛⲏ· ⲙⲛ̅ⲛ̅ⲗⲉⲓⲧⲟⲩⲣⲅⲟⲥ ⲛ̅ⲧⲉⲥⲫⲁⲓⲣⲁ· ⲛⲁⲓ̈ ⲉⲧⲙ̅ⲡⲉⲥⲏⲧ ⲛ̅ⲁⲓⲱⲛ· ⲛ̅ⲥⲉⲁⲁⲩ ⲙ̅ⲯⲩⲭⲏ ⲛ̅ⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲁⲩⲱ ⲛ̅ⲧⲃ̅ⲛⲏ ⲁⲩⲱ ⲛ̅ϫⲁⲧⲃⲉ· ϩⲓⲑⲏⲣⲓⲟⲛ· ϩⲓϩⲁⲗⲏⲧ· ⲁⲩⲱ ⲛ̅ⲥⲉϫⲟⲟⲩⲥⲟⲩ ⲉⲡⲉⲉⲓⲕⲟⲥⲙⲟⲥ ⲛ̅ⲧⲉⲧⲙ̅ⲛ̅ⲧ̅ⲣⲱⲙⲉ· ⲁⲩⲱ ⲟⲛ ⲙ̅ⲡⲁⲣⲁⲗⲏⲙⲡⲧⲱⲣ ⲙ̅ⲡⲣⲏ ⲙⲛ̅ⲙ̅ⲡⲁⲣⲁⲗⲏⲙⲡⲧⲱⲣ ⲙ̅ⲡⲟⲟϩ ⲉⲩϣⲁⲛϭⲱϣⲧ̅ ⲉⲧⲡⲉ ⲛ̅ⲥⲉⲛⲁⲩ ⲉⲛⲉⲥⲭⲏⲙⲁ ⲛ̅ⲛ̅ϭⲓⲛⲙⲟⲟϣⲉ ⲛ̅ⲛⲁⲓⲱⲛ· ⲙⲛ̅ⲛⲉⲥⲭⲏⲙⲁ ⲛ̅ⲑⲓⲙⲁⲣⲙⲉⲛⲏ· ⲙⲛ̅ⲛⲁⲧⲉⲥⲫⲁⲓⲣⲁ
And all their matter — the servitors of all the rulers gather it together; and the servitors of all the rulers of the Fate and the servitors of the sphere below the aeons take it, and they make it into souls of men and of cattle and of reptiles and of wild beasts and of birds, and they send them into this world of mankind. And further, the receivers of the sun and the receivers of the moon, when they look above and see the configurations of the paths of the aeons and the configurations of the Fate and those of the sphere,
The refinery has a waste-stream, and this passage follows it down. While Melchisedec carries the light up, the servitors of the rulers gather together all the matter left behind; and the servitors of the Fate and of the sphere below the aeons take it and fashion it — into souls of men, and of cattle, and of reptiles, and of wild beasts, and of birds, all in one workmanlike list — and send them down into the world of mankind. Meanwhile the receivers of the sun and of the moon look up and read the configurations of the paths above.
Every refinery has a waste-stream, and here the book follows it down without softening anything. The light goes up to the Treasury; the <em>hylē</em> — the matter, the spent residue of the pressing — is gathered by the servitors, carried to the sphere below the aeons, and made into souls. The sentence that follows is one of the coldest in the book precisely because of its list: souls "of men and of cattle and of reptiles and of wild beasts and of birds," one continuous batch, one recipe, five product lines. Human ensoulment is not an act of divine attention here; it is downstream processing of factory residue, and humanity shares its production run with the snakes and the birds. The workers are <em>leitourgoi</em> — the Greek word for public servants and temple ministers, the root of "liturgy" — so that even soul-making is civic labor, performed by the same class of functionary that carries offerings in a temple.
Why write an anthropology this bleak? Because the book needs the reader to feel the arithmetic: a soul made from what was left after the light was taken is a soul that arrives in the world already short of the one thing that matters — and that shortfall is exactly what the mysteries exist to repair. The ordinary soul is not damned; it is under-capitalized. Meanwhile the last lines swing the camera up: the receivers of the sun and moon watch the <em>schēmata</em>, the configurations of the paths above — the astrologer’s own technical word for the arrangements of the heavens. The luminaries are not gods but middle managers reading the day’s postings, and the sentence runs on into the next passage, where what they do about it completes the circuit.
Read the full commentary — and tap any word for its dictionary entry — in the interlinear reader.
Open Pistis Sophia 25.4 in the full reader
Always open passages in the reader
You are reading a page of the Pistis Sophia — the whole book is free in our interlinear reader.
The Great Library Project presses the classics in their original languages, glossed word by word — free to read, always. Browse the whole library.
Also on our shelves:
Pistis Sophia 25.4 — The Great Library Project interlinear edition · greatlibraryproject.com/book/pistissophia/25.4/