Gnosticism in "The Matrix" continued....

Background painting is of Satan in his initial glory as painted by William Blake, a gnostic poet.

Cypher and the Agents  -      Satan and his demons

Cypher's name is obviously chosen as a shotening of Lucifer, the other name for Satan. Cypher can often be seen to doubt whether Morpheus is right and whether Neo is the one. The way he talks to Neo seems very similar to The Temptations of Christ since he asks Neo how he reacts to being a superhero, while Satan tempts Jesus to abuse his powers. Cypher appeals to the agents saying he can help them stop Morpheus and even tries to kill Neo himself. A thing that makes Cypher closer to Yaldabaoth is the way he is always appealing to Trinity, who represents Sophia who is supposed to have emanated him in the first place. Cypher is seen as jealous of Neo because Neo is Christ the intended son while Cypher is Yaldabaoth the corrupt and unintended son. While Cypher is not the creator of the matrix, he is the closest we come to seeing an image of the evil creator of the world Yaldaboath, who sent out angels (demons?) to slaughter entire cities in the case of Soddom and gomorrah and who tried to flood the world. Gnostics equate the God of the Old Testament with Satan as a deity known as The Deminuge, Yaldabaoth or sometimes Samael (which means "god of the blind") he refuses to accept a God more powerful than himself claiming "I am a jealous God" and "there is no other God than me". He uses his mother Sophia's powers to create the world and in doing so imprisons aspects of her spirit within his material corrupted creations. He is jealous of man because man is of this spirit and is potentially, if united, greater than him. Man's nature of evil, jealousy and self-glorification is said to be because he was made in Yaldaboath's image. Buddhists might link this character with Maya, the God who attempts to prevent Buddha from escaping to Nirvana through various methods, all in vain. When Agent Smith claims that they tried to make a perfect world, but man kept on waking up, this is an allegory of the Garden of Eden. In this story gnostics believe that Yaldabaoth did not wish for man to gain knowledge. When man gains it he awakes from his dillusion and so Yaldabaoth changes the world from the paradise is once was in order to prevent man's escape. Cypher also represents Judas, but that is rather obvious.

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The Red Dragon, one of the concepts of Satan found in Revelations. As depicted by William Blake.