Saunders Gnostic Glossary 2007
by
Tom Saunders, B.A. / B.S., Certified Linguist.
Introduction
There is a lost Christianity that can be brought back to understanding from the Gnostic texts of the Nag Hammadi Library, and other texts like “The Pistis Sophia,”with many others mentioned below. Until the serious study of the Nag Hammadi texts in the last few years, nobody has had the knowledge to assume much about what is contained in Gnostic texts.
The following set of terms was gathered by myself and members of a group of scholars who study the “Gospel of Thomas.” These human sources of information include, Dr. Andrew Criddle, Dr. William Arnal, Dr. Mark Goodachre, Dr. Jack Kilmon, Dr. Lynn Bauman, Mike Grondin, Frank McCoy, and others.
Many of the terms below come from original works by Karl Nygren http://kheper.net/topics/Gnosticism/glossary.html. Special thanks to him and other members of the various ”Gospel of Thomas” groups I have participated with over the years. Those entries which are not marked with references are probably from the/a Nygren collection, or are explanations gleaned from discussion groups. A glossary is really a work that is never finished…. Glossary means; ”A word list; a brief dictionary used in a field of study or in a certain literary work, with an explanation or definition of their meanings.” “Glossology;” is a synonym for ”Linguistics.” I hope that this work will serve as a ‘lexicology,’ for the Secret works described below. (”The Dictionary of Linguistics,” Pei- Gaynor, Littlefield, 1969, pg. 83., 122. )
………….
Aberamentho: A name used for/by Jesus, in the Sethian text ”Pistis Sophia,” describing him as merged with Thoth-Hermes because Jesus calls on God while standing upon the water. It is a trajectory that merges the Hebrew ‘abyr mym’ (power of waters) with the Greek form of the Egyptian God Thoth and is found in Book IV of the Codex ”Askewianus.” {Thoth is associated with Logos, the power of Word, as Ra’s scribe/translator. It is also a formula for Seth-Typhon and can be found in the Demotic Leiden Papyrus and other magical papyri following the Egyptian XXVI dynasty. (Source; Dr. Jack Kilmon.) See; ”Sethianische Verfluchtungstafeln aus Rom” Wünsch, Richard. Leipzig: B.G Teubner, 1898. In 1870, a collection of ancient Sethian tablets inscribed with Greek and Latin Typhonian spells and curses was discovered buried near the famous Appian Way in Rome. There are other texts identified as Sethian from the Egyptian brother of Osiris, see; http://home.iprimus.com.au/btheos/articles/LM-Egypt.htm
Abraxas: (Abrasax) The letters of this word add up to 365 in some schema of numerology. In Irenaeus’ outline of the beliefs of Basilides, the term seems to refer to the unknown Father, the ‘Prime Source.’ In writings by Hippolytus, what is described seems to be a reference to the Demiurge. In some of the surviving Gnostic texts, Abrasax is one of a number of “light bringers.” (See; ”Zostrianos,” ”The Gospel of the Egyptians,” and ”The Apocalypse of Adam.”)
Achamoth: In Hebrew meaning ‘wisdom,’ possibly related to the Hebrew word for wisdom, “chokmah”. An Aeon representing ‘wisdom’ created by Sophia (Wisdom) in the pleroma. (See; ”First Apocalypse of James,” Nag Hammadi Lib.) Called ‘Echmoth’ in the ”Gospel of Phillip,” meaning ‘little Wisdom’ or “wisdom of death.”
Aeon: These are characterized as emanations from the ‘first cause,’ the Father in some Gnostic schema. The word not only refers to the “worlds” of emanation, but to the personalities as well. Sophia, Logos, and the other high principles are aeons. ”A link or level of the great chain of being, the sum total which is the ‘All’ or Pleroma…Can also mean a world age.” (See; Gaffney) ”According to other Gnostics, for example Valentinus, the first principle is also called Aeon or the unfathomable, the primeval depth, the absolute abyss, bythos, in which everything is sublimated…” translated by Scott J. Thompson from G.W.F.
