The Great Declaration.
Simon Magus.
This is the letter of declaration, voice, and name from the Thought of the Great and Infinite Power. It will be sealed, hidden, veiled, and stored in the dwelling where the root of the universe is established—the root of aeons, powers, and thoughts; the root of gods, angels, and spirits sent forth; the root of things that exist and things that do not, of things born and unborn, of things comprehensible and incomprehensible; the root of years, months, days, and hours—an indivisible point from which the smallest being begins and grows by degrees. Though it is nothing and composed of nothing, it will generate an incomprehensible magnitude through its own thought.
The dwelling is the human born from bloodlines in whom the infinite Power, the root of the universe, resides. The infinite Power is fire, for God is a flaming and devouring fire. This fire is not simple, as many claim, assuming the four elements and fire are basic bodies. Instead, the fire’s nature is dual, with something hidden and something revealed.
The hidden aspects are concealed within the manifest aspects of the fire, and the manifest aspects arise from the hidden ones.
The manifest part of the fire contains everything—whatever one can conceive or not among visible things—while the hidden part holds everything intelligible, beyond sense perception, whether one can think of it or not.
In general, the supercelestial fire is the treasury of all existing things, both perceptible and intelligible, hidden and manifest. It resembles the massive tree seen by Nebuchadnezzar in a dream, a tree that nourishes all flesh.
The visible aspect of the fire includes the trunk, branches, leaves, and surrounding bark. All these manifest parts of the massive tree are consumed by the all-devouring flame of fire.
However, the fruit of the tree, if fully shaped according to its model and formed in its own likeness, is stored in the storehouse, not cast into the fire. The fruit grows to be preserved, but the chaff—the trunk—is meant for the fire, as it exists not for itself but for the fruit.
Scripture declares that the vineyard of the Lord Sabaoth is the house of Israel, and a person of Judah is a beloved new shoot. If a person of Judah is a beloved new shoot, it proves the tree is none other than a human being.
Concerning distinction and separation, scripture has spoken clearly. Those fully made in the image are guided by the words: All flesh is grass, and all its glory is like a flower of grass. The grass dries up, and its flower falls, but the speech of the Lord endures forever. This speech is the word born in the mouth of the Lord, with no other place of origin.
This is the nature of the fire. All existing things—whether visible or invisible, audible or sounding, countable or numbers—are perfect intelligibles. Each of its infinitely many parts can speak, think, and act, as Empedocles says: We behold earth from earth, water by water, aether by aether, fire by annihilating fire, affection by affection, strife by baneful strife.
All the invisible parts of the fire possess intelligence. Thus, the world that was born arose from unborn fire. It began to exist in this way: from the principle of that fire, the born world took six primal roots of generation.
These roots arose from the fire in pairs: Mind and Thought, Voice and Name, Reasoning and Conception. In these six roots lies the entire infinite Power, in potentiality, not in actuality. The infinite Power is the One who Stood and Will Stand.
Whoever attains the likeness while existing in the six powers will be, in substance, potential, magnitude, and finished perfection, one and the same as the Unborn and Infinite Power. This one will be in no way inferior to that Unborn, Unchanging, and Infinite Power.
But whoever remains only in potential within the six powers, not fully formed according to the model, vanishes and is destroyed. It is like the human mind’s potential to learn grammar or geometry: if the potentiality acquires a skill, it becomes a light for generated beings; but if it does not, it remains in darkness, without skill, and perishes as if it never existed when the person dies.
To you, I speak what I speak and write what I write—this very writing. There are two offshoots of all the aeons, without beginning or end, stemming from a single root or power: invisible and incomprehensible Silence.
One of these appears above: a Great Power, the Mind of the universe, pervading all things and male. The other is below: Thought, magnificent, female, and generating all things. Thus, they correspond to each other and form a pair. In the space between them lies an immeasurable expanse of air, without beginning or end.
In this air, the Father upholds all things and nourishes those beings with a beginning and end. He is the One Who Stood, Who Stands, Who Will Stand—an androgynous power, fitting for the infinite preexisting Power, without beginning or end, existing in unity. From this Power, the Thought in the unity emerged and became two.
