Non-Christian Gnosticism.
* marks aviable articles
? - 33Ad - the Pre-christian era.
Traditionally, three groups hold one person responsible for the cultivation of the human race, these three groups are the jews,
the christians and Islam, and the person in question are Adam. What the orthodox groups of all these religions say about Adam
and about his relationship with God denies mankind to partake in the wisdom that God has for himself, in himself - in the
Gnostic tradition The true God wanted to assure that Man would have an option, that he would not be lead astray by his cruel
rulers, the desires and the emotions of hatred, jealousy and so on, and these rulers, in gnostic exegesis - are under the "God of
the World", a paractitic king who wanted to make known he was the only true God himself by imprisoning everything he could
find alive into the false world , the shape and form of the Cosmos. God invested in Adam his own memory, and this memory is
the saving vehicle of any Gnostic teaching, through re-membrance of God in the position of being In God, not excluded from
the wholeness which is our conscious state in the world as it is today - and this remembrance, this use of the memory of the
unknown God, are the essence of Gnosticism, it is the revelation of God through Knowledge, and a revelatory Knowledge.
Many of the hebrew prophets suffered much persecution and many died at the hands of their own people, they were vehicles
of the rage of the God of the people of Israel, and the tyrants in the kingdom were not pleased much by what they said.
Among these dark apocalyptic visionaries were poets and spiritual men , who heralded a Godhead whose nature was
completely different than the God the kings and priests claimed as their own. The mystic and the prophet would have hard
times, because the institution had become more important than the God which they intended to honour at first, by raising it like
Nimrods tower. I am in no way a specialist upon these men, i know they respected their God, but what their God were to
them is as difficult for me to grasp , as would any other experience a human being may have, at least , when i relate to God and
divinity i relate to what i have experienced of them first and foremost and these experiences colour my interpretation of other
things too. Anyhow, Adam and Seth is central in the early Gnosticism, in the semittic world, whereas another divine primal
Man is found in the mythic world of Zoroastrianism also became inspiration for later traditions within the Gnostic cultural
movement. In the Greek Mythology both Anthrophos and Promethevs becomes inspiration for the forming of a myth of fall
and redemption within the non-christian Gnosticism, Simon Magus incorporated the story of the fall of Troya, and used the
story of the obduction of Helene to depcit the fall of Sophia. What seems to have passed a lot of scholars by in the years that
has gone since these people where breathing our air and threading our earth, is that these myths were used as to illustrate
something, it were not used instead of other religious imagery or construct an syncretic religion, the beatniks and surrealists of
our time has shown that the experience of reading litterature, and i do mean fiction, also can contain the ability to transform the
mindset of a person so that he is able to again look at his life, his situation, and this time be reminded what he should do,
something he knew all along. This was the situation for the Gnostics, in some sense, they were too intelligent for their time - the
same with the hebrew prophets, the pythagoneans and all who dared to suggest to the majority that they have to change in
order to be found acceptable to God.
After the ascension of Jesus and when his final words were given to his disciples, which there are many accounts about from
the Gnostics, a christian kind of Gnosticism, or rather, a Gnostic kind of Christianity, developed -some groups were more
"gnostic" others were more "christians", but no one let go of the central figure, Jesus Christ. Why was Jesus Christ a so central
figure in the gnostic christians lifeview, he is called both "teacher" (In the Apocalypse of James he is refered to as "teacher" or
rabbi), saviour, the Lord, and even God, but he is not subject of a definitie hero worship as in the roman church - his words
"all the things i do, yea, even more than i have done, will those that follow me be able to do", are taken to say that those that
would follow him would attain perfection and become immaculate like Jesus, untarnished by the world and untouched by
Death . People fell back, fell away and fell dead, and that only shortly after the death of the Master, howcome this belief has
subsided? Because in Gnostic exegesis the Spirit exists outside the boundaries of time, so all that have connected to the
Spiritual Side and become alive with the life of the Spirit, would not have suffered a single second of "death" - this belief, that
those that are able to receive, will become recepients of eternal life and participation in the kingdom of God whilst still in the
world, have kept the Gnostic Tradition alive.
Egyptian Hermeticism - ca.200bc- 500Ad
Hermeticism takes its name from the person of Hermes Trismegistus, or the Thrice Greatest Hermes, another name again is
Mercurius. What remains of the Hermetic tradition of ancient Egypt , or at least Hellenistic Egypt - are a large collection of
documents such as Poemandres - there has been suggestions about Hermeticism being at level with Neo-Platonism , especially
by the view on Nature, which is distinct from many other Gnostic movements - because Hermeticism views Nature as an
expression of the Divine First Mind.
"That Light am I , thy God, Mind(Nous) prior to Nature
which appeared from the darkness, The Light Word
that appeared from Mind is Son of God"
Poemandres (Corpus Hermeticuum).
