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Concept
Five Seals
Summary
In Sethian Gnostic texts, the Five Seals are typically described as a baptismal rite involving a series of five full immersions in holy running or "living water," symbolizing spiritual ascension to the divine realm. The Five Seals are frequently mentioned in various Sethian Gnostic texts from the Nag Hammadi library.
While some scholars consider the Five Seals to be literary symbolism rather than an actual religious ritual, Birger A. Pearson believes that the Five Seals refer to an actual ritual in which the initiate was ritually immersed in water five times. Pearson also finds many parallels between the Sethian ritual of the Five Seals and the Mandaean baptismal ritual of masbuta.
Tractates in the Nag Hammadi library that mention the Five Seals include:
Apocryphon of John
Holy Book of the Great Invisible Spirit
Trimorphic Protennoia
Zostrianos
The Holy Book of the Great Invisible Spirit, Trimorphic Protennoia, Zostrianos, and Apocalypse of Adam also mention Micheus, Michar, and Mnesinous as three heavenly guardian spirits presiding over the rite of baptism performed in the wellspring of Living Water, while Yesseus Mazareus Yessedekeus (i.e., Jesus of Nazareth the Righteous [ho dikaios]) is equated with the Living Water.
In contrast, Marsanes mentions Thirteen Seals rather Five Seals.
At the end of the Apocryphon of John, the Five Seals are described as protecting against death.
I raised and sealed the person in luminous water with Five Seals, that death might not prevail over the person from that moment on.
This quote has a parallel in Saying 19 of the Coptic Gospel of Thomas, attributed to Jesus.
For there are five trees in paradise for you; they do not change, summer or winter, and their leaves do not fall. Whoever knows them will not taste death.
In the Trimorphic Protennoia, the Five Seals are described in the following manner:
When you enter the light, you will be glorified by those who give glory,
and those who enthrone will enthrone you.
Official source
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Related concepts (8)
Immersion baptism
Immersion baptism (also known as baptism by immersion or baptism by submersion) is a method of baptism that is distinguished from baptism by affusion (pouring) and by aspersion (sprinkling), sometimes without specifying whether the immersion is total or partial, but very commonly with the indication that the person baptized is immersed in water completely. The term is also, though less commonly, applied exclusively to modes of baptism that involve only partial immersion (see Terminology, below).
Masbuta
Maṣbuta (ࡌࡀࡑࡁࡅࡕࡀ) is the ritual of immersion in water in the Mandaean religion. Mandaeans revere John the Baptist and practice frequent baptism (masbuta) as ritual purification, not of initiation. They are possibly one of the earliest peoples to practice ritual baptism. Mandaeans undergo baptism on Sundays (Habshaba), wearing a white sacral robe (rasta). Baptism for Mandaeans consists of a triple full immersion in water, a triple signing of the forehead with water and a triple drinking of water.
Zostrianos
Zostrianos is a Sethian Gnostic text. It is the first tractate of two in Codex VIII of the Nag Hammadi library. It takes up 132 of the 140 pages in the codex, making Zostrianos the longest tractate of the entire library. However the text is extensively damaged, especially in the center, making the document difficult to fully understand. The Coptic manuscript is a translation of a Greek original, likely written in Alexandria in c. 200 AD. In the text, Zostrianos goes on a heavenly journey and receives divine knowledge from the aeons.