The Reality of the Rulers (The Hypostasis of the Archons)
(If you want to skip the introduction and just read the text itself, the full text of the Reality of the Rulers is below.)
Introduction
The Reality of the Rulers is a Gnostic text whose title is also sometimes translated as the Nature of the Rulers or the Hypostasis of the Archons. “Hypostasis,” a word that occurs in the original Greek title of the text, is an ancient philosophical word that refers to the inner essence of something.[1] In order to make the title of the text easier to understand for modern readers, “hypostasis” is often translated as “nature” or, as here, “reality.”
In any of its variations, the title of this text is supposed to indicate that it provides its readers with knowledge about the true character of the “archons” or “rulers,” demonic beings who rule the world from the skies and try to keep the souls of humankind imprisoned in the world. It does this through story – specifically, a series of episodes that are elaborations of parts of the Gnostic creation myth that illustrate the personalities, motivations, and goals of these half-witted, lecherous, sadistic beings whom the Gnostics identified with other people’s gods.
The Reality of the Rulers assumes prior knowledge of the Gnostic creation story as told in, for example, the Secret Book of John, so it’s extremely helpful to have read that text or at least a summary of its creation narrative before reading the Reality of the Rulers.
The Reality of the Rulers was written and used by the group of Gnostics that modern scholars call the “classic Gnostics” or “Sethians.”[2] It was originally composed in Greek[3] sometime in the second or third century AD/CE.[4] It was probably written in either Alexandria, Egypt – an ancient cosmopolitan hub of learning where the anonymous author could have encountered and studied the various religious and philosophical traditions he or she drew from – or in Syria, since the text features a number of Syriac wordplays.[5] Today, only one copy of the text survives, a Coptic translation from the Nag Hammadi Library.[6] In the form in which it’s come down to us, the text seems somewhat disjointed and may be an amalgamation of pieces from two or more different sources.[7]
Scholarly opinion has been divided over whether the Reality of the Rulers was always a Christian text or originally a “Jewish Gnostic” text that was later “Christianized.”[8] In my view, at least, this matter was definitively settled by Elaine Pagels in her incisive paper “Exegesis and Exposition of the Genesis Creation Accounts in Selected Texts from Nag Hammadi,” in which she demonstrates that the Reality of the Rulers is steeped in the theology of the apostle Paul in such fundamental ways that the entire text is effectively an exegesis (interpretation) of writings attributed to Paul. In addition to stating at the outset that it aims to explain the meaning of the words ascribed to Paul in Ephesians 6:12 (“For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places”[9]), the Reality of the Rulers also draws heavily from Ephesians 3-5, 1 Corinthians 2, and especially 1 Corinthians 15. The text is therefore thoroughly Christian at its core.[10] (Besides, as I argue in The Origins of Gnosticism, there was never such a thing as “Jewish Gnosticism” in the first place.)
Thus, the “perfect man” or “true man” whose coming is foretold in the text by the angel Eleleth can be none other than Jesus, who had already long since lived and died by the time the Reality of the Rulers was written. (Such retrospective literary “prophecies” of Jesus are a common feature in Gnostic texts.)
The Nature of the Rulers (Hypostasis of the Archons) - Nag Hammadi Library Gnostic Scripture
Indeed, the Reality of the Rulers is closer to the Christian “mainstream” of its day than many other Gnostic scriptures are. The original meaning of the Gnostic creation myth, as exemplified by the Secret Book of John and many other classic Gnostic texts, was that the creation of the material world by the evil demiurge Yaldabaoth and the other rulers was a catastrophe that was contrary to the will of God. But the Reality of the Rulers holds that God was secretly guiding the activities of the rulers so that, without their knowing it, they were making possible the salvation of the sparks of divinity that had been lost when Yaldabaoth was born and cast out of Heaven (which the Gnostics called the “Pleroma” or “Fullness”). The world may appear to be a disaster, but despite all appearances, God still has ultimate control and he’s surreptitiously involved in the world at every turn.[11] This stands the original meaning of the Gnostic creation myth on its head in some ways and brings it closer to proto-orthodox Christianity.
