Gnostic's Bridal Chamber...

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I am back on my Gnostic Studies. BTW, thank you Harth for the source I really appreciate it, it saves a lot of work sorting through the scriptures.
I am able to find answers to questions I've had in short order, my Gnostic vocabulary is improving rapidly...I can get a lot done in a much shorter amount of time.

Below is a little something on Baptism (includes info on other sacraments).



BAPTISM
- A ritual sprinkling, pouring or immersion in water, used to initiate a catechumen. See FIVE SEALS, BRIDAL CHAMBER, GARMENT, IMAGE, NAME, WATER.
1. BAPTISM - IN GENERAL
- In certain Gnostic texts, the baptism is performed once, three times, five times or more
- The baptism may be a symbolic as opposed to a ritual immersion, and constitute part of a vision.
- Baptism is one of the Five Seals.
- For a fuller comprehension of baptism, this rite should be viewed in the context of the Five Seals. See FIVE SEALS.
2. THE BAPTISM FIRST TOOK PLACE IN THE UPPER AEONS, DURING THE CREATION
- According to the Apocryphon of John, the Upper Aeons are a watery light which surround the One (invisible Spirit or Father) like a mirror, reflecting images of itself to itself. The first image of itself to appear in the watery mirror was the Mother, Barbelo (i.e. Wisdom). She brought forth the next image, the Son, Autogenes (i.e. Christ). The One then ‘anointed’ Christ (the rite of chrism) and ‘poured upon’ him (the rite of baptism). In response, Christ ‘glorified’ the Spirit and Barbelo i.e. he reflected their light back to them: “And the invisible, virginal Spirit (i.e. the One) rejoiced over the light which came forth, that which was brought forth first by the first power of his forethought, which is Barbelo. And he anointed it (chrism) with his kindness (chrestos) until it became perfect (...) And it attended him as he poured upon it (baptism). And immediately when it had received from the Spirit, it glorified the holy Spirit and the perfect forethought, for whose sake it had come forth.” (Apocryphon of John)
- This baptism of Christ in the Upper Aeons is the archetype or ‘pre-existent’ baptism which all rites of baptism will imitate.
- In this sense it is ‘the baptism higher than the heavens’: “And by forethought he established the holy and the baptism that is higher than the heavens.” (Gospel of the Egyptians 65:23 - Layton translation)
3. BAPTISM AS AN IMMERSION OR POURING OF THE WATERY LIGHT OF THE UPPER AEONS, TO ESTABLISH ONE’S IMAGE
- The Upper Aeons are described as a watery light (also, the living water, the waters above, etc. See AEONS).
- Following the archetype of Christ’s heavenly baptism, the Gnostic rite of baptism is understood as an immersion into the watery light of the Upper Aeons: “For the waters which are above [...] that receive baptism” (Melchizedek)
- Or, it is a ‘pouring forth’ of the baptismal waters from the Upper Aeons: “It (the Word) is a hidden Light, bearing a fruit of life, pouring forth a living water from the invisible, unpolluted, immeasurable spring” (Trimorphic Protennoia) “the holy Spirit poured over her from their whole pleroma.” (Apocryphon of John)
- Through baptism in the watery light of the Upper Aeons, one receives ‘an image’, which makes one ‘like the angels’: “Then I knew that the power in me was set over the darkness because it contained the whole light. I was baptized there, and I received the image of the glories there (the Upper Aeons). I became like one of them (the angels).” (Zostrianos)
- Baptism is also understood as a ‘seal’: (The author is contending against Christian baptism): “There are some, who upon entering the faith, receive a baptism on the ground that they have it as a hope of salvation, which they call the ‘seal’, not knowing that the fathers of the world are manifest (in) that place. But he himself knows that he is sealed.” (Testimony of Truth)
- Baptism is a seal (like a signet impressed in wax) in the sense that the catechumen’s image is impressed or ‘sealed’ in the watery light of the Upper Aeons. He then becomes one of the images in the watery mirror that reflect the One to itself.
- Hence, the catechumen is ‘sealed in the light of the water’ (i.e. the watery light of the Upper Aeons). Pronoia speaking of a soul: “And I raised him up, and sealed him in the light of the water with five seals, in order that death might not have power over him from this time on.” (Apocalypse of John 31:22)
- Through baptism, the catechumen’s image appears in the watery light, as a mirror-image or reflection of the One: “None can see himself either in water or in a mirror without light. Nor again can you see in light without mirror or water. For this reason, it is fitting to baptize in the two, in the light and the water.” (Gospel of Philip 69:8)
4. BAPTISM AS A CALLING OR NAMING, TO ESTABLISH ONE’S NAME
- Just as one’s baptismal image becomes a mirror-image in which the One may see itself, one’s baptismal name becomes a name by which the One calls itself. See NAMES.
- At baptism, the catechumen receives a baptismal name. This becomes a ‘living holy name’ that is inscribed ‘in the waters’ (i.e. the watery light of the Upper Aeons): “And according to the perfect laws, I shall pronounce my name as I receive baptism now and forever, as a name among the living and holy names, and now in the waters. Amen.” (Melchizedek 16:11)
