[251]. This should be the sphere of Mercury, the messenger of the gods and leader of souls, who, unlike the higher powers, sees the earth from anigh and without veils. The παρθένου πνεῦμα “spirit of a Virgin” may be the Virgin of Light of the Pistis Sophia, who plays such an important part in the redemption of souls. Hippolytus’ Naassene writer (Hipp. op. cit. Bk V. c. 9, p. 181, Cruice) speaks of Jesus as the true gate and talks in this connection of “Life-giving water” and of “we Christians celebrating the mystery in the third gate”—an allusion which is unintelligible at present, unless it refers to the waters of baptism.
[252]. The sphere of Venus? The planet is said in one of the later documents of the Pistis Sophia to be ruled by a power from “Pistis Sophia, the daughter of Barbelo,” another name for the material antitype of the heavenly Sophia or Mother of Life, whom we shall meet with later.
[253]. The sphere of Mars? No allusion is made elsewhere to the φραγμὸν πυρὸς “fence of fire”; but we do of course often hear of an empyrean or heaven of fire stretching over the earth. The ζωῆς ξύλον is, according to both Origen and Celsus, the Cross; Origen, op. cit. Bk VI. cc. 34, 37.
[254]. The proper order would appear to be:
(1) Horaios ♂ the guardian of the First Gate, i.e. that of Fire.
(2) Ailoaios ♀ the guardian of the Second Gate, i.e. that of Air.
(3) Astaphaios ☿ the guardian of the Third Gate, i.e. that of Water.
Above these we have (4) Adonai the ☉ the first power as distinguished from mere porters or guardians of gates, (5) Iao the ☽ called in the password the second, and (6) and (7) Sabaoth ♃ and Jaldabaoth ♄ above all. This would about correspond with the astronomy of the time, which tried to put the sun in the centre of our system. But the relative places of Sabaoth, Jaldabaoth, and Ailoaios are very uncertain, and Epiphanius in describing the Ophite sect whom he calls “Gnostics” says that some wished to make Ialdabaoth occupy the 6th heaven, and others Ailoaios, called by him Elilaios, while giving the 7th to Sabaoth. Epiph. Haer. XXVI. c. 10, p. 174, Oehler.
[255]. Origen, cont. Cels. Bk VI. c. 31. If ♄ corresponds to Michael and also to Jaldabaoth, ♃ ought to do the like to Suriel and Iao, ♂ to Sabaoth (which would be appropriate enough) and to Raphael, the sun to Adonai and Gabriel, and so on. No system of correspondences, however, can be devised that does not break down on scrutiny. Sammael, which is here Michael’s other name, is used in the Ascensio Isaiae (see Charles, Ascension of Isaiah, p. 6) as a name of Satan. But it may well be that good and bad spirits occupying corresponding places in the universe were sometimes called by the same names. So one of the documents of the Pistis Sophia speaks of an angel cryptically named Zarazaz “who is called by the demons after a strong demon of their own place, Maskelli”: Pistis Sophia, p. 370, Copt.
[256]. Though Babylonian in origin it must early have found its way into Egypt. See Maspero, Ét. Égyptol. II. p. 385 and Chapter VI, supra, vol. I. p. 183 and n. 3.