Gnosticism and the Cosmere

[Strawberry Eggs she/her]

I did some rudimentary searching and didn't find another topic for this, which I'm a little surprised. It's possible the search function isn't very good and I missed one or more. My apologies then, for bringing up something that is old hat.

But in any case, I've noticed a number of similarities between the Cosmere and Gnosticism. For those who don't know, Gnosticism is/was a religious and philosophical movement that started around (and possibly before) when Christianity started. A large number of gnostic groups are even now identified as Christan Gnostics. Their beliefs and myths varied, but the general idea is that there existed one true god. He/it is called Abraxas, Monad, the One, among other names. From this one came divine emanations called Aeons. They all represent aspects of the One, but still comprise it. Altogether, they are referred to as the Pleroma (fullness). These Aeons usually represent and are called abstract ideas, such as Incorruptibility, Mind, Pleasure, Truth, Faith, and Love.

The parallels between Cosmere theology and Gnosticism are already apparent here. It still isn't know if Adonlasium is/was an actual entity or a force/power, but it could still be compared to the Gnostic Monad. The shard gods are likened to the Aeons; they make up the One and their Intents are usually abstract notions (I can't find any directly similar names, though some can be stretched, like Incorruptibility to Preservation). If the theory that a Shard's power can create sentience is true, this also has some similarities in Gnosticism. While the method varies, people (or only some people) were born with Spirit only after it was introduced into the physical world from the realm of the Pleroma.

Another major aspect of Gnosticism doesn't quite match up, but it does lead to some interesting ideas. According to most Gnostic systems, the youngest Aeon, Sophia (Wisdom) was either upset that she was so far from the Monad or was merely curious about the rest of the universe that she somehow fell away from the Pleroma. This caused her to give birth to a monstrosity, a being called the Demiurge and sometimes named Yaldabaoth. She abandoned it, and somehow it never learned of the Pleroma, the Monad, or even its mother Sophia and believed itself to be the one true god. Rather than creating the world, the Demiurge shaped existence ("Demiurge" means "craftsman," the idea being that an artisan doesn't create something from thin air, but carves and manipulates substances like stone or clay), forming the physical world. This was considered an abomination. The universe was meant to be spiritual, but the ignorant and arrogant Demiurge trapped parts of it in matter. Humankind is thus born into a fake world of physical substance, most of them not knowing of the true realm of the spirit, the Pleroma. The Demiurge was usually identified by the Gnostics as Yahweh/Jehovah/YHVH, ie. the god of the Old Testament. Only a small number of humans, those born with the spark of Spirit (Spirit and Soul was usually seen as two different things to the Gnostics), would be able to awaken from the illusion created by the Demiurge and join the Pleroma. Every so often, a Revealer, one of the Aeons, would get past the Demiurge and his Archons (sort of like evil angels) and awaken humans on earth. Jesus Christ was usually identified as one such Gnostic Revealer.

There is no real Demiurge figure in the Cosmere. While Shards like Ruin and most certainly Odium are seen are negative ones, they are still considered important parts of the whole. The Demiurge may have been descended from the Aeons, but it is not considered a part of the Pleroma. Still, perhaps the shattering of Adonalsium can be compared to the fall of the universe. Maybe like in Gnosticism, Adonlasium also had Shard "emanations" even when it was "whole." The shattering was thus not necessarily Adonalsium breaking up, but rather the Shard emanations falling away from each other. The fullness became empty, and if the Shards had any minds of their own, they lost them.

Of course, that last part is just pure speculation. Heck this entire theory is. The idea of multiple gods being the fragments is hardly new, but still, it's fun to wonder if Brandon Sanderson was thinking of Gnosticism as he came up with and developed Cosmere theology. I imagine he'd be familiar with Gnosticism. Even if there was some Gnostic influence, the idea of Shards already existing as Aeon-like emanations before shattering is just pure conjecture. It's still fun to speculate, though.

Edited June 24, 2012 by Strawberry Eggs

[Guest tbst]

Strawberry,

 

Literally just finished listening to this on Gnosticism: Needless to say, my jaw dropped. I searched online and found your post. I think you're onto something. If you're still around, listen to the podcast (start at about 19:00). I've sketched a few things (summarized quotes) from his podcast that develop on your notes above. I structured this so you can see the progressive hierarchy.

 

Monad/Pleroma/Creator/etc — does appear to relate to Adonlasium. In Gnosticism, he is sometimes called Father. I don't know whether this may mean the Stormfather because if so, this would indicate the Stormfather is the supreme God which does not appear to be the case according to WoR. It is possible that the Stormfather plus the other entities make up the "fullness" (Adonlasium?).

