The Gospel of Mary Magdalene
'My brothers and sisters, long have I wished to make known to you the deeper truths which you must know, if your souls are to find salvation. But until now, your ears were prevented from hearing them. For your hearts were one with that world, unto which I have just now died, and from which I have been forever raised, and your minds have been raised with me, so that they are now able to comprehend what you could not abide hearing before. I have rested you from the grasp of the archon of this world, that you may hear the words a disciple ought to hear from his teacher, and a mortal ought to hear from his God.'
And Jesus answered, 'Simon, you are blessed. For you do not suppose you know that which must be a mystery to all flesh. For my father is not the maker of the world of matter, which you see around you, a world that is filled with death and despair, but which with the fever of the flesh and its desire, mortals deem full of every delight and comfort, and so waste their lives in pursuit of illusions. No, all these things only enslave mankind to the material creator. My father is exalted high above this one, whence he is called the most high god, for no-one speaks of anything as the highest, unless there be others below it.'
And the saviour answered, 'Let them be O Andreas. Some of them may yet discover that they harbour the spark of light within them. And then they will seek what I tell you now. others cannot, but my father loves them and he has bidden me to impart to them such wisdom as they can grasp, to mitigate the harshness of him who created this world and gave the commandments to the legislator. You will find nothing false in them, and yet they are mute as to the salvation of your spirits.'
And the saviour answered, 'I suffered, and I did not suffer. I died, and I died not. For all the designs of the evil archon's wrought was to free me of the shameful clothing of matter I had assumed for the sake of my sojourn in this world. For long and long I bade you keep my identity secret, but the demon powers knew, and finally they had me crucified. But they did not suspect they would be the very cause of my deliverance. And the reason I suffered these indignities was for the sake of those without true spirits, that being lifted up I might draw them away from the creator and bring them within the hearing of the news of me that you will proclaim. Many of them shall be called, though few chosen.'
The saviour told her, 'O mother of Jacob and John, your curiosity is as great as that of Sofi, who desired to peer behind the veil of the pleroma. Amen. I tell you, the news of the kingdom of light will be preached throughout this sublunar world, and in the world below, and those who hear will escape the wheel of death and birth when they die. Their souls shall ascend, and if they are wise they shall pass by the rulers of the heavenly spheres. And once the full number of the elect shall be thus redeemed. All who shelter within their makep, the divine light of my father, the matter that imprisoned them will fall back into the state of virgin clay, with no likeness impressed upon it. Finally, all the creation of the creator will return to lifelessness.'
The saviour replied, 'All natures, all forms, all creatures exist both within and alongside each other. And they will finally be reduced down to their individual roots. For the nature of matter is reduced to those of its particular nature. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.'
Peter said to him, 'having explained all things to us, tell us this too. What is the original sin of the world?'
The saviour answered, 'There is no sin per se. Rather, it is you yourselves who make a thing sinful when you perform the acts that partake of adulteration, which alone is properly termed sin. That is why the good came among you, to purify every nature in order to restore it to its original state.'
Then he went on, saying, 'This is the reason you grow ill and die. For the spirit ever seeks escape from admixture with the body of death of the one who is not yet enlightened. He who understands, let him understand. Matter gave birth to a passion without equal, which emerged from an abomination against nature. From this, arose a trembling throughout the whole body. That is why I once said to you, 'be of good cheer'. And if you should grow disheartened, take heart surrounded by the various forms of being. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.'
After saying these words, he left them. But they mourned the loss of him. They collapsed in tears, asking, How are we supposed to go to the nations and proclaim the news of the kingship of the Son of Man? If they had no mercy on him, they will hardly spare us.'
When Mary said this, she moved their hearts to repentance, and they commenced to discuss what the saviour had said.
Mary answered them, saying, 'What is hidden from you I will surely disclose to you.'. And she commenced to speak to them these words. 'I', she said, 'Even I beheld the Lord in a vision, and I said to him, 'Lord, I behold you today in a vision'. He answered and said to me, 'Blessed are you for not quailing at the sight of me. For where the mind is, there too will be the treasure.'. I answered him, 'Lord, how does the visionary see the vision? With the soul, or with the spirit?'. The saviour answered, saying 'It is not with the soul that one sees, nor yet through the spirit, but by the mind which lies between the two. This is what sees the vision, and it is that by which I am speaking with you now O Mary.'
And the saviour said to me, 'O Mary, I shall show you the way that you must go, so that in the day when your brothers ask you of these things, you will know that which you, and they alike, must needs know, for the attainment of true salvation, and that we may be rejoined in the house of light on high whence all the souls of the elect first came. First, know this. The way is simple, but not unbarred. it winds through the seven heavenly spheres, and each of these is jealously watched by its guardian and toll collector, ever vigilant to receive his due. When I myself descended from the pleromatic light, I disguised myself, donning the likeness and nature of each archon and his realm, so that I passed freely among the denizens thereof. And I changed vesture again, and again with each world I passed through, like the actor who changes vesture with every new scene. Presently, as you know, I shall return whence I came. And I must strip off each outer layer. Even seven bodies, each of a different substance, leaving each robe hanging limp in the hands of the archon ruling each sphere. You and your brothers will not be able so easily to evade the craft of the archons. But though they are vigilant, it is no great thing to outwit them, provided one knows which words will overcome them.'
Next it encountered a third power, which is named ignorance. It interrogated the soul, and it said, 'And where do you think you are going? Do you deserve to enter heaven? In the chains of wickedness you are captive. You, a prisoner, dare not judge me.'. And the soul replied, 'And who are you to judge me so? I have not condemned you. In truth, I was chained to the flesh, though now I am free. I was not recognised, but I have come to recognise that the all is being deconstructed, both the earthly elements and the heavenly ones.'.
When the soul had triumphed over the third power, it ascended and beheld the forth power, which assumed seven likenesses. The first of the likenesses is darkness. The second, desire. The third, ignorance. The forth, is the terror of death. The fifth is the reign of the flesh. The sixth, is the deluded wisdom of the flesh. The seventh, is the vengeance of wisdom. These are the seven wrathful powers. They questioned the soul, 'whence come you, murderer? Where are you headed, space traveller?'. For its part, the soul answered, saying, 'What held me captive has indeed been killed. And what enveloped me has been defeated, and my desire has been extinguished, and ignorance has expired. In the midst of a world I was set free from a world, and freed from a pattern of death. I received deliverance from a heavenly prototype. Deliverance from the chain of oblivion which passes away. Henceforward I shall win my way to that repose where no-one speaks of time, of season, of age.
Peter answered and said the same thing. he challenged them about the saviour, 'Did he speak with a woman without us knowing it? And in secret? Are we now supposed to change direction, and all be taught by her? Did he prefer her to us?'.
At this, Mary cried, and said to Peter, 'My brother Peter, what is it you suppose? Do you think I made this up in my imagination? Are you accusing me of lying about the saviour?'.
Levi answered, saying to Peter, 'Peter, you have always been a hothead. Now I am watching you fight against the women, as if they were our enemies. But if the saviour himself made her worthy, who are you to dismiss her? Surely the saviour knows her quite well. After all, he loved her more than us. Instead, we ought to be ashamed of ourselves and don the perfect manhood and secure him for ourselves, as he ordered us, and proclaimed the news, promulgating no other rule or addition to what the saviour himself said.'.
When Levi said this, they all mustered their courage, and they commenced to go out to proclaim and announce the news.