Hegel’s ”Vorlesungen über die Geschichte der Philosophie ii ,” (Theorie Werkausgabe, Bd. 19), Frankfurt a.M., Suhrkamp Verlag, 1977, 426-430] ( See also; Pleroma.) The first ten aeons in the Valentinian schema are, Bythios (Profound) and Mixis (Mixture), Ageratos (Never old) and Henosis (Union), Autophyes (Essential nature) and Hedone (Pleasure), Acinetos (Immoveable) and Syncrasis (Commixture,) Monogenes (Only-begotten) and Macaria (Happiness). http://www.wbenjamin.org/hegel_kabbalah.html
What are "the Aeons?"
What are “the Aeons?”
Dear Friends,
I thought in conjunction with the previous post (“What is
an `Archon?’), it might be useful to briefly address another
important aspect of Gnostic cosmogony and mythology: the Aeons.
This will be a bit more complicated, but I hope you may find it
useful in some way.
As with other Greek-derived Gnostic terms, there are a number of
ways to translate the sense of “aeon” into English: we could use the
words eternity, divine realm, celestial realm, celestial being,
totality of being, and many others. Because of this diversity, I
simply return to the word Aeon to connote them all.
The fundamental Aeon, which we might call the central Aeon
(although this is not to be taken literally in terms of physical
space), is of course the full actualization of divine existence
in God. This Aeon
is simultaneously the mode of being and the actual being of God, so
we can think of it as the divine realm and God’s own self at one and
the same time. This is another one of the many paradoxes of Gnostic
mythology, which are designed at least in part to challenge our
rational conceptions of physical space, time, and dimensionality.
In Gnostic cosmogony, the central aspect of God as the ultimate
realization of being is the property of emanating; that is, the
spirit that exists throughout the cosmos, and that is infused into
the physical realm in human beings and the natural world, finds its
origin in the central Aeon, in God, as through God’s very status as
the true Eternal and Being and Unity, God emanates spirit out from
what we might call the essence of Godself. In this way, subsidiary
Aeons extend outward from the center, representing the varied
manifestations of spirit that emerge during the process of spiritual
emanation.
Within these Aeons, Gnostic mythology places aeonic supernatural
beings, which are in fact not really distinct from the Aeon itself �
I will call these entities aeons with a small `a’ to distinguish the
mode of being from the realm of being itself. Some early Gnostic
groups had very complicated cosmogonies about how these aeons
manifested outward from the God; they discussed such things as their
names, their order, their rank, their power over aspects of the
spiritual world.
As you can imagine, this became a point of easy ridicule by
Christians against Gnostics, since it seemed that in this obsession
with what Christians might call “angels,” Gnosticism strayed into
fields of mere idle speculation, which they derided as “false
knowledge.” What we have to realize, however, is that even early
Gnostics had a far different understanding of mythology than
Christians; where to the mainstream Christian, mythology is to be
taken extraordinarily literally, Gnostics realize that their
mythologies are simply attempts to put into human language the
essentially unutterable and ineffable categories of the divine.
What the basic idea of the existence of aeons tells us is this: as
we move through the world, we encounter forces that are greater than
us, both forces that draw us closer to the spirit � i.e. aeons � and
forces that draw us away from the spirit � i.e. archons. For those
who find it more useful to see these aeons as literal beings, that
is perfectly acceptable. And for those like myself who see the
aeons less as actual “creatures” and more as broad cosmic forces
like the ones we call “faith” and “hope” and “love,” that is
perfectly fine as well. This is one of those issues on which
Gnosticism can tolerate a tremendous amount of internal diversity
within the broad parameters of the system. Similarly with archons:
some people find it more useful to conceptualize them as satanic (in
the original sense of “adversarial”) beings who try to impede our
journey to gnosis, whereas others find it more beneficial to think
of them as forces such as lust, gluttony, sadism, masochism,
cruelty, and other aspects of physical experience that tie us down
and prevent our ascension into the level of the spirit.
