archons
The Phony Fall
Adam and Eve awoke from the Rulers’ brainwashing and discovered that they had been experiments, built by Yaldabaoth in a misguided effort to imprison and enslave the light from above. The Rulers moved quickly to suppress this nascent rebellion, descending from the heavens with a thunderous clap:
“Then when the Rulers knew that they had [...]
The Creation of Chaos
At the beginning of time, Sophia (the world soul) broke away from Christ (the world spirit) and gave birth to Yaldabaoth, the arrogant creator-god of the Old Testament.
The exact process by which this cosmic fiasco occurred was the subject of much debate among the gnostics; in perhaps the oldest version of the story, Sophia’s [...]
Blasphemy of Samael
The Demiurge looked at his surroundings, realized that he was alone, and declared himself “god”; Sophia acted quickly to punish this cosmic usurper, blinding and banishing him in one fell swoop:
“Opening his eyes he saw a vast quantity of Matter without limit; and he became arrogant, saying, “It is I who am God, and [...]
Origin of the Seven Archons
Fleeing Sophia’s presence, Yaldabaoth/Yahweh used the divine energy he had stolen from her to create offspring of his own:
“Yaldabaoth is the first ruler, who took great power from his Mother. Then he left her and moved away from the realms where he was born. He was strong, and created for himself other realms by [...]
Many Heavens
In the gnostic view, Yaldabaoth built the universe as a sort of cosmic penal colony where “dimensions, times, and seasons” were created in order to keep humans “blinded” and “bound” to the cycle of reincarnation. [1]
As a soul falls to the Earth on its way to be born, each archon attaches a particular “sin” [...]
