Emanation

Aletheia

a-leh-THAY-a (Greek Aletheia, Truth)

Aletheia, Greek for Truth, is the consort of Nous and, with him, completes the primal Tetrad of the Valentinian Pleroma as Irenaeus of Lyons reports it: Bythos, Ennoia, Nous and Aletheia together as the root of everything the system holds to exist. She emanates from Bythos and Ennoia alongside Nous, and from her union with Nous proceed Logos, Word, and Zoe, Life, the third pair of the Ogdoad. Beyond her place in this genealogy and her name, Irenaeus's report says little else about her individually; like most of the Aeons named only as half of a syzygy, Aletheia is defined by her position in the structure rather than by an independent narrative of her own, which is itself characteristic of how the Valentinian sources present the upper Pleroma.

Facts

Origins

Proceeds From

Bythos and Ennoia, emanated together with Nous. 1

Rank In The Sequence

Paired with Nous at the head of the primal Tetrad; conventionally counted fourth of the thirty Aeons (Irenaeus, Against Heresies 1.1.1). 1

Practice

Lineage

Child of Bythos and Ennoia; consort of Nous; with him, parent of Logos and Zoe. 1

Function

Domain

Truth; the second member of the primal Tetrad 1

Connections

Associated With

Irenaeus

This source names Irenaeus directly: "Tetrad of the Valentinian Pleroma as Irenaeus of Lyons reports it: Bythos, Ennoia, Nous and Aletheia together as the root of everything the system holds to exist."