Just as the Reality of the Rulers tries to have it both ways with regard to the worth of the material world, it also tries to have it both ways with regard to the identity of the god of the Hebrew scriptures. Most Christians of the second and third centuries believed that the creator god of Genesis was the same god from whom Jesus had come, but the Gnostics (and certain other types of early Christianity such as the Marcionites) believed that these were two different, and even opposed, entities. For the Gnostics, these were the demiurge and the true God. The Reality of the Rulers sometimes identifies the Jewish god with the demiurge, but at other times it identifies him with Sabaoth, a “good” ruler who repents and joins the side of the true God. Thus, Sabaoth is described using imagery drawn from depictions of the Jewish god in the first chapter of Ezekiel, one of the books of the Hebrew Bible.[12]
The following version of the Reality of the Rulers is my own rendering of the text based on the translations of Bentley Layton[13] and Marvin Meyer.[14] My aim has been to produce a version of the text that’s clearer and more readable than the available academic translations, while still being closely based on them to ensure accuracy. I hope you find it useful. For more on my methods and goals, see A Note on My Renderings of the Gnostic Texts.
The Reality of the Rulers
Prologue
With regard to the reality of the rulers (archons), the apostle Paul said of these dark powers that “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers of this world and the multitude of demons.” The Father of truth inspired the great apostle to write those words. Since you asked about what these rulers really are, I have sent you this letter.
The Demiurge and His Children
Their master (the demiurge Yaldabaoth) is blind. Out of conceit and lack of gnosis he declared with power, “I am the only god; there is no other god but me.” By saying this, he sinned against the Fullness (Pleroma). When his words reached that incorruptible realm, a voice rang out from it that said, “You are wrong, Samael” – a name that means “Blind God.”
Samael’s thoughts, too, were blind. He expressed his power through blasphemy. Wisdom (Sophia) guided him down to chaos and the abyss, his mother, so that his power could be enacted there. And Wisdom established each of his children according to his or her particular traits, based on the model of the eternal realm above. For the visible realm was made after the model of the invisible realm.
Incorruptibility gazed down from the Fullness into the waters, and her image was reflected in the waters. The rulers became infatuated with it. But although they badly wanted to seize for themselves the image they had seen in the waters, they were too weak, for their minds could not grasp the ways of truly spiritual beings. For the rulers were from below, but Incorruptibility was from above.
And why had Incorruptibility gazed down into that place? She had done so by the will of the Father in order to unite everything with his light.
The Creation of Adam
The rulers, whose bodies are both male and female, and whose heads are those of beasts, began scheming. They said, “Come, let us create a human being out of earthly soil,” so that their new creation would be a completely earthly being. They molded the soil into a shape that in some ways resembled their own bodies, yet in other ways resembled the image of God that they had glimpsed in the waters.
They said, “Come, let us seize the image we saw in the waters by the body we have made for it.” Since they were powerless, they did not comprehend the power of God. Their master breathed into the body’s face, and it came alive. Yet it lay on the ground for several days, because they were powerless to give it the ability to stand up. They stood over it huffing and puffing like storm winds in the hope of catching the image they had seen in the waters. But they did not know the source of the power of that image.
All of this happened by the will of the Father of the Fullness.
The Spirit saw the human being lying on the ground and came down from the Fullness to take up residence within him, so that he became a living soul. And the Spirit named him “Adam,” because he had been found lying on the ground. A voice from Incorruptibility came down to support Adam.
The rulers brought to Adam all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the sky so that he could name each of them. They placed Adam in their garden for him to tend it. And they gave him an order: “Eat from every tree in the garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Do not even touch that one. For the day you eat from it will be the day of your death.” But they did not realize what they had done. By the will of the Father, they said this in a manner that made Adam want to eat from that tree, which would enable him to see the rulers differently than a solely fleshly being could see them.
The Creation of Eve
The rulers consulted with each other and said, “Come, let us make a deep sleep fall over Adam.” And he slept. Now this deep sleep was a lack of gnosis. They cut his side open and extracted from it a living woman, his spirit. Then they patched him up with flesh where she had been, and in place of a spirit he had only a mind.
The spiritual woman came to him and told him, “Arise, Adam.” When he opened his eyes and saw her, he said, “I am alive because of you, so I name you ‘Mother of the Living.’ You are my mother and my midwife, the woman through whom I was born.”
