Untitled Bruce Codex Text

Untitled Bruce Codex Text

[Beginning missing]

This is the Father of all fathers, the God beyond all gods, the Lord beyond all lords, the Sonship beyond all sons, the Saviour beyond all saviours, the Invisible beyond all invisibles, the Infinite beyond all infinities, the Uncontainable beyond all that cannot be contained, the Deep beyond every deep, and the Space of every space.

He is the spiritual Mind before every spiritual mind, the holy Place embracing every holy place, and the Good containing every good. He is the seed of every good thing, the Self-originated One who brought himself forth, existing before all the beings of the Fullness whom he caused to appear.

He is unbegotten and eternal, having no name and possessing every name. He knew all things before they came to be, saw them, and heard them. He is stronger than every strength. No one can look upon his incomprehensible face. Beyond every mind he exists in his own form, solitary and unknowable: the universal Mystery, the universal Wisdom, and the beginning of all things. In him are all light, all life, and all rest.

He is the blessedness needed by all. He beholds all beings within himself. He divides them and gathers them into himself. Nothing exists outside him, for all worlds are in him, and he is their boundary. No place and no understanding exist without him.

The aeons contemplate his incomprehensibility within them, but they do not understand it. They marvel because he encompasses them all. They strive toward the City in which their image is found. In that City they move and live. It is the house of the Father, the garment of the Son, the power of the Mother, and the image of the Fullness.

He is the first Father of all, the first Eternity, the King of the unassailable ones, the One in whom all things become silent, who formed all things within himself: the self-grown and self-begotten Place, the abyss of all being, the Great and True One in the Deep. The fullnesses entered him and were silent before him.

They did not name him, because he is unnameable and beyond thought. He is the first Fountain whose eternity reaches through every space, the first Voice through which all things hear and understand. His members are myriads upon myriads of powers, and every power is a living being.

The second Space is called Creator, Father, Word, Fountain, Mind, Man, Eternal, and Infinite. He is the pillar, the Overseer, and the Father of all. Upon his head the aeons form a crown and send forth their rays. His face is unknown to the outer worlds, though they continually desire to behold it. His Word has gone out to them, and the light of his eyes reaches the outer spaces of the Fullness.

The hairs of his head are the number of the hidden worlds, the features of his face are the pattern of the eternities, and the hairs of his beard are the number of the outer worlds. The stretching out of his hands is the manifestation of the Cross. The substance of the Cross is the Ninefold One. The Man whom no human can comprehend is raised upon its right and its left.

From the Father came the Monad and the Spark of Light. Before it appeared, all worlds were darkness and nothingness. The Spark placed all things within the rays of its splendour, and they received knowledge, life, hope, peace, faith, love, resurrection, the second birth, and the seal. These are the Ninefold One that came from the beginningless Father, who is his own Father and Mother.

Around his Fullness are twelve Deeps: the universal Fountain; the universal Wisdom; the universal Mystery; the universal Knowledge; the universal Purity; the Silence containing every silence; the universal Essence beyond essence; the Forefather from whom all forefathers exist; the All-Father and Self-Father; the universal Power; the first Invisible from whom all invisibles came; and Truth, from whom all truths proceeded.

Truth surrounds all things. She is the image of the Father and the completion of all things, the Mother of all eternities, surrounding every Deep: the unknowable Monad, without a seal and containing every seal. All beings were made according to the likeness of the ineffable, inconceivable, unchanging Father. They rejoiced, were filled with life-giving powers, and brought forth myriads upon myriads of aeons.

From these worlds the Cross arose, and from their incorporeal members the Man came forth. From the Father are all names: Ineffable, Incorruptible, Invisible, Simple, Solitary, Powerful, Triple-powered, and the names spoken only in Silence. The outer worlds behold him as people behold the stars at night and long for the sun.

By his Word the holy Fullness exists. By the breath of his mouth Providence travailed with those who had not yet come to be, and by his will they exist. He brought forth the Thought of his greatness from non-being and made her a place for his members, that they might dwell in him and know him as their Father.

Thus he made the Temple of the Fullness. At its four gates are four Monads, with six supporters at each gate, twenty-four supporters in all. At each gate are twenty-four myriads of powers, nine Ninefold orders, ten Tenfold orders, twelve Twelvefold orders, and five Fivefold powers. At each gate stands an Overseer with three faces: Unbegotten, True, and Ineffable.

One face looks toward the outer aeons, one toward Setheus, and one upward toward the Sonship concealed in every Monad. There are Aphredon and his twelve holy ones, the Forefather, Adam the Man of Light with his three hundred aeons, and the Perfect Mind. They surround the deathless Basket.

