‘Human Semen Eucharist’ Among the Manichaeans?
The Testimony of Augustine Reconsidered in Context
In: Vigiliae ChristianaeSearch for other papers by Johannes van Oort in
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Starting from his De haeresibus 46,9-10, the present article examines Augustine’s contention that, among the Manichaeans, there was a certain ceremony in which human semen (i.e., sperma and menstrual fluid) was collected and consumed during a eucharistic rite. My contextual analysis of the pivotal passage, haer. 46,9-10, is followed by an overview of scholarly opinions on this text. From here I proceed to interpret the incriminated rite in light of the Seduction of the Archons myth and conclude that, according to Augustine, the Manichaeans consider the ‘vital substance’ (or ‘light’ or ‘living soul’) in the life of plants, animals and human beings, to be the very nature of God, which should be released whenever possible. I finish my research by interpreting the Manichaean practice within a wider ‘gnostic’ context, in particular Epiphanius’ report on the ‘Borborites’. My final conclusion is that we should try to understand both Manichaeans (like the ‘Catharists’) and Gnostics (like the ‘Borborites’) according to their own logic: both appear to have considered the life-substance of man, i.e., the semen, as divine, and indeed a part of God.
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85
Cf. Adam, Texte, 5. Al-Bīrūnī’s Arabic work Chronology of Ancient Nations is usually dated to c. 1000 ce.
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87
Cf. Adam, Texte, 19, 20, 21. Theodor bar Kōnai’s Syriac source Liber scholiorum is dated to c. 790.
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89
Epiphanius, Panarion, 26. In actual fact Epiphanius (Pan. 21,2,5) already credited the ‘Simonians’ with some sort of Seduction myth connected with the figure of Prounikos (‘she is called Barbero or Barbelo by other sects’). The same goes for the ‘Nicolaitans’ from whom, according to him, these ‘Gnostics’ or ‘Borborites’ (they are also termed with several other names, cf. e.g. Pan. 25,2,1 and, in particular Anakephalaiosis 2,26,1-2: ‘In Egypt they are called Stratiotics and Phibionites; in Upper Egypt, Secundians; in other places, Socratists, and Zachaeans in others. But others call them Coddians, others, Borborites’) directly sprang.
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‘Human Semen Eucharist’ Among the Manichaeans?
The Testimony of Augustine Reconsidered in Context
In: Vigiliae ChristianaeSearch for other papers by Johannes van Oort in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Starting from his De haeresibus 46,9-10, the present article examines Augustine’s contention that, among the Manichaeans, there was a certain ceremony in which human semen (i.e., sperma and menstrual fluid) was collected and consumed during a eucharistic rite. My contextual analysis of the pivotal passage, haer. 46,9-10, is followed by an overview of scholarly opinions on this text. From here I proceed to interpret the incriminated rite in light of the Seduction of the Archons myth and conclude that, according to Augustine, the Manichaeans consider the ‘vital substance’ (or ‘light’ or ‘living soul’) in the life of plants, animals and human beings, to be the very nature of God, which should be released whenever possible. I finish my research by interpreting the Manichaean practice within a wider ‘gnostic’ context, in particular Epiphanius’ report on the ‘Borborites’. My final conclusion is that we should try to understand both Manichaeans (like the ‘Catharists’) and Gnostics (like the ‘Borborites’) according to their own logic: both appear to have considered the life-substance of man, i.e., the semen, as divine, and indeed a part of God.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 1484 | 240 | 15 |
| Full Text Views | 263 | 5 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 107 | 8 | 0 |