The rulers approached Adam and saw him talking to his partner. They became greatly agitated with lust for her, and they said, “Come, let us mate with her.” They ran after her as she laughed at them for their stupidity and blindness. When they caught her, she transformed into the tree of life, leaving behind only a shadow that looked like her physical form. The rulers befouled the shadow. By defiling the body they had molded in their own image, they condemned themselves.
The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil
Eve's SECRET DAUGHTER DISCOVERED in 2,000 Year Old Book
The female spirit went into a snake, and it became a teacher. It began to teach Adam and Eve by saying to them, “What did the rulers tell you? That you were to eat from every tree except the tree of knowledge of good and evil?”
Eve – the earthly Eve, for the spiritual Eve was now in the snake – replied, “Not only did they tell us to not eat from that tree, but to not even touch it. For, they said, the day we eat from it will be the day of our deaths.”
The snake, the teacher, said, “You will not die that way. They said that to you out of envy. Instead, your eyes will be opened and you will come to be like gods, recognizing good and evil.” And with that, the female spiritual teacher left the snake, and it became a merely earthly thing once more.
The fleshly woman plucked one of the fruits of the tree and ate it. She gave some to her husband, and both of those fleshly beings ate. They realized that they lacked gnosis and were gravely flawed. When they saw that they were denuded of spirit, they gathered fig leaves and tied them around their private parts.
The chief ruler came and cried, “Adam, where are you?” For he was unaware of what had happened.
Adam answered, “I heard your voice, and because I was naked I was afraid. So I hid.”
The chief ruler said, “Why were you hiding? You would only have done that if you had eaten from the single tree from which I told you not to eat. You have eaten from it!”
Adam said, “The woman you made for me gave me fruit from that tree, and I ate it.” The conceited ruler cursed the woman.
But the woman said, “I ate because the snake lied to me.” The rulers turned to the snake and cursed it. They did not realize that they themselves had made the snake. The rulers’ curse lay upon the snake from that day until the day when the perfect man was to come.
The rulers then turned to Adam and his wife and banished them from the garden. They, too, lay under the rulers’ curse. The rulers plunged them into a life of toil and distraction, so that they would be consumed with earthly tasks and unable to concern themselves with the matters of the Holy Spirit.
The Children of Eve
After this, Eve bore a son by the rulers: Cain, who tilled the soil. Adam slept with his wife, and she conceived again and bore Abel, who looked after flocks of sheep. Cain made a sacrifice to God from the crops of his fields, but Abel made a sacrifice from his lambs. God welcomed Abel’s sacrifice, but he did not accept Cain’s. Cain, fleshly man that he was, went after his brother Abel.
And God asked Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”
Cain replied, “What am I, my brother’s keeper?”
God said to Cain, “Listen! The voice of your brother’s blood is crying out to me. You have sinned with your mouth, and your sin will come back upon you. You will be reduced to a life of moaning and quivering on the ground, and anyone who puts you out of your misery will have seven vengeances unleashed upon them.”
Adam slept with his partner Eve. She conceived again, and bore Seth. She said, “God has given me another son to make up for Abel.”
Eve became pregnant once more and bore Norea. Eve said, “He has given me a virgin to be a helper for many generations of humankind.” Norea is the virgin whom the rulers were unable to violate.
And humankind was fruitful and multiplied.
The Great Flood
The rulers consulted with each other and said, “Come, let our hands send forth a flood that will annihilate all flesh, both human and animal.”
But the ruler Sabaoth had misgivings about their plan. He went to Noah and said, “Build for yourself an ark from wood that does not rot. Take your children and the beasts and the birds – both small and large – inside the ark, set it on Mount Sir, and hide in it.”
Norea went to Noah and asked to board the ark. But Noah refused, so she blew on the ark, and it was consumed by fire. So Noah built a second ark.
The Rulers’ Attempt to Rape Norea
The rulers went to Norea to seduce her. Their master said to her, “Your mother Eve submitted to us.”
But Norea turned to face them and replied, “You are the accursed rulers of darkness. You did not mate with my mother, but with a female from among yourselves. I did not descend from you. I descended from the world above.”