 

Emanations — these are thoughts which emanate from the One Good Perfect Principle. Emanations are called things like "first thought" (Sophia=an Aeon). Sophia is the supreme Emanation and the first power. She is considered a mother but also the Holy Spirit.

 

The Corruption — But at some point there was a corruption or an error in the emanations (an abortion). Something happened to the Pleroma that resulted in the creation of the physical universe (=physical realm?). Something breaks the Fullness, not corrupting the Fullness internally, but creates sparks (=spren?) of the fullness. Sparks of the light go out of the fullness where they do not belong and need to return to where they belong (the Fullness). Certain kinds of human beings have those sparks from the perfect Fullness (=Radiants?)

 

The Cause of Corruption (Sophia) — one of the Emanations made a mistake. That is how the sparks (=shards/spren?) ended up being disjointed. Sophia is sometimes attributed as the Emanation that created an inferior being to the Emanations of the Father. This being was defective. This was creation of the Demiurge (Yaldabaoth). Perhaps this is Odium, "The Broken One." 

 

The Demiurge (Odium/Honor?) — He thinks he is a God and that he is the Ruler of All and that everyone should notice Him. But He does not have knowledge of the Fullness. He's now out of the Fullness. But because he thinks he is God, he creates the universe/world. He also has lesser, defective emanations that come from him: Rulers. They are related to his nature but are entirely composed of the material realm. Perhaps this is the Parshendi/Voidbringers.

 

Creation of Humanity — The Demiurge, however, also created human beings. In this process sparks (pieces of the Pleroma) become implanted in human bodies. This Demiurge is able to do it because he possesses some elements of the Spiritual Realm. Some of the Spiritual Elements become trapped in the physical realm. These things need to return to where they belong and so can be reunited with the perfect Fullness.

 

"Human nature mirrors the duality found in the world: in part it was made by the false creator God and in part it consists of the light of the True God... Humans are generally ignorant of the divine spark resident within them. This ignorance is fostered in human nature by the influence of the false creator and his Archons, who together are intent upon keeping men and women ignorant of their true nature and destiny. Anything that causes us to remain attached to earthly things serves to keep us in enslavement to these lower cosmic rulers. Death releases the divine spark from its lowly prison, but if there has not been a substantial work of Gnosis undertaken by the soul prior to death, it becomes likely that the divine spark will be hurled back into, and then re-embodied within, the pangs and slavery of the physical world (http://www.gnosis.org/gnintro.htm).

 

"From earliest times Messengers of the Light (=Heralds?) have come forth from the True God in order to assist humans in their quest for Gnosis"

 

 

The Pleroma Responds — the Pleroma learns of the actions of the Demiurge and assigns one of His own Emanations the role of going to humanity and sharing the knowledge so that the sparks (=spren/shards) of the Physical Realm could be freed and reascend to the perfect Pleroma. Christ is often seen as the one who shares the knowledge with humanity. Salvation for humanity is gaining this knowledge of returning to the Pleroma.

 

 

Dualism — Spiritual Realm (good); Physical Realm (bad). The Cognitive Realm may be some sort of space between these.

 

 

 

 

Interesting Quotes From Apocryphon of John

• "Sophia surrounded him [Demiurge] with a brilliant cloud, Put a throne in the center part of the cloud. So that no one would see it.
• "Yaldabaoth is the chief ruler. He took great Power (dynamis) from his mother, Left her, and moved away from his birthplace. He assumed command, Created realms for himself With a brilliant flame that continues to exist even now.
• "He [Yaldabaoth] shared a portion of his fire with them [the Rulers], But shared none of the power of Light he had received from his mother.

 

 

Concerns

 

 

• The chief problem is with the Demiurge. Honor claims to be the Creator of Mankind, yet he is oddly benevolent and not quite as malicious as Gnostic Demiurge claims him to be.
• What about Sophia? Is this the Nightmother? It's the only female spren/deity we know of presently.
   

 

 

Other Thoughts

• There are many cases where Brandon uses sets of 10 and 12. This is a pattern in Gnosticism (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeon_(Gnosticism))
• There's a lot of variation in Gnosticism. In the details, it may be hard to argue for parallels. In the broad framework there may be a case. Brandon will probably go his own direction even IF this was a starting conceptual framework for him.

 

I'm curious if any Cosmore scholars have thoughts.

 

Grace and Peace.