Satanism/Luciferianism-- Gnosticism?!

On YouTube there is a documentary called Killuminati which has prompted this post. The documentary isn't even finished being produced in all it's parts but it deserves commentary from a gnostic.  There is a deep misunderstanding brought to the surface during the 9th section which directly shows just how gnosticism gets lumped in with the evil crowd. This is instructive as this is precisely the kind of garbage being perpetuated world wide. It is important that we clear up this grave misunderstanding because... you're reading a gnostic blog!

Let me state emphatically here, right now-- gnosticism is not Lucifer worship, Satan worship, or anything you can possibly contrive about that(those) entities. I do not and would never worship anything evil. I loathe evil. I recognize it for what it is: bad stuff! I do not worship chaos or power hungry entities.

The erroneous motif of Luciferian worship in concordance with gnosticism has a long history; it spans back at least as far as Irenaeus and his 'Against Heresies' work. (available on Amazon here)He codified what it meant to be a heretic against the almighty Church and being gnostic was the gravest sin of all why? Because to be gnostic was to tell the world(and the Pope) that you did not need clerics to tell you the nature of good and evil. You did not need anyone to 'save' your soul because we are 'born in sin.' Instead, you believed that you were born innocent; tabula rasa, and instinctively knew what is good is not to be feared, ie. life experiences. How can an experience which teaches you something be bad? The Church wants you to repent for things you haven't even done yet. You were born a sinful, dirty thing and you should be ashamed of yourself for it.

The Church has tried to shove those very notions down the throat of everyone within reach for nearly two thousand years, creating the most horrific spectacle of evil on Earth. When I speak of evil I am not only inferring the molestation from priests and nuns, I'm talking about things far more profoundly evil than I can mention in my blog. Do your own reading. I'd suggest starting with Sister Charlotte Keckler. That's not even the tip of the iceburg, folks. The deeper you go the darker it gets. Research masonic lodges. Continue. Do your own reading.

I digress. Ok, so the Catholic Church is evil. Have they been pointing the finger at us(gnostics) throughout the ages as a way to divert attention from themselves? Absolutely. The problem is that there are other organizations which are directly connected with the Catholic Church which advertize themselves as non-religious orders but they in fact are. The members might not know it, though. (Masonic orders and the like. Illuminati at the core)And because they have bought into the out-of-the-field fundamentalist belief system of the Serpent in the Garden of Eden they have taken the kernel of truth gnostics take for a metaphor and spun it so wildly out of control that they make Jeffrey Dahmer look like a cute little bunny. Countless millions of people have suffered for this doctrine of hate through the millennia as a result.

What is this core metaphor gnostics know about the Garden of Eden story which gets us into so much trouble with the Church? It is simply this: the "snake" did us a favor.  But it is the identity of the "snake" itself which is only part of the problem. Roman Catholics call him Satan or Lucifer. In some stories gnostics call him pleroma or the All , the Good God, or even Sophia. Ahhhhh, so now do you see where the misunderstanding has come about? It all goes back to the fundamental misunderstanding of what is good and evil, who 'God' really is, and what the purpose of life is. If you don't understand who or what 'God' is in the context the gnostics are using him then yeah, it all turns into a name calling party. But it's not even really about what names are used for which character. This isn't about names. It's about a misunderstanding of the characters themselves and where they reside in the hierarchy of Good and Evil. 

Think of a totem pole of power. But you've never even heard of the guy on top. Why not? This is what gnostics ask fundamentalists to justify every single day and they refuse. The fundamentalists are stuck on worshiping the middle man instead of the real power. And no wonder that middle man feels the need to make everyone feel bad, he's got an inferiority complex!

That's a load of tripe, most people say. Now get back to the snake. How can you call Lucifer good? Well, we don't. Satanists and Luciferians do. Catholics have gone batshit crazy through the centuries(that's obvious even to atheists) and their doctrine is so flawed that when atheists and gnostics can agree on some things you have to admit that something is amiss. The reason we can agree with atheists is because they only hone in on the Abrahamic God personality not considering other possibilities, when that is the God they're pissed off at. I've already written about this in other posts. 

