Ophits

The whole group of the aforementioned sects recognized the serpent from paradise as the personification of wisdom, for wisdom descended to the earth by knowing good and evil, and people owe this knowledge to the snake ^[1] .

The cult of the serpent associated with phallism is one of the most common cults in all popular religions; in all likelihood, the Ophite gnosis contained the traditional mysteries of this cult and the hidden doctrine associated with it and representing various modifications according to tribes and eras ^[2] . As a famous symbol, snakes are found in the mysteries of India, Babylonia, Egypt, Greece , Phenicia and Syria ^[1] . Between blacks in the Antilles, a mysterious cult of snakes brought by their ancestors from Africa was practiced under the name Wody. Heretical Gothic hypnosis was apparently especially widespread in Egypt in connection with the ancient veneration of that divine serpent, which the Greeks called the “good god” ( Agathodemon ; Agathodemon; Αγαθοδαίμων). ^[2]

The Wisdom of the Serpent

The Ophites had great respect for Cain and Seth (Heb. Shet), who, in their opinion, owned the wisdom of the serpent. Other Gnostics considered the pillars of the wisdom of Esau , Korea (Heb. Korach), the Sodomites and Judas Iscariot , considering at the same time Jacob and Moses , who were only an instrument in the hands of the Creator ( Demiurge ), lower than the first (“ Against Heresies ” - Ι, 31, § 2). ^[one]

Belief in the Seven Spirits

The Ophite beliefs included belief in the demonic week, that is, seven spirits subject to a serpent parallel to the holy week in the power of (Yalda-baota), the son of fallen wisdom (תוהב אדלי; “jalda bahut” - the son of chaos). From the latter came a series of seven successive generations: Jao (והי; Iao), Sabaot (Sabaoth), Adoneus (Adonaeus), Eloeus (Eloaeus), Oreus (רוא - light; Horaeus) and Astaphaeus, which, according to Ophi beliefs, were a manifestation the biblical Lord . ^[one]

The Ophites claimed that Moses himself was a fan of the serpent; placing him on a pole, Jesus allegedly also recognized him (cf. John 3:14 ) ^[1] .

Naasite

The Naasites, whose name indicates a more ancient origin, went even further. “ He who says that everything came from one is mistaken, but he who says that from three speaks the truth and can interpret everything. The first of this trinity is the blessed nature of the sacred high man Adamant ; the second is death below, and the third is a clan that is not controlled by anyone, having a higher origin, to which Mariam belong (that is, the sought; ή Ζητονμένη); Jethro (Iitro, the great sage); Zipporah (Zipporah, clairvoyant) and Moses ” ^[1] .

The three words found in Is. 28:10 : “Kaw la-Kaw”, “Zaw la-Zaw” and “Zeer Scham” (םש ריעז, וצל וצ, וקל וק), they understand in the sense of the above trinity: Adamant from above, death from below and Jordan , flowing up (Hippolytus, Philosophumena, V, 8), represent the threefold kingdom of blessing and immortality, forming the world of spirits, the world of body and redemption. Naas itself (שחנ) - the first time being and the primary source of beauty (ib. V, 9), is, at the same time, the spiritual principle. Beside him there is chaos and matter. The human soul led a sad existence between chaos and spirit, until it was redeemed . ^[one]

Chart

The mysterious diagram of the Ophites is described by Celsus (II century) and Origen (III century; Contra Celsum , VI, §§ 24–38), although in different ways. Celsus speaks of circles above circles; according to Origen, these were two concentric circles. ^[one]

A partition separated the kingdom of light from the middle kingdom. Two other concentric circles, one light and one dark, represented light and darkness . A third circle with the inscription ΖΩΗ ( life ) was hung to them, two smaller circles intersected in it, forming a rhomboid . On the general field there was an inscription ΣΟΦΙΑС ΦΥCΙC (the nature of wisdom), above ΓΝΩCΙC ( cognition ), below ΣΥΝΕCΙC (understanding, cognition , science), and in the rhomboid ΣΟΦΙΑС ΠΡΟΝΟΙΑ (providence of wisdom). ^[one]

In total there were 7 circles with the names of the archangels ^[1] and with the symbols of the constellations ^[6] :

• Michael in the form of a lion ;
• Tsuriel (Suriel; Dr. Heb. תוד or שוד - Turiel ^[7] ) in the form of a bull ;
• Raphael - the dragon ( snakes ^[7] );
• Gabriel - the eagle ;
• Thoth-Sabaoth (Thauthabaoth; Yalda-Bahut ^[7] ; al-Heb. והבו והת ) - the head of a bear ;
• Erathaoth (Erataoth, Erataoth, Erathaof, Erathaof, Erotaol ^[7] ) - the head of a dog ;
• Onel (Onel, Onoil; or Thartharaoth, Farfaraoth, Tartaraoth) - in the form of a donkey's head ( mule ).

