Dāl

He caused the letter Dalet to reign over Wisdom, and He tied a crown to it, and He
combined them with one another, and He formed through them: Mars in the universe, the third
day in the year, and the right ear in the body of male and female.

Sefer Yetzirah

أَفَلَمْ يَسِيرُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ فَتَكُونَ لَهُمْ قُلُوبٌ يَعْقِلُونَ بِهَا أَوْ آذَانٌ يَسْمَعُونَ بِهَا فَإِنَّهَا لَا تَعْمَى الْأَبْصَارُ وَلَٰكِن تَعْمَى الْقُلُوبُ الَّتِي فِي الصُّدُورِ

سورة الحج‎ (Surat al-Hajj 22:46)

 

“Think, then, O Man, of the holiness of your destination; you have this glory, that you were chosen to be, in some sort, the seat, sanctuary, and minister of the blessings of our God; and your heart may still be filled with these delicious treasures, whilst, at the same time, it sheds them abroad in the souls of your fellow-creatures; but, the more important your ministry is, the more just and right it is, that you should answer for your management.”

L.-C. de Saint-Martin, Man: His True Nature and Ministry

 

Quicumque Vult

Whosover will be saved?
And finds it necessary to say,
“That without doubt no faith remains”
Yet himself perishes everlastingly

The faith of Our Fathers has passed away,
Striving to understand God who is not real
Yet more real than any that came before.
And still we muddle confused and bored.

What of One God abiding in Unity
Or in Triplicate or Quadruplicate;
Essential essences meaning nothing.
And us thinking we will be saved.

Nevermind the theological truths,
Be thou drunk! you haven’t tasted
The vine, the way, the truth
Finding your faith untainted.

Infinities are there, uncreated,
A dazzling spectrum of varying hues.
This is God, wholly uncreated,
The God who is reflecting you.

Dust in the Wind

 

Today, Ash Wednesday, marks another return to the liturgical season of Lent, a period oftentimes associated with fasting, self-denial, and penance in many churches. For many post-restoration Gnostics, however, the meaning of this season shifts from one of denial and self-deprecation to an opportunity for engaging in deeper, more attentive, inner contemplation and meditation. Though the external symbols may appear the same, the penitential mood of this season has more in common with alerting us toward our true natures and our frequent inability to remember who we are and “whereto we speed[1]”, as opposed to attaching ourselves to guilt.

Scripture reminds us that we are in fact extensions of the eternal Godhead; immortal, incorrupt, made in the image of eternity[2]. Yet, due to the vast temporal distance from the initial moment of Creation, it is difficult for us to remember this truth and instead wander around in a more or less amnesiac state either bemoaning the gift that has been given us or, conversely, reveling mindlessly in temporal delights without pausing for a moment to recognize that material pleasures are fleeting and not intrinsically meaningful.

During this time of introspection, we are called to make a conscious effort toward remembering our own unique divinity and the divinity we share with the whole of Creation. Far from being a period of denial, Lent is an opportunity for radical engagement with ourselves and the world around us, an exercise to see things as the Godhead intended them to be. By saturating our experiences with meaning, we are able to rediscover the original moment of Creation as continually unfolding around us at all times, in all places and in all things.

The liturgical season of Lent is concrete marker for us to focus on what is ultimately an abstract process that each of us are going through individually in our spiritual process. By infusing this season with meaning, we encounter other markers along the way that can help us better focus our wandering minds. Ash Wednesday changes from penance and the negative religious mood of self-denial to being marked for stronger spiritual training [3]and casting off those things hindering our process and making us mentally and spiritually more capable of putting our experiences into a wider perspective as Jesus did in casting aside the temptations of using his messianic mission for worldly ends instead of offering an example for experiencing and exercising our free will[4].

Echoing my post from the previous year, the primary importance of Lent is to help us grow in our experience toward the divine in whatever form we may honor it. The goal is complete transformation and is unique to each and every one of us and there is no external litmus test for success or failure, only the intent and the rewards of being able to slowly see things as they are and receive being open to experience of our own dynamic divine nature.

