From The Cracking Tower, by Jim DeKorne.

"What better way for God to know himself than to divide his awareness so that he can observe objectively as creator and subjectively as creation?"

The author also talks about how many esoteric philosophies refer to "us" as being thoughts in the Mind of God- "objects" that "Consciousness-Without-An-Object" has been imagining for eons:

"One of the first things we learn is that emanation consists of a hierarchy of awareness. The Kabbalah explains that the Ein-Sof (Logos, Brahman, whatever) made ten emanations called Sephiroth, vessels to contain the light (consciousness) pouring into them from Consciousness-Without-An-Object's imagination. These vessels weren't able to contain this outpouring, and in what Kabbalists describe as a "cosmic catastrophe", the vessels shattered in into innumerable pieces and scattered throughout the realms of hyperspace, each fragment containing a spark of divine light (that's us). The main task of every Kabbalist is to "raise the sparks" of his or her own separated consciousness to reunite with the Ein-Sof that emanated them."

"Every sentient entity in the multiverse is both an observer and an object of perception, and the source from which they emanate is the Primary Observer, which is unadulterated Consciousness itself. Before emanation, perception can not take place because perception involves both an observer and that which is observed."

and

"[The universe is apparently] constructed (and thus in such as way as to be able) to see itself. But in order to do so, evidently it must first cut itself up into at least one state which sees, and at least one other state which is seen. In this severed and multilated condition, whatever it sees is only partially itself...But, in any attempt to see itself as an object, it must, equally undoubtedly, act so as to make itself distinct from, and therefore, false to, itself. In this condition it will always partially elude itself." (55)

"Thus consciousness is prior to observation. Combine this logical necessity with emanation and we see that whatever the Cosmic Mind imagines cannot be separated from its source. It follows then, that as the matter-energy created within this explosive act of imagination expands and fragments, becoming ever more complex, each emerging monad of fresh awareness perceives as a subjective fractal of the objective One Mind in whatever dimension it finds itself. Hence universe becomes Multiverse."

If that's not the gnostic version of the "Big Bang", I don't know what is!

..yeah groovy SpartanII, that certainly does fit the criteria for 'gnostic'..thanks..
funnily enough i even corresponded a little by snail-mail with Jim de Korne back when he edited Entheogen Review, but i've never read this piece..
and, knowing de Korne's background, 'sacraments' were definitely involved in his gnosis..

..so in tribute to the recently departed joedirt (don't worry, he's not dead, just elsewhere)

here's a bit i wrote in https://www.dmt-nexus.me...aspx?g=posts&t=26544 , the OP being a full-tilt modern gnostic..


..just wanted to cheer you all up!

be well, and know the Source..
.

..so for all 'christians' and otherwise here's a nice essay Gnostic Christianity and the Myth of Sophia
by Bette Stockbauer
..in it we learn, amongst other things of the 'acacia of seth'..the name of the area near where the Nag Hammadi scrolls were discovered in 1945..


from the essay:

this threads is tight.

..love your avatar proto-pax.. and thank you..

here's a bit an insight into what is believed to be Christian-Gnostics criticising 'faith-based' Christians, from early in the 1st millenium..though no one is certain what group authored the work, which also bares resemblance to the very dualistic Mandean gnosticism (i.e. references to 'the adversary'..)

from "Authoritative Teaching" [Nag Hammadi scrolls]

..BBC documentary on the 'Lost Gospels':

..a mention of Gnosticism is never complete without a mention of the Philip K. Dick..there is a great essay as the afterword of the 1981 edition of the Hag Hammadi Library, THE MODERN RELEVANCE OF GNOSTICISM by Richard Smith..(who also looks at Madame Blavatsky's Isis Unveiled, and C.G. Jung) :

[fr. p546-7]
"It is, however, in the science fiction novels of the prolific writer Philip K. Dick that Gnosticism is most consciously employed. In Valis..the main character has an encounter with the divine which "fires information into his head by a beam of pink light." The divine is "Mind", but Mind divided against itself, as two contending principles, like the schizophrenic main character of the novel…
This character, called Horselover Fat, has the following conversation with his therapist:

"Do you believe man is created in God's image?"
"Yes," Fat said, "but the creator deity, not the true God."
"What?"
Fat said, "That's Yaldabaoth. Sometimes called Samael, the blind god. He's deranged."
"What the hell are you talking about?"

