Simon Magus. The founder of Gnosticism

And in confirmation of this ancient phrase, as well as the fact that all teachings basically speak of the same thing, Abba quotes the words of King Solomon from the book of Ecclesiastes: “There is nothing new under the sun,” that is, everything that has happened and will happen in the material world has already happened in other, higher worlds.

But since the material world is at the farthest point from the Pleroma and Kenoma, there is so much violence in it and the same events take on such crude features.

The blame for this lies with the Creator of this world, the Demiurge, whom the teacher likes to compare to a theater director. The Demiurge strives to replicate, or rather, create a semblance of, the higher spiritual world, but he cannot succeed. He has already destroyed the worlds he created several times — in the theatrical language our spiritual mentor so loves to use — he dispersed the troupe and tore down the sets. But then he recruited new actors to perform the same great performance on the old stage.

To better understand those events, the teacher explains: The Pleroma is Rome, the capital of the great Roman Empire, while our world is one of the empire’s smallest cities, a remote province, or even a village within that province. In Rome, magnificent buildings were erected — the forum, the circus, the Theatre of Balbus, the Theatre of Pompey, and other impressive structures — and the inhabitants of that village, though they had never visited the imperial capital, are said to try to recreate a distant likeness of them. If a building in Rome rises twenty paces above the ground, there it would rise, at best, two.

After the Demiurge created a simulacrum of the Pleroma — paradise — and the Kenoma — the material world, he decided to create man from the dust of the earth, in other words, from matter. During the process of creation, to animate the first man, the Demiurge implanted a soul within him. This is why it is said that man combines both material and spiritual natures; more accurately, the spiritual is imprisoned by the material. Man inherited his bad qualities from the first nature, also called matter, and his good qualities from the divine soul, imprisoned by the Demiurge in the human body. The material and the spiritual are in constant conflict with each other, forcing man to choose between good and evil. But we, Gnostics, people of a higher, spiritual nature, unlike those of the spiritual, voluntarily descend into the material world. We are guests here, and our goal is to rescue and awaken the queen soul, a particle of which fell into this world and resides within each of us.

When the queen, having consumed the salvific gnosis — that is, having discovered secret knowledge — awakens and returns to the higher worlds, this world will be destroyed, just as the human body is destroyed after the soul leaves it. This is why the soul-nature placed by the Demiurge in the human body is called the queen-soul, for only her presence here gives continuity to this world, enlivens it. During the queen’s exodus from the material world to the Pleroma, she will be accompanied by Gnostics. Besides them, people of the soul-nature — the righteous from various nations — will also be saved. However, unlike the Gnostics, they will not go to the Pleroma, but to the eighth heaven, also known as the Heavenly Jerusalem, while the material world will be destroyed.

I was greatly honored to be near my teacher and to study with him. His name is known far beyond the borders of Judea, and even in Rome, the capital of the empire, everyone has heard of him, for he is a great miracle worker and prophet who attained the highest levels of wisdom.

We wholeheartedly believed his predictions about good and bad times for the Roman Empire, which was now on the rise. He also believed that it would abandon paganism and found a new world religion.

The Teacher repeated more than once: although this teaching, Gnosticism, unlike religions, will be hidden for a long time, at the right moment, in two thousand years, it will rise from the ashes like a phoenix.

That the Scripture might be fulfilled

Diagram of the Pleroma and Kenoma from the scroll “Symposium Sirim”

History of the Pleroma and Kenoma

1. The Beginning of the Pleroma

In the beginning was the Unbegotten Father, also called the First Father. He had many other names, including the First Principle, the One, the Silence, Bythos, the Bottomless, the Abyss, or the Depth. This unbegotten, primordial, and perfect Aeon existed long before all things came into being. The First Principle had a mate, called Sige (Silence), also called Ennoia (Thought).

Even though the incomprehensible First Father remained silent all this time, love overwhelmed him, which is why Love is one of his names. At some point, wanting to share this wonderful feeling with someone else, he decided to create his own offspring of Aeons.

