Sophia-Achamoth Fall

In Valentinian Gnosticism as reported by Irenaeus and reproduced in Jung’s Alchemical Studies (§451), the upper Sophia who dwells in the Pleroma sends down her Enthymesis — her reflection — into the lower world. This lower Sophia, called Achamoth in the Hebraicizing branch of the tradition, “departed with suffering from the Pleroma into the darkness and empty spaces of the void. Separated from the light of the Pleroma, she was without form or figure, like an untimely birth, because she comprehended nothing — i.e., became unconscious” (Jung, Alchemical Studies §451).

Christ, “dwelling on high, outstretched upon the cross, took pity on her, and by his power gave her a form, but only in respect of substance, and not so as to convey intelligence” (Jung, Alchemical Studies §451) — gave her, that is, being without consciousness. He withdrew, leaving Achamoth in the void with “a kind of odour of immortality” by which she might be drawn back toward the Pleroma. In the Barbeloite system, the equivalent figure is Prounikos, a name carrying both “carrying a burden” and “lewd” (Jung, Aion, n. 33).

Hoeller, in his glossary, names Achamoth simply: “Sophia in her lower, or inadequate form” (Hoeller 1982). The figure is the tradition’s most explicit statement that wisdom can suffer descent and exile — and that the redemption of the divine feminine is the inner aim of the opus. For Jung, Achamoth prefigures the unredeemed anima in two registers: as the projected figure that holds a man’s soul in matter, and as the Self in its dark, unconscious aspect waiting to be recognized.

Relationships

• sophia
• anima
• gnosis-hermetic
• pneumatikoi-gnostic
• prima-materia

Primary sources

• Alchemical Studies §451 (Jung)
• Aion (Jung)
• The Gnostic Jung and the Seven Sermons to the Dead (Hoeller 1982)