Who is Sigé?
Sigé is not a divine being in the sense of an independent person or entity. Rather, Sigé is an aspect or attribute of the Deity in Valentinian thought. She represents the divine principle of Silence—an essential, creative, and primordial quality of the ineffable One, the Root of the All.
Valentinian Understanding of Sigé
In the Valentinian system, Silence (Greek Sigé) is an aeon within the pleroma, the fullness of divine emanations. She exists in a syzygy (pairing) with Bythos, the Depth, who represents the masculine or root principle. Bythos and Sigé together form the original dyad from which all other aeons and creation flow.
This idea of divine Silence as a primordial power is not unique to Valentinianism. In many Gnostic systems, the great power of the Monad—the ultimate One—is called the Incomprehensible Silence (σιγή, sigé). As described in the Valentinian Exposition from the Nag Hammadi Library:
"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."
This passage affirms that Silence is not a separate being but a quality paired with the Father. The Dyad—the pair—exists within the single Father, who is androgynous and contains both male and female principles within himself. The Father does not need a separate female partner; instead, He is the source of both principles.
The Androgynous Father and the Role of Sigé
The Father, in Valentinian thought, is both male and female, transcending sexual distinctions. This androgyny means that the creative principle is contained fully within the One, the Monad:
"According to the Valentinian Exposition from the Nag Hammadi Library the Dyad is existing within the single Father--he is consequently without a female partner."
This understanding explains how Sigé functions as an attribute or aspect of the Father rather than a separate divine entity. She is the feminine principle manifested within the ineffable silence and depth of the Monad.
The Gospel of Truth further clarifies the relationship of the Father’s thought and will to the emanation of Word and Mind:
"This is the completion in the Father’s thought, and these are the words of his meditation. Each of his words is the work of his one will in the revelation of his Word. When they were still in the depths of his thought, the Word – which was the first to come out – revealed them along with a mind that speaks the one Word in a silent grace. He was called ‘the Thought,’ since they were in it before being revealed. It happened, then, that he was the first to come out at the time when it pleased the one who wanted it. Now the Father rests in his will, and is pleased with it."
Here, Bythos (Depth) is described as an attribute of the Father, not as an independent being. Silence, then, is another attribute—a tranquil, creative stillness that enables the revelation of the Word and Thought.
Sigé as Creative Thought and Mother of All
Sigé is the active creative Thought of the Father, the principle that makes all subsequent aeons and states of being substantial. She is the Mother of All, existing before anything else and representing the true feminine principle within all creation.
As Extracts from the Works of Theodotus describe:
"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."
This passage shows that Silence both contains mystery and remains beyond full human comprehension. Sigé is the aspect of the Deity that preserves divine mystery and enables creation by her quiet, meditative self-awareness.
The Emanation of the Aeons and Sigé’s Place
The Valentinian Exposition explains the complex emanation process from the Father:
"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... Now the second spring exists in silence and speaks with him alone."
This "second spring" in silence points to Sigé’s role as the silent source of creative revelation. The Father’s will, revealed in silence, is the origin of the Son and other aeons such as Word, Life, Man, and Church.
The Gospel of Truth also affirms:
"Paradise is the perfection in the thought of the father, and the plants are the words of his reflection. Each one of his words is the work of his will alone, in the revelation of his word. Since they were in the depth of his mind, the word, who was the first to come forth, caused them to appear, along with an intellect that speaks the unique word by means of a silent grace."
This shows that all creation proceeds from the silent will of the Father, manifested through the creative Thought that Sigé embodies.
Silence as Tranquility and Self-Awareness
Sigé, as Silence, represents God’s primordial state of tranquility and self-awareness:
"He dwells alone in silence, and silence is tranquility since, after all, he was a Monad and no one was before him." (Valentinian Exposition 22:24)
"Therefore, the Father, being unknown, wished to be known to the Aeons, and through his own thought, as if he had known himself, he put forth the Only-Begotten, the spirit of Knowledge which is in Knowledge." (Extracts from the Works of Theodotus 7:1)
These quotations emphasize that Silence is not emptiness but the contemplative stillness that enables the Father’s self-knowledge and the emanation of the fullness of the pleroma.
Conclusion: Sigé as an Attribute, Not a Divine Being
In sum, Sigé is not an independent divine being but a fundamental attribute of the Deity, the ineffable Monad. She is the silent, feminine aspect of the Father, paired with Bythos, the masculine depth. Together, these principles compose the androgynous fullness of the Monad, from which all creation flows.
Sigé is the creative Thought, the Mother of All aeons, the embodiment of divine Silence as tranquility, mystery, and self-awareness. She enables the Father’s will to manifest the universe in the pleroma and beyond.
Thus, Sigé stands as the ineffable silence at the heart of divine reality, the quiet source of all that is, reflecting the profound Valentinian vision of God as transcendent unity containing all opposites within Himself.
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