“Ashi Vanuhi is the Angel who radiates Xvarnah,the Light of Glory; but this radiation everlasting,
that is to say, the perdurable radiance thus restored
by vision,now becomes the Angel who is called by the
name Arshtat. In her person she is the Imago
Gloriae reflecting to the soul the Image of an Earth
transfigured into the image of the soul that transfigures
it.”
Henry Corbin:Spiritual Body and Celestial Earth,pp.45.

This notion of Arshtat as the Mirror held Up to the Soul in its capacity as transfigurating agent – reminds me of an Manichaean hymn fragment I read once, referring to Jesus, the hymn says “He held up a mirror to us, and in it we saw the world”
Arshtat is intimately linked to the Gnostic concept fo “light-man”, as well as “divine twin“. In the Books of Pistis Sophia, a scene shows us Sophia seeking the Light, encountering the Logos – she is not able to see his face for
some reason,but she sees her own countenance glorified in his luminous garments.
Why could and why would a soul seek the transfiguration spoken of in
relationship to both the Angels (specifically the initiatory Fravartis)? First, it is itself sought after,loved,coveted..and the world is trembling and sighing in anticipation for the manifestation of the Children of the Living God..but what good does it do it? The Gospel of Philip speaks of the original man, named Adam in this instance – that “<He>.. came into being
from two virgins; from the spirit and from the virgin
earth.” Moreover – “Adam´s soul resulted from an act of
blowing. Its partner is the spirit. The element that was
impartd to him is his mother. His soul was taken away and
he was given a spirit in its place. When it had
become joined to him the Rulers envied him because he
spoke words superior to their own..”
It is also
indirectly refering to the “Sethian” myth of Adam and Eve,
where Eve comes into being as a direct incarnation of Zoe – the “heavenly life” as opposed to mere “Bios”; the intelligence and sensuality of man and woman together, all alone in the garden – produce “offspring” which is not corporal- which might be called “words superior to legislation“; The Poetics of Spiritual acquiantance, this “producing” or emanation is nothing but the reflection of their union in the Bridal Chamber – in the Mirror which is existence.