---

[1] Excerpta ex Theodoto

[2] Wisdom 2:23

[3] Asceticism (from the Greek: ἄσκησις, áskēsis, “exercise” or “training”).

[4] Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-13

A Mass of Candles (and a little Beeswax)

As I noted in my entry last year, Candlemas, also known the Feast of the Presentation, is one of the Twelve Great Feasts and is celebrated by Christians world-wide in commemoration of the gospel account of Mary and Joseph’s presentation of Jesus in the Temple of Jerusalem to complete Mary’s ritual purification forty days after birth in accordance with the Law of Moses.

The tradition of purification following childbirth was something that, unsettlingly to many in our contemporary culture, survived well into the modern era in the Catholic and Anglican practice of churching new mothers forty days after childbirth wherein a blessing is given to mothers and prayers of thanksgiving are offered for the survival of the child, which with higher infant mortality concerns was a major reason to give thanks.

In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the Feast of Candlemas became deeply syncretized with the Irish quarter celebration of Imbolc which, even in modern Ireland, is considered to mark the beginning of Spring and is a festival fundamentally associated with the ancient goddess Bríg or Brigid, who may be fundamentally considered the same as the Christian Saint Brigid of Kildare whose feast occurs traditionally on the first of February. At this point, it’s hard to say which celebration and traditions influenced one another but in practice they have become so fused that to this day many modern Pagans celebrate it as one of their major yearly celebrations however the tradition of setting lights and keeping vigil are maintained.

Western ecclesial practice for this day maintains the tradition of blessing bees-wax candles to be used in church and by members of the community throughout the year. According to some traditions, the candles used by the faithful put to flight the assaults of evil spirits or faeries and have the additional advantage of warding away the harmful effects of storms. The emphasis on beeswax is something that deeply interests me in light of the current ecological disaster facing many beekeepers with the current die-offs as well as being someone who grew up in an agricultural community where bees are essential to daily life. The connection between liminal (cross-between) times, prophesy, and enlightment and the bee is something I find fascinating, in particular as a modern Gnostic.

Throughout the ancient Levant, the bee was believed to be the sacred insect that bridged the natural world to the underworld. Tomb decorations, in particular the Mycenean tholos tombs, were even shaped like bee-hives, likely in reference to the ancient goddess Potnia whose name simply means, “mistress”. Her title and epithets were also inherited by classical and Mycenean Greek and applied to many goddesses, including Kore in her role in the Arcadian mysteries of Eleusis.

The bee was also connected in many of these cultures with the gift of prophesy, elements of which are also apparent 1 Samuel 14:24-30:

“He [Jonathan] extended the staff that was in his hand, and dipped the tip of it in the honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his eyes brightened. Then one of the soldiers said, “Your father strictly charged the troops with an oath, saying, ‘Cursed be anyone who eats food this day.’ And so the troops are faint.” Then Jonathan said, “My father has troubled the land; see how my eyes have brightened because I tasted a little of this honey. How much better if today the troops had eaten freely of the spoil taken from their enemies; for now the slaughter among the Philistines has not been great.”

The Biblical connection between honey and prophesy continues in the account of the prophet John the Baptist who was said to wear clothing of camel hair and feed on locusts and wild honey. (Matthew 3:4, Mark 1:6) as well in the Apocalypse of John (Rev. 10:9-10)

Although the Romantic notion of a connection between a supposed Jesus Dynasty flourishing in France such as those popularized in the fictional books Holy Blood, Holy Grail and the The DaVinci Code, has been definitively disproven, golden bees (or cicadas!) as a symbol of royalty were discovered in 1653 in Tournai in the tomb of Childeric I, founder in 457 of the Merovingian dynasty and father of Clovis and were resurrected in usage by Emperor Napoleon of France in his coat of arms. Interestingly, as Father Donato+ points out in his speculative essay:

“[A] few days before his imperial coronation, Napoleon met with the Roman Pontiff in secret. This was the social and political backdrop of Dr. Fabré-Palaprat’s discovery of the Lévitikon in Paris that same year. The secretive meeting between Napoleon and the pope took place in Paris, but not as a State visit. During their private talks, the pope reportedly pressed Napoleon to sign a document in which Louis XIV “disavowed the articles of the declaration of the clergy in 1682, which was drawn up by Bishop Jacques Bénigne Bossuet as the foundation of the liberties of the Gallican Church… The pope was asking that Napoleon sign a document repudiating the authority of the French Monarch to his extraordinary authority over the established Catholic Church in France, which was claimed – and never relinquished legally – by Louis’ successors. Here, it is important to recall that after Louis XIV, his nephew, Philippe d’Orleans, served as regent for Louis XV. This Philippe is the Duke of Orleans who was appointed Grand-Master of the Order of the Temple, and reformer of its statutes. In name alone, but still by intention, this made Philippe and his successors the Johannite Patriarchs – privy to the secrets and the succession of St. John and everything that entailed. With a renewed monarchy, such as the one Napoleon was about to create, all of these prerogatives would eventually fall into the imperial lap. And the pope knew it.”

Although speculative, for Johannites this connection between the bee and its relevance to the mysteries of John may prove something fun to think about.

This Saturday Holy Paraclete Community will be celebrating the Vespers service of the Apostolic Johannite Church, a central part of the ceremony being the lighting of the lucernarium. Traditionally, it would be during the vespers service that the candles would be blessed however, in absence of a priest; I plan on distributing candles to the community out of symbolic solidarity.

For me personally, the morning of Candlemas will be spent in contemplative meditation and participation in Teo Bishop’s Solitary Druid Fellowship’s February Cross Quarter liturgy. Though not pagan myself (in spite of what P. Sufenas Virius Lupus may say), the emphasis on ecological awareness and integration as well as spiritual enlightenment and transformation found in modern druidry appeals to me very much and, in honor of the Brigid’s might not be a bad opportunity to help focus on the Sacred Flame within all people and all paths.

 

note: in the original post, I had erroneously called Imbolc and Irish ‘cross-quarter’ celebration. As PSVL notes in the comments: “Imbolc is not a cross-quarter day for the Irish, it’s a quarter-day. The whole notion that Imbolc, Beltaine, Lugnasad, and Samain are “cross-quarter days” comes from Wicca, not from Irish tradition. This is the first day of Spring for the Irish, just as Beltaine is the first of Summer, Lugnasad the first of Autumn, and Samain the first of Winter.”

Making Retrogrades Work for You

Phone gone missing? E-mails getting dropped left and right? Inability to express a simple thought without drooling all over your chin? Yup – that’s Mercury retrograde. In a departure from my typically more thoughtful posts, I figured I’d share some reflections on this particular astrological occurrence which seems to have become every astro-geek’s favorite whipping boy and “devil made me do it” excuse.

Since March 11^th of this year until around April 4^th, Mercury has been in a retrograde cycle. It happens at least three times per year when the apparent motion of a planet seems to move backward from its usual course from our perspective. As seen from Earth, all the planets appear to periodically switch direction as they cross the sky. In reality, the planets aren’t doing anything different than usual but since we’re the only sentient species on this planet that seems to have an interest in the motion of planetary spheres, our geocentrism tends to get the better of us and, when retrogrades were first observed, tended to puzzle ancient astronomers who viewed such occurrences as unfavorable at best or malefic at worst.

Is there anything to this – I can only answer, “Maybe.” From my own anecdotal experiences, periods of Mercury retrograde tend to be less than optimal times to start new projects in communication or practicing divination or anything dealing with electronics. Beyond my own anecdotal experiences, I can neither confirm nor deny the veracity of the hype. Also, from a strictly Gnostic perspective, we are informed in texts such as Excerpta ex Theodoto:

“[T]hrough the fixed stars and the planets, the invisible powers holding sway over them direct and watch over births. But the stars themselves do nothing but display the activity of the dominant powers, just as the flight of the birds (for omens) indicates something but effects nothing…Now the twelve signs of the Zodiac and the seven stars which follow them rising now in conjunction, now in opposition, . . . these, moved by the powers, show the movement of substance toward the, creation of living beings and the turn of circumstances. But both the stars and the powers are of different kinds: some are beneficent, some maleficent, some right, some left, and that which is born shares in both qualities. And each of them comes into being at its own time, the dominant sign fulfilling the course of nature, partly at the beginning, partly at the end…Until baptism, they say, Fate is real, but after it the astrologists are no longer right. But it is not only the washing that is liberating, but the knowledge of who we were, and what we have become, where we were or where we were placed, whither we hasten, from what we are redeemed, what birth is and what rebirth.”

