THE PRACTICE | nockwood

WHAT ARE AEONS?

Aeonology is the study and spiritual engagement with the 36 divine archetypes described in Valentinian Gnostic cosmology. The practice was lost for centuries and only recently rediscovered when ancient texts were translated in the 1970's. These ancient documents were only studied by academics (such as Elaine Pagels, who helped significantly in the creation of these cards).

Aeons are technically descriptions of the energies and forces necessary for a divine creator to create the universe. They are the foundational building blocks that connect the different realms of existence — physical, psychological and spiritual. For humans the Aeons describe the different depths of our psychology and consciousness and these ancient concepts were foundational to all of Carl Jung's work on human psychology. However, they are more than that because these same energies and forces are present in everything outside our mind. They are also truths of our natural environment and the metaphysical world that we are only just discovering thanks to science, cosmology and quantum physics.

The Aeons are ancient archetypes drawn from Gnostic myth that connect the natural universe with our own true nature. They describe important facets of universal consciousness — of the world around us and our inner connections (physical, psychological and spiritual) to that world. Because the Aeons are presented in a strict hierarchy and paired in syzygies, their meaning is also relational. They describe the resonances and friction that we might have with each other, our environment and our Gods! They are equal parts history, psychology and metaphysics.

The AEON deck of cards translates this ancient mysticism into a modern practice for personal reflection, archetypal mapping and ritual or meditative use. They are a powerful tool for introspection, healing and archetypal integration of humanity and nature.

HOW ARE AEONOLOGY CARDS USED FOR PERSONAL INSIGHT?

Aeonology cards are used in a similar way to other oracle or tarot cards, but they are not quite the same.

Tarot and Oracle cards claim to channel into external energies and forces to provide guidance — divination.

AEON cards are not a divination tool, nor are they a parlor game. Because the Aeons are the universal connection between our inner selves, our material selves and our spirituality they offer a living structure to restore balance and equilibrium on all these levels. They teach us the structure with which we can explore our infinite inner selves while also providing guidance for tangible actions to be taken in the world. AEON card deck is Gnosticism re-born not as a creed or another divisive belief system but a map and a tool for action. To hold these cards and to incorporate them into daily ritual and meditation is a step on the ladder of the forgotten art of Aeonology. To use the cards daily is not a path to spiritual dependence or another inflexible belief system, it is a practice that brightens your inner light and deepens your understanding of your true nature. It is 'guidance from your own being' ,

IS AEONOLOGY CHRISTIAN?

Yes...and no.

Valentinian Aeonology i s rooted in early Christian thought. Valentinus himself was a 2nd Century Christian teacher who drew deeply from scripture, spiritual experience and Greek philosophical traditions. His followers at that time, viewed his teachings as a deeper more mystical interpretation of Christ's message — a kind of esoteric Christianity that focused on inner light, inner transformation and direct encounter with the divine. In that sense, Aeonology is a Christian, mystical system that aligns with the many its ideas divinity, cosmology and salvation. Almost all of the Aeons are mentioned somewhere in the either the old or the new testament — Word, Truth, Light, Church, Love.

On the other hand, because Valentinus and other Gnostics beleived in divine knowledge (gnosis) that was revealed inwardly— not solely through the authority of the church— this view was labelled 'heresy' by the institutional church. When the biblical canon was formalized in the 4th Century, many texts, including the teachings of Valentinus and Aeonology, were suppressed.

Today some Christian denominations still consider Gnostic teachings to be heretical. Others, especially Gnostic denominations and scholars see it as a valid branch of Christian thought — some going as far as believing it is a purer source of Christian teaching because it escaped corruptions of religious orthodoxy and dogma by being buried in the Egyptian desert for several centuries.

METHODS, USES AND LEARNING

Valentinian Aeonology as a Pathway of Ascent: A Psychological and Historical Reinterpretation

Modern discussions of Valentinian aeonology typically begin from the “top” of the pleromatic hierarchy: the primal emanations closest to the Monad ( Bythos , Sige , Nous , Aletheia ). Yet, from the standpoint of human spiritual experience, these highest aeons are the most remote. If the aeonic series is read not only as cosmological structure but also as a symbolic representation of the soul’s ascent, then the end of emanation must become the beginning of spiritual return. Th