The ineffable face of the Warden looks into the Holy of Holies toward the Boundless One. Within is a Deep called Light, or the Giver of Light, and in it an only-begotten Son is hidden. He manifests the three Powers and is mighty among every power. The Indivisible One cannot be divided, and in her the All is revealed.

The Triple Power has three faces. In one is hidden the Only-begotten. When the Thought comes from the Deep, Aphredon receives her and conducts her to the Only-begotten of the only-begotten ones, that she may be perfected in the Space of the Triple Power and led into the Space of the five Unbegotten Ones.

In another Deep are three Fatherhoods. In the first is Kalyptos, the hidden God. In the second are five Trees, and in their midst an altar. Upon the altar stands an only-begotten Word with the twelve faces of the Mind of all things. Before him are placed the prayers of every being. The universe rejoices because he has manifested himself. In the third Fatherhood are Silence and the Fountain contemplated by twelve anointed ones, who behold themselves within it.

There also are Love, the universal Mind, and the universal Mother from whom the Ninefold One came forth: Protia, Pantia, Pangenia, Loxophania, Loxogenia, Loxokrateia, Loia, and Jouel. She is the first beyond knowledge, Mother of the Ninefold One, completing the Tenfold One, proceeding from the Monad of the Unknowable.

Beyond is the immeasurable Deep, where an altar stands among three powers: the Solitary, the Unknowable, and the Infinite. In their midst is revealed a Sonship called the Anointed Glorifier. He seals each one with the seal of the Father and brings all into the eternity of the first Father, the One for whose sake all things exist.

This Anointed One has twelve faces: Boundless, Uncontainable, Ineffable, Simple, Imperishable, Solitary, Unknowable, Invincible, Triple-powered, Unshakable, Unbegotten, and Pure.

Beyond these is the Deep of Setheus, surrounded by twelve Fatherhoods. Each Fatherhood has three faces. Together they make the sacred number thirty-six. From them those outside received their seal, and therefore they glorify them for ever. Twelve other Fatherhoods surround the head of Setheus and uphold a crown, sending rays into the surrounding worlds through the grace of the only-begotten Word hidden within him.

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The mysteries of the Word cannot be declared by a tongue of flesh. There are glories too high for thought and for intuition through symbols, unless one finds a teacher who belongs to the deathless race. From such a one something may be learned of the places from which he came, for he has found the root of all things.

Nicotheos spoke of the Father exalted above all the perfect and revealed the invisible, perfect Triple Power. The perfect saw him, proclaimed him, and glorified him with their own mouths. This is the only-begotten Word hidden in Setheus, called the Dark Ray, for the excess of his light is darkness.

The Only-begotten holds twelve Fatherhoods in his right hand, patterns of the twelve apostles, and thirty powers in his left. Each Fatherhood brings forth three hundred and sixty-five powers, forming a crown around the Son and illuminating the aeons with his light.

He dwells in the Monad within Setheus. The Monad came from the One before all fullnesses, like a ship laden with every good thing, a field filled with every tree, or a city filled with every race and every image of the King. Upon her head twelve Monads form a crown. Ten Tenfold orders surround her neck, nine Ninefold orders her heart, and seven Sevenfold orders are beneath her feet. A firmament surrounds her like a tower with twelve gates, and at each gate are twelve myriads of angels and archangels. This is the city of the Only-begotten Son.

Before all things is the Only-begotten who came from the Infinite, self-begotten, without seal or form. He came from the Ineffable and Immeasurable One who truly exists and in whom everything that truly exists is found. The All rests in the unspeakable King, whom none can move and whose divinity none can declare.

The Only-begotten dwells in the Monad as in a city; the Monad is in Setheus as a thought; and Setheus dwells in the Temple as King and God. He is the creative Word, the Mind according to the order of God the Father, before whom all creation bows.

Those of the inner spaces crown his head; those of the outer spaces are beneath his feet; and those of the middle spaces surround him, praising him: Holy, holy, holy. Living One of living ones, Holy of holy ones, Being of beings, Father of fathers, God of gods, Lord of lords, Space of spaces. You are the house and the One who dwells in the house. O Only-begotten, you are light, life, and grace.

Setheus sent the Spark of Light from the Indivisible One, and it illuminated the Temple of the Fullness. The fullnesses rejoiced when they saw within it all their images. They fashioned the Spark among themselves as the true light-giving Man and called him All-formed, Pure, Unshakable, and All-powerful.

The Father sealed the Man, his Son, within them, so they might know him inwardly. The Word moved them to contemplate the Invisible beyond knowledge. The Father took their whole image and made it a City, or a Man, placing within it every power of the Fullness. Each one recognised his own image within the City.

