THE GNOSTIC Q
Compiled by L. Caruana
For his novel The Hidden Passion
2003 - 2006
BEGINNING
- THE FATHER AND SON INTHE UPPER AEONS
- THE CREATION OF THE UPPER AEONS
- THE CREATION OF THE LOWER AEONS
- THE FATHER AND SON INTHE UPPER AEONS
- The One
- The One in general
- General Names of the One
- The One as above definintion
- The One as self-knowing
- The One as the Source
- The One as a unity
- The One in three parts
- The One in time, space and the aeons
- The One as good or evil
- Poetic Names of the One
- The One as creator
- The Father and the Son
- The Son
- General names of the Son
- Proper names of the Son
- On Christ as the Creator (and the Word):
- On the Saviour expanding the One’s unity while remaining one
- On Christ as within
- On Christ as an image or appearance, but without body
(docetism)
- On the False Christ
- On Seth descending as Jesus
- On Christ’s Descent into the Lower Aeons
________________________________________________________
- ON THE CREATION OF THE UPPER AEONS:
- Members of the Upper Aeons:
- On the Anthropos in the Upper Aeons
- Creation in the Apocryphon of John
- Creation in the Gospel of the Egyptians
- Creation in Eugnostos the Blessed
- Creation in On the Origin of the World
- The Angels
- Pretennoia system of Angels
- Gospel of Egyptian system of Angels
- Untitled Bruce codex ms angels
_______________________________________________
THE CREATION OF THE LOWER AEONS
- Yaltabaoth
- The creation of the Lower Aeons
- On the Anthropos in the Lower Aeons:
- On creating Adam
- On Adam and Eve
- On Eating from the Tree
- On the descendents of Adama and Eve:
_______________________________________________
SOPHIA, MAGDALENE, WOMEN
On Sophia:
On Protennoia (who is Barbelo):
On Epinoia: (After-Thought)
On Plesithea:
On Norea:
On Mary Magdalene
On saving or redeeming Mary Magdalene or Sophia:
On the Lost Sheep:
On the soul as virgin, prostitute, and redeemed
On Prositution:
On the relationship of men and women:
________________________________________________
BAPTISM & RITUAL
On Melchizedek
On John the Baptist
On Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan
On Gnostic rituals in general:
On the Five Seals
On kissing:
On baptism:
On chrism or unction:
On the Bridal Chamber:
On the eurcharist and last supper (See LAST SUPPER below)
______________________________________________________
ACQUISITION OF DISCIPLES
On Apostles in the Gnostic sense
On Jesus addressing his disciples:
On disciples addressing Jesus:
On discipleship (and on ‘Brothers’):
On the Mission of the Disicples: teaching, healing etc
Jesus Instructs his disciples with a sermon:
On the gospels of the disciples:
On women disciples:
On Salome
On Judas Thomas the contender:
On Peter
On Andrew
On James the greater
On John
On James the Just (or Less)
On Philip and the others
On Judas the Betrayer
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FIRST SERMONS AND HEALING
On long parables:
On speaking in parables or directly:
On speaking and hearing
Verily I say unto you:
Blessed be:
Woe to:
On castigating the ignorant and those who do not hear
The Kingdom is:
On healing:
On assuaging hunger and thirst:
On poverty:
I am:
________________________________________________________
PARABLES, PRAYERS,
TEACHINGS
On how to pray:
On holding the hands while praying:
Enigmatic expressions of Jesus:
General sayings:
On the pneuma
On Gnosis and the mind
On gnosis
On Vision
On Seeing as a Reflection of Unity
On Images
On images as types, patterns or ideal forms:
On Form
On the Revelation
On the divine Unity
On the Father and the Son
On the kingdom here and now:
On the Kingdom (see also ‘the Kingdom is...’ above
On Time (and salvation)
On re-incarnation and cyclic time (for the Psychics):
On time as past, present and future in one:
On Light
On Love
On Truth
On the hidden or secret and the revealed:
On Secret Names
On Pronouncing the Secret Names
On the three types
Of the fate of the three types
On Good and Evil
On the Law of the Archons
On Alienation
On the Elect being beyond sin, tempatation etc.
On Denial and
Renunciation
On Indulgence or Libertinism
On Ignorance
On illusion:
On Lust
On Avoiding Lust
On greed, pride, envy etc
On those who rule - the proud, vain, greedy and powerful:
On avoiding greed, through love and giving:
On Slaves
On the fate of the Damned
On the end of the world
On revolution:
On the Transfiguration
__________________________________________________________
EVENTS LEADING TO THE
CRUCIFIXION
- That those who persecute Christ as the archons, or led by the
archons:
- Events leading up to the crucifixion:
- The separation of Jesus from Christ, and the role of destiny
(see also CRUCIFIXION below)
- Gethsemane
____________________________________________________________
THE LAST SUPPER
On eating:
On the Eucharist in general
The eucharist as symbolic of self-offering:
Liturgy spoken during the eucharist:
On the Gnostic Prayer of Thanksgiving:
______________________________________________________________
CRUCIFIXION
On the crucifixion:
On Jesus suffering or not suffering during the crucifixion:
That Jesus did not suffer:
That Jesus did suffer:
__________________________________________________
RESURRECTION AND RETURN TO
THE DISCIPLES
On appearing risen from the dead, and to whom:
On the Resurrection:
On rising up through the Archons (and fear):
On the Ascension and rising up:
On crossing over the other side:
On predicting the Fall of Jersusalem:
On the Restitution / Restoration / Redemption:
On Re-union with the One
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GNOSTIC QUOTATIONS:
BEGINNING
- THE FATHER AND SON INTHE UPPER AEONS
- The One
- The One in general
- General Names of the One
- The One as above definintion
- The One as self-knowing
- The One as the Source
- The One as a unity
- The One in three parts
- The One in time, space and the aeons
- The One as good or evil
- Poetic Names of the One
- The One as creator
- The Father and the Son
- The Son
- General names of the Son
- Proper names of the Son
- On Christ as the Creator (and the Word):
- On the Saviour expanding the One’s unity while remaining one
- On Christ as within
- On Christ as an image or appearance, but without body
(docetism)
- On the False Christ
- On Seth descending as Jesus
- On Christ’s Descent into the Lower Aeons
_________________________________________________
THE FATHER AND SON IN THE UPPER AEONS
THE ONE
The One in general:
- “the one who is” (Prayer of Paul)
- “He has non-being existence.” (Allogenes)
- “the One who exists, who is silent, who is above the heaven”
(Marsanes)
- “the Silent One” (Marsanes)
- “the Triple-Powered One who subsists in stillness and silence
and is unknowable.” (Allogenes)
- “He alone is the one who knows himself as he is,” (Tripart.
Tract)
- “the complete perfect one” (Tripart. Tract)
- “ the light that shines without shadow” (Eugnostos)
- “good, faultless, perfect, complete, being himself the Totality”
(Tripart. Tract)
- “he is inimitable and immutable” (Tripart. Tract)
- “the unalterable, immutable one, with immutability clothing
him.” (Tripart. Tract)
- “he is unbegotten, and there is no other who begot him, nor
another who created him” (Tripart. Tract)
- “the Self-begotten One...
the divine Self-engendered One” (Marsanes)
- The Invisible Spirit: “the invisible One who is above
everything, who exists as incorruption, which is in the pure light into which
no eye can look. He is the invisible Spirit...” (Apoc John)
- “He is an aeon-giving aeon. He is life-giving life. He is a
blessedness-giving blessed one. He is knowledge-giving knowledge. He is
goodness-giving goodness.” (Apoc John)
- “...about the great invisible Spirit, the Father whose name
cannot be uttered, he who came forth from the heights of the perfection, the
light of the light of the aeons of light, the light of the silence of the
providence <and> the Father of the silence, the light of the word and the
truth, the light of the incorruptions, the infinite light, the radiance from
the aeons of light of the unrevealable, unmarked, ageless, unproclaimable
Father, the aeon of the aeons, Autogenes, self-begotten, self-producing, alien,
the really true aeon.” (Gosp Egypt)
_____________________________________________________
General names of the One:
- “the incorruptible Father” (Apoc Peter)
- “the indivisible light” (Tripart tract)
- “the Three-Powered One” (Marsanes)
_____________________________________________________
On the One as above definition:
- “the Immeasurable One. It is a mystery” (3 Protennoia)
- “the Incomprehensible One” (3 Protennoia)
- “exalted above every name” (Prayer of Paul)
- “Not one of the names which are conceived or spoken, seen or
grasped - not one of them applies to him,”(Tripart. Tract)
- “the Father whose name cannot be uttered” (Gosp Egypt)
- “unproclaimable Father”
(Gosp Egypt)
- “it is impossible for mind to conceive him, nor can any speech
convey him, nor can any eye see him” (Tripart. Tract)
- “he cannot be grasped” (Tripart. Tract)
- “exalted above every mind” (Tripart. Tract)
- Beyond dualities: “He is not corporeal nor is he incorporeal. He
is neither large nor is he small” (Apoc John)
- “He-Who-Is is ineffable... He has no name; for whoever has a
name is the creation of another. He is unnameable.” (Eugnostos)
- “ineffable joy and unutterable jubilation” (Eugnostos)
- “Thou art one. Thou art one, just as there is one (who) will say
to thee: Thou art one, thou art a single living spirit. How shall we give thee
a name? We do not have it, For thou art the existence of them all. Thou art the
life of them all. Thou art the mind of them all.” (3 Stele Seth)
- “And he is One who subsists as a cause and source of Being, and
an immaterial material and an innumerable number and a formless form and a
shapeless shape and a powerlessness and a power and an insubstantial substance
and a motionless motion and an inactive activity” (Allogenes)
- “He is neither boundless, nor is he bounded by another. Rather,
he is something superior. He is not corporeal. He is not incorporeal. He is not
great. He is not small. He is not a number. He is not a creature. Nor is he
something that exists, that one can know. But he is something else of himself
that is superior, which one cannot know.” (Allogenes)
_____________________________________________________
On the One as self-knowing:
- “he has the ability to conceive of himself, to see himself, to
name himself, to comprehend himself” (Tripart. Tract)
- “the one who knows himself eternally,” (Tripart. tract)
- “The Father... is the one in whom he knows himself, who begot
him (the Son) having a thought, which is the thought of him, that is, the
perception of him” (Tripart. Tract)
- “It (the One) looks to every side and sees itself from itself.”
