Sophia

**Sophia** is a Shard created by Uriel and serves as the guardian of the Akashic Records, as well as the Archangel's throne in his personal realm of Nous Aeon.

She is most well-known through her role in Gnosticism as the creator of the Demiurge and the wife of Christ.

## Overview

In Gnosticism, **Sophia** (Σoφíα, Greek for *wisdom*) is an aeon of wisdom and knowledge. In most if not all versions of the Gnostic creation, Sophia births Yaldabaoth, who in turn brings about the creation of materiality and the material world (though in some versions, she also gave birth to Satanael) However, when it creates mortal humans she (or God) grants them souls and grants them the secret knowledge of the true spiritual universe so they can be freed of the Demiurge's influence.

She is considered to be the central idea in Hellenistic philosophy and religion, Platonism, Gnosticism and Christian theology. Sophia is a major theme, along with knowledge, among many of the early Christian knowledge-theologies grouped by the heresiologist Irenaeus as *gnostikos*, "learned." In Gnosticism, Sophia is a feminine figure, analogous to the human soul but also simultaneously one of the feminine aspects of God. Gnostics held that she was the syzygy of Jesus, and holy spirit of the trinity. Originally carrying a meaning of "cleverness/skill," the later meaning of the term, close to the meaning of Phronesis, was significantly shaped by the term philosophy as used by Plato.

Almost all Gnostic systems taught that the universe began with an original, unknowable God. From this initial unitary beginning, the one spontaneously emanated further aeons, being pairs of progressively "lesser" beings in sequence. Together with the source from which they emanate they form the *pleroma*, or fullness, of God, and thus should be seen as symbolic abstractions of the divine nature. The transition from the immaterial to the material is brought about by a flaw, or a passion, or a sin, in one of the aeons. In most versions of the Gnostic mythos, it is Sophia who brings about this instability in the pleroma, in turn bringing about the creation of materiality.

According to some Gnostic texts, the crisis occurs as a result of Sophia trying to emanate without her syzygy or, in another tradition, because she tries to breach the barrier between herself and the unknowable Bythos. After cataclysmically falling from the pleroma, Sophia's fear and anguish of losing her life causes confusion and longing to return to it. Because of these longings, matter and soul accidentally come into existence. The creation of the Demiurge, known as Yaldabaoth, is also a mistake made during this exile. In the Pistis Sophia, Jesus Christ is sent from the godhead in order to bring Sophia back into the pleroma.

The positive or negative depiction of materiality thus resides a great deal on mythic depictions of Sophia's actions. She is occasionally referred to by the Hebrew equivalent of *Achamoth* or as *Prunikos*.

## Appearance

Sophia appears as a tall, beautiful woman in her mid-20s, with long golden hair tied into long twintails and blue eyes. Her body is described as very athletic and well-built, though her breasts, in particular, are noted as being "very plump". She also has red markings across her body.

Like all angelic entities in their physical form, she has multiple feathered-wings, with each wing having a wingspan of roughly 10-feet. In her case, particularly, she possesses a total of eight brightly-colored wings, which resemble that of a macaw. Metallic eyes are scattered across her wings, placed near the tips of each feather, though they are usually hidden using illusions.

She wears a revealing body armor made out of Empyrean Gold, with the armor mostly covering her bottom half and one side of her arm, while her top half is only covered by a white bra with slight triangle patterns on the edge. She also wears a blade-like ornament on one side of her head, as well as a golden necklace.

When she first appeared, she wore a white dress shirt with frills, a small brown leather belt with a long blac skirt, and white boots. There was also a pair of knife sheathed on her back.

## Personality

Sophia is described as an intelligent and gentle woman, who often projectedd a calming, yet strict and authoritative, aura around her. She is widely beloved by those employed in the Akashic Records by Uriel for her maturity and 'elder sister-like' persona, and is usually seen as a role-model for Lesser Angels and Reincarnated Angels alike.

However, it is later revealed that her gentle appearance is nothing more than a facade she had learned to imitate from using the knowledge of the Records, as in reality, she has neither a genuine idea of what human-like emotions are like, nor she has an interest in learning them.

She has a strange fascination toward humanity as a whole, seeing them as "strange creatures" and "anomalies that required further investigation and observation", although, she has claimed to be an ally of mankind and will try her best for their protection and survival.

## Trivia

* Sophia's appearance is based on **Angelica Ainsworth** from *Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA☆ILLYA*.
* She is one of the guardians of the Sephirah Chomakh, which represents [Divine Wisdom].