The passwords at the gates of the archons
If anyone wishes to learn the inventions of those sorcerers as well, by which they wanted to draw people into their teaching as though they possessed certain secrets, though they were not really able to do so, let him hear what they are taught to say after passing through what they call “the barrier of evil”, the gates of the archons, bound for ever: “I greet the solitary king, the bond of blindness, heedless forgetfulness, the first power, kept by the spirit of providence and by wisdom. From there I am sent forth pure, already a part of the light of the Son and the Father. May grace be with me; yes, Father, may it be with me.” And they say that the beginnings of the Ogdoad lie here.
Next, as they pass through the one they call Ialdabaoth, they are taught to say: “And you, Ialdabaoth, first and seventh, born to rule with confidence, being the ruling word of a pure mind, a perfect work for the Son and the Father: I bring a symbol stamped with the figure of life, and I have opened to the world the gate that you shut for your aeon. Free once more, I pass by your dominion. May grace be with me; yes, Father, may it be with me.” And they say that the star Phaenon is in sympathy with the lion-shaped archon.
Then they think that whoever has passed Ialdabaoth and reached Iao must say: “And you, ruler of the hidden mysteries of the Son and the Father, who shine by night, second Iao and first master of death, portion of the innocent one: bearing now my own beard as a symbol, I pass by your rule, ready. By a living word you have overpowered the one who came forth from you. May grace be present, Father, may it be present.”
Next comes Sabaoth, to whom they think they will say: “Ruler of the fifth authority, mighty Sabaoth, advocate of the law of your creation, a creation being undone by grace, by a mightier pentad: let me pass, seeing the blameless symbol of your art, kept safe by the image of a figure, a body set free by the pentad. May grace be with me, Father, may it be with me.”
After him comes Astaphaeus, to whom they believe they will say such things as these: “Ruler of the third gate, Astaphaeus, overseer of the first source of water, looking on one initiate, let me pass, cleansed by the spirit of a virgin, seeing the substance of the world. May grace be with me, Father, may it be with me.”
After him comes Ailoaeus, to whom they think they are to say such things as these: “Ruler of the second gate, Ailoaeus, let me pass, as I bring you the symbol of your mother, a grace hidden by the powers of the authorities. May grace be with me, Father, may it be with me.”
