Greco-Christian stream·Pistis Sophia·First Book — Post-Resurrection Discourses·Chapter 31
Sophia taketh the lion-faced power of Self-willed for the true Light
Yaldabaōth, of whom I have spoken unto you many times
Source context
- Theme
- Pistis Sophia's penitential petition — the soul's cry for deliverance from the emanations of Self-willed
- Soul-faculty
- Sentient Soul
Steiner
not engaged in the GA corpus
Cross-tradition
- Hebrew Psalmic traditionThe structural pattern of Pistis Sophia's metanoia in this chapter — encirclement by adversarial forces, confession of unworthiness, and appeal to divine Light — exhibits cross-tradition congruence with the lament-and-vindication form of the Hebrew Psalms (e.g. Psalm 22, Psalm 69), which the text explicitly cites as prefigurations.
- Platonic / Neoplatonic descent-and-return schemaThe soul's entrapment in the chaos of Self-willed's emanations and its upward orientation toward the Pleroma exhibits cross-tradition congruence with the Neoplatonic schema of epistrophē — the soul's turning back toward its divine source after descent into matter.
Chapter 31
CHAPTER 31
Sophia taketh the lion-faced power of Self-willed for the true Light."It came to pass then thereafter that she looked below and saw his light-power in the parts below; and she knew not that it is that of the triple-powered Self-willed, but she thought that it came out of the light which she had seen from the beginning in the height, which came out of the veil of the Treasury of the Light. And she thought to herself: I will go into that region without my pair and take the light and thereout fashion for myself light-æons, so that I may go to the Light of lights, which is in the Height of heights.
She descendeth to the twelve æons and thence into the chaos."This then thinking, she went forth from her own region, the thirteenth æon, and went down to the twelve æons. The rulers of the æons pursued her and were enraged against her, because she had thought of grandeur. And she
went forth also from the twelve æons, and came into the regions of the chaos and drew nigh to that lion-faced light-power to devour it. But all |47. the material emanations of Self-willed surrounded her, and the great lion-faced light-power devoured The emanations of Self-willed squeeze the light-powers out of Sophia.all the light-powers in Sophia and cleaned out her light and devoured it, and her matter was thrust into the chaos; it became a lion-faced ruler in the chaos, of which one half is fire and the other darkness,--that is Yaldabaōth, of whom I have spoken unto you many times. When then this befell, Sophia became very greatly exhausted, and that lion-faced light-power set to work to take away from Sophia all her light-powers, and all the material powers of Self-willed surrounded Sophia at the same time and pressed her sore.