In many Gnostic systems, the **female principle** is called **Sigé** (pronounced *Sig* or *Seej*), which means **Silence** in Greek (σιγή). Sige is not simply a passive void but a profound metaphysical aspect of the Monad—the ineffable, unknowable source of all existence. She is the **Silent Thought**, the hidden and higher part of Sophia (Wisdom), and the **great silence or void from which all creation sprang**.
Sige represents the **primordial silence** that precedes all emanations, the quiet stillness that holds the ineffable root of being. She is the receptive and generative feminine principle paired with Bythos, the unfathomable Depth or masculine principle of the Monad, and together they give rise to all subsequent divine emanations.
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### Sige as the Silent Thought, the Hidden Sophia
The ancient text *The Tripartite Tractate* from the Nag Hammadi Library offers a profound meditation on the nature of the Monad and its silent aspect:
> “If this one, who is unknowable in his nature, to whom pertain all the greatnesses which I already mentioned — if, out of the abundance of his sweetness, he wishes to grant knowledge, so that he might be known, he has the ability to do so. He has his Power, which is his will. Now, however, in silence he himself holds back, he who is the great one, who is the cause of bringing the Totalities into their eternal being.
> It is in the proper sense that he begets himself as ineffable, since he alone is self-begotten, since he conceives of himself, and since he knows himself as he is. What is worthy of his admiration and glory and honor and praise, he produces because of the boundlessness of his greatness, and the unsearchability of his wisdom, and the immeasurability of his power, and his untasteable sweetness.
> He is the one who projects himself thus, as generation, having glory and honor marvelous and lovely; the one who glorifies himself, who marvels, <who> honors, who also loves; the one who has a Son, who subsists in him, who is silent concerning him, who is the ineffable one in the ineffable one, the invisible one, the incomprehensible one, the inconceivable one in the inconceivable one. Thus, he exists in him forever.
> The Father, in the way we mentioned earlier, in an unbegotten way, is the one in whom he knows himself, who begot him having a thought, which is the thought of him, that is, the perception of him, which is the \[...] of his constitution forever. That is, however, in the proper sense, the silence and the wisdom and the grace, if it is designated properly in this way.”
> *(The Nag Hammadi Library, The Tripartite Tractate)*
This passage reveals that the Monad's **self-begetting and self-knowing nature** is inseparable from **silence, wisdom, and grace**—attributes personified as Sige. She is the **ineffable silence within the ineffable**, the hidden creative womb from which divine generation unfolds.
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### Sige and the Monad: Silence as Tranquility and Origin
Another Valentinian text, *A Valentinian Exposition*, elucidates the relationship between the Father (the Monad) and Silence as his consort:
> “Moreover it is these who have known him who is, the Father, that is, the Root of the All, the Ineffable One who dwells in the Monad. He dwells alone in silence, and silence is tranquility since, after all, he was a Monad and no one was before him. He dwells in the Dyad and in the Pair, and his Pair is Silence. And he possessed the All dwelling within him. And as for Intention and Persistence, Love and Permanence, they are indeed unbegotten.
> God came forth: the Son, Mind of the All, that is, it is from the Root of the All that even his Thought stems, since he had this one (the Son) in Mind. For on behalf of the All, he received an alien Thought since there were nothing before him. From that place it is he who moved \[...] a gushing spring. Now this is the Root of the All and Monad without any one before him. Now the second spring exists in silence and speaks with him alone. And the Fourth accordingly is he who restricted himself in the Fourth: while dwelling in the Three-hundred-sixtieth, he first brought himself (forth), and in the Second he revealed his will, and in the Fourth he spread himself out.
> While these things are due to the Root of the All, let us for our part enter his revelation and his goodness and his descent and the All, that is, the Son, the Father of the All, and the Mind of the Spirit; for he was possessing this one before \[...]. He is a spring. He is one who appears in Silence, and he is Mind of the All dwelling secondarily with Life. For he is the projector of the All and the very hypostasis of the Father, that is, he is the Thought and his descent below.”
> *(The Nag Hammadi Library, A Valentinian Exposition)*
Here, Silence is explicitly named as the **“Pair” of the Monad**. This pairing is not a duality in separation but an androgynous completeness of the primal God. Silence is the **tranquil, uncreated feminine principle** that coexists inseparably with the masculine Depth (Bythos), producing Mind and Truth as their offspring.