The Father was one, for having her within himself, he was alone. Though he preexisted, he is not the first. He became a second deity when he appeared to himself from himself. Nor was he called Father before she named him Father.
Since he advanced from himself and manifested his own Thought, the Thought that appeared did not create him. When she saw him, she hid the Father within herself—that is, his power—an androgynous power and Thought. Thus, they correspond to each other, for power is inseparable from thought; they are one. Power is discovered from things above, while Thought is discovered from things below.
It works similarly with what is manifested from them. Though one, they are found to be two. The androgynous contains the female within himself. Likewise, there is Mind in Thought. They are inseparable. Though one, they are found to be two.
Mind and Thought, the first pair of six powers, with the seventh following, are Heaven and Earth. The male Mind above watches over and cares for his partner, while Earth below receives the fruits akin to her, raining down from heaven. For this reason, the Logos, often considering the offspring of Mind and Thought—that is, Heaven and Earth—says: Listen, Heaven, and hear, Earth, because the Lord has spoken! I fathered and exalted children, but they set me aside. The one who speaks these words is the Seventh Power, the One Who Stood, Who Stands, Who Will Stand. He is the cause of these goods, which Moses praised and called very good.
Voice and Name are sun and moon. Reasoning and Conception are air and water. In all these, the Great Power is mixed and blended. He is the Infinite Power, the Standing One.
Moses said: In six days, God made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day, he rested from all his works.
When scriptures mention three days before the sun and moon, they hint at Mind and Thought—that is, Heaven and Earth—plus the Seventh Power, the Infinite. These are the three powers that arose before all others.
When scriptures say, Before all the aeons you fathered me, such words refer to the Seventh Power. This power existed within the Infinite Power, arising before all aeons.
She is the Seventh Power, of whom Moses speaks: The divine Spirit hovered above the waters. This Spirit contains everything within itself, as an image of the Infinite Power—an image from an incorruptible form, alone ordering everything.
She is the power that hovered above the waters, born from the incorruptible form, and alone orders everything. When such creation occurred, God formed the human being by taking dust from the earth. He formed the human not simply but in a twofold manner: according to the image and according to the likeness.
The image is the Spirit hovering above the water. If it is not made in the likeness, it will be destroyed with the world, remaining only in potentiality, not in actuality. This is what the verse means: so that we might not be condemned with the world. Yet if it is made in the likeness and comes from an undivided point, the small will become great, and the great will attain infinite and unchanging eternity, no longer as something born.
How, then, and in what way does God form the human being? In paradise, for it seemed right to him. Paradise stands for the womb. Scripture teaches this is true when it says: I am the one forming you in the womb of your mother. Moses figuratively called the womb paradise, if it is right to believe the Logos.
A river flows from Eden to water the paradise. From there, it splits into four branches. If God forms the human in the womb of a mother—that is, in paradise—let the womb signify paradise, Eden the placenta, and the river flowing from Eden to water paradise signify the umbilical cord. This umbilical cord splits into four branches. On each side of the umbilical cord, two arteries extend as channels of breath, and two veins serve as channels of blood. 
When the umbilical cord flows from Eden, the placenta, it is organically joined with the fetus at the epigastrium, or the navel, in common speech. The two veins, coursing along what are called the gates of the liver, nourish the fetus as conveyers of blood brought from Eden, the placenta.
At the same time, the arteries, which are channels of breath, surround the bladder on both sides along the broad bone and join the great artery—the one along the spine called the aorta. Consequently, the breath produces movement in the embryo as it flows into the heart through its side entries.
The fetus formed in paradise neither receives food through the mouth nor breathes through the nostrils. It exists in fluids. If it breathed, death would ensue, for the fetus would suck in the fluids and perish. The fetus is entirely bundled in the amniotic membrane, nourished through the umbilical cord, and receives the substance of breath through the aorta running along the spine.
The river flowing from Eden divides into four branches or channels, referring to the four sense faculties of the fetus: vision, hearing, smell, and taste. The child possesses only these senses while being formed in paradise. This represents the Law that Moses laid down. In accord with this Law, each of the books was written, as their titles reveal.