(Eugnostos)
- “He is unknowable, while he (nonetheless) knows himself.”
(Eugnostos)
- “He sees himself within himself, like a mirror, having appeared
in his likeness.” (Eugnostos)
- “Seeing himself within himself in a mirror, he appeared
resembling himself...” (Sophia of Jesus Christ)
- Speaking of the One: “This is the truth which covers them all.
This is the image of the Father. This is the mirror of the All.” (Untitled
Bruce)
- “He provides everything for himself, since it is he who shall
come to be when he recognizes himself.” (Allogenes)
- “he is the one who knows what he is” (Allogenes)
- "He is primary revelation and knowledge of himself, as it
is he alone who knows himself” (Allogenes)
- The One as ‘unknowable’: “This is the first unknowable one
(akatagnôstos), the mother of the ennead, which completes a decad from the
monad of the unknowable (agnôstos) one.” (Untitled Bruce)
_____________________________________________________
The One as the Source:
- “the root of the Totality” (Tripart. Tract)
- “the one filled with all his offspring” (Tripart. Tract)
- “He is the one who projects himself thus, as generation,”
(Tripart. Tract)
- “But since he is as he is, he is a spring, which is not
diminished by the water which abundantly flows from it.” (Tripart. Tract)
- “It is he who at all times gives life to the aeons, and through
his word the indivisible one learned to know the monad. And through his word
the holy Pleroma came into existence.” (Untitled Bruce)
- “The Father brought forth everything, like a little child, like
a drop from a spring, like a blossom from a vine, like a flower, like a
<planting>” (Tripart. Tract)
- “the Father, from whom the beginning came forth, (and) to whom
all will return who have come forth from him” (Gosp Truth)
- “And through them all he is in them all” (Allogenes)
- “I bless thee, 0 light, who alone dost manifest (all lights)”
(Bruce Untitled ms)
_____________________________________________________
The One as a unity:
- “I am the Invisible One within the All.” (It is actually
Protennoia who says this in 3 Protennoia, but identifying herself with the One)
- “This is the Only One. This is he from whom the monad came, like
a ship laden with all good things, or like a city filled with every race of man
and every king`s image.” (Untitled Bruce)
_____________________________________________________
The One as an androgynous unity that becomes a pair:
- Protennoia: “I am androgynous. I am Mother (and) I am Father,
since I copulate with myself. I copulated with myself and with those who love
me, and it is through me alone that the All stands firm. I am the Womb that
gives shape to the All by giving birth to the Light that shines in splendor.”
(3 Protennoia)
- Protennoia: “I am 'He who is syzygetic'... I am called 'She who
is syzygetic'.” (3 Protennoia)
- “the Ineffable One who dwells in the Monad. He dwells alone in
silence, and silence is tranquility since, after all, he was a Monad and no one
was before him. He dwells in the Dyad and in the Pair, and his Pair is Silence.
And he possessed the All dwelling within him.” (Val. Expo.) (perhaps ‘pair’
should be read here as ‘consort’)
The One in three parts:
- The One appears under three names.
- These may be through the metaphor of ‘the family’: the Father,
the Mother, and the Son. (3 Protennoia)
- Or through the metaphor of ‘speaking’: the Voice, the Speech (or
Sound) and the Word (with the Silence as either the One or the aeons) (3
Protennoia)
- “I am the Father, I am the Mother, I am the Son.” (Apoc John)
- “Three powers came forth from him; they are the Father, the
Mother, (and) the Son,” (Gosp Egypt)
- “the Father of those without beginning, who alone is
Father and Mother unto himself” (Untitled Bruce)
- “I am seeking the kingdom of the Three-Powered One, which has no
beginning.” (Marsanes)
- The Mother is Barbelo: “The second ogdoad-power, the Mother, the
virginal Barbelon” (Gosp Egypt)
- In the Untitled Bruce codex m.s., the Father is the demi-urge of
the Upper Aeons: “This is the Father, the second demiurge. Through the breath
of his mouth, the forethought inspired those without existence. They came into
being through the will of this one, because it is he who commands the All, so
that it comes into existence.” (Untitled Bruce)
_____________________________________________________
The One in time, space and the aeons:
- “before anything came into being, it was the Father alone who
existed,” (Auth. Teach.)
- “the Eternal One” (Apoc Peter)
- “He is without beginning and without end.” (Tripart. Tract)
- “the one who encircles all spaces, while there is none that
encircles him” (Gosp Truth)
- “Time was not apportioned to him,” (Apoc John)
- “He is immeasurable. He is untraceable” (Eugnostos)
- “He is neither boundless, nor is he bounded by another...”
(Allogenes)
- “He neither participates in age nor does he participate in
time.”(Allogenes)
- “Consider these things about God: he is in every place; on the
other hand, he is in no place. With respect to power, to be sure, he is in
every place; but with respect to divinity, he is in no place. So then, it is
possible to know God a little. With respect to his power, he fills every place,
but in the exaltation of his divinity, nothing contains him. Everything is in
God, but God is not in anything.” (Silvaus)
_____________________________________________________
The One as good or evil:
- “lack of any malice”
(Tripart. Tract)
- “he is a being without evil, imperturbable, sweet,” (Gosp Truth)
_____________________________________________________
Poetic Names of the One:
- “sustaining, joyous, true, delightful, and restful” (Tripart.
Tract)
- “his untasteable sweetness” (Tripart. Tract)
- “the eye of revelation that is at rest,” (Allogenes)
- “a beauty and a first emergence of stillness and silence and
tranquility” (Allogenes)
- [he is] a single one
[who] exists before [all] these who really exist [in the] immeasurable and
undivided Spirit [...] [...] the All which [exists] in him (...) He is far
higher than every unattainable one, yet he gives [...] greater than any body
(and) is purer than every unembodied one, entering every thought and every body
(...) In Existence he exists (...) Let the one who will find him come into
existence. Existing in Life, he is alive [...] (Zost)
_____________________________________________________
The One as creator:
“The Father brought forth everything, like a little child, like a
drop from a spring, like a blossom from a vine, like a flower, like a
<planting>” (Tripart. Tract)
“This one, however, stretched himself out and it was that which he
stretched out which gave a foundation and a space and a dwelling place for the
universe, a name of his being” (Tripart. Tract)
Aeons
are an extension of the Father, without separation: “The emanation of the
Totalities, which exist from the one who exists, did not occur according to a
separation from one another, as something cast off from the one who begets
them. Rather, their begetting is like a process of extension, as the Father extends
himself to those whom he loves, so that those who have come forth from him
might become him as well.” (Tripart Tract)
“the Father... created the pre-existent images” (Tripart tract)
“In the beginning, he (the One) decided to have his likeness
become a great power. Immediately, the principle (or beginning) of that Light appeared as Immortal Androgynous Man.
His male name is 'Begotten, Perfect Mind'. And his female name is 'All-wise
Begettress Sophia'. It is also said that she resembles her brother and her
consort.” (Eugnostos) - By this, I
understand that the One at first became male and female - or rather,
androgynous, with a male and female name. Mind (thinking, Christ) is the male
and Sophia (thought) is the female.
In Marsanes, there is first of all the One ‘who has no being’.
From him came those ‘that truly exist’ (hence, creation ex nihilo). Of those
that exist, the first ‘worked from silence’ and was ‘the Silent One’. The next
came from energy and was ‘the Three-Powered One’. That’s what I understand from
this passage:
“When I had inquired about these things, I perceived that he had
worked from silence. He exists from the beginning among those that truly exist,
that belong to the One who exists. There is another, existing from the
beginning, belonging to the One who works within the Silent One. And the
silence [...] him works. For as much as this one [...], that one works from the
silence which belongs to the Unbegotten One among the aeons, and from the
beginning he does not have being. But the energy of that One <is> the
Three-Powered One, the One unbegotten before the Aeon, not having being. And it
is possible to behold the supremacy of the silence of the Silent One, i.e., the
supremacy of the energy of the Three-Powered. And the One who exists, who is
silent, who is above the heaven [...], revealed the Three-Powered,
First-Perfect One.” (Marsanes)
- “But concerning the invisible, spiritual Triple-Powered-One,
hear! He exists as an Invisible One who is incomprehensible to them all. He
contains them all within himself, for they all exist because of him.” (Allogenes)
- “He is Vitality and Mentality and That-Which-Is.... And the
three are one, although individually they are three.” (Allogenes)
- Beside ‘three powers’ there may also be ‘three faces’: “And
there is a great invisible one standing upon it, and a great unbegotten one and
a great incomprehensible one. Each one has three faces.” (Untitled Bruce)
_____________________________________________________
On the Father and the Son:
“the Father, is like a root, with tree, branches and fruit.”
(Tripart. Tract)
“The Father... is the one in whom he knows himself, who begot him
(the Son) having a thought, which is the thought of him, that is, the
perception of him” (Tripart. Tract)
“Now the name of the Father is the Son. It is he who first gave a
name to the one who came forth from him... The name, however, is invisible,
because it alone is the mystery of the invisible, which comes to ears that are
completely filled with it by him. For indeed, the Father's name is not spoken,
but (rather,) it is apparent through a Son. ” (Gosp Truth)
“You cannot know God through anyone except Christ, who has the
image of the Father, for this image reveals the true likeness in correspondence
to that which is revealed. A king is not usually known apart from an image.”
(Silvanus)
“Now the Uncreated One projected Word and Life. Word is for the
glory of the Ineffable One while Life is for the glory of Silence,” (Val.
Expo.)
_____________________________________________________
THE SON:
“The Savior was an image of the unitary one, he who is the
Totality in bodily form.” (Tripart tract)
“the Son who is perfect in every respect -- that is, the Word who
originated through that Voice” (3 Protennoia)
“Now the Son of God, Rheginos, was Son of Man. He embraced them
both, possessing the humanity and the divinity, so that on the one hand he
might vanquish death through his being Son of God, and that on the other
through the Son of Man the restoration to the Pleroma might occur” (Treatise on
Resurrection)
_____________________________________________________
General names of Son:
- Mostly he is called Lord, then Christ and Saviour
- In general: Lord, Saviour, Son, Teacher (rabbi?), Son of Man,
Jesus the Christ, Son of God, Lord (Jesus) Christ, the Christ, Redeemer, Logos,
Light, King of the aeons, God.
