The Gnostic Society Arizona is dedicated to the study, understanding, and individual experience of gnosis. “He who has ears, let him hear.”
Gnosticism: New Light on the ancient tradition of inner knowing.
The Greek word gnosis means “knowledge.” The Gnostic worldview developed alongside Judeo-Christianity two thousand years ago. But while Christianity emphasizes faith, Gnosticism emphasizes a state of consciousness for knowing God directly-an aim which mainstream Christianity finds heretical. Stephan Hoeller’s comprehensive overview is an unfolding historical drama filled with passion, political intrigue, martyrdom, and mystery. It also reveals Gnosticism as the indigenous mystical tradition of the West.
Attention is focused on:
- The Gnostic view of the Divine and the manifest world, Good and Evil, and the essence of the human soul
- The Gnostic Christ as the messenger of Light and the guide to sacred mysteries
- Sophia, the Gnostic archetype of Feminine Wisdom
- The scriptures, sacraments, and rituals of Gnostic religions such as the Mandaean, holding secret wisdom traced back to John the Baptist; the Manichaean, founded by the great third century Persian prophet, Mani; and the Cathar, the glorious and persecuted movement in medieval southern France
- Gnostic literature and its influence on cultural giants such as Voltaire, Blake, Yeats, Hesse, Melville, and Jung
- Gnosticism West and East, what constitutes a Gnostic, and how Gnosticism can guide us in the twenty-first century.
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