The last thing I should point out is the cosmic optimism in
Gnosticism, which contrasts against the deep pessimism that our
critics tend to find in our system. That is to say, at the end of
time, there will be a fundamental dissolution of all divisions,
limitations, imperfections, and all being will rejoin the unity of
the central Aeon, what early Gnostics spoke of as the
final “totality.” Even the demiurge will resolve back into the
divine essence, because the demiurge is simply imperfect, neither
evil nor unforgiven. We have faith that God is moving through our
world of physical space and time in order to draw all beings back
into the unity of the divine � and for us the most profound proof of
this is the way in which God emptied out the divine essence into the
world both in the person of God’s Son, Christ, and of God’s divine
wisdom, Sophia.
In Christ,
+Matthew
further:
http://essenes.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=113&Itemid=755
http://essenes.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=112&Itemid=754
Agape: Refers to love. For some Gnostics it refers to the ability of the initiate to see the divine spark in all life, in the process of becoming Pneumatic. ”Love, Faith, Hope, and Knowledge,” are elements of a ‘tetrad,’
explained in the ”Gospel of Phillip.”
Agrapha: means unwritten. Two pieces of agrapha, apperently that did get written down, are of interest because they parallel the ”Gospel of Thomas,” saying 22 c., which has no other Gospel parallels. ”12. Acts of Philip, 34. For the Lord said unto me: If you make not that which is below in you to be above, and the left hand to be right, ye shall not enter into my kingdom. 13. Linus Martyrdom of Peter, 17. The Lord said in a mystery: If ye make not the left hand as the right and the right as the left, and the things that are above as the things that are below, and the things that are before as those that are behind, ye shall not know the Kingdom of God. (”The New Testament Apochrypha,” by James, Apocryphile Press page, 36.)
Agnoia: Literally “ignorance” or not paying attention.
Agnosia: State of not having insight or Gnosis.
Alchemy: Early chemistry concerned with the search for the philosopher’s stone, a substance believed to turn base metals into gold. Also the quest for eternal life, by the use of alchemical and human transmutation. The art of alchemy can be traced back to 100-150 B.C. in China, before the practice of rejuvination and eternal life appeared in the west. The great Wei Po-Yang (100-50 A.D.), is said
to have discovered ‘true gold medicine.’ (See; Transubstantiation. See; ”The History of Magic and the Occult,” Seligmann, Gramercy, 1997. pg. 95. See also; ”The Steinerbooks Dictionary of the Psychic, Mystic, and Occult,” Rudolf Steiner, 1973. pg. 15.)
“Despite the insistence of historians of science, alchemy was never, except in its degenerate aspects, a primitive chemistry. It was a “sacramental” science in which material phenomena were not autonomous, but represented only the “condensation” of psychic and spiritual realities. When the spontaneity and mystery of nature is penetrated, it becomes transparent. On the one hand it is transfigured under the lightning-flashes of divine energies, and on the other it incorporates and symbolizes those “angelic” states that fallen man can only glimpse for brief moments, when listening to music or when contemplating a human face. Symbols are not meant to be “stuck onto” things: they are the very structure, the presence, and the beauty of things such as they are in the process of perfection in God. For alchemy, which is the science of symbol, there was no question, as has sometimes been said, of a “material” unity of nature, but of a spiritual unity – one could almost say a spiritual Assumption of nature. For nature, ultimately, is none other than the place of a metaphysical principle: through man it becomes the body of the Word and, as it were, the bride of God.”
Alchemy Journal 1: Alchemy: the Cosmological Yoga (by Maurice Aniane)
Allegory: Writings, characterized by themes or parts with intentional multiple analogies. They relate characters and events in a manner to represent more than one thing or meaning. Origen stated that scripture can have literal, moral, and spiritual meanings. (See also; Exegesis.)
Allogenes: Means “alien” or of another race. The existence of spiritual force in the material realm is “alien” to it. This includes both aeons, such as the Logos, as well as the Gnostic him/her self. According to Dr. Gilles, Allogenes, is also a reference to Seth, the third son of Adam and Eve. In Jewish gnosis
Seth is viewed as the Saviour.” ( Emeritus Professor Gilles Quispel who discovered the Gospel of Thomas.) ”Allogenes” is a ‘Sethian’ tractate, and is contained in Codex XI. 3, of the Nag Hammadi Lib.