It is possible that these archangels are identical with the seven aforementioned generations of Yaldavaoth (Yaldabaoth, Jaldabaoth). They signify the bodily world following the middle world and by which the possessions of wisdom end. Perhaps the Jewish hexagram (the shield of David), which was never alien to the Gnostics, has a connection with this diagram of the Ophites ^[1] . It is about these seven angelic lords (Celsus, II, 27) that the apostle Paul speaks in his Epistles ( 1 Cor. 2: 6-8 ) ^[7] .

The main sources of the Ophites are the writings of their opponents - representatives of the Christian church. Irenaeus of Lyons , who wrote the history of heresies by the end of the 2nd century, still does not know the Gnostics under the name of the Ophites, but Clement of Alexandria mentions (“ Stromates ”, VII, 17, § 108) except “Cainites”, “ofian” (Οφίανοι), and indicates that they are named after the subject of their worship. Filastria , who wrote in the 4th century, considers the main heretical sects of Cainites, Ophites and Setites (Liber de Haeresibus; Book of Heresies; Chapters 1-3), believing that they come from the serpent (devil) itself. ^[one]

In one of the books of the extensive composition “ Condemnation against all heresies ” (Ελεγχος κατὰ πασῶν των αἑρέσεων), which was attributed to Bishop Hippolytus of Rome (III century), was opened in the first half of the 19th century, and it was previously mistakenly attributed to Origen ; from Hebrew na'hash , “snake”) ^[2] . Epiphanius of Cyprus (IV century) in his work " Panarion " directly associated the Ophites with the serpent that deceived Adam and Eve . According to him, in the form of snakes, the Ophites worshiped demons ^[8] .

In the library of Nag Hammadi , several Offi texts were found.

In the heresiological literature of Christian apologists - contemporaries of the Ophites - immoralism was emphasized as a behavioral norm and a path to soul salvation adopted by this sect, and this idea remains quite common at present. However, those original texts, defined as Ophite, which have survived to the present moment, strongly contradict this picture; So, in the famous essay Pistis Sophia , attributed to one of the Egyptian Offite schools ^[9] , the risen Jesus orders his apostles and future proselytes to conduct behavior in the spirit of strict asceticism ^[10] :

Tell them: renounce the whole world and all the substance in it, and all the hardships of it, and all its sins, in a word, (of) all its connections that are in it to be worthy of the Secrets of the Light and be saved from all Punishments in the Courts. ...

Tell them: Avoid doing harm to be worthy of the Secrets of the Light and save yourself from the Punishment of Ariel ^{[11] [12]} .

Tell them: Avoid lying in order to be worthy of the Secrets of the Light and save yourself from the Rivers of Fire (Dragon with) the dog's face.

... avoid strife (and splits) in order to be worthy of the Secrets of the Light and save yourself from the Rivers of Fire (Dragon with) a dog face.

... avoid the love of this world in order to be worthy of the Secrets of the Light and to be saved from Tar Clothes and Fire (Dragon with) a dog face.

... avoid theft to be worthy of the Secrets of the Light and escape from the Ariel's Rivers of Fire.

... avoid anger in order to be worthy of the Secrets of the Light and save yourself from the Fire Seas of Ariel.

... avoid cruelty in order to be worthy of the Secrets of the Light and be saved from Ialdabaoth ^{[13] [14]} .

... avoid ignorance in order to be worthy of the Secrets of the Light and save yourself from the Liturgies of Ialdabaoth and the Seas of Fire.

... avoid doing evil in order to be worthy of the Secrets of the Light and be saved from all the Demons of Ialdabaoth and all His Punishments.

... avoid fornication, to be worthy of the Secrets of the Kingdom of Light and save yourself from the Sulfur Seas and the Pit (Dragon with) the lion's face.

The expression “Idem es, sicut ipse” was widely spread among the preachers of the doctrine, which can be translated into Russian as “You are the same as yourself” (tu autem idem ipse es et anni tui non deficient - Psalm 101, verse 28). The exact meaning of this phrase is not yet clear. Perhaps it claimed the direct connection of the human mind with knowledge - gnosis.

Irenaeus of Lyons writes in a treatise Against Heresies that the Ophites believed in various gods, including Ialdabaoth, who gave birth to angels and archangels. It is Ialdabaoth who expels Adam and Eve from Paradise, and also sends a flood to people. However, Noah was saved by Sofia. A serpent, whose name is Michael and Samael ( Samael ), is fighting with Ialdabaoth. Prophets of Ialdabaoth: Abraham and Moses. But there were other Gods: Sabaoth (his prophet Elijah), Adonai (his prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel) and Elohim . In addition, the Ophites opposed Christ (the deity) to Jesus (the common man).

Offits dedicated poem Vl. Solovyov's “ Song of the Ophites ” (1876).

• Abraxas

• Ophites // Jewish Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron . - SPb. , 1908-1913.
• Bolotov V.V. History of the ancient Church
• Karsavin L.P. Satanic Depths (Ophites and Basilides)
• Renan E. Marcus Aurelius and the End of the Ancient World

• Ofity // E.P. Blavatsky