Ok, so those who worship Lucifer tell everyone that the snake did everyone a favor. Gnostics also think the snake did everyone a favor. But gnostics aren't Luciferians? How is this so? I'm going to make this as simple as I can for all the fundamentalists who come here and read this post so you can understand once and for all that you can't browbeat gnostics about this issue ever again.  As a matter of fact, from now on I'm going to consistently link people who make this assumption directly to this post. Here's the definitive answer.

Satanists and Luciferians were initially inspired by gnostics but have run so far afoul of the concepts that they have gone insane. That's the whole problem right there. They're nuts. They're fundamentalists of Evil. Gnostics want nothing to do with Luciferians or Satanists. Then why do we get tarred with the same brush?? Let's break it down.

Luciferian/Satanist point of view:

1.  Luciferians/Satanists believe Lucifer/Satan was either cast out of Heaven unjustly and/or created this world.
2. Luciferians/Satanists believe the God of the Old and New Testament(Jehovah/Yahweh) is evil. He wants to enslave humanity. 
3. They believe the 'snake' is Lucifer/Satan and that he should be worshiped and/or revered because he opened Adam and Eve's eyes to what freedom they could have outside God's protective garden.
4. Wiki: "While Satanists are deeply involved in living for the moment, content to remain who or what they currently are, Luciferians seek ways to aid humanity’s progression to the next stage of social, physical or intellectual evolution. One religion deals with the self, while the other deals with humanity as a whole and the natural world in which we live. In spite of using similar archetypes, the Luciferian pursuit of knowledge and understanding has little in common with the Satanic goal of immediate gratification."
5. Wiki: "Rather than focusing on “what comes next,” Luciferians feel that humans should be focused on this life and how to make the most of it every single day. Enlightenment is the ultimate goal."
6. Wiki: "Luciferian principles highlight truth and freedom of will, worshipping the inner self and one’s ultimate potential as opposed to bowing to the rules of a supernatural entity. Traditional dogma is shunned as a basis for morality on the grounds that humans should not need deities or fear of eternal punishment to distinguish right from wrong and to do good."
7. Wiki: "Most theistic Luciferians, however, are solitary practitioners, connecting with others who share their beliefs but not forming or following a particular institution. A personal relationship with Lucifer is commonly achieved through meditation and the practice of Magick, either independently or in small groups, unaffiliated with a larger community. While this relationship is a deeply personal one and, as such, varies from one practitioner to another, it follows by default the Neo Pagan approach of seeking camaraderie and inspiration rather than the father/child or master/servant dynamic of monotheistic beliefs. The thought of a spiritual hierarchy or submission to a higher power is looked down upon on the grounds that being a god is not enough; even a deity must earn respect and admiration from those who follow him. In some cases, Lucifer is seen as a rebel angel or opposing god who sought to move humankind forward in defiance of Jehovah’s will to keep them ignorant and childlike. In other cases, Lucifer is believed to be the actual creator of Earth and the mortal realm, and was punished for bringing humans into existence. Exact beliefs and practices vary greatly, as they do within any religion, but in all cases Lucifer is considered to be a positive figure of both social and intellectual progress, with magick and ritual as potential tools to follow in his footsteps."
8. Wiki: "Most, but not all, atheistic Luciferians are involved with the occult and practice magick, ritual and meditation. They do not accept the idea of non-corporeal entities but do often follow the occult as a means of harnessing the natural powers and energies around them to achieve their goals. In this way, many embrace the concept of Lucifer as the inner self, and essentially deify themselves by striving to understand, change and recreate the world around them, becoming their own “gods.” Striving for apotheosis is a common theme among most Luciferians, but the approach runs particularly strong amongst atheistic practitioners."
9. Wiki says: "Luciferianism does not support violence or amoral practices. Luciferians strongly believe in equality, moral excellence, honesty and integrity. They support the moral and intellectual development of children in particular, and the protection of the natural world." 
10. Man is meant to overpower those who are weaker than they are. Might makes right!
11. Greed is good. Look to the robes, symbology, accoutrements, and palaces of the Pope to see a good example of this. Follow the money and the history. Catholicism is Luciferian at its root. Magic is practiced every single day for its parishioners in open view and they accept it as being holy and good. This magic is used to tether people to dogma and a perception of perpetual sin and redemption. Luciferians will not admit to their connection with Catholicism, though. An ex-Catholic is a completely different story. They tend to open right up and tell it all, quite fearfully.