Last they name Horaeus, and they think they are to say to him: “I have crossed the barrier of fire without fear. You who were allotted the rule of the first gate, Horaeus, let me pass, seeing the symbol of your power undone by a figure of the tree of life (Genesis 2:9), taken in an image after the likeness of an innocent one (Genesis 1:26). May grace be with me, Father, may it be with me.”
Greek
Εἰ δέ τις βούλεται καὶ τὰ πλάσματα τῶν γοήτων ἐκείνων μαθεῖν, δι᾿ ὧν ἐβουλήθησαν μὲν ὑπάγειν ἀνθρώπους ἑαυτῶν τῇ διδασκαλίᾳ ὡς ἀπόῤῥητά τινα ἔχοντες οὐ πάνυ δ᾿ ἐδυνήθησαν, ἀκουέτω ὃ διδάσκονται λέγειν μετὰ τὸ διελθεῖν ὃν ὀνομάζουσι „φραγμὸν κακίας“, πύλας ἀρχόντων αἰῶνι δεδεμένας· „βασιλέα μονότροπον, δεσμὸν ἀβλεψίας, λήθην ἀπερίσκεπτον ἀσπάζομαι, πρώτην δύναμιν, πνεύματι προνοίας καὶ σοφίᾳ τηρουμένην· ἔνθεν εἰλικρινὴς πέμπομαι, φωτὸς ἤδη μέρος υἱοῦ καὶ πατρός· ἡ χάρις συνέστω μοι, ναὶ πάτερ, συνέστω.“ καί φασι τῆς ὀγδοάδος τὰς ἀρχὰς ἐντεῦθεν εἶναι. εἶθ᾿ ἑξῆς διδάσκονται λέγειν διερχόμενοι ὅν φασιν Ἰαλδαβαώθ· „σὺ δὲ μετὰ πεποιθήσεως πρῶτε καὶ ἕβδομε γεγονὼς κρατεῖν Ἰαλδαβαὼθ, ἄρχων λόγος ὑπάρχων νοὸς εἰλικρινοῦς, ἔργον τέλειον υἱῷ καὶ πατρὶ, χαρακτῆρι τύπου ζωῆς σύμβολον ἐπιφέρων, ἣν ἔκλεισας αἰῶνι σῷ πύλην κόσμῳ ἀνοίξας. παροδεύω τὴν σὴν ἐλεύθερος πάλιν ἐξουσίαν· ἡ χάρις συνέστω μοι, ναὶ πάτερ, συνέστω.“ φασὶ δὲ τῷ λεοντοειδεῖ ἄρχοντι συμπαθεῖν ἄστρον τὸν Φαίνοντα. εἶτα οἴονται τὸν διελθόντα τὸν Ἰαλδαβαὼθ καὶ φθάσαντα ἐπὶ τὸν Ἰα (ὼ) δεῖν λέγειν· „σὺ δὲ κρυπτομένων μυστηρίων υἱοῦ καὶ πατρὸς ἄρχων νυκτοφαὴς δεύτερε Ἰαὼ καὶ πρῶτε δέσποτα θανάτου, μέρος ἀθώου. φέρων ἤδη τὴν ἰδίαν ὑπήνην σύμβολον, παροδεύων σὴν ἕτοιμος ἀρχήν· κατίσχυσας τὸν ἀπὸ σοῦ γενόμενον λόγῳ ζῶντι· ἡ χάρις συνέστω, πάτερ, συνέστω.“ εἶθ᾿ ἑξῆς τὸν Σαβαὼθ, πρὸς ὃν οἴονται λέξειν· „πέμπτης ἐξουσίας ἄρχων, δυνάστα Σαβαὼθ. προήγορε νόμου τῆς σῆς κτίσεως χάριτι λυομένης, πεντάδι δυνατωτέρᾳ, πάρες με, σύμβολον ὁρῶν σῆς τέχνης ἀνεπίληπτον, εἰκόνι τύπου τετηρημένον, πεντάδι λυθὲν σῶμα· ἡ χάρις συνέστω μοι, πάτερ, συνέστω.“ ἑξῆς δὲ αὐτῷ τὸν Ἀσταφαιὸν, ᾧ πιστεύουσι τοιαῦτα ἐρεῖν· „τρίτης ἄρχων πύλης Ἀσταφαιὲ, ἐπίσκοπε πρώτης ὕδατος ἀρχῆς, ἕνα βλέπων μύστην πάρες με παρθένου πνεύματι κεκαθαρμένον, ὁρῶν οὐσίαν κόσμου· ἡ χάρις συνέστω μοι. πάτερ, συνέστω.“ μετὰ δ᾿ αὐτὸν τὸν Αἰλωαιὸν, ᾧ τοιαῦτα λέγειν οἴονται· „δευτέρας ἄρχων πύλης Αἰλωαιὲ, πάρες με τῆς σῆς μητρὸς φέροντά σοι σύμβολον, χάριν κρυπτομένην δυνάμεσιν ἐξουσιῶν· ἡ χάρις συνέστω μοι, πάτερ, συνέστω.“ τελευταῖον δὲ τὸν Ὡραῖον ὀνομάζουσι καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν λέγειν οἴονται· „ὑπερβὰς φραγμὸν πυρὸς ἀφόβως. πρώτης λαχὼν ἀρχὴν πύλης Ὡραῖς, πάρες με, σῆς ὁρῶν δυνάμεως σύμβολον καταλυθὲν τύπῳ ζωῆς ξύλου, εἰκόνι καθ᾿ ὁμοίωσιν ληφθὲν ἀθώου· ἡ χάρις συνέστω μοι, πάτερ, συνέστω.“