the 5 seals: baptismal rites in sethian gnosticism

By J. Pedro Feliciano

The ritual of the 5 Seals was a central ceremony of Sethian Gnostic schools. It typified a kind of baptism
or salvific ritual, and some texts portray it as a rite for heavenly ascent. Although this ritual has not
survived in clear form, there are enough detailed allusions to and apparent quotes from it in Sethian
literature to plausibly reconstruct a good part of it, as well as parallels in other traditions. It is the aim of
this article to examine this ritual in detail.

The 5 Seals are described in the extant literature as baptismal ritual which transforms the initiate,
a rebirth in the Light, and a means for immortality of the soul. The primary texts dealing with
this ritual are the Trimorphic Protennoia and the Gospel of the Egyptians.

In Trimorphic Protennoia, we find a key passage which gives the names various angelic beings,
and the acts they perform in the rite. The section is spoken by Protennoia (“Forethought”):

“And I delivered him to those who give robes - AMMÔN, ELASSÔ, AMÊNAI - and they covered
him with a robe from the robes of the Light; and I delivered him to the baptizers, and they
baptized him - MIKHEUS, MIKHAR, MNÊSINOUS - and they immersed him in the spring of the
Water of Life. And I delivered him to those who enthrone - BARIÊL, NOUTHAN, SABENAI -
and they enthroned him from the Throne of Glory. And I delivered him to those who glorify -
ARIÔM, ÊLIEN, PHARIÊL - and they glorified him with the glory of the Fatherhood. And those
who snatch away snatched away - KAMALIÊL, [...]ANÊN (this name has not survived, but other
texts give ABRASAX), SAMBLÔ, and the servants of <the> great holy luminaries - and they took
him into the light-place of his Fatherhood. And he received the Five seals from the Light of the
Mother, Protennoia, and it was granted him to partake of the mystery of knowledge, and he
became a Light in Light.”

From this passage we may deduce that the 5 “seals” are the actions here described, symbolically
performed by the 5 triads of 15 angels: donning of ceremonial robes (probably after undressing),
baptism in ‘living water’ (i.e. running water in a river, spring or stream), enthronement (possibly
crowning or anointing with oil symbolizing kingship), and a “snatching away”, which probably
refers to an ecstatic visionary ritual at the culmination of the ceremony. Presumably, each of the 5
Seals involved an invocation to the respective triad of angels; in other Gnostic texts which are
rich in rituals, such as the Pistis Sophia, and Books of Jeu, such angelic beings are an integral
part of most ceremonies and baptisms, and they are usually invoked in the name of God to
descend and perform their respective duty on the initiate. E.g., in the Baptism of Water (Books
of Jeu), the formula involves the recital of secret names of God, followed by a prayer to Him to
send angelic beings (“helpers”) to baptize the disciples. Interestingly enough, these ‘helpers’ are
also 15 in number, just as in the ritual of the 5 Seals:
“Hear me my Father, thou father of all fatherhoods, thou infinite light who art in the Treasury
of the Light. May the fifteen helpers come, which serve the seven virgins of the light which are
over the baptism of life, whose unutterable names are these: ASTRAPA, TESPHOIODE,
ONTONIOS, SINÊTOS, LAKHON, PODITANIOS, OPAKIS, PHAIDROS, ODONTOUKHOS,
DIAKTIOS, KNÊSION, DROMOS, EUIDETOS POLUPAIDOS, ENTROPON. May they come and
baptise my disciples in the water of life, of the seven virgins of the light and forgive their sins,
and purify their iniquities….”

