Aeon
The greek word Æon means eternal. The original Greek word is αίών.
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2 Platos Æon 3 Gnostic Æons 4 Valentinius Æons 5 Ptolemys and Colorbasus Æons 6 See Also 7 External Links |
This means the same thing as the word eon: an eternal frame of time, eternity.
The word æon was used by Plato to denote the eternal world of ideas, which he conceived was "behind" the perceived world, as demonstrated in his famous cave-allegory.
In many Gnostic systems, the various emanations of the God, who is also known by such names as the One, the Monad, Aiwn teleos (The Perfect Æon), Bythos, Proarkh (Before the Beginning), H'Arkh (The Beginning), are called æons. This first being is also an æon and has an inner being within itself, known as Ennoea (Thought), Charis (Grace), or Sige (Silence). The split perfect being concieves the second æon, Nus (Mind), within itself. Along with the male Nus comes the female æon Veritas (Truth)
The æons often came in male/female pairs called syzygies, and were frequently numerous (20-30). Two of the most commonly listed æons were Christ and Sophia. The æons constitute the pleroma, the "region of light". The lowest regions of the pleroma are closest to the darkness, i.e. the physical world.
When an æon named Sophia, emanates without her partner æon, the result is the Demiurge (or Ialdaboth), a creature that should never had come into existence. This creature does not belong to the pleroma, and the One emanates two savior aeons, Christ and the Holy Spirit to save man from the Demiurge. Christ then took the form of the man, Jesus, in order to be able to teach man how to achieve gnosis, i.e. return to the pleroma.
According to Tertullians Against the Valentinians (latin: Adversus Valentinianos) chapter VII and VIII (and we only know the details of this system from its opponents), the gnostic Valentinius had 30 different æons which emanate each other in sequence. The first 8 of these (corresponding to generation one-four below) is referred to as the Ogdoad.
According to St. Irenaeus Against heresies (latin: Adversus Haereses) also known as The Detection and Overthrow of Falsely So-Called Gnosis book 1, chapter 12, the followers of the gnostics Ptolemy and Colorbasus had æons which differ from those of Valentinius. Logos is created when Anthropos learn to speak. The first four are called the Tetrad and the eight are called the Ogdoad.
The time-measure Æon
Platos Æon
Gnostic Æons
Valentinius Æons
Ptolemys and Colorbasus Æons
The order of Anthropos and Ecclesia versus Logos and Zoe are somewhat debated, different sources give different accounts. Logos and Zoe are unique to this system as compared to the previous and may be an evolved version of the first, totalling 32 æons, but it is not clear if the first two were actually regarded æons.See Also
External Links