The conceited ruler turned to her with a face like a black fire, and he snarled, “You must submit to us just like your mother Eve did, for I have been given [text missing].”
Norea turned away and cried out with the power of spirit to the holy God of the Fullness, “Save me from the clutches of these depraved rulers, and do it now!”
A great angel came down from the Fullness and said to her, “Why are you crying out to God? Why are you so brash toward the Holy Spirit?”
Norea asked, “Who are you?”
The depraved rulers had fled. The angel said, “I am Eleleth, Intelligence, the great angel who dwells with the Holy Spirit. I have been sent to talk to you and to save you from brutal hands. I will teach you about your root.”
I, Norea, cannot articulate how powerful that angel is. It looks like gold clothed in snow. My mouth becomes silent when I think of its power and the sight of its face.
The great angel Eleleth said to me, “I am Intelligence. I am one of the Four Luminaries who dwell with the Great Invisible Spirit. Do you think you are vulnerable to any of the rulers? None of them has any power against the root of truth, for in the end someone will arrive on its behalf, and he will vanquish the rulers. The rulers cannot violate you or the unshakeable race, for your home is where Incorruptibility and the Virgin Spirit dwell, a place that cannot be assailed by the rulers of chaos or their world.”
Eleleth’s Speech to Norea
I said, “Lord, tell me about the power of these rulers. Where did they come from? What is their nature? What are they made out of? Who created them and their power?”
The great angel Eleleth, who is Intelligence, replied, “Incorruptibility dwells in infinite eternal realms. Wisdom, who is called Faith (Pistis), wanted to have a child by herself, without the involvement of her partner, and she gave birth to something in the heavens.
“A veil lies between the world above and the world below. A solitary shadow was cast beneath that veil, and that shadow became matter. What Sophia had given birth to took shape in matter, like an aborted fetus. He took his form from the shadow, and became a conceited beast like a lion. And because he was a material thing, he was a hermaphrodite.
“When he opened his eyes, he saw such a great heap of matter that it stretched beyond the horizon. He was filled with conceit, and he proclaimed, ‘I am the only god; there is no other god but me.’
“By saying this, he sinned against the Fullness. A voice came from above the tyrant’s realm and said, ‘You are wrong, Samael’ – a name that means ‘Blind God.’
“The blind god said, ‘If anything other than me exists, show it to me!’
“So Wisdom stretched forth her hand and made light shine upon matter, even into that place of chaos. Then she withdrew her light, and darkness fell upon matter once again.
“Since the ruler was a hermaphrodite, he was able to create an immense realm by himself. He gave birth to seven children who were hermaphrodites like their father. And he said to them, ‘I am the God of all.’
“Life (Zoe), the daughter of Wisdom, exclaimed to him, ‘You are wrong, Fool (Sakla)’ – who is also called Yaldabaoth. She breathed into his face, and her breath became an angel of fire. The angel bound Yaldabaoth and threw him down into Tartarus, the lowest part of the abyss.
“When Yaldabaoth’s son Sabaoth saw just how powerful that angel was, he repented. He came to loathe his father and matter, his mother, and he disowned them. He sang hymns of worship up to Wisdom and her daughter Life. Wisdom and Life carried him up to the seventh heaven, just below the veil between the world above and the world below, and established him there. Since he is above the forces of chaos, he is called ‘Sabaoth, lord of the forces.’
“After this had come to pass, Sabaoth made for himself a great four-sided chariot of cherubim and countless angels to assist him and regale him with music. Wisdom put her daughter Life at his right hand to teach him about the things of the eighth heaven, and the angel of fury at his left hand. Ever since, Sabaoth’s right has been called “life,” while his left has become a symbol of the oppression of the tyrant’s realm.
“When Yaldabaoth looked up and saw Sabaoth seated in glory high above him, he was jealous of him. Thus jealousy was born. Jealousy was a hermaphrodite like its father, and it gave birth to death. Death spawned children of its own and put each of them in charge of a region of the heavens until all the heavens teemed with their multitudes.
“But all of this came to pass by the will of the Father of the Fullness, after the model of the world above, for chaos was unknowingly planting the seeds of its own undoing.
