DeConick A.D

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GNOSTIC ALTERED STATES
whole story of the Gnostic culture of silence. Their attachment to silence,
at least in their own literature, seems to have nothing much to do with a
gag order. Rather, they value silence for entirely different reasons.
In their own literature, silence is both the primal state of the ineffable
God they seek and a bodily practice in which they engage to withdraw
into this primal state as they return to the source of life. The primal God
in Gnostic myths is a silent God, and the goal of the Gnostic journey is
withdrawal back into this original silence, rest, and stillness. Silence is
considered the state of utter transcendence, the very essence of ultimate
reality in its original condition (Tripartite Tractate NHC I.5 129.20–29;
Apocryphon of John NHC II.1 4.10–14). In Valentinian traditions, Silence
is the Mother God from whose mouth emerges the first sound,
Truth. Her speech is the manifestation of what is ineffable, indefinable,
and indescribable (Gospel of Truth NHC I.3 37.7–12, 24.10–20; Tripartite
Tractate NHC I.5 55.35–40, 56.25–28; Valentinian Exposition NHC XI.2
22.19–27; Trimorphic Protennoia NHC XIII.1 35.33–36.4; Eugnostos the
Blessed NHC III.3 88.4–11; Thunder: Perfect Mind NHC VI.2 14.10).
The Father lives in a state of quietude, sleeping in silence (Hippolytus,
Refutation 6.29.5).
In Sethian texts such as the Gospel of the Egyptians (NHC III.2 40.12–
41.12, 42.20–23), the primal transcendent state of providence is described
as “living silence.” It is a state of silent light. It is the “silent silence” that
births the Father, the Mother, and the Son, the original triad of transcendent
divinities. The transcendent realm is populated with more divinities,
who emerge as the “silence of silent silence,” so that there is a triple
greatness of silence there, the perfect condition for the best nap or night’s
rest (Gospel of the Egyptians NHC III.2 44.28, IV.2 56.5–6, 60.22–27;
Sophia of Jesus Christ NHC III.4 100.9–16; Tripartite Tractate NHC
I.5 70.15–20, 92.5–9). Not surprisingly, the Gnostic redeemed exist in a
state of eternal contemplative rest (Gospel of the Egyptians NHC IV.2
65.21–22, 67.15–17; Gospel of Truth NHC I.3 22.1–7, 35.22–33, 38.25–33;
Treatise on the Resurrection NHC I.4 44.1–4; Tripartite Tractate NHC
I.5 131.20–22; Authoritative Teaching NHC VI.3 34.35–35.16).
In order to return to the primal silence, Gnostics learned in their congregations
to be silent and still. So it is not surprising that intentional
silence and stillness become essential in their rituals. In fact, the Valentinian
congregants insist that they must act in such a way that their meet-