Gnostic point of view, in no particular order:

1. The demiurge(Jehovah) created this universe and declared himself God because he didn't know he wasn't the only one. His mother, Sophia, created him and was so embarrassed by him that she put him in a vacuum-like area. So he himself was all he could see. He thought he was God. He thought he just sprang forth from nothing and was all-powerful. 
2. There is no Satan in gnosticism, only layers of ideas or realms of ideas and spirits which can influence human beings which are called Archons. They vary in philosophy and purpose. They are spirits.
3. All gnostics are theists. We believe in a deity and spirits, if not several levels of them. We do not need the God of this world(the demiurge/Jehovah/Yahweh) but we do need the All/pleroma/the Good God. Pleroma is in essence our spiritual grandfather. He is not in any of the Genesis stories fundamentalists will ever tell because to talk about him or even acknowledge his presence is an affront to them. He is a separate entity entirely from Satan. We do not have anything to do with Satan. The 'snake' in our 'Genesis' story is actually Sophia, which is an emmination of Pleroma whom he calls his 'wisdom.'
4. Gnostics understand personal metamorphosis and forgiveness. We've never tortured or killed someone because they don't convert. Gnosis can't be faked. Personal room to grow is a fundamental right of gnosis. Everyone has a place in this world, no matter how contrary their ideas may be from ours. 
5. Humans are already free by birth. Humanity didn't need a helpful 'nudge' from any snake; we were born perfect and whole and fully capable of understanding good and evil simply by listening to our innate common sense. That innate common sense is our soul, which is divinely connected to pleroma/the All. We derive our common sense and conscience from him, directly. Bad people tune him out, good people tune him in. It's that simple. You are accountable for your actions and expected to act in a mature fashion. If you don't act in a mature fashion then you'll simply make yourself miserable. You get what you give.
6. Jehovah/Yahweh is evil. He has a purpose(overseer of this material world) but he is evil at the core. He wants to separate us from Big Love(pleroma) because he wants us to worship him instead of the real Love above him. He wants to keep us in fear and suspicion over every little move we make and every thing we think, saying they're sins and that we're too stupid to learn from our own mistakes and we need to blindly trust in Him to think for us.  Instead of allowing free will, his apostles feel they have to threaten humanity with tales of brimstone and fire to keep us all under their thumb and giving tithes to churches which revel in sins themselves. We already know what's right and wrong! We have a conscience. We don't need man telling us right from wrong. We can teach and influence one another but ultimately we are very intelligent beings and can sort this out for ourselves.
7. We co-opted the Garden story to argue with fundamentalist Christians. (Our Genesis story is drastically different, see #1.) We don't even believe it really happened. It's a metaphorical story.  Humans didn't magically 'rise up' from any garden. When gnostics have talked about it historically it is to create a dialogue about the differences between Jehovah(demiurge) and the Good God(pleroma/fullness/totality/the All) for visual and demonstrative purposes. Like using puppets to get the point across as to the intent of the subjects. Sophia was the puppet for pleroma, saying to Adam and Eve, "Hey! This jackass is lying to you! You live in a much livelier world than he's telling you about. There are colors you've never even seen before and they're all available if you remove the choke collar from your neck. Choking something you love isn't good or loving."
8. The material world is bad. Greed is bad. The material world is a distraction from the Good God who waits one day to fully merge with us again after death. Our lives do have meaning and it is to experience all we can of in this world and this existence so we learn from it; so we can grow more steadfast in our knowledge that good is worth living for and worth searching for. People are good at the core and will acknowledge it if you give them half a chance. 
9. Our purpose is to propagate good in people and let them see that greed in the material world hinders them from true and lasting happiness, not just after death, but here and now.  
10. We don't worship the 'inner self.' We worship pleroma, which we are divinely connected two and have always had access to.  Everyone has access to pleroma. He is the Good God attached to us by a spiritual umbilical cord. 
11. Narcisism is looked down upon in gnosticism. There isn't really such a thing as a 'person' when I look at you and then a 'person' when I look back at myself in a mirror. There is only 'us.' We all make up the body of pleroma. We have joint causes, not individual one. We are all connected and we all affect the growth of one another. Personal ambition is perpetual spiritual failure when taken to the extreme and for the wrong cause.
12. Lower level gnostics(psychic) do sometimes perform magic acts until they grow out of that need to use props to focus their energy. Ascended gnostics(pneumatic) have no need for that ceremony to understand the divine. Once fully initiated they are able to connect to pleroma with no ceremony, thus making them ascended. This is known as entering the bridal chamber. Understandably, this diversity in the ranks causes confusion to outsiders.  Some neo-pagan groups like Wicca can be seen as lower level gnostics. Some pretend that they are capable of gnosis but are not; they may even use some of the same names for spirits. They hold the same snare and hooks as dogmatic religion and fully intend to keep their practitioners there at the same level. It depends on the intention and the path being taken.  The lower deities and imaginative emmanations from humanity's past are merely footstools to ultimately arrive at the truth of pleroma and once that truth is realized those lower spirits become trivial. The goal is to use the power of one's own soul and mind to connect to the Good God, not to use magical props as a spiritual crutch.
13. Gnostics believe in reincarnation but not in Hell as literalist Christians have written about it. No fire and brimstone await us. The closest we come to 'Hell' is when we have lived a bad life and made bad choices and when we die we are put in a place furthest out from the Good God while we await to be reborn. Distance from the Good God isn't pleasant, it is painful because we're so jealous of those closer to him, but it is of our own choosing. When we choose to get closer to him in life then we enter into a ring of afterlife closer to him in distance. This is more pleasant because we can see him and sense his warmth and love for us. The ultimate goal is to finally merge with him completely and stop being reborn in the material world. To get there, you have to do GOOD!