The Father made his radiant glory an outer garment for the Man. He formed him according to the Temple of the Fullness: his shoulders after the countless powers, his fingers and toes after the hidden and manifest Tenfold orders, his breast after the interior of the Temple, his feet after the solitary and unknowable servants of the Fullness, and his limbs after the Deep containing three hundred and sixty-five Fatherhoods.

His hair was formed after the worlds of the Fullness. He was filled with universal Wisdom, inner mystery, and outer mystery. His sides were made after the four Gates, his thighs after the rulers of the right and left, and his members after those who go out and those who enter.

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The Indivisible Point sent the Spark outside the Fullness. It descended as the Triple Power into the spaces of the Self-generated One. They saw the grace of the eternities of Light and rejoiced because that-which-is had come among them. They opened the firmaments, and the Light descended to the lower regions and to those without form. Some rejoiced because the Light enriched them; others mourned because what they thought they possessed was taken away.

A light of glory was given to the aeons who received the Spark, and guardian spirits were sent to those who believed in it: Gamanel, Etrempsouchos, Agramas, and their companions.

In the Space of the Indivisible One are twelve Fountains beneath twelve Fatherhoods. They surround her like deeps or heavens and form a crown containing every kind of life: triple-powered, uncontainable, infinite, ineffable, silent, unknown, solitary, unshakable, first-manifested, self-born, and true life. Every species, every knowledge, and every power that received the Light is within it.

This crown fills the universe with incorruptible and unfailing light. It is the crown of every dominion, desired by the deathless ones. Through it the invisible eternities receive perfection, and those who have taken bodies pray to lay the body aside and receive the crown kept for them in the incorruptible Eternity.

The Indivisible Mother is the first aeon of all. Within her is the land that brings forth gods. She contains seven Wisdoms, nine Ninefold orders, and ten Tenfold orders. In her midst is a great Basket. Above it stand the Unbegotten, the Unshakable, and the Great Pure One. Into the Basket are gathered the prayers, blessings, and hymns of all creatures.

Before the Fruit of the Aeons is a Fountain surrounded by twelve holy ones wearing crowns. They praise the Only-begotten King, saying: Because of you we shine with glory; through you we behold the Father of the universe and the Mother of every good thing, hidden in every space, the Thought of every eternity and the knowledge of every unseen being. Through your image we have seen you, run to you, held fast to you, and received the incorruptible crown. Glory to you for ever. Amen.

He became a body of Light and crossed the aeons of the Indivisible One until he came to the Only-begotten dwelling in peace and solitude. He received the grace of the Only-begotten, his anointing and perfection, and the eternal crown. He is the Father of every Spark of Light and the chief of every immortal body; because of him resurrection is given to the body.

In the immeasurable Deep are twelve Fatherhoods, each surrounded by thirty powers. In its midst are five Powers: Love, from whom all love comes; Hope, through whom we hope in the Only-begotten Son; Faith, through whom we trust the mysteries of the Ineffable; Knowledge, through whom we know the first Father; and Peace, through whom peace is given to those within and those without, for in her all things were created.

The Triple Power sent forth the splendour of his glory after receiving grace from the Mother beyond knowledge. The fullnesses could not stand before the excess of his light. The whole Fullness was shaken, and the aeons fled until the Overseer established them again. Then the Son came forth hidden in the Triple Power, wearing the crown of confirmation, while countless glories cried: Prepare the way of the Lord and receive the grace of God; every empty aeon shall be filled with the grace of the Only-begotten Son.

Setheus sent the creative Word with a multitude of crowned powers. The brightness of their bodies was the life of the place into which they came. The word from their mouths was eternal life; the light from their eyes was rest; the movement of their hands was their flight to the place from which they came; and their contemplation of their own faces was knowledge of their inward nature.

The creative Word united those who had emerged from the disturbance, and they became one body. Then the Word became mighty God, Lord, Saviour, Christ, King, Good One, Father, and Mother. The All-manifest came forth wearing a crown and placed it upon those who believed.

The Mother ordered the world below according to the order above. She placed in it the Spark of Light after the pattern of the Monad. She appointed the Forefather, the Self-Father, and the First-Begetter. To the First-Begetter she gave power to bring to life and to destroy, so he could accomplish the struggle laid upon him and raise what was pure from matter.

He made a world, an aeon, and a city called Incorruptibility, Jerusalem, the New Earth, the Self-perfect, and the Kingless. It is a life-giving earth that brings forth gods. Providence and Love were placed within it.

