Occupyers of the USA

Don’t let the impatience of the media mouths, or the jeers of their hollow echoes, make you feel somehow inadequate for not having “specific demands” or policies. This isn’t about politics or policies, this is about sovereignty. The sovereignty that backs the legitimacy of the Constitution of the United States the document from which all legitimacy of our federal government derives is We the People.

The Kalama Sutta

The people of Kalama asked the Buddha who to believe out of all the ascetics, sages, venerables, and holy ones who, like himself, passed through their town. They complained that they were confused by the many contradictions they discovered in what they heard.

The Kalama Sutta is the Buddha's reply.

• Do not believe anything on mere hearsay.

• Do not believe in traditions merely because they are old and have been handed down for many generations and in many places.

• Do not believe anything on account of rumors or because people talk a a great deal about it.

• Do not believe anything because you are shown the written testimony of some ancient sage.

• Do not believe in what you have fancied, thinking that, because it is extraordinary, it must have been inspired by a god or other wonderful being.

• Do not believe anything merely because presumption is in its favor, or because the custom of many years inclines you to take it as true.

• Do not believe anything merely on the authority of your teachers and priests.

• Do not accept any doctrine from reverence, but first try it as gold is tried by fire

But, whatever, after thorough investigation and reflection, you find to agree with reason and experience, as conducive to the good and benefit of one and all and of the world at large, accept only that as true, and shape your life in accordance with it.

The same text, said the Buddha, must be applied to his own teachings.

A mostly complete bibliography for the 2011 calendar

Sure, it's a calendar, but I do quite a bit of research for both the images and text.

(I haven't included standard primary sources: Tanakh, New Testament, Wisdom literature, Apocrypha, Philo, etc.)

Barker, Margaret. 2008. Temple themes in Christian Worship.

Barker, Margaret. 2003. The Great High Priest: The Temple Roots of Christian Liturgy.

Barker, Margaret. 1992. The Great Angel: A study of Israel's Second God.

Binger, Tilde. 1997. Asherah: goddesses in Ugarit, Israel and the Old Testament.

Birkan, Amy. 2005. The Bronze Serpent, a Perplexing Remedy: An analysis of Num. 21.4-9 in light of Near Eastern Serpent Emblems, Archeology and Inner Biblical Exegesis. Thesis.

Burrus, Virginia. 1995. The Making of a Heretic: Gender, Authority, and the Priscillianist Controversy.

Chadwick, Henry. 1976. Priscillian of Avila: the Occult and the Charismatic in the Early Church.

Cross, Frank Moore. 1973. Canaanite myth and Hebrew epic: essays in the history of the religion of Israel.

Davies, Le Grande. 1986. Serpent Imagery in Ancient Israel: The Relationship Between the Literature and the Physical Remains.

Day, John. 2000. Yahweh and the Gods and Goddesses of Canaan.

Day, John (ed). 1995. Wisdom in ancient Israel: Essays in honour of J.A. Emerton.

Dever, William. 1984. “Asherah Consort of Yahweh: New Evidence from Kuntillet Ajrûd.” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, No. 255. (Summer, 1984), pp. 21-37.

Edersheim 1874. The Temple: Its Ministry and Services as they were at the time of Jesus Christ.

Epstein, I. 1952-61. Soncino Babylonian Talmud: Translated into English with Notes, Glossary and Indices. (Available from Halakhah.com.)

Fantalkin & Yasur-Landau (eds).2008. Bene Israel: Studies in the Archaeology of Israel and the Levant during the Bronze and Iron Ages in Honour of Israel Finkelstein.

Garfein, Susanna. 2004. Temple-Palace Conflict in Pre-exilic Judah. Dissertation.

Hoffnung, Frayda D. 1980. The Family of Jesus: A Sociological Analysis. Dissertation.

Hogan, Karina Martin. 2002. Theologies in Conflict in 4 Ezra: The wisdom debate and apocalyptic solution. Dissertation.

Karmi, Yael. 2005. The Goddess Asherah in Ancient Israel and Her Pillar Figurines. Thesis.

Meyer, M. (ed). 2007. The Nag Hammadi Scriptures: the International Edition.

Moor, Johannes Cornelis de. 1987. An Anthology of religious texts from Ugarit.

Kletter, Raz. 2010. Yavneh I: the excavation of the 'temple hill' repository pit and the cult stands.

Klingbeil, Martin. 1999. Yahweh Fighting from Heaven: God as Warrior and as God of Heaven in the Hebrew Psalter and Ancient Near Eastern Iconography.

Knohl, Israel. "Melchizedek: A Model for the Union of Kingship and Priesthood in the Hebrew Bible" in Clements & Schwartz (eds) Text, Thought, and Practice in Qumran and Early Christianity.

LeMon, Joel Marcus. 2007. Iconography of Yahweh's Winged Form in the Psalms. Dissertation.

Mason, Eric Farrel. 2005. The Concept of the Priestly Messiah in Hebrews and Second Temple Judaism. Dissertation.

Mullen, E. Theodore. 1980. The Divine Council in Canaanite and Early Hebrew Literature.

Prag, Kay. 2001. "Figurines, Figures and Contexts in Jerusalem and Regions to the East in the Seventh and Sixth Centuries BCE." in Amihai Mazar (ed) Studies in the Archaeology of the Iron Age in Israel and Jordan.

Rainbow, Paul. "Melchizedek as a Messiah at Qumran." Bulletin for Biblical Research 7 (1997) 179-194

Smith, Mark S. “Ugaritic Studies and Israelite Religion: A Retrospective View.” in Near Eastern Archaeology, Vol. 65, No. 1, (Mar., 2002), pp. 17-29.

Swain, Sally. 2003. "The Great Goddesses of the Levant" in The Journal of the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities, v. 30, pp. 127-182.

Toorn, Karel van der. Et al. 1999. Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible (2nd ed).

Torhjelm, Roger. 2003. 11QMelchizedek: Liberation, Judgment, and Kingdom. Dissertation.

Wyatt, N. 2002. Religious Texts from Ugarit (2nd ed.).

Yadin, Azzan. 2003. “קול as Hypostasis in the Hebrew Bible.” Journal of Biblical Literature, 122/4 pp. 601-626.

GnosCast: the Gnostic Podcast - Episode 13: Gnosis and Meaning

Exploring Meaning and Gnosis in the ancient Platonic context and in Gnostic texts; and the connection between Platonic and Gnostic understandings of meaning.

Finding a connection between Plato and Gnostic understandings of meaning, in the wee hours lead to a presentation exploring meaning in terms of gnosis in the ancient Platonic context familiar to the ancient Gnostics and terms from Gnostic texts. (Reference Handout available.)

Topics include: brief look at interpretive frameworks, projection of literalist interpretation on ancient Gnostics, Plato's framework for making distinctions between knowing with gnosis and knowing without gnosis in both the sensible and the noetic, knowing without gnosis in sensible and noetic both called images, Jewish Platonic tradition of allegorical exegesis, gnosis and meaning in three passages from the Gospel of Philip, comparison to the hymn of the pearl, uses of Plato's framework in understanding Gnostic texts, reason for emphasis on gnosis after the apostolic age.

Presented at the Holy Gnosis of Thomas Chapel in Salt Lake City, 30 May 2010.

Listen or Download MP3

GnosCast: the Gnostic Podcast # 10: Gnosis Further Considered

The second of a series on advanced essentials of Gnosticism (as opposed to basics). Further considerations on the nature of gnosis and implications for understanding and practice. Topics include: Mistaken notions of self (rational and self-controlling), irreducible nature of gnosis, gnosis in Platonic Forms, recognition of objects and concepts, gnosis of gnoses or epignosis/metagnosis as Gnosis, example of the good art critic, Gnosis as transformation, Gnosis as developmental process, Gnosis as shape of reality, misrecognition, self-gnosis of embodiment.

Health-wise I was worse off while recording this than while recording the previous week.

Presented at the Holy Gnosis of Thomas Chapel in Salt Lake City, 9 May 2010.
Direct link


The science fiction story mentioned is "They're made out of meat" by Terry Bisson.

GnosCast: the Gnostic Podcast # 9: Gnosis in Context

Since I have been too ill to write or plan and give a long lecture of late, I plan to use some of the time at services where I am unable to do more to have short presentations and discussions on some of the essentials.

Although it varies within a range, long-term my health isn't getting any better. While I plan and would very much like to write about the understanding I have arrived at after decades of study and practice, it may not happen. So, I hope these short talks will be of service in passing on some of what I have found that may be valuable.

Please, forgive some of the lack of composition and coherence. They are necessarily given at less than 100% ability, the fatigue effects my ability to think, speak, and recall. This podcast has been edited to reduce those effects.

Description:
The first of a planned series on essentials of Gnosticism, this one considering the nature of gnosis and implications from the ancient context. Topics include: meanings and implications of the term 'gnosis' in the context of the Greek language and philosophy and in ancient Gnostic texts, concluding with a free ranging discussion. Presentation and discussion at the Holy Gnosis of Thomas Chapel in Salt Lake City, 2 May 2010, by Gnostic priest and scholar Troy Pierce.


Here is the direct link

GnosCast: the Gnostic Podcast #8 - the Emergence of Gnosticism

The first part of the Gnosticism Then and Now lecture from March 6th has been added to the GnosCast podcast feed as episode 8. It focuses on the three major traditions from which Gnosticism emerges: the Mystery traditions, Philosophical practice, and Jewish Mysticism. Unfortunately, the battery in the digital recorder failed after this part, so, it is only the first two-fifths of the talk.

The next part of the lecture was an overview of Gnostic teachers and developments after Jesus. And that was followed by what connects them all together--Gnosis. (It seems actually possible to get across what Gnosis is in the tradition that way.) I finished with a quick overview of modern history, but that was a preface to even more content that there wasn't time for.

I think I'll follow a suggestion of giving, and recording, a series of lectures covering the same ground in more detail. And also including the aspects of modern science I didn't even touch upon.

Let me know your reactions.

Direct link to the mp3 file

A Brief History of Sexual Magic groups that call themselves Gnostics

Having posted timelines of modern Gnosticism, it may be useful to include a timeline and brief history of certain sexual magic groups and the historical circumstances that lead them to call themselves Gnostics.

Selected Timeline

• c. 1850   Paschal Beverly Randolph begins an eight year career as a medium, appearing as a "trance speaker" and working as a "clairvoyant physician."
  
• c. 1857   Randolph travels through Europe and the near East. He later recounts that it is on this trip he learned "the fundamental principle of the White Magick of Love."
  
• 1858   Randolph renounces Spiritualism, ending an eight year career as a medium.
  
• 1861   Randolph travels to London, where he is inducted by Hargrave Jennings as a knight of the Order of the Rose.
     -      Human Love by Paschal Beverly Randolph
  
• 1870   Founding of the Brotherhood of Eulis to spread Randolph's teachings.
     -      The Rosicrucians: Their Rites and Mysteries by Hargrave Jennings.
  
• 1872   Randolph is arrested for distributing "free love" pamphelets, tried, and acquitted.
  
• 1873   The Ansairetic Mystery: A New Revelation Concerning Sex! by Paschal Beverly Randolph
  
• 1874   Eulis! The History of Love: Its Wondrous Magic, Chemistry, Rules, Laws, Modes, Moods and Rationale; Being the Third Revelation of Soul and Sex, and The Immortality of Love: Unveiling the Secret Arcanum of Affectional Alchemy by Paschal Beverly Randolph.
  
• 1875   Ancient Symbol Worship: Influence of the Phallic Idea in the Religions of Antiquity by Hodder M. Westropp and C. Staniland Wake (Second Edition).
  
• 1880   Phallic Worship anonymously by Hargrave Jennings. Privately Printed.
  
• 1884   The Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor goes public, offering a correspondence course on occultism including a number of selections from the writings of Hargrave Jennings and Paschal Beverly Randolph.
  
• 1889   Phallism: A Description of the Worship of Lingam-Yoni in Various Parts of the World and in Different Ages anonymously by Hargrave Jennings. Privately Printed.
  
• 1904   When visiting Egypt, Aleister Crowley engaged in sexual magic invocations of Egyptian gods that inspired his writing of the Book of the Law, a text couched in that mythology, and his philosophy of Thelema.
  
• 1906   Theodor Reuss, inspired by Carl Kellner, and assisted by Franz Hartmann, founds the OTO as an umbrella occult organization with sex magic as its core, the "key" that explains "all the riddles of nature, all the secrets of Freemasonry, and all systems of religion."
     -      L'Eucharistie ('the Eucharist') by Chevalier Le Clément de St.-Marcq, which puts forward a theory of "Sacred Spermatophagy." Reuss wrote to Le Clément, "I enclose two numbers of the 'Oriflamme' which will show you that the Order of the Oriental Templars is in possesion of that same knowledge contained in your L'Eucharistie."
  
• 1908   A Masonic and Spiritualist conference held by Gérard "Papus" Encausse. Theodor Reuss comes into contact with Encausse and Jean Bricaud. Reuss and Encausse exchange offices for the OTO and the Martinist Order. Bricaud receives a masonic charter from Reuss. Reuss subsequently founds Die Gnostische Katholische Kirche (GKK, 'the Gnostic Catholic Church'), under the auspices of the OTO.
  
• 1912   Reuss takes the OTO public. He recruits Aleister Crowley and quickly raises him to the then highest degree of the order.
     -      Bricaud begins confering the title of Gnostic Legate on many individuals in esoteric circles.
  
• 1918   Reuss refers to himself as "Sovereign Patriarch and Primate" of the GKK, now being called the Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica, and establishes Aleister Crowley's Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica Canon Missa ('the Canon Mass of the Gnostic Catholic Church', aka "the Gnostic Mass") as the central ritual of the OTO.
  
• 1919   Bricaud names Reuss as a Gnostic Legate to Switzerland.
  
• 1929   Arnoldo Krumm-Heller founds the Fraternitas Rosicruciana Antiqua (FRA, 'Fraternity of the Ancient Rosicrucians') and is subsequently called Frater Huiracocha.
  
• 1950   El Matrimonio Perfecto ('the Perfect Matrimony') by Víctor Rodríguez (Samael Aun Weor).
  

Paschal Beverly Randolph

Modern sexual magic was initiated through the teachings of Paschal Beverly Randolph (Deveney, 1997, p. xxi; Urban, 2006, p. 36), a "trance speaker" and "clairvoyant physician." In 1857 he traveled to Europe and from there to Epypt and Syria. It is on this trip that he writes of encounters that change the course of his career.

One night - it was in far-off Jerusalem or Bethlehem, I really forget which - I made love to, and was loved by, a dusky maiden of Arabic blood. I of her, and the experience, learned - not directly, but by suggestion - the fundamental principle of the White Magick of Love; subsequently I became affiliated with some dervishes and fakirs of who, by suggestion still, I found the road to other knowledges; and of these devout practicers of a sublime and holy magic, I obtained additional clues - little threads of suggestion, which, being persistently followed, led my soul into labyrinths of knowledge themselves did not even suspect the existence of. (Randolph, 1874, p. 48; cited in Urban, 2006, p. 66)

The essence of sexual magic in Randolph's view is as follows:

The moment when a man discharges his seed--his essential self--into a ... womb is the most solemn, energetic and powerful moment he can ever know on earth; if under the influence of mere lust it be done, the discharge is suicidal. ... At the moment his seminal glands open, his nostrils expand, and while the seed is going from his soul to her womb he breathes one of two atmospheres, either fetid damnation from the border spaces or Divine Energy from heavens. Whatsoever he shall truly will and internally pray for when Love ... is in the ascendant, that moment the prayer's response comes down. (Randolph, 1874, p. 339-40; cited in Urban, 2004, p. 68)

The association and subsequent use of, and identification with, the term 'Gnosticism' by sexual magic groups is of twentieth century origin. In his book length study of the phenomenon, Hugh Urban concludes that, "despite the very common use of sexual symbolism throughout Gnostic texts, there is little evidence (apart from the accusations of the early church) that the Gnostics engaged in any actual performance of sexual rituals, and certainly not anything resembling modern sexual magic" (Urban, 2006, p. 36, note 68).


The Ordo Templi Orientis

At first associated with the Middle East, and then with Tantric traditions of the East, the association of sexual magic with Gnosticism came by way of Theodor Reuss and his interaction with leaders of the French Gnostic Church, with its close ties to Masonry, Martinism, and the strong esoteric current of the time. It is from that highly interconnected milieu of esoteric societies and orders which the most influential of sex magic orders arose, the Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO, 'Order of Oriental Templars').

The individual primarily responsible for associating sexual magic with Gnosticism was German Occultist Theodor Reuss, who was interested in the accusations of sexual impropriety made against the Gnostics and the Templars. Such charges brought against these groups were most probably politically motivated fictions, yet, "they would reappear in striking new form in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries with the foundation of a new Templar order--the Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO)..." (Urban, 2006, p. 36).

The Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor (HB of L) propagated sexual magic teachings derived from Paschal Beverly Randolph through its correspondence course on occultism (Deveney, 1997, p. xxiii; Greer, 2003, p. 348). It is likely that this was the primary source on sexual magic for Theodor Reuss, a member of the HB of L. In 1906, inspired by co-member and practitioner Carl Kellner, and assisted by Franz Hartmann, Reuss founded the OTO as an umbrella occult organization with sexual magic as its core (Greer, 2003, p. 221-2). It initially consisted of nine grades, the first six being along masonic lines and the last three focusing on sexual magic. For Reuss sexual magic was the "key" that explains "all the riddles of nature, all the secrets of Freemasonry, and all systems of religion" (Urban, 2006, p. 98).


The French Gnostic Connection

In 1908 Reuss came into contact with Gerard Encause and Jean Bricaud at a Masonic and Spiritualist conference organized by Encause. Further ties were established with Reuss and Encause exchanging charters for the OTO and Martinist Orders. A similar exchange is claimed by some sources, with Reuss granting charters in the Memphis Mizarim Rite of Freemasonry to Bricaud in return for a grant concerning the Eglise Catholique Gnostique (EGC, 'the Gnostic Catholic Church'). Sources infer this because Reuss subsequently founded Die Gnostische Katholische Kirche (GKK, 'the Gnostic Catholic Church'), under the auspices of the OTO (Pearson, 2007, p. 47). However, it is unclear whether there was any formal tie to the ECG, or the nature of such a connection. It should also be noted that there is a significant difference between ecclesiastical and esoteric bodies, it would not constitute a simple reciprocal exchange like that between Reuss and Encause.

When the OTO went public 1912, Reuss recruited Aleister Crowley and quickly raised him to the then highest degree of the order.

By 1918 the GKK certainly had no ties to the EGC/EGU, as Reuss proclaimed himself "Sovereign Patriarch and Primate" of the church, having dedicated the OTO to the promulgation of Crowley's philosophy of Thelema. It is for this church body, called in Latin the Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica (EGC), that Aleister Crowley wrote the Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica Canon Missa ('the Canon Mass of the Gnostic Catholic Church'), the central ritual of the OTO that is now commonly called the "Gnostic Mass." Although it is generally referred to as the "Gnostic Mass," that name refers to its status as the official "mass" of the Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica.

In 1919 Bricaud named Reuss as a Gnostic Legate of the Eglise Gnostique Universelle (EGU) to Switzerland (Pearson, 2007, p. 47). Although it was a title conferred on many individuals in esoteric circles beginning in 1912, its conference on Reuss and his use of it at that time indicate that Reuss's church (GKK/EGC) had not officially been affiliated with, and so did not actually break away from Bricaud's (ECG/EGU). The Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica remains an active arm of the Ordo Templi Orientis, and the mass that Crowley wrote for it remains the central ritual of the OTO.


Krumm-Heller and the FRA

Arnoldo Krumm-Heller traveled in occult circles at the turn of the century where he studied with notable figures such as Gerard Encause of the Martinist Order and Franz Hartmann of the OTO.

Krumm-Heller moved back to Germany in 1920, where he made contact with Aleister Crowley. He founded the Iglesia Gnostica (Gnostic Church) in Mexico. Not finding as much success as he hoped for, he moved through Latin America before settling in Brazil. In 1929 he founded the Fraternitas Rosicruciana Antiqua (FRA, 'Fraternity of the Ancient Rosicrucians') and took the name Huiracocha.

He kept a low profile through WWII, but when he was able to travel again after the war, he resumed contact with his Latin America students. Between the end of WWII and his death in 1949, Krumm-Heller encountered and subsequently mentored Víctor Manuel Gómez Rodríguez who would subsequently take the name Samael Aun Weor (Dawson, 2007, p. 55-57). Rodríguez states that Krumm-Heller taught a form of sexual magic without ejaculation that would become the core of his own teachings.


Samael Aun Weor and the "International Gnostic Movement"

Víctor Rodríguez left the FRA after the death of Krumm-Heller. He also reports an experience of being called to his new mission by the "venerable white lodge" (associated with Theosophy). Sexual Magic without ejaculation (called the Arcanum AZF) became the core of Weor's "New Gnosis", calling it "the synthesis of all religions, schools and sects." Moving through Latin America, he finally settled in Mexico where he founded the Movimiento Gnostico Cristiano Universal (MGCU, 'Universal Gnostic Christian Movement'), then subsequently founded the Iglesia Gnostica Cristiana Universal ('Universal Gnostic Christian Church') and the Associacion Gnostica de Estudios Antropologicos Culturales y Cientificos (AGEAC, 'Gnostic Association of Scientific, Cultural and Anthropological Studies') to spread his teachings (Dawson, 2007, p. 54-60).

The MGCU became defunct by the time of Weor's death in December 1977. However, his disciples subsequently formed new organizations to spread Weor's teachings, under the umbrella term "the International Gnostic Movement". These organizations are currently very active via the Internet and have centers established in Latin America, the US, Australia, and Europe (Dawson, 2007, p. 60-65).



References:

Dawson, Andrew (2007). New era, new religions: religious transformation in contemporary Brazil. Burlington, VT: Ashgate.

Deveney, John Patrick (1997). Paschal Beverly Randolph: a nineteenth-century Black American spiritualist. Albany: State University of New York.

Greer, John Micheal (2003). The New Encyclopedia of the Occult. St. Paul: Llewellyn.

Pearson, Joanne (2007). Wicca and the Christian Heritage. New York: Routledge.

Urban, Hugh B. (2006). Magia Sexualis: Sex, Magic, and Liberation in modern Western esotericism. University of California.

Selected Timeline: Modern era to Nag Hammadi publication. Part Two: 20th Century to 1977

Twentieth Century

• 1900   Fragments of a Faith Forgotten by G. R. S. Mead.
      -      Doinel readmitted to the Gnostic church as a bishop (Tau Julius).
  
• 1903   Additional material from the Gospel of Thomas discovered at Oxyrhynchus. Beginning of the text through logion 7, logion 24 and 36 and fragments of logion 36 through 39.
  
• 1904   New Sayings of Jesus and Fragments of a Lost Gospel by Bernard Grenfell and Arthur Hunt. Pre-publication abridgment of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri: Part 4.
  
• 1906   Thrice Greatest Hermes a comprehensive three volume treatise by G. R. S. Mead.
  
• 1907   Jean Bricaud, a bishop of l'Église Gnostique since 1901 with previous connections to the Eliate Church of Carmel of Eugene Vintras, the remnants of Bernard-Raymond Fabré-Palaprat's l'Église Johannites des Chretiens Primitif (Johannite Church of the Primitive Christians), and the Martinist Order, establishes the Eglise Catholique Gnostique (Gnostic Catholic Church) combining these, becoming patriarch under the name Tau Jean II. Liturgical services are based on Western Rite Christianity rather than the Cathar inspired rituals established by Doniel. Bricaud was encouraged and supported by fellow bishop Gérard "Papus" Encausse, likely to provide sacraments to excommunicated members of the Martinist Order.
  
• 1908   Eglise Gnostique Universelle (Universal Gnostic Church) becomes the name of the church lead by Bricaud. The original church body founded by Doinel continues under the name Eglise Gnostique du France (Gnostic Church of France).
  
• 1911   The close ties between Eglise Gnostique Universelle and the Martinist Order are formalized.
  
• 1917   Septem Sermones ad Mortuos (Seven Sermons To The Dead) by Carl Gustav Jung. Privately published.
  
• 1921   Pistis Sophia (Second edition, with commentary) by G. R. S. Mead.
  
• 1926   l'Église Gnostique du France (the original church body founded by Doinel) is disbanded in favor of the Eglise Gnostique Universelle.
  
• 1928   The Gnostic Society founded in Los Angeles by Theosophists James Morgan Pryse and his brother John Pryse for the study of gnosticism.
  
• 1933   First annual meeting of Eranos, an academic group inspired by Jung, focused on the study of religions. Participants include the foremost scholars of religion, subsequently called the "history of religions" school of thought.
  
• 1944   Jean Bricaud's successor in the EGU, Constant Martin Chevillon (Tau Harmonious) is executed by Nazi collaborators.
      -      Ronald Powell, an Australian of French decent and priest in the Liberal Catholic Church, leaves Australia for Europe, eventually settling in England. He acquires a grant of nobility in keeping with his understanding of spiritual nobility, and legally changes his name to Richard Jean Chretien Duc de Palatine.
  
• 1945   A cache of codices representing a large collection of Gnostic texts in Coptic is found near Nag Hammadi.
  
• 1949   A rare copy of Jung's Septem Sermones ad Mortuos is shown to a young student at Innsbruck by the name of Stephan Hoeller, because of his interest in Gnosticism.
  
  
• 1951   Gnosis als Weltreligion (Gnosis as World Religion) by Gilles Quispel.
• 1953   The first codex of the Nag Hammadi Library to be acquired, dubbed the Jung Codex, is formally presented to C. G. Jung.
      -      The Pre-Nicene Gnostic Catholic Church (now called Ecclesia Gnostica) instituted by the Most Rev. Richard Duc de Palatine, consecrated a bishop previously that year.
  
• 1954   The first translation of the Berlin Codex is published.
• 1955   The Jung Codex by H. Puech, Gilles Quispel, and W. Van Unnik. First publication of translations of Nag Hammadi texts.
• 1958   Morton Smith reports finding an ancient copy of a letter by Clement of Alexandria quoting a secret Gospel of Mark.
      -      The Gnostic Religion: The message of the alien God and the beginnings of Christianity by Hans Jonas, a student of Bultmann and Heidegger. Second edition 1963.
      -      Eglise Gnostique Apostolique instituted by Robert Amberlain.
• 1959   The Ante-Nicene Gnostic Catholic Church becomes active in the US through the ministry of Stephan Hoeller.
      -      English translation of the Gospel of Thomas.
• 1960  Eglise Gnostique Universelle discontinued in favor of Eglise Gnostique Apostolique by Robert Amberlain (Tau Jean III).
• 1967   The Institute for Antiquity and Christianity is founded. The Coptic Gnostic Library Project directed by James Robinson, is one of its six initial projects.
      -      Consecration of Stephan Hoeller (Tau Stephanus) as regionary bishop of the Americas for the Ante-Nicene Gnostic Catholic Church (Ecclesia Gnostica).
• 1973   The Gnostics By Jacques Lacarrière. English translation published in 1977.
• 1977   Die Gnosis: Wesen und Geschichte einer spatiken Religion (Gnosis: The Nature And History of Gnosticism) by Kurt Rudolph. Revised and expanded 1980. English translation 1983.
• 1977   The Nag Hammadi Library in English edited by Marvin Meyer and James Robinson.

Selected Timeline: Modern era to Nag Hammadi publication. Part One: 18th-19th Centuries

Eighteenth Century

• 1735   Isaac de Beausobre publishes the first modern monograph on Manicheism (Rudolph, 1983, p. 30).
• 1738   Papal Bull In eminenti apostolatus specula issued by Pope Clement XII, banning Roman Catholics from becoming Freemasons.
• 1769   The Bruce Codex was brought to England from Upper Egypt by the famous Scottish traveller Bruce, and subsequently bequeathed to the care of the Bodleian Library, Oxford (Mead, 1900, p. 426).
• <1785   The Askew Codex was bought by the British Museum from the heirs of Dr. Askew (Mead, 1900, p. 426).

Nineteenth Century

• 1835   Die Christliche Gnosis (The Christian Gnosis) by Ferdinand Christian Baur. According to Kurt Rudolph (1983, p. 31), Baur is "the real founder of research into gnosis."
• 1851   Pistis Sophia text and Latin translation of the Askew Codex by M. G. Schwartze.
• 1864   The Gnostics and Their Remains by Charles William King, an expert on, and the largest collector of, ancient gems. In it King puts forward the theory of the Eastern origins of Gnosticism, common to the period.
• 1875   The Theosophical Society founded by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and Col. Henry Steel Olcott.
• 1877   Isis Unveiled by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. Gnostics are one of the spiritual traditions mentioned favorably. King's the Gnostics and Their Remains repeatedly cited as a source and quoted.
• 1884   Encyclical Humanum Genus of Pope Leo XIII against Freemasonry. This inspires the writer known as Léo Taxil to engage in an elaborate hoax claiming that Freemasonry was satanic.
• 1887   The Gnostics and Their Remains (Second edition) by Charles William King. Expanded, including account of the Pistis Sophia.
• 1886   Lerhrbuch der Dogmengeschichte (The History of Dogma) by Adolph von Harnack. According to Rudolph, Harnack "laid the basis for an assessment of Gnosis from the point of view of church history" (1983, p. 31).
• 1890   l'Église Gnostique (the Gnostic Church) established after discovery of Cathar documents and a series of spiritual experiences by archivist Jules-Benoît Stanislas Doinel du Val-Michel (aka Jules Doinel), becoming patriarch under the name Tau Valentin II. Teachings are based on extant Cathar documents and the Gospel of John with a strong influence of Simonian and Valentinian cosmology. The church having both male and female Clergy, such as, male bishops and female "sophias." Liturgical services are based on Cathar rituals.
      -   through 1891   Mead publishes a serial article on Pistis Sophia in the Theosophical magazine Lucifer, the first English translation of the Askew Codex.
• 1891   The Bruce Codex text and French translation with a brief introduction by E. Amélineau. Text was based on a century old copy, without knowing that it consisted of two manuscripts whose leaves were intermixed.
      -      The Martinist Order founded by Gérard Encausse, primarily known by his nome du plume "Papus."
• 1892   The Bruce Codex critical text and German translation by Carl Schmidt. First critical edition.
• 1895   Pistis Sophia French translation of Schwartze's text by E. Amélineau.
      -      Jules Doinel resigns and converts to Roman Catholicism (apparently one of many duped by Léo Taxil's anti-masonic hoax) writing Lucifer Unmasked against freemasonry.
• 1896   Pistis Sophia by G. R. S. Mead. Translation of the Askew Codex.
      -      The Coptic Berlin Codex (aka. the Akhmim Codex), unearthed in Akhmim, Egypt, wrapped in feathers, in a niche in a wall at a Christian burial site.
      -   through 1898   Mead publishes another serial article, "Among the Gnostics of the First Two Centuries," that laid the foundation for his monumental compendium Fragments of a Faith Forgotten.
• 1897   "The Acts of John" by M. R. James in Apocrypha Anecdota II. A long fragment of the Acts of John, much of which was previously unpublished.
      -      Two Lectures on the 'Sayings of Jesus' Recently Discovered at Oxyrhynchus by Walter Lock and William Sandy. Text, translation and lecture commentaries on first fragments of the Gospel of Thomas discovered earlier that year (fragments of logion 26 through 33).
• 1898   The Oxyrhynchus Papyri: Part 1 by Bernard Grenfell and Arthur Hunt. Begins with unidentified fragment of the Gospel of Thomas.