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Sophia and the Apocryphon of John

 In 1945, thirteen leather-bound papyrus codices buried in a sealed jar were found by an Egyptian farmer near the town of Nag Hammadi, Egypt. 

These early Christian texts date from the 3rd century CE, and include writings attributed to John the Baptist.  The writings of John became known as the Secret Book of John, or the Apocryphon of John.  A translation by Frederik Wisse can be read online.

In the Apocryphon, there is a female counterpart to the Father - the holy Mother, Barbelo.  "She is the forethought of the All - her light shines like his light - the perfect power...  The first power, the glory of Barbelo, the perfect glory in the aeons, the glory of the revelation... she became the womb of everything, for it is she who is prior to them all, the Mother-Father."

I became aware of the Apocryphon of John after reading a graphic novel by Marisa Acocella, The Big She-Bang, The Herstory of the Universe According to God the Mother (highly recommended, by the way).  In addition to the divine mother Barbelo, Marisa Acocella also focuses on the divine daughter, Sophia.  

Sophia and Barbelo in the Pleroma
Sophia is mentioned in the Apocryphon of John as well as many other Gnostic texts.  She even has her own detailed Wikipedia page.

In Gnosticism, Sophia is considered to be the syzygy (divine feminine twin) of Christos (aka Jesus).

So, God the Father, God the Mother (Barbelo), Sophia, Christos, and the other divine aeons are living happily in the pleroma, the place of light, fullness, and knowledge, until Sophia gets a bit restless.  

Teenagers...

Right:  Original painting available via Saatchi Art.


When the Father and the Mother aren't looking, Sophia (whose name means wisdom) sneaks out of the pleroma.  She needs to know what's out there.  Turns out, there's darkness.  In the darkness, she is frightened.  Darkness and fear didn't exist in the pleroma.  It's an entirely new thing. In the darkness, Sophia's fear takes physical form, as the monster Yaldabaoth, "a lion-faced serpent...and its eyes were like lightning fires which flash."  

Sophia and Yaldabaoth
Sophia Manifesting Yaldabaoth original painting, prints, merch available in shop or through Redbubble and Fine Art America.

Sophia was horrified by her creation.  "She cast it away from her..."  She hid Yaldabaoth in a "luminous cloud".  

Since he possessed a small shard of Sophia's power, Yaldabaoth was able to make other lower monsters, the archons. "The name of the first one is Athoth, whom the generations call the reaper.  The second one is Harmas, who is the eye of envy...."  

From the cloud where Sophia had encased him, Yaldabaoth could not see the pleroma.  In his ignorance, he thought he was God, rather than just a monster, manifested from fear.  "And he is impious in his arrogance which is in him.  For he said, 'I am God and there is no other God beside me.'"

The Gods became angry with his arrogance, and one revealed a reflection of himself to Yaldabaoth.  "And the whole aeon of the chief archon trembled, and the foundations of the abyss shook.  And the waters which are above matter, the underside was illuminated by the appearance of his image which had been revealed."

Immediately jealous, Yaldabaoth tried to recreate the form he had seen.  This would become Adam.  Yaldabaoth tried and tried to breathe life into Adam, but he could not.  Sophia, in an attempt to atone for her creation of the monster, gave life and wisdom to Adam, that he might one day rise up and overthrow Yaldabaoth.  

Yaldabaoth and Sophia Creation of Adam
Creation of Adam original painting, prints, and other merch available  in shop or through Redbubble or Fine Art America.  Original painting available via Saatchi Art.

"The body moved and gained strength and it was luminous.  And in that moment the rest of the powers became jealous, because...his intelligence was greater than that of those who had made him, and greater than that of the chief archon. And when they realized that he was luminous, and that he could think better than they, and that he was free from wickedness, they took him and threw him into the lowest region of matter."

"And the archons took him and placed him in paradise.  And they said to him, "Eat, that is at leisure," for their luxury is bitter and their beauty is depraved.  And their luxury is deception and their trees are godlessness and their fruit is deadly poison and their promise is death."

"But what they call the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which is Epinoia of the light, they stayed in front of it that he (Adam) might not look up to his fullness."  

Adam in the Garden of Eden, archons
Adam in the Garden - Can you find him?  Original painting, prints, and other merch available in shop or through Redbubble or Fine Art America.  Original painting available via Saatchi Art.

"It is not the way Moses wrote."

This is as far as I've gotten with paintings.  I should continue.  I loved finding this story because I grew up with weekly church, Sunday school, Bible camp, and I ended up with some serious cognitive dissonance about the official doctrine.  Years later, learning that there were suppressed girl power versions is soothing to me.

Comments

  1. Paul Joseph RovelliApril 28, 2021 at 9:45 AM

    You might enjoy my commentary on this text.
    http://www.gclvx.org/Comments%20on%20the%20Apocryphon%20of%20John.pdf

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LauraApril 28, 2021 at 10:20 AM

      I like how you make a connection between Barbelo and Isis. It reminds me of Helena Blavatsky. I enjoyed painting her.

      Delete
    2. LauraApril 28, 2021 at 10:21 AM

      Helena Blavatsky is here https://www.echoingmultiverse.com/political-and-historical-goddesses

      Delete

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