In The Dual Aspect of Wisdom, H. P. Blavatsky gives some hints about the nature of Sophia :
For, divine Wisdom being diffused throughout the infinite Universe, and our impersonal HIGHER SELF being an integral part of it, the atmic light of the latter can be centred only in that which though eternal is still individualized— i.e., the noëtic Principle, the manifested God within each rational being, or our Higher Manas at one with Buddhi. It is this collective light which is the “Wisdom that is from above,” and which whenever it descends on the personal Ego, is found “pure, peaceable, gentle.” Hence, Job’s assertion that “Wisdom is with the Ancient,” or Buddhi-Manas. For the Divine Spiritual “I” is alone eternal, and the same throughout all births; whereas the “personalities” it informs in succession are evanescent, changing like the shadows of a kaleidoscopic series of forms in a magic lantern. It is the “Ancient,” because, whether it be called Sophia, Krishna, Buddhi-Manas or Christos, it is ever the “first-born” of Alaya-Mahat, the Universal Soul and the Intelligence of the Universe. ([Lucifer, Vol. VII, No. 37, September, 1890, pp. 1-9] Blavatsky, Collected Writings, vol. 12, p. 313)
Jakob Böhme The Gates of the Paradisical Garden of Roses, from his essay True Repentance, part of six texts grouped under the title The Way to Christ (1624)
The Gates of the Paradisical Garden of Roses
2- The Soul saith again to its noble Sophia, its Love, that is born again in it,
O my noble Pearl, and opened Flame of Light in my anxious fiery Life, how thou changest me into thy Joy! O beautiful Love, I have broken my Faith with thee in my Father Adam, and with my fiery Strength have turned myself to the Pleasure and Vanity of the outward World. I have fallen in Love with a Stranger, and would have been constrained to walk in the Valley of Darkness in this strange Love, if thou hadst not come into the House of my Misery, in thy great Faithfulness, by thy piercing through and destroying God's Anger, Hell, and dark Death, and restoring thy Meekness and Love to my fiery Life.
O sweet Love! Thou hast brought the Water of Eternal Life out of the Fountain of God, with thee into me, and refreshed me in my great Thirst. I behold in thee the Mercy of God, which was hidden from me before by the strange Love. In thee I can rejoice; Thou changest my Anguish of Fire into great Joy in me. O amiable Love, give me thy Pearl, that I may continue in this Joy forever.
Upon this then noble Sophia answereth the Soul again, and saith,
MY dear Love and faithful Treasure, thou highly rejoicest me in thy Beginning. I have indeed broken into thee through the deep Gates of God, through God's Anger, through Hell and Death, into the House of thy Misery, and have graciously bestowed my Love upon thee, and delivered thee from the Chains and Bonds wherewith thou wert fast bound. I have kept my Faith with thee, though thou hast not kept thine with me; but thou desireth now an exceeding great Thing of me, which I cannot willingly trust in thy Hands. Thou wouldest have my Pearl as thy proper own. Remember, I pray, O my beloved Bridegroom, that thou didst carelessly lose it before in Adam; and thou thyself standest yet in great Danger, and walkest in two dangerous Kingdoms; for in thy original Fire thou walkest in that Country wherein God calleth himself a strong jealous God, and a consuming Fire. The other Kingdom which thou walkest in, is the outward World, wherein thou dwellest in the vain corrupt Flesh and Blood, and where the Pleasures of the World and Assaults of the Devil beset thee every Hour. Thou mayest perhaps in thy great Joy bring Earthliness again into my Beauty, and thereby darken my Pearl; or thou mayest possibly grow proud, as Lucifer did, when he had the Pearl in his Possession, and so turn thyself away from the Harmony of God, as he did, and then I must be deprived of my Love forever afterwards.