“The Christ” (Apoc John)
“the only-begotten one” (Apoc John)
“the divine Autogenes” (Apoc John)
“firstborn” (Tripart.
Tract)
“Lord of Lords, the King of the ages...Son of Man, the Spirit, the
Paraclete of truth” (Prayer of Paul)
“First-born of the Pleroma (?)” “the First-born, the
First-begotten” (Prayer of Paul)
“the unborn physis” (Gosp Egypt)
The Sethian saviour is called “the illuminator of knowledge” (Apoc
Adam)
The Son is to the Father as:
”the form of the formless,
the body of the bodiless,
the face of the invisible,
the word of the unutterable,
the mind of the inconceivable” (Tripart. Tract)
“the
countenance of the Father” (Tripart. Tract)
“the
one who is properly called "Savior" and "the Redeemer" and
"the Well-Pleasing one" and "the Beloved," "the one to
whom prayers have been offered" and "the Christ" and "the
Light of those appointed," (Tripart. Tract)
“He
it is who was our Savior in willing compassion” (Tripart tract)
“the
Son of the unknown God” (Tripart tract)
“the
Son was found to be a brother to himself alone”
(Tripart. Tract)
“He
enlightened them; he showed (them) a way, and the way is the truth” (Gosp
Truth)
“Jesus,
the compassionate and tender-hearted,” (Pistis Sophia, Bk 1, ch 5)
“He
became a way for those who were gone astray, and knowledge for those who were
ignorant, a discovery for those who were searching, and a support for those who
were wavering, immaculateness for those who were defiled.” (Gosp Truth)
“He
is completely ineffable to the All, and he is the confirmation and the
hypostasis of the All, the silent veil, the true High Priest, the one who has
the authority to enter the Holies of Holies, revealing the glory of the Aeons
and bringing forth the abundance to <fragrance>.” (Val. Expo.)
-
Lord of Lords (Pr. Paul)
-
the hidden mystery, the merciful one, the faithful one (Gos. Truth)
-
the solution (Treat. Res.)
-
Lord of All, Lord of glory, King of the universe, the knowledge, the treasure,
the revelation, the path toward harmony (Tric Trac)
-
the living one, the Son of the living one (Gos. Thom )
-
Messiah, the Nazarene, the perfect man, the heavenly man, Pharisatha (Gos.
Phil)
-
the holy one (Soph. JC)
-
Rabbi ( 1 Apoc Jas)
-
the Son of Light, the perfect blessed one, a Christ (Treat. Seth)
-
King, Sun of life, the life, the idea of incorruptibility, the narrow way, the
wisdom of God, the great power, the door, the angel, the good shepherd, the
(faithful) friend, Great goodness of God, Great one of the heavens, a great
Glory, Judge, mother of all, image of the Father, (Teach Silv.)
-
titles of ‘the logos’: the first-born, prototype, light of the eternal light,
spotless mirror of the workings of God, image of his goodness, the eye which looks
at the invisible Father, Life, king of faith, the sharp sword (Teach Silv. -)
-
the holy child, saviour of the whole world, son of life, son of immortality,
the one who is in the light, Our illuminator (Ep. Pet. Phil)
-
Teacher of immortality, the shape, the one who was reproached, the humiliated one, the one who was redeeemed, the head
(Interp, Knowledge)
_____________________________________________________
Proper names of Son:
“the great Christ, who is from silence, who is the incorruptible
child Telmael Telmachael Eli Eli Machar Machar Seth,” (Gosp Egypt)
- Yesseus Mazareus Yessedekeus: “IE ieus EO ou EO Oua! Really,
truly, O Yesseus Mazareus Yessedekeus, O living water, O child of the child, O
glorious name! Really truly, aiOn o On (or: O existing aeon), iiii EEEE eeee
oooo uuuu OOOO aaaa{a}. Really, truly, Ei aaaa OOOO, O existing one who sees
the aeons! Really, truly, aee EEE iiii uuuuuu OOOOOOOO, who is eternally
eternal! Really, truly, iEa aiO, in the heart, who exists, u aei eis aei, ei o ei,
ei os ei (or: (Son) forever, You are what you are, You are who you are)! This
great name of yours is upon me, O self-begotten Perfect one, who is not outside
me.” (Gosp Egypt)
- Yesseus, Mazareus, Yessedekeus: “This is the hidden knowledge of
Adam, which he gave to Seth, which is the holy baptism of those who know the
eternal knowledge through those born of the word and the imperishable
illuminators, who came from the holy seed: Yesseus, Mazareus, Yessedekeus, the
Living Water.” (Apoc Adam)
_____________________________________________________
On Christ as the Creator (and the Word):
“because of the word, Christ the divine Autogenes created
everything” (Apoc John)
_____________________________________________________
On Christ as the Mind (or Nous):
“God came forth: the Son, Mind of the All, that is, it is from the
Root of the All that even his Thought stems, since he had this one (the Son) in
Mind.” (Val. Expo.)
“that is, the Son, the Father of the All, and the Mind of the
Spirit; for he was possessing this one before [...]. He is a spring. He is one
who appears in Silence, and he is Mind of the All dwelling secondarily with
Life. For he is the projector of the All and the very hypostasis of the Father,
that is, he is the Thought and his descent below.” (Val. Expo.)
“the power of the Word that came forth from the pleroma, the one
who is in the thought and the mind of the Father, that is, the one who is
addressed as 'the Savior',” (Gos. Truth)
_____________________________________________________
On the Saviour expanding the One’s unity while remaining one:
Seth: “We bless thee, Thrice Male, for thou didst unite all
through them all, for thou hast empowered us. Thou hast arisen from one; from
one thou hast gone forth; thou hast come to one. Thou hast saved, thou hast saved, thou hast
saved us, O crown-bearer, crown-giver! We bless thee eternally. We bless thee,
once we have been saved... Thou wast divided everywhere. Thou didst continue
being one.” (3 Stele Seth)
Setheus is a kind of saviour figure inwhich the pleroma ‘see their
likenesses in him’: “Then Setheus sent the light-spark to the indivisible one.
And it shone, it gave light to the whole place of the holy pleroma. And
they saw the light of the light-spark. They rejoiced and they gave myriads of
myriads of glories to the Setheus and to the light-spark which had manifested,
as they saw that all their likeness was in him. And they depicted the
light-spark within them as a man of light and truth.” (Untitled Bruce)
They called him one assuming all forms,
- In a vision, Jesus appears to John during the crucifixion and
shows him a cross of light:
“100 Now the
multitude of one aspect that is about the cross is the lower nature: and those
that you see in the cross, if they do not have one form, it is because all the
members of him that came down have not yet been comprehended.
“But once human
nature (or the upper nature) is taken up, and the race draws near to me and
obeys my voice, then he that hears me shall be united, and shall not be any more
that which he is now, but above them, as I am now also.
“For, as long as
you do not call yourself mine, I am not what I am or was: but if you do hear
me, then you, hearing, shall be as I am; and I shall be what I was when I, and
you as I, am with myself. For from me you are that which I am. Do not place
great care, therefore, in the many, and despise those that are outside the
mystery; but know that I am wholly with the Father, and the Father with me.”
(Acts of John, rendered into modern Eng) NB - This is a fairly clear expression
of how Jesus reveals the one’s unity among men. And this comes about as a way
of seeing.
- “And all is Christ, he who has inherited all from the Existent
One. For Christ is the idea of incorruptibility, and he is the Light which is
shining undefiled. For the sun (shines) on every impure place, and yet it is
not defiled. So it is with Christ: even if he is in the deficiency, yet he is
without deficiency. And even if he has been begotten, he is (still) unbegotten.
So it is with Christ: if, on the one hand, he is comprehensible, on the other,
he is incomprehensible with respect to his actual being. Christ is all. He who
does not possess all is unable to know Christ.” (Silvanus)
“For he is light from the power of God, and he is an emanation of
the pure glory of the Almighty. He is the spotless mirror of the working of
God, and he is the image of his goodness. For he is also the light of the
Eternal Light. He is the eye which looks at the invisible Father, always
serving and forming by the Father's will. He alone was begotten by the Father's
good pleasure. For he is an incomprehensible Word, and he is Wisdom and Life.
He gives life to, and nourishes, all living things and powers. Just as the soul
gives life to all the members, he rules all with power and gives life to them.
For he is the beginning and the end of everyone, watching over all and
encompassing them.” (Silvanus)
_____________________________________________________
On Christ as within:
“O self-begotten Perfect one, who is not outside me.” (Gosp Egypt)
_____________________________________________________
On Christ as an image or appearance, but without body
(docetism):
Jesus: “Who I am, thou shalt know when I depart. What now I am
seen to be, that I am not. Thou shalt see when thou comest.” (Acts of John)
_____________________________________________________
On the False Christ:
Protennoia: “The Archons thought that I was their Christ. Indeed,
I dwell in everyone. Indeed, within those in whom I revealed myself as Light, I
eluded the Archons. I am their beloved, for in that place I clothed myself as
the son of the Archgenitor, and I was like him until the end of his decree,
which is the ignorance of Chaos.” (3 Protennoia) By this, I understand that
there was a False Christ who was the Son of God, but God understood as
Yaltabaoth.
