Aeon

This article is about the general concept of time. For the geological representation of time, seeGeologic time scale.For the Japanese retail holding company, seeAeon (company).For other uses, seeAeon (disambiguation).

The wordaeon/ˈiːɒn/,also spelledeon(inAmericanandAustralian English), originally meant "life", "vital force" or "being", "generation" or "a period of time", though it tended to be translated as "age" in the sense of "ages", "forever", "timeless" or "foreternity".It is aLatintransliteration from theancient Greekwordὁ αἰών(ho aion), from the archaicαἰϝών(aiwon) meaning "century". In Greek, it literally refers to the timespan of one hundred years. AcognateLatin wordaevumoraeuum(cf.αἰϝών) for "age" is present in words such aslongevityandmediaeval.

Although the term aeon may be used in reference to a period of a billion years (especially ingeology,cosmologyandastronomy), its more common usage is for any long, indefinite period. Aeon can also refer to the four aeons on thegeologic time scalethat make up the Earth's history, theHadean,Archean,Proterozoic,and the current aeon,Phanerozoic.

Astronomy and cosmology

Inastronomy,an aeon is defined as a billion years (10⁹years, abbreviated AE).

Roger Penroseuses the wordaeonto describe the period between successive and cyclicBig Bangswithin the context ofconformal cyclic cosmology.

Philosophy and mysticism

InBuddhism,an "aeon"ormahakalpa(Sanskrit:महाकल्प) is often said to be 1,334,240,000 years, the life cycle of the world. Yet, these numbers are symbolic, not literal.

Christianity's idea of "eternal life"comes from the word for life,zōḗ(ζωή), and a form ofaión(αἰών),which could mean life in the next aeon, theKingdom of God,orHeaven,just as much as immortality, as in John 3:16.

According to Christianuniversalism,theGreek New Testamentscriptures use the wordaión(αἰών) to mean a long period and the wordaiṓnion(αἰώνιον) to mean "during a long period";thus, there was a time before the aeons, and the aeonian period is finite. After each person's mortal life ends, they are judged worthy of aeonian life or aeonian punishment. That is, after the period of the aeons, all punishment will cease and death is overcome and then God becomes the all in each one (1Cor 15:28). This contrasts with the conventional Christian belief in eternal life and eternal punishment.

Occultistsof theThelemaandOrdo Templi Orientis(English: "Order of the Temple of the East" ) traditions sometimes speak of a "magical Aeon"that may last for perhaps as little as 2,000 years.

Gnosticism

Main article:Aeon (Gnosticism)

In manyGnosticsystems, the variousemanationsofGod,who is also known by such names as theOne,theMonad,Aion teleos( "The Broadest Aeon", Greek:αἰών τέλεος),Bythos( "depth or profundity", Greek:βυθός),Proarkhe( "before the beginning", Greek:προαρχή),Arkhe( "the beginning", Greek:ἀρχή),Sophia( "wisdom" ), andChristos( "the Anointed One" ), are calledAeons.In the different systems these emanations are differently named, classified, and described, but the emanation theory itself is common to all forms of Gnosticism.

In theBasilidianGnosis they are called sonships (υἱότητεςhuiotetes;singular:υἱότηςhuiotes); according toMarcus,they are numbers and sounds; inValentinianismthey form male/female pairs called "syzygies"(Greekσυζυγίαι,fromσύζυγοιsyzygoi).

See also

• Aion (deity)
• Century– Unit of time lasting 100 years
• Kalpa (aeon)
• Millennium– Time period of 1000 years
• Saeculum– comparable Latin concept
• Aeon (company)
• Young's Literal Translation § Eternity or age