‘What Master?’ asked Giovanni, thinking of Leonardo.
‘Basil, the Egyptian Gnostic, she replied: and explained that the great teacher of the early Christian ages, to whom faith and knowledge had been one, had called themselves Gnostics, or Knowers; And she went on to repeat to him many of their sayings, often strange and monstrous, like the visions of the delirious.
He was especially impressed by a legend as to the creation of the world and of man, put forth by the Alexandrine Ophites, or snake worshipers.
“Above all the heavens is boundless Darkness, immovable, fairer than any light; The Unknown Father, the Abyss, the Silence. His only-beggoten daughter, the Wisdom of God, separating from the Father, knew life, and sorrow, and darkened her splendour. The son of her travail was Jaldavaoth, the creating God. Falling away from his mother he plunged yet more deeply into existence, and created the world and the body, a distorted image of the spiritual world. In it was Man, formed to reflect the greatness of his creator, and to bear witness to his power. The elemental spirits, the ministers of Jaldavaoth, brought the senseless mass of flesh to Jaldavaoth to be endowed with life; But the Wisdom of God inspired it also with a breath of the divine wisdom, received by her from the Unknown Father. And then this mean creature, formed from earth and dust, became greater than Jaldavaoth its creator, and grew in the shape and the likeness not of him but of the true God, the Unknown Father. Four-footed Man raised his face from the earth, and Jaldavaoth, at the sight of the being which had slip of his power, was filled with anger and alarm. He formed another creature, the Angel of Darkness, the serpent-like Satan, the wisdom accursed. And by the help of the serpent, Jaldavaoth formed the three kingdoms of Nature; and set Man therein, and gave him a law.’Do this, do not that: if thou breakest the law, thou shalt die.’ For he hoped by the yoke of the law, and by the fear of death to recover his power over man. But the Wisdom of God still protected Man, and sent him a comforter, the Spirit of Knowledge snake-like also, but winged like the morning star, the Angel of the Dawn, him to whom allusion is made in the saying ‘Be ye wise as the serpent.’ And the Spirit of Knowledge went down to men and said: ‘Taste and know, and your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods.’”
‘Hearken Giovanni’, concluded Cassandra; ‘the men of the crowd, the children of this world, are the slaves of Jaldavaoth and the serpent Satan, living under the fear of death, bound by the yoke of law. But the children of light, those who know, the chosen of Sophia, the Wisdom of God, transcend all laws, overstep all bounds, are free as gods, are furnished with wings, remain pure in the midst of evil, even as gold glitters in the mire. And the Spirit of Knowledge, the Angel of Dawn, leads them through life and death, through evil and through good, through all the curses and the terrors of the world of Jaldavaoth, to the great mother, Sophia, the Wisdom of God; and she bringeth thee to the bosom of the great Darkness, which reigns above the heavens, which is immovable and fairer than any light; to the bosom of the Father of all things.’
‘Basil, the Egyptian Gnostic, she replied: and explained that the great teacher of the early Christian ages, to whom faith and knowledge had been one, had called themselves Gnostics, or Knowers; And she went on to repeat to him many of their sayings, often strange and monstrous, like the visions of the delirious.
He was especially impressed by a legend as to the creation of the world and of man, put forth by the Alexandrine Ophites, or snake worshipers.
“Above all the heavens is boundless Darkness, immovable, fairer than any light; The Unknown Father, the Abyss, the Silence. His only-beggoten daughter, the Wisdom of God, separating from the Father, knew life, and sorrow, and darkened her splendour. The son of her travail was Jaldavaoth, the creating God. Falling away from his mother he plunged yet more deeply into existence, and created the world and the body, a distorted image of the spiritual world. In it was Man, formed to reflect the greatness of his creator, and to bear witness to his power. The elemental spirits, the ministers of Jaldavaoth, brought the senseless mass of flesh to Jaldavaoth to be endowed with life; But the Wisdom of God inspired it also with a breath of the divine wisdom, received by her from the Unknown Father. And then this mean creature, formed from earth and dust, became greater than Jaldavaoth its creator, and grew in the shape and the likeness not of him but of the true God, the Unknown Father. Four-footed Man raised his face from the earth, and Jaldavaoth, at the sight of the being which had slip of his power, was filled with anger and alarm. He formed another creature, the Angel of Darkness, the serpent-like Satan, the wisdom accursed. And by the help of the serpent, Jaldavaoth formed the three kingdoms of Nature; and set Man therein, and gave him a law.’Do this, do not that: if thou breakest the law, thou shalt die.’ For he hoped by the yoke of the law, and by the fear of death to recover his power over man. But the Wisdom of God still protected Man, and sent him a comforter, the Spirit of Knowledge snake-like also, but winged like the morning star, the Angel of the Dawn, him to whom allusion is made in the saying ‘Be ye wise as the serpent.’ And the Spirit of Knowledge went down to men and said: ‘Taste and know, and your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods.’”
‘Hearken Giovanni’, concluded Cassandra; ‘the men of the crowd, the children of this world, are the slaves of Jaldavaoth and the serpent Satan, living under the fear of death, bound by the yoke of law. But the children of light, those who know, the chosen of Sophia, the Wisdom of God, transcend all laws, overstep all bounds, are free as gods, are furnished with wings, remain pure in the midst of evil, even as gold glitters in the mire. And the Spirit of Knowledge, the Angel of Dawn, leads them through life and death, through evil and through good, through all the curses and the terrors of the world of Jaldavaoth, to the great mother, Sophia, the Wisdom of God; and she bringeth thee to the bosom of the great Darkness, which reigns above the heavens, which is immovable and fairer than any light; to the bosom of the Father of all things.’
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