The baptismal portion of the 5 Seals is described in greater detail in the Gospel of the Egyptians,
wherein a prayer\adoration seemingly from it has been preserved. Presumably, it is to be recited
by the initiate right after the baptism:

“IÊ IEUS ÊÔ OU ÊÔ ÔUA! Really, truly, O IESSEUS MAZAREUS IESSEDEKEUS, O living water, O
child of the child, O glorious name! Really truly, AIÔN O ÔN, IIII ÊÊÊÊ EEEE OOOO UUUU
ÔÔÔÔ AAAAA. Really, truly, ÊI AAAA ÔÔÔÔ, O existing one who sees the aeons! Really, truly,
AEE ÊÊÊ IIII UUUUUU ÔÔÔÔÔÔÔÔ, who is eternally eternal! Really, truly, IÊA AIÔ, in the heart,
who exists, U AEI EIS AEI, EI O EI, EI OS EI. This great name of Thine is upon me, O self-
begotten Perfect one, who art not outside me. I see thee, O thou who art visible to everyone. For
who will be able to comprehend thee in another tongue? Now that I have known thee, I have
mixed myself with the immutable. I have armed myself with an armour of light; I have become
light! For the Mother was at that place because of the splendid beauty of grace. Therefore, I have
stretched out my hands while they were folded. I was shaped in the circle of the riches of the
light which is in my bosom, which gives shape to the many begotten ones in the light into which
no complaint reaches. I shall declare thy glory truly, for I have comprehended thee, SOU IÊS IDE
AEIÔ AEIE OIS, O aeon, aeon, O God of silence! I honour thee completely. Thou art my place of
rest, O Son, ÊS ÊS O E, the formless one who exists in the formless ones, who exists raising up the
man in whom thou wilt purify me into Thy life, according to Thine imperishable name.
Therefore, the incense of life is in me. I mixed it with water after the model of all archons, in
order that I may live with Thee in the peace of the saints, Thou who exist really truly forever.”

The baptism itself was probably done in the name of the Father, Mother, and Son, and the
angels MIKHEUS, MIKHAR, MNÊSINOUS, as well as SESENGENPHARANGÊS a spirit or angel
(frequently mentioned in the magical papyri) who is said to preside over the “baptism of the
living”. According to the above invocation, part of the baptism may have included the initiate
folding his\her hands and stretching them forward in a circle, symbolizing his divine part;
according to late antique philosophers, especially Neoplatonists, the Soul was circular or
spherical in shape, and thus this gesture may be a reflection of that concept.
The Gospel of the Egyptians also mentions “renunciations” as being part of the rite. This
probably involved similar declarations as conventional Catholic baptism, where the person
baptized (or their sponsor) has to renounce Satan and sin. In the Sethian version, it may have
entailed renouncing the various Archons and the Demiurge. The same text also talks about the 5
Seals as being the triad of the Father, Mother, and Son, plus the angels IOUÊL (called “Male
Virgin”), and ÊSÊPHÊKH (“The Child of the Child”).
The “enthronement” portion of the ritual probably involved an anointing with oil and\or a
crowning of the initiate (both gestures symbolic of kingship, and used in enthronement
ceremonies in the ancient world), rather than a real enthronement. This is supported by the
rituals of the Mandeans, an Iraqi Gnostic group that still exists today, and whose baptism
ceremony has many striking parallels to its Sethian counterpart.
Mandaean baptism involves immersion in a river several times, drinking from the water,
crowning with a myrtle wreath, sealing with specific angelic and divine names, anointing with
oil, and a ritual handshake on leaving the water (among other steps I have not mentioned here).
It is thus quite probable that Sethian and Mandaean rituals can be traced back to a common
source.
The oil used in the anointing was most likely aromatic oil or balsam, or olive oil mixed
with myrrh. Some scholars have proposed that the anointing involved a sealing of the 5 organs of
sense as symbolic of the 5 Seals.

