“Then when Sophia Zoe saw that the rulers of darkness cursed her companions, she was angry. And when she came out of the first heaven with every power, she chased the rulers from their heavens, and she cast them down to the sinful world, that they might dwell there as evil demons upon the earth. She sent the bird that was in paradise so that, until the consummation of the age, it might spend the thousand years in the rulers’ world: a vital living being with soul, called the phoenix, which kills itself and reanimates itself for a witness to their judgment, because they dealt unjustly with Adam and his race. There are three human beings and their descendants in the world until the consummation of the age: the spiritual and the psychical and the earthly. This is like the three kinds of phoenixes of paradise: the first is immortal; the second attains one thousand years; as for the third, it is written in the Holy Book that it is consumed. Likewise three baptisms exist: the first is spiritual, the second is by fire, the third is by water. Just as the phoenix appears as a witness for the angels, so too the water serpents82 in Egypt have become a witness to those who go down for the baptism of a true person.” ~On the Origin of the World
Rulers of Darkness
The Rulers of Darkness are the fallen angels who are also known collectively as the Demiurge. The Darkness that they rule is the universe of matter that they created on their own in violation of the Laws of God. Because it was created without God, it is defective, dark. Death, disease, the need to eat other beings to survive, these are all indicators of a realm of darkness, not light. Of course, there is some light here. It cannot be shut out completely, though the dark lords try. But in case you haven’t noticed, even on a mere material level light can also penetrate darkness and lessen it but darkness cannot penetrate into light. On the material level, darkness is just the absence of light, so it cannot exist where there is light. But on a spiritual level, darkness is just another name for ignorance of God and God’s Law. That is what makes it possible for people who are full of light to exist right next to those who are almost completely dark. But it is never possible for one to be full of light and darkness at the same time.
The First Heaven
Sophia came from the “first heaven”. As it is called the first heaven, we can assume it existed before all other heavens, or spiritual dimensions, at least if we think in linear time. A better way to put it is to say this is the highest heaven. It is the dimension that is also known as the Godhead. All other dimensions were generated from it. Continue reading “Rulers of Darkness and Their Realm”