Fat is talking about On the Origin of the World from the first edition of The Nag Hammadi Library published in 1977…

This science fiction novel and it's sequel The Divine Invasion, tell a cosmic story where mental psychoses play out drama of madness and intelligence, where fragments of divinity lose and remember themselves in human minds.

It might be supposed that the Nag Hammadi texts inspired these novels, but Gnosticism, it seems, is never so simple. "Horselover Fat" is a multilingual pun for the author's own name, and Philip K. Dick claimed that Valis was autobiographical., that he, like his character, had an encounter with a beam of divine pink light in 1974. The publication of the Nag Hammadi translations only confirmed his revelation."

I am surprised by the fact that no one here seems to have drawn a connection between Sophia and Gaia. I think that Sophia is just a (relatively) late avatar of the older earth goddess found in cults going back to the paleolithic representing the earth/fertile organic life etc..

There is an interpretation of the gnostic myth of Sophia and Yaldabaoth that I feel the most drawn to that explains this, but it is pretty far out. Maybe too far out for some people.

I definatly resonate with John lash and his ideas here reguarding what he calls "Gaia-Sophia" and her story..especially about the split..because his story of the split mirrors pretty accurately an experience I had(without psychs) one day about 5 years ago that I have no real rational explaination for.

He also believes that Gnostics were using entheogenic plants like mushrooms and acacias etc to understand the history of our planet and it's history within the galaxy, and that this practice goes back through all shamanic pagan traditions.

You can read about his ideas at metahistory.org

Here is an article by him
http://www.realitysandwi...future_divine_experiment

..and here is his take on the split that pretty much describes parts of something I experienced..
http://www.metahistory.o...translations/preface.php

You have to understand, I propose this as both literal and allegorical, but somehow neither of the two. That might make sense to some people.

After I had this experience, I found out Terrence has a similar story to tell about what the true nature of this split really is/was..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLFSz5zCs5o

Sounds crazy I know..but you should expect no less from me.

^Thanks for bringing up John Lamb Lash, jamie.

I had wanted to, but as you know he takes some very strong stances & I don't really have enough free time to get deeply engaged in forum discussions.

Regardless, his explication of Gnosticism (and many other wonderful things) is by far the most cogent, coherent, integral, & visionary that I know.

I think about GaiaSophia every single day, & Love Her deeply.
Her molten, pearly Light has become evermore present & tangible after I performed the Gaian Tantra Vow (where I consecrated my life to Her while bleeding into the Earth).


I'm pleased to note that one essential aspect of Lashian Gnosticism is the absolute exclusion of any & all Christian elements, which are considered inherently archontic in nature...

But yes, best to get it from the man himself - Metahistory

yes he is quite anti Christian/Abrahamic..a stance I understand personally and which definatly is present in certain gnostic texts.

To Understand Lash it is crucial to understand the importance of telling a story, and why narrative and mythology is something humans need. His idea is that Gaia/Sophia is a conscious being who is dreaming, and the physical earth and all of the biosphere etc literally is her dreaming. We are her dream..and there are ways to interact with her lucid self within this dream, as she is becoming a lucid dreamer. She takes on certain avatars as her lucid self within the dream..and we are sort of like dream characters or aspects of her. This is an idea I strongly resonate with.

I also respect lash because he seems pretty outspoken in reguards to his ideas on entheogenic practice, and that for him it does not mean just becoming ayahuasca tourists or doing psychotherapy sessions etc, but creating our own practices and mysteries based around these sacraments as gnostics and pagans etc once did.

I also respect his stance on certain Buddhist and other transcendentalist ideas that propose some kind of liberation available through trancendance of the natural world etc..or grand ideas of some kind of cosmic ascention being key to enlightenment..

