GLOSSARY 803
name closely resembles Ariel, which in Hebrew means "lion of god." See Gospel of
Thomas 8.
Arimanios Name of a Pharisee in the Secret Book of John. Ahriman is the name of the evil
god in Zoroastrianism.
Arrogant one Greek authades. Epithet of the demiurge in the Letter of Peter to Philip and
elsewhere.
Asklepios Greek hero and god of medicine and healing, identified with the deified Egypt-
ian architect Imhotep. Aklepios is described as a hermetic initiate and student, and a
hermetic text called the Revelation of Asklepios survives in Greek and Latin, along with
Coptic selections from the Nag Hammadi library.
Astaphaios Son of Yaldabaoth in On the Origin of the World.
Atlas Greek god who carries the world on his shoulders. Atlas is one of the five sons of the
living spirit, sent out to help the primal man, in Manichaean thought. Referred to in the
Kephalaia.
Attis Phrygian eunuch and lover of Cybele in the mysteries of the Great Mother and Attis.
Attis reflects the interests of dying and rising deities throughout the mystery religions
and early Christianity. Referred to in the Naassene Sermon.
Autogenes Greek for "self-conceived," "self-created," "self-begotten." Epithet of the divine
in many gnostic texts.
Avici Deepest Buddhist hell, referred to in the Great Song to Mani.
Azazi'il Arrogant angel who resembles the gnostic demiurge, in the Mother of Books.
Azazi'il seems to have developed from Azazel, the chief of the fallen angels in later Jew-
ish sources (1 Enoch, Apocalypse [Revelation] of Abraham). This angel is also referred
to in the Mandaean tradition.
Babel Angel of Edem in the Book of Baruch. In Genesis the Tower of Babel is a site of leg-
endary human pride (from the ziggurat of Babylon?).
Bacchos Dionysos, Greek god of fertility, ecstasy, and wine. Referred to by Hippolytus of
Rome in connection with the Naassene Sermon.
Baqir Or al-Baqir. The revealer in the Mother of Books, whose name means "the one who
opens." The name derives from Muhammad al-Baqir, the fifth imam in Shi'ite Islam.
Barbelo The divine mother and the first emanation of the father of all in Sethian texts. She
is also described as the forethought (Greek, pronoia) of the invisible spirit, and she is
given the nickname "human." The name Barbelo may well derive from Hebrew. A pos-
sible translation is"god (compare el) in (b-) four (arb(a))" with reference to the tetra-
grammaton, the ineffable four-letter name of god.
Baruch Paternal angel of Elohim, identified with the good tree of life, in the Book of
Baruch. In Hebrew the name means "blessed."
Bema Rostrum on which Mani's picture was displayed during the Manichaean Bema cel-
ebration, which commemorated the death of Mani, in the spring. At the Bema celebra-
tion, songs of the Bema from the Coptic Manichaean Songbook were sung.
Bismillah Arabic for "in the name of Allah." This expression, and what follows, is written
at the opening of suras in the Qur'an: Bismillah al-rahman al-rahim, "In the name of
Allah, the compassionate, the merciful." Discussed in the Mother of Books, where Bis-
millah may also be connected to the throne of god. See MERKAVAH.
Bloodless food Vegetarian food, referred to in the Hermetic Prayer of Thanksgiving. The
elect within Manichaeism were also vegetarians.