Irenaeus, Barbelo emerged as the first thought of the transcendent god, and she was soon accompanied by Foreknowledge, Incorruptibility, Eternal Life, and others. The imperfect material realm is understood as a copy of the perfect spiritual realm, an idea partly derived from the Platonic doctrine of ideas, or forms. The myth also draws on the biblical theme of humanity as formed in the image of God; true or divine humanity, however, is that spiritual family brought into being in the realm of perfection as the spirit's image. That realm is the dwelling place of the spiritual Adamas, his son Seth, and the race or offspring of Seth. The creator of the visible realm and of the earthly Adam and Eve of the biblical Garden of Eden is a lesser being, a ruler (archon) named Ialdabaoth, who is a dark caricature of the creator God of Genesis (the old Genesis) and the demiurge of Platonism. Wisdom, the lowest entity in the realm of perfection, creates Ialdabaoth (God stoppe
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