In the Hermetic Scriptures the Logos as Son of God and Son of Man appears, and if we suppose these scriptures are written
before the birth of Christ it becomes apparant that this is a pre-christian element which , without mentioning it, speaks about
that which later manifests as the mystery of Jesus Christ and the developement of the Christian Gnosis, The Churchfathers
quoted to their hearts content from the Corpus Hermeticuum, because the statements which were important to them, about
Christ, named Logos , the Word in the Hermetic scriptures - many churchfathers also believed that the ancient wisdom of the
Platonists and even pagan "religion", that is, the most noble traditionsm - could serve the objects of finding truth through the
christian religion, to be able to serve God and understand Nature, this also reflects the academic situation of the first servants
of the catholic church, whilst later some of the popes were no better than barbarians, such as Innocent VII , who without any
reason but some monks pride being hurt (Dominik Guzman suggested that the Cathars be forced to conversion to Catholicism
or massacred, The Pope liked the Idea) started a massacre that costed over a million frenchmen their lives.
The Hermetic Gnosis claimed that mankinds most supreme goal is the inclusion into the Godhead, a return to an original state
of being, as opposed to the limitated life of Birth,Death and Rebirth in the Cosmos created by the Demiurge - how this aspect
of the Scriptures, a central one, were viewed by the churchfathers who used the words of Hermes the Thrice Greatest for
proving their own theses - one can only speculate on ; because those were not among the quotes used by the churchfathers ;
sayings such as:
"for it is possible, my son , that a mans soul should be made like to God ,
even while it is still in the
body , if it doth contemplate the beauty of The
Good. For he who knows , he good and pious is ,
and still whilst threading the earth - divine"
Many Gnostics went the other way, claiming, with mainstream christianity, that God and the Universe cannot be rationalised,
and therefore remains distinct from eachother, and unity, if ever possible - can only come from the perfection of the other part,
the Universe /Man - and only to reflect upon the Supreme Good and the kingdom of Light, not to participate in its innermost
being. Dualism arrived too, but always as a problematic situation which the gnostics sought to find a solution to, one of those
who were most focussed on the dissolution of the dualism were the Valentinians, they presented the ideal of Jesus Christ, and
the continuation of an unitive practise known to us through the Gnostic Scriptures as the Rite of the Bridal Chamber. In
Hermeticism there is a "bridal chamber" too, although not as expressed as it is in the Valentinian practise -
"if , then , thou dost not make thyself likeunto god, thou canst not know him .
For like is knowable
to like alone. Make , then , thyself to grow to the same
stature as The Greatness which transcends
all measure ;
Leap forth from every body , transcend all Time , become Eternity, and thus
shalt
thou know God. Conceiving nothing is impossible to thyself,
Think thyself deathless and able to
know all, All arts,all crafts , all sciences,
the way of every life. Become more lofty than all heights ,
and lower than all
depths. Collect into thyself all senses of all creatures - Of fire , and water ,dry
and moist. Think that thou art at the same time in every place, in earth,in sea
, in sky- Not yet
begotten, in the womb, young,old, and dead , in after-death
conditions. And if thou knowest all
these things at Once, times,places,doings,
qualities and quanteties, Then thou canst Know God. ".
The Key ( Corpus Hermeticuum)
The Key, or Monad suggest that man should strive for union and inclusion into the Godhead through uniting within himself all
opposites, and fill become "full of mind", and rich in experience. This equals it with the pursuits of the Spiritual Alchemists, who
sought a refinement of all things, by the help of the Spirit and by help of Wisdom achieved through this pairing of the elements,
this process of integration known especially among the eastern mystical paths.
Choice Bibliography:
Walter Scott: Hermetica.
G.R.S.Mead: Thrice Greatest Hermes, Kessinger Publishing (3 volumes).
Anon: Kybalion. Phanes Press, 1990.
Robert A. Segal: Poimandres as myth: scholary theory and gnostic meaning. Mouton de Gruyter,Berlin.1986
Adam McClean(ed): The Hymns of Hermes.
A.E.Waite: The Hermetic Museum Restored.
G.Van Moorsel: The Mysteries of Hermes Trismegistus.Adrian, Utrecht, 1955.
J.Van Rijckenborgh: The Egyptian Arch-Gnosis and its call in the Eternal Present. (4 volumes, contains commentaries on the Corpus Hermeticuum and kindred Hermetica )Rosenkruiz Press, Haarlem
Mandaeism - Religion of Peace and Wisdom.
? - present and beyond.
Among many modern scholars Mandaeism is known as the "only gnostic path" existing today, or - a movement not having had
much revisions or reforms since the time of Jesus Christ. It is agreed, even by followers of this religion, that such an claim is
untrue, and it is remarked on by those who had first hand experience with the followers of Mandaeism. First of all, Mandeism
is, like Judaism, Christianity , Zoroastrianism and Islam , an monotheistic religion, and when i say, Religion , it means that their
lifeview consists not only of the organisation of a community, but also the keeping of institutions, dogma and temples.