Amente: The place or state of the abyss or hell. ”Mary answered and said: “Woe unto the souls of sinners! Now, therefore, my Lord, is the fire in the world of mankind fiercer, or the fire in Amente? The Saviour answered and said unto Mary, Amēn, I say unto thee: The fire in Amente is nine times fiercer than the fire in mankind.” (”The Pistis Sophia.”)
Amillennialism [A, Latin meaning "in" (rather than the commoner "none"), and
Millennialism, referring to the binding of "the dragon, that old serpent, which
is the Devil, and Satan" for 1,000 years as described in Revelation chapter 20
verse 2] (also nunc-millennialism or positively realized millennialism) in
Christian eschatology is an interpretation of chapter 20 of the Book of
Revelation which sees the “1000-year reign” of Christ as having
already begun. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amillennialism
Anastasis: Means resurrection. Another term related to, or used like apokatastasis, and in some cases may be used as synonymous with the process or Gnostic salvation. (See Apokatastasis)
Androgyny: A state of a being with both, like Yin and Yang in the Tai Chi, or having no sexual characteristics. (See; Barbelo, Pronoia, Protophanes, ‘Syzygos’”
Angel: (angelos) A messenger from a divine source, or God. (See; ”The Five Gospels,” by Funk, Hoover, Harpper-Collins, 1993, p. 544. ”Heavenly Messenger.”) Gamaliel, Gabrial, Samblo, and Abrasax, are angels, or ministers of Light. “Seven (creators of man) have power over all of these: Michael, Ouriel, Asmenedas, Saphasatoel, Aarmouriam, Richram, Amiorps. And the ones who are in charge over the senses (are) Archendekta; and he who is in charge over the receptions (is) Deitharbathas; and he who is in charge over the imagination (is) Oummaa; and he who is over the composition Aachiaram, and he who is over the whole impulse Riaramnacho. (”Apocryphon of John.”) Archangels are superior angels, ‘arch,’ meaning above.”
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Anomoeans: In church history, the ‘Anomoeans’ were ancient heretics who asserted that the Son was of a different nature and in nothing like to that of the Father. (Wikipedia, See; ”The Concept of Our Great Power.”)
Anthropos: “Man”. This is the cosmic human as well as the philosophical form of
the regular human.
Antinomianism: While this word literally refers to the belief that legal precepts are no longer applicable to a “saved” individual, it has come to be used in regards to any libertine doctrines in common parlance. It is in reference to heresy. Thus, the Christian groups that are experiential rather than ascetic have been referred to as ‘antinomian.’ See; http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01564b.htm
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Antitactae: (Antitactes) May refer to a sect, or independent or ascetic (licentious, antinomian) Gnostics, rather than the followers of any single master, to whom they can be traced.
Apelles: A Gnostic follower of Marcion who later disagreed with Marcionite philosophies, especially concerning docetics and dualism. His work “Hexaëmeron” was an attempt to refute Moses.
Apocalypse: A writing which relates a revelation, usually associated with doom.
(See; ”The Apocalypse of Paul,” NHL.) Apocalypse (Greek: Ἀποκάλυψις -translit. APOKALYPSIS, literally: the lifting of the veil), is a term applied to the disclosure to certain privileged persons of something hidden from the mass of humankind. Today the term is often used to mean “end of the world”, which may be a shorterning of the phrase apokalupsis eschaton which literally means “revelation at the end of the world”.
An Apocalypse in the terminology of early Jewish and Christian literature, is a revelation of hidden things given by God to a chosen prophet; the term is often used to describe the written account of such a revelation. Apocalyptic literature is of considerable importance in the history of the Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition, because it makes specific reference to beliefs such as the resurrection of the dead, judgment day, eternal life and perdition. Apocalyptic beliefs predate Christianity, appear in other religions, and have merged into contemporary secular society, especially through popular culture (see Apocalypticism). Apocalypse-like beliefs also occur in other religious systems; an example is the Hindu concept of pralay.
