Exegesis on the Soul 3

1However, when she realizes the trouble she is in, cries out before the Father, and repents, the Father will show mercy to her. He will cause her womb to turn away from the outward kingdom and return inward, making the soul reclaim her good character. For such is not the way of a woman, since the bodily womb is inward, like the other internal organs of the body.

2The womb of the soul, however, surrounds outwardly, like the male’s outward genitals. Therefore, when the womb of the soul turns inward by the will of the Father, it is baptized and immediately purified from the outward pollution which was forced on it, like filthy [garments] soaked [in water and] moved around until the dirt is gone and they are clean. Thus, the purification of the soul is a reclaiming of the renovation of [] her former nature, and a return to herself. That is her baptism.

3Then she will become mad at herself, acting like a woman during labor, writhing and raging in the hour of birth. However, because she is a female, on her own she is unable to conceive a child. From heaven the Father sent her a man—her brother, the firstborn. The bridegroom then went down to the bride. She stopped her earlier prostitution and purified herself from the pollutions of the adulterers. She was even renewed to become a bride. She purified herself in the bridal chamber, filling it with perfume, sitting there awaiting her true bridegroom. She no longer ran around the marketplace, having sex with everyone she wanted. Instead, she kept waiting for him: “When will he arrive?” And she continued to fear him, because she knew not what he looked like. She no more remembered the time she fell from her Father’s house. By the will of the Father, however, [. . .] And she dreamed of him like a woman who loves a man.

4Then, however, the bridegroom, agreeing with the Father’s will, went down to her, into the bridal chamber, which had been prepared, and he adorned the bridal chamber.