“After the nature of the immortals was completed out of the infinite one, then a likeness called Sophia flowed out of Pistis, with the wish that something should come into being like the light that first existed. Immediately her wish appeared as a heavenly likeness with an incomprehensible greatness. This came between the immortals and those who came into being after them, like what is above. It was a veil separating people from the things above. Now, the eternal realm of truth has no shadow within it because the immeasurable light is everywhere within it. Outside it, however, is a shadow, and it was called darkness. From it appeared a power over the darkness. And the powers that came into being afterward called the shadow the limitless chaos. From it every kind of deity was brought forth, one after another, along with the whole place. Consequently, the shadow too is subsequent to what was in the beginning. The shadow appeared in the abyss, which is derived from Pistis, whom we have mentioned. The shadow perceived that there was one stronger than it. It was jealous, and when it became self-impregnated, it immediately bore envy. … Then the bitter wrath that came into being from the shadow was cast into a region of chaos. Since that day a watery substance has appeared. What was enclosed in the shadow flowed forth, appearing in chaos. … Matter did not come out of chaos, but it was in chaos, existing in a part of it.
“Now, after these things happened, Pistis came and appeared over the matter of chaos, which was cast off like an aborted fetus, since there was no spirit in it. For all of that is a boundless darkness and water of unfathomable depth. And when Pistis saw what came into being from her deficiency, she was disturbed. And the disturbance appeared as something frightful, and it fled to her in the chaos. She turned to it and breathed into its face in the abyss, which is beneath all of the heavens. Now, when Pistis Sophia wanted to cause the thing that had no spirit to be formed into a likeness and rule over matter and over all its powers, a ruler first appeared out of the waters, lionlike in appearance, androgynous, with great authority within himself but ignorant of whence he came into being.” ~ On the Origin of the World
Birth of Sophia
Sophia or Sophia Pistis is well-known to those of us who have read almost any Gnostic scripture as the goddess of wisdom, or, if you prefer, Wisdom personalized as a goddess. We mostly hear her called Pistis Sophia, but the first line of the quote from the Gnostic book “On the Origen of the World,” says Sophia was created “out of Pistis.” The note on this line says that it means faith, so it is saying that Sophia was created out of Faith. I assume that Faith was one of the immortals mentioned at the beginning of the sentence, and so it was this immortal that created Sophia.
Immediately Appeared
When Sophia wished for something, it immediately appeared. This shows that she had the power of true creation. It can also be seen as a cautionary warning on the power of thought. Her creation was something between the immortals created by God, and the being to come after. It acted as a veil separating “people” from the things above.
The Shadow
The quote says the Eternal Realm of Truth, the realm of Spirit, has no shadow. It is filled with light that comes from all directions and never goes out. But with the creation of lesser beings by Sophia, lesser worlds were created, worlds that did have shadows and so were called worlds of darkness. This is the realm of matter. We dwell in the third dimension which has a mix of matter and spirit, and so has shadow. But it is not a place of total darkness (that is the first dimension), so it is still possible for us to turn from the darkness and rise back up toward the Light, toward higher levels of consciousness, toward the Eternal Realm called Heaven.
Region of Chaos
The Region of Chaos that flowed forth out of the Shadow is the material realm. This is another way of saying that the defective realm of matter is not a creation of God, but of lesser beings that didn’t really know what they were doing. Most Gnostic writings call this being, or group of beings, the Demiurge, meaning less than the true God, but still a very powerful being, powerful enough to create the worlds of matter. Yet, the realm of matter is defective because it has death, disease, storms, and other kinds of darkness. It required living beings to kill and eat other beings to survive. This seems normal to most of us, but it is a horror to God.
Truth or Allegory
The hierarchal tale of creation as told in the quote above may be literally true, or it may simply be an allegorical way to try to explain the complicated facts behind the creation of the multi-dimensional universe. I tend to believe it is mostly allegorical, but it doesn’t matter either way. The important points to take away from this tale of creation are:
- God created a universe of pure Light, pure Love, and pure Peace
- Lesser beings created lesser worlds
- With the creation of the lower dimensions came the creation of Shadow or Darkness
- Death, disease, pain, and want are properties of the shadow words and have no place in the realm of God
- We have fallen into the third dimension, but have the ability to turn around and climb back up to higher dimensions.
- It is God’s Plan that the fallen realm of matter be slowly changed back into its original form and all darkness will be gone.
From the SUN TALK collection by Harold Boulette