_____________________________________________________
On Seth descending as Jesus:
“Then the great Seth was sent by the four lights, by the will of
the Autogenes... He passed through the three parousias which I mentioned
before: the flood, and the conflagration, and the judgment of the archons... to
save her (the race) who went astray, through... the baptism through a
Logos-begotten body which the great Seth prepared for himself secretly through
the virgin. ...(He) established ... the holy baptism... through the
incorruptible, Logos-begotten one, even Jesus the living one, even he whom the
great Seth has put on.” (Gosp Egypt)
The appearance of ‘the illuminator of knowledge’ (a Sethian
saviour figure) during the third parousia: “Once again, for the third time, the
illuminator of knowledge will pass by in great glory (...) And he will perform
signs and wonders in order to scorn the powers and their ruler. (...) And the
powers will not see it with their eyes, nor will they see the illuminator
either. Then they will punish the flesh of the man upon whom the holy spirit
came.”(Apoc Adam)
“For as I (Seth) came downward, no one saw me. For I was altering
my shapes, changing from form to form. And therefore, when I was at their
gates, I assumed their likeness. For I passed them by quietly, and I was
viewing the places, and I was not afraid nor ashamed, for I was undefiled. And
I was speaking with them, mingling with them through those who are mine, and trampling
on those who are harsh to them with zeal, and quenching the flame. And I was
doing all these things because of my desire to accomplish what I desired by the
will of the Father above.” (2 Treat Gr Seth)
_____________________________________________________
On Christ’s Descent into the Lower Aeons, putting on Jesus,
flesh, body etc
Jesus: “I visited a bodily dwelling. I cast out the one who was in
it first, and I went in. And the whole multitude of the archons became
troubled.” (2 Treatise Seth)
“the Self-begotten One, O [...] became [...] part by part the
entire place. He descended; again he descended <from> the Unbegotten One”
(Marsanes) NB - Marsanes is a Gnostic and non-Christian text)
“I am the one who was sent down in the body because of the seed
which had fallen away. And I came down into their mortal mold. But they did not
recognize me;” (Christ cited in Peter’s letter to Philip)
The mother gave the son a garment in which were all the forms
needed to descend: “Afterwards the mother established her first-born son. She
gave to him the authority of the sonship. And she gave to him hosts of angels
and archangels. And she gave to him twelve powers to serve him. And she gave to
him a garment' in which to accomplish all things. And in it were all bodies:
the body of fire, and the body of water, and the body, of air and the body of
earth, and the body of wind, and the body ( of angels), and the body of
archangels, and the body of powers, and the body of mighty ones, and the body
of gods, and the body of lords. In a word, within it were all bodies so that
none could hinder him from going to the height or from going down to the
abyss.” (Bruce Untitled ms)
Protennoia as the Word (ie Saviour): “The Third time I revealed
myself to them in their tents as Word, and I revealed myself in the likeness of
their shape. And I wore everyone's garment, and I hid myself within them, and
they did not know the one who empowers me. For I dwell within all the
Sovereignties and Powers, and within the angels, and in every movement that
exists in all matter. And I hid myself within them until I revealed myself to
my brethren. And none of them (the Powers) knew me, although it is I who work
in them.” (3 Protennoia)
“I entered into the midst of their prison, which is the prison of
the body.” (Apoc John)
"I, therefore,
the perfect Pronoia of the all, changed myself into my seed, for I existed
first... I am the remembrance of the pleroma. And I went into the realm of
darkness and I endured till I entered the middle of the prison. And the
foundations of chaos shook. And I hid myself from them because of their
wickedness, and they did not recognize me.
Again I returned
for the second time, and I went about. ...And again I ran up to my root of
light, lest they be destroyed before the time.
Still for a third
time I went - ...And I filled my face with the light of the completion of their
aeon. And I entered into the midst of their prison, which is the prison of the
body. And I said, 'He who hears, let him get up from the deep sleep.' ...Arise
and remember... And I raised him up, and sealed him in the light of the water
with five seals, in order that death might not have power over him from this
time on.” (Apoc John)
“And when the mother ceased praying to the infinite and unknowable
one who fills the All and gives life to them all, he heard her and all those
with her who belong to her. And he sent to her a power from the Man whom they
desire to see. And from the infinite one came the infinite light-spark, at
which the aeons wondered where he was hidden before he revealed himself through
the infinite Father. This one who had revealed the All in himself, where was he
hidden? And the powers of the hidden aeons followed him until they came to him
who is revealed, and until they reached the holy pleroma. And he concealed
himself in the powers of those who came forth from the hidden one. And he made
them into a world. He wore it (the world) in the holy (place). And the powers
of the pleroma saw him, they loved him.” (Bruce Untitled ms) By this, I
understand that the saviour descended in order to conceal himself in each of
us, and through the hidden Christ in us we may rise up through the aeons.
“Then the great Seth was sent by the four lights, by the will of
the Autogenes and the whole pleroma, through <the gift> and the good
pleasure of the great invisible Spirit, and the five seals, and the whole
pleroma.
He passed through
the three parousias which I mentioned before: the flood, and the conflagration,
and the judgment of the archons and the powers and the authorities, to save her
(the race) who went astray, through the reconciliation of the world, and the
baptism through a Logos-begotten body which the great Seth prepared for himself
secretly through the virgin, in order that the saints may be begotten by the
holy Spirit, through invisible, secret symbols, through a reconciliation of the
world with the world, through the renouncing of the world, and the god of the
thirteen aeons, and (through) the convocations of the saints and the ineffable
ones, and (through) the incorruptible bosom, and (through) the great light of
the Father, who pre-existed with his Providence, and established through her
the holy baptism that surpasses the heaven, through the incorruptible,
Logos-begotten one, even Jesus the living one, even he whom the great Seth has
put on.” (Gosp Egypt)
“But I came from the places above by the will of the great Light,
(I) who escaped from that bond; I have cut off the work of the robbers; I have
awakened that drop that was sent from Sophia, that it might bear much fruit
through me, and be perfected and not again be defective, but be <joined>
through me, the Great Savior, that his glory might be revealed, so that Sophia
might also be justified in regard to that defect, that her sons might not again
become defective but might attain honor and glory and go up to their Father”
(Sophia JC)
“Now he came that we might become glorious through the humiliated
one that dwells in the places of humiliation.” (Interp. Knowledge)
The descent of the Setheus: “Then the veils opened, and the light
penetrated down to the matter below and to those who had no form and no
likeness. And in this way they acquired the likeness of the light. Some indeed
rejoiced because the light came to them and they became rich. Others wept
because they became poor, and those things which they had were taken away.”
(Untitled Bruce)
“O soul, persistent one, in what ignorance you exist! For who is
your guide into the darkness? How many likenesses did Christ take on because of
you! Although he was God, he was found among men as a man. He descended to the
Underworld. He released the children of death. They were in travail, as the
scripture of God has said. And he sealed up the (very) heart of it (the
Underworld). And he broke its (the Underworld's) strong bows completely. And
when all the powers had seen him, they fled, so that he might bring you,
wretched one, up from the Abyss, and might die for you as a ransom for your
sin. He saved you from the strong hand of the Underworld.” (Silvanus)
“Know who Christ is, and acquire him as a friend, for this is the
friend who is faithful. He is also God and Teacher. This one, being God, became
man for your sake. It is this one who broke the iron bars of the Underworld,
and the bronze bolts. It is this one who attacked and cast down every haughty
tyrant. It is he who loosened from himself the chains of which he had taken
hold. He brought up the poor from the Abyss and the mourners from the
Underworld. It is he who humbled the haughty powers; he who put to shame
haughtiness through humility; he who has cast down the strong and the boaster
through weakness; he who, in his contempt, scorned that which is considered an
honor, so that humility for God's sake might be highly exalted; (and) he who
has put on humanity. (Silvanus)
_____________________________________
- ON THE CREATION OF THE UPPER AEONS:
- Members of the Upper Aeons:
- On the Anthropos in the Upper Aeons
- Creation in the Apocryphon of John
- Creation in the Gospel of the Egyptians
- Creation in Eugnostos the Blessed
- Creation in On the Origin of the World
- The Angels
- Pretennoia system of Angels
- Gospel of Egyptian system of Angels
- Untitled Bruce codex ms angels
_____________________________________
- On the Creation of the Upper Aeons
On the first hypostasis or aeon of creation:
The One came to know itself by sexually uniting with itself. At
that moment, the androgynous being became male and female: ‘the bridegroom’ and
‘the bride’ or ‘the Father’ and ‘the Virgin who came down’. The first aeon
became ‘the bridal chamber’:
“Indeed, one must utter a mystery. The Father of everything united
with the virgin who came down, and a fire shone for him on that day. He
appeared in the great bridal chamber. Therefore his body came into being on
that very day. It left the bridal chamber as one who came into being from the
bridegroom and the bride. So Jesus established everything in it through these.
It is fitting for each of the disciples to enter into his rest.” (Gosp Philip)
The One reflected upon itself in the watery light, generating
images in the aeons: “For it is he who looks at himself in his light which
surrounds him, namely the spring of the water of life. And it is he who gives
to all the aeons and in every way, (and) who gazes upon his image which he sees
in the spring of the Spirit. It is he who puts his desire in his water-light
which is in the spring of the pure light-water which surrounds him.” (Apoc
John)
The One was a light which shone, producing shadows and forms, of
which Barbelo was the first. Though ‘a shadow of him’, she remains ‘light from
light’. Though she divides into many, she preserves his unity:
“Great is the first aeon,
male virginal Barbelo, the first glory of the invisible Father, she who is
called "perfect". Thou (fem.) hast seen first the one who truly
pre-exists because he is non-being. And from him and through him thou hast
pre-existed eternally, the non-being from one indivisible, triple power, thou a
triple power, thou a great monad from a pure monad, thou an elect monad,the
first shadow of the holy Father, light from light. We bless thee, producer
(fem.) of perfection, aeon-giver (fem.). Thou hast seen the eternal ones
because they are from a shadow. And thou hast become numerable. And thou didst
find, thou didst continue being one (fem.); yet becoming numerable in division,
thou art three-fold. Thou art truly thrice, thou one (fem.) of the one (masc.).