The first book is Genesis. Its title conveys the knowledge of the universe, for genesis signifies vision, into which one branch of the river is divided. This is because the world was seen by vision.
The second book is Exodus, for the child, when born, must cross the Red Sea—red referring to blood—then come to the desert and taste bitter water. The water beyond the Red Sea is bitter, signifying the road of knowledge during this life, as it travels through bitter toils.
But that bitter water is converted by Moses—that is, the Logos—to become sweet. This applies generally to all people, as heard from those who quote the poets: It was black in root, but its flower was like milk. The gods call it moly. It is hard to dig up for mortal men, yet gods can do all things.
This passage, spoken by the Gentiles, suffices for those with an obedient ear to gain knowledge of the universe. Only the one who tasted this fruit was not transformed into a beast by Circe. Moreover, he used the power of this special fruit to mold, stamp, and restore to their former shape those already transformed into beasts.
Through that milky and divine fruit, a man is found trustworthy and loved by that witch. Similarly, Leviticus, the third book, refers to the sense of smell and respiration, as it concerns sacrifices and offerings. Wherever there is a sacrifice, a pleasant odor arises from the incense offerings, and the sense of smell judges this pleasant odor.
Numbers, the fourth book, signifies taste, wherever the spoken word is active. It is named so because we speak everything in numerical order. Deuteronomy was written for the fully formed child’s sense of touch.
Just as the sense of touch, by handling what is seen by the other senses, sums them up and confirms them—judging whether something is hard, hot, or sticky—so the fifth book of the law summarizes the four books before it.
Therefore, all unborn realities exist in us in potentiality, not in actuality, like the skill of grammar or geometry. If one encounters apt speech and instruction, the bitter will turn sweet—that is, spears will turn to sickles and swords into plows. There will be no chaff or wood—things born for fire—but fruit, mature and formed according to the model, equal and like the unborn and infinite Power.
But if it remains a tree only, not producing fully formed fruit, it is done away with. For the axe is near the roots of the tree. Every tree not producing good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
There is a blessed and incorruptible reality hidden in every human being—in potentiality, not in actuality—which is the One Who Stood, Stands, and Will Stand. He stood above in the Unborn Power, stands below in the flow of waters, born in an image, and will stand above alongside the blessed infinite Power, if made in the likeness.
Thus, there are three standing aeons, and apart from these three, the Unborn One is not ordered. He is the one hovering upon the waters, formed according to the likeness. He is perfect, heavenly, and in no way inferior to the Unborn Power. I and you are one. What is before me is you. What is after you is I.
This is the single power, divided above and below, giving birth to herself, increasing herself, seeking herself, finding herself, being mother, father, sister, partner, daughter, son of herself—yet one, the root of the universe.
The source of generation for those who are born comes from fire. For all those destined for generation, the desire for generation stems from fire. Thus, the desire for changeable generation is called burning.
Although it is one, the fire has two modes of conversion. In the male, the blood turns into semen, characterized, like fire, by heat and a whitish color. In the woman, the same blood turns into milk. Thus, the turning in the male becomes generation, while in the female, it becomes nourishment for the offspring. This is the meaning of the flaming sword that turns to guard the way to the tree of life.
The blood turns to semen and milk, and this power becomes father and mother, sowing what is generated and fostering growth for what is nourished. It needs nothing and is self-sufficient. The tree of life is guarded by the flaming sword, which is the Seventh Power, self-derived, containing everything, and situated within the six powers.
If the flaming sword is not turned, the good tree will be corrupted and destroyed. But if the fire turns into semen and milk, the one situated in these, in potentiality, when encountering apt speech and the place of the Lord where speech is born, will grow vastly. Though beginning as the tiniest spark, he will become an infinite and unchanging power in an unchanging eternity, no longer born in the finite world.
One is born and able to suffer when in potentiality, but passionless from birth when formed according to the likeness. Thus, becoming perfect, one moves out from the first two powers, namely Heaven and Earth.
