Gnosticism: The Monad

The Monad is the great and perfect Aeon, or the greatest Aeon within the Pleroma. The eternal and ineffable one. He is the source of all of the other Aeons.

The Monad is not the Pleroma, but the Pleroma is dependent on the Monad and vice versa. The two are inseparable! The Monad is the source of all existence.

Now, in reality the Monad would be the awareness or presence in the consciousness, the consciousness being the Pleroma. The consciousness existence is dependent on the awareness being aware of it. The awareness is dependent on the consciousness, which makes for a place for it to be aware of.

So there is the Pleroma (Consciousness). The Kenoma (Unconsciousness) and the Monad is the awareness or precence that transcends between these two states. These three unseen aspects of existence are the Trinity aka The Godhead.

In other Gnostic sects the Monad is known by different names. In Manichaeism he is called "The Father of Greatness" and "Hayyi Rabbi" in Mandaeism.