Editing Gnosticism (section)

===Aeon===
{{Main|Aeon (Gnosticism)}}
In many Gnostic systems, the aeons are the various emanations of the superior God or Monad. Beginning in certain Gnostic texts with the [[hermaphrodite|hermaphroditic]] aeon [[Barbelo]],<ref name="apocryphon" /><ref name="allogenes">{{cite web|title=Allogenes|publisher=The Gnostic Society Library|url=http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/allogene.html|access-date=2009-02-13}}</ref><ref name="trimorph">{{cite web|title=Trimorphic Protennoia|publisher=The Gnostic Society Library|url=http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/trimorph.html|access-date=September 29, 2013}}</ref> the first emanated being, various interactions with the Monad occur which result in the emanation of successive pairs of aeons, often in male–female pairings called ''syzygies''.<ref name="valen_syzygy">{{cite web|title=The Pair (Syzygy) in Valentinian Thought|url=http://www.gnosis.org/library/valentinus/Syzygy_Valentinian.htm|access-date=2009-02-13}}</ref> The numbers of these pairings varied from text to text, though some identify their number as being thirty.{{sfn|Mead|2005|p={{page needed|date=January 2024}}}} The aeons as a totality constitute the ''pleroma'', the "region of light". The lowest regions of the pleroma are closest to the darkness, that is, the physical world.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}}

Two of the most commonly paired æons were Christ and ''Sophia'' (Greek: "Wisdom"); the latter refers to Christ as her "consort" in ''A Valentinian Exposition''.<ref name="valen_expos">{{cite web|title=A Valentinian Exposition|publisher=The Gnostic Society Library|url=http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/valex.html|access-date=2009-02-13}}</ref>