Yaldabaoth is the Demiurge in Gnosticism. The seminal Gnostic doctrine and myth as promulgated by the Gnostic patriarchs maintained that at the beginning of time Chokmah or Sophia, the Serpent Goddess, created the physical universe and then became its benevolent patroness. Soon after the completion of the cosmos, however, one of Sophia’s Seven Sons, the Dark Dragon Yaldabaoth, usurped the reigns of government for himself and proceeded to set himself over the universe as its evil dictator. Yaldabaoth, who was a personification of that aspect of Jehovah which was and exacting and stringent lawgiver, eventually bequeathed a group of limiting karmic rules by which the people on Earth were forced to live. Ever since implementing his decrees the human spirit has been perpetually chained to the physical world and the illusion of reality it engenders. The path of Gnosticism, as set forth by the Serpent on the Tree and other Gnostic liberators, was formulated so that the inner spirit could awaken from this illusion, extricate itself from physical form and return to its rightful home in the heavens.
Many of the Gnostic schools which arose espoused yogic disciplines as a means to spiritual freedom. During the era of the Egyptian Gnostic cults, for example, it was common for a gnostic seeker to procure a regimen of yoga from an authorized Gnostic Master before retiring to a quiet monastic cell or venturing out into the lonely desert in search of a cave sanctuary to practice these disciplines. Then, while seeking to unite with his Angelic Guide or Higher Self as their Essene predecessors had once done, the seeker would observe celibacy, consume a sparse diet, occasionally fast, study the traditional gnostic texts, and spend countless hours lost in contemplation and meditation.
After a period of rigorous yogic disciples, the dormant intuitive faculties would begin to awaken within a gnostic aspirant and the illusion of the material world would gradually diminish. Under the purifying effects of the activated serpent fire, which was venerated as Sophia as well as Chnouphis, the androgynous lion-headed serpent, the subtle and spiritual bodies would slowly become awakened and the bonds of physical existence broken.
Within his or her awakened Dragon Body, a gnostic seeker would learn the secrets of astral traveling out of Yaldabaoth’s kingdom and into the higher heavenly realms, ultimately ascending to the highest plane, the Pleroma, the “Fullness of God.” To assist in these interdimensional excursions, the aspirant would use as a guide The Book of Enoch and the Neoplatonist Iamblichus’ schematic of Aeons or stratifications of the universe. Such texts would inform the aspirant concerning what to expect upon any given plane while also instructing him or her in the appropriate mantras to use in order to bypass the dimensional gatekeepers. The seeker was, of course, also assisted and protected during these astral flights by his or her Angelic Presence.
Eventually the veil of illusion would completely dissolve and gnosis would fully blossom within the heart of a dedicated seeker. The aspirant could then permanently unite with his or her Angelic Presence or Higher Self and function fully out of the Angelic or Dragon Body even while residing within a physical form. All supernatural powers would be at the new Gnostic Master’s disposal and the awareness of “I am unlimited Spirit” or “I AM GOD” would continuously resound within their hearts like the ring of a finely tuned bell. As a fully enlightened god or goddess, the new adept had the option of ascending to the upper paradise regions or remaining on Earth to serve as a guide for other aspiring Gnostics.
A sealed earthen jar was found in 1945 near the town of Nag Hammadi about 75-80 miles north of Luxor on the banks of the River Nile in Egypt. Inside was a treasure trove of manuscripts and texts left by the Gnostic people some 1,600 years earlier. They included 13 leather-bound papyrus codices (manuscripts) and more than 50 texts written in Coptic Egyptian estimated to have been hidden in the jar in the period of 400 AD although the source of the information goes back much further.
A fifth of the Nag Hammadi texts describe the existence and manipulation of the Archons led by a ‘Chief Archon’ they call ‘Yaldabaoth’, or the ‘Demiurge’, and this is the Christian ‘Devil’, ‘Satan’, ‘Lucifer’, and his demons.
Archons in Biblical symbolism are the ‘fallen ones’ which are also referred to as fallen angels after the angels expelled from heaven according to the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. These angels are claimed to tempt humans to ‘sin’ ongoing. The theme of ‘original sin’ is related to the ‘Fall’ when Adam and Eve were ‘tempted by the serpent’ and fell from a state of innocence and ‘obedience’ (connection) with God into a state of disobedience (disconnection). The Fall is said to have brought sin into the world and corrupted everything including human nature.
The Serpent of Wisdom 