Note 1056 — Chapter XIII · MANES AND THE MANICHAEANS
Reading edition
En Nadîm in Kessler, op. cit. p. 392; Flügel, op. cit. pp. 89-90. This would agree perfectly with the system of the Pistis Sophia, where it is said that the “receivers of the Sun and Moon” give the particles of the light as it is won from matter to Melchizedek, the purifier, who purifies it before taking it into the Treasure-house (pp. 36, 37, Copt.). The idea that the Sun’s rays had a purifying effect shows shrewd observation of nature before his bactericidal power was discovered by science. So does the association of the Moon with water, which doubtless came from the phenomenon of the tides. Is the Column of Glory the Milky Way?