And thou art from a shadow of him” (3 Stele Seth)
Later, the same
text speaks of “the shadows which pour from the one.”(3 Stele Seth)
___________________________________
- Members of the Upper Aeons:
“(Barbelo) is prior to them all, the Mother-Father, the first man,
the holy Spirit, the thrice-male, the thrice-powerful, the thrice-named androgynous
one” (Apoc John)
"This is the pentad of the aeons: ... it is the forethought,
which Barbelo... and the foreknowledge, and the indestructibility, and the
eternal life, and the truth. This is the androgynous pentad of the aeons, which
is the decad of the aeons...” (Apoc John)
“The first Aeon he established over the first: Armedon, Nousanios,
Armozel; the second he established over the second Aeon: Phaionios, Ainios,
Oroiael; the third over the third Aeon: Mellephaneus, Loios, Daveithai; the
fourth over the fourth: Mousanios, Amethes, Eleleth. Now those Aeons were
begotten by the God who was begotten - the Christ -...” (3 Protennoia)
- The Four Lights are also called ‘Light-Givers’: “"It is
I," he (Eleleth) said, "who am understanding. I am one of the four
light-givers...” (Hypo. Archons)
“Four lights (appeared) from the divine Autogenes. He expected
that they might attend him. And the three (are) will, thought, and life. And
the four powers (are) understanding, grace, perception, and prudence. And grace
belongs to the light-aeon Armozel, which is the first angel. And there are
three other aeons with this aeon: grace, truth, and form. And the second light
(is) Oriel, who has been placed over the second aeon. And there are three other
aeons with him: conception, perception, and memory. And the third light is
Daveithai, who has been placed over the third aeon. And there are three other
aeons with him: understanding, love, and idea. And the fourth aeon was placed
over the fourth light Eleleth. And there are three other aeons with him:
perfection, peace, and wisdom. These are the four lights which attend the
divine Autogenes, (and) these are the twelve aeons which attend the son of the
mighty one” (Apoc John)
“The incorruptible man Adamas asked for them a son out of himself,
in order that he (the son) may become father of the immovable, incorruptible
race, so that, ... the dead aeon may raise itself (and) dissolve. And thus
there came forth from above the power of the great light, the Manifestation.
She gave birth to the four great lights: Harmozel, Oroiael, Davithe, Eleleth,
and the great incorruptible Seth, the son of the incorruptible man Adamas.”
(Gosp. Egypt)
Seth: “Thou hast commanded all these to be saved through thy word
[...] glory who is before him, Hidden One, blessed Senaon, he who begat
himself, Asineu(s), [...]ephneu(s), Optaon, Elemaon the great power, Emouniar,
Nibareu(s), Kandephor(os), Aphredon, Deiphaneus, thou who art Armedon to me,
power-begetter, Thalanatheu(s), Antitheus, thou who existeth within thyself,
thou who art before thyself - and after thee no one entered into activity.” (3
Stele Seth)
“... "Thou art [...], Solmis! [...] according to the Vitality
that is thine, and the first activity which derives from divinity. Thou art
great, Armedon! Thou art perfect, Epiphaneus!
“And according to
that activity of thine, the second power and the Mentality which derives from
blessedness: Autoer, Beritheus, Erigenaor, Orimenios, Aramen, Alphleges,
Elelioupheus, Lalameus, Yetheus, Noetheus, thou art great! He who knows thee
knows the Universal One! Thou art One, thou art One, He who is good, Aphredon!
Thou art the Aeon of the Aeons, He who is perpetually!"
“Then she praised
the Universal One, saying "Lalameus, Noetheus, Senaon, Asine[us, ...]riphanios,
Mellephaneus, Elemaoni, Smoun, Optaon, He Who Is! Thou art He Who Is, the Aeon
of Aeons, the Unbegotten, who art higher than the unbegotten (ones), Yatomenos,
thou alone for whom all the unborn ones were begotten, the Unnameable One! ...
(10 lines missing) ... knowledge."
“Now after I heard
these things, I saw the glories of the perfect individuals and the all-perfect
ones who exist together, and the all-perfect ones who are before the perfect
ones.” (Allogenes)
Surrounding the One and praising him, there are at least five
orders of angels or aeons in the Gospel of the Egyptians:
- thrones
- powers
- glories
- authorities
- angels
- five according to: “and the thrones which are in them, and the
powers which surround them, glories, authorities, and the powers” (Gosp Egypt)
- four according to : “she (Providence) passed through all the
aeons which I mentioned before. And she established thrones of glory, and
myriads of angels without number who surrounded them, powers and incorruptible
glories, who sing and give glory, all giving praise with a single voice, with
one accord, with one never-silent voice, [...] to the Father, and the Mother,
and the Son” (Gosp Egypt)
In the Bruce Untitled ms, there is the following (order
uncertain):
- powers
- glories
- angels
- archangels
- ministers
“These are the powers which were given to the forefather who was
placed in the aeon of the mother. And there were given to him myriads upon
myriads of glories, and angels and archangels and ministers, so that those that
are of matter should serve him '.” (Bruce Untitled ms)
“Among the things that were created the monad is first, the dyad
follows it, and the triad, up to the tenths. Now the tenths rule the
hundredths; the hundredths rule the thousandths; the thousands rule the ten
thousands. This is the pattern <among the> immortals.” (Eugnostos)
*
**
***
****
*****
Note: It’s possible that the passage below from Gospel of the
Egyptians should be arranged as follows (acc. to Layton, p 118)
a
ee
ééé
iiii
ooooo
yyyyyy
óóóóóóóó
- “* * * IE ieus EO ou EO Oua! Really, truly, O Yesseus Mazareus
Yessedekeus, O living water, O child of the child, O glorious name! Really
truly, aiOn o On (or: O existing aeon), iiii EEEE eeee oooo uuuu OOOO aaaa{a}.
Really, truly, Ei aaaa OOOO, O existing one who sees the aeons! Really, truly,
aee EEE iiii uuuuuu OOOOOOOO, who is eternally eternal! Really, truly, iEa aiO,
in the heart, who exists, u aei eis aei, ei o ei, ei os ei (or: (Son) forever,
You are what you are, You are who you are)! This great name of yours is upon
me, O self-begotten Perfect one, who is not outside me.” (Gosp Egypt)
“<The> dyad and the monad do not resemble anything, but they
are first to exist. The dyad, being divided, is divided from the monad, and it
belongs to the hypostasis. But the tetrad received (the) elements, and the
pentad received concord, and the hexad was perfected by itself. The hebdomad
received beauty, and the ogdoad received [...] ready ... (1
line unrecoverable) ... greatly. And the decad
revealed the whole place. But the eleven and the twelve have traversed [...]
not having [...]” (Marsanes)
In the Untitled Bruce Codex ms, the Pleroma is described as a
temple-city with four gates and a Holy of Holies: “He created the holy Pleroma
in this way: four gates with four monads within it, one monad to each gate and
six helpers (parastatai) to each gate, and twelve dodecads to each gate, and
five pentads of powers to each gate, making 24 helpers (parastatai) ; and 24
myriad powers to each gate, and nine enneads to each gate, and ten decads to
each gate, and twelve dodecads to each gate, and five pentads of power to each
gate, and an overseer who has three aspects - an unbegotten aspect, a true
aspect and an unutterable aspect - to each gate. One of his aspects looks forth
from the gate to the outer aeons, the other looks inwards to the Setheus, and
the other looks to the height, and the sonship is in each monad. ... The
unutterable aspect of the overseer looks towards to the holy of the holies,
that is, the infinite one who is the head of the sanctuary.” (Untitled Bruce)
- The Untitled Bruce Codex ms also describes the Pleroma as ‘the
body’ of the monad, which is like the mother-city “This is the manner in which
they are all within the monad : there are twelve monads making a crown upon its
head ; each one makes twelve. And there are ten decads surrounding its
shoulders. And there are nine enneads surrounding its belly. And there are
seven hebdomads at its feet, and each one makes a hebdomad. And to the veil
which surrounds it like a tower, there are twelve gates. There are twelve
myriad powers at each gate, and they are called archangels and also angels.
This is the mother-city of the only-begotten one.” (Untitled Bruce)
_____________________________________________________
- On the Anthropos in the Upper Aeons:
In the following three paragraphs from the Bruce Untitled ms, we
have a prayer to the One which reveals how the Elect come to be a part of the
One’s unity by questioning the signs in his creation, and so ‘knowing’ that
they are one with him. Then, the Anthropos manifests the form by which we come
to know the One, and this form is that of Man (and of the saviour):
“thou alone art he who has given character to all creation. Thou
hast manifested them in thyself. Thou art the demiurge of those that have not
yet manifested - these which thou alone knowest, and we do not know them. Thou
alone art he who gives signs of them to us, so that we should ask of thee
concerning them, that thou shouldst manifest them, and we should know them
through thee alone.
Thou alone didst bring thyself to the measure of the hidden
worlds, until they knew thee. It is thou who hast given to them to know that it
is thou who hast borne them in thy incorporeal body. And thou hast created
them, for thou hast begotten Man in thy self-originate mind, and in the thought
and the perfect idea. This is Man, begotten of mind (nous), to whom thought
gave form. It is thou who hast given all things to Man. And he has worn them
like garment.
and he has put them on like clothing, and he has wrapped
himself in the creation like a mantle. This is Man whom the All prays to know.
Thou alone hast commanded Man that he be revealed so that they know thee
through him, that thou hast begotten him. And thou wast revealed according to
thy will.” (Bruce Untitled ms)
_____________________________________________________
- Creation in the APOCRYPHON OF JOHN:
- The One - the Invisible Virginal Spirit
-Barbelo - the first power, which is Thought or Forethought and
‘the womb of everything’
- The Pentad - Barbelo plus Foreknowledge, Indestructibility,
Eternal Life, and Truth
- From a spark of the Invisible Spirit (ie the One), Barbelo
conceives the Only Begotten One, which is the Christ
- Christ received a helper, which is Mind. And the Mind generated
Will, Deed and Word
- (four powers:
understanding, grace, perception, and prudence)
- The Twelve Aeons (incl. four Lights and their three aeons)
- four Lights (or light-aeons): Armozel, Oriel, Daveithai, Eleleth
- the first light-aeon Armozel over: the aeons Grace, Truth, and
Form.
- the second light-aeon Oriel: over the aeons: Conception,
Perception, and Memory.
- the third light-aeon Daveithai: the aeons: Understanding, Love,
and Idea.
- the fourth light-aeon Eleleth: over the aeons Perfection, Peace,
and Wisdom.
- From Barbelo’s Forethought and from the will of the Father and
the Son, Pigera-Adamas, ‘the Perfect Man’ appears
- Pigera-Adamas is placed over the first aeon
- Seth is placed over the second aeon
- Seed of Seth is placed over the third aeon (incl the ‘souls of
the saints’)
- Late-repented souls are placed over the fourth aeon
- Without the consent of the Father or his maleness, Sophia brings
forth a thought, which is Yaltabaoth
- Yaltabaoth begets Authorities, which are seven Kings over seven
Heavens, and five over the depths of the Abyss
- The first seven Authorities, as seven kings of the Heavens:
- the first one is Athoth, the reaper
- The second one is Harmas, the eye of envy.