- The name is also inscribed ‘in the light’ (i.e. watery light of the Upper Aeons): “...in order that he may inscribe your name in our great light.” (Concept of Our Great Power)
- Through baptism, one’s name is ‘written in glory’ (i.e. inscribed the light of the Upper Aeons) and ‘sealed’: “I (Zostrianos) was baptized in the [name of] the divine Autogenes by those powers which are upon living waters, Michar and Micheus. I was purified by the great Barpharanges. Then they revealed themselves to me and wrote me in glory. I was sealed by those who are on these powers, Michar, Micheus, Seldao, Elenos and Zogenethlos.” (Zostrianos)
- The One (i.e. the Father) utters the catechumen’s name. It is a name which the One uses to ‘know itself’ and name itself. It knew this name in the beginning, and will call it again at the end: “Those whose name he (the Father) knew in advance were called at the end, so that one who has knowledge is the one whose name the Father has uttered.” (Gospel of Truth 21:27)
- If one has an image and a name, one may rise up to the Upper Aeons: “When he came, he caused me to be raised up from ignorance, and from the fructification of death to life. For I have a name: I am Melchizedek, the Priest of God Most High; I know that it is I who am truly the image of the true High-Priest of God Most High.” (Melchizedek)
- Thus, the Elect are those whose names are inscribed in the Upper Aeons, and written in the Book of the Living: “...those who are to receive teaching are the living, who are inscribed in the book of the living.” (Gospel of Truth) See BOOK OF THE LIVING.
5. BAPTISM AS PUTTING ON A GARMENT OF LIGHT
- Many Gnostic texts refer to a garment of light. See GARMENT.
- The rite in which one ‘puts on’ the garment of light is performed in close association with the baptismal rite: “Moreover, as for this Light, when you enter it (...) you will accept robes from those who give robes, and the baptizers will baptize you, and you will become (...) the way you first were when you were Light.” (Trimorphic Protennoia 45:13)
- First there is the divestiture of one garment and then the investiture of another: “The living water is a body (i.e. garment). It is necessary that we put on the living man (i.e. garment of light). Therefore, when he is about to go down into the water, he unclothes himself, in order that he may put on the living man (garment of light).” (Gospel of Philip)
- One strips off the garments of the Lower Aeons (darkness, abyss, corporeal and psychic existence) and puts on the garments of the Upper Aeons (light, knowledge, thought, Fatherhood). Protennoia (as the Saviour): “I gave to him from the Water of Life, which strips him of the chaos that is in the uttermost darkness that exists inside the entire abyss, that is, the thought of the corporeal and the psychic. All these I put on. And I stripped him of it, and I put upon him a shining Light, that is, the knowledge of the Thought of the Fatherhood.” (Trimorphic Protennoia)
- According to the fragment On the Baptism B, baptism is “(a movement...) from the blindness of the world into the sight of God, from the carnal into the spiritual, from the physical into the angelic, from the created into the Pleroma, from the world into the Aeon, from the servitudes into sonship, from entanglements into one another” (On Baptism B)
- Once one ‘puts on’ the garment of light, one should act in such a way as to never remove it: “The baptism which we previously mentioned is called ‘garment of those who do not strip themselves of it’, for those who will put it on and those who have received redemption wear it...” (Tripartite Tractate)
- Among other things, baptism is a rite in which one ‘wears’ light, and thus becomes light: “(Baptism) is called ‘silence’ because of the quiet and the tranquility. It is also called ‘bridal chamber’ because of the agreement and the indivisible state of those who know they have known him. It is also called ‘the light which does not set and is without flame’ since it does not give light, but those who have worn it are made into light. They are the ones whom he wore. (Baptism) is also called ‘the eternal life’ which is immortality” (Tripartite Tractate 128:30)
6. BAPTISM - THE RENUNCIATION AND INVOCATION
- The rite of baptism was probably preceeded by a renunciation of the Archons and an invocation of the angels.
- In the spring-baptism, the catechumen will first be instructed about ‘those who will receive him’ (i.e. the Archons in the Lower Aeons; the angels in the Upper Aeons) through the renunciation and invocation: “They who are worthy of (the) invocation and the renunciations of the five seals in the spring-baptism, will know their receivers as they are instructed about them, and they will know them (or: be known) by them, and they will by no means taste death.” (Gospel of the Egyptians 66:2)
- Again, souls will be saved through baptism (involving secret symbols) and through a renunciation of ‘the god of the thirteen aeons’ (Archons) and a convocation of ‘the saints’ (angels): “...to save (their souls) through (...) the baptism, (...) through invisible, secret symbols, (...) through the renouncing of the world and the god of the thirteen aeons, and (through) the convocations of the saints” (Gospel of Egyptians)
