He first formed her in his inner chambers in quiet and in silence; but when she was needed, then was she called and came forth from the father of greatness; she looked after all the aeons of the light.
– Kephalaia of the Paraclete
Paraclete (Latin. paracletus) means advocate and helper. At Pentecost, seven weeks, or fifty days after Easter, orthodox tradition holds that the reception of the holy breath of God, the paraclete, by the Apostles of the New Testament took place, with resultant blinding fire often depicted above the disciples’ heads, in images and icons.
With heads and hearts thus alight and aflame, the Christian tradition recounts that the disciples found they could do naught but share, each in their own way, the inner gnosis which was birthed within them, at this incredible meeting point, of spirit, soul and flesh.
Pentecost marks a half-way cycle point in the liturgical calendar, a vital descent of the feminine essence of Sophia, celebrated in the Feast of Mary Magdalene, the Assumption and the return of Bath Qol, the holy dove, in the next coming months.