Wishing to bestow upon the Aeons the best the Creator had within himself, he placed the seed of his future offspring in the womb of Sige, after which Sige emanated from herself the first pair, the syzygy of the Aeons. These were Nous, also called the Only Begotten, the Beginning of Beginnings, and the Father of Aeons — in other words, the root of all Aeons, since from him all subsequent Aeons descend. and Alethea.

This was the first tetrad, the four highest Aeons:

The First Father and Sige (Silence);

Nus (Mind) and Alethea (Truth).

After some time, the second pair of Aeons, Nous and Aletheia, wishing to emulate the First Father in all things, emanated from themselves a new pair: Logos and Zoë. Logos is considered the beginning of the Pleroma, the Aeons, and all subsequent creations.

Logos and Zoe in turn produced Anthropos and Ecclesia.

This is the second tetrad:

Logos (Word) and Zoe (Life);

Anthropos (Man) and Ecclesia (Church).

Together they formed the first eight Aeons, the Ogdaod.

Having produced the pair Anthropos and Ecclesia, Logos and Zoe emanated ten more Aeons, which made up five pairs.

Here are their names:

Bitios (Depth) and Mixis (Mixing);

Ageratos (Eternal Youth) and Genosis (Unity);

Autophyes (Essential Nature) and Hedone (Pleasure);

Akinetos (Immobile) and Syncrasis (Mixture);

Monogenes (Only Begotten) and Macaria (Happiness).

The pair Anthropos and Ecclesia also emanated from themselves six pairs, twelve Aeons, the last of which are Teletos and Sophia.

Here are their names:

Parakletos (Comforter) and Pistis (Faith);

Patrikos (Father’s) and Elpis (Hope);

Metricos (Motherly) and Agape (Love);

Ainos (Praise) and Synesis (Intellect);

Ekklesiasticos (son of Ecclesia) and Makariotes (Beatitude);

Teletos (Desired) and Sophia (Wisdom).

2. Events in the Pleroma

These fifteen pairs, thirty perfect Aeons, constituted the Pleroma, the fullness and integrity of the First Father. Of all the Aeons, only Nous, the Only Begotten, could enjoy the Creator’s boundless majesty. He was also granted the honor of being initiated into the mysteries and plans of the First Father. To all the other Aeons, the First Father remained invisible and incomprehensible.

The descendants of Nus reverently fulfilled the commandments they received, the main one of which forbade not only approaching the First Father, but even thinking about him once again, since his greatness was incomprehensible to the descendants of Nus.

With each generation, the Aeons drifted further and further from the Source, the Root of all things, and despite the prohibitions, they secretly desired to know more about the Creator of all things, the First Principle. The descendants of Nous were tormented by questions: who is the source of all Aeons? Why are they born in pairs? How did they end up in the Pleroma? And why did the First Principle reveal itself only to Nous?

Despite all these questions the Aeons asked themselves, they displayed humility, and none of them intended to violate the prohibition, until one day the youngest of the Aeons, descended from Anthropos (Man) and Ecclesia (Church), whose name was Sophia (Wisdom), desired, despite the prohibition, to know the First Principle. Becoming proud, she abandoned her mate, Teletos, and, driven by passions, rushed toward the incomprehensible First Father, the Source of all.

Sophia was driven by pride, not love, as she thought. She was convinced that her action would elicit admiration from the other Aeons, who were hesitant to do something similar, fearing they would violate the prohibition.

Despite all obstacles, in her quest to comprehend the greatness of the First Father, she pressed ever further. She almost reached the Source, but the Inner Limit (Oros), guarding the Creator’s peace, stopped her. It reminded Sophia that the First Father was incomprehensible and returned her to Teletos.

3. The appearance of the younger Sophia, Sirim

Although Sophia returned to her mate, her action had consequences. In her quest to unite with the incomprehensible Progenitor, she produced a formless essence, previously unknown in the Pleroma, something that an Aeon without a mate can produce. Sophia attempted to conceal this essence, also known as a miscarriage, fearing that her imperfect creation would be expelled from the Pleroma.