- The ‘renunciation’ may have been a recitation of the Archons’ names, followed by their execration. But, it may also have been a long instruction concerning the secret names and symbols necessary for by-passing the archontic gate-keepers during the soul’s post-mortem ascent. See RESURRECTION.
- The ‘invocation’ is a confession of faith in the existence of the angels and beings in the Upper Aeons: “As for the baptism which exists in the fullest sense, into which the Totalities will descend and in which they will be, there is no other baptism apart from this one alone, which is the redemption into God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, when confession is made through faith in those names... namely that they exist. From this they have their salvation, those who have believed that they exist.... And when they have borne witness to them, it is also with a firm hope that they attained them, so that the return to them might become the perfection of those who have believed in them and (so that) the Father might be one with them, the Father... who gave (them) their union with him in knowledge.” (Tripartite Tractate 127:25)
- During ‘the baptism of fire’, Jesus invokes the imperishable names in the Treasury of Light (i.e. Upper Aeons): “Jesus turned to the four corners of the world with his disciples and invoked this prayer, speaking thus: ‘Hear me my Father, father of all Fatherhoods, infinite Light, make my disciples worthy to receive the baptism of fire, and release them from their sins and purify them of their transgressions (...) Yea, hear me my Father as I invoke your imperishable names that are in the Treasury of Light: Azarakaza A ... Amanthkratitath Yo Yo Yo Amen Amen (etc.)” (First Book of Jeu 110)
- Another form for the invocation is given in Melchizedek: “Holy are you, Holy are you, Holy are you, O Father of the All, who truly exist, for ever and ever, Amen. Holy are you, Holy are you, Holy are you, Mother of the aeons, Barbelo, for ever and ever, Amen. (etc.)” This formula is repeated with different names. (Melchizedek 16:16)
7. BAPTISM AS A VISIONARY ASCENT
- During his visionary ascent through the Upper Aeons, Zostrianos is baptized in the watery light of each of the aeons: “I left the airy-earth and passed by the copies of the aeons, after washing there seven times in living water, once for each of the aeons. I did not cease until I saw all the waters. I ascended to the Exile which really exists. I was baptized and [...] world. I ascended to the Repentance which really exists and was baptized there four times.” (Zostrianos) For Visionary Ascent, see RESURRECTION.
8. BAPTISM FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS
- One function of the baptismal rite is to wash and cleanse: “So when the womb of the soul, by the will of the father, turns itself inward, it is baptized and is immediately cleansed of the external pollution which was pressed upon it, just as garments, when dirty, are put into the water and turned about until their dirt is removed and they become clean. And so the cleansing of the soul is to regain the newness of her former nature and to turn herself back again. That is her baptism.” (Exegesis on the Soul)
- Such a purification may also be for the forgiveness of sins: “Hear me as I sing praises to thee, O Light of Lights. (...) Save me, O Light, in thy great mystery and forgive my transgression in thy forgiveness. And give me the baptism and forgive my sins and purify me from my transgression.” (Pistis Sophia Ch. 57)
- This may be one of several baptisms. In the fragmentary text ‘On Baptism A, “...the first baptism is the forgiveness of sins.” (On Baptism A 41:10)
9. BAPTISM - NUMBER AND TYPES
- In On the Origin of the World, there are three ages of the world (parousias), three types of humans and, corresponding to these, three baptisms of different types: “So, too, there are three baptisms - the first is the spiritual, the second is by fire, the third is by water.” (Origin of the World)
- In the Gospel of Philip, baptism is associated with water while the chrism is associated with fire. See CHRISM, FIRE
- Nevertheless, John the Baptist says: “I baptize with water, but he (Christ) will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” (Matthew 3:11) Hence, there is also a ‘baptism of fire’.
- In The Book of Jeu, there a Gnostic ‘baptism of fire’ is mentioned: “Jesus turned to the four corners of the world with his disciples and invoked this prayer, speaking thus: ‘Hear me my Father, father of all Fatherhoods, infinite Light, make my disciples worthy to receive the baptism of fire.’” (Book of Jeu 110)
- During his visionary ascent through the Upper Aeons, Zostrianos is baptized in the watery light seven times for each of the aeons: “I left the airy-earth and passed by the copies of the aeons, after washing there seven times in living water, once for each of the aeons. I did not cease until I saw all the waters.” (Zostrianos)
10. BAPTISM - MISCELLANEOUS
- Three angels preside over the baptism: “Then a voice came to them, saying "Micheu and Michar and Mnesinous, who are over the holy baptism and the living water” (Apocalypse of Adam 84:4)
- There is also an imperfect baptism (perhaps conducted by John the Baptist ‘upon the river’ Jordan): “For at that time the demon will also appear upon the river to baptize with an imperfect baptism, and to trouble the world with a bondage of water.” (Paraphrase of Shem)