The whole point is really this: Satanists/and Luciferians are inspired by gnosticism but they have taken one kernel truth of gnosticism(Jehovah being bad) and run so far out into Candyland with it there's no turning back. They're evil because they want to be evil. Period. They can't see any possibility for the existence of the Good God because they're so hell bent on hating Jehovah.

Protect the natural world? This sounds like a PR line. What are they, Greenpeace for the Morning Star? Ritual animal and human sacrifice. Sex magic with unwilling minors. Yes, they're really humanitarian in nature.

Gnostics do not collude with the Devil. (We leave that to the very capable hands of the Catholic Church.) Gnostics are heretics by definition of the Roman Catholic Church but only because the Church is so jealous and greedy. There is no money to be made in gnosis. They can't control us, they've never been able to. They've only ever been able to kill us. There is only personal understanding to be had; no power even, in gnosis. The only power which exists in this world is that of the Evil One because he rules this world but not our spirits.

The most pure hearted gnostics have always been dirt poor and lived in the gutters of their community.  Or, they've created communities which revolved around gnostic concepts and then had them razed to the ground by the Church. Read about Pope Innocent III and his rationale for wiping out the south of France.

I hope this article has helped dispel the myths. If you can think of anything I can add to make this even better please leave me a comment.

PS. Please pardon me for using Wiki as a source. Concerning Satanism/Luciferianism, all the other sources I found were basically saying the exact same thing as Wiki. So we know who's editing Wiki, right? 

"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.  

Ode to the Demiurge?

With my iPod on shuffle today I stumbled over a song which took me by surprise from my past. Mid '90's. The group with the iconic name of STP, not to be confused with the motor oil.

The lyrics to this particular song are quite striking. Pay careful attention to the description of the being and the muffled shift to Bible verses at the end. Kinda makes me cringe. I honestly can't think of anyone else who has created such a bold piece of work about the demiurge's doings.

Stone Temple Pilots -- "Naked Sunday"
(There's a few seconds delay at the beginning for the lower instrumentals and I haven't found a real video that was made for the song by the band. Not sure if it even exists.)

