Tuesday, July 24, 2012

"Truth Made Names" and "Rulers" in Gospel of Philip

Tying directly in with the theme of 'Names' in the Gospel of Philip, there is another small section within the book which speaks of how words' meanings are twisted when in different people's hands.

Truth Made Names

Truth made names in the world,
and without them we can't think.
Truth is one and is many,
teaching one thing through the many.
I interpret this to mean the many sects of literalism being used as a gateway or a stepping stone toward gnosis. 'Teaching one thing'(morality/goodness/the divine) through the many(many sects). 'Truth' of course meaning the good god/pleroma/the All.

The literalist traditions are easier for people to comprehend and when they are outgrown then the names in the literalists texts can be seen through for their alternate meanings. Like literalists using 'God' to signify the one to be prayed to while gnostics use the same world to mean the All/pleroma/the fullness/the totality of salvation and all that ever was/the divine spark which we all share. See the difference in meaning? Same word but completely different significance to different people. The same concept pertains to 'Christ.' Literalists use the word and name as a noun relating to a specific person while gnostics use the word to signify a tone or feeling of affection toward one another, speaking of one another as bright, Christ-like sparks. 'Christ' in the hands of a gnostic takes on another layer of meaning because Christ was not just a person to most of us, he was a gateway or a metaphor to what we all need to tell ourselves about what is true, and this is that dogma enslaves and then kills while freedom saves.

Layers of meaning, that is what gnosis is about. When we're ready then the layers will be revealed and we will grow in maturity.

This next section in Philip I find particularly succulent to meditate on. It's pretty clear in its meaning.

Rulers

The rulers wanted to fool us,
since they saw we were connected with the good.
they took the names of the good
and gave them to the not so good
so with names they could trick
and rope us to the not good.
As though doing us a favor,
they took names from the not good
and placed them on the good.
They knew what they were doing.
They wanted to grab those of us who were free
and make us eternal slaves. 

Again, twisting words to mean one thing or another when interpretation of the hearer is what matters. The archons are the rulers being spoken of; the ruling Ideas of power and intrigue in this world. They're like plague bearers whispering in people's ears, instigating war and other forms of disharmony which would divide us into factions of In or Out, 'other', and varelse or ramen. The truth is that we are all One in pleroma. We are all good and all need to see it but get so caught up in splitting hairs that it seems like we want to argue more than live in peace.  

No comments: