Gnosticism?

[Moonrise]

I started out Jewish at 6, became Roman Catholic at 16, and then Gardnerian witch at 30-ish.
I keep finding myself caught up in Gnosticism. I love reading Blavatsky, and have only recently found Ecclesia Gnostica with Stephen A Hoeller.
This path or belief seems very true to me. Not sure if it is just because it has many elements that appeal to both a witch and catholic, lol...
does anyone have any experience to offer, or reading suggestions? (am I even in the right place?)
Blessings
Shilo

[David19]

I think you're in the right place (although you may also want to post in the Abrahamic forum too), I find Gnosticism quite interesting, and here are some good links, IMO:

http://www.gnosis.org
Palm Tree Garden (http://www.palmtreegarden.org/), it also has a forum (http://www.palmtreegarden.org/ptgforum/), which is quite cool (there's some really knowledgable people on there)
Aeon Byte (http://www.thegodabovegod.com/)- a Gnostic Radio station, this has some good shows, it has some shit shows, it has some shows I don't care one way or the other about, etc, you might want to check this out too, just keep some salt in hand for some shows, and, be aware not every guest on the shows is a "scholar", by any stretch of the imagination.

Gnostic articles by James M. West (http://www.thegodabovegod.com/index_files/CCG%20Research%20Staff%20Archive.htm)- this is hosted on Aeon Byte, it has some good articles, I don't agree with everything he says, but, there's some good things

Also, check out the fiction of Philip K. Dick, who was quite a cool writer, IMO (especially Valis, and I'm trying to read 'The Divine Invasion', which I haven't got around too yet, then, there's another book called 'The Cosmic Puppets', although, those are more my tastes).

Anyway, hope this helps :).

[Darth Brooks]

You might find Sethian Gnosticism fascinating (That's "Seth" as in the Jewish Seth, son of Adam and Eve).

http://www.sethian.org/index.htm
http://www.kheper.net/topics/Gnosticism/Sethian.htm

And if you want some real heavy-duty reading...

http://books.google.com/books?id=7f8dH07hBGoC&dq=Sethian+Gnosticism&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=oeV_SFVdVv&sig=Y69YbI9id6O6PAJx4DxfbkUWG9Q&hl=en&ei=pGzmSdSvEoLwnQe3-MWlCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7

[Moonrise]

Thanks guys!
I have been doing some reading in the meantime at www.gnosis.org , (ecclesia gnostica) as well as http://johannite.org/index.html , as it is in Canada, with a branch in my province, though no where near me.
I went ahead and ordered three books, lol... tho not the ones suggested here, as I had not had a reply yet at the time...
Living Gnosis by Tau Malachi
The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels



Gnosticism - New Light on the Ancient Tradition of Inner Knowing by Stephen Hoeller
Living Gnostic by Jordon Stratford (he is Rev. Msgr. Jordan Stratford the branch closest to me)

Yes, I guess perhaps I was excited to geet my hands on some reading material. I'm definitely going to check out the links and readings you have both suggested however.

[David19]

You might find Sethian Gnosticism fascinating (That's "Seth" as in the Jewish Seth, son of Adam and Eve).

http://www.sethian.org/index.htm
http://www.kheper.net/topics/Gnosticism/Sethian.htm

And if you want some real heavy-duty reading...

http://books.google.com/books?id=7f8dH07hBGoC&dq=Sethian+Gnosticism&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=oeV_SFVdVv&sig=Y69YbI9id6O6PAJx4DxfbkUWG9Q&hl=en&ei=pGzmSdSvEoLwnQe3-MWlCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7

Cool links, I'd like to learn more about Sethian Gnosticism, it seems quite a cool tradition of Gnosticism, so, thanks for posting them :) :thumbsup:.


Thanks guys!
I have been doing some reading in the meantime at www.gnosis.org , (ecclesia gnostica) as well as http://johannite.org/index.html , as it is in Canada, with a branch in my province, though no where near me.
I went ahead and ordered three books, lol... tho not the ones suggested here, as I had not had a reply yet at the time...
Living Gnosis by Tau Malachi
The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels



Gnosticism - New Light on the Ancient Tradition of Inner Knowing by Stephen Hoeller
Living Gnostic by Jordon Stratford (he is Rev. Msgr. Jordan Stratford the branch closest to me)

Yes, I guess perhaps I was excited to geet my hands on some reading material. I'm definitely going to check out the links and readings you have both suggested however.


