1.
These three kinds of existence, then, having, according to them, been now formed,--one from the passion, which was matter; a second from the conversion, which was animal; and the third, that which she (Achamoth) herself brought forth, which was spiritual,--she next addressed herself to the task of giving these form. But she could not succeed in doing this as respected the spiritual existence, because it was of the same nature with herself. She therefore applied herself to give form to the animal substance which had proceeded from her own conversion, and to bring forth to light the instructions of the Saviour. 1 And they say she first formed out of animal substance him who is Father and King of all things, both of these which are of the same nature with himself, that is, animal substances, which they also call right-handed, and those which sprang from the passion, and from matter, which they call left-handed. For they affirm that he formed all the things which came into existence after him, being secretly impelled thereto by his mother. From this circumstance they style him Metropator, 2 Apator, Demiurge, and Father, saying that he is Father of the substances on the right hand, that is, of the animal, but Demiurge of those on the left, that is, of the material, while he is at the same time the king of all. For they say that this Enthymesis, desirous of making all things to the honour of the Aeons, formed images of them, or rather that the Saviour 3 did so through her instrumentality. And she, in the image 4 of the invisible Father, kept herself concealed from the Demiurge. But he was in the image of the only-begotten Son, and the angels and archangels created by him were in the image of the rest of the Aeons.
"In order that," says Grabe, "this formation might not be merely according to essence, but also according to knowledge, as the formation of the mother Achamoth was characterized above." ↩
Metropator, as proceeding only from his mother Achamoth: Apator, as having no male progenitor. ↩
Harvey remarks, "The Valentinian Saviour being an aggregation of all the aeonic perfections, the images of them were reproduced by the spiritual conception of Achamoth beholding the glory of Soter. The reader will not fail to observe that every successive development is the reflex of a more divine antecedent." ↩
The relation indicated seems to be as follows: Achamoth, after being formed "according to knowledge," was outside of the Pleroma as the image of Propator, the Demiurge was as Nous, and the mundane angels which he formed corresponded to the other Aeons of the Pleroma. ↩