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### Silence as the Mother of All Creation
In *Excerpta ex Theodoto*, an early Christian Gnostic writing, Silence is called the **mother of all who were put forth by Depth**, emphasizing her maternal role in cosmic generation:
> “They say that Silence, who is the mother of all who were put forth by Depth, with regard to what she had nothing to say kept silence about the inexpressible and with regard to what she did not understand she called it incomprehensible.”
> *(Theodotus: Excerpta ex Theodoto)*
This passage confirms that Sige is a **maternal figure**, the fertile silence that precedes speech, reason, and creation. She **keeps silent concerning the ineffable**, embodying the mystical unknowability of the divine source.
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### Theodotus on Silence and Divine Suffering
Further, Theodotus provides a profound insight into the relationship between Silence and divine compassion:
> “Then forgetting the glory of God, they impiously say he suffered. For inasmuch as the Father shared in suffering, though he is, says Theodotus, rigid and unyielding in nature, by showing himself yielding, in order that Silence might understand this, it was suffering. For sympathy is the suffering of one for the sake of another's suffering. Moreover when the Passion took place, the whole shared in the same suffering for the recovery of the sufferer.”
> *(Theodotus: Excerpta ex Theodoto)*
This text suggests that Silence is not simply inert but capable of **understanding and compassion**. The divine passion was a shared suffering so profound that even the silent, transcendent principle could be moved toward sympathy and healing.
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### Conclusion
Sige or **Silence** is a central female principle in Gnostic and Valentinian cosmology. She is more than the mere absence of sound; she is the **primordial silence that holds all potential**—the **ineffable, hidden Thought** from which all creation flows. As the **Mother of All**, she is the fertile void, the receptive counterpart to Bythos, the Depth.
Together, Depth and Silence embody the **androgynous fullness of the Monad**, transcending sexual distinctions and expressing the complete divine nature. Sige’s silence is not emptiness but the **holy quietude** that preserves the mystery of God, the ineffable root of all being, and the sacred space from which divine generation, knowledge, and grace arise.
Her silence invites reverence and awe, serving as a reminder that ultimate truth lies beyond words and comprehension, resting in tranquil, creative stillness.
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If you want, I can also help you explore how this feminine principle of Silence relates to other aspects of Gnostic and mystical theology.
Here is a detailed 800-word document about **Sige (Sigé)** — the female principle of primordial Silence in Gnostic and Valentinian thought, including all the requested quotations.
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### Sige: The Female Principle of Primordial Silence
In the rich symbolic language of Gnostic and Valentinian cosmology, the **female principle is called Sigé (Σιγή),** pronounced *Sig* or *Seej*, meaning **“Silence.”** Sige is not merely a passive void but a profound metaphysical principle — an aspect of the Monad, the ineffable One. She is **the Silent Thought**, the hidden higher aspect of Sophia (Wisdom), and the great Silence or Void from which all creation springs.
Sige represents the primordial stillness and mystery that underlies all manifestation. She is both the womb and the matrix of becoming, the silent depth from which the fullness of the Pleroma and all Aeons emerge. In many ways, Sige corresponds to the feminine, receptive, and unspoken dimension of divine being.
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### Sige as the Silent Thought and Aspect of the Monad
The *Tripartite Tractate* from the Nag Hammadi Library beautifully captures the enigmatic role of Sige in relation to the Monad:
> “If this one, who is unknowable in his nature, to whom pertain all the greatnesses which I already mentioned — if, out of the abundance of his sweetness, he wishes to grant knowledge, so that he might be known, he has the ability to do so. He has his Power, which is his will. Now, however, **in silence he himself holds back, he who is the great one, who is the cause of bringing the Totalities into their eternal being.**
> It is in the proper sense that he begets himself as ineffable, since he alone is self-begotten, since he conceives of himself, and since he knows himself as he is. What is worthy of his admiration and glory and honor and praise, he produces because of the boundlessness of his greatness, and the unsearchability of his wisdom, and the immeasurability of his power, and his untasteable sweetness.
> He is the one who projects himself thus, as generation, having glory and honor marvelous and lovely; the one who glorifies himself, who marvels, honors, who also loves; the one who has a Son, who subsists in him, who is silent concerning him, who is the ineffable one in the ineffable one, the invisible one, the incomprehensible one, the inconceivable one in the inconceivable one. Thus, he exists in him forever.
> The Father, in the way we mentioned earlier, in an unbegotten way, is the one in whom he knows himself, who begot him having a thought, which is the thought of him, that is, the perception of him, which is the \[...] of his constitution forever. That is, however, in the proper sense, the silence and the wisdom and the grace, if it is designated properly in this way.”