"Egodeath and selfless immersion in nature are the dual signature of Pagan initiation, not inflation and escapism." John Lamb Lash

Here is another article by Lash.
http://www.realitysandwi...com/roots_our_gnostalgia

and an interview(if you only want to hear about gnostics in relation to plants and gaia skip to last 30 minutes or so, the first part is about entheogens and gaia)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJeG5uLUjOM

jamie wrote:
..thanks for bringing another angle to the discussion jamie..i hadn't actually read Lash..

i like this point of view.. it would also tie in to an extent with the Christian-Gnostic version of the Garden of Eden story in which the serpent is an emissary of Sophia (Gaia) trying to help humans 'see'..

ultimately the earth/nature is the core from which our human reality emerges..

the Phillip K. Dick-ian and Mandean/Manichean kind of Gnosticism, also relating to Hermeticism with it's Heraclitian 'as above so below' principle, would perhaps view things ultimately on a 'Multi-dimensional' level..
i.e that all levels of reality are reflecting these god-head dynamics..

..a lot of ancient gnosticism's focus was on attempting to explain the 'troubles' of the seemingly everyday world..that what we think is the real world is a mental prison imposed by the 'archons', demiurge etc..in other words 'the Matrix scenario'..or the split in the godhead, as P.K. Dick and others describe it..
why the pillaging of the garden..?

Gnosticism is of course in a sense polytheistic, and had various strands which accepted eachother's forms of gnosis..certainly a lot has a christian leaning..though not all..

..i agree there is a good case for the use of entheogenic plants in ancient Gnosticism..
there was knowledge of course of mushrooms in the ancient world..
though also, as mentioned earlier, the town near Nag Hammadi's ancient Coptic name, Shenesit, means "acacias of the God Seth". ... Seth, who was said to be the righteous son of Adam and Eve..[see http://www.essene.com/Go...ls/GnosticAndSophia.html]

..for interest's sake, one of the passages in the Nag Hammadi scrolls dealing specifically with Sophia and the Demiurge :

[from The Apocryphon of John . (NagHammadiLibrary-110/IV,1 10:7-20)]

"though also, as mentioned earlier, the town near Nag Hammadi's ancient Coptic name, Shenesit, means "acacias of the God Seth". "

Yes Lash also mentions this here..

"Strangely, scholars do not refer to the Ptolemaic temple of Hathor at Dendera, located a mere stone's throw from Nag Hammadi. From the roof of the temple you can look over the dramatic bend of the Nile and see right across to the cliffs of Jabal al-Tarif where the codices were hidden. The nearest town to the cave, Hamra Dun, is too small to merit notice, otherwise these long-lost texts would be called the Hamra Dun library. Hamra Dun is the Arabic place name for the older Coptic name Chenoboskian, "refuge of wild geese," and behind that name is another, the Egyptian place name, Sheniset, “the acacias of Seth,” indicating an association with the Gnostic sect calling themselves Sethians. "

http://www.metahistory.o...estics/MysteriesDied.php

I just checked out wikipedia page for there texts. I have read the translation of "on the origin of the world" some time in the past.

I have never been so intrigued by any other text claiming spirituality. I like how it is so straight to the point. No bullshit just plain explanation. What questions and bugs me while reading it tho is mainly 'how did the writers come to hold these ideas'. Is it a form of philososphy? Or straight up knowledge? Or are these kind of the same.

While reading the wikipedia though i've found out information of Pythagoras spreading gnostic ideas. I hold the belief that Plato referred to the Demiurge as essentially good.

So i have two points i actually wanted to make in this thread.

Upon reading

It reminded me of a mushroom trip. In which madness took hold of me completely. I was of the delusion that i am the only person in the entire fricking universe. Which drove me.. mad. Finally, i was calmed down when i acknowledged the presence of a 'womanly entity' a sort of cosmic godess that kissed me on the cheek. And lectured me on my stupidity in thinking i am all alone. That line was just awfully reminscent of that experience. (Indicating to me that i am Samael and that womanly entity is actually Sophia)

The next point is that i have read on wikipedia that some texts also refer to greek mythology. I am quite interested in these connections. I'm gonna read up on the texts when i have the time. My driving force at this moment in time is that my last trip contained images of Zeus. Hope i'm not being too blunt and personal here. Just how it is.