http://www.gnosticq.com/az.text/glos...hor-FIVE-59404

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Here are the Five Seals referred to above...

FIVE SEALS
- See also SEALS.
- The Five Seals are mentioned in the Sethian Gnostic texts such as The Gospel of the Egyptians, The Trimorphic Protennoia and The Apocryphon of John.
- No Gnostic text gives an explicit description of the Five Seals. They remain a mystery.
- The Five Seals were granted in a ritual, which was composed of several important rites.
- By receiving the Five Seals, the Gnostic could ascend once more to the Upper Aeons.
1. THE FIVE SEALS IN GENERAL
- The Five Seals exist in the uppermost light (i.e. the Upper Aeons?): “These are the glories that are higher than every glory, that is, the Five Seals...” (Trimorphic Protennoia 49:26)
- The Five Seals come from the Father in the Upper Aeons: “the five seals which the Father brought forth from his bosom” (Gospel of the Egyptians)
- Christ gives the seals: “There is a sonship in their midst, which is called Christ the Verifier. It is he who verifies each one, and he seals him with the seal of the Father as he sends them in to the first Father, who exists in himself.” (Untitled Bruce)
- Through the Five Seals, the saviour (here, Protennoia) dwells in the Elect, just as they will come to dwell with the saviour in the Upper Aeons - Protennoia: “And I proclaimed to them the ineffable Five Seals in order that I might abide in them and they also might abide in me.” (Trimorphic Protennoia 50:9)
2. THE FIVE SEALS ARE GRANTED IN AN ASCENT TO THE UPPER AEONS
- The Elect receive the Five Seals in an ascent to the watery light of the Upper Aeons, where they are ‘sealed’. Through this rite, they will beome imperishable. The Saviour (Pronoia) speaking of a soul: “And I raised him up, and sealed him in the light of the water with five seals, in order that death might not have power over him from this time on.” (Apocryphon of John 31:22)
- The Five Seals are granted in the Upper Aeons. They give knowledge of the mysteries, and unify one with the Light: “And they took him into the light-place of his Fatherhood. And he received the Five Seals from the Light of the Mother, Protennoia, and it was granted him to partake of the mystery of knowledge, and he became a Light in Light.” (Trimorphic Protennoia 48:30)
3. THE RITE OF THE FIVE SEALS AS A FIVE-FOLD BAPTISM AND VISIONARY ASCENT
- In the Trimorphic Protennoia, the Five Seals are granted during a five-fold ritual that resembles a baptism and visionary ascent to the Upper Aeons. Five orders of angels (with three angels in each order) initiate the catechumen.
- First, the catechumen receives water (presumeably in a baptism) which ‘strips off’ from him the psychic and material garments before ‘putting on’ him a garment of light (which is knowledge of the Father): “I gave to him from the Water of Life, which strips him of the chaos that is in the uttermost darkness that exists inside the entire abyss, that is, the thought of the corporeal and the psychic. All these I put on. And I stripped him of it, and I put upon him a shining Light, that is, the knowledge of the Thought of the Fatherhood.” (Trimorphic Protennoia)
- During the visionary portion of the baptism, the catechumen is delivered to five orders of angels: ‘those who give robes of light’, ‘the baptizers’, ‘those who enthrone’, ‘those who glorify’, and ‘those who snatch away’: “And I delivered him to those who give robes - Yammon, Elasso, Amenai - and they covered him with a robe from the robes of the Light; and I delivered him to the baptizers, and they baptized him - Micheus, Michar, Mnesinous - and they immersed him in the spring of the Water of Life. And I delivered him to those who enthrone - Bariel, Nouthan, Sabenai - and they enthroned him from the Throne of Glory. And I delivered him to those who glorify - Ariom, Elien, Phariel - and they glorified him with the glory of the Fatherhood. And those who snatch away snatched away - Kamaliel, [...]anen, Samblo, and the servants of the great holy luminaries - and they took him into the light-place of his Fatherhood. And he received the Five seals from the Light of the Mother, Protennoia, and it was granted him to partake of the mystery of knowledge, and he became a Light in Light.” (Trimorphic Protennoia)
- Thus, the five-fold rite of baptism and visionary ascent consists of:
1. Receiving a robe of light
2. Baptism in the water of life
3. Enthronement on the throne of glory
4. Glorified in the glory of the Father
5. Snatched away
4. THE FIVE SEALS AS A FIVE-FOLD RITUAL
- In Gnosticism, the rite of Baptism often appears in conjunction with other rites. These include ‘putting on a garment of light’, ‘the chrism’, ‘the renunciation and invocation’ and ‘the Bridal Chamber’. See BAPTISM.
- The rite of baptism is sometimes called a seal and recognized as a seal. (The author is contending against Christian baptism): “There are some, who upon entering the faith, receive a baptism on the ground that they have it as a hope of salvation, which they call the "seal", not knowing that the fathers of the world are manifest (in) that place. But he himself knows that he is sealed.” (Testimony of Truth)