The Father sent the Man a crown bearing the names of all beings and an ineffable garment that was entirely light, life, love, hope, faith, wisdom, knowledge, truth, peace, witness, motherhood, mystery, fountain, perfection, invisibility, infinity, silence, and every sacred number. The whole universe was within it and knew itself within it.

The garment poured itself over all things, lifted them up, and divided them according to orders and Providence. It separated that-which-is from that-which-is-not. That-which-is-not was the evil manifested in matter. It placed veils between them and purifying powers to cleanse them.

The Mother appointed the Forefather and gave him the crown of Fatherhood, authority to give life and destroy, and power to manifest the aeon. She appointed the Self-Father over hidden things, that he might show mercy to those who had fled from matter. They received glory, joy, peace, hope, faith, love, and unchanging truth. They became perfect and knew God and the Mystery working in the Man.

She appointed the First-Begetter and gave him the power of Sonship, angels and archangels, twelve serving powers, and a garment containing every kind of body: fire, water, air, earth, wind, angelic, archangelic, powers, dominions, gods, and lords, so nothing might hinder his ascent or descent.

He brooded over matter like a bird stretching its wings over its eggs. When matter was warmed, it brought forth its hidden powers, and he divided them into kinds. He gave them a law: love one another, honour God, praise him, seek who and what he is, and do not return to the narrow and sorrowful place from which you came. Do not harm one another.

Then the Mother, the Forefather, the Self-Father, the First-Begetter, and the powers of her aeon sang: You alone are Boundless; you alone are the Deep and the Incomprehensible. All beings seek you, but none finds you unless you grant it. Your will is your place, for nothing contains you, who contain all. Give holy order to the world and arrange my offspring according to your will. No creature has ever been wronged by you.

You alone give form to every creature and manifest them within yourself. You create what has not yet appeared. You reveal these things so that we may pray for them and know them by your grace. You raised the hidden worlds so they might know you. You brought forth the Man in contemplation and perfect thought, and clothed him with every good thing. The universe longs to know him, for through him you are made known.

When the Mother finished praying, the Boundless One heard her and sent a Power from the Man whom they desired to see. From the Boundless came the infinite Spark of Light. The aeons wondered where he had been hidden. He entered the Temple of the Fullness, and its powers loved him and praised him with ineffable hymns.

He went to the boundary of the universal Mother and stood above her aeon. The universe was shaken at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth. The King of Glory divided matter into two parts and set boundaries between them. He taught them that they came from one Father and one Mother.

He called the right side the land of life, light, and rest, and the left side the land of death, darkness, and sorrow. He placed veils between them. Those who ran to him and worshipped him he placed at his right hand and gave eternal life and immortality. Those who resisted he placed under the dominion of those who believed.

He gave his followers laws and commandments: Keep my words, and I shall give you eternal life. I shall send powers to strengthen you. When intellectual spirits dwell within you, you shall become gods. You shall know that you came from God and shall behold him within yourselves.

They prayed to the hidden Mystery: Send us incorporeal spirits to dwell within us and teach us what you promised, that we may become bodies for them. Give law to our work and establish it according to your will, for we are yours.

He heard them and sent discerning powers. He established the lower orders according to the hidden orders above, from the foundation to the summit, that the building might unite them with their companions. He made the aerial earth as a temporary dwelling, then the true dwelling within it, the place of transformation, and within that the pattern of the Self-generated One.

There they baptise themselves in the name of the Self-generated God. Michar and Micheus stand over the waters of life, and they baptise in the name of Barpharanges. Within these spaces are the aeons of Wisdom, the True Truth, Faith-Wisdom, the pre-existent Living Jesus, Aerodios and his twelve aeons, and the four Lights.

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O Only-begotten of Light, I praise you. O unbegotten Light, self-begotten Light, Forefather of Light, I praise you. Invisible Light before every invisible one, Thought of Light beyond every thought, God of Light above every god, Knowledge of Light beyond every knowledge, I praise you.

Unknown One of Light beyond every unknown, Solitary One beyond every solitary, Almighty of Light beyond every almighty, Triple-powered Light beyond every triple power, indivisible Light that divides every light, pure Light beyond every purity, I praise you.

Fountain of all aeons, true Self-born Light, true Unshakable Light who moves all things by your will, Silence of all things, Saviour of all things, unconquerable Light, sole Space of every place, universal Mystery, all-perfect Light, only Wise One and Wisdom, true Goodness, true Light who made every light shine, I praise you.

You sustain every light and give life to every soul. You are the Rest of those who seek rest and the Father of every Fatherhood from the beginning until now. Your children seek you because you are their Father. Hear their prayer, for you are hidden in every place and are the desire of every heart.

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