Simon Magus, the Prophet of Nigredo

Traditionally Simon Magus is considered a scoundrel, or a corrupt sorcerer who ends up being devoured by his own thirst for power. Some argue instead that Simon Magus is the mythical founder of some opposed Gnostic sects, as well as Paul of Tarsus himself.

Almost no one knows, however, that Simon Magus was a prophet able to communicate with the plane of the Cinereous City, from which he drew the knowledge and inspiration to produce The Great Declaration, a visionary writing on the exchanges between this and other planes of existence. In this work, Simon Magus reworked Heraclitus’ philosophy that made fire the first principle of all things. This first principle he called “Power without limit” and declared that it resided in the children of men, beings born of flesh and blood. But fire was not the simple thing that many imagined, and he distinguished between its hidden and manifest qualities, arguing that the former were the cause of the latter. After working out his science of aeons and passing it on to his followers, Simon Magus mysteriously disappeared.

In the Acts of Peter it is reported that before his demise, Simon Magus was performing magic in the Forum and, in order to prove that he was a god, he hovered in the air. But the spell failed, Magus plummeted to the ground breaking his legs into three equal parts and was finally lynched by the angry mob. The truth is that the spirit of Magus, having fully developed the science of aeons, came to the Cinerea City. Here, shrouded in a cloak of ashes, he stares in ecstasy at the Cinereal Gate, from which he draws divine inspiration to forge symbols and icons for the spread of the Cult…