Upon learning of Sophia’s formless fruit, the Aeons were terrified, thinking that such offspring awaited them as well. The Pleroma, where the Aeons were born in pairs from male and female essences, was engulfed in turmoil. The harmony that had reigned since its founding was disrupted, and since Sophia, in a fit of passion, had violated the prohibition and given birth to a child without a partner, it was decided to banish the younger Sophia from the Pleroma.

Upon learning that her child was about to be banished, Sophia tried to protect it and begged the Progenitor for forgiveness. But since she had violated the prohibition and given birth to a formless being, forbidden to remain in the Pleroma, her prayers were not accepted. To appease the Aeons, who were terrified by the sight of Sophia’s child, the Progenitor produced another Aeon, neither paired nor female, also called the Cross. The Aeon Cross, unlike Oros, fulfilled the duties not of the inner Limit, guarding the chambers of the Progenitor, but of the outer Limit, that is, it was to protect the entire Pleroma and the Aeons within it from the outer imperfection, the Kenoma.

The outer Limit cleansed Sophia of her passions and separated from her the formless miscarriage, also called Sirim. After these events, the purified Sophia remained in the Pleroma and was returned to Teletos, while her child, the younger Sophia, Sirim, was led beyond the Pleroma, or, as it is also said, cast down into the Kenoma. To further protect the Aeons from imperfection, the Progenitor commanded the outer Limit to ascend the Cross erected at the entrance to the Pleroma and guard the approaches.

4. Events in Kenoma

During her fall, Sirim saw the light of the Pleroma and imprinted it on her memory forever. Remaining in the void and darkness, in a place called Kenoma, she suffered greatly, longing to return as soon as possible.

In order to restore order in the Pleroma, the First Father gave instructions to Nous and Aletheia to emanate a new pair of Aeons, whose names are Christ and the Holy Spirit.

They were called upon to calm the Aeons, restore order to the Pleroma, and subsequently care for its integrity. Christ and the Holy Spirit once again reminded the inhabitants of the Pleroma of the laws of the Progenitor and His incomprehensibility, and also informed them that this very incomprehensibility is the foundation of the reigning order, integrity, and eternity of the Pleroma.

Having accepted the guidance of Christ and the Holy Spirit, the Aeons regained their peace, and only Sophia continued to pray to the Progenitor for forgiveness. Over time, the other Aeons inhabiting the Pleroma joined her prayers, and the all-merciful Progenitor took pity on Sophia, promising through Nous that in the future her child would return to the Pleroma and be united with its mate.

The thirty Aeons rejoiced at this news and, wishing to express their gratitude to the Origin, decided to create a collective Aeon in His honor.

Each gave the best they had, and thus, to the glory of the Creator, a perfect Aeon was created, named Irenaeus. This Aeon was not paired, but only male, as its counterpart was the younger Sophia, Sirim. Angels were also born with Irenaeus, who were to accompany and protect him everywhere. This common fruit of the Pleroma was also called Logos, Christ, High Priest, and Savior, for he was destined to find Sirim in the future, save her, and then return her to the Pleroma.

The formless, powerless Sirim, who was in Kenome, did not know that her mother had been forgiven and that a new Aeon, Irenaeus, had been created for the glory of the First Father and for her salvation.

5. Design of Sirim

After Christ and the Holy Spirit had restored the integrity of the Pleroma, they were given another mission. They were to descend into Kenoma to give form to the younger Sophia.

Arriving in Kenoma, also known as the desert and the Kingdom of Darkness, Christ discovered the younger Sophia, unformed. She crawled along the ground, unable to even rise due to her nature. Christ formed Sirim, also known as the passions of the elder Sophia, after which she took the form of a female Aeon, but not a paired one. In the future, uniting with the purely male Aeon, Irenaeus, they would create a new, perfect pair of Aeons. Having completed their mission, Christ and the Holy Spirit hastened to return to the Pleroma.

