World of Light


In Mandaeism, the World of Light or Lightworld, also the Worlds of Light, is the primeval, transcendental world from which Tibil and the World of Darkness emerged.

Description

  • The Great Life is the ruler of the World of Light.
  • Countless uthras dwell in škintas in the World of Light.
  • The World of Light is the source of the Great Yardna of Life, also known as Piriawis.
  • Ether/Air, which can be thought of as heavenly breath or energy, permeates the World of Light.
  • The Mšunia Kušṭa is a part of the World of Light considered to be the dwelling place of heavenly or ideal counterparts.
  • In some Mandaean texts, Tarwan is a part of the World of Light that is described as a "pure land."
  • Water flows from the World of Light to Tibil via hapiqia miia, or cosmic streams of water, also known as Hitpun.

    Ascension

When a Mandaean person dies, priests perform elaborate death rituals or death masses called masiqta in order to help guide the soul towards the World of Light. In order to pass from Tibil to the World of Light, the soul must go through multiple maṭarta before finally being reunited with the dmuta, the soul's heavenly counterpart.

Parallels

The idea has some parallels with the Gnostic concept of pleroma.