- The third one is Kalila-Oumbri.
- The fourth one is Yabel.
- The fifth one is Adonaiou, who is called Sabaoth.
- The sixth one is Cain, whom the generations of men call the sun.
- The seventh is Abel.
The next five Authorities, as five kings of the Abyss:
- The eighth is Abrisene.
- The ninth is Yobel.
- The tenth is Armoupieel.
- The eleventh is Melceir-Adonein.
- The twelfth is Belias, it is he who is over the depth of Hades.
- each archon created seven powers (days of the week) and each
power created six angels until they became 365 angels (days of the year)
- Yaltabaoth united each of the seven Powers with the seven
Authorities, and named them acc. to the upper aeons.
The seven Powers, their appearances, and their names
the first is Athoth, a sheep's face; goodness
the second is Eloaiou/Eloaio, a donkey's face; foreknowledge
the third is Astaphaios/Astraphaio, a hyena's face; divinity
the fourth is Yao, a serpent's face with seven heads; lordship
the fifth is Sabaoth, a dragon's face; kingdom
the sixth is Adonin/Adonein, a monkey's face; envy
the seventh is Sabbede/Sabbateon, a shining fire-face;
understanding
- The One speaks of the first Perfect Man and shines his image in
the Upper Aeons, so Yaltabaoth and the authorities and powers create a man acc.
to this image and acc to their likeness, who they name Adam.
The seven Powers created seven substances or ‘souls’:
- The first one, goodness, created a bone-soul;
- The second, foreknowledge, created a sinew-soul;
- The third, divinity, created a flesh-soul;
- The fourth, the lordship, created a marrow-soul;
- The fifth, kingdom created a blood-soul;
- The sixth, envy, created a skin-soul;
- The seventh, understanding, created a hair-soul.
- The multitude of the angels used these seven substances to create
the parts of the natural and material body (many as ‘left and right’)
- Other angels (named) are in charge of ‘the sense’,
‘imagination’, ‘composition’ and ‘whole impulse’ (there are 7 senses)
- Four demons (named) rule over heat, cold, wetness, and dryness,
while the mother of these stands in their midsts, who is ‘matter’
- The four chief demons are:
- Ephememphi: pleasure
- Yoko: desire
- Nenentophni: grief
- Blaomen: fear.
- the mother of them all is Aesthesis-Ouch-Epi-Ptoe.
- From the four chief demons come the Passions:
- Ephememphi: pleasure - wickedness, pride, etc
- Yoko: desire - anger,
wrath, bitterness, bitter passion, unsatedness etc
- Nenentophni: grief - envy, jealousy, distress, trouble, pain,
callousness, anxiety, mourning, etc.
- Blaomen: fear - dread, fawning, agony, and shame
- the head of the material soul is Anaro
- the number of angels that made the body are 365.
- The Five Lights descend and trick Yaltabaoth into blowing his
spirit into the face of natural body, which then moved and became luminous.
- The archons reform man’s body from earth, water, fire and the
four winds to make him mortal, ignorant, forgetful, desirous and dark
- Then the archons placed Adam in the garden and told him to eat
of ‘the tree of their life’, which is deathly, deceptive, dark, desirous etc
- Yaltabaoth creates Eve from the image of Epinoia which he sees
in Adam. When Adam sees Eve, he sees Epinoia, who awakens him.
- Sophia descends, as life ‘and through her they taste the perfect
knowledge’; the saviour descends, as an eagle on the tree of Knowledge; and
Epinoia is in the tree of knowledge and appears as a light.
- Angered, Yaltaboath casts them out of paradise. Then, he seduces
Eve, but the Epinoia took ‘life’ (Sophia) out of Eve, so she brought forth two
sons, who are Eloim and Yave, whom Yaltabaoth called Cain and Abel
- Through this seduction, Yaltabaoth planted sexual desire in Eve,
and ‘the copies of bodies’ through sexual intercourse’.
- Adam begot Seth by ‘recognizing the likeness of Foreknowledge’
But, ‘a likeness of the mother’ descended and gave him Yaltabaoth’s ‘water of
forgetfulness’ to drink, so Seth forgot where he came from.
_____________________________________________________
- Creation in the GOSPEL OF THE EGYPTIANS
- The One
- Domedon Doxomedon - the first to come forth, as the aeon and the
light of all the aeons
- The Father, Mother, and Son: three powers from the One: each has
an ogdoad
- (the Son is fourth, Mother fifth, Father sixth)
- First Ogdoad:
The <first> ogdoad,
- the thought
- the word
- the incorruption,
- the eternal life,
- the will,
- the mind,
- the foreknowledge,
From the first ogdoad came ‘the thrice-male child’ (‘Ainon’)
The second ogdoad is related to the Mother, the virginal Barbelon
The third ogdoad is related to the Son, who produces seven powers
of light and seven voices
- After the three powers called the uncallable name of the One, it
produced the thrice-male child of the
great Christ, called 'Ainon'
- Ainon produced, ‘the child of the child’ ‘Esephech’
- Providence in mentioned
- Then comes the ‘self-begotten’ Christ
- Mirothoe gives birth to Adamas, who mingles with the Logos and
the Autogenes
- Adamas asks for a son out of himself, and Manifestation gives
birth to the Four Lights Harmozel, Oroiael, Davithe, Eleleth, as well as Seth,
“the son of the incorruptible man Adamas.”
- In this way, the perfect hebdomad became complete. (“When she
receives the glory, she becomes eleven ogdoads”)
- Then ‘the consorts’ come for the completion of the Ogdoad of
Autogenes. After this, the ‘ministers’ of each and their consorts
first light Harmozel - consort Grace / minister Gamaliel - consort
Memory
second light Oroiael - consort Perception / minister Gabriel-
consort Love
third light Davithe - consort Understanding / minister Samlo-
consort Peace
fourth light Eleleth - consort Prudence / minister Abrasax- consort Eternal Life
In this way five ogdoads became complete, making forty
With much shaking and trembling, the three male children come down
and in the greatness of Christ the church appears (confused)
Seth brings forth the four-breasted Virgin Plesithea, then takes
his seed from her and puts it in the fourth aeon of Davithe
- After five thousand years, the Four Lights decide to make an angel
to rule over chaos and Hades. In the cloud of Sophia they make a being, one
part ‘great angel Sakla’ and one part ‘great demon Nebruel’, who creates twelve
aeons, and seven (unknown)
The first angel is Athoth.
The second is Harmas, the eye of the fire
The third is Galila.
The fourth is Yobel.
The fifth is Adonaios, who is called 'Sabaoth'.
The sixth is Cain, whom the great generations of men call the sun.
The seventh is Abel;
the eighth Akiressina;
the ninth Yubel.
The tenth is Harmupiael.
The eleventh is Archir-Adonin.
The twelfth is Belias.
- Then a voice said ‘Behold man exists’ and his image appeared
- Because of this Metanoia (repentence) came into being, and with
the Father’s approval she prayed for repentence, so that the seed of Seth would
be sown into the Aeons, in order that ‘the deficiency may be filled up’. She
did this ‘for the repentence’ of the archons and their offspring
“Then the great Seth came and brought his seed. And it was sown in
the aeons” He sowed it through Edokla. The number of his seed is the number of
Sodom.
The great Seth is sent through ‘the three parousias’ (the flood,
the conflagration, and the judgment of the archons) to save the race ‘that went
astray’. Seth ‘put on’ Jesus, and the body prepared for him by the virgin, to
establish baptism, and a reconciliation with the world.
- the (first) great light Harmozel, the place of the living
Autogenes and the incorruptible man Adamas,
- the second, Oroiael, the place of the great Seth, and Jesus,
- the third, Davithe, the place of the sons of the great Seth,
- the fourth, Eleleth, the place where the souls of the sons are
resting,
- the fifth, Yoel, who presides over the name of him to whom it
will be granted to baptize with the holy baptism.
_____________________________________________________
- Creation in EUGNOSTOS THE BLESSED:
- The One
- the first to appear is Father (self-grown, self-constructed,
'Self-Father Man')
- the first principle is
Immortal Androgynous Man.
- His male name is 'Begotten, Perfect Mind'
- His female name is 'All-wise Begettress Sophia'
- From Immortal Androgynous Man came the ‘first designation’
namely, divinity and kingdom
- First Man is 'Faith' ('pistis')
- First was the monad, then
the dyad and the triad, up to the tenths.
- From Immortal Androgynous Man came another ‘principle’ called
'Self-perfected Begetter’
- His male aspect is 'First-begotten Son of God'.
- His female aspect is 'First-begotten Sophia, Mother of the
Universe,' whom some call 'Love'
- First Begetter Father is called 'Adam of the Light.'
- Son of Man consented with Sophia, his consort, and revealed a
great androgynous Light.
- His masculine name is 'Savior, Begetter of All things'.
- His feminine name is designated 'Sophia, All-Begettress' and
'Pistis' (faith).
- Then Savior consented with his consort, Pistis Sophia, and
revealed six androgynous spiritual beings
- The first aeon, then, is that of Immortal Man. The second aeon
is that of Son of Man, who is called 'First Begetter' ("who is called
'Savior'" added in Codex V)
_____________________________________________________
- Creation in ON THE ORIGIN OF THE WORLD:
- Chaos is not darkness but shadow, which means it comes from
something prior to it.
- From the infinite came immortal beings, including Pistis, who
engendered Sophia
- Sophia is like a veil dividing above and below
- A shadow of Pistis was cast into the abyss. It became jealous,
and from that jealousy came an aborted foetus, spiritless, made of matter in
the watery abyss
- Pistis Sophia gave the abortion form, so it could rule over
matter, and it became a lion-like androgynous form which Sophia named Yalda
baoth, since “she said to him, "Child, pass through to here," whose
equivalent is 'yalda baoth'.”
- The Perfect call him Ariael, since he is lion-like
- ‘as a spirit moving to and fro upon the waters’, the ruler
separated the waters from the dry places, and separated heaven from earth,
creating all through ‘the word’, which he had learned from Sophia.
- By saying Eee, Eh, and Asss, he created three sons: Yao, Eloai,
and Astaphaios
- Seven androgynous forms appeared in the chaos with masc. and
fem. names:
Yaldabaoth: fem name: Pronoia (Forethought) Sambathas ‘which is
'week'
Yao: fem. name: Lordship.