In this context, any astronomical or astrological event should be considered in its due place as a natural occurrence with some subtle action upon the vast tapestry of creation but not as a fatalistic event that holds complete sway over every facet of our lives. This being said, certain astrological and astronomical events can be used as intentional periods of reflection on certain themes whereby we may better align our lives in concord with nature.

As mentioned by friend and fellow blogger Sam Block on his Digital Ambler: “[Mercury retrograde is] a good time for reviewing what’s been going on in one’s life, gathering up one’s thoughts, and contemplating without much planning.” He goes on listing some of his accomplishments and interactions during periods of retrograde and how one can proactively use it to one’s advantage. In agreement with him, I tend to treat retrograde periods as similar period for “deep thoughts” and “deeper questions” and actually tend to focus more on appreciating the luminary spheres for their placement in the kosmos.

Being a Mercurial person myself in many regards, I tend to amplify my thoughts and appreciation of the wanderer through various devotional practices such as meditating upon the corresponding celestial divinities associated with this planet.

 

Planet	Mercury
Heavenly Sphere	Kokab
Divine Name	Elohim Tzabaoth
Archangel	Michael
Angels	Beni Elohim (Sons of God)
Intelligence	Tiriel
Spirit	Taphthartharath
Psalms	22(14), 24(7), 40(5), 145
Scent	Cassia or Storax
Ikon	Christ the Good Shepherd, Holy Hermes Trismegistus

 

Above are enough correspondences to set up a working Mercury altar within a grimoire-based or Gnostic practice. One may even make a special altar cloth using the 8×8 planetary grid of Mercury to add a bit of flair to the occasion. The ikon of Christ the Good Shepherd has, in my opinion, a good association with Mercury as it is historically identical with the image of Hermes Kriophoros; alternately, at least amongst some in the Rennaisance, Hermes Trismegistus would also be appropriate since he was considered by many to be a contemporary of Moses and works attributed to him deemed not completely incompatible with Christian thought.

From here one may banish and purify the temple according to their usual practice and then recite a conjuration of Mercury such as the Orphic Hymn to Hermes:

TO HERMES

Hear me, Hermes, messenger of Zeus, son of Maia;
almighty is your heart, O lord of the deceased and judge of contests; gentle and clever, O Argeiphontes, you are a guide
whose sandals fly, and a man-loving prophet to mortals.
You are vigorous and you delight in exercise and in deceit;
interpreter of all, you are a profiteer who frees us of cares
and who holds in his hands the blameless tool of peace.
Lord of Korykos, blessed, helpful and skilled in words,
you assist in work, you are a friend of mortals in need,
and you wield the dreaded and respected weapon of speech.
Hear my prayer and grant a good end to a life
of industry, gracious talk, and mindfulness.

Or, for a more grimoire-influenced flavor, one may also use the following invocation modified from Pietro d’Abano’s Heptameron:

I CONJURE and call upon you, ye strong and holy angels, good and powerful, in a strong name of fear and praise, Ja, Adonay, Elohim, Saday, Saday, Saday; Eie, Eie, Eie; Asamie, Asamie; and in the name of Adonay, the God of Israel, who hath made the two great lights, and distinguished day from night for the benefit of his creatures; and by the names of all the discerning angels, governing openly in the Sixth Heave] before the great angel, Tiriel, strong and powerful; and by the name of his star which is Mercury; and by the name of his seal, which is that of a powerful and honoured God; and I call upon thee, Raphael, and by the names above mentioned, thou great angel who presidest over the fourth day: and by the holy name which is written in the front of Aaron, created the most high priest, and by the names of all the angels who are constant in the grace of Christ, and by the name and place of Ammaluim, that you assist me in my labours. Amen.”

