"There is no mystery which is more excellent than these mysteries on which ye question, in that it will lead your souls into the Light of the lights, into the regions of Truth and Goodness, into the region of the Holy of all holies, into the region in which there is neither female nor male, nor are there forms in that region, but a perpetual indescribable Light." — Pistis Sophia
The expression Pístis Sophía is obscure, and its English translations varied: "The Wisdom of Faith", "Faith Wisdom", "Wisdom in Faith", or "Faith in Wisdom". To some later Gnostics, Sophia was a divine syzygy of Christ, rather than simply a word meaning wisdom, and this context suggests the interpretation "The Faith of Sophia", or "The Loyalty of Sophia".
Again, his disciples said: "Tell us clearly how they came down from the invisibilities, from the immortal to the world that dies?" The perfect Saviour said: "Son of Man consented with Sophia, his consort, and revealed a great androgynous light. Its male name is designated 'Saviour, begetter of all things'. Its female name is designated 'All-begettress Sophia'. Some call her 'Pistis'
- Parrott, Douglas M. (translator). "The Sophia of Jesus Christ"
- The Treasury of Light (the place of the right; separate regions in Books 1 & 2 only)
- The Midst (mesos)
- The thirteenth aeon (excluded in Book 3 and part two of Book 4)
- The twelve aeons/heimarmene (separate regions in Books 1 & 2 only)
- The first sphere (Books 1 & 2 only)
- The firmament (Books 1 & 2 only)
- Amente (Book 3 and part two of Book 4 only)
- Chaos (Book 3 and part two of Book 4 only)
- The Midst (mhte) (Books 3 & 4 only)
- The Outer Darkness (Books 3 & 4 only)
, the aeonic realms represent the material universe, bounded by the stars and the zodiac. The Midst is the space dividing this region from the upper realms, and is sometimes a waiting space for souls before being allowed to enter the light realms. The goal of the soul is to ascend beyond the aeons and enter the upper realms of light. This is achieved by receiving the mysteries offered by the group represented by these texts.
Sabaoth, the Adamas is the primary representative of evil or wickedness in the majority of the Pistis Sophia. He is accused of inappropriate sexual conduct, begetting archons and other beings, and as a result he is imprisoned in the bounds of the zodiac, or the material universe. For those human souls who did not receive the mysteries before death and are thus bound to be reincarnated in the world, he is also responsible for giving the “cup of forgetfulness,” denying them the knowledge they had acquired from previous lives and punishments.
Pistis Sophia represents the soul, or more specifically, the part of the soul that incarnates; namely, the Monad of consciousness in the concrete mind. Her name is a key to her role: Pistis is the Greek word for faith. Not blind faith, but faith arising from total conviction of inner knowledge. Aeons is derived from the Greek Aion or age, are entities governing zones of existence, or planes of consciousness, between heaven and earth.
Sophia is Greek for wisdom. Thus her compound name indicates the fundamental principle that enables her to undertake her mission, namely, the development of wisdom in both worlds.
Her consort is Christ, the aspect of the soul that unfolds the triple-natured higher Self in line with Pistis Sophia's progress in the material world. Christ remained behind in the higher planes when she descended into chaos. This separation expresses the split in consciousness between the higher and lower nature of man.
Although man is really one with his divine Self, the usual level of his consciousness cannot reach the spiritual planes; thus in the myth Pistis Sophia and Christ are presented as separate entities. The villain of the story is the Self-Centered One, standing for the ego, an appropriate name for the vain and egotistic "I," which always demands to be the center of attention and strives for the gratification of the senses, thus causing great affliction for the soul.
The regents or archons of the Aeons are the main allies of the Self-Centered One, and they stand for the emotions and passions of man. Leading them is the Lion-Faced Power, an emanation of the Self-Centered One, standing for egotism, the strongest force driving man away from God and into chaos. While chaos, in the system of this text, is a region of the underworld, the term is mostly used to convey the image of a psychological state of disorder.
Since Pistis Sophia is the Monad of consciousness, when it is said that she falls into chaos, it means that she becomes prey to mental disorders resulting from emotions, desires, and passions. She becomes conditioned by names and forms, by cultural values and mores, by a whole gamut of conditions that represent a virtual prison to the incarnated soul, in short, the delusion of separateness. Thus Pistis Sophia's descent into chaos is a symbolic description of man's entrance into the cycle of incarnation, where he will remain until his mission is accomplished.
Sophia fell out of the Fullness (Pleroma) through an act of unilateral will — she reached for the Light without her consort, without the sanction of the divine order. The consequence wasn't punishment so much as metaphysical rupture. She fell into Chaos, which in Gnostic cosmology isn't simply disorder but a realm governed by hostile, ignorant powers — the Archons, here called "Arrogance" and their emanations. They immediately moved to strip her of her light, knowing that her divine substance was the only real power she had left. Sophia works her way back — twelve repentances corresponding to the twelve regions she transgressed on the descent, each one a kind of magical-liturgical key that opens a gate. The passage makes clear she's ascending through the same zones she fell through. This is important: redemption in Pistis Sophia is not a simple divine rescue from outside. It requires her active participation, her voice, her persistent calling. The Christos appears to her in the shape of a cross stretched across the transcosmic regions. it's her bridegroom coming toward her from above while she struggles upward from below. Heaven is not complete until the exile returns. The Fullness is genuinely diminished by her absence. the divine whole requires the return of every part. Nothing is abandoned. Nothing is finally lost. The dark powers don't relent until the very threshold of the Pleroma. Then they simply fall away. She enters, sings her victory hymn, and resumes her seat.
Rescue me, O Light, from the lion-faced Power and from the emanations of divine Arrogance; for it is Thou, O Light, in whose light I have believed, and I have trusted to thy light from the first. . . . It is Thou who shalt save me. . . . Now then, O Light, leave me not in the Chaos. . . . Do not abandon me, O Light, for. . . they have desired my power, saying to one another all at once: "The Light has forsaken her, seize her, and let us take away all the light in her." Let those who would take my power be turned to the Chaos and put to shame, let them be swiftly turned to Darkness . . . let everyone who seeks after the Light rejoice and be glad! . . . Thou, then, O Light, Thou art my Saviour. . . . Hasten and save me from this Chaos. - (Pistis Sophia, chapter 32)
The Light has become Saviour for me and has changed for me my darkness into light: He has rent the Chaos that surrounded me and girded me with light! . . . All powers that are in me, sing to the Name of His Holy Mystery . . . which has filled thee with refined light. - (Pistis Sophia, chapter 32)
0 Light, I shall disclose how Thou hast saved me, and how Thy wonders have taken place in the human race! . . . Thou hast smashed the high gates of Darkness together with the mighty bolts of Chaos . . . and I have come up through the gates of the Chaos! - (Pistis Sophia, chapter 33)