> *(The Nag Hammadi Library, The Tripartite Tractate)*
This passage reveals the profound mystery of the ineffable One, who is simultaneously self-begotten and self-knowing, manifesting **through silence and hidden thought**. Sige embodies this silence — the “ineffable one in the ineffable one,” the inscrutable stillness that holds the fullness of all being in perfect tranquility.
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### Sige as the Pair and Dyad of the Monad
In Valentinian thought, the Monad is uniquely androgynous, encompassing both male and female principles within itself. Silence or Sige is the divine **Pair** or Dyad, the feminine counterpart that dwells with the Father:
> “I will speak my mystery to those who are mine and to those who will be mine. Moreover it is these who have known him who is, the Father, that is, the Root of the All, the Ineffable One who dwells in the Monad. **He dwells alone in silence, and silence is tranquility since, after all, he was a Monad and no one was before him. He dwells in the Dyad and in the Pair, and his Pair is Silence.** And he possessed the All dwelling within him. And as for Intention and Persistence, Love and Permanence, they are indeed unbegotten.
> God came forth: the Son, Mind of the All, that is, it is from the Root of the All that even his Thought stems, since he had this one (the Son) in Mind. For on behalf of the All, he received an alien Thought since there were nothing before him. From that place it is he who moved \[...] a gushing spring. Now this is the Root of the All and Monad without any one before him. Now the second spring exists in silence and speaks with him alone...
> He is a spring. He is one who appears in Silence, and he is Mind of the All dwelling secondarily with Life. For he is the projector of the All and the very hypostasis of the Father, that is, he is the Thought and his descent below.”
> *(The Nag Hammadi Library, A Valentinian Exposition)*
Here, **Silence is the divine feminine counterpart to the Monad**, the Root of All, emphasizing the integral unity of male and female principles at the very heart of being. Sige is also intimately connected with the “Mind of the All,” an expression of the active Logos or divine Thought that proceeds from this silent source.
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### Sige as the Mother of All and the Hidden Wisdom
The ancient Gnostic teacher Theodotus also affirms the maternal and mysterious nature of Silence:
> “They say that **Silence, who is the mother of all who were put forth by Depth, with regard to what she had nothing to say kept silence about the inexpressible and with regard to what she did not understand she called it incomprehensible.**”
> *(Theodotus: Excerpta ex Theodoto)*
This identifies Sige not only as the **mother** — the originator — but also as the **keeper of the ineffable mystery**, who remains silent before what is beyond comprehension. Her silence is not ignorance but reverence and recognition of the divine unknowability.
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### Sige and Divine Compassion
Theodotus further comments on Silence’s relation to divine suffering and empathy:
> “Then forgetting the glory of God, they impiously say he suffered. For inasmuch as the Father shared in suffering, though he is, says Theodotus, rigid and unyielding in nature, by showing himself yielding, in order that Silence might understand this, it was suffering. For sympathy is the suffering of one for the sake of another's suffering. Moreover when the Passion took place, the whole shared in the same suffering for the recovery of the sufferer.”
> *(Theodotus: Excerpta ex Theodoto)*
Here, Silence is portrayed as responsive and compassionate, capable of understanding and sharing in divine suffering for the sake of restoration — a living, dynamic principle rather than mere emptiness.
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### Theological and Mystical Significance of Sige
Sige embodies the **primordial feminine silence** that underlies all being, the hidden thought from which Wisdom (Sophia) and all emanations arise. She represents:
* The **stillness and tranquility** of the Monad, unchanging and ineffable.
* The **maternal source** of all Aeons, the “mother of all” who brings forth existence from the unknowable Depth (Bythos).
* The **active, silent Thought** that precedes speech and creation.
* The **divine grace and wisdom** that remain concealed yet sustain all life.
* The **compassionate presence** that shares in cosmic suffering for redemption.
In Valentinian cosmology and wider Gnostic systems, Sige is central to understanding the unity of opposites — silence and speech, male and female, the ineffable and the manifest. Her silence is not absence but fullness, the fertile void teeming with unspoken potential.
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### Conclusion
Sige, the great Silence, is a profound symbol and metaphysical reality in Gnostic thought. She reveals how the divine mystery begins not with sound or action but with stillness — a silence pregnant with divine wisdom and love. Through this silent Thought, all things come into being, and the hidden fullness of God is manifest. As an aspect of the Monad and the hidden higher Sophia, Sige invites the soul to enter the depths of quiet contemplation, where the ineffable root of all existence can be known beyond words.
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If you want, I can provide further exploration of Sige’s relationship with other Aeons or her role in specific Gnostic myths. Would you like that?
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