- The Gospel of Philip offers a crucial text for the Five Seals. In one passage, it groups together five important rites: the baptism, chrism, eucharist, redemption and Bridal Chamber: “The Lord did everything in a mystery, a baptism and a chrism and a eucharist and a redemption and a bridal chamber. [...] he said, "I came to make the things below like the things above, and the things outside like those inside. I came to unite them in the place." [...] here through types [...]and images.” (Gospel of Philip)
- It is possible that the five rites mentioned here are, in fact, the Five Seals. If so, the nature of ‘the redemption’ needs to be clarified.
- In another passage, the Gospel of Philip identifies the redemption with the resurrection. At the same time, it describes it as an intermediary rite between the baptism and Bridal Chamber: “There were three buildings specifically for sacrifice in Jerusalem. The one facing the west was called ‘The Holy’. Another, facing south, was called ‘The Holy of the Holy’. The third, facing east, was called ‘the Holy of the Holies’, the place where only the high priest enters. Baptism is ‘the Holy’ building. Redemption is the ‘Holy of the Holy’. ‘The Holy of the Holies’ is the bridal chamber. Baptism includes the resurrection and the redemption; the redemption (takes place) in the bridal chamber.” (The Gospel of Philip)
- The redemption was identified with the resurrection. According to the Gospel of Philip, the resurrection is a visionary ascent through the aeons. This vision of the resurrection is first seen in this life to prepare us for our after-life resurrection: “Those who say they will die first and then rise are in error. If they do not first receive the resurrection while they live, when they die they will receive nothing.” (Gospel of Philip) “While we are in this world, it is fitting for us to acquire the resurrection, so that when we strip off the flesh, we may be found in rest.” (Gospel of Philip)
- The Tripartite Tractate confirms that the redemption is ‘an ascent’: “...the redemption also is an ascent to the degrees which are in the Pleroma (i.e. an ascent through each aeon of the Upper Aeons) and to those who have named themselves and who conceive of themselves according to the power of each of the aeons (i.e. for the names of the angels).” (Tripartite Tractate)
- Like the resurrection, the redemption was most likely a visionary ascent of the catechumen through the aeons, so as to prepare him for his after-death ascent. During this initiatory rite, secret names and signs (also called seals) were revealed to him. First, in ‘the renunciation’, he was given secret names and signs to protect him against the Archons, in an ascent through the Lower Aeons. Then, in ‘the invocation’, more names and signs were given for the angels, in an ascent through the Upper Aeons.
- The Gospel of the Egyptians mentions the invocation and renunciation as part of the Five Seals rite, particularly during the baptism. The invocation and renunciation ‘instruct’ the catechumen about ‘those who will receive him’ in his ascent through the aeons: “But from now on, through the incorruptible man Poimael, and they who are worthy of (the) invocation (and) the renunciations of the five seals in the spring-baptism, these will know their receivers as they are instructed about them, and they will know them (or: be known) by them. These will by no means taste death.” (Gospel of the Egyptians)
- The invocation is described in The Tripartite Tractate as a ‘confession of faith’ in the names of the angels, and in their existence. Such a confession is called ‘the redemption’. It forms a part of ‘the baptism in the fullest sense’: “As for the baptism which exists in the fullest sense, into which the Totalities will descend and in which they will be, there is no other baptism apart from this one alone, which is the redemption into God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, when confession is made through faith in those names, which are a single name of the gospel, when they have come to believe what has been said to them, namely that they exist. From this they have their salvation, those who have believed that they exist. This is attaining in an invisible way to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in an undoubting faith. And when they have borne witness to them, it is also with a firm hope that they attained them, so that the return to them might become the perfection of those who have believed in them and (so that) the Father might be one with them, the Father, the God, whom they have confessed in faith and who gave (them) their union with him in knowledge.” (Tripartite Tractate 127:25)
- In this same sense, The Trimorphic Protennoia says the catechumen will come to possess ‘particular names’ through the rite of the Five Seals: “He who possesses the Five Seals of these particular names has stripped off the garments of ignorance and put on a shining Light.” (Trimorphic Protennoia)
- The above quotation makes clear that coming to possess the names is like stripping off one robe and putting on another. The rite of ‘putting on the robe of light’ was closely affiliated with baptism and the Bridal Chamber. See BAPTISM and BRIDAL CHAMBER. But the enrobing rite during the baptism was also called ‘the redemption’: “The baptism which we previously mentioned is called ‘garment of those who do not strip themselves of it’, for those who will put it on and those who have received redemption wear it...” (Tripartite Tractate)
