Note 18 — INTRODUCTION

All this appears in the opening pages of our text with the exception of the place of our earth and of Chaos which is nowhere distinctly stated. Chaos is represented in the episode of Pistis Sophia as being below the twelve Æons or Zodiac; but in her hymn of thanksgiving, she describes what has been done there as taking place “in the world of men.” Does this mean that the earth was made out of the “passions” of Sophia, as Irenæus (I. i., 10, pp. 48, 49 Harvey) says Valentinus affirmed? It is probable; but in any case, the Egyptians seem always to have regarded Chaos or the Darkness as outside rather than below the earth.