In Sethian Gnostic cosmology—most famously detailed in the 2nd-century text The Apocryphon of John—the entities of the Monad (Father), Barbēlō (Mother), and Christ (Son) form the supreme divine trinity of the Pleroma (the Gnostic heaven).

Barbēlō is the very first creation or emanation from the Monad, brought into existence simply by the Father thinking about his own light.

• The Mother-Father: She is described as an androgynous aeon—the "Mother-Father" or "First Man"—acting as the womb of the universe.

• The Holy Spirit: Gnostics identified her as the true, feminine Holy Spirit, reflecting early Semitic traditions where the Spirit is a maternal figure.

• The Realm of Light: She is the ruler of her own celestial plane. In the Gospel of Judas, Judas tells Jesus: "I know who you are and where you've come from. You've come from the immortal realm of Barbelo."