You're the fuel to the fire
You're the weapons of war
You're the irony of justice
And the father of law

I've been waiting for awhile to meet you
For the chance to shake your hand
To give you thanks for all the suffering you command
And when all is over and we return to dust
Who will be my judge and which one do I trust

You're the champion of sorrow
You're the love and the pain
You're the fighter of evil
Yet you're one in the same

I've been waiting for awhile to meet you
For the chance to shake your hand
To give you thanks for all the suffering you command
And when all is over and we return to dust
Who will be my judge and which one do I trust?

An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth
Turn the other cheek aside
We're all god's children, the giver of life
Alone, we will survive.

What Can The Demiurge Offer Us?

I've had rather modest run ins with pleroma the past few days. I guess my mind has been so frenzied with the Holidays that I haven't given him nearly as much time as I should. He has still found the odd moment here and there to butt into my thoughts and inject some common sense for me to mull over. And I certainly appreciate it!!

"This world is but a minute."

Seems simple, yes? Six words strung together to convey the impression that we should make haste, seize the day, and do what we can when we can. But I don't believe that is what pleroma wishes for us.

I translate the above six words to: "The demiurge can give you a minute but look at what I can give you after that minute is over."

The demiurge rules the earth. That is His domain; His creation. He can say whatever he wants to human beings and he can also promise whatever he wants. But that doesn't mean it will in fact occur.

He promises us Heaven if we give our lives over to His will. But this Heaven is also a place where we will look down into Hell from on high, able to watch the torture of those souls who did not accept his rule. Why would a supposedly loving deity promise such a horrific future to us? Who would want that?

I think back now to when I was a young child being indoctrinated within the Baptist church and cringe. When I was "saved" I sold my soul to a deity who cares more about himself than my welfare. He doesn't want me to learn to think for myself. He doesn't want me to ask questions. He simply wants me to sit back, shut up, and wait for the end of the world.

On the other hand, the All offers something which the demiurge never could because He doesn't have the right to offer it in the first place: sanctuary. The demiurge did not make Earth for us as a playground. He made it into a hell. Our souls don't go to the demiurge when our human body dies, it bypasses Him and is reabsorbed into pleroma. The demiurge can't control where our souls go. Only the All can. The only thing the demiurge can do is lie, lie, lie, lie, and lie some more.

I feel that pleroma's message today was meant to comfort. We only have a short while to be assaulted with the demiurge's demented message of hellfire and brimstone before we will be back in the arms of the one who loves us the best. We are brave people. We can outlast Him. And meanwhile we can spend our years in this human body exploring ideas and concepts which are intriguing to us. There is no need for us to stampede off a cliff like a horde of lemmings, tired of this life. Human death will come to us soon enough.

Part 1 of Gnostic Defininitions

Aeons??! Who are they? What are they? And who the heck is Sophia? I never heard of her in my Sundays School class as a child.

When I first began to delve within gnostic texts there were so many confusing new terms to learn I thought I'd go nuts. Gnostic literature is entrenched in metaphor and pseudonyms to both distance the reader from the question of "who is the author?" and grab their attention concerning the real meaty substance of their writing. A double edged sword, really.

This rampant use of metaphor, personification, directional paradox, and other literary tools confound most beginners. They think they're reading riddles which are purposely created to drive them insane. Gnostic writing is another language and flavor of communication altogether than what modern readers are accustomed to. Equate it with elaborate poetry; something which takes time and patience in order to unravel. Think it's another language? You're right. Most terms are, coincidentally, in Greek. That is the difficult thing to consign yourself to. There is studying involved in the search for gnosis.

I'd like to put together some simplified definitions and examples of basic concepts in gnosticism. There are variations within different sects and even within time frames between gnostic text authors. Once these main ideas are learned and well thought out, real gnosis begins. So yes, you are reading words based in the Greek language. But only because that is where the written ideas began to take shape on paper.... er.. papyrus. You're reading about a completely different way of thinking. And this demands a different discipline of the mind. So relax... and get ready for your brain to be twisted into a knot. I promise it'll be worth it.

Gnosis: Knowledge. To know. To explore learning. Insight. Intuition. Intuitive reasoning. Enlightenment. Knowledge via contemplation.

Gnostic: Person who pursues gnosis. Because of the radical anti-Nicene views of gnostics this has led to quite a bit of trouble for them through the centuries. Dubbed as heretics by the Vatican and often pursued for trial, even today.

