I forgot to comment on this. It's a good example of the kind of thing I was looking for. It comes close to representing what you were saying, with the substitution of "the spirit" where you had mentioned "Sophia."Giuseppe wrote: ↑Fri Dec 07, 2018 10:41 pmHere there is mention of even three attempts, too, respectively the giving of the matter (by archons), of the soul (by the demiurge) and of the spirit (by the Supreme God):
The rulers laid plans and said, "Come, let us create a man that will be soil from the earth." They modeled their creature as one wholly of the earth. Now the rulers [...] body [...] they have [...] female [...] is [...] with the face of a beast. They had taken some soil from the earth and modeled their man after their body and after the image of God that had appeared to them in the waters. They said, "Come, let us lay hold of it by means of the form that we have modeled, so that it may see its male counterpart [...], and we may seize it with the form that we have modeled" – not understanding the force of God, because of their powerlessness. And he breathed into his face; and the man came to have a soul (and remained) upon the ground many days. But they could not make him arise because of their powerlessness. Like storm winds they persisted (in blowing), that they might try to capture that image, which had appeared to them in the waters. And they did not know the identity of its power.
Now all these things came to pass by the will of the father of the entirety. Afterwards, the spirit saw the soul-endowed man upon the ground. And the spirit came forth from the Adamantine Land; it descended and came to dwell within him, and that man became a living soul. It called his name Adam, since he was found moving upon the ground.
It seems to have the most relevant element - an initial failure at creating life, only succeeding with the aid of the higher good god. It also identifies the source of the failure as the absence of an adequate life-giving spirit.