Sabaoth: fem. name: Deity.
Adonaios: fem. name: Kingship.
Elaios: fem. name: Jealousy.
Oraios: fem. name: Wealth.
Astaphaios: fem. name: Sophia (Wisdom).
- For each, Yaldabaoth created heavens with seven glories, and
thrones, mansions, temples, chariots and virgin spirits, as well as ‘armies of
gods and lords and angels and archangels - countless myriads’.
- Yaldabaoth said "It is I who am God, and there is no other
one that exists apart from me." Then Sophia in anger said, "You are
mistaken, Samael," (that is, "blind god") and predicted that ‘an
immortal man of light’ would appear, causing the ‘consummation’ when all their
works would be abolished
- Of the seven rulers, Sabaoth alone repented, and Sophia brought
him up to the seventh heaven, and with the aid of three archangels he dwells
above the twelve gods of chaos
- Sophia gave Sabaoth a daughter, Zoe (Life)
- Sabaoth created a four-faced chariot with 8 x 4 forms (lion,
calf, eagle, man) making 64 forms, with 7 angels plus him (1) before it, making
72 gods in all. The chariot is called Cherubin, and more serpent-like angels
were created, called Seraphin. He also created ‘a congregation of angels,
thousands and myriads, numberless’
- Then he created ‘a firstborn called Israel - which is, "the
man that sees God"’
- Then Jesus Christ, who resembles the Saviour in the eighth
heaven above
- Saboath’s reign will continue until the consummation
- So Sophia has Saboath on her right, as Justice; and ‘the prime
parent’ (ie Yaldabaoth) on her left, as Wickedness, to rule over the lower
aeons: “Now Pistis Sophia set him apart from the darkness and summoned him to
her right, and the prime parent she put at her left. Since that day, right has
been called justice, and left called wickedness.” (Origin of the World)
- Due to envy and wrath for his son Saboath, Yaldabaoth created
Death, which rules over the six heavens, but not the seventh of Saboath
- Death, an androgynous being, mingled with its own nature and
produced seven androgynous offspring.
- The names of the male ones: Jealousy, Wrath, Tears, Sighing,
Suffering, Lamentation, Bitter Weeping.
- The names of the female ones: Wrath, Pain, Lust, Sighing, Curse,
Bitterness, Quarrelsomeness
- In contrast Saboath, through Zoe, created seven good androgynous
forces
- The names of the male ones: the Unenvious, the Blessed, the
Joyful, the True, the Unbegrudging, the Beloved, the Trustworthy.
- The names of the female ones: Peace, Gladness, Rejoicing,
Blessedness, Truth, Love, Faith (Pistis).
- Then Yaldabaoth said,"If anything has existed before me,
let it appear, so that we may see its light." And in the eighth heaven a
light appeared, which all the forces saw, except only Yaldaboath and his
Pronoia saw that it had ‘a human likeness within it’
- Pronoia fell in love with the likeness but, being unable to
embrace it, she ‘poured her light upon the earth’, and the human likeness
appeared as "Adam of Light," whose rendering is "the luminous
man of blood," and the earth spread over him, holy Adaman, whose rendering
is "the Holy Land of Adamantine."
- Then all the rulers ‘honored the blood of the virgin’.
-
“Out of that first blood Eros appeared, being androgynous. His masculinity is
Himireris, being fire from the light. His femininity that is with him - a soul
of blood - is from the stuff of Pronoia. He is very lovely in his beauty,
having a charm beyond all the creatures of chaos. Then all the gods and their
angels, when they beheld Eros, became enamored of him. And appearing in all of
them, he set them afire: just as from a single lamp many lamps are lit, and one
and the same light is there, but the lamp is not diminished. And in this way,
Eros became dispersed in all the created beings of chaos, and was not
diminished.”
-
As
‘the sexual union of Eros
was consummated’ from earth came ‘primal pleasure’ and ‘woman’ from which
followed ‘marriage’ ‘birth’ and finally ‘dissolution’
- Justice created Paradise with the Tree of Life and Tree of
Knowledge
- The first soul loved eros, and from their blood spilled upon the
earth came the first rose, and then the first plants, and then the first
animals - all containing the seeds of the authorities and angels.
- Before this, Sophia created all the stars in the heavens ‘to
render temporal signs’
- The ‘Adam of Light’ created six heavens between the upper eighth
and the chaos below.
- Out of jealousy, Yaldabaoth created a copy of the Adam of the
Light out of matter, so that the Adam would be enamoured of it.
- Eve, the ‘first virgin’ utters a poetic account, ‘I am...’
- A certain number of souls were captured and taken prisoner into
the bodies fashioned by the Yaldabaoth, and will remain until the consummation
of the age.
- Then Yaldabaoth created Adam, a ‘soul-endowed’ man, then
abandoned him. He could not stand.
- Then Eve, who is Zoe (daughter of Sophia), was sent, and she
spoke, so that Adam rose
- The authorities, seeing Zoe glow with light, wanted to unite
with her. But she fled and hid in Adam, becoming Eve. Then, the true Zoe hid in
the Tree of Knowledge. And the rulers united with the material Eve instead of
Zoe. She brought forth Abel.
- There were three Adams - the Adam of Light who is spirit, the
second Adam who has soul, and the third who is earhtly.
- The earthly Adam and Eve, instructed by ‘the beast’ or
‘instructor’ (who is Zoe), ate of the tree of knowledge, and gained knowledge.
The rulers were unable to punish the beast, but Adam and Eve were cursed.
- Seeing that Adam and Eve were now wise and could disinguish
light from darkness, they cast them out of paradise, lest they should eat from
the Tree of Life and become immortal.
- The rulers instructed them on how to worship the false gods
- Once the world had become full with the descendents of the
earthly Adam, the Father sent ‘the blessed little innocent spirits’, which the
rulers could not defile. This is “the fourth race is kingless and perfect, being the highest of
all. For these shall enter the holy place of their father. And they will gain
rest in repose and eternal, unspeakable glory and unending joy.”
- With the coming of the fourth race comes the end of the rulers, who
consume each other and are consumed.
_____________________________________
THE ANGELS
- Those who receive the Elect in the Upper Aeons by ‘knowing’ or
‘recognizing’ them
Protennoia system of angels:
Yammon, Elasso, Amenai- ‘those who give robes of light’ -
Micheus, Michar, Mnesinous - ‘the baptizers’ in the spring of the
Water of Life. Bariel, Nouthan, Sabenai - ‘those who enthrone’ from the Throne
of Glory.
Ariom, Elien, Phariel - ‘those who glorify’ with the glory of the
Fatherhood. And Kamaliel, [...]anen, Samblo, and the servants of <the>
great holy luminaries - ‘those who snatch away’
“And I delivered him to those who give robes - Yammon, Elasso,
Amenai - and they covered him with a robe from the robes of the Light; and I
delivered him to the baptizers, and they baptized him - Micheus, Michar,
Mnesinous - and they immersed him in the spring of the Water of Life. And I
delivered him to those who enthrone - Bariel, Nouthan, Sabenai - and they
enthroned him from the Throne of Glory. And I delivered him to those who
glorify - Ariom, Elien, Phariel - and they glorified him with the glory of the
Fatherhood. And those who snatch away snatched away - Kamaliel, [...]anen,
Samblo, and the servants of <the> great holy luminaries - and they took
him into the light-place of his Fatherhood. And he received the Five seals from
the Light of the Mother, Protennoia, and it was granted him to partake of the
mystery of knowledge, and he became a Light in Light.” (3 Protennoia)
_____________________________________________________
Gospel of Egyptians system of angels:
Yesseus Mazareus Yessedekeus - ‘the living water’
James the great and Theopemptos and Isaouel - ‘the great leaders’
Micheus and Michar and Mnesinous - ‘they who preside over the
spring of truth’
Sesengenpharanges - ‘he who presides over the baptism of the
living
Micheus and Michar - ‘they who preside over the gates of the
waters’
Seldao and Elainos - ‘they who preside over the mountain
Gamaliel, Gabriel, Samblo, and Abrasax (the ministers of the four lights)
- ‘the receivers of the great race of Seth’
Olses, Hypneus and Heurumaious - ‘they who preside over the sun,
its rising’ , Mixanther and Michanor (the rulers) - ‘they who preside over the
entrance into the rest of eternal life’
Akramas and Strempsouchos - ‘they who guard the souls of the
elect’
Heli Heli Machar Machar Seth (the great power)
Harmozel (the first light) - ‘the place of the living Autogenes,
the God of the truth, and Adamas’
Oroiael (the second light) - ‘the place of the great Seth, and
Jesus’
Davithe (the third light) - ‘the place of the sons of Seth
Eleleth (the fourth light) - the place where the souls of the sons
are resting’
Yoel (the fifth), ‘who presides over the name of him to whom it
will be granted to baptize with the holy baptism that surpasses the heaven, the
incorruptible one’.
