Reforming Gnosticism

When people say, “My goodness, your Gnosticism is so different than what I have come to understand Gnosticism to be,” that’s because I didn’t take it from secondary sources. I took it from the original sources.  Then of course, Valentinian Gnosticism is an early form of what has come to be called Christianity. Christianity diverged immensely from the original message around the 300’s and on up, when the gnostic books were taken out of Orthodoxy. Those folks that are called heresiologists are the people that went around slapping heresy labels on the early Christianity—the early Valentinian Gnosticism. They weeded it out of the official sacred texts that made their way into the New Testament.

The main book of the Nag Hammadi that I relate to is called the Tripartite Tractate. I believe it to be the purest form of gnosis. It has very little in the way of mythologies, of extraneous characters, of the names of things and the numbers of things and the astrology of it all.

Valentinian Gnosticism from the Tripartite Tractate is unique in that the fallen Aeon is not called Sophia, a female character. The Aeon who fell is called Logos, not to be confused with the Son of God, Christ, or Jesus.

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  • Thumbnail for The Infancy Gospel of James: Mary and the Birth of Jesus

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    The Infancy Gospel of James: Mary and the Birth of Jesus

    This episode is a Christmas treat for your enjoyment. I am sharing an alternative nativity story of Jesus from The Infancy Gospel of James, one of the books that didn’t make it into the Bible. This book is not particularly gnostic; it is more along the lines of a fable of the birth of Jesus.

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    Mud Up, Spirit Down

    This episode shares a couple of basic concepts from Cyd’s theory of everything called “A Simple Explanation of Absolutely Everything.” The idea that kicked it all off was a phrase that came to me: “Mud Up, Spirit Down.” What does that have to do with toruses? Or fruit salads? How on earth does any of this tie in to Gnostic studies and the Nag Hammadi? And why should we care?

  • Thumbnail for The Fall: Who, what, where, how, and why

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    The Fall: Who, what, where, how, and why

    According to Gnostic cosmology, the Fall was not instigated by humans. It was most definitely not when Eve handed Adam an apple from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The Fall occurred way before that. Way before humans. Way before the creation of heaven and earth. In fact, according to Gnostic cosmology, the Fall is what kicked off our material instantiation and set the stage for this universe to come into being. Here’s what happened.

  • Thumbnail for Gnosis and the Tao, Verses 1 and 31

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    Gnosis and the Tao, Verses 1 and 31

    Abstract thought on the part of the Pleroma defined creation prior to the Big Bang. In our universe, we are only able to recognize objects and concepts we have named.

  • Thumbnail for Gnosis and the Tao Te Ching, v. 21, 4, & 48

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    Gnosis and the Tao Te Ching, v. 21, 4, & 48

    In Gnostic terminology, the Tao spoken of by Lao Tzu refers to the Father. The principles of organization that have informed our universe since the moment before creation refers to the Fullness of God. Non-being refers to clearing your personal Unit of Consciousness of egoic memes and karma to reveal your truest Self. Non-action refers to allowing the Fullness of God to direct your actions for the greater good.

  • Thumbnail for The Three Orders of Power and the Demiurge

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    The Three Orders of Power and the Demiurge

    The Demiurge is great and powerful. It is the god of this universe, identified in the Old Testament as Yahweh. But there is a higher…

  • Thumbnail for Ego’s Shroud

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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.

  • Thumbnail for As Below, So Above: Inferring the Transcendent

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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.

  • Thumbnail for One Gnostic God; Many Inhabited Worlds

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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.

  • Thumbnail for Escaping Fundamentalism, Part 2, with Adrian Charles Smith

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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.

  • Thumbnail for Escaping Fundamentalism with Adrian Charles Smith, Part 1

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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.

  • Thumbnail for Whence Arises Consciousness? Part 2: AI and Robotics

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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.

  • Thumbnail for Whence Arises Consciousness? Part 1: Consider Viruses and Organoids

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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…

  • Thumbnail for Slime Mold Pleroma

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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.