“Now I have taught you about the reality of the rulers, of matter, of their father, and of their world.”
The Children of Norea
I, Norea, wondered, “Lord, am I a thing of matter like they are?”
Eleleth answered, “You and your children are from the original Father. Their souls come from above, from pristine light. Because of the spirit of truth within them, the rulers cannot come near them. All who know the ways of truth are deathless as others die all around them.
“But your descendants will remain hidden for now. After three ages, they will reveal who they truly are and liberate others from the chains of the rulers’ errors.”
I asked, “Lord, how long will it be until that happens?”
He replied, “It will not happen until the true man from above comes in an earthly body and reveals the spirit of truth that the Father has placed within them.
“Then that true man will teach them everything, and will anoint them with eternity’s oil, which was given to him by the unbowed race.
“Then their thoughts will be freed from blindness. They will trample death, which the rulers imposed upon them, under their feet. And they will ascend to the place of infinite light where they belong.
“Then the rulers will surrender their domain. Their angels will wail over their downfall, and their demons will grieve over their death.
“Then all the children of light will truly know their root, the Father of the Fullness, and the Holy Spirit. With one voice, they will say, ‘The truth of the Father is just. The Son is the true ruler.’ And all will exclaim through eternal ages, ‘Holy, holy, holy! Amen.’”
References:
[1] Lewis, Nicola Denzey. 2013. Introduction to “Gnosticism:” Ancient Voices, Christian Worlds. Oxford University Press. p. 134-135.
[2] Meyer, Marvin (trans.). 2008. “The Nature of the Rulers.” In The Nag Hammadi Library. Edited by Marvin Meyer. p. 187.
[3] Lewis, Nicola Denzey. 2013. Introduction to “Gnosticism:” Ancient Voices, Christian Worlds. Oxford University Press. p. 132-133.
[4] Meyer, Marvin (trans.). 2008. “The Nature of the Rulers.” In The Nag Hammadi Library. Edited by Marvin Meyer. p. 190.
[5] Lewis, Nicola Denzey. 2013. Introduction to “Gnosticism:” Ancient Voices, Christian Worlds. Oxford University Press. p. 132-133.
Gnosis Part 7: Creation of the Archons and the Different Heavens
by Wes Penre, May 28, 2020
The Creation of the Archons
After Sophia had appeared before Yaldabaoth in the cosmic waters as a likeness of herself, Yaldabaoth realized he was not alone. When he also saw the likeness of the Pleroma in his vision, he thought that this was something he needed to create. Because he had an aspect of Sophia’s Spirit in him and had been given the power to rule and create as the God in the physical/material universe, that’s exactly what he started doing, with the Pleroma in mind. However, this creation was an imperfect modeling because what he built from was just a reflection or likeness of what is actual.
And when that spirit appeared [Sophia], the ruler separated the watery substance to one region and the dry substance to another region. From matter he created a dwelling place for himself and called it heaven. And from matter the ruler created a footstool and called it earth.
On the Origin of the World
Then, Yaldabaoth created seven androgynous beings, followed by another five as emanations, or individual aspects, of himself. Altogether, these first soul emanations were thus twelve in numbers, corresponding with the twelve Aeons in the Pleroma. Yaldabaoth, who had placed himself both as the Monad and Sophia in the Kenoma (physical universe), was the thirteenth. In the likeness of the Aeons in the Pleroma, he gave them both feminine and masculine names. You can read more about these emanated beings in On the Origin of the World and in The Secret Book of John, but there are a few names we are going to emphasize because they will be recurring in our articles. These beings also have a direct correlation to beings mentioned in the Wes Penre Papers. These beings’ names in the Gnostic texts are, Athoth (also called The Reaper)[1], Sabaoth, Astaphaios, and Belias[2]. They are all masculine names. In On the Origin of the World, their female androgynous consorts are also listed, but they are only mentioned by their characters, except for one, Astaphaios, whose consort is called Sophia, interestingly enough. We’ll get to the significance of that later in this article.
The best reference I have found, describing the characteristics of the Archons is in The Secret Book of John (short version). Because, as we shall see later on, Yaldabaoth is the God of good and evil, and his Archons represent this whole spectrum.
