Sophia is the Greek word which means “wisdom”. Although we often use the word wisdom as an attribute, within the philosophical, religious, Gnostic and occultist circles, Sophia is divinity.

Hagia Sophia is one of the most renowned churches in the world, it was built in the 6th century, and was originally Christian but later become Islamic; however, in 1935 it became a museum. Among its many characteristics, the one that causes the most commotion is that it was built dedicated to “Holy Wisdom”, which is the literal translation for Hagia Sophia.

But what really is Sophia? for there are no historical records that show a Goddess named Sophia; for traditionally wisdom was attributed as a quality to the Goddess Athena. In order to better understand the belief or myth of Sophia, we have to go back to the “Translation of the 70” which is how the Hebrew bible was known when it was translated to Greek in the 2nd century. Within these books there was the word Chokmah which in Hebrew means “wisdom”, which later in Greek became Sophia. However, this Sophia had a unique particularity, different than how it was understood by traditional Greek mythology; this Sophia was personified. In other words, Sophia was presented as the being or spirit which was alive in God and existed before creation; it was through that spirit, through that divinity, that the world was created–it is also presented as the breath of the glory of God or the spirit of God–in other words, Sophia is God or God and Sophia are one; as such, we are talking about a “multiple”, a God that is not male nor female but everything.

In the books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Solomon’s wisdom and even Genesis, it is evident that when one refers to Sophia, one refers to God, and even though many like to argue that it is just to represent a metaphor or an allegory, it is undeniable that when talking about Sophia; within the concepts of the Hebrew bible; is to talk about God.

The myth of Sofia flourished from Hebrew sources and expanded within the original Christian teachings. However, it was the Gnostics who developed, studied and expanded the knowledge on Sophia. Previously I have written on Gnostics, I invite you to look it up; they were a movement that flourished in the second century. They saw in Sophia more than just the presence of God/divinity on earth–Sophia was seen within the narrative, mythological, symbological, religious, spiritual context, a context that was deeply complex to understand by anyone not willing to submerge themselves within the occult (occult doesn’t mean dark, negative or evil…it simply means hidden–any other meanings rose out of fear and ignorance).

This Gnostic context not only explained the origin of the world but also why humanity suffers so and how to return from man to being divine–this concept was not one that set divinity outside but inside and outside of one–putting the power back within people. It wasn’t a concept of “salvation” as later other religions would say; mostly due to the marriage of politics and religion; but a concept of remembering.

To Gnostics then, Sophia was more than the typical allegory but a divine being or divinity itself in all its authentic expression. There are different interpretations of the translations, one speaks of Sophia as the first thought of God, who desired to know the father but failed to lower kingdoms (vibrational frequencies) where she was caged by negative forces–an interesting echo is set within the book of apocalypse and similar allegories have also been used to play or describe the lives of many prophets or chosen ones. For example, in Christianity, virgin Mary receives the seed of God but is antagonized and persecuted by the emperor.

In its more original context, Sophia was the most beautiful of God’s eons, but in her desire to get closer and understand the father/partner more, she distanced herself too much from the original source, and eventually unable to return, created the imperfect world. She was then caged and her divinity used by another force to enslave pure spirit within flesh. There is a deeper more complex yet simple context taught by certain groups which zealously guard knowledge and origin; a concept which although private is studied all over the world by those who are willing to devote themselves to its learnings, but I will not get into that. If you are interested, please research Hyperborea Wisdom and Knowledge, or the books by Nimrod del Rosario or Herrou Aragon. Most of their books are not translated to English but you can get copies in German, Spanish, and read about Hyperborea Wisdom within old Egyptian teachings as well as Inca teachings–again a bit hard to do as these teachings are either in their original language/dialect and some are only passed mouth to mouth, generation to generation; but if you are into history, mythology, religious studies, spirituality from a place that is not fanatic or dogmatic, then by all means, the journey into discovering these will be worth your time.

To some Gnostics Sophia was the beloved daughter of God with the power to create. To others, she was his wife and yet to others she was the alter ego; in other words, she was another facet of the original source or God–in essence, we are talking about the same being.

In Sophia Gnostics found not only a divine being but one capable of liberating humanity from the shackles which had been imposed by living in matter, and having the history of its origin so far removed or twisted, to such extent that people no longer believed in their own power or their free will to return to spirit.

Many are not familiar with Greek mythology from the context of psychology–hence the old “the most important thing one can do is to discover what myth you are living”. Greeks used mythology not as stories to entertain others but a deeper way to explore creation, the world around us and human psyche. So what does psychology say about the myth of Sophia?

Original psychology “soul therapy and introspection” saw in Sophia an extraordinary metaphor. What they saw was a division within self, a separation between spirit and mind and of mind and soul–for soul and spirit are not the same thing. The “fall” of Sophia and her birth to imperfection, to psychology represents the conflict or duality of mind within each person. To pure psychology, this myth makes reference to “splitting” or the dissociative state in which we all find ourselves to one extent or another; in other words, the great internal fight between sinner and saint, perfection and imperfection, light and darkness, angels and demons–the more people strive to run to one or another extreme, the more they cut or separate themselves from their original essence, which causes internal turmoil; for we are both light and darkness, sinner and saint, and not meant to live trying to turn ourselves into only half beings. It is in accepting ourselves in our totality, that we start to integrate and find our path back to our own essence…free of dogma, free of anything that isn’t really us. So that dark forces found within the myth, represent the false ego; which is not to be confused with healthy ego.

Within some cultures or Gnostic groups, the believe of giving birth to a myth in flesh is important, as to them everything is energy. As such, their members undergo rigid preparations towards the achievement of an alchemical birth. “As above so below” and “what myth are you living?”.

Within these same groups, beliefs or practices of the “occult” or Gnosticism, there is the understanding that all the above perspectives as correct, for the world mirrors itself and unfolds in many layers….”as above so below”–which means within ourselves we are living the fight of duality, as the universe and the spiritual realms also undergo this battle to return to spirit, to source, to essence and free itself from the conundrum of duality.