On the Origin of the World 16

1Eve is the first virgin, the one who bore her first child without a husband. She acted as her own midwife, and because of this she is said to have declared:

2I am the one who is part of my mother,

3and I am the one who is the mother.

4I am the one who is the wife;

5I am the one who is the virgin.

6I am the one who is pregnant;

7I am the one who is the midwife.

8I am the one who eases the pains of childbirth.

9My husband is the one who gave birth to me,

10and I am the one who is his mother,

11and he is the one who is my father and my lord.

12He is the one who is my strength.

13Whatever he wishes, he speaks with reason.

14I am on the way to becoming,

15although I have already given birth to a man as a lord.

16Now these things were revealed, by the will of Sabaoth and his Christ, to the souls that were to enter the shaped forms of the authorities. Concerning these, the holy voice said, “Multiply and flourish; rule over all created beings.” They were the ones who, according to their destinies, were taken captive by the Primal Parent. In this way they were locked inside the prisons of the shaped forms <. . .> until the consummation of the age.