Glad you liked them, and I've heard good things about those books, I don't know much about 'Living Gnosis', but, the others seem quite cool, I want to get 'Gnosticism - New Light on the Ancient Tradition of Inner Knowing' by Stephen Hoeller, I've read parts of it on Google Books (http://books.google.com/books?id=1E1OY833HtkC&pg=PA228&dq=Gnosticism+-+New+Light+on+the+Ancient+Tradition+of+Inner+Knowing+by+Stephen+Hoeller), and it seems quite cool.

Good luck in your studies of it :).

[Moonrise]

I have joined the PalmTree Forum, reading more than posting.
I have felt drawn to the Apostolic Johannite Church. There is not one very close by, but I was received this past weekend at the closest parish to me. Regina Coeli Parish.
Ive been reading these blogs by Msgr Jordan Stratford and enjoying them quite a bit. (can't wait until his book arrives!) Especially the one about witchcraft and Gnosticism. (http://egina.blogspot.com/2005/02/are-witches-gnostic.html)
Once again, thanks for the input guys!

[David19]

I have joined the PalmTree Forum, reading more than posting.
I have felt drawn to the Apostolic Johannite Church. There is not one very close by, but I was received this past weekend at the closest parish to me. Regina Coeli Parish.
Ive been reading these blogs by Msgr Jordan Stratford and enjoying them quite a bit. (can't wait until his book arrives!) Especially the one about witchcraft and Gnosticism. (http://egina.blogspot.com/2005/02/are-witches-gnostic.html)
Once again, thanks for the input guys!

I'm also a member of that forum, and there are a lot of good discussions, IMO, although I haven't posted in awhile, I keep meaning too, but, keep getting distracted. I will, hopefully, be more active soon on there.

Thanks for that blog link, it looks very interesting.

[ninurta2008]

I'm part of Datepalmforum too! This inspires me to make a thread saying what forums people go to.I don't know if I should. Anyway.

I want to learn about the sethian beliefs. what do they believe in anyway?

[MoonBreath]

www.gnosis.org (http://www.gnosis.org) is an amazing site! i had originally thought about purchasing books about the various gnostic gospels and other writings apart of the Nag Hammandi, but now i don't have to! :smile:

[David19]

I'm part of Datepalmforum too! This inspires me to make a thread saying what forums people go to.I don't know if I should. Anyway.

I want to learn about the sethian beliefs. what do they believe in anyway?

Glad you're a member there, it's a very cool forum.


www.gnosis.org (http://www.gnosis.org) is an amazing site! i had originally thought about purchasing books about the various gnostic gospels and other writings apart of the Nag Hammandi, but now i don't have to! :smile:

Gnosis.org is truly a great and amazing site. Just some friendly advice, though, if you really wanted to learn about Gnostic beliefs, there are quite a few great books out there, some of them are already mentioned in this thread, Gnosis.org is an amazing resource, but, it doesn't contain everything, or explain everything. That's just me, though, and, only, if you wanted to delve more into Gnostic beliefs, should you buy loads of books (and have the money to do it ;)!). Personally, I don't know what path I'm on, but, I really am attracted to various Gnostic paths, such as Gnostic Christianity, Manichaeism (an amazing and very beautiful religion, and there are so many books I will be getting on them), and Buddhism (incidently, all of them have Gnostic themes in common). Maybe I could combine them (Manichaeism was a highly syncretic religion, so, it wouldn't be difficult, it would also enable me to incorporate the beliefs I really admire).

[MoonBreath]

Thanks for the advice David19! :) i noticed too that the gnostic texts seem to have some Hindu elements in them, or at least that's what it seemed like to me! :)

[ninurta2008]

Glad you're a member there, it's a very cool forum.



Gnosis.org is truly a great and amazing site. Just some friendly advice, though, if you really wanted to learn about Gnostic beliefs, there are quite a few great books out there, some of them are already mentioned in this thread, Gnosis.org is an amazing resource, but, it doesn't contain everything, or explain everything. That's just me, though, and, only, if you wanted to delve more into Gnostic beliefs, should you buy loads of books (and have the money to do it ;)!). Personally, I don't know what path I'm on, but, I really am attracted to various Gnostic paths, such as Gnostic Christianity, Manichaeism (an amazing and very beautiful religion, and there are so many books I will be getting on them), and Buddhism (incidently, all of them have Gnostic themes in common). Maybe I could combine them (Manichaeism was a highly syncretic religion, so, it wouldn't be difficult, it would also enable me to incorporate the beliefs I really admire).

I bought and read 2 books on the gnostic texts. One was the gnostic bible and the other was lost scriptures. I need to check the authors but they were really interesting.

[ninurta2008]

Thanks for the advice David19! :) i noticed too that the gnostic texts seem to have some Hindu elements in them, or at least that's what it seemed like to me! :)
You will find that alot of Ancient Near Eastern and Near Eastern religions have alot in common with Hinduism. You should look into them if thats where your interests are:thumbsup:

[David19]

Thanks for the advice David19! :) i noticed too that the gnostic texts seem to have some Hindu elements in them, or at least that's what it seemed like to me! :)

That's true, there's also a lot of Buddhist influence in them, whether or not they developed independently, or whether there were some ideas being swapped between Buddhist's and Gnostics and Jews, I don't know (Buddhist's were in Alexandria, if I'm not mistaken, and, so, probably travelled to ancient Israel too, so, it's not impossible). The Gospel of Thomas definitely has some Buddhist themes.


I bought and read 2 books on the gnostic texts. One was the gnostic bible and the other was lost scriptures. I need to check the authors but they were really interesting.

I have the Gnostic Bible (well, if it's the same one), the one I've got is by Marvin Meyer (although, I actually downloaded it). Is the one on Lost Scriptures by Bart D. Ehrman?. Personally, I find Gnostic ideas really quite interesting, again, that might be something to do with my interest in Buddhism.


You will find that alot of Ancient Near Eastern and Near Eastern religions have alot in common with Hinduism. You should look into them if thats where your interests are:thumbsup:

That's actually quite true :).

[ninurta2008]

yeah those are the authors. yeah Buddhism made it into mesopotamia. Babylonian paganism (not the recon kind) can go with any religion because they were naturally syncretic. If you read the Enuma Elish you would notice that Anu is borrowed from sumerian. But yeah, those religions in that area constantly influenced eachother from Egypt to India.

[Moonrise]

One book I enjoyed quite a bit was Jordan Stratford's:Living Gnosticism-An Ancient Way of Knowing.
I also would recommend, as a bit of a starting place as well Stephan A.Hoeller's : Gnosticism, New Light on the Ancient Tradition of Inner Knowing.

:)
Wow, the place sure has changed here... it's been awhile since I've been here! Looks good!

[David19]

One book I enjoyed quite a bit was Jordan Stratford's:Living Gnosticism-An Ancient Way of Knowing.
I also would recommend, as a bit of a starting place as well Stephan A.Hoeller's : Gnosticism, New Light on the Ancient Tradition of Inner Knowing.

:)
Wow, the place sure has changed here... it's been awhile since I've been here! Looks good!

I want to check out those books, especially Stephan A. Hoeller's book, I really like Ecclesia Gnostica (http://www.gnosis.org/eghome.htm).

[Moonrise]

I am a big fan of EG as well.
The other book, is written by Father Jordan Stratford of the AJC (Apostolic Johannite Church). It is a very interesting look into Gnosticism, a bit of a different angle from Classical Gnosticism, but I enjoy it alot. I enjoy his blogs as well, they are easy reading, to the point and easy to relate to.

[David19]

I am a big fan of EG as well.
The other book, is written by Father Jordan Stratford of the AJC (Apostolic Johannite Church). It is a very interesting look into Gnosticism, a bit of a different angle from Classical Gnosticism, but I enjoy it alot. I enjoy his blogs as well, they are easy reading, to the point and easy to relate to.

EG is definitely a very cool organisation, and I like a lot of Stephan A. Hoeller's articles, I particularly like his Gnostic Catechism (http://www.gnosis.org/ecclesia/catechism.htm), it explains a lot of things, I like the way he presents scholarly information in a practical, easy-to-understand manner.

I've read some of Jordan Stratford's blog, he does seem very interesting, I might look up the Apostolic Johannite Church again, and check it out in more detail.

It's just a shame the EG aren't established in the UK, I've love it if they established a branch over here, especially in London.