Following this, one may silently meditate or pray on the Psalms or perform a basic divination (I prefer to use the method of coin divination outlined by Sannion which can be found here) and communicate with the intelligences briefly over concerns regarding lessons one may benefit from learning and record these in one’s journal. It’s important to remember that this isn’t a full-on conjuration practice in any traditional sense, merely information gathering and reflection.

The same type of outline can be used for other planets as well when in their retrograde stations to great effect – especially during periods when a planet appears to be in retrograde in one’s natal chart. The purpose, again, is not to become a fatalistic fool but to be able to intelligently communicate with the nature of the kosmos. With luck, this can become a regular practice even done in more opportune times that can be a middle ground between high-ceremony and simple devotion.

 

Thoughts Toward Actualizing a Gnostic Monastery Project

“…the restoration of the church will surely come only from a new type of monasticism which has nothing in common with the old but a complete lack of compromise in a life lived in accordance with the Sermon on the Mount in the discipleship of Christ.  I think it is time to gather people together to do this…” -Dietrich Bonhoeffer (January 14, 1935)

In the past several months, the topic of monasticism has come up on a few of the message boards in which I participate. As a lay person whose background has been indelibly influenced by a Catholic Benedictine heritage,  I owe a great deal of who I am today by the monastic experience. What made these particular conversations interesting is that the kind of monasticism being discussed is not that of Buddhism or the many traditional forms familiar to the West, but Gnostic Monasticism.

Although we can be fairly certain that there were never any Gnostic monasteries in the 1^st through 2^nd centuries of the common era, the discovery of the Nag Hammadi codices in Egypt indicate at least somewhat that what many contemporary Gnostics hold dear as scripture was once read and written in the very heart of the Orthodox expression of Monasticism. What is monasticism and why does it still exist? What would a Gnostic Monastery look like – is it even needed? There are many considerations to look at, but here are my observations for what they’re worth.

Monasticism as a Christian expression of vocation to religious life developed fairly early on in the history of the Church. Models of the Christian monastic ideal included groups and individuals such as the Nazirites[1], Moses, Elijah and the Hebrew prophets whereas New Testament figures such as John the Baptizer and the itinerant evangelization of the apostles tended to play a more prominent role. It is also very likely that early Christian monasticism could have also been influenced by the Essenes located near the Dead Sea as well as the Therapeutae of Alexandria.

Institutionalized Christian monasticism first appears to have taken root in the 3^rd Century in the deserts of 4^rd Century Egypt with the likes of Paul the Hermit, Anthony of Great and Pachomius. Around 350CE, Martin of Tours introduced monasticism to the West and a little over a century later, Benedict of Nursia established the Regula Benedicti (Rule of Saint Benedict) that led to him being credited with the title of father of western monasticism. By the time monasticism made inroads into the West, Benedict describes four different types of monks that were common around the time the text was penned:

“It is well known that there are four kinds of monks. The first kind are the Cenobites: those who live in monasteries and serve under a rule and an Abbot. The second kind are the Anchorites or Hermits: those who, no longer in the first fervor of their reformation, but after long probation in a monastery, having learned by the help of many brethren how to fight against the devil, go out well armed from the ranks of the community to the solitary combat of the desert. The third kind of monks, a detestable kind, are the Sarabaites… They live in twos or threes, or even singly, without a shepherd, in their own sheepfolds and not in the Lord’s. Their law is the desire for self-gratification: whatever enters their mind or appeals to them, that they call holy; what they dislike, they regard as unlawful. The fourth kind of monks are those called Gyrovagues (lit. ‘circuit wanderers’). These spend their whole lives tramping from province to province, staying as guests in different monasteries for three or four days at a time. Always on the move, with no stability, they indulge their own wills and succumb to the allurements of gluttony, and are in every way worse than the Sarabaites.”[2]

In the West, monastic communities tend to be organized into orders or congregations following a particular canon or rule such as the Rule of Saint Benedict or the Rule of Saint Augustine. In the East, monastic regulae (rules) never took root in the same way as in Western monasticism; instead, monks and nuns are encouraged to read Scripture and the writings of the Holy Mothers and Fathers and emulate their virtues. In both Eastern and Western examples, there are elements of active and contemplative life is more or less equally possible amongst religious although, in some orders, one may take precedence.