From the second century, the term “Apocalypse” was applied to a number of books, both Jewish and Christian, which show the same characteristic features. Besides the Apocalypse of John (now generally called the Book of Revelation) included in the New Testament, the Muratorian fragment, Clement of Alexandria, and others mention an Apocalypse of Peter. Apocalypses of Adam and Abraham (Epiphanius) and of Elias (Jerome) are also mentioned; see, for example, the six titles of this kind in the “List of the 60 Canonical Books”. The use of the Greek noun to designate writings belonging to a certain literary genre is of Christian origin, the original norm of the class being the New Testament Book of Revelation. In 1832 Gottfried Christian Friedrich Lücke explored the word “Apocalypse” as a description of the book of Revelation, a usage obtained from the opening words of the book which refer to an apocalypse (prophecy) of Jesus Christ given to John, who wrote the text. In Greek the opening words are ‘Aπōκάλυψις ‘Iησōῦ Χριστōῦ.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apocalypse
Russian Orthodox icon: apocalypse
Apocrypha: Means ‘hidden things’ in Greek. Usually in reference to non canonized texts or scriptures, like the “Gospel of Thomas.”
Apochryphon: “Secret Book”. The notion of secrecy was important for a wide variety of early Christians for many reasons. Thus the development of the “secret writings” amongst the Gnostics. (See; “Apochryphon of James” and Apochryphon of John” Nag Hammadi Lib. NHL.)
Apokatastasis: Meaning salvation and restoration through the reception of the Holy Spirit, Jesus. The term is used by Heracleon in reference to “fruit of eternal life or because it (Gnosis), is itself eternal life.” It was used by Origen differently, as if he meant the term to connote a communal Anastasis. ”Origen teaches the “apokatastasis”, the final restoration of all intelligent creatures to friendship with God.” (New Advent. See also;
Apocatastases is Greek for ‘The End or Restoration of All Things’. It is a concept familar to Qabalists as the Tikkun. Origen’s use of this theory in his cosmological speculation is mirrored in Valentinian Gnosis. Both are close to the Buddhist model. (Matthews, Caitlin: The Rosicrucian Vault as Sepulchre and Wedding Chamber)
Anastasis, Apolutrosis)
Means resurrection. Another term related to, or used like apokatastasis, and in some cases may be used as synonymous with the process or Gnostic salvation. (See Apokatastasis)
Apolutrosis: “Redemption” as seen as being helped by the rite of initiation which helps to impart gnosis. This word refers to both the rite and what is received from it. (See; Metenoia, Etennoia, Enlightenment.)
Aponoia: “Unreason” like the misuse of thought. This is different than simply not having thought, as the inability to “put things together” can be worse than not even knowing they do in fact fit.
Apostle: A title distinguishing the twelve disciples whom Jesus selected to be intimately associated with himself, they are: (Mt. 10-1,5) “And he called unto him his twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of disease and all manner of sickness. Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him. These twelve Jesus sent forth, and charged them, saying, Go not into any way of the Gentiles, and enter not into any city of the Samaritans.” (See also; Lk.6v13.) Clement of Alexandria
Aramaic: A language spoken in Israel, Syria, and Mesopotamia. Aramaic inscriptions are known from at least 800 B.C. until now. Known to be the first language of Jesus. http://essenes.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=751&Itemid=1062
http://essenes.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=750&Itemid=1070
http://essenes.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=752&Itemid=1073
http://essenes.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=753&Itemid=1072
Archigenitor: The “first begetter”. A Greek reference to Yaldabaoth. (See; Demiurge.)
Archon: “Ruler.” Refers to the creators and governing forces in the material world. The Demiurge and his angels (aeons). From a form of governing known in Alexandria. Like the term ‘Allogenes,’ archons are used to explain pleromic entities in versions of the Gnostic explanations for creation, however they may be seen as evil forces. ”A Gnostic ruler, sometimes equivalent with the Demiurge. Archons are synonymous with ”princes of the world,” in the ”Gospel of John.” ”Basilides calls Archons, the heads of the spirit realms.”(”Gnostics,” CWF Hegal) (See also; Gaffney, p. 240.) Archons are the prototype for Jung’s allegory to ”archetypes.” (See; Hoeller. See also; ”Hidden Wisdom,” Smoley, Kinney, Penguin, 1999, Ch. 2.)
Dear Friends,
I am posting my response to a question in our Yahoo chat room about
the meaning of the term “archon.” I hope this very brief discussion
may interest you in finding more about the subject, perhaps in the
Nag Hammadi text “Hypostasis of the Archons.”
