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The Secret Writing According to John (Apocryphon of John), Codex II, 1 · 15 of 24 · tr. Samuel Zinner

The Authorities Create Adam-c

heat, cold, wetness, and dryness. However, the mother of all of them is matter, but he who rules over heat, Phloxopha; but he who rules [IV, 28] over cold, Oroorrothos; but he who rules over dryness, Erimacho; but he who rules over wetness, Athuro. However, the mother of all of these, Onorthochras, stands among them, because she is the one who is without limit, and she combines with them all, and she really is matter, because she nourishes them. The four chief demons (are): Ephememphi, who pertains to pleasure; Yoko, who pertains to lust; Nenentophni, who pertains to grief; Blaomen, who pertains to fear. However, the mother of all of them (is) Esthensis-Ouch-Epi-Ptoe. Passions issued forth from the four demons, but from grief: envy, jealousy, misfortune, trouble, pain, cruelty, anxiety, lamentation, and so on. However, from pleasure arise plentiful evil, and vacuous arrogance, and the like. However, from lust: anger, fury, and bitterness, and bitter passion, and never being satisfied, and the like. However, from [IV, 29] fear: horror, groveling, misery, and humiliation. All these resemble things virtuous, but also things vicious. However, insight into their reality (comes from) Anaro, the chief of the hylic soul, [II, 19] because it pertains to the seven senses, to Ouch-Epi-Ptoe. Here is the number of the angels: All together, they are 365. All of them worked on it, limb by limb, until they finished both the psychic and the hylic body. In addition to these, there are others who control the remaining passions. Although I have not listed them for you, if you want to know who they are, this is (all) written in the Book of Zoroaster.
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Themes
Archonscosmology

Malevolent planetary rulers or demiurgic powers that govern the material world and obstruct the soul's ascent.

The text explicitly lists rulers of elements (Phloxopha, Oroorrothos) and chief demons (Ephememphi, Yoko) who govern passions and fashion the human body, fitting the definition of malevolent planetary or demiurgic powers.

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Body As Obstacleanthropology

The material body viewed as a prison, tomb, or source of error that hinders spiritual knowledge and return.

The description of the body as a construct fashioned by demons and associated with negative passions like lust, grief, and fear implies the material body is a prison or source of error.

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Cosmogonycosmology

Narratives or doctrines of cosmic origin — how heaven, earth, and the primordial deities first came into being. The Kojiki's deities born alone on the Plain of High Heaven, Voluspo's Ginnungagap, Genesis's tohu wa-bohu, the Timaeus's Demiurge fashioning the Receptacle, the Hesiodic Theogony, the Kalevala's egg-cosmogony, Egyptian Nun-and-Atum. Distinct from emanation_hierarchy (structural-ontological cascade), letters_of_creation (mechanism of creation), and apocatastasis/frashokereti (end-state restoration); cosmogony is temporally-narrative beginning.

The text provides a narrative of how the human body was fashioned by angels and how passions issued forth from demons, constituting a specific account of cosmic and anthropological origin.

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Numerical Mysticismtheology

Numbers, proportions, and mathematical relationships as the underlying structure of divine reality.

The text assigns specific numerical significance to the cosmos, citing exactly 365 angels who worked on the creation of the human body.

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Related passages · 8 parallels
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