The Archons, central figures in the Gnostic cosmology, are the “rulers” of the material world, created by the Demiurgo, Yaldabaoth, a inferior being born of the “fall” of Sophia, an Aeon of the Pleroma, the divine fullness representing the Absolute, the One, the primordial source of everything. Everything “starts with the Absolute” in the Pleroma, a state of perfection and unity, but the action of Sophia, trying to emulate the One without its counterpart, generates Yaldabaoth, who, ignorant of his origin, proclaims to be the only god and creates the material cosmos together with the Archons for rule it. The shared diagrams illustrate this narrative: the first (a Venn diagram) shows humans trapped between the Pleroma, Sophia, and Demiurgus, under the influence of the Archons; the second (Christian-Gnostic) alludes to the Archons as guardian “cherubim” that Christ transcends to reconnect humanity with the Pleroma; the third (gnostic cosmology) details the Seven Archontes (Athoth-Saturn, Harmas-Jupiter, Kalila-Oumbri-Mars, Yabel-Sol, Adonaiou Sabaoth-Venus, Cain-Mercury, Abel-Moon) and the Five of the Abyss (Abrisen-ether, Yobel-fire, Armoupieel-air, Melcheir-Adonein-water, Belias-earth), associated with the planetary spheres that control human destiny; the fourth (rose cross) implies its pres encels in the planetary spheres that the soul must overcome; and the fifth (sincretism) connects the Archons with traditions such as Kabala (Qliphoth), Sufism (veils of ego), Hermetism (planetary spheres), and mystical Christianity.

Archons act as prisoners of the human soul, keeping humans in a state of ignorance (agnosis) to prevent them from discovering their divine spark, inherited from Sophia, and returning to the Pleroma. An analogy compares them to control algorithms in a computational simulation, where the Pleroma is the source code, Yaldabaoth a defective program, and the Archons firewalls that block access to the source, while the gnosis is the “hack” that frees the user (the human). Alternatively, the Archons are a cosmic bureaucracy, with each administering a sphere of the cosmos—Athoth as the bureaucrat of time, Harmas of power, Yabel of illusion—and humans as citizens trapped in an oppressive system that gnosis allows them to transcend. Psychologically, the Archons represent archetypes of the mind: Athoth as the fear of change, Harmas as the inflated ego, Kalila-Oumbri as anger, Yabel as the illusion of success, embodying the inner voices that bind us to the material world.

In a modern context, Archons symbolize power systems: the media (Yabel) that blinds us with false narratives, economic systems (Athoth) that trap us in cycles of productivity, and social networks (Cain) that manipulate us with algorithms. Transcending the Archons implies a return to the Absolute, a process of gnosis described in texts like the Gospel of Philip, where the soul is “stripped” of its influences to ascend through planetary spheres (as in Hermetism) and meet with the One. In the Kabala, the Archons would be the Qliphoth that obstruct divine light; in Sufism, the veils of ego; in mystical Christianity, the forces Christ defeats to restore divine wholeness. Archons, though oppressors, are necessary, for their resistance drives spiritual growth, making the path back to the Pleroma—where it all begins and ends—a journey of self-discovery and liberation.

The Archons, central entities in the Gnostic cosmology, are the “rulers” of the material world, created by the Demiurgo, Yaldabaoth, a inferior being emerged from the “fall” of Sophia, an Aeon of the Pleroma, the divine fullness representing the Absolute, the One, the primordial source of all existence. Everything “starts with the Absolute” in the Pleroma, a state of unity and perfection, but Sophia, trying to emulate the One without its counterpart, generates Yaldabaoth, who, ignorant of his origin, proclaims himself the only God and creates the material cosmos together with the Archons to govern it. The diagrams illustrate this narrative: the first (a Venn diagram) shows humans trapped between the Pleroma, Sophia, and Demiurgo, under the influence of the Archons; the second (Christian-Gnostic) presents Christ as the redeemer who transcends the Archons, described as guardian “cherubim”, to reconnect to humanity with the Pleroma, affirming that “in Him should all fullness dwell”; the third (gnostic cosmology) details the Seven Archontes (Athoth-Saturn, Harmas-Jupiter, Kalila-Oumbri-Mars, Yabel-Sun, Adonaiou Sabaoth-Venus, Cain-Mercury, Abel-Moon) and the Five of the Abyss (Abrisen-ether, Yobel-fire, Armoupieel-air, Melcheir-Adonein-water, Belias-earth), associated with the plane spheres bitches that control destiny human; the fourth (rose cross) implies its presence in the spheres that the soul must overcome; and the fifth (sincretism) connects the Archons with traditions such as Kabala (Qliphoth), Sufism (veils of the ego), Hermetism (planetary spheres) and mystical Christianity, where Christ is key.

