Gnosticism Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Aeon=== {{Main|Aeon (Gnosticism)}} In many Gnostic systems, the aeons are the various emanations of the superior God or Monad. Beginning in certain Gnostic texts with the [[hermaphrodite|hermaphroditic]] aeon [[Barbelo]],<ref name="apocryphon" /><ref name="allogenes">{{cite web | title=Allogenes | publisher=The Gnostic Society Library | url=http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/allogene.html | access-date=2009-02-13}}</ref><ref name="trimorph">{{cite web | title=Trimorphic Protennoia | publisher=The Gnostic Society Library |url=http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/trimorph.html | access-date=September 29, 2013}}</ref> the first emanated being, various interactions with the Monad occur which result in the emanation of successive pairs of aeons, often in male–female pairings called ''syzygies''.<ref name="valen_syzygy">{{cite web | title=The Pair (Syzygy) in Valentinian Thought | url=http://www.gnosis.org/library/valentinus/Syzygy_Valentinian.htm | access-date=2009-02-13}}</ref> The numbers of these pairings varied from text to text, though some identify their number as being thirty.{{sfn|Mead|2005|p={{page needed|date=January 2024}}}} The aeons as a totality constitute the ''pleroma'', the "region of light". The lowest regions of the pleroma are closest to the darkness; that is, the physical world.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}} Two of the most commonly paired æons were Christ and ''Sophia'' (Greek: "Wisdom"); the latter refers to Christ as her "consort" in ''A Valentinian Exposition''.<ref name="valen_expos">{{cite web | title=A Valentinian Exposition | publisher=The Gnostic Society Library | url=http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/valex.html | access-date=2009-02-13}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page