5. CONJECTURED RECONSTRUCTION OF THE FIVE-FOLD RITUAL
- Hence, the rite of the Five Seals, as suggested by The Gospel of Philip, was a five-fold rite. These five important rites may have been performed separately at different times. Otherwise, they may have been performed together in one complex rite.
- In this case, several preliminary rites would have prepared the catechumen for the baptism. In particular, there was the ‘renunciation’, ‘invocation’ and ‘enrobing’ (which are also related to ‘the redemption’). The baptism became the climax of a visionary ascent, when the catechumen entered the Upper Aeons so that ‘his image was sealed in the watery light’ and ‘his name was spoken in the silence’. See BAPTISM. At that moment, he also received his ‘garment of light’ in the ‘Bridal Chamber’. See GARMENT OF LIGHT and BRIDAL CHAMBER.
- The complete rite may be recomposed as follows:
- First, the catechumen was ritually ‘stripped’ of certain garments, which symbolized his material and psychic existence.
- In the preliminary rite of ‘the renunciation’, he received secret names and signs to protect him against the Archons. This may have been during a visionary ascent through the Lower Aeons, which was recited aloud with the aid of a sacramental text. Otherwise, the demons and Archons may have been cursed aloud and execrated (as still occurs in the Roman Catholic rite of baptism, where ‘enrobing’ also occurs).
- In the preliminary rite of ‘the invocation’, more names and signs were recited to gain the protection of the angels. This would also have been during a visionary ascent through the Upper Aeons. Otherwise, the catechumen would have confessed his belief in the existence of the angels.
- Since Gnostics practised multiple baptisms, the catechumen may have been baptized a first time at the end of the renunciation, and second time at the end of the invocation, to prepare him for a third and final baptism.
- The final baptism was experienced as an immersion into the watery light of the Upper Aeons. The catechumen may have received a special sign or signet, which symbolized that his unique image had been ‘sealed’ or impressed in the watery light that moment. Through this image, the Father would reflect upon himself. The catechumen may also have received a special name, which symbolized that the Father himself had uttered this name to name himself.
- Along with an image and a name, the catechumen also received his ‘garment of light’. This garment would protect him for the rest of his life in this world and also during his ascent through the aeons after his death.
- Since baptism was understood as an immersion in the watery light of the Upper Aeons, the catechumen emerged from the glowing baptismal waters with his ‘garment of light’. Such a baptism was interpreted, at the same time, as a union or marriage with the light in the Bridal Chamber. The catechumen was seen to be the feminine soul and the Father was the masculine light. These two were ‘united in the Bridal Chamber’, and from that time onward, the soul wore the ‘garment of light’ in remembrance of her union with the Father. Hence, the rite of the Bridal Chamber may have followed the baptism, in the form of a ritual kiss to welcome the catechumen into the community of Gnostics. See KISS.
- In conjunction with the baptism, the catechumen may have been anointed with holy oil in the rite of the chrism. See CHRISM.
- At the end, the rite of the eucharist may have been celebrated with all those present. See EUCHARIST.
- In this way five different rites were granted over the course of one complex rite, which granted the catechumen Five Seals: the redemption, baptism, bridal chamber, chrism and eucharist. The catechumen emerged from this rite with a name, an image, and a garment of light.
6. EXAMPLE OF A COMPLEX RITUAL
- In the Acts of Thomas, Judas Thomas performs four of the rites mentioned above: chrism, baptism and the eucharist, as well as the enrobing. Through this complex rite, the catechumen (a woman named Mygdonia) receives her ‘seal’: “And when Narcia had brought these things, Mygdonia stood before the apostle with her head bare; and he took the oil and poured it on her head, saying: Thou holy oil given unto us for sanctification, secret mystery whereby the cross was shown unto us, thou art the straightener of the crooked limbs, thou art the humbler (softener) of hard things (works), thou art it that showeth the hidden treasures, thou art the sprout of goodness; let thy power come, let it be established upon thy servant Mygdonia, and heal thou her by this freedom. And when the oil was poured upon her he bade her nurse unclothe her and gird a linen cloth about her; and there was there a fountain of water upon which the apostle went up, and baptized Mygdonia in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. And when she was baptized and clad, he brake bread and took a cup of water and made her a partaker in the body of Christ and the cup of the Son of God, and said: Thou hast received thy seal, get for thyself eternal life. And immediately there was heard from above a voice saying: Yea, amen. And when Narcia heard that voice, she was amazed, and besought the apostle that she also might receive the seal; and the apostle gave it her and said: Let the care of the Lord be about thee as about the rest.” (Acts of Thomas 121)