In gnostic vision, the Archons act as prisoners of the human soul, keeping humans in ignorance (agnosis) to prevent them from discovering their divine spark, inherited from Sophia, and returning to the Pleroma. Christ, identified in the third diagram as “Christ (+ Sophia)” and in the second as the “Mystery” that fills all things, plays a crucial role as the revealer of gnosis, the knowledge that frees humans from the control of the Archons. In texts like the Apocrypha of John, Christ appears as a divine figure sent from the Pleroma to awaken humanity, teaching Adam and Eve the knowledge of the true God and breaking the veil of ignorance woven by Yaldabaoth and his Archons. The second diagram reflects this redemptive mission by showing how Christ, by “filling all things”, restores the connection between the material world and the Pleroma, overcoming “The Covenant of the Cherubim”, which symbolizes the control of the Archons over humanity, similar to the cherubim that guard Eden in Genesis to prevent access to the Tree of Knowledge.

Christ, in the gnostic context, is not just a physical savior, but a bearer of spiritual light that reveals the hidden truth: that humans are of divine origin and that the Archons, with their “false light” (like Yabel, associated with the Sun), have deceived them into believing that the material world is the only reality. A modern analogy describes the Archons as control algorithms in a simulation, where the Pleroma is the source code, Yaldabaoth a defective program, and the Archons firewalls that block access to the source; Christ would be the “hacker” who introduces a gnosis virus to disable these firewalls, allowing to humans (data with divine potential) reconnect with the Absolute. Alternatively, the Archons are a cosmic bureaucracy—Athoth as the bureaucrat of time, Harmas of power, Yabel of illusion—and Christ is the revolutionary who dismantles this oppressive system, showing humans the “secret passage” to Pleroma freedom.
Psychologically, the Archons represent archetypes of the mind: Athoth as the fear of change, Harmas as the inflated ego, Kalila-Oumbri as anger, Yabel as the illusion of success. Christ, in this frame, is the voice of consciousness that guides us toward self-realization, helping us transcend these “inner voices” that bind us to the material world. In a contemporary context, Archons symbolize power systems: the media (Yabel) that blinds with false narratives, economic systems (Athoth) that trap in cycles of productivity, and social networks (Cain) that manipulate algorithms. Here, Christ represents critical awakening, questioning these structures, and the search for a deeper truth that reconnects us with our divine essence.

The role of Christ extends to other traditions of the fifth diagram: in mystical Christianity, he is the mediator who unites the human with the divine, defeating the Archons; in the Kabala, he could associate with the light of the Sefirot that dissolves the Qliphoth (the Archons); in Sufism, it is the spark of divine love that burns the veils of the ego; and in Hermetism, it is the guide that helps the soul to traverse the planetary spheres of the Archons toward illumination. Gnostic texts such as the Gospel of Philip describe how Christ teaches the soul to “strip” from the influences of the Archons, a purification process that culminates in the return to the Pleroma, completing the cycle that “starts with the Absolute” and ends with reunification with him. Archons, though oppressors, are necessary, for their resistance drives spiritual growth, and Christ, as the Revealer of the Gnosis, is the key that transforms this challenge into a path back to the Absolute, where everything begins and ends.