The Concept of Our Great Power.
Introduction: Salvation for Those Who Know the Great Power.
The one who knows our Great Power will become invisible. No fire will burn this one. This one will be purified and will break all chains. For every person in whom my form is revealed will be saved, from youth to old age. These are the ones tasked with gathering the writings of our Great Power, so that she writes your name in our great light and fulfills their thoughts and works, leading to purification and complete triumph. Then they come to an end and are gathered in the place of the blind. But you will see me and prepare your dwellings in our Great Power.
Exhortation: Know the One Who Came.
Know the one who came and how he came, so you will understand what is being revealed. Know how it knows itself, its nature, or how it came into being. Why do you not seek how you will become it, or how you have become it?
The Original Abyss.
Contemplate the vast quantity of water. It is infinite and inexhaustible. Its beginning and end support the earth from below. It breathes in the air. Gods and angels dwell in it.
Lord of the Abyss.
The one exalted over all contains both fear and light. My writings are revealed through him. I established the administration of fleshly creations, for no one could stand apart from that one, nor did the living age have power apart from him. He owns its contents and thinks purely.
The Spirit.
Look upon the Spirit and know where it is. It gave life to people to receive daily from itself. It holds life within itself and gave it to all.
The Rest of Creation.
Then darkness, with Hades, ignited the fire. The one who belongs to me will destroy it from within. His eye could not bear my light. The spirits with the waters were set in motion. Then the rest of creation appeared. The entire age of creation, with their powers of fire, emerged from the water.
The Birth of the Human Soul.
The Power of the creator arose amidst the powers. The powers yearned to see my image. The soul arose as the impression of my image. This is the nature of the deed that happened. See what it is like, for before it happened, the age of the flesh lacked spiritual sight.
The Flood Story.
The fleshly age emerged with the bodies of giants. They were allotted many days in creation. When they defiled themselves, they entered the flesh. The father of the flesh, the water, executed judgment. When he found Noah, pious and worthy, the father of the flesh subjected the angels. Noah preached piety for many years, but no one listened. He made an ark of wood, and those whom God found entered it. Then the flood came. Thus, Noah was saved with his children, for if the ark had not been made for people to enter, the flood waters would not have come. He considered and took thought for the safety of gods, angels, and the powers of the Great One—all of them, along with their indulgent behavior. He removed them from the age and nourished them in resting places. So the judgment of the flesh reached resolution. The deed of the single Power stood firm.
Intervening Exhortation.
Observe how the ages that were have passed. Observe the vastness of the water in that age, which melted away—ages of such immensity! Observe how people should prepare, stand, and become an unceasing eternity.
The Animate Age.
Now comes the age of the soul. It is small and mixed with the body, spawned from a defiled soul, since the first defilement of creation gained strength. It produced every deed: many acts of wrath, rage, jealousy, envy, hatred, slander, contempt, war, lying, conspiracy, bouts of pain and pleasure, humiliation, pollutions, duplicity, illnesses, and violent judgments arbitrarily decreed.
Intervening Exhortation.
Are you still sleeping? Are you lost in a dream? Wake up and shake yourselves. Taste and eat true food. Share the Logos and the water of life. Cease from evil lusts, desires, and what is unlike your nature, and from baseless wicked opinions.
The Mother of Flame.
The mother of the flame did not prevail. She brought fire into the soul and the earth and sent fire upon all within her. Her fuel ran out; she found no place to burn. She will dissolve by herself. The world will become bodiless. Material things burn until everything is purified, with all evil. When it finds nothing to burn, it will save itself alone until it ends.
The Story of Christ’s Triumph.