http://www.gnosticq.com/az.text/glos...r-BRIDAL-45656

[Haruth]

5. CONJECTURED RECONSTRUCTION OF THE FIVE-FOLD RITUAL
- Hence, the rite of the Five Seals, as suggested by The Gospel of Philip, was a five-fold rite. These five important rites may have been performed separately at different times. Otherwise, they may have been performed together in one complex rite.
- In this case, several preliminary rites would have prepared the catechumen for the baptism. In particular, there was the ‘renunciation’, ‘invocation’ and ‘enrobing’ (which are also related to ‘the redemption’). The baptism became the climax of a visionary ascent, when the catechumen entered the Upper Aeons so that ‘his image was sealed in the watery light’ and ‘his name was spoken in the silence’. See BAPTISM. At that moment, he also received his ‘garment of light’ in the ‘Bridal Chamber’. See GARMENT OF LIGHT and BRIDAL CHAMBER.
- The complete rite may be recomposed as follows:
- First, the catechumen was ritually ‘stripped’ of certain garments, which symbolized his material and psychic existence.
- In the preliminary rite of ‘the renunciation’, he received secret names and signs to protect him against the Archons. This may have been during a visionary ascent through the Lower Aeons, which was recited aloud with the aid of a sacramental text. Otherwise, the demons and Archons may have been cursed aloud and execrated (as still occurs in the Roman Catholic rite of baptism, where ‘enrobing’ also occurs).
- In the preliminary rite of ‘the invocation’, more names and signs were recited to gain the protection of the angels. This would also have been during a visionary ascent through the Upper Aeons. Otherwise, the catechumen would have confessed his belief in the existence of the angels.
- Since Gnostics practised multiple baptisms, the catechumen may have been baptized a first time at the end of the renunciation, and second time at the end of the invocation, to prepare him for a third and final baptism.
- The final baptism was experienced as an immersion into the watery light of the Upper Aeons. The catechumen may have received a special sign or signet, which symbolized that his unique image had been ‘sealed’ or impressed in the watery light that moment. Through this image, the Father would reflect upon himself. The catechumen may also have received a special name, which symbolized that the Father himself had uttered this name to name himself.
- Along with an image and a name, the catechumen also received his ‘garment of light’. This garment would protect him for the rest of his life in this world and also during his ascent through the aeons after his death.
- Since baptism was understood as an immersion in the watery light of the Upper Aeons, the catechumen emerged from the glowing baptismal waters with his ‘garment of light’. Such a baptism was interpreted, at the same time, as a union or marriage with the light in the Bridal Chamber. The catechumen was seen to be the feminine soul and the Father was the masculine light. These two were ‘united in the Bridal Chamber’, and from that time onward, the soul wore the ‘garment of light’ in remembrance of her union with the Father. Hence, the rite of the Bridal Chamber may have followed the baptism, in the form of a ritual kiss to welcome the catechumen into the community of Gnostics. See KISS.
- In conjunction with the baptism, the catechumen may have been anointed with holy oil in the rite of the chrism. See CHRISM.
- At the end, the rite of the eucharist may have been celebrated with all those present. See EUCHARIST.
- In this way five different rites were granted over the course of one complex rite, which granted the catechumen Five Seals: the redemption, baptism, bridal chamber, chrism and eucharist. The catechumen emerged from this rite with a name, an image, and a garment of light.

