Valentinian Gnosticism, founded by the 2nd-century theologian Valentinus, is a branch of early Christian Gnosticism that emphasizes salvation through gnosis (spiritual knowledge) and posits a complex cosmology involving emanations from the divine. Central to this philosophy is the concept of the Pleroma (Fullness), the transcendent spiritual realm inhabited by divine beings called Aeons. These Aeons represent eternal, divine principles or hypostases that emanate progressively from the ultimate, unknowable God (often called Bythos or Depth) in a process of emanationism, where lower realities unfold from higher ones, contrasting with the orthodox Christian idea of creation ex nihilo (out of nothing). The system is structured around thirty Aeons, known collectively as the Triacontad, which form a harmonious hierarchy symbolizing the fullness of divine reality.
The thirty Aeons are organized into syzygies—male-female pairs that complement each other sexually and conceptually, reflecting a balanced, androgynous divine order. This structure is divided into three main groups:
- The Ogdoad (Eight Aeons): The primordial octet, starting with the first syzygy: Bythos (Depth/Father) and Sige (Silence). From them emanate Nous (Mind) and Aletheia (Truth); then Logos (Word/Reason) and Zoe (Life); and finally Anthropos (Man) and Ecclesia (Church). These represent the foundational divine intellect and life.
- The Decad (Ten Aeons): Emanated from Logos and Zoe, these include pairs like Bythios (Deep) and Mixis (Mingling), Ageios (Ageless) and Henosis (Union), and others, symbolizing deeper attributes of unity and eternity.
- The Dodecad (Twelve Aeons): Emanated from Anthropos and Ecclesia, including pairs such as Parakletos (Comforter) and Pistis (Faith), Elpis (Hope) and Agape (Love), and culminating in Theletos (Will/Perfection) and Sophia (Wisdom).
This totals thirty Aeons, each containing infinite sub-Aeons, forming an expansive, psychological, and spiritual plenum where only Nous can fully comprehend the Father. The Aeons exist within God but maintain some independence, embodying divine thoughts or aspects.
The philosophy's narrative hinges on the fall of the thirtieth Aeon, Sophia (Wisdom). Driven by a desire to know the unknowable Father directly (a privilege reserved for Nous), Sophia attempts to emanate alone, without her syzygy, leading to a flawed offspring: the Demiurge (often identified with the Old Testament God), who creates the imperfect material world in ignorance of the higher Pleroma.
This fall introduces duality, suffering, and materiality, which Gnostics seek to transcend through gnosis, restoring unity with the divine. Christ, as a redeemer from the Pleroma, descends to impart this knowledge, reconciling the spiritual (pneumatic), psychic, and material (hylic) elements of humanity. Influenced by Sethian Gnostic myths, Valentinianism adapts them into a more proto-orthodox framework, blending Platonic emanation with Christian theology.
Overall, the thirty Aeons illustrate Valentinianism's view of a graduated divine reality, where spiritual ascent involves understanding these emanations to achieve salvation from the flawed cosmos.