Sophia

**Sophia**, also known as the **Goddess of Wisdom**, **Mother Wisdom** or **Pistis**, is the Aeonic goddess of wisdom, faith and knowledge. She is the last emanation of Bythos and the mother of Yaldabaoth, and the consort of Jesus Christ. Sophia is mainly worshiped in Gnosticism, but also in Christian theology, Platonism, Hellenism, Christian Mysticism and Jewish Mysticism.

## Overview

Sophia played a pivotal role in shaping the material world. As she bestowed mortal humans with souls, she also shared with them the hidden wisdom of the genuine spiritual universe, enabling them to break free from the sway of Yaldabaoth.

Her full name is "Pistis Sophia", indicating that she is not only the personification of wisdom, but also the faith that moves the hearts of humans and has helped them throughout history, performing miracles, healings, saving people and much more.

All Aeons are androgynous, that is, they have a male and a female counterpart, in Gnosticism the female counterpart of Jesus Christ was Sophia, and vice versa. In fact, the two are twin, together they form the dual power, the masculine and the feminine, the positive spirit and the negative spirit. The Gnostics claim that she is the syzygy of Jesus (the Bride of Christ) and the Holy Spirit of the Trinity, although such a position also seems to belong to Barbelo. It is also argued that she is the mother of Zoe, whom she sent to enter Adam's body, and when God (or the Demiurge) took Adam's rib, that's when Zoe assumed a human female form.

## Appearance

Sophia is a high-level spiritual being and therefore lacks a physical form, needing to use mortal forms in the human realm. Its true form is indescribable, usually being described as a very intense blue light capable of burning the eyes of anyone looking at it.

In Gnosticism, although not explicitly stated, it is clear that good is represented with beauty, while evil is represented with ugliness. Yaldabaoth and his archons are always represented as chimera-like figures, while Sophia is always glorified for her beauty, often being depicted nude.

In her human form, Sophia is a tall dark-skinned woman with waist-length blonde hair who has several bangs down her face, two bangs come down at the sides running all the way down that also frames her face and hazel eyes that sometimes change to blue. She usually appears to be sleepy whenever she makes an appearance, but under special situations, she has a serious face that she puts on.

In her second form, Sophia appears as a 12-year-old fair-skinned girl with blonde hair that reaches down to her legs, she has sea-blue eyes. She wears a black and white dress, giving her a cute look. Her voice is described by Gabriel as being very cute. Despite her small size, she has a powerful aura, being much more powerful and bright than the Seven Archangels.

## Personality

Sophia is a very kind and compassionate, optimist, especially to her family and people close to her. While presenting an image of apathy towards others, she dislikes cruelty, especially towards the innocent. To put it in simpler terms, Sophia is shown to be very humble and polite, as well as a loving mother and a dedicated leader.

She possesses a huge amount of regret due to what she did with Yaldabaoth, wishing she could go back stop her past self from banishing that demiurge due to embarrassment and shame. During her time on Earth, she developed loving feelings for the Absolute. However, some believe that she already had feelings for God even before her fall.

## Powers and Abilities

**Entity Creation:** Sophia is able to create beings from various sources or shape existing sources into different forms for a variety of purposes. They can grant these beings varying levels of detail (simple to intricate), independence (controlled, programmed, semi-independent or fully autonomous) and existence (momentary to permanent) and delete the entities once they are done with them. Sophia is able to create all sorts of entities with a wide variety of attributes such as abilities, skills, appearances, identities and personalities, as well as potentially granting them equipment and other accessories such as clothing or weapons.

**Femininity Aspect Manifestation:** Sophia embodies the conceptual attributes, traits and behaviors of femininity/womanhood and gains power from aspects they represent each reflecting the ideal status of being by their physicality, mentality, spirituality and so on.

**Gender Transcendence:** Sophia is not limited to gender/sex, transcending existing genders and surpassing normal comprehension. Sophia usually has no definition or actual characteristics representing a gender at their core, though some can appear in a form resembling any sexual being, without being bound to the gender's natural vulnerabilities.

**Knowledge Deity:** Sophia with this ability either is or can transform into a knowledge deity, a god or goddess in mythology associated with knowledge, intelligence, education, wisdom or science. They are a common feature of polytheistic religions.

**Snake Creation:** Sophia can create/generate any kind of snakes, whether living, extinct or fictional.

**Soul Manipulation:** Sophia can create shape and manipulate the soul, the incorporeal and immortal essence of a living thing, souls are usually most obviously present in sentient beings. At some level all biological organisms have souls, and even non-biological entities (such as rivers and mountains) possess something that is analogous to a soul.

## History

The Universe's origin can be traced all the way back to the original and unknowable God, often referred to as the Parent, Bythos, or Monad, as described by Monoimus. This initial, unitary beginning gave rise to the spontaneous emanation of successive Aeons, which were pairs of progressively 'lesser' beings in a sequential order. Collectively, along with their source, these Aeons constituted the Pleroma, symbolizing the fullness of God. It's essential to understand that these Aeons shouldn't be seen as distinct from the divine but rather as symbolic abstractions of the divine nature. The transition from the immaterial to the material, from the noumenal to the sensible, occurred due to a flaw, passion, or sin in one of the Aeons.

