Gnostics, Gnostics Everywhere!

Ecclesia Gnostica in Nova Albion blog compares Gnosticism to Mahayana Buddhism.

Examiner.com has recently posted a list of questions you can ask yourself to see if you have succumbed to the mass resurgence of the Christian heresy of gnosticism, which has infected popular culture, academia and politics. Eric Voegelin believed that most 19th and 20th century ideologies were gnostic, from Marxism, to feminism, to postmodernism. The linguists, the semioticians, the cyberpunks, the quantum physicists are, in their course of thought, Christian heretics and Neoplatonists. We have a belief system rampant in our culture, with most people unaware of it, even as they subscribe to its values. The Examiner also has a list of the sexiest gnostics of all time, including Neo of The Matrix movies.

Sophia, Gnostic Goddess of Wisdom.

The Examiner sarcastically claims the questions were developed by Gourdjeff Lionworthy, a Gnostic Ascended Master and spokesman for the Gnostic International Tribunal (GIT). The questions are entertaining reminders of how widespread gnosticism is:

--When you hear the word ‘God’ about ten different concepts swarm your brain to the point you sometimes lose consciousness for a few seconds.

--Your ‘Bible’ consists of three or four very thick volumes surrounded by a herd of books written by such authors as Stephan Hoeller, Hans Jonas, Kurt Rudolph, William Blake, Carl Jung, or Elaine Pagels. Nearby, there might be a sacrosanct stack of DVD’s with the possible titles of The Matrix, The Prisoner, Dark City, The Truman Show or Fight Club. Often, there are neighboring Solomonic dual pillars of fiction paperbacks and graphic novels by writers bearing the last names of Moore, Wilson, Dick, Morrison or Miller, just to name a few. Oh, and there is a copy of the actual Bible somewhere within reach.

--The word ‘lacuna’ puts you in a bad mood.

--You have always believed that you were born in the wrong time and place. With age, though, you can’t shake a nagging feeling that you will never belong in any time and place. Your true home is your imagination because nothing conceived on Heaven or Earth can match it.

--When asked if you are a theist, atheist, or deist you often reply ‘yes’.

--You have replaced ‘Murphy’s Law’, ‘karma’, ‘luck’ with the term ‘Archons’. If your computer has indigestion, the Internet acts like a toddler, or your car betrays you at the worst time, you blame the Archons. You’ve never actually met one or really don’t know if they exist, but you’ll never feed one after midnight.

--When you were a child, you wondered if the Old Testament God could really be the father of Jesus Christ. Now that you’re an adult, you realize that The Bible has many gods and many Christs.

--The rockiest, rollercoaster yet ecstatic relationships you’ve had in your life are the ones with Paul of Tarsus and Mary of Magdala.

--One of your common remarks to people is, “G-nostic, not Ag-nostic! There is no ‘a’, dude!”

--You are sure you have experienced something called Gnosis, but since you’re in the thick of this pathless labyrinth you won’t be able to adequately explain the concept until it ebbs like a seashore. And you have a feeling that when you’ve reached the other side you’ll be wearing an altogether different birthday suit. In other words, the Red Pill goes down slowly and the glass is sometimes fully empty.

--You have no problem with the word ‘religion’, even though you haven’t completely figured out yours or where you exactly fall in it. This usually annoys your Occult and New Age colleagues.

--You hear voices everywhere and even in the depths of nowhere. The entire universe is a symphony calling to you--or more like a bittersweet requiem of an innocent state of being when you and the stars were one and existed without boundaries, rules, or identity. If you can recall the original notes in their entirety, you will finally arrive at the end of the beginning before you were you.