Kindling a Light in the Darkness

Candlemas

Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

-Isaiah

Within a man of light there is light and he lights the whole world. When he does not shine, there is darkness.

- Thomas

Often, too often, we resist the bringing of the light of consciousness into a neglected area. Depth psychology shows us that we all have unlit parts of ourselves, a personal unconscious content—things put so far back on the back burner that they have been forgotten, or never known. It is human nature to not simply neglect these areas, but to actively neglect them.

In neuro-psychology there is a class of disorders called “neglect.” They are the result of strokes or other forms of injury to particular areas of the brain. The result is a magnification of the “blind spot” phenomena. The blind spot is an area in your field of vision that you aren't actually getting any visual data about from moment to moment. The process of “seeing” is one in which the field of vision is constructed and the blind spot, apparently, eliminated. If we merely didn't see an area in our field of vision and didn't care, it would be neglect in the ordinary sense. However, the process of making the blind spot disappear to the point of being absurd to consider it existing—is neglect in the neurological or active sense.

In cases of neglect, not just a small spot, but an entire side of the visual field can be missing and filled in so that it seems like nothing is missing. In one case, the left side of the world faded entirely from consciousness: only food on the right side of the plate would be eaten, people approaching from the left were seen to suddenly appear, even the left side of the mirror image was lost, unnoticed to consciousness. Yet in every other respect, the left side was sensed, involuntary responses could be triggered from the left side as easily as from the right. All the while the individual would argue that there was some cause that they were consciously aware of, rather than a cause in the neglected area that they weren't aware of.

This is the way our mind-body works in something so seemingly ordinary as “seeing” and constructing our sensory world. If there can literally be a rhinoceros about to charge someone from the left side, while they are be giving a detailed analysis of why their anxiety is caused by the current economic situation—what does that say about neglect and unconsciousness in the everyday psychological realm?

To bring the light of consciousness into a new area of ourselves is most often experienced as being painful: there is both stress and anxiety, because what is unconscious has been invested with more importance and made to seem a bigger vulnerability than it is. When it is actually the tension of keeping something unconscious, of the active neglect, that is the cause of the anxiety and stress: the suffering was there, it's just that it wasn't conscious—it seemed to be a part of the situation, not a part of us. Bringing something to consciousness makes it a part of us, and both the suffering of keeping it unconscious, and the original suffering that made it unconscious are brought to awareness for the first time. The light does not inflict the suffering, it reveals it, and in time heals it.

In the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus says that there is light in the person of light, and it lights up the whole world; if it does not shine, the world is in darkness. The darkness isn't important, the light is. Consciousness is very precious, true light is very rare. We are the stewards of a seed of light, and of the field in which it can grow; we are also both. It is in the dark earth the seed grows, and it is in our own dark and neglected places that the seed of light grows. Focus on the light, not the darkness. Kindle the light in every dark place within yourself, that it might shine out and into the world.

Life has often been compared to a candle: it burns for a limited time, and is extinguished or burns away. The world may focus on the candle, let us focus on the light. Others may focus on what is in the darkness, let us focus on the transformation that light can bring.

The light of consciousness is not the only light, but it is the light that is ours to kindle and shine, in the darkness which is ours to shine it in. This is where the real process begins, though we cannot know now where it may ultimately lead.

Readings for the Day

In Memory of June Singer

June Singer
Gnostic, Mystic, & Guide of Souls,
1920 - Jan 29, 2004

'The Symbol is the slender thread that reaches from our world to the Infinite'

I was fortunate to encounter the works of Jung and others in the field of depth psychology in my late teens. Without experience of what Jung is describing, he is often very difficult to follow. So, I turned to the works of his students for my education, which included Boundaries of the Soul. After a few years, the notion of the integration of what is excluded in our gender identity of either the feminine or the masculine became an important concern. There are many takes on what it is really, and on how much integration is possible. At that time, I was blessed to find June Singer's classic Androgyny, and it would just be stating fact to say that her approach changed my life.

Dr. Singer's work is an immense legacy. Her book on William Blake is phenomenal. Before Dr. Singer retired to the Chicago area, she was a participant in Rt. Rev. Rosamonde Miller's Ecclesia Gnostica Mysteriorum. And in her final works, she focused her attention on Gnosticism, giving us: Seeing Through the Visible World, and A Gnostic Book of Hours.

With deep gratitude, we remember our sister in Gnosis.

The Overcoming of Sorrow

The Fourth Sunday after Epiphany

There is nothing at all that is free from suffering that will rest in the end; even the very seed that is sown finds no way to live unless it dies, but through its death it lives and gives life also.

-Mani

And Jesus said: Ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.

-John

The term “Nostalgia” originated as a medical diagnosis before the turn of the Nineteenth Century. One estimate attributed twenty percent of the French army's casualties during years at the end of the Eighteenth Century to nostalgia. These soldiers were taken far from the only places that they knew, from the small domain they traveled in, and marched to distant lands. They were disconnected completely and suffered a great deal of stress from that, as well as, the stresses of military service. A twenty percent casualty figure is an enormous loss. A disease is an epidemic before it effects ten percent.

We could attribute this to a quirk of the past, except we live inundated by nostalgia, governed by nostalgia, suffering from nostalgia. In our modern world most of us have the opposite problem of Eighteenth Century French soldiers, we don't suffer from being disconnected from a particular place, and community, we suffer from never being connected in that way to begin with. Our disconnect cannot be solved by a simply moving from our current place to a prior one. We can't go home again to the way it was, and be the way we were.

Yet, people will always try. In politics there is always one party who's primary focus is on nostalgia, on promising a return to the golden age. Usually contrasted by another who seeks to go forward to the same. In myths the world over there are stories of how this is a fallen time or place, a degenerated era. That something happened to cause the disconnect from a higher/better state, causing us to find ourselves suffering from a larger nostalgia.

Even if we do not long for an aspect of the past, it can still tie us. Someone once said that forgiveness is no longer hoping for a better past. Often it is our wounds and scars that we are bound to, and they are more difficult to escape, because we identify with them, and escaping ourselves cannot be done. It is in these cases that we must heal to forgive, and then forgive to heal.

The past can also tie us with regrets, both of what has been, and also of what could have been. These can be tougher bonds even than wounds. Every significant choice is a limiting. It means that forevermore only one of the choices will be. Often it is the wrong choice, and it is hard to see that often they are all wrong choices to varying degrees. The world is a constant procrustean bed, only rarely do a few in power make themselves the measure for the world for a time, almost always the world measures us—limits us.

I read “choose your own adventure” books as a kid. You had to choose, but you could always go back and see what 'happened' when you chose another way. Video games have a similar non-linear element, you can go back and explore a different outcome: to fix a mistake, or just to see what happens differently. Fortunately, we cannot do that in life, for who would ever move forward? There would be no life as such, just endless testing of possible permutations. The path of life is direct, it is one of limitations not 'endless possibilities.' Limitations come with sorrow, for they come with loss. The potential is lost, if nothing else, and often there is much else.

The necessity of limitations doesn't eliminate sorrow. They are aspects of one another. There will always be sorrow, but it must not overwhelm us. To overcome it, we must accept it, we must grieve for what is lost. Nostalgia is a failure to grieve, a failure to accept the loss and the sorrow, a seeking to return to a time before the loss, before the limitation was imposed. And so it is an illness, one that can make us ill long after all the other effects of the limitation have faded into memory.

We can try to hold onto the past, but in doing so it is we who are held. Not able to accept the loss and grieve, and unable to journey to the past: one becomes paralyzed with nostalgia. Accepting that loss is the more painful way at first, just as healing and forgiveness are. No longer hoping for a better past, or a future past, means feeling the sorrow that is a part of life—but it also means overcoming it to be able to live that life.

As Gnostics, we seek a return to what is called the 'fullness,' or the kingdom of Light, or our true home. Yet what we seek is not a return to the past state of wholeness, but a return that is something new—a transformation beyond understanding. We have a sense of loss simply being in the cosmos, this can become nostalgic and we can seek to return to a primordial state, or it can be simply the realization, the Gnosis, of our true selves—that we are on a path of transformation, of liberation, that will take us to the only state where sorrow truly ends.

Readings for the Day

Nostalgia at Wikipedia

Sincerity

The Third Sunday After Epiphany

O Indwelling Lord, who art ever opposed to injustice and hypocrisy, we pray that we may be just and true of heart in all our dealings with our brethren, that we may recognize within them Thy indwelling presence and holy light.

- Collect of the Day

Do not add day to day or cycle to cycle, hoping to come to receive the mysteries when we come to the world in another cycle.

- The Book of Sophia

For they have the value in the eyes of their Father.

- Gospel of Philip

Sincerity is an alignment of the inner to the outer, of ideals and actions, of expectations for oneself and others. This can be of a trivial or ridiculous degree, there are plenty of sincere fools and sincere criminals of all types—some of us vote for them, for example.

We normally think of sincerity as having the outer conform to the inner, but this is not always the case. My father had the disturbing ability not only to believe anything he said, but to sincerely argue that it was true in the face of any inconvenient facts. And, it has been my misfortune to be associated with others who fall into that pattern, even within our small parish. Though this seems an untenable lifestyle, psychological research shows us that the best way to tell a lie and be believed, is if you believe it yourself. So, if there is a way to hide or distract from the actual situation, this ability is actually adaptive in an evolutionary sense, though hell on everyone involved.

Clearly, being sincerely delusional is not the type of sincerity we are espousing. The highly changeable person can only be sincere for a moment at most, as the next moment they may be sincere in a contradictory way. The only way this can happen is if the personality is highly compartmentalized, so that it really is a different unconscious complex that is sincere in a contradictory manner and is unaware of the contradiction. The sincerity that is our focus for today, is both a deep and a life-long sincerity, and as such must be a conscious one.

Honesty isn't at its best as a result of a “Thou Shalt,” but rather as a means of psychological and spiritual integrity. So often we feel pressures to act in a way that is not in accord with our inner selves. In situations were others have power real or imagined, the desire to be liked, to not hurt, or to avoid conflict, leads us to be insincere in an instance. The problem is that this drives a wedge between inner and outer that leads to giving up further autonomy in the situation. It's a slippery slope, and before you know it you are faced with the difficult choice of becoming conscious of your own lack of integrity, or, keeping it out of consciousness by warping yourself around it further.

Where sincerity isn't held onto strongly, the truth has fled behind veils and curtains—it is all a game of smoke and mirrors, a matter of appearances divorced from reality. There is no way to fool yourself or others into liberation, it takes hard work, and the real situation is the material that the work uses.

Often in religious situations, people feel a lot of pressure to conform to ideals of how they 'should' be. It is common in the Mormon culture I live in to deny grief at funerals, people have been told that they should act happy for those who have departed as a sign of their faith. In a funeral talk, I pointed out that there was joy and it was real, and it would still be there after the grief that is also real has passed.

Another, is when people expect themselves or are expected to always act 'nice,' in a Ned Flanders (of The Simpsons) way. This is living in fantasy (or cartoon) land. Someone who can't show an unruly guest the door, is someone who won't have a door for long. If a parish or other group warps itself around the idea that it has to be nice and play by the rules with those who do neither, it will not exist to serve those who aren't there to merely take advantage of such credulity. If you want to accomplish anything, you can't be everyone's friend, and if you are everyone's friend, chances are you don't do much.

The only true guide in making such painful and difficult decisions is Sincerity. No, not in the sense of you sincerely want to not have to deal with them anymore—but rather if it is a choice between dealing with them and remaining sincere; of keeping the relationship or your integrity. Unless you choose the latter, obviously, you are not choosing liberation.

The only way to be sincerely on a spiritual path is to be sincere about where you are and how you are at any given moment, both with yourself and with others who are also sincerely on the path. It is not an exhibition, nor a competition, it is the most real and most important work you can do. The path will take you through many situations, including those where the path seems to disappear. Others have walked the path, and others are walking it now. There is wisdom that can be shared among travelers, but only if you sincerely share. Everyone is welcome to join us on the journey, but they must do the walking themselves. To be sincerely on the path one must walk it, do the work, be on the journey; the alignment between goal and life now, not "tomorrow."

Those who have their sincerity and integrity have themselves, and so do not need to seek their value elsewhere. As the Gospel for the day says, dropping a pearl in the mud doesn't devalue it, nor does oiling it increase its value. Anyone who wants to play 'holier than thou' has already lost, because they are looking to you for their value. For as the Gospel of Thomas reminds us, “When you make the the inner as the outer, and the outer as the inner... then shall you enter the kingdom.” That is the ultimate sincerity to which we aspire—the sincerity and integrity that includes our truest selves: the divine spark, the seed of light. The living Gnosis of the Truth that sets free.

Readings for the Day

A Brief Introduction to the EG in SLC

The following is an introductory pamphlet to answer some basic questions, and give a basic orientation. Please help me improve it.

A Brief Introduction to
The Holy Gnostic Eucharist
& The Ecclesia Gnostica
The Holy Gnosis of Thomas Chapel
Salt Lake City, Utah

This brief work is intended to serve as an orientation and introduction to the Gnostic Eucharist of the Ecclesia Gnostica of Salt Lake City. It is of necessity broad in scope and cursory. You are invited to stay after the service and ask any further questions you may have. You may also keep this copy. Online at: www.gnosis.org/saltlake

Experience the Mystery

The Eucharist is a mystery instituted by Christ and developed over a thousand years. It is not any one thing, nor any collection of things. A mystery cannot be defined, it can only be experienced. Our form of the Eucharist dates back to around the eleventh century as used in Western Christendom, while the contents are largely from ancient Gnostic scriptures. The Eucharist is timeless, touching upon the eternal, and each service has a particularity, both from the Sunday or Holy Day in the liturgical year, but also from the qualities of the participants. Its purpose is not to change from week to week so as to entertain, its purpose is to remain what it is, and to change us. Like a daily walk along the same route there are constant changes, and you change. It is a long slow process—like anything real. But rewarding, as only something real can be.

It is our hope that you experience the depth and richness we feel. It may be difficult to participate at first, it may be like learning a new language, or one that is so similar it may be confusing. It takes patience and listening: both to the service and the experience of it within you.

Liturgy as Poetry

In the Gnostic view liturgy is poetry, not theology. The same is true for scripture generally, including the scriptural passages that are read during the Eucharist service. The words are not statements of belief—they are not there as an end, but as a means. No belief is required to participate, and unexamined beliefs are actively discouraged in our tradition.

Visitors and Participation

The Eucharist is celebrated for the benefit of those interested in participating in a liturgical form of Gnosticism. Visitors are welcome, regardless of whether you are interested in Gnosticism or not. The only two things we ask of those attending are: that you maintain a respectful silence during the service, if you do not wish to join in the responsive readings, and that you stand briefly (if you are able to do so without difficulty) for the reading of the Gospel (you will be asked at the appropriate time). Otherwise, the level of your participation is left solely to your own discretion. Communion is open to all who wish to receive it.

The service begins with the lighting of the candles, and ends when they have been extinguished. At other times, we only ask that you be respectful of anyone wishing to use the chapel for prayer or meditation.

Entering and Leaving

We ask that you refrain from entering or leaving the chapel during the Consecration, and to do so as quietly as possible if necessary at other times. The least disruptive times being during the censings.

(All are welcome to stay, but if you feel you cannot remain for the Consecration, the appropriate time is at the end of the Hymn sung to the Holy Spirit, “Holy Spirit Heavenly Dove,” leaving quietly after the sung “amen.”)

Communion

All who wish to receive Communion may do so. Receiving communion is an individual matter, and is solely the choice of the individual. The Ecclesia Gnostica does not require that one receiving communion posses any set of beliefs or attitudes, nor does receiving communion imply the possession or adoption of any beliefs or attitudes.

Communion is usually given in both forms (wafer soaked in wine) and is placed by the priest on the communicant's tongue. Communion of one type (wafer only) may be requested. To receive Communion, open your mouth about half-way, and put your tongue forward onto your lower lip. Use your tongue to pull the Host into your mouth.

Validity of the Sacrament

The priests of the Ecclesia Gnostica are duly ordained in the traditional manner in the Apostolic Succession of universally recognized lineage. The form of the Gnostic Eucharist is that of the Eucharist used throughout Western Christendom since the eleventh century. The Cannon of the Mass (the Consecration) remains unaltered from a much earlier time.

Fear and Proselytizing

The Ecclesia Gnostica provides liturgical services as a service to those who may benefit from them. You will not be solicited to join a church. There isn't anything to join in that sense, anyway. We know that you cannot give someone else Gnosis, and that this particular path isn't for everyone. However, if you wish to avoid introducing yourself, sneak out as the candles are put out, we won't mind.

If you are interested: there is an email list for service announcements, a small group of people who socialize after most services, and other parish activities.

Reading the Eucharist Book

Not all of the words spoken will be found in the Eucharist book. So, don't feel lost when following along. There are both Pre-Eucharistic and Post-Eucharistic prayers that are found only in the Requiem Eucharist book. There are also readings that change depending on the week or Holy Day of the liturgical calendar: these are the Collect(s), Lesson, and Gospel. These readings, as well as, the liturgical calendar for the year may be found at www.gnosis.org. A brief Homily follows the body of the service, preceding the Post-Eucharistic prayer.

Responsive reading is encouraged but not required. Sections of text that begin with a “C:” or an “A:” signify those to be read aloud.

Donations

Though we do not solicit donations, we do accept them. We are currently raising funds to construct a permanent Gnostic chapel in Salt Lake. This is an enormous undertaking, however the land will not have to be purchased. Otherwise, our yearly reoccurring operating costs are a modest $450, approximately. Of which $300 is for candles alone, and the remainder for incense, wine, and wafers. The priests have previously paid all of the expenses, however, it has become more difficult to do so.

Kneeling and Crossing Yourself

Those who wish to participate more in the service, yet do not have a background with such things, may benefit from the following. They are not required.

Crossing oneself in our tradition is done in the manner of Western Christendom. With fingers together touch brow, navel, left shoulder, right shoulder (and optionally your heart). A “+” in the service book indicates times when it is appropriate to do so. This is often done in receiving a blessing, either before or during the blessing. One also crosses oneself before receiving communion, and just afterward when receiving the “Peace be with you” blessing.

Kneeling in the pews is optional. (Our other chapels do not have kneelers.) The most appropriate times are: during the Consecration, and during the Pre and Post-Eucharistic prayers. In general, if there are serving clergy in addition to the priest, one may wish to follow their example in kneeling.

It is traditional to kneel when receiving Communion. And to genuflect when entering or leaving the chapel, in addition to crossing oneself. A genuflection is a bending of the knee either so it touches the floor or moves as if to do so. This is done to acknowledge the presence of Christ in the tabernacle.

“All” are Welcome?

No state or condition of life has any bearing on the Gnostic path, nor is it a barrier to any level of participation in the Ecclesia Gnostica. We don't care about your ethnicity, economic status, gender, sexual orientation, or membership or participation in any ethical spiritual or transformational organization or path. Whatever your circumstances, you have the divine spark within you, and we are all in this together. 'What' you are is of no importance next to who you are.

What is Gnosis?

Gnosis is not esoteric, hidden, secret, or occult information: nor information of any kind. It is a very deep knowing, a knowledge that you are, rather than a knowledge that you have. The path of Gnosis is a transformative path in which you slowly grow and become more of who you truly are. It is a path of liberation, and shares many parallels with Buddhism. For example: Gnosis is as likely to be found in books as Enlightenment is; and Gnosticism without Gnosis is like Buddhism without Enlightenment. See Rev. Troy's blog The Path of Gnosis (http://gnoscast.blogspot.com) for more information.

Am I a Gnostic?

The experience of a Gnostic coming to Gnosticism, is best described as recognizing/realizing that there is a term for what you are—a Gnostic. It is a deep recognition of an affinity. A home-coming. A “music heard so deeply that it is not heard at all. But you are the music—while the music lasts,” to quote T.S. Eliot.

Not everyone who benefits from our tradition, or Gnosticism in general, is a Gnostic. Gnosticism accepts our experiences, it recognizes the presence of the Divine in everyone, it is poetic and symbolic while being practical. In a world that most often misuses our spiritual impulses, Gnosticism offers a means of following them to liberation.

A key difference is that someone who is not a Gnostic, but uses material from Gnosticism, tends to get stuck on the ideas. They may use them for liberation, but only to a point. For example, the Divine experienced as feminine is a continuous part of the Gnostic tradition, but it is not the point of it. If contemporary women find this aspect of the tradition useful in overcoming the limitations of society, it has served well, but if the process of liberation stops there—it is not Gnosticism.

The Ecclesia Gnostica

The EG is the oldest publicly practicing overtly Gnostic sacramental church in North America. Centered in Los Angeles, the EG is presided over by Rt. Rev. Stephan Hoeller, noted author, lecturer, professor of religion, and senior Gnostic Bishop in the Americas; and has parishes in Seattle WA, Portland OR, Sedona AZ, and here in Salt Lake City UT. More information is available here

In addition to the Eucharist, we offer: other devotional services, the sacraments of Baptism and Chrism, and a process of formation as clergy through inner focus and outer service. (Plus the usual: sick calls, weddings, funerals, etc.) The formation process is an opportunity for growth and Gnosis, not a guarantee of either, and one should never trade one's own judgement for any kind of official “seal of approval.”

Children

Unfortunately, we have no provisions for child care. It is not recommended that you bring children who will be uncomfortable or distressed by sitting quietly; it is far more important that they get the attention and care that they need. Also, consider bringing your child to another type of service before bringing them to a Eucharist service.

Baptism

The Gnostic rite of Baptism is not intended to replace or rectify any prior baptism the candidate may have received. It is a sacrament and a Mystery to be entered into consciously and knowingly. Therefore it is not a rite intended for children, though there is a blessing service available for them.

To become a candidate for baptism it is recommended that you attend services for a period of months, familiarize yourself with Gnosticism and the Ecclesia Gnostica, and read The Gnostic Catechism by Stephan Hoeller to see if it makes sense to you (online at gnosis.org). When you feel that baptism is something that you wish to pursue, speak with a priest.

Other Clergy Services

Parish priests may be available for weddings and funerals, this is done on an individual basis. The Rev. Troy Pierce is usually available for individual conversations: informational, social, or in the form of spiritual direction (also called spiritual counseling or listening).

Lectures in SLC

The Wasatch Gnostic Society sponsors occasional lecture series by Rev. Dr. Lance Owens. Usually, one or two lecture series a year, consisting of 4 to 6 lectures. These generally occur during the Winter months, and cover topics related to Gnosticism and Depth Psychology. For lists of previous topics, audio recordings, and information on future lectures go to www.gnosis.org/wgs.htm

SLC Parish Activities

Members of the parish usually meet after services to socialize and discuss. Stay after the service for information. Non-Ecclesiastical activities in the parish go in cycles, based on season and interest level. There have been discussion groups, movie nights, and social evenings. Any, all, or none of which may be occurring at any time.

The Inner Sea Sodality

The Inner Sea Sodality is the Palm Tree Garden Sodality in the greater Salt Lake region. It is a non-denominational lay organization that provides a format for local Gnostics to meet in person as an offshoot of the Palm Tree Garden Forum at www.palmtreegarden.org. For information see the thread at the Palm Tree Garden Forum, or at www.gnosis.org/saltlake/innersea.htm

How Do I Become a Priest?

Most people who are interested “in becoming a priest,” are interested for the wrong reasons—but there are always those with a true vocation. Since the formation process is not simply an outward one, there should be no expectation of ordination to any level. The formation process consists primarily of the sacraments of Eucharist, Baptism, and Chrism (confirmation), to become a full member of the laity. Service in the sanctuary then begins in the position of Lay Server, after which there is a process of ordination through five minor orders; this work is primarily formative and personal, although service in the sanctuary is vital. There is no obligation incurred in the minor orders, however the major orders are only for those dedicated to serving as clergy within the EG. Someone who has satisfactorily completed the minor orders, and is recommended to the bishop by their pastor, may then enter major orders, beginning with the probationary order of Subdeacon, after which one may move on to serve as a Deacon, and after that, possibly, to serve as a Priest. If the formation process leads to ordination into the priesthood, it will have been a journey lasting a minimum of seven years, only to begin again.

There are no paid positions within the EG, it is very rare for donations to meet expenses, and dedicated Gnostics are few and far between (half of our parishes rarely have more than a dozen attendees to any service). It is really not a place to seek ordination without a sincere vocation, and dedication not only to the path of Gnosis, but also to serving the Divine and others in this particular form. It is not a substitute for psychological work, nor an opportunity to “be somebody,” and any delusional ideas of gaining respect or authority from wearing a collar or robe are laughable. The rewards are of the same quality and frequency of any other very difficult, if not impossible task, usually few and infrequent, but real—and while not gratifying, deeply satisfying.

Desire for Liberation

The Second Sunday After Epiphany

Jesus said: Do not lie; and do not do what you hate, for all things are manifest before Heaven. For there is nothing hidden that shall not be revealed and there is nothing covered that shall remain without being uncovered.

- Thomas

There are many desires we can have, most of them arise in us unseen, unknown, unconscious. They are, perhaps, the most dangerous forces within us. To have a desire is to believe it can be satisfied. But there is always an end to satisfactions, and never an end to desires. Getting, or seeming to get, what we desire is the biggest trap on the path to liberation. We are all susceptible to the monkey trap: the piece of fruit we reach into the jar to grasp, and will not let go of—even though we cannot remove our hand if we don't. And we yearn for the comfort of the trap: of seeming to have what we think we want and not having to seek further, though all it will ever give us is bondage.

We all know people who have struggled to free themselves from one form of bondage or another, an abusive relationship say, only to return to it or to something just like it. Look around you and see souls trapped in patterns that will be repeated, in chains they will re-forge if broken, until death or until the work of bringing them to consciousness is done.

It seems like an easy choice, consciousness or slavery to unconscious patterns and desires. And it is an easy choice, but the easy choice is slavery. What is unconscious is unconscious for a reason and it will not come easily into the light. There will be anguish and anxiety to deal with before consciousness can be fully brought to bear. And it is the taste of this that usually drives it all back into the unconscious—to be repeated.

The far more difficult choice seems to be to face the harsh glare of consciousness shining on the problem that has been left to grow in the dark, and that we have invested much time, energy, and identity in keeping that way. Yet the light only seems harsh because we have spent so much of our time in the darkness, and are only now coming out into the daylight. And it is only difficult and painful because of the number of times we have chosen to remain in the darkness, chosen the trap.

Sure, we can all see it in the big negative patterns: in addiction, abuse, and the like; but what of the small things? What about something as simple as desiring attention, or to be appreciated? Or the desire for love? The nature and scope of the desire may effect the nature and scope of the trap, but never whether there is one—there always is one. An unconscious desire for attention can wrap a person's entire life around it and be just as unfulfillable as an unconscious desire to find wholeness in the arms of another. The only hope of freeing ourselves from the slavery this choir of desires leads us continually into is consciousness. For in consciousness there is the only desire that will satisfy itself—the desire for liberation.

People often think that they desire liberation, but it is not often the case that they do. Those who shout for liberty and freedom in the world are most often the ones working hardest to curtail them. So that, “freedom” usually means “my own brand of dictatorship,” or, “to remake the world in my own image;” or perhaps, the freedom to sink back into old patterns and habits—into unconsciousness.

True liberation can only come from the light of consciousness revealing all that is hidden, uncovering all that is covered—bringing the truth which sets free. Even the most lavish of cells, the most gilded of cages, cannot change it's essential nature; and we can only remain inside if we keep that nature from consciousness. The desires that arise from the unconscious, all direct us towards one seemingly wonderful cage or another. Only the desire of consciousness directs us beyond the bounds of any cage, of any container.

When the Lord was asked to give rules of behavior, he said only, “Do not lie; and do not do what you hate.” The reason given is that all is known to the divine, and all shall be revealed and uncovered. This should not be viewed in the common sense as some kind of shame being poured upon those whose faults are revealed. Rather, it is simply stating the fact that we may play tricks of mind upon ourselves, and continue splits of consciousness that helped us survive earlier crises—but we are only fooling ourselves, in the smallest sense of the word.

The most effective way to lie is to believe the lie yourself, in effect lying to yourself. And what is “doing what you hate,” except a form of lying by act and deed? We might rephrase it as, 'don't try to fool yourself, and don't try to fool others—for, ultimately, no one is fooled.' How sad it would be to live out your life only to find out that it had been so much taken up with efforts to fool yourself and others—only to still be faced with the truth.

To free ourselves from a destiny of such small tragedy we must refine our consciousness, and refuse any cage not matter how much we may desire it: seeking our true freedom in an earnest desire for liberation. For it is the only desire that leads us to the only end of desires—the glory of the fullness. It is always the most difficult path, for it is the only real path that leads to the only true destination.

Readings for the day

The Epiphany

Divine Guidance

Therefore he who is Gnostic is truly a being from above. When he is called he hears; he answers; he directs himself to Him who calls him and returns to Him; he apprehends how he is called.

There are many who would force us where they will, and many forces within us that drive us through desires and delusions. Yet, in the midst of the screaming chaos of orders and desires—there is something that would guide us.

A human guide to the deeper side of life is something rare in this world, and often mistaken. But a spiritual guide is not much different from any other guide through the wilderness. One who can truly guide, doesn't offer to go on the journey for you, doesn't promise an easy journey on a difficult trail, and listens more closely to the one's being guided than they do to the guide. It should also go without saying that they don't lead you off and rob you.

A human spiritual guide is at best a more seasoned traveler, more experienced, but just as human, and just as fallible. Even the most sincere and seasoned guide is subject to the vicissitudes of their own life, and to the same pitfalls on the path that everyone is. A guide is also just that, one who gives guidance. They do not try to take over your journey from you, or make themselves indispensable to it. As much as human guides may aid us at times, particularly through the more dangerous parts of the journey, they are not something we can have faith in.

We live in the realm of limitations: limited time, limited resources, limited by biography and geography, and countless other ways. Each of us are also limited in what we are ready to understand, and in what we are ready to become conscious of. Even the Lord was limited in what he could impart to the Disciples, with only a few actually following him in the true inner sense.

The only guide that we can have faith in is the Divine. This does not mean we need eschew human guides, but we must be always open to the true guide. The Divine leads us to human teachers and guides as part of a larger pattern we cannot yet see. Not usually for the lesson or direction we would choose—for if we would choose them unerringly, we wouldn't need the guidance. Remembering that the human guide is not the true guide—we must be open to be lead further on.

The two stories that are associated with this day reflect this. The wise men being guided by a star to the place of the Divine Babe. The wise men follow the star, which has been given to guide them, but they stop to ask directions of the worldly authority anyway: with terrible results. Herod is not a guide, he is a teacher who's lesson is that unrefined power is jealous and brutal.

In the other story, Jesus travels to the Prophet John to be baptized. In one Gnostic account, it is at the baptism that “Christ” as a higher being descended upon “Jesus” the human. However the story is told, something deeply important happened, this is symbolized by the dove descending, and the words of Divine approval. John acted as a guide, and as the conveyor of a sacrament. The role of John as an initiator of Jesus is remembered to this day, and is something of a theological pickle for many. In the Gnostic perspective it makes perfect sense. We recognize the seed of light, the divine spark, in everyone—yet it is just that, a seed, a spark. It is a long transformative journey before any of that light can shine into our lives, before the ever-present divine within is more than merely an idea.

If even our Lord benefited from wise guidance, how much more can we? The guidance we must ultimately follow is not that of any human, yet the divine guide may take us to many human guides, and many teachers of lessons positive and negative. Don't trust anyone who claims to speak for God, yet how else would God speak in words? Maybe God is speaking to us constantly, through the mouths of others, but we do not hear it. We are constantly being guided from within and without, called to follow the real and difficult path that is ours alone—though we are never alone on it. And while the path, the guide, and the traveler may all be one, it is only an idea until the journey has finished.

Readings for the day

2006 Liturgical Calendar Now Online

In spite of my being somewhat distracted producing a wall and a pocket calendar for the first time, the Official version of the 2006 Liturgical Calendar of the Ecclesia Gnostica is now up at gnosis.org. I unintentionally put Rt. Rev. Stephan Hoeller in a position where he had to edit and proof-read calendars in short order; and, he did a much appreciated job in very short order indeed.

For the first time, I'm putting up a PDF version, to make it available in a more portable and printable form.

Online version
PDF version

A Gnostic Approach to Gnosticism

I doubt I'm the only one who feels disappointed at the level of discussions on Gnostic forums, including our own participation. However, criticism isn't enough, we need an alternative. In my own work I have been trying to use a Gnostic approach to Gnosticism. Various aspects of this have been mentioned in previous posts, but I would like to elucidate them here.

What's wrong with the old patterns? They focus on our intractable differences, and they are not Gnostic except perhaps in subject matter. The pattern we are used to is that of articulating beliefs and opinions. The problem with this is that beliefs are rarely a rational matter: either they come from experience, serving as place-holders for experience, or they come from the culture or from psychological needs. In either case, there is no arguing about them, only if one is removed from the belief are arguments relevant—but knowing when this is the case is very difficult. And regardless of their origin, beliefs and opinions are inherently ego territory, they are “mine” and must be defended first and maybe looked at later.

The other big problem is related, our beliefs and opinions are not Gnosis. We can argue that we 'know' all kinds of things, but how much of that would stand up to our own scrutiny from a Gnostic perspective? We fall into patterns of stating things that we think we know, 'knowing' them from very second and third hand sources, and defending them like dogma. The very nature of a forum pulls us into this, as there are legitimate basic questions, to which this kind of 'knowledge' provides the answers. In that cultural-default mindset we begin answering questions, and stay in that mindset. All such 'knowledge' is founded upon shaky ground, belief in someone else's beliefs or opinions, in one story or another than can be told about the same facts.

So, what is the alternative? A Gnostic approach to Gnosticism would first and foremost acknowledge how much we don't really know. There is an unbridgeable difference between Gnosis and information, ultimately the latter is only useful if it can lead to the former. Being a Gnostic means having some Gnosis, and having some Gnosis means you know that you don't actually know some ninety-nine point something percent of the time. And what you do have Gnosis of cannot be fully articulated, the best we can do are symbols and stories that may lead back to the experience that was the seed of the Gnosis.

Gnostics are generally very smart, well-educated, people who have done a wide variety of studying until they finally found out that what they are is “Gnostic” and then continue from there. Many study Gnosticism for decades before finding someone else to discuss it with, giving us plenty of time to develop our own meanings for terms, associations with ideas, and unfortunately not having anyone to help us along by calling us on our biases. It will take effort, and endless amounts of humor, to pull ourselves out of those deep ruts again and again. But the path of wisdom has been described as coming to know how much you don't know, and we need to put our Gnosis into practice.

Gnosticism as an ancient historical phenomena isn't available to us, we have a few texts, and a few symbols; what has been preserved in the exoteric Church; and the thread of Hermeticism that leads through alchemy and magical systems. We can study these few remains like archaeologists or we can move in and live there. We know where taking the standard comparative religion beliefs/practices approach to Gnosticism leads—to something that doesn't make sense. We need to be like William Blake or wacky Zen monks and not get trapped in someone else's system, or misunderstanding of what it's all about. It's about Gnosis, the practice not the definition. And we'd be doing the world a favor if we point and laugh when someone tries to push us onto any procrustean bed, rather than argue about the details of the amputations.

Not only is there so much that we don't really know, the most important things we never will. We need to take to heart the unknown and the unknowable. Mysteries can be experienced, but they are outside the grasp of the mind, it can only reflect on facets or elements of them. A definition of Gnosis is less useful than a description. In definitions we run the risk of thinking that we have captured it, that it is the definition. So many real and important things aren't subject to definitions (read some early Platonic dialogs if this isn't already apparent). If we can't adequately define Love, why should we think we can do so with Gnosis? We need to be willing to live with the important questions, to give guidance but not necessarily answers.

How do we keep away from the “anything goes then” mentality? First we must recognize that the current strategy of doing that, a quazi-historic academic approach, isn't doing us much good. If its all in the past, where is the Gnosis? If it is Gnosis, then it isn't “just you,” and you should be able to find the signs of it in others however distant in time and place. This is a grounded living Gnosticism, not stuck in the past, but guided by what remains, and testing our realizations against those of others ancient and modern.

This is just a first attempt at articulating what a Gnostic approach to Gnosticism might be, but my intuition is that the only way to keep this path of Gnosis from being swallowed up again is to change our focus. Taking a Gnostic approach to Gnosticism is the only way to keep it alive.

Raise a glass to The Professor!

The Birthday of
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien
Enchanting Writer, Beloved Professor &
Explorer 0f the Secondary Creation

All that is Gold does not glitter;
Not all who wander are lost.

In contrast to his friend and fellow Inkling, C. S. Lewis, Tolkien approached the imaginative as its own reality. He tried to carefully explore and describe what he termed the "secondary creation," the realm of the real imaginary, what Jung would refer to as the Collective Unconscious.

January 3rd, 1892 – 1973

New Year's Day

The Renewal of Life

Behold, I make all things new.

The liturgical year begins on the first Sunday in Advent, beginning the sacred year anew. However, in our culture this is the day of the New Year. A somewhat arbitrary point, originally associated with the Winter solstice, on which we start the calendar year over—the wheel turns anew.

We normally live in a very linear view of time, ever focused on the future and tied to the past, rarely does the present get its due. Sacred time is seen as cyclical, the ever returning, and in a way essentially never changing. Of course, we live with both concepts, and it is on this day that the two mesh. The turning of the year to go through the cycle of months again, and the newness of a new cycle.

If we live within the bounds of linear time, the weight of it can grow very heavy indeed. What a marathon life is! Hadn't we ought to have accomplished so much more by now? How much life is over, how much life is left? It is into this state that the eternal strikes. The transcendent cuts through time like Alexander's sword slicing through the Gordian knot we are hopelessly tied up in. And we know that we have always and will always extend beyond it's bounds. The touch of the Divine renews us, it frees us from the confining horizons we live within. It makes all things new.

The path of Gnosis is a long one, a linear path, and a cycle of cycles. It leads to and revolves around a mystery, a mystery beyond understanding, that transcends the cosmos, yet is found within you. It is the Gnosis of this that renews us, the little epiphanies that give us light and renewed strength for the journey.

Readings for the day.

Guides and Leaders

The only followers the Gnostic Church needs are the ones that go on the tops of the candles. Though a friend of mine found it extremely amusing that you could go to a church supply store and buy followers: those kind are handy, they save the candles and keep wax from getting everywhere. The human kind are more problematic, the best you can hope for is that it's a phase that ends relatively well—and soon.

People can benefit greatly from guides, organizations can benefit greatly from leaders. This distinction is of primary importance, though rarely noted. The Gnostic focus is upon the individual: Gnosis and the transformation it brings can only be found there. There is nothing more important, nothing more precious, and nothing more real. One cannot be given Gnosis by another, nor have another walk one step for you. But there are those who have been down the path a bit further than you have, and they may act as guides to some degree.

An organization, in addition to working towards its goals/purpose, must also remain an organization if it is to continue to do so. This adds another layer, an organizational layer, to everything any organization does. The very name says it, an organization is organized somehow: it is a micro-cosmos, an ordering on the small scale. It has its rules, its way of doing things, its past, and the stamp that previous leaders have left on it. It also has at least one serving leader, or it doesn't have any vitality, or anything to hold it together—it's just an idea, a habit, or something on paper.

Note that it must be a serving leader. “Minister” is Latin for servant. We must keep in mind Paul's warning that there are those that position “puffeth up,” that Ego Inflation is a constant danger. Many seek leadership as a means of mitigating an inferiority complex, and I'll let you in on a little secret—we all have one. Who doesn't want to feel good about themselves? And it's so much easier to let someone else do it for you, instead of having to actually accomplish something: such as becoming conscious of your inferiority complex.

Anyone who's ever held a job has probably seen this at work (literally). The boss's toady, who's only job is to make the boss feel good about him or herself: at company expense, of course. This has become the norm in our ever more inefficient corporate society. Think of how much corporations would save if they paid for, and encouraged/rewarded mental health? Not including the lawsuits avoided over the inappropriate use of power.

Another danger is power itself. In the workplace the power is over your livelihood. It may really be the power of life and death for yourself and any dependents, or it may just be the power to set you back. Regardless of how many of a certified panel would agree with your diagnosis of your previous boss, you will never be able to mention it when looking for work. Every boss has an inferiority complex and is afraid of anyone who mentions psychopathology, no matter how indirectly. In “one true” religions, the power is over your eternal disposition. In these cases, you may or may not have options in the human face through which you interact with the church, but they will still hold power as being part of the necessary church. The protestant reformation may have broken the monopoly of church, but it replaced it with a monopoly of the Bible which can easily be misused in the very same way.

In the Gnostic understanding of church, not only is no particular institution necessary, but none are—they can aid, and pass on aid. The same goes for scripture, and anything else of the world. Gnosis is the path, liberation is the goal—what helps, helps. No church or cleric can either deny you, or grant you, Gnosis. There is only aid offered, and so, no actual power over anyone. It is such a radical difference that it can take time to understand, and unfortunately, not everyone does.

Being a minister is a difficult position, if not an outright impossible one. To be a servant of the Divine, both transcendent and present within every single person, means that you will always fail to some extent. Ego Inflation is a constant danger, the temptation to identify with the role, to take credit for what happens both because of, and in spite of, yourself. Yes, you are a part of it—but there is so much more. The ego wants to believe that “there are no other powers beside me,” yet a servant knows that they serve a greater power. A life of service is not often rewarding in a self-gratifying sense. If it was, it wouldn't be service.

A true servant is certainly not someone who will “lord it over you,” treat you as a lesser being, hold you down to keep themselves up, bring you the rope to hang yourself with, or use your best impulses to your detriment and their benefit. Someone in minor orders (junior clergy who serve at the altar) has jealously ranted about someone who isn't in orders performing a valuable service—because, they weren't clergy. The opposite of the spirit of service that is the heart of a real ministry.

I have also seen others who are clergy-on-paper, that occasionally dress the part when there is occasion to be admired, and disappear when the potential admirers do. And there are those whose ministries are sincere, profound, and life-long, who will never take orders, or even think of what they do as ministry. Service is the point of being a servant/minister, if it is not merely being puffed up.

Problems with would-be-leaders, though worth covering, are nothing new. I started out by talking about followers, and they are an intrinsic part of the equation. The way in which most churches operate in the world provides unhealthy patterns and expectations for those who arrive on our doorstep. A certain persona is expected, and it is rare to meet someone who bothers to see past the title and the collar; or, if they do, who don't think so much less of you for being a real person. People usually see someone who can act as a guide entirely from outside, not taking into account their perspective, or wanting to. Often people seem to seek an idealized guide, as if unconsciously trying to replay a previous abusive relationship. The only ideal people are make-believe: either they know it, and are somewhat dangerous; or don't, and are very dangerous.

Leaders are also usually seen entirely from outside. They personify the organization to us, particularly any issues we have with it, and we tend not to empathize with them because of that. I remember the first time I truly realized what hard work and dedication is required to provide regularly occuring Gnostic church services. It wasn't when I was first attending them here, nor even after I had been helping with the physical setup and serving at the altar for years. It was when I moved, and was faced with the daunting task of trying to do so myself. Only then did it really sink in.

When the guide and the leader are the same person, as is often the case in the Gnostic Ecclesia, there can be twice the reluctance to empathize, to see beyond and accept the real person. Part of this is individual need. There is a process that Jung called the transference where a therapist carries a part of the client's soul as a projection as part of the transformational process. This is delicate work, and requires a very grounded and ethical person to perform this dangerous work without causing harm. The counterpoint of this Jung called counter-transference, where the therapist projects back onto the client. One can see this in one aspect of the role of the Bishop as Hierophant to clergy. One projects the completion of the journey onto the bishop, who then returns the projection, over time as you are ready, through the ordination process. That is not all that is going on, but it is an essential part. To a lesser extent the same dynamic occurs in the Eucharist. We project and receive back in communion; again not all that is occurring, but an essential aspect.

Yet, everyone who can really serve anyone on their path has been born and grown up in this world, and is therefore a flawed and wounded human being. You don't get through life without your tender and sore spots, without having over-reacting defenses, and without being vulnerable. We cannot become perfect in the sense of never having been wounded or flawed, but we can become conscious and use consciousness as a counter-force to the other forces within us. Hopefully, we can become conscious of unhealthy patterns before they play out in our lives, but at the least we can admit them and make amends afterwards. For in true ministry, service is the process through which we can become free of the false ideas of ourselves.

Whatever our role, or lack thereof, we are all in this together. Fellow seekers of the Light who can be of service to one another. You don't get exempted because you don't have an official role, or because you do. Everyone has their own burdens, some will weigh you down with theirs, others will help you pack yours and show you what they know of the way—and they don't want followers or servants, but to serve the Divine, and to have companions on the journey.

The Gnostic Calendar

After months of research, graphic design, and hard work—it's here! The first Calendar specifically for Gnostics! The calendar features the Liturgical Calendar of the Ecclesia Gnostica: the Sundays and Holy days/holidays as observed by the EG and most Gnostic churches; with the liturgical color of the day in the upper right hand corner.

The wall calendar features many additional dates of interest. It is an introductory outline, in calendar form, to different threads in the Gnostic Tradition. Also included are many unofficial Gnostic holidays, historical days of note, secular holidays of the US & Canada, humorous/fun holidays, Tibetan Buddhist holidays, solar holidays, full and new moons, and yes, more. It includes quotes from many of those listed. Facing pages feature original art on Gnostic themes by a Gnostic Priest, and quotes from Gnostic Scriptures.

The pocket calendar comes in a high quality clear checkbook cover, features the Liturgical calendar, a few unofficial Gnostic holidays, secular holidays, solar holidays, and full/new moons. Additionally, there are aids to help Gnostic clergy keep their parish running smoothly, such as, lists of reminders for Holy Week services.

Wall Calendar price: $18 per wall calendar not including shipping. $20 with individual shipping in the US & $21.50 to Canada. $19 + actual shipping cost to anywhere else. About what you'd pay for any non-generic calendar at a retail outlet.

Pocket Calendar price: $8.00 per pocket calendar not including shipping. $9.00 with individual shipping in the US & $9.50 to Canada. $8.50 + actual shipping cost to anywhere else. The "Liturgical Pocket Secretary," which comes in Roman Catholic or Episcopalian editions costs $6.50, requires extensive editing, and has very small print. The Gnostic Pocket Calendar features a different layout, easy to read print, and blank space for additional notes or appointments.

Send orders to:
Rev. Troy Pierce
PO Box 25835
SLC, UT 84125-0835

Make check or money order payable to: "Rev. Troy Pierce"
(Online ordering is available at www.gnosis.org/calendar)

Please note: prices are in US dollars. There will be no "mark down" prices on the Gnostic Calendar as there are with other calendars.

Gnosis and Delusions

You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.

Know what is in front of your face, and there is nothing that will not be revealed to you.

The path of Gnosis isn't only a straight and narrow one, it is a spiral one as well. The descriptions and insight given to us by the Gnostic Tradition are applicable not just once, there is no mere one-to-one correspondence, but again and again. When you find something that they apply to, don't think you've now 'got' it—that you 'know' exactly what it means.

Gnosis is akin to recognition, and the ideas and descriptions are truly helpful in that they aid us in recognizing, and making sense of, our experiences. But there will always be those who have had an experience, and have used it to propel themselves into a delusion that they think is liberation.

Jung termed it Ego Inflation, and it is akin to Paul's comments that there are those who grow into a position, and those that it just 'puffeth up.' An experience of something beyond the ego, is then hi-jacked by the ego. It is a spiritual short-circuit: instead of taking up the next task on the path to the divine, you plop down on a couch and say, “enough, I'm God already.” For example: you enter the Presence, God fills your heart with love, and 'you' take credit for it, “see how loving I am.” Or you have a flash of Gnosis, things 'click' they make sense in a new way, and immediately the thought comes, “see how clever I am.” Ego Inflation is inevitable, but hopefully short lived. It can even be used as a tool of transformation, helping you pass barriers that seemed insurmountable—as long as your feet land back on the ground afterwards.

The danger is that the feeling of Ego Inflation is pleasurable, and your ego wants to believe it is true—desperately. I have had the misfortune of watching many people that I have cared deeply about, walk down this path instead of the one that leads to liberation. They mistake the attempts of the ego to hi-jack the spiritual experience as being the point of the spiritual experience. If they had Gnostic ideas, they mistake the euphoria of Ego Inflation for the liberation of Gnosis. It can become an addiction of sorts.

One of the things that never fails to strike me is how often someone will come into our Ecclesiastical environment, check to make sure we don't have rigid dogmas—then set about trying to impose their own on everyone. The liberation Gnosis offers has nothing to do with the freedom to be an orthodoxy of one, or to impose one person's delusions on others.

If someone walks in and says that God has been talking to them, the only sane response is, “I'm glad you have noticed. It is probably a good indicator that you are at the beginning of a lot of personal work.”

We must always be mindful of the Lord's admonition to remove the beam from our own eye before we go around doing vision correction surgery—yet that doesn't mean we can't see for ourselves at all. Forcing your notions upon others is a different thing altogether from allowing their notions to be forced upon yourself and others.

By their fruits you shall know them: if their fruits are rotten apples and sour grapes—and especially, if their fruits are empty promises and self-importance—they weren't harvested from the tree of Gnosis.

What Gnosis Is: a Description

Your consciousness is in God; draw it into yourself, and it will appear; will, and it takes birth; suspend the senses of the body and the birth of the Godhead takes place. But first you must purify yourselves from the mindless torments of matter, one of which is ignorance, though there are many others, which force the man who is confined to the prison of the body to suffer by way of the passions. But these at once depart from him on whom God has had mercy, and so the body of Gnosis in man is built. This is the way of true rebirth.

-The Hermetica

(If you haven't already, you may want to read my earlier posts What Gnosis Isn't and What Gnosis Is: a Prelude before proceeding.)

Earlier, I tried to weed out some of the truly bad ideas about Gnosis that have been bandied about for the past couple of millennia, today I'll start to talk about what Gnosis is. Gnosis is the only point to Gnosticism, so it is important to try to describe what it is—even if that it cannot be done directly.

A simple description is fairly straight-forward, but remember, it is a description of something real, not a definition of something abstract. Try not to make the same mistake that Socrates was always grilling people over twenty-five centuries ago. Also remember, that there are preliminaries that seem necessary to follow the path of Gnosis that are reflected in what I've called a Gnostic attitude. (Summarized, unfortunately, in numbered points in 'What Do You Believe?')

The potential of Gnosis comes through individual experience, it is experience of what is real, but of, or echoed in, the internal real. Like the example from the Hymn of the Pearl in which the letter comes to aid, and is recognized because its contents are also written on the heart of the receiver. Gnosticism provides opportunities for Gnosis to be evoked in individuals, it leads them to both have and recognize those essential experiences.

The experience, and the recognition of it, are not enough, however. The experience, the opportunity for Gnosis, needs to become something deeper—for Gnosis is knowledge/experience both of something, and that leads to something. You must be able to keep the experience and its effects long enough for them to have an effect. It cannot occur without consciousness, and so many forces within ourselves, and within our world, would high-jack these profound experiences for their own ends. In this, Gnosticism acts as a container: a chalice, an alchemical retort, a cauldron—a context for such experiences that allows you to live with them until you “catch up” with them and become them.

Gnosis is, ultimately, a transformative knowing—a knowing that you become, because, in the deepest sense of the mystery of your being, it is your truest self. This is the point to it all. This is why Gnosis isn't this, or that; it is the very real process of truly knowing, becoming, who we truly are. That is why it cannot be transmitted directly, why you cannot have Gnosis of somebody else's Gnosis, why you must do it yourself. Let us be clear: this is a deep, long, and real process—one that leads to liberation, and beyond.

Accepting Gnostic descriptions as articles of faith, won't do a bit of good, nor will any false 'realization' of Gnosis, nor any other tricks of the mind. All of that exists to keep you from Gnosis. The path of Gnosis is a life-long commitment, and because of the nature of the cosmos, Gnosis can never be perfectly realized here—you are never done, there is always more work. It is difficult, and always seems to require the more difficult of any choice, but it is rewarding in the way nothing else can be—it is real. And remember, the Redemption (liberation) is only the sixth of seven mysteries. (Though understanding the seventh before you understand the sixth would be 'premature enlightenment' indeed.)

The closest parallel to reach for is Buddhism. It is a different path to liberation, and we need to be careful as Gnostics to not make metaphysical speculations about Gnosis outside of the Gnostic experience. Buddhist liberating experience has a different experiential quality to that of the Gnostic, and there is a very real different in means/approach, however, it does share many key understandings with Gnosticism. For example, Enlightenment is a state of being arrived at through a process of inner transformation. It is real, and can be recognized in people. No amount of study will give it to you, though it does help, and may be necessary. Though it makes no sense to consider it much before you have achieved a basic level of Enlightenment, there are levels of Enlightenment—the work continues. And, Buddhism without Enlightenment makes as much sense as Gnosticism without Gnosis.

We must become Gnosis, live Gnosis—live out our truest nature and highest calling. There is nothing more important, or precious. Nothing to be more concerned about, and careful with. For when, as in the Dunsany story I retold in the prologue, we attain Gnosis we cannot go back, there is nothing worth more. If you own the world and lack yourself—you have nothing.

Peas on Earth

Okay, so I sometimes find myself 'filksinging' in my head. It usually happens in the “morning” when I'm cooking breakfast, or in the shower. This one occurred while fixing a nice cheese omelette, which may or may not account for the cheesiness. It goes to the tune of “Let there be Peace on Earth, and let it begin with me.” A song I first encountered at Salt Lake City's Annual Interfaith Celebration of the Human Spirit, which, as Stephan Hoeller said, is probably more than adequate for the human spirit. I've since heard it in the Christmas song line-up, did the usual 'peas' for 'peace' substitution, and got this:

Let there be Peas on Earth,
and let there be some for me.

Let there be Peas on Earth,
and fresh in crisp po-ods be.

To savor each morsel,
each round tasty morsel,
with unabash-ed glee!

Oh, let there be Peas on Earth,
and let there be LOTS for me!

Someday, I may inflict “Waking up is hard to do” on you. Consider yourselves warned.

'What Do You Believe?'

I used to answer this question, and variations thereof with, “That beliefs aren't very important.” I was never quite satisfied with it, except that it does serve to turn the question in on itself, and show that it is the wrong question. I've since changed my answer to, “That beliefs are usually deceptive.” Which serves the same purpose, but is much more satisfactory—since beliefs can be very important, as things to watch out for.

Gnosis is not beliefs (for more, see my earlier post What Gnosis Isn't), and we're not just saying that because our beliefs are somehow special and we give them the code-name “Gnosis.” Gnosis is of a different order to beliefs, and beliefs can be the biggest barrier to achieving Gnosis.

Living without beliefs would be both insane, and incredibly time consuming. It would be like living without any functional memory. For a belief is a place-keeper in our minds for things that we are not currently verifying or in a position to verify. If I look out the window and my car is gone, I will be surprised, because the last time I was in a position to see it, it was where I left it. And in general there is no problem with beliefs as such, for why should I continually look out the window at my car, to live as if it were there?

The problem is that people become so enamored with their beliefs that they no longer treat them as place-keepers for verification, they become of primary importance and no amount of evidence to the contrary can dislodge them. This is another form of insanity, one that seems the norm in the world we live in. The examples inundate us, from a recent news story of a couple starving their infant children because they believed that only a strict raw food diet was healthy for them; to, the newspaper clipping I keep in my copy of the Nag Hammadi, about a man who starved to death snowed in his truck, who believed God would rescue him, and so didn't walk the few hundred yards back to a road that was plowed regularly and lead to aid.

That is why one must first become an Agnostic before one can become a Gnostic (see post). How can you possibly free yourself from the real world, if you haven't freed yourself from the world as an idea, a realm of make believe, within that world? The same goes, of course, for freeing yourself of major psychological complexes, as well: which are often the reasons for our beliefs when they trump reality.

So, while it is possible to come up with a list of beliefs associated with Gnosticism, they are of a different order, and serve a different purpose than most other religious beliefs. They are place keepers for what we have come to know ourselves, and ways of expressing that Gnosis. There are many similarities across time and space because Gnosis is real. There are many differences even within a particular time and place, because Gnostics are also real.

Things that I would expect from anyone with the perspective of Gnosis (and what else might a Gnostic be?) can loosely be grouped into two categories: one that I'll call a Gnostic attitude, and the other what Rt. Rev. Stephan Hoeller calls a Gnostic World-View: recognizable Gnostic stories, descriptions, story elements, etc. They are both indirect evidence, symptoms if you will, of Gnosis. They are not Gnosis, and you could have all of them without Gnosis.

At it's most basic, a Gnostic attitude can be described/summed up as:

1. Recognition of a reality external to oneself. This is where Gnosticism and the New Age have irreconcilable differences. You don't make your own “reality.” The ego is not its own Demiurge, except in fantasy land. You can transform yourself, your consciousness, and you can act in and on the world, but you aren't that world. This is the point that some self-identifying, but not actually, Gnostics take exception to, either directly or pragmatically. However, Gnosis is “Gnosis of” something, and that something is real and not made up by us, or, it is meaningless.

   It also follows from this that one must be diligent and careful in one's exploration of that reality, to make sure that it is reality, and not something else.

2. Recognition of a very real and distinct difference between what we can learn, or accept from others, and what we can learn or verify for ourselves (in a way that involves consciousness and inner confirmation via our truest nature), i.e., some sense of Gnosis. The idea of “Gnosis” isn't necessary, but living Gnosis is.

   In ways this follows from 1. There is an external reality, so there are different ways of knowing about it. However, it goes beyond the mere recognition of the psychological aspects of knowing, in that it recognizes a way of knowing that is deeper still.
   

3. Recognition that the condition we find ourselves in is fundamentally alien to our truest selves. This is the sense of having “fallen” that we all feel. The Buddha stated this as his first Noble Truth, “life is fundamentally unsatisfactory.”

   This is simply being honest about our experience of the world. While there are “rainy day 'Gnostics,'” that is, people who have a greater affinity to Gnostic descriptions when things are going badly in the world for them, and are more Calvinistic when things are going well for them; that isn't being honest. The world is a place of mixing, there's good and bad, beauty and horror, and while some of it may satisfy for a time, not all of it does, and certainly not all of the time.

4. The recognition, or intuition, that there is a way out of this condition through a transformation of ourselves, i.e., liberation occurs at the individual level and cannot occur without individual transformative work. Again, echoing one of the Buddha's Four Noble Truths, number four.

   This comes from 1, 2, and 3, yet also contains something new. This is the difference between the Gnostic's and the Existentialist's attitudes (along with 5) that there is a way out of this state, and furthermore, a larger meaning.

5. Recognition that there is Divine/transcendent aid available, that is both useful for, and necessary to, attaining Gnosis—and ultimately, liberation. This aid is experienced and therefore described in different ways, but is ultimately beyond our comprehension: we cannot 'grasp' it with the mind, only experience it.

   This, again, just comes from being honest about our experiences, and being open to them.

6. A pragmatic and individualistic approach to transformative practice. What works, works. What doesn't, doesn't. What works for me might not work for you, and vice versa. This doesn't mean that anything goes, or that we are setting up orthodoxies of one, those are just ways of setting up yet another church of the ego. But rather, that the deep effects are what are important—Gnosis is the point to all of it.

   At the first ordination to the priesthood that I attended, in his homily Rt. Rev. Hoeller said of the ordination process, “Some of you may be wondering if all this is necessary. And you may be surprised by our answer... it may not be necessary, but it sure does help!”

7. A poetic non-literalist interactive approach to stories and symbols. This goes beyond the Joseph Campbell understanding of Myth in that it includes the ability to play with the myths, stories, and symbols the way a Jazz musician plays with old standards. To make them so much your own that they include counterpoints, variations, improvisations, and contradictions. Because they aren't the point, they are tools to attaining Gnosis, and indirect expressions of Gnosis.
   

8. A sense of humor and playfulness. This goes with 7 and beyond it. As William James pointed out in his magnum opus The Varieties of Religious Experience, the solemn has always something of a twinkle in it's eye. The opposite of taking religion solemnly is to take it grimly, and taking Gnosticism grimly is to miss the whole point of Gnosis—liberation. Being grim about religion takes it back to its worst common denominator—defensive egotism, and we don't need any more churches to honor that. Missing 8 is like missing 1, it's just setting the ego up as a new (and disproved) Demiurge.

   A grim Gnostic is an oxymoron, either they've missed the point entirely and are just enamored with Gnostic myths, or they're just missing it while they're being grim, and we should try to get them to laugh. After all, humor is liberating: you can look and see prison bars, or, with a sense of humor and play, you can see monkey bars. What the Archons fear most is real laughter.

This is by no means a check list for seeing who is a Gnostic, though it may give you a good idea of who isn't. Think of them as representing necessary attitudinal elements, not as sufficient criteria to make one a Gnostic. It has the same staggering limitation that all such attempts have—it is a description of the signs of something that cannot be described; a translation into the rational of a process that is truly one of recognition. Being a Gnostic is not a matter of beliefs, it is a way of living that is focused on attaining liberation through Gnosis: and also, something deeper as well, but much harder to describe. Given what these things indicate, a Gnostic can come up with a description of their condition in story form, a mythos, entirely on their own that would ring true to other Gnostics (and therefore satisfy the World-View approach): however, it would be like being a writer without access to the work of other writers—a very small and limited literature indeed.

We tend to think in terms of beliefs, even among Gnostics, and speak of what we construe this or that Gnostic group to have believed. Yet a true expression of a Gnostic mythos can be found in a movie, a comic book, in a sixteen hundred year old codex, or the dream you had last night. And you can use any or all of them to your heart's content, and not be a Gnostic, or understand your experience in a form so idiosyncratic that it may never be shared, and still be a Gnostic.

Asking, “what do you believe?” of a Gnostic as if the answer could be given in the same way as an orthodox believer, precludes the possibility of Gnosticism, since its point is far beyond belief—it is Gnosis.