Sophia played a central role in this instability within the Pleroma, which ultimately led to the creation of materiality. The crisis emerged when Sophia attempted to emanate without a partner, resulting in her cataclysmic fall from Heaven. Filled with fear and anguish at the loss of her divine life, just as she had lost the light of the One, Sophia longed to return to it, inadvertently giving rise to matter and soul. The creation of the Demiurge, known as Yaldabaoth or the "Son of Khaos," was also an error during this exile. The Demiurge proceeded to craft the physical world we inhabit, remaining ignorant of Sophia's existence, even though she managed to infuse some spiritual spark or pneuma into his creation.

Jesus Christ was sent from the Godhead with the purpose of reuniting Sophia with the divine realm. Christ's mission was to help Sophia regain her connection to the spiritual world and bestow upon her the knowledge of the spirit. Subsequently, Christ incarnated as the man Jesus and shared the wisdom necessary for individuals to liberate themselves from the physical world and return to the spiritual realm.

The Gnostics assigned a specific dwelling place to Sophia and outlined her relationship with the upper world, as well as her connection to the seven planetary powers that were positioned beneath her. In the ancient worldview, these seven planetary spheres or heavens were considered the highest realms within the created universe, arranged as seven concentric circles, each ruled by one of the seven Archons. This collection was known as the Hebdomad.

Above the highest sphere of the Hebdomad, there existed the Ogdoad, a realm of immutability that was in close proximity to the spiritual world. In this context, the seven pillars were interpreted as representing the planetary heavens, with Sophia's dwelling located above the Hebdomad in the Ogdoad.

Sophia's dwelling-place is depicted as being "on the heights," situated above the created universe, between the upper and lower worlds, bridging the gap between Heaven and Earth. She is said to reside at "the gates of the mighty," signifying her position at the thresholds to the realms ruled by the seven Archons. Furthermore, her praise is sung at the entrances to the upper realm of light. In this role, Sophia holds the highest authority over the visible universe while also serving as the intermediary between the higher and lower realms. She shapes the mundane universe based on heavenly prototypes and organizes the seven star-circles, each with its own Archon, who, according to the ancient astrological beliefs, govern the fates of all earthly things, particularly human destinies. She is often referred to as "the mother" or "the mother of the living."

To reconcile the ethereal nature of Sophia with her dwelling in the kingdom of the midst, situated outside the higher realm of light, a scenario was conceived where Sophia descended from her celestial home into the void below. This concept involved the appropriation or theft of light, or a pouring and diffusion of light-dew into the kenōma, triggered by a life-bestowing movement in the upper world. Because the light brought into the darkness of the lower world was associated with suffering, this suffering was regarded as a form of punitive consequence.

The story of Sophia's fall serves as a prototype for the history of individual souls. These souls, originally from a heavenly pneumatic origin, have fallen from the upper world of light, coming under the influence of malevolent powers, which subject them to prolonged suffering until they can return to the upper world. However, these fallen souls retain a memory of their lost home and strive to return.

## Quotes

*"I was sent out from the power and have come to you who study me and am found by you who seek me. Look at me, you who study me, and you who hear, hear me. You waiting for me, take me into yourselves. Don’t banish me from your vision. Don’t let hatred enter your voice against me or let anger enter your hearing. In no place, in no time, be unknowing of me. Be alert. Don’t be ignorant of me. I am the first and the last. I am the honored and scorned. I am the whore and holy. I am the wife and the virgin. I am the mother and daughter. I am the members of my mother and the barren one with many sons. I have had a grand wedding and have not found a husband." - Sophia, Apocryphon "The Thunder, Perfect Mind."*

*"I am Wisdom, He is the Word. It's not a very fun dialogue you know?" - Sophia.*

*"So... I don't hate you, my son. But please don't get in my way. What you broke, I fixed it. Those you hurt, I healed. But it looks like you still don't get it." - Sophia to Yaldabaoth.*

*"I created the diadem a long time ago, back when the garden of earthly paradise is still hidden on Earth under the grace of God. It was supposed to be a gift to* him *but I never had to chance to before... Nonetheless, the diadem still retains its original purpose as the key to the akashic records. I made sure of it." - Sophia.*

*"And when the mother recognized that the garment of darkness was imperfect, then she knew that her consort had not agreed with her. She repented with much weeping. And the whole pleroma heard the prayer of her repentance, and they praised on her behalf the invisible, virginal Spirit. And he consented; and when the invisible Spirit had consented, the holy Spirit poured over her from their whole pleroma. For it was not her consort who came to her, but he came to her through the pleroma in order that he might correct her deficiency. And she was taken up not to her own Aeon but above her son, that she might be in the ninth until she has corrected her deficiency." - Jesus Christ to John.*

*"Let's make the Spark inside us shine even brighter... And I say, as long as there are stars in the sky our love will not die." - Sophia to Jesus Christ.*

## Trivia

* Sophia admits that she feels a tremendous passion for God.
* Sophia emanating Yaldabaoth without her consort is literally interpreted as a metaphor for masturbation - she creates Yaldabaoth by having sex alone rather than with her consort (sometimes interpreted as Jesus or Theletos).
* Technically speaking, all humans are facets of Sophia, as she is the very divine spark that dwells within each human. Some Gnostics interpret this as Sophia dressing in a heavenly robe that is the cosmos and exploring her positive and negative aspects. No wonder, she calls herself the saint, and the harlot, the father, and the mother, and the son, the sinless one who brought sin.
* As the embodiment of wisdom, Sophia is quasi-omniscient. However when in her human form her IQ is believed to be 10^30, or one nonillion.
* Her favorite music is "Hallelujah" and she is sometimes seen singing it around.