Fidelity as the Way of Ascent

One of the important gnostic concepts describing the path of the mind’s ascent from a darkened, “captive” state — to its ideal nature, to the purity of the Divine Spirit — is the idea of “Fidelity” (Greek Pistis, Πίστις, French Foix, German Lehnseid).

This idea arose from the notion that the ‘substance’ of consciousness, which the Gnostics call “Wisdom,” “Sophia” — “fell,” that is, became obscured as a result of a mistaken understanding of its condition. In other words, as long as the mind fails to see, fails to identify its place as a unique modality of self-knowledge of the Absolute — it is darkened, “barren,” “Ahamoth.” That is, the “faithful” state of the mind is the activity of two streams — the “descending” one, called Pronoia (or Mezla), which separates this stream of consciousness from the world’s unmanifest unity, and the “ascending” one — Epinoia, which elevates the actualized, self-aware mind that has come to know itself into the unity of the Pleroma.

Accordingly, purification or “elevation” of the mind implies two important acts of awareness: 1) that the mind in its current form is “darkened,” and 2) that its foundation is pure and divine. These “discoveries” underlie the gnostic ascent of the mind to its higher states, called “Pistis Sophia” — “Fidelity to Wisdom,” described primarily in the codex of the same name, as well as in other texts.

In the Middle Ages, this gnostic notion turned into the famous ritual of vassal homage (“hommage”, hommage), which, in fact, included (though in a secularized form) these two acts of awareness: oneself as an individual and as part of the feudal order.

One way or another, the notion of the mind’s “fidelity” to itself — that is, of its self-identity and the sense of connection with the One — is not merely a concept, but a practical method that allows one to purify, “correct” the mind.

In other words, if we speak of “pistis” as an energy — that is, as something tangible and measurable — then we can say that pistis is the basis for accumulating “merit” — the energy of the Path.

When Christ, in ‘Pistis Sophia,’ describes in detail how He discovered the lost Aeon of Wisdom somewhere on the “13 heavens,” and then elevated it to divine heights, this is precisely what is meant by such a purification of the mind: the awakened Spirit discovers that the actual ‘gnosis’ is obscured, it lacks adequate awareness of itself and the world, and, uniting with it, “elevates,” purifies it and transforms Sophia Ahamoth into Sophia Eonas — that is, into the “Wisdom of Eternity.”

It is noteworthy that Christ is aided in this by the “Two Lights,” which are sometimes identified with the Archangels Michael and Gabriel, and represent two luminous capacities of the mind — “pure” Reason and “pure” feeling.

It also seems important that the text calls the archontic forces by two names — as “audacity” (Autades) and “false value” (literally, a counterfeit diamond, “Adamas”). That is, in Sophia’s ascent she is hindered by 1) attachment to material things (the text says that its desire is to rule all material aeons), and 2) misjudging what is essential and what is secondary. It is precisely these two delusions that, according to “Pistis Sophia,” keep Wisdom in the realms of Chaos. Accordingly, if one defeats “audacity” — with pure desire (“Who is like God” — Michael), and “false values” — with a faithful sense of the unity and hierarchical nature of the universe (“Power is in God” — Gabriel), then one can free Sophia from Chaos’s clutches and elevate her to the “supreme aeons.”

Thus, if one keeps in mind that Gnosticism is not simply a religion or a philosophy, but a technique for liberating the mind, and approaches gnostic texts not merely as philosophical texts but as practical guides, one can glean from them several concrete tips on what must be done and how in order to restore the mind’s true nature, and then also lead it to the final goal: actual, free pleromic unity.