Poimael - ‘the incorruptible man’
“There appeared to them the great attendant Yesseus Mazareus
Yessedekeus, the living water, and the great leaders, James the great and
Theopemptos and Isaouel, and they who preside over the spring of truth, Micheus
and Michar and Mnesinous, and he who presides over the baptism of the living,
and the purifiers, and Sesengenpharanges, and they who preside over the gates
of the waters, Micheus and Michar, and they who preside over the mountain,
Seldao and Elainos, and the receivers of the great race, the incorruptible,
mighty men <of> the great Seth, the ministers of the four lights, the
great Gamaliel, the great Gabriel, the great Samblo, and the great Abrasax, and
they who preside over the sun, its rising, Olses and Hypneus and Heurumaious,
and they who preside over the entrance into the rest of eternal life, the
rulers Mixanther and Michanor, and they who guard the souls of the elect,
Akramas and Strempsouchos, and the great power Heli Heli Machar Machar Seth,
and the great invisible, uncallable, unnameable, virginal Spirit, and the
silence, and the (first) great light Harmozel, the place of the living
Autogenes, the God of the truth, and <he> who is with him, the incorruptible
man Adamas, the second, Oroiael, the place of the great Seth, and Jesus, who
possesses the life, and who came and crucified that which is in the law, the
third, Davithe, the place of the sons of the great Seth, the fourth, Eleleth,
the place where the souls of the sons are resting, the fifth, Yoel, who
presides over the name of him to whom it will be granted to baptize with the
holy baptism that surpasses the heaven, the incorruptible one.” (Gosp Egypt)
- Poimael: “But from now on, through the incorruptible man
Poimael, and they who are worthy of (the) invocation, the renunciations of the
five seals in the spring-baptism, these will know their receivers as they are
instructed about them, and they will know them (or: be known) by them. These
will by no means taste death.” (Gosp Egypt)
- Abrasax and Sablo and Gamaliel appear during the parousia of the
conflagration: “Abrasax and Sablo and Gamaliel will descend and bring those men
out of the fire and the wrath, and take them above the aeons and the rulers of
the powers, and take them away” (Apoc Adam)
- Micheu and Michar and Mnesinous: “Then a voice came to them,
saying "Micheu and Michar and Mnesinous, who are over the holy baptism and
the living water, why were you crying out against the living God with lawless
voices and tongues without law over them, and souls full of blood and foul
deeds? You are full of works that are not of the truth, but your ways are full
of joy and rejoicing. Having defiled the water of life, you have drawn it
within the will of the powers to whom you have been given to serve them.” (Apoc
Adam)
_____________________________________________________
Untitled Bruce codex ms angels:
- Gamaliel, Strempsuchos, Agramas are called watchers who aid the
Elect: “Watchers were sent to them, namely Gamaliel, Strempsuchos, Agramas and
those with him. They became helpers to those who believed in the light-spark.”
(Untitled Bruce)
____________________________________
THE CREATION OF THE LOWER AEONS
- Yaltabaoth
- The creation of the Lower Aeons
- On the Anthropos in the Lower Aeons:
- On creating Adam
- On Adam and Eve
- On Eating from the Tree
- On the descendents of Adama and Eve:
_____________________________________________________
YALTABAOTH
- The lion-headed serpent, the source of fiery light, the first
archon
- “Now when Pistis Sophia
saw him moving about in the depth of the waters, she said to him, "Child,
pass through to here," whose equivalent is 'yalda
baoth'. (Origin of the World)
- Also called Saklas, Samael: “he is called 'Saklas', that is, 'Samael', 'Yaltabaoth'” (3 Protennoia)
- “Now the archon who is weak has three names. The first name is
Yaltabaoth, the second is Saklas, and the third is Samael.” (Apoc John)
- he displays arrogance, pride, envy, greed
- Titles: ‘the first archon’, ‘the Arrogant One’, ‘the envier’,
‘the great Demon’, ‘the Archgenitor’
- As the Arrogant One and envier: “the Arrogant One, became proud on account of the praise of the
powers. He became an envier” (Letter
of Peter to Philip)
- As the Archgenitor: “Then the Powers answered, saying ‘For behold, even he, the
Archgenitor of our birth, about whom we boast, even he did not know this
Speech.’” (3 Protennoia)
- Yaltabaoth is in the “form of a lion-faced serpent. And its eyes were like lightning
fires which flash” (Apoc John)
- As ‘the great Demon’, etc: “...immediately there appeared the
great Demon who rules over the lowest part of the underworld and Chaos. He has
neither form nor perfection, but, on the contrary, possesses the form of the
glory of those begotten in the darkness. Now he is called 'Saklas', that is,
'Samael', 'Yaltabaoth', he who had taken power; who had snatched it away from
the innocent one (Sophia); who had earlier overpowered her who is the Light`s
Epinoia who had descended, her from whom he had come forth from originally.” (3
Protennoia)
- His form comes from a shadow of light. He is androgynous:
“Sophia, who is called Pistis, wanted to create something, alone without her
consort; and her product was a celestial thing. A veil exists between the world
above and the realms that are below; and shadow came into being beneath the
veil; and that shadow became matter; and that shadow was projected apart. And
what she had created became a product in the matter, like an aborted fetus. And
it assumed a plastic form molded out of shadow, and became an arrogant beast
resembling a lion. It was androgynous, as I have already said, because it was
from matter that it derived.” (Hypo. Archons)
- As the Archigenetor of ignorance: “the Archigenetor of ignorance
reigned over Chaos and the underworld” (3 Protennoia)
- He has a dual nature Sakla ‘the great angel’ and Nebruel ‘the
great demon’
- “After five thousand years, the great light Eleleth spoke:
"Let someone reign over the chaos and Hades." And there appeared a
cloud whose name is hylic Sophia [...] She looked out on the parts of the
chaos, her face being like [...] in her form [...] blood. And the great angel
Gamaliel spoke to the great Gabriel, the minister of the great light Oroiael;
he said, "Let an angel come forth, in order that he may reign over the
chaos and Hades." Then the cloud, being agreeable, came forth in the two
monads, each one of which had light. [...] the throne, which she had placed in
the cloud above. Then Sakla, the great angel, saw the great demon who is with
him, Nebruel. And they became together a begetting spirit of the earth. They
begot assisting angels. Sakla said to the great demon Nebruel, "Let the
twelve aeons come into being in the [...] aeon”” (Gosp Egypt)
- He is Samael, ‘the Blind God’ on account of his pride: “Their
chief is blind; because of his power and his ignorance and his arrogance he
said, with his power, "It is I who am God; there is none apart from
me." When he said this, he sinned against the entirety. And this speech
got up to incorruptibility; then there was a voice that came forth from
incorruptibility, saying, "You are mistaken, Samael" - which is,
"god of the blind." (Hypo. Archons)
- “It was <in> the abyss that it (shadow) appeared, deriving
from the aforementioned Pistis. Then shadow perceived there was something
mightier than it, and felt envy; and when it had become pregnant of its own
accord, suddenly it engendered jealousy.
And when these
things had come to pass, then Pistis came and appeared over the matter of
chaos, which had been expelled like an aborted fetus - since there was no
spirit in it. For all of it (chaos) was limitless darkness and bottomless
water. Now when Pistis saw what had resulted from her defect, she became
disturbed. And the disturbance appeared, as a fearful product; it rushed to her
in the chaos. She turned to it and blew into its face in the abyss, which is
below all the heavens.
And when Pistis
Sophia desired to cause the thing that had no spirit to be formed into a likeness
and to rule over matter and over all her forces, there appeared for the first
time a ruler, out of the waters, lion-like in appearance, androgynous, having
great authority within him, and ignorant of whence he had come into being. Now
when Pistis Sophia saw him moving about in the depth of the waters, she said to
him, "Child, pass through to here," whose equivalent is 'yalda
baoth'.
Now as for the
ruler Yaltabaoth, he is ignorant of the force of Pistis: he did not see her
face, rather he saw in the water the likeness that spoke with him. And because
of that voice, he called himself 'Yaldabaoth'. But 'Ariael' is what the perfect
call him, for he was like a lion. ” (Origin of the World)
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On the Creation of the Lower Aeons:
- In the Apocryphon of John,
Yaltabaoth alone and by himself generates the Authorities: “He became strong
and created for himself other aeons with a flame of luminous fire which (still)
exists now. And he joined with his arrogance which is in him and begot
authorities for himself.” (Apoc John)
- “And he placed seven kings - each corresponding to the
firmaments of heaven - over the seven heavens, and five over the depth of the
abyss... And he shared his fire with them...” (Apoc John)
- In the Gosp. Egypt, Yaltabaoth is generated,
like all the aeons, in a cloud named Sophia, but there is no fault in his
generation.
- In Hypostasis of the Archons,
Yaltabaoth generates the Lower Aeons with Sophia’s help: “And he said, "If
any other thing exists before me, let it become visible to me!" And
immediately Sophia stretched forth her finger and introduced light into matter;
and she pursued it down to the region of chaos. And she returned up to her
light; once again darkness [...] matter. This ruler, by being androgynous, made
himself a vast realm, an extent without limit. And he contemplated creating
offspring for himself, and created for himself seven offspring, androgynous
just like their parent. And he said to his offspring, "It is I who am god
of the entirety." (Hypo. Archons)
- The Lower Aeons are modelled on the Upper Aeons, being in their
image, except that they are formed from perishable matter.
- Yaltabaoth, “having expelled his power - that is, the blasphemy
he had spoken - he pursued it down to chaos and the abyss, his mother, at the
instigation of Pistis Sophia. And she established each of his offspring in
conformity with its power - after the pattern of the realms that are above, for
by starting from the invisible world the visible world was invented.” (Hypo
Archons)
- "This is the first archon who took a great power from his
mother. And he removed himself from her and moved away from the places in which
he was born. He became strong and created for himself other aeons with a flame
of luminous fire which (still) exists now. And he joined with his arrogance
which is in him and begot authorities for himself. ... And he placed seven
kings - each corresponding to the firmaments of heaven - over the seven
heavens, and five over the depth of the abyss, that they may reign.” (Apoc
John)
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On the Anthropos in the Lower Aeons:
"And a voice came forth from the exalted aeon-heaven: 'The
Man exists and the son of Man.' ...And the whole aeon of the chief archon
trembled, and the foundations of the abyss shook. And of the waters which are
above matter, the underside was illuminated by the appearance of his image
which had been revealed. And when all the authorities and the chief archon
looked, they saw the whole region of the underside which was illuminated. And
through the light they saw the form of the image in the water. And he
(Yaltabaoth) said to the authorities which attend him, 'Come, let us create a
man according to the image of God and according to our likeness, that his image
may become a light for us.'” (Apoc John)
Then a voice came from on high, saying, "The Man exists, and
the Son of the Man." Because of the descent of the image above, which is
like its voice in the height of the image which has looked out through the
looking out of the image above, the first creature was formed. (Gosp Egypt)
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On creating Adam:
The Protennoia says that the first man was modelled after her:
“And the Archigenetor of ignorance reigned over Chaos and the underworld, and
produced a man in my likeness.” (3 Protennoia)
Yaltabaoth: “'Come, let us create a man according to the image of
God and according to our likeness, that his image may become a light for us.'
And they created by means of their respective powers in correspondence with the
characteristics which were given. And each authority supplied a characteristic
in the form of the image which he had seen in its natural (form). He created a
being according to the likeness of the first, perfect Man. And they said, 'Let
us call him Adam, that his name may become a power of light for us.'” (Apoc
John)
In Hypo. Archons, the archons formed man’s body from matter in an attempt to