An example of a form of proto-neo-Gnostic monasticism can be found in the establishment of the Abbey of Thelema in Cefalù, founded by the early 20^th Century occultist Aleister Crowley. The Abbey of Thelema, name borrowed from François Rabelais’s satire Gargantua and Pantagruel is described as a sort of “anti-monastery” where the lives of the inhabitants were “spent not in laws, statutes, or rules, but according to their own free will and pleasure.[3]” It was through The Abbey of Thelema that Crowley had hoped to create an intentional community which would function as a type of esoteric school, giving it the designation Collegium ad Spiritum Sanctum, a “College Towards the Holy Spirit”. Despite only lasting three years, the Abbey of Thelema remains an ideal of a functioning, magical utopia by many contemporary followers of the magical and ethical philosophy of Thelema.

Amongst adherents of contemporary Christian Gnosticism, it would be difficult to imagine what form a modern monastic community would take due to incomplete data regarding the number of adherents of the various denominations. Because of this incomplete data and gaps in geography of members, it would stand to reason that a contemporary Gnostic monastic project would have to function independently from individual denominations or be ecumenical to such an extent that it could provide communally and individually for members belonging to particular denominations while also providing for both singles and committed couples. The model for such a community could be similar to that of the 1^st and 2^nd Century Therapeutae or those established by the Joachimites or the Brethren of the Free Spirit, two lay Christian movements which flourished in Europe in the 13th and 14th centuries.

Providing for physical space, a Gnostic monastic project would (in the United States) have to register as a tax-exempt, non-profit entity and accommodate for living, dining and community areas. In urban areas, following the model of the new monastic movement, such a group could potentially purchase housing or loft space in areas of a city that would be amenable for remodeling and have access to transportation into the cities. In less urban or even rural areas, it would be conceivably easier to construct a community that would ideally fit the needs of the community as well as provide for agricultural and such space as could be used to befit the specific mission of the project as is done in more conventional communes such as by the Cistercians or Mennonite communities.

As with the New Monastic Movement, a Gnostic Monastery Project would be able to provide a space where members may live thoughtful, prayerful, and contemplative lives in the context of a community and focus on engagement of a particular charism (e.g. education, social service, food services, plastic arts, construction, etc.). In a Christian monastic context, the Twelve Marks [4]could be easily applied or modified in order to suit a more ecumenical approach such as would be necessary if a community has members whose personal identification is more similar to Hermetic or Neo-Platonic schools of Gnosticism. Ultimately, these considerations would have to be taken into account as members of a Gnostic Monastery Project come together to establish their community.

The overall benefit of establishing a Gnostic Monastery Project would be to provide for an actualized, physical community where Gnostics or members of various Gnostic communities could come together and practice their beliefs in a contemplative environment. Secondly, as with exoteric expressions of Christianity and Buddhism, a Gnostic Monastery project could provide a visible example of the Restoration of the Gnosis[5] and become a center of promulgation for Gnostic ideals and values in a society that could benefit from them now more than ever and provide for the continuation and preservation of a faith that is at once ancient and, as monasticism itself, eternally new.

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[1] One who voluntarily took a vow described in Numbers 6:1–21

[2] Doyle, Leonard. Saint Benedict’s Rule for Monasteries.

[3] Wilson, Colin. Nature of the Beast.

[4] The Simple Way. http://www.thesimpleway.org/about/12-marks-of-new-monasticism/. 3/5/2012 8:38 PM

12 Marks of New Monasticism

1. Relocation to the abandoned places of Empire.
2. Sharing economic resources with fellow community members and the needy among us.
3. Hospitality to the stranger
4. Lament for racial divisions within the church and our communities combined with the active pursuit of a just reconciliation.
5. Humble submission to Christ’s body, the church.
6. Intentional formation in the way of Christ and the rule of the community along the lines of the old novitiate.
7.  Nurturing common life among members of intentional community.
8. Support for celibate singles alongside monogamous married couples and their children.
9. Geographical proximity to community members who share a common rule of life.
10. Care for the plot of God’s earth given to us along with support of our local economies.
11. Peacemaking in the midst of violence and conflict resolution within communities along the lines of Matthew 18.
12. Commitment to a disciplined contemplative life.

