The Valentinians on the origin of IAO

IAO in various perspectives

Valentinians on the Origin of the word IAO (From Ireneus book 4)

The Valentinians taught that the word IAO (YAU) originated as an exclamation in the mouth of a power called horos. According to Ireneus the Valentinians held that in the endless beginning there was a fulness (pleroma). This fulness consisted of 30 worlds or ages. They were divided into 8, 10 and 12 ages, called ad ogdoad, decad and a duodecad. The eight consisted of married couples. These were Profundity-1 (First beginning or First Father) and Idea-2 (Grace and Silence). There children were Mind-3 and Truth-4. Mind begat Word-5 and Life-6. And Word begat Man-7 and Church-8. These eight are called the first ogdoad.
The second decade came forth from Word and Life. These were
Deep-9 and Mingling-10,
Incorruptible-11 and Union-12,
Self Existing-13 and Pleasure-14
Immoveable-15 and Blending-16
Only Begotten-17 and Happiness-18

The last twelve were the children of Man and Church. These were
Advocate-19 and Faith-20
Ancestra-21 and Hope-22
Metrical-23 and Love-24
Praise-25 and Understanding-26
Ecclesiastical-27 and Felicity-28
Desired-29 and Wisdom-30

Thus the number thirty is important to the Valentinian according to Ireneus. The First Father was known only to the Only Begotten who was Mind. To all the other ages he was invisible. It was only Mind who took pleasure in the First Father.
However Mind wanted to share him with the rest of the ages but Silence (his wife) restrained him in accordance with the will of the Father. Mind wanted to create with in the ages a desire to investigate the Fathers nature which they also wanted.

The youngest age Wisdom was impatient experienced passion apart from her husband Desired. This passion had first arisen among those connected with Mind and Truth but was contagious and Wisdom caught it.

Wisdom pretended to act from love but ws really acting rashly. She had not enjoyed communion with the perfect (Fatther) like Mind had. She had a desrie to search into the nature of the First Father and wanted to comprehend his greatness. This was impossible so she got frustrated.

She was always stretching herself and there was a danger she would be absorbed by his sweetness and disappear into his essence except for a power which supports all things and preserves them outside of the unspeakbale greatness.

This power is called horos. Horos restrained Wisdom and supported her. She was thus brought back to herself and convinced that the Father is incomprehensible and thus laid aside her planand the passion which had arisen form the overwhelming influence of her admiration.

Horos - Boundary
Horos was produced by the Father in his own image by means of the Only Begotten (Mind) but without conjunction. Boundary is also called Cross and Deliverer (Lytrotes), Carpistes, Boundary Setter (Horothetes) and Metagoges.

Wisdom was purified and established by Boundary and restored to her proper conjunction. Her Inborn idea having been seperated from the fulness. She remained a part of the fulness. Boundary had two powers seperation and support and he used the power to seperate on wisdom and her Inborn idea and passion. This was expelled from the circle.

This spiritual substance was shapless for it had recieved nothing. Thus it was an imbecile and feminine production.

The fulness and Wisdom acting in accordance with the prudent forethought of the Father gave orgin to another pair, Christ and the Holy Spirit, for the purpose of strengthening the fulness. They completed the number of the ages. Christ taught their place and the Holy Spirit taught them to give thanks for being rendered equal. They all sang praises to the First Father.

All the ages joined together and and produced a perfect being, Jesus, the Saviour or Christ Word.
Thus the first Chrait was produced by the Father after the repentance of Wisdom. The second Christ was produced by all ages contributing.

Events Outside the Pleroma
The inborn idea of Wisdom who dwells above, they called Achamoth (connected to Chochma). The imborn idea and the passion whe removed from the fulness became violently excitedin places of darkness (as oppsed to light) and emptiness (as opposed to fulness). She was excluded from light and the fulness and was without form or shape, like an abortion, because she recieved nothing.

But the Christ dwelling on high took pity on her and having extended himself through and beyond the Cross, he imparted shape to her, but merely in respect of substance not so as to produce Mind.

Having done this he withdrew his influence and returned. Leaving Achamoth to herself in order that she , becoming aware of her suffering becasue she was seperated from the fulness might be influenced by the desire of better things. While at the time she had a kind of scent of immortality left in her by Christ and the Holy Spirit.

So she is called by two names Wisdom after her Father and Holy Spirit from that Spirit who is along with Christ. Having them obtained a form along with Mind and being immedately deserted by WORD that had been invisibly present with her, that is by Christ- she strained her self to discover that light which had forsaken her, but could not accomplish her plan, because she was prevented by Boundary.

And as Boundary thus obstructed her further progress, he exlcaimed IAO.

This is where the name IAO came from.
And when she could not pass by Boundary on account of that passion, in which she had been involved adn because sh e alone alone had been left without, she them resigned herself to every kind of that manifold and varioed state of passion to which she was subject.