I will be posting a brief discussion before the end of the week in
combination with this one — What is an “Aeon”?
-Matthew
Here is the archon discussion:
An archon, sometimes translated as a “power,” is a spiritual entity
or force that serves the demiurge, the creator of the physical
world. To be really crude about it you could say they are bad
angels, but it is a lot more complicated than that.. just consider
them the forces that define and limit physical existence.
One of the Nag Hammadi texts is called the “Hypostasis of the
Archons,” and has a mythological discussion of their nature.
You know how in Christian mythology there are some beings
called “archangels?” That is borrowed from this same greek word,
meaning “ruler..” so an arch-angel is an angel that is really
powerful and rules over the others, whereas in Gnosticism the
archons are the “rulers of this world,” the princes of the world
that Christ referred to, for example, in the story of Christ being
tempted in the desert. The tempter shows him the world and promises
to give him the “principalities of the world” if he will bow down in
homage…and we would interpret those principalities as the realms
of the archons, so to speak.
The thing I should caution you against is thinking that they
are “demons” or something like that… there are no demons or devils
per se in Gnosticism, because ultimately there is no metaphysical
category of “evil,” just various forms of imperfection. The
demiurge is in some way the full realization of imperfection, just
as God is of perfection. The demiurge personifies and draws within
himself the ultimate manifestations of physical form, limitation,
physical space, time, as well as the dimensions of space-time, as
well as natural laws and natural processes that govern the physical
world — including the law that everything that lives must die.
+Matthew
Arete: Means “virtue,” or excellence. In Platonic ideal it is a reference to the importance of meaning above technical skill ‘techne’. It denotes mythological value within a literate framework or craft. Later philosophical movements refer to this notion as “High Art” vs. “Low Art.” (See; Craftsman.) See also; “Pistis Sophia,” regarding learning of lower and higher mysteries. (Arete see also; http://www.theoi.com/Daimon/Arete.html)
Ariouth: A female ruler. ”The second order is called Ariouth the Æthiopian, a female ruler, who is entirely black, … which stand under Ariouth the Æthiopian, that her regions are dissolved and ruined, and all the souls which are in her chastisements are carried off and cast back into the sphere anew, because they are ruined through her dark smoke and her wicked fire.” www.webcom.com/gnosis/library/pistis-sophia/ps145.htm
Aristotle: Ancient Greek philosopher thought to have devised the “Square of Opposition” a device whereby logic can be graphed. The device was handed down in the philosophies of many and was generally known by Pre-Socratic Philosophers. http://www.iep.utm.edu/a/aristotl.htm
Ascetic: One who practices a renunciation, or change of worldly pursuits to achieve spiritual attainment. (See; ”The Birth of Christianity, Crossan, Harper, San Francisco, pg’s, 270, 410-11.)
Asclepius: Name of Tractate 8, of Codex VI of the Nag Hammadi Lib., also known as “The Perfect Teachings.” Also name of main character of the text. The text is Hermetic, and related to the “Discourse of the 8th and 9th.” (See also; ”Kybalion,” Three Initiates, Inner Traditions, 2004,
List of Hermetic Principles.)
Authades: Authority (heavenly/pleromic) in Pistis Sophia (Askew Codex) who casts emanations in the ‘pleromic’ realm, and has powers over archons, aeons, and other entities including in the Heimarene. Word ‘Authades’ may mean ‘thought.’ (See; Sabaoth.)
Autogenes: “Self Generated,” in reference to the first Aeon or the guiding light. May refer to the growth of a monad into a genus and species type form and structure. (See; Monogene, and Allogene.)
Avatar: A term used in literalist works, meaning a messenger from a divine source who’s purpose it is to exact revenge, or punishment. An avenger. Gnostic demons (messengers) are called forms, and reflect darkness or four levels of agnosia, or aponoia in a person’s mental state. Also a Hindu term referring to an incarnation of a deity. Avatars are not mentioned in Sethian works, (See; ”Seven Forms of Wrath,” ”Gospel of Mary.” See also; Tarturos.