[5.] Doinel, Jules (Tau Valentin II). Restoration de la Gnose,

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On the Feast of Saint Valentinus

While many Christians take the fourteenth of February to celebrate the Feast of Saint Valentine – or one of the saint Valentines – many contemporary Gnostics have taken this day to memorialize the great Gnostic teacher and bishop Valentinus who the best known as the most successful early Christian gnostic theologian.

Recognized as a brilliant theologian even by his contemporaries who would later repudiate his teachings as unorthodox, Valentinus attracted a large following in Rome which would later become divided into an Eastern and a Western or Italian branch.

In honor of this great teacher, here are a selection of writings from the school of this great teacher, theologian and bearer of the Sacred Flame.

“Many of the things written in publicly available books are found in the writings of God’s church. For this shared matter is the utterances that come from the heart, the law that is written in the heart. This is the people of the beloved , which is beloved and which loves him. “ – Fragment 6.

“For each one loves truth because truth is the mouth of the Father. His tongue is the Holy Spirit, who joins him to truth attaching him to the mouth of the Father by his tongue at the time he shall receive the Holy Spirit.” – The Gospel of Truth

“For this reason, God came and destroyed the division and he brought the hot Pleroma of love, so that the cold may not return, but the unity of the Perfect Thought prevail” – The Gospel of Truth

“Moreover, the first baptism is the forgiveness of sins. We are brought from those of the right, that is, into the imperishability which is the Jordan. But that place is of the world. So we have been sent out of the world into the Aeon. For the interpretation of John is the Aeon, while the interpretation of that which is the upward progression, that is, our Exodus from the world into the Aeon.” – On the Baptism A.

“It is from water and fire that the soul and the spirit came into being. It is from water and fire and light that the son of the bridal chamber came into being. The fire is the chrism, the light is the fire. I am not referring to that fire which has no form, but to the other fire whose form is white, which is bright and beautiful, and which gives beauty.” – The Gospel of Philip

Wherefore on this day, may we be reminded of the great and holy Valentinus and as successors and heirs give him due honor and praise.

O glorious teacher and protector, Holy Valentinus,
we who are but babes rushing forth from the womb
ask thee to hear our requests,
attend to our prayers,
make clear the path of righteousness,
reveal by your intercession the Truth we seek,
and obtain for us the blessing of the Unknown Father,
that we may be found worthy to join you in the Limitless Light,
: through the merits of the Christos and of our Holy Mother Sophia. Amen.

-unattributed prayer

Gnosticism and Christianity: an Overview

Inspired by a few conversations I’ve been having recently with people regarding Gnosticism, I’ve decided to borrow (and plagiarize) the side-by-side comparison chart method found on the well-known inter and intra-faith website Patheos* to, perhaps, provide a useful comparative analysis of the interrelationship between Christianity and Gnosticism.

Making any definitive statement about Gnosticism as a whole is fraught with much difficulty considering the varying definitions of the subject itself as well as variations within this particular religious tradition. As such, I have tried to remain inclusive of Jewish, Christian and non-Christian variations and perspectives of Gnosticism while still trying to present it as part of a continuum of related ideas.

*I’m sorry Patheos writers for not coming up with my own wording, I was being lazy. You guys rock.