No. I will keep my Pearl in Myself, and dwell in the Heaven in thee, in thy extinguished, but now in me, revived, Humanity, and reserve my Pearl for Paradise, until thou puttest away this Earthliness from thee, and then I will give it to thee to possess. But I will readily present to thee my pleasant Countenance, and the sweet Rays of the Pearl, during the Time of this Earthly Life. I will dwell with the Pearl itself in the inner Choir, and be thy faithful loving Bride. I cannot espouse myself with thy earthly Flesh, for I am a heavenly Queen, and my Kingdom is not of this World. Yet I will not cast thy outward Life away, but refresh it often with my Rays of Love; for thy outward Humanity shall return again. But I cannot admit to my Embraces the Beast of Vanity, neither did God create it in Adam with a Purpose to have it so gross and earthly. But in Adam thy Desire, through the Power of its strong Lust, formed this beastial Grossness, from and with all the Essences of the awakened Vanity of the earthly Property, wherein Heat and Cold, Pain and Enmity, Division and Corruption subsist.
Now, my dear Love and Bridegroom, do but yield thyself up into my Will; I will not forsake thee in this earthly Life in thy Danger. Though the Anger of God should pass upon thee, so that thou shouldst grow affrighted and disheartened, or shouldst think that I had deserted thee, yet I will be with thee and preserve thee, for thou thyself knowest not what thine Office is. Thou must in this Life's Time work and bear Fruit. Thou art the Root of this Pearl-Tree; Branches must be produced out of thee, which must all be brought forth in Anguish. But I come forth together with thy Branches in their Sap, and produce Fruit upon thy Boughs, and thou knowest it not; for the Most High hath so ordered, that I should dwell with and in thee.
Wrap thyself up therefore in Patience, and take Heed of the Pleasure of the Flesh. Break the Will and Desire thereof; bridle it as an unruly Horse; and then I will often visit thee in the fiery Essence, and give thee my Kiss of Love. I will bring a Garland for thee out of Paradise with me, as a Token of my Affection, and put it upon thee, and thou shalt rejoice in it. But I give thee not my Pearl for a Possession during this Life's Time. Thou must continue in Resignation, and hearken what the Lord playeth on his Instrument in thy Harmony in thee. Moreover, thou must give Sound and Essence to thy Tune, out of my Strength and Virtue, for thou art now a Messenger of his Word, and must set forth his Praise and Glory. For this Cause it is that I have contracted myself a-new with thee, and set my triumphal Garland upon thee; which I have gotten in the Battle against the Devil and Death. But the Crown of Pearl wherewith I crowned thee, I have laid aside for thee. Thou must wear that no more till thou art become pure in my Sight.
3- The Soul saith further to the noble Sophia,
O thou fair and sweet Consort, what shall I say before thee? Let me be wholly committed unto thee; I cannot preserve myself. If thou wilt not give me thy Pearl, I submit to thy Will; but give me thy Rays of Love, and carry me safely through my Pilgrimage. Do thou awaken and bring forth what thou wilt in me; I will from henceforth be thy own. I will or desire nothing for myself, but what thou thyself wilt through me. I had fooled away thy sweet Love, and broken my Faith with thee, whereby I was fallen into the Anger of God. But seeing that of Love thou didst come to me into the Anguish of Hell, and hast delivered me from Torment, and received me again for thy Consort, I will now therefore break my Will for thy Love's Sake, and be obedient unto thee, and wait for thy Love. I am satisfied now that I know thou art with me in all my Troubles, and wilt not forsake me.
O Gracious Love, I turn my fiery Countenance to thee. O fair Crown, take me quickly into thee, and bring me forth from Unquietness. I will be thine forever, and never depart from thee more.
The noble Sophia answereth the Soul very comfortably, and saith,
MY noble Bridegroom, be of good Comfort. I have betrothed thee to me in my highest Love, and contracted myself with thee in my Faithfulness. I will be with thee and in thee always to the End of the World. I will come to thee and make my Abode with thee, in thy inner Chamber. Thou shalt drink of my Fountain; for now I am thine, and thou art Mine; the Enemy shall not separate us. Work thou in thy fiery Property, and I will put my Rays of Love into thy Working. And so we will plant and manure the Vineyard of Jesus Christ. Afford thou the Essence of Fire, and I will afford the Essence of Light, and the Increase. Be thou the Fire, and I will be the Water, and thus we will perform that in this World for which God hath appointed us, and serve him in his Temple, which we ourselves are.
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