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Gnostic Elements in The Cosmogony of Vladimir Soloviev by Maria Carlson
Gnostic Elements in The Cosmogony of Vladimir Soloviev by Maria Carlson
of Vladimir Soloviev
Maria Carlson
5{)
sokrviev
51
52
Soloviev
Cenr-rcru:
CnoslicElementsin Solouiea's
Cosmogony
53
54
Soloviev
Canrsoru;
GnosficElementsitr Solotieu'sCosrnogony
55
removed itself sufficiently from the Godhead to fall into matter The
story of the redemption of this divine substanceis human history The
difference among gnostic systems lies precisely in their speculations
about the nature of the precosmicfall of Spirit (divine element) into
Matter and the preciseagent and manner of redemption,but not in the
fact of the fall itself.
The best known of the gnostic cosmogoniesthat describethe precosmic fall of Spirit into Matter is that of Valentinus, in which the
key protagonistsin the precosmicfall and the subsequentredemption
are the Sophia, the Christos, and Jesus.Valentinus (2d cent., ca. a.o.
140), the most influential of the gnostic theologians,based his system on Ophitic texts (with some Platonic and Pythagoreanmatter).
That Soloviev was well acquainted with the Valentinian speculation
is clear not only from his article "Gnosticism" for lhe Brokgauz-Efron
(Entsiklopedicheskii
"Gnostitsizm,"
slouar'Brokgauza-Efrona;
Encyclopedia
in Solov'ev l0:32$-28),but also from a secondarticle in the samework,
"Valentinusand theValentinians"("Valentini Valentiniane,"in Solov'ev
10:28.1-90).
Valentinus was, according to Soloviev "the most famous
of the gnostic philosophers and one of the most brilliant thinkers of
all time," the creatorof a "rigorous, consistent,and poetically original
system" ("Valentin," l0:285,288).Defining gnosticismas a philosophy,
Solovievtermed it a "theosophical"systemwhosepurposewas to unite
"the divine principle and the world, absoluteand relative being, the infinite and the finite" ("Gnostitsizm," 324).The articlesrevealSoloviev's
detailedknowledgeof gnosticism;they should,however,be approached
cautiously by the reader During the late nineteenth century while
wasbeing published,Soloviev'sarticles
the Brokgauz-Et'ron
Encyclopedia
would havebeenstrictly overseenby theChurch censorship(dukhounaia
lsenzrra;Church censorshipwas lifted only in 1905).Sincegnosticism
was a heresy,Soloviev'sencyclopediaentrieswould have had to reflect
the Church's position; indeed Soloviev'sarticle "Gnosticism" conforms
in the approved manner.
strictly to Irenaeus'Aduersusomneshaereses
The Valentinian speculation representsthe mainstream of Snostic
thoughu it received the greatestattention from the patristic heresiologistsand was the best-knownand most accessibletradition beforethe
later discoveriesof Nag Hammadi (1945).One of the more important
implications of the Valentinian speculation for mystic thought is its
assumption that matter is derived from an original spiritual source.
Since matter is viewed negatively,this implies a divine "failure" on
somelevel;it alsoimplies that this failure,beingdivine in origin, canand
was a devaluedand
willbe redeemed.Materiality,for the Valentinians,
derivative spirituality, lessperfect and more "evil" for being the more
)t,
Srrloviev
Canr-sorrr:
GrroslicElemtntsitr SolouietisCosmogorl
5T
58
soi,vrev
Crrnr-sor.r:
GrroslicElementsin Solooiett's
Cosmogony
59
The fall into Darkness,Matter, and Evil of the lower Sophia, the
SophiaProuneikos,
or Achamoth,was the very eventthat necessitated
the creationof the world and of man for one very important purpose:to
facilitatethe eventualredemption of the fallen Light from the Darkness
(the restorationof the compieteSophia to the Pleroma).Darknessand
matterare definedasevil n;t absol;tely,but relatively(for the physical
world is the world of relativity); their distancefrom the perfection of
the Pleroma means that they are less perfect, hence relatively more
evil. Because
of this stateof events,the world and the universeexist,
but within them alsoexist the meansof returningthe divine spark to
the Godhead.
Once fallen into the realm of Matter and Darkness,the lower Sophia
becamenostalgicfor her divine form and existence.In order to facilitate
her return to the Light, she gave birth to the Demiourgos,who then
createdthe earth and a human raceto inhabit it.8 Sophiasplintered her
divine Light and placed one spark of it into the soul of each human
being, thereby herself becoming the Anima Mundi, the Soul of the
World. In the world, then, the lower Sophia lost the original state of
All-Unity and dwelt in a stateof multiplicity and fragmentation(the
basicfeatureof matter in mysticalsystems).Shelost all but intuitive
memory of her divine nature, although from time to time a reflection
of her divine nature would penetratethe world to remind both the
World Soul and the human souls of their greatmission.The World Soul,
the lower Sophia, or Sophia Prouneikos,becameutterly sensual and
was eventuallyassimilatedto the variousforms of the GreatGoddess
and the Tellus Mater of oriental and ancient religions (Jonas176).This
Sophia was "enclosed in human flesh and migrated for centuries as
from vessel to vessel into different female bodies. And since all the
Powerscontendedfor her possession,strife and warfare raged among
the nationswhereversheappeared"(Jonas107,quoting lrenaeus)
In this interestingmythology we seethe sourceof the Russiansymbolists' belief that Sophia could and would actually be incarnatedin a
particular woman,asBelyi, Blok,and SergeiSolovievbelievedshemight
be incarnatedin Liubov' Dmitrievna Blok or as the admittedly eccentric
Anna Nikolaevna Schmidt believedshe might be incarnatedin herself
(seeShmidt). Such a view also explains why it was not contradictory
for Aleksandr Blok to searchfor her in cabaretsand whorehousesand
among sectariansas well as in drawing rooms and churches.Sophia is
the Eternal Feminine,found in its divine aspectin Agia Sophia,and in
its demonic,dark aspectin the World Soul,the seductivewhore marked
by the spark of divinity, Sophia Prouneikos.Soloviev's terminology
reflectsth gnostic paradigm, for he clearly made this samedistinction
60
Solrrvicv
irt Sololicrr'-s
C,rnr-sol.r;
GrroslicElanrcttls
Coslro,qoly
61
62
Soloviev
Caxr-rcr:GnoslicElementsitt Soloaiea's
Cosmogony
63
64
Solovrev
Notes
l. Translation
minc;the l.aussian
originalis givt,nin StrgeiSolov,tvi ilJ-19.
SergeiSolovievincluderlthis matcrialin the sixth ancllicvcntheditionsof his
uncle'sSfi,ttoll)(,rcrirn;
it canbc found in Vlac.linrir
Solor,,tvl2:l{tt-49.
2. Ctxceptsand vocabularyarc p.rrticularlytroubling.Irrzlilclsrrs/rolrcsrs,
lrcnacuswrites,"Certainlyth('y lthL'Valentiniansl
conftsswith tlrtir toIlques
thc onc JesusChrist,but in thcir minds (s.,,tu',rlri)
they dividc him,, (citr,dill
Ittrdolph154-55).Kurt Rudolphpointsout that,indeccl,for thc gnosticsChrist
is.lcsus
Christ,theearthlvmanifestation
of thcChristos;Christis a highcrbcrng,
an Aeon,who dwells in the Fullnessof the Pleroma;and finally,Christ is lht
"PerfectFruit" of the Pleroma,who bcconrcsthc consortof thc falltrrSophia.
This scarcely
conformsto the trnditionalClrristianconcoptof th!,Christ.
65
66
Soloviev
the knowledge (gnosis)of the Christ. This macrocosmicdrama has its counterpart in the microcosmictribulations of the human heart.
ll. This is one of the many pointsat which gnosticism,Theosophy,
Buddhism (all important at the fin-d..sii',cle),
and other occult d(rctrinesintersect.
Theosophyand Buddhism both posit Maya, the cosmicSpider who spins the
web of World Illusion which must be overcome.The imageappearsin a number
ofsymbolist works, notably Andrei Belyi'sSercbanyi gohr;b',
where the enrrapping web literally sends its viscousstrands into the hero's breast.The web of
World Illusion holds its victim trapped in matter and occludesthe highet ',real"
reality that standsbehind illusion.
12. The understandingof theosisconspicuouslyhighlights the difference
between traditional fthodoxy and gnosticism.Stated in extreme terms, the
gnostic is God, albeit a fratmented and imprisoned God; his earthly task is to
discover this fact, to reiectand overcomethe material world that keeps him
prisonerin his physicalbody and in nature(which are evil, having beencreated
by an evil demiourgos),and to return to the unknowableCod head.Most gnostic
doctrineshave no conceptof graceor resurrection,let alone resurrectionin thc
despisedflesh.The gnosticpath is a return, not a trial or a quest.ln Orthodoxy,
on the other hand, man is made in the image of God, but he is ,ot Cod. Man
dwells in nature, which is good, for it was createdby Cod; man acquiresthe
Holy Spirit only throughdivine graceand "dwells in" God, as God dwells in
him. Man partakesof divine nature,joins with the divine energyof God, but is
not himselfdivine.
67
Works Cited
Allen, Paul M. Vladitir Sokr{Ifi':R,rssiidrMystic. Blauvelt, N.Yr Steinerbooks,
1978.
Belyi, Andrei IBoris Bugaevl.Sinruolium:
trgn stafei.Moscow: Musaget,19'10.
Carlson, Maria. "No RcligrorrHigher Than Trulh": A Historv ol theTheosophica!
Mowmentin Russia1875-'1922.
PrincetonrPrincetonUniversitv Press,1993.
Cioran, Samuel D. Vladimir Solw'a, atrd lhc KnighthooLl
ol thc Ditirc Sophia.
Waterloo,Onta o: Wilfrid taurier Universitv Press,1977.
Cooper,J. C. Arr lllustralcdEncycloperlia
of TradirioualSynrhols.
London: Thames
& Hudson,1978.
Florovsky,Georges.Ptti lusskogobogoslouirir.
Paris:IYMCA Press],1937.
ol thcAlicn Codand tlc Beginnings
Jonas,Hans.TireGrostic Religiot:Thc Mcssage
ol Christinnity.2drev ed. Boston:BeaconPress,1963.
intothePhenomenology
oltlreSef.Trans.R.F C.
Jung,CarlGustav A ion: Researches
Hull. 2d ed. Vol. IX,2 of the CollectedWork. Bollingen Series20. princeton:
PrincetonUniversity Press,1959.
Jung, Carl Custav. Tre Gnosticlung. Ed. Robert A Segal.Princebn: Princeton
University Press,1992.
and Alchemy.Trans.R. F C. Hull. Vol. Xll of the
fung, Carl Custav Ps.yctology
CollecletllNorks.Bollingen Sries20. Princeton:Princeton University Press,
1968.
Kotnblntt r Richa
Prcss
F. Gustafson
53715
CHAPTER02:
Gnostic Elements in the Cosmogony of Vadinn
by Matia C tson(pp.49 67)
Soloviev