Now therefore they are wont to bear the child, the power in him being small, and being small in him the soul, and being small in him the counterfeit spirit also in one word, being small the three together: having not any of them any perception of thing whether good or evil, from the weight of the heedlessness which weigheth greatly: and also being small the body also: and the child is wont to eat out of the meats of the world of the Rulers; and is wont the power to attract to it(self) from the particle of the power which is in the meats, and is wont the soul to attract to it(self) from the particle of the soul which is in the meats, and is wont the counterfeit spirit to attract to it(self) from the particle of the evil which is in [258 ] the meats with its lusts, and is wont the body also to attract to itself the matter, which perceiveth not which is in the meats.
The Fate, indeed is not wont to receive out of the meats, because that it is not mixed up with them (the others), but in the condition in which it is wont to come unto the World it is wont to go also in it: and gradually (by little, little, MS ) are wont the power with the soul with the counterfeit spirit to become great, and each of them is wont to perceive according to his nature.
The power indeed is wont to perceive to seek after the Light of the Height, the soul also is wont to perceive to seek after the Place of the 142 righteousness this which is mixed, namely the Place of the Confusion, the counterfeit spirit also is wont to seek after all evil with the lusts with every sin, the body also is not wont to perceive anything, except it taketh up power out of the matter.
[259 ] And then they are wont to perceive, each of the three, according to his nature.
And the Contentious ones also are wont to tell to the Ministers (that) they should follow them, and become witness to every sin which they do, concerning the manner in which they will punish them in the judgments, and after these also, the counterfeit spirit is wont to take notice and perceive all the sins with the evil, which order unto the soul the Rulers of the great Destiny; and it maketh them of the soul.
And is wont the power which is within to move the soul, for it to seek after the Place of the Light, and of all the Godhead: and is wont the counterfeit spirit to turn aside the soul, and it is wont to compel it and cause it to do all his unlawfulnesses and with all his passions with all its sins persevering (in them).
And is wont [259 ] to remain imparting to the soul, and becoming enemy unto it, causing it to do all these evils with all these sins.
And he is wont to instigate the Contentious ministers that they should become witness against her in every sin which it will cause her to do: still also coming, she being about to rest herself in the night (and) in the day, it is wont to move her in dreams or in lusts of the World.
And it is wont to cause her to lust after everything of the World, in one word, it is wont to urge her unto all things which order to it the Rulers.
And it is wont to become enemy with the soul causing her to do the (things) which she would not.
Now therefore Maria, then this is the enemy of the soul, and this is that which compelleth her, even until she doeth every sin.
A chain of divine beings or principles flowing downward from a single transcendent source (the One or the Father), each level less perfect than the one above.
References to 'Height' and 'World' imply a structured cosmic order with levels of being.
Augustinian and Plotinian doctrine that evil has no positive being of its own but is a lack, distortion, or absence of the good — denying ontological dualism while preserving moral seriousness.
Evil is described as lacking perception and being mixed into meats rather than possessing positive being.
The Gnostic myth of Wisdom's prolapse from the Pleroma — her unilateral desire or error producing the Demiurge and the entrapment of divine sparks in matter.
The text describes the soul's entrapment in material meats and evil lusts similar to Wisdom's prolapse.
Gurdjieff and Ouspensky's claim that ordinary human beings live in a state of waking sleep, reacting mechanically without unified will or consciousness, and that the spiritual path begins with recognising this condition.
The human condition is characterized by 'heedlessness' and 'weight' that hinders perception.