Proto(first)-Gnostics: Valentinus, Philo, Basilides, Simon Magus, Cerinthus. Menander of Antioch, Zostrianos, early Sethian leaders, Ptolemy, Heracleon, Mary Magdalen, John the Evangelist, Jesus Christ, St. Paul, Plato .... and dozens more. Too many to name. Many of them were philosophers you've seen and heard of all your life. They all have connections to one another in some way. A great many of them even wrote to one another. And as you can tell from that eclectic list several of these were martyred for their beliefs.

Later Gnostic Leaders: the prophet Mani, St. Augustine of Hippo(until he turned tail and decided he wanted to be a bishop of the Christian Church instead), and the in-hiding leaders of the Manichean, Sethian, Archontic, Basilidean, Cerdonina, and Valentinian sects. After the third century announcing you were a gnostic was akin to putting a neon Shoot Me sign on your forehead. By the fourth century all gnostic books were banned and gnostic meetings were illegal. In the Roman Empire such religious leanings were met with a death penalty. There are many other sects of gnosticism. This list is by no means complete. For example: William Blake is a known gnostic. However he was a cryptic one. A closet gnostic.

Pleroma: Greek, meaning "the fullness." The totality of divine powers. The Divine Principal. The good god. The one who is incomparable and incomprehensible. The All. The one who made the elements that the universe is made from but not the one who made the universe itself. He did not give it form. He simply exists as The All.

Yahweh/God/Jehovah/demiurge/the arrogant one: the Judeo-Christian God described in the New Testament who said in Exodus, "for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God." The child of Sophia and the grandchild of pleroma. The one who formed the universe from the elements pleroma made. Also known as the "half-maker" because he had taken the divine substance and fashioned out of it a world. He is the spiritual being who had become forgetful of his origins, even of the ultimate God. He thinks that he is God and there is no other God before him.

Archons: servants of the demiurge. False rulers. The angels and demons of the Old Testament. The lures and distractions of this material world.

Sophia: Greek for "wisdom." This female personality is a bit tricky to pin down. In some Eastern Orthodox Christian sects she is seen as the Virgin Mary. In some gnostic texts she is also known as Eve, in that she was duped or made a mistake which lead to the flaws and separation of man from God. In others she is described as the female child of the Divine Principal. There are correlations between these variations but some are subtle while others are more blatant. The cross over from the Christian tradition into the Gnostic tradition is that "Eve" was the first female child of a god and so was Sophia. Both gave birth. Sophia's childbirth was virginal whereas Eve's was not. So this calling Sophia "Eve" is more of a half-truth based descriptive, merely letting readers know that Sophia was The First of her kind.

The gnostic Sophia was formed out of the mind of The All. Sophia then makes a decision to do some action(text explanations vary widely) and in the process of attempting this, she creates the demiurge(God/Yahweh). Embarrassed, and fearing reprisals from The All, she hides Him away in a void all by himself. God, thinking he's all alone and the only god in existence creates the earth and heavens as well as human beings to worship Him. That's the extremely short and sweet version.

Aeons: emanations of The All. In the various systems these emanations are differently named, classified, and described, but the emanation theory itself is common to all forms of Gnosticism. They are described as existing in layers(like an onion) between human beings and The All. Complex hierarchies of Aeons are thus produced, sometimes to the number of thirty. These Aeons belong to the purely ideal, noumenal, intelligible, or supersensible world; they are immaterial, they are hypostatic ideas. Together with the source from which they emanate they form the Pleroma ("region of light"). The lowest regions of the Pleroma are closest to the darkness—that is, the physical world.

*******************

In the Letter of Peter to Philip, Peter is relating a mystic occurrence on the Mount of Olivet in which the spirit of Jesus appeared to teach them.

On The Deficiency of the Aeons:

"To begin with, concerning the deficiency of the aeons, this is the deficiency. When the disobedience and the foolishness of the mother(Sophia) appeared, without the command and majesty of the father, she wanted to set up eternal realms. When she spoke, the arrogant one(demiurge) followed. But when she left behind a portion, the arrogant one grabbed it, and it became a deficiency. This is the deficiency of the aeons.

