Archons and Things
Dec. 3rd, 2018 08:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
causticusAt the most metaphorical level, the so-called "Archons" are the natural forces of the cosmos; specifically those which regulate the cosmos and the multitudinous natural phenomena which comprise the cosmos. In most of the Gnostic mythological accounts, the Archons are conscious and sentient entities, even if they are something more akin to AI constructs rather than beings imbued with Spirit from the highest planes.
In terms of human spiritual evolution (out of our meat-sack prisons and to higher and happier places) the Archons serve as the limiting forces which inhibit our higher potential; those roadblocks and hurdles that constantly dog us on our journey up the mountain. Of course, many of the Christian Gnostics anthropomorphized the Archons and cast them as malevolent, demon-like figures. How literal one believes in the Archon mythos if of course up to the individual seeker. Zoroaster (Zarathustra) was probably the first great spiritual figure to demonize the not-so-holy forces of nature; those forces which his tribal brethren and priestly contemporaries had worshiped as gods (devas). We could say that many centuries after Zoroaster's rebellion (against the old Vedic cults), the demonization of intelligent non-human beings residing in the psychic (soul) planes really started to pick up. And we know quite well that the Abrahamic religions took this practice to an extreme and ultimately demonized ANY sentient life that's not either God, the angels, or human beings; everything else be damned!! (literally) Zoroastrianism actually offered a middle ground between the two poles of nature-worshiping Polytheism and strict Monotheism; in Zoroastrianism the beneficent aspects of nature were re-branded as angelic forces (Yazatas) and the malefic ones as daevas.
What we don't know so much is how the Christian Gnostic sects spiritual entities that don't fit squarely into the angel/demon binary. That would be something interesting to look into, granted any definitive evidence of their position on this matter can be found in surviving texts. The Hindu and Buddhist traditions seem to treat this issue in the most balanced and nuanced manner; their positions on this might be the best to work from when it comes to the great work of reconstructing a coherent and beautiful Gnostic religion for today's world.
In terms of human spiritual evolution (out of our meat-sack prisons and to higher and happier places) the Archons serve as the limiting forces which inhibit our higher potential; those roadblocks and hurdles that constantly dog us on our journey up the mountain. Of course, many of the Christian Gnostics anthropomorphized the Archons and cast them as malevolent, demon-like figures. How literal one believes in the Archon mythos if of course up to the individual seeker. Zoroaster (Zarathustra) was probably the first great spiritual figure to demonize the not-so-holy forces of nature; those forces which his tribal brethren and priestly contemporaries had worshiped as gods (devas). We could say that many centuries after Zoroaster's rebellion (against the old Vedic cults), the demonization of intelligent non-human beings residing in the psychic (soul) planes really started to pick up. And we know quite well that the Abrahamic religions took this practice to an extreme and ultimately demonized ANY sentient life that's not either God, the angels, or human beings; everything else be damned!! (literally) Zoroastrianism actually offered a middle ground between the two poles of nature-worshiping Polytheism and strict Monotheism; in Zoroastrianism the beneficent aspects of nature were re-branded as angelic forces (Yazatas) and the malefic ones as daevas.
What we don't know so much is how the Christian Gnostic sects spiritual entities that don't fit squarely into the angel/demon binary. That would be something interesting to look into, granted any definitive evidence of their position on this matter can be found in surviving texts. The Hindu and Buddhist traditions seem to treat this issue in the most balanced and nuanced manner; their positions on this might be the best to work from when it comes to the great work of reconstructing a coherent and beautiful Gnostic religion for today's world.