The younger Sophia, having become an almost perfect Aeon, began to seek those who had given her form, and rushed after Christ and the Holy Spirit into the Pleroma, but the outer Limit, guarding the approaches to the Pleroma, blocked her path and ordered her to return to Kenoma.

Sirim found herself in darkness once again, the light of Christ having departed from her. Feeling lonely, afraid, and sad, she wept bitterly, calling out to those who had formed her. The Pleroma took pity on Sirim and, to console her, sent to her the “collective fruit” of the Pleroma, the Aeon Irenaeus, accompanied by twelve angels.

Arriving in Kenoma, Irenaeus reshaped the Sirim, but this time in accordance with gnosis. He then separated from the Sirim the passions that oppressed it and created from them the root of all subsequent creations.

6. Creation of the Universe, the material world, all living things and man

After Irenaeus left her, the purified Sirim began the process of creation from the passions separated from her, emanating three elements: hylithic (material), psychic (soul) and pneumatic (spiritual).

Retaining the spiritual element for herself, she created her son, the Demiurge, the Creator of the Universe, from the soul element. He then performed all subsequent creations from the two natures — soul and material. Pneumatic nature was incomprehensible to him, and so he knew nothing of his mother, the younger Sophia, considering himself the Supreme God.

Secretly instructed by his mother, the Demiurge began the process of creation. Separating the two elements — the spiritual and the material — which had previously been united in Kenoma, he created from the spiritual element the seven heavens, archons, archangels, and angels. Once the spiritual worlds and the archons ruling them were formed, the Demiurge began creating the material world from the hylithic element.

Behind all this was the plan of Irenaeus the Savior, which Sirim carried out through her son.

Having completed the process of creation, the Demiurge took his place above the seventh heaven, where his throne was located. He became proud and declared himself the Creator of the Universe, proclaiming, “I am God, and there is none else besides me.” Since the Demiurge was still unaware of his mother’s existence, unable to see or understand the spiritual due to his spiritual nature, he was even nicknamed Samael, which translates from Hebrew as “Blind God.”

Sirim, also called Mother, Jerusalem, the younger Sophia, and Ogdaod, since she resides in the eighth heaven, continues to invisibly guide her son. The eighth heaven is also called the Celestial Jerusalem or the middle place, since Sirim, who resides there, is located between the universe created by the Demiurge, below, and the Pleroma.

7. Man. Three kinds of human beings (the threefold nature of man)

(9 lines are impossible to make out)

…The lifeless body of the first man lay in the Garden of Eden until the Demiurge decided to breathe a soul, that is, a spiritual element, into him, thereby reviving him. This man is called by different names in different cultures, but we know him by the names Adamas or Adam.

Man, created by the Demiurge, dwelt in paradise. He combined the psychic (spiritual) and hylithic (material) elements, until the younger Sophia, unbeknownst to the Demiurge, imparted to him the pneumatic (spiritual) element. Those in the know call this a seed or a ray of pneumatic light.

Having learned of this, the Demiurge became inflamed with jealousy towards the man who, unlike him, was awarded the pneumatic element, the spark of light of the Pleroma, and expelled him from paradise into the material world.

Thus, man, endowed with three elements: pneumatic, psychic and hylithic, found himself in the material world.

These three elements are also commonly referred to as the threefold nature of man or the three human genera.

These three genera are:

The Hyliks (material) are those in whom the hylithic element predominates. These are material people, followers of the Prince of this world, the Devil. They cannot be saved by virtue of their nature.

Psychics (spiritual beings) are people of all religions who follow the Holy Scriptures and the commandments received through the prophets. When they leave this world, their actions may merit a place between heaven and hell: the righteous go to heaven, and the sinners to hell. They have freedom of choice and salvation through righteousness.

Pneumatics (spiritualists), also called Gnostics, are those who follow the spark of light of the Pleroma received from the Sirim. Pneumatics are saved by virtue of their spiritual nature.

