Paradise Lost

While there are various versions of the Gnostic ideas about Sophia, I have always loved the fact that she is presented as both creatrix and trickster. She fell from the Pleroma because she wanted to see more, BE more, experience more than being part of a godhead. By doing so, she created the Material world and the soul. All of us have part of her in us, as our souls stem from her. The story goes when Christ came to redeem the world, he was really here to show Sophia a pathway back to the Pleroma. She brought all of us along with her.

Now what makes this intriguing for me is that in the story of the Garden of Eden, it is Sophia who serves the role of the serpent. When she saw that her child, the Demiurge, had created a world where he kept souls in blissful ignorance, she saw the same pattern and felt the same frustration she had felt before her own fall. Her offer to Eve wasn't for power or just for 'knowledge' but for the wisdom and understanding of a true and unique experience.

When the goal is perfection, things like sins and suffering become undesirable and 'bad.' However, when the goal is to truly live a life that is unique to you, sin and suffering become integral parts of the whole. The idea of losing paradise isn't a punishment because paradise will only offer you the same small experiences every day. A life of pain, toil, and struggle offers, well, clearly conflict, but also the chance to rise above the conflict, the ability to learn, and ample moments to feel true peace, true, happiness, and true joy.  After all, what accentuates the good better than knowing the bad?

I used to think life was deeply Discordian. I felt Eris had her hand in everything and nothing but discord and strife ever really thrived. Eris is also a trickster, the kind that tosses a hornets' nest into a children's birthday party. Sophia, on the other hand, is more a trickster to help you to be really honest with yourself, to give you the courage to do the thing you WANT to do, even if your social conditioning is telling you otherwise.

This strikes a note of truth inside me. This is how I feel life should be lived. Life may not be fun or happy all of the time. It may not be pleasant, sometimes it may be far from safe, but it is YOUR life that you are getting to experience. Take the bad, learn from it, get out of it if you can, and find the beauty. Indulge in what there is to indulge. Taste the honey. Laugh too loud. Like your fingers.

With this in mind, never expect me to be the person who tells you not to do the thing you want to do. I mean, if you want to do the thing to ME I will tell you no, but I'm not going to tell you not to eat the cake or not to drink the drinks or not to flirt with someone. If you want to do it, do it. I'm not going to be your moral compass who holds you back. I think it's best you do what you honestly want to do. In the end, it's better to regret what you did than what you wanted to do but never tried.

And does that mean you may lose your own safe little haven of paradise? Probably. But think of what you might gain.