He named those sevenfold Powers starting with the highest one:
Goodness paired with the first: Athoth
Providence paired with the second: Eloaios
Divinity paired with the third: Astaphaios
Lordship paired with the fourth: Yao
Kingdom paired with the fifth: Sabaoth
Zeal paired with the sixth: Adonin
Understanding paired with the seventh: Sabbataios
The Secret Book of John (short version)
None of Yaldabaoth’s emanations, which go under the terms “Archons,” The Authorities,” and the “Rulers” in the Gnostic texts, were born with Spirit. Sabaoth is the only one who later gained Spirit, which we shall see as we move on. Thus, they don’t know Spirit. Yaldabaoth created them with only a soul and withheld from them the Spirit aspect of himself, which came from Sophia. As mentioned, just like the Aeons in the Pleroma, each Archon was created with certain characteristics, within which they can operate to be Yaldabaoth’s helpers and overseers. For millennia, these Archons (Arch-Aeons of this construct) have tried to understand Spirit and gain Spirit, but for them, it’s an impossible task because they live in ignorance. In Sophia’s creation, Yaldabaoth is God, and he created them without Spirit because in the Pleroma, the Aeons can’t completely understand the Monad/Source, so the same thing had to apply in Yaldabaoth’s “Pleroma,” i.e. his Aeons/Archons can’t completely understand Yaldabaoth, their Father, because they lack Spirit.
Thus far, Yaldabaoth’s creation of these beings was approved of by Sophia because she had given him the power to create in her attempt to gain Wisdom through Yaldabaoth’s creation, which was also Sophia’s creation, now one removed. Perhaps, she would be able to experience God/the Monad through her “son,” Yaldabaoth/En.ki. This was early in her creation, and she would soon change her mind, as we shall see in the next article.
And they [Yaldabaoth’s twelve emanations] came into being as androgynous beings according to the immortal pattern that existed before them and in accord with the will of Pistis, so that the likeness of what existed from the first might rule until the end.
On the Origin of the World
Brief Description of Some of the Archons
Before we move on, let’s briefly discuss these semi-gods and compare them with other ancient texts and the Wes Penre Papers.
Athoth is self-explanatory—he is Hermes, Thoth, and Mercury the “Messenger” (which will be significant much later in our series). Thoth wrote or dictated The Emerald Tablets of Thoth among other texts to elevate mankind, so we could “ascend” within Yaldabaoth’s realm. Thoth’s teachings addressed the human soul—not the Spirit—because Thoth does not know Spirit. His is his Father’s “son.”
Belias corresponds very well with Marduk. It says in The Secret Book of John that “he [Belias] is the one who is over the depth of Hades.” Hades, in the Gnostic texts, means both Hell, as in the Underworld, and the Kenoma in general. In this case, Hades denotes Hell, as in the Underworld or the Abyss.
Astaphaios/Sophia corresponds, in the female aspect, with Venus[3] [4] [5], which would correlate with Isis, Inanna, Ishtar, and Aphrodite, etc. This is also a copy/mimic of the Pleroma, where Pistis Sophia, without her consort, Thelètos, “descends” as Zoë Sophia in the upper realms of the Kenoma. In Yaldabaoth’s Kingdom, he is Pistis Sophia, as an emanation of the Kenoma (a mimic of the Monad), operating without her consort and therefore, being ignorant. Just like Pistis Sophia descends and becomes Zoë Sophia in the Kenoma, Yaldabaoth descends and becomes Astaphaios Sophia/Isis in the Kenoma.
Sabaoth corresponds with Prince En.lil, Prince Ninurta, and Archangel Michael (Second in Command). The “Lord of Sabaoth” means the “Lord of Hosts[6].” It is a title of YeHoVaH’s (YHVH’s) military might. His strength is to fight and win battles. This Lord is the Commander of the “angelic soldiers,” as well as the armies of Israel (the “Lord of Hosts” is defined in 1 Samuel 17, verse 45 as “the God of the armies of Israel,” and as “Commander of the Lord’s Army” in Joshua 5.