As a final note; Seth i think is a populair child's name in China (Source: Final fantasy characters). Indicating to me that gnosticism might have made it's way into eastern spirituality as well. Not sure how i stand on buddhism though! If i think back on DMT trips. Meditating ego-less has resulted in only anger from DMT entities. (But also inner peace)

^..most 'dmt entities' like a lot of attention !

thanks Infectedstyle for your thoughts..
yeah, i think On The Origin Of The World is a remarkable work of antiquity (is a quote on p1 of thread) ..the first few paragraphs are essentially 'non dualist', echoing eastern spirituality ..i.e. while within the light the light is limitless, it's exterior is the shadow 'which also existed prior to the first product'..
.

..in the ancient Nag Hammadi works,
the Absolute, the Source is referred to in On The Origin Of The World as "the eternal realm (aeon) of truth", "the primeval light" and 'the infinite"..
this scroll originally had no actual title (is also called "The Untitled Text" ), and is an example of 'pure gnosticism'...
in the work it is Sophia (Wisdom) who first emanates from the source into the shadow, before giving birth to the flawed creator of our world (Yaldaboath), who was blind and deluded as to his origin, and full of pride..

elsewhere the Source is referred to as God, 'It' or masculinised to 'He', or the Father..

"The Gnostic God concept is more subtle than that of most religions. In its way, it unites and reconciles the recognitions of Monotheism and Polytheism, as well as of Theism, Deism and Pantheism.

In the Gnostic view, there is a true, ultimate and transcendent God, who is beyond all created universes and who never created anything in the sense in which the word “create” is ordinarily understood. While this True God did not fashion or create anything, He (or, It) “emanated” or brought forth from within Himself the substance of all there is in all the worlds, visible and invisible. In a certain sense, it may therefore be true to say that all is God, for all consists of the substance of God. By the same token, it must also be recognized that many portions of the original divine essence have been projected so far from their source that they underwent unwholesome changes in the process." [http://gnosis.org/gnintro.htm]


..Sophia is in places equated with the Soul..e.g. possibly in The Thunder: Perfect Mind (see 1st post)

and in the gnostic-christian work The Exegesis on the Soul:

.

Thank you nen and everyone, great thread. I'm quite ignorant when it comes to history of religion and I don't have half the reading background you guys have, but after investing today a long train trip in reading your posts (and most branches) I had to throw in a couple thoughts.

The first time I heard about gnostics was a long time ago, but I didn't start to actually understand gnosticism until reading DeKorne's books, and didn't start to actually read DeKorne's books among others until I found the Nexus. So it's good to go deeper inside one of the many rabbit holes found along the way.

When imagining a gnostic abjuring publicly from whatever was needed, and signing whichever statement was put before them, so they could be left alone to go secretly back to their practice, I really like this mix of pragmatism, integrity, independence and intimacy with one's beliefs. Sounds pretty nexian to me.

If myths are facts of the mind, the gnostic cosmogony is probably the most lucid trans-cultural myth I've ever read. I had a similar vibe when meeting perennial philosophy, which might be the blood brother of gnosticism. Or the eastern cousin. Both gnosticism and PP resonate deep, primeval. They work amazingly well as ancestors of a thousand myth faces.

TL;DR - I like the coherence in gnosticism and the fact it can be both reassuring and scary at the same time. I like the big weight it puts on personal responsibility.

..am very glad you have enjoyed and gotten something from this thread Vodsel...
and yes the Gnostics were similar some ways to the later Perennial Philosophy..thanks for mentioning this..

we can also find parallels in some Nag Hammadi scrolls with the 'hindu'/vedic concept of the 'Devi' (the great goddess),
or Adi Shakti...in the Trimorphic Protennoia the 'universal goddess' is a trinity of aspects...Mother, Father and Son..
the following passage eventually leads to the Protennoia manifesting as the son or Logos..

from The Trimorphic Protennoia:

@