8io GLOSSARY
(Jesus as a boy anticipating the salvation of the light), suffering Jesus (Jesus as light suf-
fering in matter), and Jesus of light (or Jesus of splendor, Jesus as heavenly revealer of
light), who in turn evokes the great mind (nous) for the revelation of knowledge and
the final liberation of the light. Jesus is often called messiah or Christ, "the anointed,"
or is linked to Christ. In the Secret Book of John the anointed child of god dwells in the
heavenly fullness, along with heavenly Seth. In Three Forms of First Thought heavenly
Seth puts on Jesus as a garment. In Valentinian texts Christ is an aeon in the divine
pleroma, and a distinction is made between the heavenly Christ and the earthly Jesus.
In Mandaean sources, conversely, Christ (Nbu-Christ) is described as a liar and false
messiah who distorts the gnosis of John the baptizer.
Jinn Arabic for "spirit," especially a spirit of this world, referred to in the Mother of Books.
John the baptizer Yohanan the baptizer, the Jewish teacher who initiated Jesus by baptiz-
ing him in the Jordan River. He is assigned a secondary place to Jesus in the New Testa-
ment gospels, including the Gospel of John, but it is clear from the Acts of the Apostles
and the Pseudo-Clementine Recognitions that he was acclaimed as a great teacher and
even a messianic figure by some. In Gospel of Thomas 46 he is given high praise. In
Mandaean texts it is said that John's wisdom is true wisdom, and Jesus perverts the true
ways of John the baptizer and brings falsehood and wickedness into the world.
Jordan River (in Hebrew, Yarden) in Palestine, flowing from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead
Sea, near which such Jewish baptizing movements as those of John the baptizer and the
covenanters or Essenes of Qumran were located. In Mandaean religion a Jordan
(yardna) is baptismal water, consisting of living or flowing water, and there are heav-
enly and earthly Jordans. The use of the word Jordan may indicate that the Mandaeans
derive from Jewish baptizers of the Jordan valley.
Kabbalah Jewish mystical tradition that developed from earlier mystical conceptions and
has flourished since medieval times.
Kanna Place, home, often of the soul, in Mandaean sources.
Kaulakau, Saulasau, Zeesar Three words derived from the Hebrew of Isaiah 28:10,13: sav
la-sav, sav la-sav, kav la-kav, kav la-kav, ze'irsham, meaning uncertain, translated in the
revised Standard Version as follows: "it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little." Referred to as words of power
in the Naassene Sermon. Sometimes these words are linked to the three words or say-
ings of Gospel of Thomas 13.
Kephalaia Greek for "headings, central principles." Sacred Manichaean text in which Mani
discusses the basic tenets of the religion with his students.
King of glory One of the five sons of the living spirit, sent out to help the primal man, in
Manichaean thought. Referred to in the Kephalaia.
Know yourself Greek gnothi sauton. Maxim from the oracular shrine of Apollo at Delphi.
Gnostic texts reflect extensively upon the meaning of knowing oneself.
Kore "Maiden" in Greek, identified with the cycle of life of grain and people, from the
Greek mysteries, especially the Eleusinian mysteries. Her mother is Demeter, and she
herself is often identified with Persephone. Referred to as Persephone in the Naassene
Sermon.
Kouretes Ecstatic celebrants of the mysteries, originally linked with Zeus and Crete. Re-
ferred to by Hippolytus of Rome in connection with the Naassene Sermon.