Mandeans are named so, not after their founder or an obscure word connected to their practise, which is usually the way the
other gnostic schools are named after, but because their deity, their name for the Godhead are Manda D`Hayyi , which
means Wisdom of Life.
The Mandeans are a distinct and individual race of Semitic origin (in fact, their scriptures
name Shem (Sûm) as one of their chief forefathers, along with Adam,Seth and Abraham), their traditional language are an
Eastern dialect of Aramaic, similar to the language Jesus spoke. . The Holy Scriptures of the Mandeans are collected in
different volumes all according to what use they have - the prayers, most of the important ritual texts as well as creation myths
and legends, are included in the Ginza , which is divided in two, left and right ; the scriptures dealing with Astrology are
included in the Book of the Zodiac and so on. Mandaeans, contrary to most Gnostic Schools, believe that the reproduction of
Mankind through sexual conduct and progeny are essential for Man, also as a Spiritual being, whereas the most principal
schools of the Gnosis in the past sought to avoid both, because they were believed to be obstacles. The most interresting
aspect of Mandeism in the study of Gnosticism ( being neither Judaic or Christian, they have no reference to "Gnosis", their
prime deity is Wisdom itself, but the form of their worship is an institutionalized Religion with over two Millenia of tradition
behind it) are the role of the primal Man, Adam Quadmaia or Adekas ,in the Creation Myth of Mandeism, which is reflected
upon later by Mani, and other Gnostics - i don`t mean to say that this was an direct developement from Mandeism,but
influences from the Mandean religion might have been around in Babylon at the time of Mani. Secondly, the myth of the
creation is very alike to that of the prime creation myths of the Gnostic Scriptures, The Apocryphon of John, The Hypostasis
of the Archons and The Origin of the world..
Choice Bibliography:
Geo Widengren: King and Saviour; studies in Manichean, Mandaean and Syrian-Gnostic Religion. Uppsala Univ.Press,
Uppsala,1947.
S.A.Pallis: Mandean studies. Oxford University Press, 1926.
E.S.Drower: The Mandeans of Iran and Iraq, Oxford Univerity press, 1937.
E.S.Drower: The Secret Adam: A study of Nasorean gnosis. Oxford University press, 1969.
E.S.Drower: The Canonical prayerbooks of the Mandaeans .Leiden, 1959.
E.S.Drower: Diwan Abatur, or progress through the purgatories. Bibl.Apost .Vaticana ,1950.
E.S.Drower: Coronation of the Great Sislam. E.J.Brill, Leiden 1962.
Jorunn Jacobsen: Spirit Ruha in Mandaean religion. Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1994.
G.R.S Mead: The Gnostic John the Baptizer; selections from the mandaean book of John.Watkins,London, 1924.
E.M.Yamauchi: Gnostic Ethics and Mandaean Origins. Oxford University press, 1971.
E.M.Yamauchi: Pre-Christian Gnosticism. Grand Rapids, Michigan,London. 1973.
Simon Magus and The Simonians
Simon Magus 15b.c - 53Ad According to Acts - Simon is supposed to have reacted with amazement when he saw the
miracles performed by the disciples, according to the myth he is supposed to have called himself The Standing One, and also
it says , he was a magician. What the Acts in the Bible says about Simon is puzzling, it says first that Simon gave up his old
folly and became summarely baptized by Phillip - however, when that section of the story is told and ended, another appears,
the one that all theologians have laid emphasis on - that he, after being baptisted , also after following Phillip to the time of his
death, supposedly asked to buy the secrets of the healing of the disciples. Peter then puts an everlasting curse on him, in total
conflict both with christian ethics ("if they are not against us, they are with us" Jesus said, when the same disciple were worried
about people going around doing miracles in the name of Jesus Christ.) and the story of Simon before this incident (which
bears all the characteristics of fraud and revisionism). In another apocrypha (you wont have me believe that the Acts in the
Bible is written by 1: one person, or 2: at one fixed time) the story is added to, and Simon is said to have used demons (if he
had used demons that would be a wakeup call for old Phillip not including him into the ranks of good Christians) to fly through
the air and so on, untill Peter swore, and he fell down and broke his neck. The primitivity of the dawning of judeo-christian lore
is to be found in the fact that they dug up the bones of people who were believed to be heretics and burned them again...
Enough said about the myth of Simon Magus, what accounts do we have of him? We cannot count one single scripture or
quote not handled by the churchfathers, on that evidence some scholars have decided that Simon Magus may be a fictional
character. What is evident, relating to Gnosticism, is that there indeed existed a Gnostic School named after one Simon, and
that Menander, Saturninus , Basilides all have had something to do with it.
