from The Gnostic John the Baptizer

'Miryai am I … a daughter of Jerusalem’s mighty rulers … In the fold of their robe they carried me up into the dark house, into the temple … My father went out and said to me, and my mother went out and charged me: “Miryai, close thy inner doors and bolt the bar.” ’ [p. 62] Miryai told how she ignored these instructions and went out into the main streets – ‘... and the suns of my Lord fell upon me.’ Her brothers and sisters that she found outside, whose proclamations and explanations made her go to sleep, left her without waking her, then she was roused by her ‘sister in Truth’ who said, ‘Arise, arise, Miryai, before the day breaks and the cock lets crow his morn-call, before the sun shines and his glory rises over the worlds …’; [pp. 62–63] and she prayed in secret.

Miryai represents the Mandaean school, breaking away from the orthodox Jewish religion. The feminine representation reflects the fact that the school is the mother. Miryai received the teaching directly from her Lord, the Gnosis, the Spirit of Guidance – she became enlightened through her connection with God. Her brothers and sisters were the traditional Jews or Jewish sects whose understanding of the religion was very literal whereas the Mandaeans were seeking the esoteric quality and were woken up by the Truth. The reference to the cock crowing and the sun rising indicates the chain of transmission of the teaching, from Zoroaster through the Egyptians.