In this age of the soul, the human who knows the Great Power will come. He will receive and know me, drinking truth from the milk of his mother. He will speak in parables, preaching the age to come, just as Noah preached in the first age of the flesh. He spoke in many tongues. Through his message, he opened the gateway of the heavens and shamed the master of Hades. He raised the dead and destroyed Hades’s lordship. A great disturbance arose. The rulers of rage rose against him, seeking to hand him over to the master of Hades. They identified one of his followers and lit fire to his soul. He handed him over. No one knew the identity of Jesus. They proceeded to arrest him, bringing judgment upon themselves. They handed him over to the master of Hades through intermediaries. He had prepared himself to go down and refute them. The master of Hades took him but could not seize his flesh to show to the rulers. Instead, he said: Who is this? What is this? His message destroyed the law of the age! He is from the Logos of the power of life. Jesus was strong enough to command the rulers, and no one could dominate him. The rulers sought him but did not know he was the sign of their destruction and the shifting of the age. The sun set in the daytime, and the day darkened. The demons shuddered. After these events, he will be revealed ascending above. Then the sign of the coming age will appear, and the past ages will melt away.
The Mission After Jesus’s Death.
Those who understand these things will be blessed. They will be revealed and blessed, for they will grasp the truth, resting in the heavens. Many will follow, active in the region of their birth. They will travel and share or abandon his word according to their desire.
Flashback: Jesus in the First Age.
At the beginning, after his preaching, he preached that the first age must perish in time. He lived in the first age, traveling within it until it ended. He preached for many years, a perfect and exalted number. He wasted the borderland of the west and destroyed the east. His seed, along with those who wish to walk with the great Logos and his preaching, endured.
The Rulers Strike Back.
The rage of the rulers ignited. Ashamed of their destruction, they fumed and raged against the Life. Cities shuddered, mountains collapsed. The ruler, with the rulers of the western lands as far as the east—where the Logos first appeared—rose up. The earth shook, and the city trembled. The birds ate and gorged on the corpses. The earth mourned with the inhabited world, becoming a wasteland.
The Ruler of the West.
When the times are fulfilled, evil rises to the final end of the Logos. The ruler of the west arose, performing a work from the east. He teaches people in his wickedness, seeking to destroy every teaching of the true wisdom’s message. He loves lying wisdom, engaging with what is ancient. He wished to introduce evil, though clothed in dignity. He could not, for great was the defilement of his clothes. He raged, appeared, and sought to ascend and cross to that place. When the season comes, he complies and changes the edicts.
The Counterfeit and the Antichrist.
When the small child grows and reaches his peak, the rulers send the counterfeit to that person, expecting him to perform a sign for them. He bore great signs, becoming king over the earth and those under heaven. He set his throne over the earth’s end, declaring himself god of the world. He will perform signs and wonders. People will turn aside and go astray, following him. They will introduce circumcision, and he will judge the uncircumcised and the people. He sent many heralds to preach about him.
The Final Conflagration.
When the time prepared for the earthly empire is fulfilled, the purification of souls will come, as evil has surpassed them. The powers of the sea will shake and dry up. The firmament will cease pouring dew, springs will stop, and rivers will no longer flow into springs. The waters of the earth’s springs will cease. The abysses will be obliterated and open, the stars will grow large, and the sun will perish. I will withdraw with everyone who knows me, and they will enter the immeasurable light. Nothing of the flesh will seize them, nor will fiery delight. They will become weightless and holy. Nothing will drag them down. I watch over them under my hand. They possess a holy garment, and the fire has no power to burn them. Then darkness, a gale, and just enough time to shut one’s eyes will come, destroying all. They will be punished until purified. When the fire burns everything and has nothing left to burn, it will cease by itself. Then the second power, the mercy to come, will be fulfilled through Wisdom. The firmament will fall into the abyss, and the children of matter will perish, ceasing to exist.
Description of Final Salvation.
The souls will be revealed as pure through the light of the Power, exalted over all powers, measureless, and universal—I, along with all who know me. They will dwell in the beautiful age, the age of the bridal chamber prepared by Wisdom. They give glory before the unattainable one, beholding him because he loves them. They will become images in his light, beaming with light all around, resting in his rest. The punished souls he will release. They come into purity and see the holy things, crying aloud: Have mercy on us, you Power above all powers! They do not see him, for they do not seek him or believe us. They acted according to the creation of the rulers with other rulers. We, too, acted according to the birth of the flesh of creation set by the law-giving ruler. Yet we have come to be in the unchanging eternity.