The term “Lord of Hosts” is also used in the Bahá’í Faith as a title of God.[2] Bahá’u’lláh, claiming to be the Manifestation of God, wrote tablets to many of the kings and rulers of the world inviting them to recognize Him as the Promised One of all ages and faiths, some of which were compiled and published in English as The Summons of the Lord of Hosts.[7]
The phrase “manifestation of God” will be thoroughly explained in a later article and is now only used for future reference. Furthermore, he also bears the title “Michael.[8]” Those who have read the Wes Penre Papers (WPP) at wespenre.com will recognize all this. There I referred to Sabaoth as Prince Ninurta, Prince En.lil (meaning “prince of the airways/Heaven”), and Archangel Michael Second in Command. Michael First in Command is whom I called Khan En.lil in the WPP. We will address Khan En.lil later. I also portrayed Michael as being the Commander of the MIKH-MAKH forces, which is a military defense force, protecting Orion from intruders. In the Book of Revelation, the rebellious forces of Satan are defeated by the Heavenly Host, led by Michael the Archangel during the War in Heaven.[9]
The Bible gives several descriptions of angels in military terms, such as their encampment (Genesis 32:1-2), command structure (Psalms 91:11-12; Matt.13:41; Rev.7:2), and combat (Jdg.5:20; Job 19:12; Rev.12:7). The heavenly host participated in the War in Heaven.[10]
According to the Gnostics[11], Sabaoth started out as one of the Archons, inhabiting a soul but not a Spirit. However, after hearing the voice of Sophia’s Spirit in the waters, he realized that his father, Yaldabaoth, was not the highest God. The rest of the Archons still decided to continue glorifying Yaldabaoth’s elevated position, while Sabaoth did the opposite. He now despised his Father, Yaldabaoth, and started glorifying Sophia instead. Sophia noticed this and took Sabaoth under her wings. She gave him sparks of her Spirit and elevated him to the upper parts of the Kenoma, called the Seventh Heaven. There, she taught him everything about the Eighth Heaven, in which she resided, and gave him Light/Spirit (more about these Heavens below). Then, she put Sabaoth in charge over Yaldabaoth and all the Archons he’d created. He now became Michael, Second in Command of the MIKH-MAKH forces. It is quite possible that he once was the High Commander of the DAKH Warriors (the Sirians in the WPP), which are Yaldabaoth’s military force, but became “promoted” to his loftier position. The Eighth and Ninth Heavens, as we shall see, correspond directly with Orion in the WPP. From thereon, one could say that Zoë Sophia became Sabaoth’s Mother, as he had discarded his father, Yaldabaoth.
Now when Sabaoth, the son of Yaldabaoth, heard the voice of Pistis, he sang praises to her, and he condemned the father […] at the word of Pistis; and he praised her […]. Then Pistis Sophia stretched out her finger and poured upon him some light from her light, to be a condemnation of his father. Then when Sabaoth was illumined, he received great authority against all the forces of chaos. Since that day he has been called “Lord of the Forces”.
–On the Origin of the World
Sabaoth will be a big part of the story from hereon, but to make things coherent, we need to first focus our attention on the Nine Heavens, which is the totality of Sophia’s Creation.
The Nine Heavens
In simple terms, when Pistis Sophia “cast away” her Creation, while still completely residing within the Pleroma, we can perhaps picture this as her Creation descending through dimensions and densities. The further down into the abyss her Creation descended, the more solid it became. This outward movement on Sophia’s part might explain what scientists call “the expanding universe” and the “Red Shift.”
When Sophia noticed what she had done, she separated the waters of the Pleroma from the cosmic waters of her emanation and thus created the first firmament. There was now a veil between the Pleroma and the Kenoma. Parts of Pistis Sophia got trapped in her own creation because everything that she created was a part of her Spirit. In order to move around within her creation, she created a soul/energy body, which her Spirit inhabited. This descended part of Sophia is called Zoë Sophia in the Gnostic texts. In the WPP, she is called the Queen of Orion.
