Gnostic Insights Podcasts
Cyd Ropp explains basic Gnostic ideas, often narrated while walking the dog.
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The Demiurge and the Boundary
Logos appointed an Archon to bring order to the chaos. This Archon is what we call the Demiurge. The Demiurge is able to control matter. “The things which he has spoken he does.” The book of Genesis attributes these actions of the Demiurge to Jehovah when it says, “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.”
The Demiurge is in charge of the mud, the material, the hard rocky places–at the small scale the dirt and the elements, and at the large scale the rocky planets and the stars in the heavens. If there are creatures on a planet, they coat the outside of the dead rocky planet. Life only comes from the Father. Life is top-down. -
The Fall and the Deficiency
Logos had not realized the impossibility of approaching the illimitable consciousness of the Father. Logos could “not attain him,” because the Father “did not receive him.” Because of his self-exaltation, another good synonym for ego, Logos fully expected to reach the Father and to reproduce his own glorious reflection that would populate a new Paradise of emanations based upon himself. In other words, Ego’s opinion was not based on reality or truth, only his high opinion of his own capabilities. Abandoning the Aeonic rules and his brothers in the Fullness, Logos “went beyond himself” and this overreach brought the sickness of self-doubt onto his soul.
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Logos—His Birth, Inheritance, and Fall
The final Aeon, Logos, found himself sitting on top of the Hierarchy of the Fullness. And, since he contained within himself a copy of all of the other Aeons, he became confused as to his proper role and function and he mistook his own will for the will of the Fullness. Sitting up there on top, Logos had no other Aeons as his direct neighbors on either side, unlike all of the other Aeons within the great pyramidal shape that forms the Hierarchy. Nor was there any Aeon stationed above his location. Logos was positionally exalted above his peers, as if he were the King of the Hierarchy. There was no one and no thing above him other than the Father. Logos overreached and Fell.
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The Anti-Christ
The anti-Christ is to be found within the oft repeated mantra that we can take care of each other and build a better tomorrow without God. That more and more powerful governmental and corporate entities will satisfy our needs and give us that Paradise on Earth that will dispel hunger, climate change, and poverty for the betterment of all. That we can live forever through technological manipulation. That we deserve everything we desire. Kinkier sex. Fancier food. More stuff dropped on our doorsteps by Amazon. That these will make us happy. That this will bring fulfillment. This is the spirit of the anti-Christ.
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Ego’s Shroud
The Ego protects us from the world. The Ego collects our experiences and memes and holds them on its surface. From the outside, it looks to our neighbors as though we are only our Ego because the Ego is opaque, and it hides our internal, eternal spirit.
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As Below, So Above: Inferring the Transcendent
If we start with the premise of a singular consciousness that pre-exists everything that came after it, then we can follow the genesis of our universe from that consciousness step-by-step. In today’s episode, we are going to map aspects of our human personalities onto the Gnostic Gospel to see what we can infer about ourselves down here below and about the forms of consciousness above.
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One Gnostic God; Many Inhabited Worlds
If 5.3 trillion planets are thought to support life, how many of them would recognize the Gnostic Gospel? This episode offers a form of logical proof that the universe must be teeming with Second Order Powers sent by the Pleroma–enough to counter the Demiurge.
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Centering
This episode looks at “centering” from several perspectives. What is centering and why do people do it? Learn how to center using toroidal flow–a consciousness-studies favorite. You can also center using the sign of the cross and the Lord’s Prayer.
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Escaping Fundamentalism, Part 2, with Adrian Charles Smith
Continuing our discussion of fundamentalism in all its fractal forms with my gnostic friend, Adrian Smith. Learn how manufactured fear and demonization of the other drives us into the clutches of the powerful few where we look in vain for salvation. These saviors put on a face of piety and pretty promises, but their motivation is always power–the more power over your life, the better.
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Escaping Fundamentalism with Adrian Charles Smith, Part 1
In this interview, gnostic author Adrian Charles Smith shares his intimate understanding of fundamentalism as a fractal pattern that permeates all institutions, from literalist churches to Progressive politics. An ex-pastor and lawyer, Smith defines fundamentalism as possessing the form of law yet lacking the spirit of truth, and its methods are ever the same, no matter where you find it.
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Whence Arises Consciousness? Part 2: AI and Robotics
Is there a qualitative difference between life forms and the potential consciousness of computers and robots? Why is it that “meat” levels up to make more complex, conscious assemblages, whereas “mud” can’t rise above its molecular level aggregations? Hint: perhaps it’s the difference between the Demiurge and the Pleroma.
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Whence Arises Consciousness? Part 1: Consider Viruses and Organoids
Much to its chagrin, the demiurge cannot create life or imbue consciousness into dead matter. This episode examines viruses and organoids to uncover the fine…
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Slime Mold Pleroma
One cool thing about slime molds is that they are individual, single-celled organisms, yet when conditions call for it, they come together and form one fully coordinated body. Once in that aggregated body, the mold acts according to the Simple Golden Rule, with one mind, one will, and one goal, just like the Pleroma.
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Monads, Panpsychism, and the Fullness of God
Our universe is comprised of fractal units of consciousness of the Fullness of God, each with their own point-of-view. These monads come into our universe with all of the original consciousness of the Father and the Son, however the knowledge contained is on a need-to-know basis.
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Aeons, Not Ages
In this ground-breaking episode, we take a close look at David Bentley Hart’s recent translation of the New Testament, and how his more accurate rendering of the original Greek brings the New Testament fully in line with the concepts of Gnosticism.