Friday, June 7, 2019

Gnostic Gospel Illuminations -- An Illustrated Cosmology



The following illustrations and descriptions are excerpted from my book, The Gnostic Gospel Illuminated. These illustrations present the essence of Gnostic cosmology, demonstrating the manner by which an illimitable consciousness became One who became Many, and the relationship between those Above, and those of us here Below.

1.

Imagine nothing exists but pure consciousness, without thought. No images, no structure or form. No thing at all. Timeless. Still. Quiet. Alone.

2.

The Child exists as the Absolute having a thought. As the Father knowing Itself.  The Son is a complete and perfect sampling of the Father in which it dwells, as a bucket of sea water represents the sea. Every trait of the Father, expressed in the singularity of the Son. A perfect fractal. The Son is called The First Glory.

3.

The moment the Son was formed, he was no longer alone. For not only the Son, but the ALL arose at once. The ALL immediately appeared as the offspring of the Son, because the Son could not help himself from bringing others into existence, even as he was brought into existence by his Father. The Son and the Father are One, and the Father's creative Holy Spirit flows through the Son. With the birth of the ALL, the Son became a Father as well.

4.

The One begat the ALL, and the Father loved them ALL, even as He loved His Son. The ALL is called the Second Glory, the Joy of the Lord, and the Pre-Existent Church. The ALL glorified their Father with one mind, for only in their totality could they reflect and exalt their Father's greatness. This state did not last, for the members of the ALL soon became self-aware, and "it" became "they."

5.


 The moment identities arose, the Son's rays fruited into individual selves, each one distinct and self-aware.

6.

The Aeons of the ALL awakened to themselves in fulfillment of the Father's desire for innumerable points of view. In this manner, the ALL fruited and the Aeons of the Fullness became conscious of themselves and their individual capabilities.

7.


The awakened Aeons sorted themselves into a mutually beneficial and cooperative colony -- a hierarchy consisting of names, stations, ranks, duties, and locations. Each Aeon occupies a unique place and perspective in the union of the Fullness. The Hierarchy of the Fullness prefigures every pattern and relationship that would eventually become our universe.

8.

As DNA anticipates an organism and a blueprint promises a building, the Fullness dreamed of a perfect plan for Paradise. The newly self-aware Aeons were not separated from the One, for their Father was the Son who embodied the traits of the Formless One, and His Holy Spirit flowed throughout them as a reassuring presence. Although the Aeons dwelt within the single body of the Fullness, they were each an independent entity. Their variety required them to work together and remain in full agreement in order to remain aligned with the Glory of the One.

9.

The final Aeon produced by the will of the Father was placed at the very top of the hierarchy. This youngest Aeon carried within its singular self all of the traits of every other Aeon of the Fullness. It also possessed wisdom and curiosity. It is known by various names -- here we call it "Logos," which is Greek for knowledge and wisdom. This final Aeon beheld its own perfection and mistook itself for the Fullness. Mistakenly believing itself to be equal to the totality of the ALL, Logos unilaterally launched itself upward toward the realm of perfect glory, abandoning its proper position and duties.  

10.

Motivated by a mistaken, presumptuous thought, Logos overreached. Instead of reuniting with the Father, Logos stumbled and fell. This is called The Fall.

11.

These scattered pieces of the fallen Aeon emerged as poor, weak imitations of the Aeons above. And, because they were no longer arranged in the hierarchy, they lacked places, functions, and names. Rather than acting out of unity, the dark ones manifested disturbance, upheaval, and confusion. They were feeble, small, and unruly, lacking in wisdom. They thought they were all there was and they only admired themselves, arising as they did from division. Personal ambition eclipsed the Father's will.

12.

The Fall gave rise to a Boundary that separated those who had remained with the Father and the Fullness from the imitations that spilled forth. The Fallen Aeon was repelled by its creation and retreated to its own in the Fullness. The Boundary hardened, encircling a limited space where a finite economy could emerge, separating finitude from infinity, ignorance from truth, light from darkness.

13.

With the blessing of the Father, Logos and the Fullness produced a Second Order of Powers patterned after themselves. This new fruit embodied better abilities than those of the imitation; whereas those of the imitation were blind to the glory of the Father, this new fruit dreamed of Paradise and the ALL, giving them a good disposition. With that good thought, they worked in harmony and love, after the fashion of their parents above.

14.

It was decided that the Second Order of Powers would enter the deficiency one by one, from the lowest stations on up, in their full profusion of functions and forms. In this manner, the deficiency came to be populated with Powers from the Fullness.

15.

Whenever the Second Order of Powers came upon those of the imitation, they naturally attempted to overthrow them out of an inherent sense of self-righteousness. With great zeal, those of the Remembrance pitted themselves against those of the imitation, forgetting themselves and their origin. Due to the Law of Mutual Combat, the Second Order of Powers became infected with the same lust for dominion that ruled those of the imitation, and the two Orders entered a Never-ending War over resources in the bounded ecology of the economy.

16.

The Second Order Powers battle the imitation, hoping for rescue from Above.

17.

The Aeons produced a new fruit bearing the image of their Father. This One Fruit then took on many forms so those of the Remembrance would be able to recognize and welcome their Redeemer. The Christ took charge of the economy and proceeded to carry out His revelation, one soul at time.

18.

Those of the Remembrance joyfully greeted the Light, and they were awakened from their ignorance and made whole. 

19.

Those of the Remembrance were given chariots like those of the Aeons that could traverse all realms, great and small, establishing order. Working in concert with knowledge from the Fullness and power from the Father, the Redeemer's chariots brought the cooperative hierarchy to creation, and organized systems began to replace the chaos of the imitation.

20.

The Redeemed Third Order Powers find themselves in the world, but they are no longer of the world. Meanwhile, the Second Order Powers continue to battle those who cling to the imitation, both refusing to abandon their rage for redemption.

21.

This is the mystery of the birth of the Christ--that the inconceivable, ineffable, invisible, and ungraspable One was conceived, expressed, made visible, and able to be held, touched, and cradled by humans. Human beings were designed by the Aeons to become the "truly existent living images" of themselves they had always imagined themselves to be in their dreams of Paradise. Repentance allows one to grasp the love of the Father and so return home to Paradise.

22.

The symbol of the cross bridges top to bottom--Holy Spirit to creation--and side-to-side--reconciliation and harmony within creation. Jesus of Nazareth represents the Fullness of God entwined at conception with human DNA: the perfect material instantiation of the Father and the Fullness, bringing restoration not only to the Second Order Powers but to the Fallen Aeon as well. 

23.

The final sorting of Judgment Day, where every creature chooses its desired place in the Paradise offered to all. The only forms banished to the outer darkness called Hades will be the shadows and phantoms of the imitation that bring nothing but sorrow, death, and destruction, for these have no place in Paradise. 

24.

The final economy

25.

We all dream of the Paradise of the Aeons, where there is naught but life; so all the grass is green, and flowers blossom endlessly, and every soul that has ever lived, lives happily with their friends and families for evermore.
[
"The Prologue and the Promise" by Robert McCall was a popular image of Paradise that once graced the walls of Disney's Florida EPCOT Center.]

1 comment:

  1. The light is more powerful than the darkness. Shadows hide in dark places and fear the light. Light causes shadows to evaporate. Those who love darkness more than light will discover this for themselves.

    ReplyDelete

Dr. Ropp is always happy to communicate with sincere truth-seekers.