"When the arrogant one took a portion, he sowed it. He placed powers and authorities over it, and he confined it within the mortal realms. All the powers of the world rejoiced that they had been brought forth. But they do not know the preexistent father, since they are strangers to him. Rather, he was given power, and they served him and praised him.

"But the arrogant one grew proud because of the praise of the powers. He was jealous and wanted to make an image in place of an image and a form in place of a form. He assigned the powers within his authority to mold mortal bodies. And they came into being from a misrepresentation of the appearance."

On Fighting The Rulers, Peter relays:

The messengers worshiped again, saying, "Lord, tell us, how shall we fight against the rulers, since the rulers are over us?"

A voice called out to them from the appearance, saying, "You must fight against them like this, for the rulers fight against the inner person. You must fight against them like this: come together and teach salvation in the world with a promise. And arm yourselves with my father's power, and express your prayer, and surely the father will help you, as he helped you by sending me. Do not be afraid. I am with you forever, as I already said to you when I was in the body."

(Deficiency is also synonymous in gnostic texts with "smallness" or "pettiness.")

Songs of Solomon, Song 4

Make note of which words are not capitalized and also of line four, which speaks of the age of certain beings.

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Oh my god, no one can seize your holy place
nor alter it, for no one has such power.
You designed your sanctuary before you drew the world.
What is older will not be undone by the younger.
You gave your heart to your believers, O lord,
and will not stumble or be fruitless.

One hour of your faith is more precious than all days and years.
Who can feel pain by wearing your grace?
Your seal is known. Creatures know it.
Archangels are robed in it.
You gave your fellowship. Not you, but we, were in need.
Distill your dews upon us.
Open your rich fountains and let milk and honey pour out.
You hold back nothing that you promise
and know the ends and give freely
so that you might withdraw and give us again.
You know all, god, and from the beginning fix order.
And you, O lord, make all things.

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"What is older will not be undone by the younger."
So what the demiurge tries to do (persuade you away from looking deeper into yourself and instead fixating on His pointless rituals) will never sway pleroma from doing what he wishes, which is to draw you closer and teach you everything you could possibly wish. The arrogant son will not undue what the father is or has done, no matter how hard He tries to convince himself otherwise.

Want to test this out? Ask a preacher, chaplain, priest, rabbi, minister, or any other church cleric exactly why yoga or eastern meditation techniques are considered blasphemous. The answers you get will astound you. Probably make you develop a permanent eye twitch if you're especially sensitive. The resounding answer I have always gotten was, "keep your eyes on the Lord and you will not falter." Ask for clarification and they reply, "God already knows you. You don't have to look inside yourself any more." And then they generally repeat themselves, going in circles.

That's the nice version.

The not-so-nice version response is, "yoga is a path to Hell and damnation." Asking for further clarification on exactly how physical movement in certain combinations will send me to Hell I get a response of, "it opens you to the devil." And again, there is no clear answer given. Simply that I will go to Hell for doing a Downward Dog, Sun Salutation, or Balancing Stick pose. Even most modern clerics still believe that to do yoga requires you to swear faith to other gods, that Buddha is worshiped as a god, and that henna is the mark of the devil. Not true. Eastern mysticism is steeped in lore and therefore the stories are interpreted as metaphors for life and death, Buddha is simply a wise man, and henna is a purification/beautification ritual. A little bit of research would have made this all clear. But since research on such topics is taboo (lest the devil tempt you, of course) then such things will never be understood by such people. Like the Tree of Life in the garden of Eden, knowledge is EVIL!!!

Dogmatic church clerics typically have a more elaborate answer regarding why meditation is evil. "You'll be visited by demons and spirits who will try to sway you from the Lord." Then they yammer on and on about cults and their poison Kool-Aid drinking suicide pacts. My argument has always been, "If I'm looking inside myself and I see demons doesn't that mean I'm already damned? And what if I see something more beautiful than anything I've every seen anywhere else?" Frowns and then a confused blinking usually ensues. They don't get the connection. And they won't. They want to see us as sinners. It keeps them in their positions of power and influence.