List of gnostic terms
The following is a list of vocabulary that many books on Gnosticism will assume the reader is familiar with
| Term |
Definition |
| sarkic |
earthly, hidebound, ignorant, uninitiated. The lowest level of human thought the fleshly, instinctive level of thinking. |
| hylic |
lowest order of the three types of human. Unable to be saved since their thinking is entirely material, incapable of understanding the gnosis. |
| psychic |
"soulful," partially initiated. Matter-dwelling spirits |
| pneumatic |
"spiritual," fully initiated. immaterial, souls. Escaping the doom of the material world via gnosis |
| aeon |
one of various levels of reality |
| archon |
one of various powers in the cosmos |
| pleroma |
fulfillment, the higher reality of archetypes (related to Plato's realm of Ideas). The region of light. |
| kenoma |
the visible or manifest cosmos, "lower" than the pleroma |
| charisma |
gift, or energy, bestowed by pneumatics through oral teaching and personal encounters |
| Sophia |
"wisdom," worldly understanding; personified as Lady Wisdom, the syzygy of Christ |
| logos |
The logos is the divine ordering principle of the cosmos; personified as Christ. See also Odic force |
| hypostasis |
Literally "that which stands beneath" the inner reality, emanation (appearance) of God, known to psychics |
| ousia |
essence of God, known to pneumatics. Specific individual things or being |
| gnosis |
"knowledge," direct insight into God attained by pneumatics |
| syzygy |
a divine active-passive, male-female pair of aeons, complementary to one another rather than oppositional |
| demiurge |
an entity (usually seen as evil) responsible for the creation of the physical universe and the physical aspect of humanity. The creator God |
| theos |
The Greek term for god. Used by Christian Gnostics for the monad |
| Emanation |
The Supreme Light or Consciousness descends through a series of stages, gradations, worlds or hypostases, becoming progressively more material and embodied. In time it will turn around to return to the One (epistrophe), retracing its steps through spiritual knowledge and contemplation. |
See also
References
