The Serpent's Wisdom

"Still" was Alanis Morissette's contribution to the soundtrack of the movie "Dogma," in which she also portrayed God. The lyrics bear an interesting parallel to the ancient Gnostic text "The Thunder, Perfect Mind": a series of declarative contradictory "I am" statements from a divine female point of view. In fact it's enough to make me wonder if Morissette wrote the song with this text in mind.

( video and lyrics )

For my second homework in Prof. Koester's class i have prepared a text on the Gnostic piece "The Hypostasis of the Archons." Dare i turn in a paper like this? Or should i turn in something more tame?

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The chief [of the archons] 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." [cf. the decalogue -- SS] 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."

His thoughts became blind. And, 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.

As incorruptibility looked down into the region of the waters, her image appeared in the waters; and the authorities of the darkness became enamored of her. But they could not lay hold of that image, which had appeared to them in the waters, because of their weakness - since beings that merely possess a soul cannot lay hold of those that possess a spirit - for they were from below, while it was from above. This is the reason why "incorruptibility looked down into the region (etc.)": so that, by the father's will, she might bring the entirety into union with the light.

from The Hypostasis of the Archons

This is an obvious parallel to the opening of Genesis:
[Genesis 1:2] Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

Though it is an obvious parallel, there are important distinctions. Note for example that the Gnostic text presumes that the Incorruptble Divine Spirit is female. In fact, throughout the entire text, wisdom is revealed from female to female -- in the Valentinian scheme, females are the primary bearers and receivers of wisdom. The Archons lust after Sophia's reflection in a possessive way -- wanting to make it their own and contain it. You cannot possess, however, the reflection of light on water; it comes as it does, and you must simply receive it as it presents itself.

The "Hypostasis of the Archons" is a Valentinian text, and as such, assumes a distinction between the soul-natured (or psychikoi) and the spirit-natured (or pneumatikoi). That distinction comes into play in the above, in that the soul-natured and spirit-natured react differently to the reflections of spirit 'in the formless waters'.

What isn't explicitly stated, is that for a reflection to be visible on the surface of water, the surface of the water must first be still.

This is a depiction of the way in which the Divine presense touches us. Its touch is so subtle and so light that we see only a reflection of it in the waters of our soul during moments of stillness.

There are those who see the reflection and try to capture spirit and wrap it up in words and concepts, so that it will always be with us. This is depicted in the Hypostasis graphically as the gang-rape of Eve by the Archons.

There are those instead who seek to maintain inner stillness so that the reflection will appear more often and with more clarity.

The term "Gnostic" has been used in many contexts to signify many different things. While it has historically been applied to several ancient schools of thought, many of the attributions also associated with the term may or may not actually apply to these historical schools of thought.

The problem is evident, for example, in the Catholic Church's recent (Feb. 2003) statement claiming that the source of most modern "New Age" spirituality is ancient Gnosticism. This document claims, for example, that Gnosticism is the source of both dualism and pantheism -- a contradictory claim. It is evident that the term is being misused.

So, what does the word "Gnostic" actually indicate? Several answers to this have been given in various contexts. I have examined and appraised the following claims or assertions.

( 1. Gnosticism is the doctrine of salvation by knowledge -- that is, one is saved not by faith but by knowing correct bits of information. )


( 2. Gnosticism teaches esoteric salvation, or ritual as a way of securing one's own salvation. )


( 3. Gnosticism teaches that salvation is reserved for a pneumatic elite. )


( 4. Gnosticism teaches dualism, the material world as inferior to a perfect ideal or spiritual world. )


( 5. Gnosticism is pantheistic. )


( 6. Gnosticism teaches that the material world was fashioned by a imperfect demiurge who is not the perfect Father. )


( 7. Gnosticism teaches that the demiurge is evil. )


( 8. Gnosticism teaches that the material world is ruled by demonic beings (called archons). )


( 9. Gnosticism teaches that the ideal or perfect spiritual world, the divine pleroma, is populated by deities called aions. )


( 10. Gnosticism teaches that each human contains a spark of the divine 'trapped' in the material world. )


( 11. Gnosticism teaches reincarnation. )


( 12. Gnosticism teaches that Jesus was not really human. )


( 13. Gnosticism teaches that Jesus was merely the adopted son of God. )


( 14. Gnosticism teaches that Jesus was Sophia or wisdom personified. )


( 15. Gnosticism teaches that Jesus (not Satan) was the Serpent in the Garden of Eden. )

crossposted to my journal and crossposted to cp_circle

Edit: I have decided to add short comments explaining my own position on each of these points.

Among the Gnostic community, women were considered to be special bearers and receivers of wisdom and Gnosis.

This is demonstrated most strikingly in The Hypostasis of the Archons, a document which appears (in my opinion) to have been originally Sethian but bearing the marks of Valentinian redaction. This is a retelling of the Genesis creation myth, but with several important differences -- notably among them, the prominent role of women.

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crossposting in my journal and crossposting to gnosticism