http://www.gnosticq.com/az.text/glos...r-BRIDAL-45656

Parts of this feel very Masonic... Thanks for highlighting that

[brifae]

Thanks Haruth. I agree with the beginning of the text, the bridal chamber is associated with "The Holy of Holies". To bring sex into it is to remain at the physical level.


peace

I disagree, how much do you know about the gnostics, look up agape, dionysion mysteries, drunk orgies on the blood of the vine, homsexuality and semen eating, google semen eating gnostics, not to upset people but its true.
look up love feasts...held in churches even.

the union of god and goddess, wand inserted into chalice, the great rite is sexual intercourse, sorry. Sex is the creative tool of god.
sex is the initiator of life birth and death, which is why wicca under gardner is highly sexual. who were an offshoot of ceremonial magicians.

To reference:

in everything and everyone. Yet they are not monistic or world- affirming. The divine light has to be liberated from the darkness of matter imprisoning it.
The Gospel of Thomas was found at Nag Hammadi in Egypt among a cache of other Gnostic documents. It plainly rejects the world, the flesh and woman. It probably originated in Syria in the second century AD, and may have been used by the Manicheans. The Gospel of Thomas tells us that the world and the body are corpses. The real kingdom is of light, present inside dark matter.
The Gospel of Eve is known only from one or two short quotations from the great heretic-hunter Epiphanius (310/20 - 402), bishop of Salamis. He tells us that it was used by certain Gnostic sects with lurid and bizarre beliefs and sexual practices.
Epiphanius' testimony carries weight, because he admits that he himself fell in among them. He reports that they shared their women in common. They celebrated sexual orgies in which partners were swapped. Coitus interruptus was the normal practice. Semen was collected and offered to the Lord as the body of Christ, before being consumed. The Gnostics also consumed women's menstrual blood.
The theology behind the lechery was anything but world-affirming. It varied from one sub-sect to another. In outline the material world was ruled by an evil "archon" or intermediate deity. The bodily flesh belonged to this archon, and would not be raised up.
The power of the soul was found in semen and menses.


Read more: http://meta-religion.com/World_Relig...#ixzz19yR2Efp5
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionysian_Mysteries

[nventr]

I find the Gnostic texts confusing. One minute they are in the Upper Aeons of light, the next minute they are quite base in sexuality.

However, it is possible to interpret the meaning from the clues given. The only widely known hydraulic system in the ancient world was the sexual system.

The rising of the phallus can be equated to the rising of kundalini. The drinking of semen can be equated to filling the inner sanctum with Grace. Resulting in the transfiguration or the glowing, which is equated to the "Enrobing."

Initiation, which is the opening of the base or first chakra, was described as entering the Bridal Chamber in the traditional sexual context.
The Wedding or Empowerment, which is the opening of the crown chakra, was considered the Virgin path because the inner sanctum or Bridal Chamber was entered through the top of the head.

Rituals and metaphor are used to explain the deeper spiritual system. When we get wrapped up in the physical, then the spiritual teaching is lost.