In the previous section, we discussed how Yaldabaoth created twelve Archons as soul extensions of himself. The Universe consists of, from what I understand, 144 dimensions and a lot of subdimensions and densities, which are a direct mimic of the Pleroma, consisting of twelve realms, represented by the twelve Aeons. So, if each Aeon is one dimension/perspective being twelve in numbers times twelve dimensions, it equals 144. The same thing applies in the Kenoma. Yaldabaoth is in the possession of twelve dimension, and he created one Archon in charge of each dimension (in the Gnostic texts called Heavens)—”as above, so below,” as Thoth said in the Emerald Tablets of Thoth. There are seven heavens (dimensions) “above” and five heavens “below” (the Abyss or Tartarus). All this equals 144, as well. Between the seven and five heavens, Yaldabaoth created Earth.[12]
Since that day, the heaven has been consolidated along with its earth by means of Sophia [Isis], the daughter of Yaldabaoth.
On the Origin of the World
Also:
Yaldabaoth modeled his creation on the pattern of the original realms above him so that it might be just like the indestructible realms.
The Secret Book of John (short version)
Each archon was also put in place to rule over a certain celestial body—one for each of the seven Heavens. Some time afterwards, when the Archons were “cast out of Heaven” (Orion) and into the Abyss, they lost their domains, only to reestablish them at a later point.
Yaldabaoth placed himself on a throne in the Seventh Heaven, which is “God’s Heaven.” His celestial body was Saturn to start with (this was going to change later).
Iao[13] was put in charge of Jupiter.
Sabaoth became the ruler of Mars to begin with.
Astaphaios/Sophia became the goddess of Venus (thus, Lucifer is portrayed as feminine by some and as masculine by others, i.e. Sophia/Isis and Yaldabaoth/En.ki).
Adonaios reigned over the sun.
Elaios (which could be another name for Thoth) reigned over Mercury.
Horaios became the moon god (often referred to as Sin or Nannar in the Sumerian texts).
The following were the rulers of the Abyss: Abrisene, Yobel, Armupiel, Melcheir-adonein[14], and Belias; the latter described as he “who rules over the very depths of Hades”[15] (Marduk).
Zoë Sophia, on her end, “sealed her heaven until the consummation of the age[16].” In other words, she created her own realm/Heavens within the Pleroma, located in the “midst” between the Seven Heavens and the Pleroma. These are the Eighth and the Ninths Heavens, closest to the Pleroma. In the Wes Penre Papers, they are referred to as Orion or the Orion Empire, and they are described as being vast. Thus, the Seven Heavens and the five below are the 4% Universe discussed in the WPP, and the Eighth and Ninth Heavens, the 96%, is what I called Orion.
In the next article, we are going to bring up why Sophia repented, the Spirit of Christ, the first humankind, whom I called the Namlu’u in the WPP, and the First Atlantis—Tiamaat.
[1] The Secret Book of John (the long version)
[2] Mentioned in The Secret Book of John but not in On the Origin of the World
[3] https://wiccan-academy-of-the-arts.fandom.com/wiki/Archons,
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archon_(Gnosticism)
[5] https://books.google.com/books?id=jonvG8JvwvsC&pg=PA70&lpg=PA70&dq=Astaphaios&source=bl&ots=BSxwbZczRK&sig=ACfU3U30fL0P1oDLvNYbFJgFAIJuxN7wGw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjBuNLJ-dTpAhUSM6wKHTXVBPAQ6AEwDHoECAcQAQ#v=onepage&q=Astaphaios&f=false
[6] https://www.google.com/search?q=sabbaoth&oq=sabbaoth&aqs=chrome..69i57.2579j0j1&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavenly_host
[8] Ibid.
[9] Rev. 12:7-9.
[10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavenly_host
[11] On the Origin of the World
[12] This must be what the eight “densities” mentioned in the RA Material refers to. The RA collective resides in the sixth density, i.e. the Sixth Heaven, ascending within Yaldabaoth’s construct.
[13] This could be another name for Marduk, who also reigned as Belias in the Abyss. It would not be impossible that one god could rule in two realms.
[14] Probably where J.R.R. Tolkien got the name Melchor from—he who was the dark ruler of Middle-Earth in “The Silmarillion.”
[15] The Secret Book of John (short version).
[16] On the Origin of the World.
References and Resources:
The Secret Book of John (long version)
The Secret Book of John (short version)
On the Origin of Man
Wikipedia
The Book of Revelation
Various websites mentioned in the footnotes
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