“One day a disciple asked the Lord about the state of the world. He told him, ‘Ask your Mother, and she will speak to you of what is other.’
“The apostles said to the disciples, ‘May our entire offering acquire salt.’ They called Wisdom (Sophia) ‘salt.’ Without it, no offering is acceptable. But Wisdom [is] barren without the Son. Therefore, salt is only a trace. What nourishes them is the Breath [Pneuma] and its offspring are many.
“What belongs to the father belongs to the son, but while he is still young, he is not entrusted with what belongs to him. When he becomes mature, the father gives everything to him.
“Those who’ve been begotten by the Spirit know not where they go; the same Breath that lights the fire also extinguishes the flame.
“Akhamoth is one thing and Echmoth another. Akhamoth is simply Wisdom, but Echmoth is the Wisdom of Death, and to know death is a small wisdom.”
(The Gospel of Philip, vs. 34b-39)
I think there are several ways to understand this teaching from the Gospel of Philip. One way is that, when the disciple asks Jesus about “the state of the world” (or worldly things), his answer is to go and “ask your (earthly) mother and she will speak to you of what is other (the world).”
In other words, the disciples’ curiosity about “the world” or worldly things, is best confined to this world. This is why Jesus responds by suggesting this disciple should ask his mother about it, as she is the source of his earthly life. One way to paraphrase this would be something like, “If you want to know about worldly wisdom, go to the one who is the source of your earthly life (your mother).” But, in contrast, if you want to know about the wisdom that is from above, you would need to ask the One who is the source of your spiritual life, (your Father).
This second part is only implied and not outright stated verbatim, but I think it’s fair to say that this might be one way of understanding this statement.
I also think this reading is in line with the verses that follow: “They called Wisdom (Sophia) salt…Wisdom is barren without the Son…what nourishes them is the Breath (Pneuma), and its offspring are many.” In other words, earthly wisdom is “barren” without the Divine Human (Son) and the Source of our spiritual life (Pneuma) which “nourishes them” and produces numerous “offspring.”
Another way of understanding this section may be to refer back to the previous section where we were told there were three that always traveled with Jesus: His Mother, His Sister and His Wife (or Companion). If so, then the suggestion to “ask your Mother” may be referring to the Spirit of God (the Breath or “Pneuma”) rather than to an earthly source of life.
Sophia is often personified as a female embodiment of wisdom. So, it wouldn’t be inconsistent to personify Sophia as our “Mother” in this case.
Therefore, when it says that “Wisdom (Sophia) is barren without the Son” and that the “salt is only a trace” and that “what nourishes (us) is the Breath (Pneuma),” this could all be to say:
“Our Mother (Wisdom/Sophia) is barren (or empty) without the Divine Human and that all we need is a trace of her wisdom (or salt) since ‘what nourishes’ us is the Spirit (Breath) of God (or Pnuema), which is not barren but has innumerable offspring.”
This, also, is an acceptable reading of this section of Philip’s Gospel.
The next few verses explain that the Father withholds understanding (or wisdom) from the son while he is immature. Even though “what belongs to the father belongs to the son,” the son is not capable of handling infinite wisdom at such a young age. Maturity is the process of transformation whereby we come into our inheritance as the Children of God. This early immaturity is expressed in the following verses:
“Those who are born of the Spirit know not where they go; (because) the same Breath that lights the fire also extinguishes the flame.”
In other words, until we are mature enough to discern the Spirit’s coming and going, we are incapable of understanding. For now, we still see through a glass darkly, but one day all things will be made clear to us.
This section ends with a curious reference to two other forms of wisdom: Akhamoth and Ekhmoth. In Gnosticism, “Sophia Akhamoth” (the wisdom called Akhamoth), is the daughter of Sophia (pure wisdom). As one source explains:
“A Gnostic Aeon, Sophia was so filled with the desire to generate out of herself, without a spouse, that she gave birth to the whole cosmos, including a daughter Sophia Akhamoth, who in turn began to generate, but on a lower and denser place. It is Sophia Akhamoth who in turn began to generate but on lower and denser plane. It is Sophia Akhamoth who brings wisdom to humankind.”
The “ordinary wisdom” comes from “Akhamoth” who is the daughter of Sophia (Pure wisdom), but there is another wisdom called “Ekhmoth” which is “the wisdom of death,” and this wisdom is not “ordinary” but it is necessary for us to move into the maturity we seek to achieve in our inheritance. This “wisdom of death”, while necessary, is not fully explained here, but it is enough to say that, until we have learned this wisdom, we are not yet mature enough to understand the ways of the Spirit (Pneuma).
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