According to the sources we have, Simon Magus became disciple of Dositheus, an unorthodox mage with samaritan affinities,
who supposedly had been a disciple of John the Baptist. Simon Magus become a disicple shortly before Dositheus died, and
Dositheus declared Simon Magus as heir to his position in the group he was leading. Of what we know, Simon Magus traveled
a lot, and seems not to have settled down with one community, he had also a weakness for the cities it seems, so he did not
end up as a "desert father", like other Gnostics. The Cosmology of Simon Magus, as told by his adversaries, reveal that the
gnostic vision of God, divinity and the beginning of all things were not only experienced as an individual by Simon Magus, but
also interpreted in a highly subjective and introspective way. The fallen Sophia and the found Helene in one person, the consort
of Simon Magus, played an important role for Simon Magus in communicating with the most reserved in all the hellenistic
remains of the world, the participants in the Mysteries. Another Gnostic who made extensive use of dramatical spectacle and
the myths inherited in the land where he lived were Carpocrates, only he , in Egypt. The Gnostic Simon Magus seems also a
bit reserved from Christinaity in general , he was not a rival in the true meaning of the word, but he had the distinct feeling that
he was special and made emphasis on that, that is perhaps one of the reason that the christians would turn the deaf ear to him
or they would go after him to get him out of their hunting ground.
Choice Bibliography:
G.R.S Mead: Simon Magus. An Essay
S.J.Isser: The Dositheans.E.J.Brill, Leiden, 1976.
The Peratae, or Peratics
period lasting from ca.140Ad-400Ad
The Peratae were founded by Euphrates (d.160Ad), and developed further by his disciple Celbes. The Peratae or Peratic
Sect , Observed utmost secrecy and were more or less the non-christian counterpart to the Carpocratians, functioning as a
secret society with reference to certain established system of practise and the reference to mythical mysteries from the ancient
world. Most of what we know about the Peratics are from the testimony of Hippolytes, the well known refuter of gnosticism,
and all the infomation about them he had were from third hand sources, there were no possibility that he himself, or anyone he
knew, had gained admittance to the society of the Peratae, thus the account would be as trustworthy as a native who have
never seen a city before when he describes New York. The Peratics believed that nothing that emerges from the physical
generation can survive dissolution , thus Salvation is only possible for those who are able to cross from the sphere of creation
and fatality (Heimarmene) and reach the "other side"(Peratos, hence the name Peratae), so to transcend Death itself. They
thaught about the mystical interrelationship between the different parts of the human body and the celestial bodies (that is: the
stars and planets), an idea that can be found among the Mandeans, the Barbelites and other gnostic sects with reference to an
older culture of mystery than the Christian, as well as certain schools of Yoga, Tantra - among which are the Kundalini Yoga,
which teaches the correspondence between certain "centres" within the body of man, which are closed within man, these
centres represents "worlds", and this approach seems to have been shared by the Peratics, they are also the first Gnostics to
make speculations about the Human Brain, that is, certain areas in the Human Nervous System that consists of more than flesh,
of some kind of etheric/ cosmic content, that enables he that are able to "open" the areas, or liberate them from their
entrapment in the Body, to "know" and "sense" Supernatural things. Along with the Carpocratians, the Peratae are probably
the most occultly oriented of the first gnostic schools. They claimed Thossa , an androgynous deity related to the Sea (from
greek thalassa) had five ministers bearing secret unpronouncable names, all of whom correspond to certain parts of the
Human Body. By the help of an interior discipline, involving xenophrenic states of ecstasy, man could through these, which all
were somehow expressed in an outwardly erotic manner, re-enact the passage of Israel (the soul) , out of Egypt (the
corporeal), through the Red Sea (waters of corruption), into the desert (the torment of self-denial), to face the attack of
serpents(sins), untill the final crossing of the Jordan into the into the Promised Land (perfection, the kingdom of Heaven ,
Peratos). The Jordan, they held, in this metaphor it stands for the passage of the Soul from corruption to perfection, could
only be crossed when the waters were flowing upward. For the accomplishment of this change, enabling the Passage, they
devised special methods such as the control of breathing rhythms (here again, is a concordance with the Tantric practises
within Yoga), the chanting of mystical syllables (Neume which is pretty common among the early gnostics), and at last, most
significant ; the witholding and redirecting of ejaculation , a technique termed in latin as Coitus Reservatus, this also practised
in some Tantra Schools inside Hinduism, and more recently- by the Oneida Creek Community of John Humphrey Noyes.
Along with Cerinthus and the Carpocratians, this school of gnosis had a negative view of matter, whilst accepting and
condoning sexual conduct, as long as it were not for a reproductory cause, that is - sex resulting in childbirth. This is the
precise reverse of the Catholic evaluation and approach to sex.