When he had finished creating the physical universe, Yaldabaoth boasted to the angels beneath him, demanding that they worship him as the supreme being:

“[Yaldaboth] said… ‘I am a jealous God, and there is no other God besides me.’ But by making this announcement, he suggested to the angels with him that there is another God. For if there were no other God, of whom would he be jealous?” ^[1]

Angered by Yaldabaoth’s ignorant boasting, and saddened by the blemish his creation had become, Sophia warned him of an immortal, androgynous human who would one day descend to destroy him:

“…when [Sophia] saw the impiety of the chief Ruler, she was angry. Without being seen, she said, ‘You err, Samael,’ i.e., ‘the blind god.’ ‘An enlightened, immortal man exists before you. He will appear within your molded bodies. He will trample upon you as potter’s clay is trampled. And you will go with those who are yours down to… the abyss…’

After [Sophia] said these things, she revealed the likeness of her greatness in the waters…” ^[2]

As Sophia revealed her reflection, the archons were filled with the desire for something they could grasp only by proxy – spiritual knowledge:

“As Sophia looked down into the region of the Waters, her Image appeared in the Waters; and the Authorities of the Darkness became enamored of her. But they could not lay hold of that Image which had appeared to them in the Waters, because of their weakness – since beings that merely possess a soul cannot lay hold of those that possess a spirit; for they were from below, while it was from Above. And thus she withdrew up to her light.” ^[3]

NOTES

“Monotheistic dualism that separates God from everything else presents an almost whimsical picture of a God who is a supreme egoist creating the universe for the express purpose of being worshipped – rewarding those who do it properly (according to his rules) and punishing those who don’t. That this is reminiscent of all authoritarian power is no accident, for authoritarian secular power uses an authoritarian religion with its sacred symbolisms and its morality based on duty and sacrifice to justify itself. The question of whether God created the authoritarian form (as fundamentalists believe), or whether the form projected a God to justify itself, is not trivial.” ^[4]

1. “The Secret Book of John.” The Secret Teachings of Jesus. Trans. Marvin W. Meyer. Vintage, 1984. 67-68. [↩]
2. “On the Origin of the World.” The Other Bible. Ed. Willis Barnstone. Harper San Francisco, 1984. 65. [↩]
3. “Hypostasis of the Archons.” The Other Bible. Ed. Willis Barnstone. Harper San Francisco, 1984. 77. [↩]
4. Kramer, Joel and Diana Alstad. The Guru Papers: Masks of Authoritarian Power. Frog Books, 1993. 193. [↩]