An alternate form of baptism is described in another Sethian text: Zostrianos. Although there is
no mention of the “5 Seals”, the ritual described involves a 5-fold baptism whose aim is to
facilitate spiritual ascent. In this case, this does not appear to be a physical baptism but a more
spiritualized, transcendent ceremony, possibly taking place in a trance or visionary state. This was
likely the same type of ritual ascent we find in the Books of Jeu. The baptisms are introduced by
Zostrianos thus:

“I was baptized in the name of the divine AUTOGENES by those powers which are over living
waters, MIKHAR and MIKHEUS. I was purified by [the] great BARPHARANGÊS. Then they
[revealed] themselves to me and wrote me in glory. I was sealed by those who are on these
powers, MIKHAR MIKHEUS, SELDAÔ, ELENOS and ZÔGENETHLOS. I became a root-seeing
angel and stood upon the first aeon which is the fourth. With the souls I blessed the divine
AUTOGENES and the forefather GERADAMAS, [an eye of] the AUTOGENES, the first perfect
[man], and SÊTH EMMAKHA SÊTH, the son of ADAMAS, the [father of] the [immovable race]
and the [four] [lights, HARMOZÊL, OROIAÊL, DAUITHE, ÊLÊLÊTH], and MIROTHEA, the
mother [of Adamas] and PROPHANIA [mother] of the lights and [PLESITHEA, mother of the
angels]”

Throughout the text, Zostrianos describes the remainder of his baptism and the transformations
he undergoes, e.g.:

“I was [baptized] for the second time in the name of the divine AUTOGENES by these same
powers. I became an angel of the male race. I stood upon the second aeon which is the third,
with the sons of SÊTH I blessed each of them. I was baptized for the third time in the name of
the divine AUTOGENES by each of these powers. I became a holy angel. I stood upon the third
aeon which is the second. I blessed each of them.” etc.
Later, Zostrianos mentions various angels again, whose duty is to assist in salvation, and who
probably had a part to play in the ritual as well:

“These are the guardians of the immortal soul: GAMALIÊL and STREMPSOUKHOS, AKRAMAS
and LÔÊL, and MNÊSINOUS. This is the immortal spirit, IESSEUS MAZAREUS IESSEDEKEUS.
He is [the commander] of the child [the Saviour], the child of the child, even [the one who
knows thee]. But ORMOS is [the delimiter] on the living seed and KAMALIÊL is the spirit-
giving. There stand before [them] ISAUÊL and AUDAÊL and ABRASAX, the myriads PHALERIS,
PHALSÊS, and EURIOS, the guardians of the glory STÊTHEUS, THEOPEMPTOS, EURUMENEUS
and OLSÊN. Their assistants in everything are BATHORMOS, EISÔN, EIRÔN, LALAMEUS,
EIDOMENEUS and AUTHROUNIOS. The judges are SUMPHTHAR, EUKREBÔS and KEILAR.
The inheritor is SAMBLÔ. The angels who guide the misty clouds are SAPHPHÔ and
THOURÔ."”

A modern reconstruction of the 5 Seals ritual, for solo use, has recently been published by
Gnostic author Jeremy Puma in “A Gnostic Prayerbook”. Although his version is missing many
parts from the aforementioned texts (only a few of the angel names are used, the baptism is not
included as part of the rite but given separately in another chapter, etc) it is a beautiful example
of a possible Sethian initiation rite. It begins with a prayer to God, followed by the recital of the
1st Stele of Seth. The initiate then divests himself of his clothes and confesses any sins. He then
takes oil and blesses it in the names of IESSEUS MAZAREUS IESSEDEKEUS, MIKHEUS,
MIKHAR, MNÊSINOUS, as well as SESENGENPHARANGÊS, after which he anoints himself 5
times on his face and hands (sealing the 5 senses), partakes of bread soaked in wine, washes the
hands, and then follows a renunciation of the 7 Archons. The initiate then recites the 2nd Stele of
Seth, vests himself in a white robe, and finally recites the 3rd Stele to conclude the rite.

Bibliography:

- E.S. Drower, 1959. “The Canonical Prayerbook of the Mandaeans”

- Marvin Meyer. “The Nag Hammadi Scriptures”

-Jeremy Puma, 2012. “A Gnostic Prayerbook: Rites, Rituals, Prayers and Devotions for the Solitary Modern
Gnostic”

- J. Robinson. “The Nag Hammadi Library”

- C. Schmidt, Violet Macdermot, 1978. “The Books of Jeu and the Untitled Text in the Bruce Codex