Chapter 30

In the name of the Life!

" What did thy Father do for thee, Soul,
The great day on which thou wast raised up? "
" He took me down to the jordan, planted me,
And took (me) up and stood me upon its bank.
He broke and gave me bread (pihta),
Blessed the cup and gave me thereof to drink.
He placed me between his knees
And pronounced over me the name of the Mighty (Life)
He passed into the mountain before me;
He cried loudly that I might hear,
That I might hear he cried loudly,
'If there is strength in thee, Soul, come! '
'If I climb the mountain I shall fall;
I shall overturn and perish from the world! '
I lifted mine eyes to heaven
And my soul waited upon the House of Life.
I climbed the mountain and fell not,
I came (thither) and found the life of my Self.

" What did thy Father do for thee, Soul,
The great day on which thou wast raised up? "
" He took me down to the jordan, planted me,
And took me up and stood me upon its bank.
He broke and gave me bread,
Blessed the cup and gave me thereof to drink.
He placed me between his knees
And pronounced over me the name of the Mighty (Life).
He passed into the fire before me;
And cried aloud that I might hear,
That I might hear he cried aloud,
'If there is strength in thee, Soul, come! '
'If I go into fire I shall burn,
I shall scorch and perish from the world! '
To heaven I lifted mine eyes
And my soul waited upon the House of Life.
I went into fire and burned not,
I came, and found the life of my Self.

" What did thy Father do for thee, Soul,
The great day on which thou wast raised up? "
" He took me down to the jordan, planted me,
Took me up and stood me upon its bank.
He broke and gave me bread,
Blessed the cup and gave me thereof to drink.
He placed me between his knees
And pronounced over me the name of the Mighty (Life).
He entered the sea before me;
He cried aloud that I might hear,
That I might hear he cried aloud.
'If there is strength in thee, Soul, come! '
'If I go into the sea I shall sink,
I shall be overturned and perish from the world! '
To heaven I lifted mine eyes
And my soul waited upon the House of Life.
I went into the sea and was not drowned,
I came, the life of my Self I found,
Yea, Life! lo, Life! Life hath triumphed over this world.

And Life is victorious.

[This is a baptism hymn. Set up (recite?) the hymns, and where it says " souls" recite as written, but if it is a single soul say " amongst manas of light, the soul of N. son of N. who went down to the jordan and was baptised and received the Pure Sign" and chant " What did thy Father do for thee, Soul" and recite the antiphonal hymn " How lovely are plants which the Jordan (planted)" and " Rightly did my baptiser baptise me", " Shilmai baptised me with his baptism", " The jordan in which we were baptised", " I rejoice in my priests" and chant other hymns: " Truly do I say to you", " To you I cry, men who have received the Sign, and explain", and " A disciple, a new one, am I who have gone to the jordan-bank".

Then recite the " Blessed and praised" of Shum (Shem) son of Noah and at the place where it says " a wreath from the Vine Ruaz" (say) " will be set on the heads of these souls who have descended to the jordan, been baptised and received the pure sign and who were called, established and sealed by this baptism, and (on the heads of) our fathers, teachers, and brothers and sisters who have departed the body and those who are yet in the body". Should it be a single soul whom thou hast baptised, say " the soul of N. who went down to the jordan and was baptised" and finish.

And recite " Good is the good for the good" and end. And offer up the Petition and say the Rahmia for the souls thou baptisest. Say " these souls who went down to the jordan and were baptised and received the pure sign." If it was a single soul, say " the soul of N. son of N, who went down to the jordan and received the pure sign. " And beware: from the beginning to this point recite all thy baptismal prayers with care, attention and knowledge. And again perform kushta with them and say to them " Kushta make you whole my brother-'uthras! The communion of the living hath been performed in the manner in which 'uthras perform it in their shkintas. Fragrant is your perfume, my brother-'uthras, (for) within ye are full of radiance."

And they shall say " Seek and find, speak and be heard! " and kiss their hands. If the souls be female or if the soul thou baptisest is one (woman), perform the kushta with them and say to them " Kushta heal thee and raise thee up. Thy kushta shall be thy witness and thine alms thy saviour. When they say " Seek and find, speak and be heard" and kiss their hands, then say to them " Your kushta shall be your witness and your alms shall be your saviour. Your prayer and praise will rise and obtain mercy for you. In the name of the Great Life; we have acted (according to) the goodness of the Great (Life). And we have arranged (all things?) according to Thy loving-kindness from beginning to end. We have called upon the great Jordan of Water of Life and upon the three hundred and sixty jordans in which Hibil-Ziwa was baptised ". And he (H-Z.) said " Warn them, deliver them, save them and protect those souls which went down to the jordan, were baptised and received the pure sign from adultery, theft, black magic, from going to temples and worship in temples and from eating temple-food. And eat not of that which was killed by lion or wolf, or of anything disgorged or (found) dead. But immerse yourselves and purify yourselves. Manda-d-Hiia will be your helper, and your baptism will be efficacious." Then pray a prayer and Rahmia for thyself, and say " In the name of the Life! I worship the First Life and praise my lord Manda-d-Hiia and that great Presence of Splendour which emanated from Itself". Then recite " The First Life be praised! Truth make you whole! Ye are established and raised up" and transfer thy staff to thy right arm and end (the prayer). Then return it to thy left arm and recite the " Blessed and praised be Life" of Shum son of Noah. And sit and recite " Good is good for the good" and bend thy knee, sit, and pour out at " forgiving of sins" (be there for) " our forefathers" (etc.) " and the souls of Mandaeans, priests, ganzivri, treasurers, chief men and ethnarchs" in the " forgiving of sins". Then rise to thy feet, take the pihta and mambaha and recite the eight pihta prayers for the pihta and the two mambaha prayers for the mambuha. Dip the pihta in the mambuha and recite " The Life spoke and Life opened" for thy pandama and unfasten it. Eat thy pihta and drink thy mambuha and drink the rinsing-water and take a second rinsing and recite " Life is fulfilled" and " The (Great) Life dwelleth on those who love Him" and cast in thine incense at (the words) " Radiance goeth up to its place" and at the place where it says " will forgive those that love his name of Truth" he shall say " those souls who went down to the jordan, were baptised and received the pure sign, and Life is victorious". Then throw (water) beneath thy staff, recite " Good is the good for the good" and make the Petition and repeat the Rahmia for thyself. Perform the kushta with the shganda and when he goes down, recite " In radiance that is great am I immersed", slip aside thy pandama and honour thy crown.]