8. Savior. The Mission of Christ, Irenaeus. Redemption

The goal of the Pneumatics in the material world is to shape the soul’s nature through gnosis, so that this nature awakens within a person, grows like a seed, and ascends to the Higher Worlds. After this seed matures thanks to specialized knowledge, gnosis, the younger Sophia will leave the eighth heaven and enter the Pleroma, where her bridegroom, Irenaeus, will await her. By uniting, they will create a new pair of Aeons.

The spirits of the Gnostics will follow the younger Sophia into the Pleroma.

The Demiurge will take his mother’s place in the eighth heaven. Following him, the souls of the righteous from various nations, those who lived in accordance with the commandments and Scripture, will enter there.

And the third, hylithic element will be destroyed by the all-consuming fire along with this material world.

This is the account of the events in the Pleroma and Cenome by Herodotus, son of Angels.

That the Scripture might be fulfilled.

Chapter Two

Giovanni was so engrossed in translating the scroll into Italian that he didn’t notice it was past one in the morning. After saving the file with the translated text on an external drive and naming it “Gnostic Myth,” he deleted everything from his computer and headed home to Rome, rather than spend the night in the van as he had originally planned. Hiding the drive in a safe place where no one could get to it, Giovanni didn’t even lie down; after drinking a cup of coffee, he headed back.

Arriving at the excavation site that morning, the professor hurried to Katrin to tell her the contents of the scroll, but was disappointed to see a young deacon standing in the van window. Despite the early hour, Thomas was awake and attentively observing the progress of the work. After apologizing to Katrin, Giovanni headed toward him. Stepping inside and greeting Thomas, the professor remarked:

— You woke up so early.

“I try to wake up at dawn so I can pray. I even had time to inspect the excavations and ask your colleagues if they’ve made any progress in their search for the scrolls.”

“I assure you, there’s nothing interesting here. You’ll just be wasting your time.”

“I’ve been ordered to oversee the excavations, and I have no right to judge whether the scrolls you’ve found are of any value to the Vatican. Since I’ve been sent here, it means that at this particular moment in time, the Church and God need me here. Understand, humility and submission are part of my service, and I fully appreciate the importance of the mission entrusted to me.”

This was not the first time that Giovanni had noticed the deacon’s sincere faith, diligence and responsibility.

“Come on, I’ll buy you some coffee,” he offered Thomas. “Unlike you, I’m not used to waking up at dawn, and I need a pick-me-up.”

— Thanks, but I don’t drink coffee. Only tea.

“I didn’t know that they had already managed to classify coffee as an invention of the Antichrist,” the professor tried to joke.

Thomas didn’t smile. Realizing the deacon disapproved of such humor, the professor silently walked to the water cooler, filled the kettle, turned it on, and called the deacon to the table. Thomas sat down and carefully placed the leather-bound Bible on the table.

“Here is your tea,” said the professor, handing the cup to the deacon.

Thomas thanked him, took the cup and took a small sip from it.

In turn, taking a sip of invigorating coffee, the professor asked:

You’re so young, and you’re already serving in the Vatican. How did you manage to do it?

“My uncle held a high position there. I’ve only been serving for a short time, translating texts in the library.”

— Are you from a religious family?

“No, I grew up in a secular family, but under my uncle’s influence, I realized how wrong my parents were in straying so far from Jesus. I decided to return to the Lord to pray for my own and their sins before Him.”

— Have you done something serious?

Each of us bears our own cross. In the Gospel of John, chapter eight, there’s a story about how the scribes and Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery to our Lord Jesus and were about to stone her. They asked Jesus what they should do, wanting to justify their actions and absolve themselves of responsibility for the woman’s possible injuries. But the Lord ignored them and continued writing. When they again approached him, asking if they could stone the woman for her sins, our Lord Jesus left the letter and, looking at them, said, “He who is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone at her.” Then he continued writing.

The professor, although he knew the story very well, listened attentively to its retelling from the lips of the deacon, who continued: