A CERTAIN OUTLINE OF THE FIFTEEN

COUPLINGS, OR CONJUGATIONS

OF THE THIRTY AEONS OF THE GNOSTIC

PLEROMA, WHICH IRENAEUS DESCRIBES

in the first chapter.

A large, complex genealogical tree diagram illustrates the Gnostic Pleroma, which represents the totality of divine powers. The diagram shows the emanations of Aeons, or eternal beings, beginning from the primary pair, Bythos and Sige. It branches into the First Four and Second Four, together forming the Ogdoad. Further subdivisions show the production of the Decad, a group of ten, and the Dodecad, a group of twelve.

• The Ogdoad of Aeons. The primary group of eight divine beings.
• The 30 Aeons of the universal Pleroma are divided into:
• The Dodecad the group of twelve, which is a number of twelve. For from the Logos Word and Zoe Life, these ten Aeons take their origin and are coupled to one another.
• The Dodecad the group of twelve, which is a number of twelve. For from the Anthropos Man and the Ecclesia Church, these twelve Aeons proceed and are joined together.

Irenaeus teaches most extensively what should be determined concerning these fictions in various places, but especially in book 2, chapters 6, 7, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, and 24. We shall also indicate these in their proper places.

THE PLEROMA OF VALENTINUS, OF THE

THIRTY-FOLD DIVINITY, OR THE 30

AEONS, ARRANGED IN THREE LEVELS

by Rhenanus and Pamelio, according to the

mind of Tertullian.

THE UPPER LEVEL.

A large diagrammatic representation shows the Pleroma divided into three distinct levels: the Upper, Middle, and Lower. It lists the specific names of the Aeons and their divine emanations within this vertical hierarchy.

• The Ogdoad of Aeons.
• THE MIDDLE LEVEL, WHICH IS ALSO CALLED THE PLACE OF THE MIDDLE, AND THE VACUUM OF EPICURUS. The Gnostics equated their concept of the void with the philosophical vacuum proposed by the philosopher Epicurus.
• THE LOWER LEVEL, WHICH IS CALLED THE SABBATH, OR THE THRONE, OF THE DEMIURGE. The Demiurge is the subordinate deity who created the physical world, often identified by Gnostics with the God of the Old Testament.