THE EGYPTIAN FOUNDATIONS OF GNOSTIC THOUGHT

dualistic conception of the goddess consistent with the Sophia myth. 52
And so while
the higher Sophia does rise above the Heimarmene (Fate), her lower aspect continues
to be held in thrall. This may well represent the evolution of the Isis tradition within
an epoch which began to subscribe to the conception of a demonised cosmos. 53
In
any event, Isis must be considered as an important influence upon the evolution of the
Gnostic Sophia/Barbelo figure as we shall more closely examine in Chapter 11. 54
Within Egypt, the Isis cult was most strongly developed in Alexandria and Memphis.
Rather than dealing with other specific sects at length it is more important to
note the common features of mystery cults as opposed to religions. In the first
instance the voluntarism involved in joining such a group was of critical import: 55
the
cults operated in seclusion and were not at all interested in propagating a faith. 56
There is a primary concern with “knowing” among an inner elite group of adepts,
pertaining directly to the transmission of the deeper significance of some core myth. 57
Another important characteristic is the complete absence of any concept of heresy, or
excommunication. 58
All of the above factors represent key characteristics of the
Gnostic sects and are therefore to be counted among the precursors of Gnostic thought
in Alexandria. One very important difference does exist, however, and this is manifest
in the vague soteriologies presented by the mystery cults in general; unlike the
Gnostics, who made this the very heart of their myths, the mystery cults had only a
very faint concern for the salvation of the soul. 59
Amidst this mosaic of believers, there were philosophical traditions which
originated in Greece and which were present in Alexandria. The topos here must
52
Marvin W. Meyer, The Ancient Mysteries (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1987), 170-71:
“Isis is, in fact, the female principle of Nature, and is receptive of every form of generation,
in accord with which she is called by Plato the gentle nurse and the all-receptive, and by
most people has been called by countless names, since, because of the force of Reason, she
turns herself to this thing or that.... [S]he has an innate love for the first and most dominant
of all things, which is identical with the good, and this she yearns for and pursues; but the
portion which comes from evil she tries to avoid and to reject, for she serves them both as
place and means of growth.” Isis, like the later Sophia, embodies the power of eros and
thanatos.
53
This, in turn, may have resulted in a schism within this goddess tradition as is suggested in
the female speaker’s address to the Greeks and in her identification with Egypt in the
Thunder: Perfect Mind.
54
According to Hippolytus (Her. 5,14,6-7), a Gnostic group called the Peratae worshipped Isis
as the right-hand power of god and as the twelve hours of the day. See also Jean Doresse,
The Secret Books of the Egyptian Gnostics (1958; reprint, Rochester,VT: Inner Traditions
Int., Ltd., 1986), 273-74.
55
“Mystery initiations were an optional activity within polytheistic religion, comparable to,
say, a pilgrimage to Santiago di Compostela within the Christian system,” Burkert, Ancient
Mystery Cults, 10.
56
Ibid., 45.
57
Ibid., 76.
58
Ibid., 48.
59
Ibid., 87.