Christianity		Gnosticism
Quick Facts
Symbol	+	⊕
Formed	33CE	2nd Century BCE
Adherents	2,100,000,000	Unknown
Origin	Palestine	Near East, Egypt
Deity	God (Trinity)	God (Remote, supreme monadic divinity and/or Trinity)
Sacred Text	Bible	Bible, Nag Hammadi Library, miscellaneous texts
Headquarters	None	None
Details
Origins	Christianity Origins	Gnostic Origins
Beginnings	Christianity originated in the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, who was born circa 4 BCE in Roman-occupied Palestine, a Jewish province of the Roman Empire.	Gnosticism appears to have occurred as early as the 2nd century BCE, eventually fusing with Christianity by the 2nd Century CE around Alexandria, Egypt.
Influences	The Jewish, Greek, and Roman cultures of the formative first two centuries of the Common Era had a deep and lasting influence on the new faith of Christianity.	The Jewish, Greek, Egyptian and, later, emergent Christian cultures between the 2nd Century BCE and 2nd Century CE had a deep and lasting influence on the development of Gnosticism.
Founders	Christianity is founded in the life and teachings of Jesus, and was established in Jerusalem and propagated throughout the Roman Empire in the 1st century CE by enthusiastic evangelists.	Gnosticism was founded in the diverse social and religious milieus of Hellenized Palestine and Egypt and by the 2nd Century had fused primarily with Christianity by enthusiastic philosophers.
Scriptures	Christian scriptures are gathered in the Christian Bible, which contains the Jewish scriptures in addition to the twenty-seven books of the New Testament.	Gnostic scriptures are gathered in the Christian Bible, which contains the Jewish scriptures in addition to canonical and non-canonical scripture of the New Testament as well as Greek and Egyptian philosophical texts collectively known as the Nag Hammadi Library.
Historical Perspectives	What scholars do and do not believe with regard to Christianity influences the ways in which they interpret its history, both past and present. There has been an increasing consciousness of the global diversity of Christianity.	What scholars do and do not believe with regard to Gnosticism as a religion or continuum of related philosophical ideas influences the ways in which they interpret its history, both past and present. Gnosticism is difficult to define as a distinct religion or philosophy.

A Little Gnostic Divine Office for Evening

Continuing from my post yesterday on my work toward a Gnostic Liturgy of the Hours, I put together a Little Gnostic Divine Office for evening again under the inspiration of the service for the same as found in the BCP. As an ecumenical service for Gnostics across different traditions, there are some further considerations to be made, especially in regards to the rotation of readings.

A Little Gnostic Divine Office for Evening

An Act of Confession

Officiant                   We have come before God and before you and before the ordinances of the Holy Church that we may receive pardon and penance for all our sins in thought, word and deed from our birth until now and we ask of God mercy and of you that you pray for us to the Holy Father of Mercy that He forgive us.

People                       Lord, have mercy.

Officiant                   By our tongues we fall into idle words, vain talk, mockery and malice, detraction of our brothers and sisters whom we are not worthy to judge nor to condemn their faults.

People                       Lord, have mercy.

Officiant                   For numerous are the sins by which we daily offend God, night and day, in thought, in word and deed, wittingly and unwittingly, and especially by the desires the evil spirits bring to us in the flesh which clothes us.

People                       Lord, have mercy.

Officiant                   May the almighty and ineffable God, have mercy on us, forgive us our short-comings and draw us nearer to the light of gnosis. Amen.

The Invitatory and Psalter

All stand

Officiant                   God, come to my assistance.

People                       Lord, make haste to help us.

Officiant and People

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as

it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Except in Lent,    Alleluia    may be added.

O Gracious Light                                Phos hilaron

O gracious Light,

pure brightness of the everliving Father in heaven,

O Jesus Christ, holy and blessed!

 

Now as we come to the setting of the sun,

and our eyes behold the vesper light,

we sing thy praises, O God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Thou art worthy at all times to be praised by happy voices,

O Son of God, O Giver of life,

and to be glorified though all the worlds.

Then follows

The Psalm or Psalms Appointed

At the end of the Psalms is sung or said

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *

as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

The Lessons

One or two lessons, as appointed, are read, the Reader first saying

A Reading (Lesson) from _______________.

A citation giving chapter and verse may be added.

After each Lesson the Reader may say

The Word of the Lord.
Answer                    Thanks be to God.

Or the Reader may say

Here ends the Lesson (Reading)

A Hymn of Grace for Gnosis            from the Hymns of Hermes

We give Thee grace, Thou highest and most excellent! For by Thy Grace we have received the so great Light of Thy own Gnosis. O holy Name, fit Name to be adored, O Name unique, by which God only must be blest through worship of our Sire, of Thee who deignest to afford to all a Father’s piety, and care, and love, and whatsoever virtue is more sweet than these, endowing us with sense, and reason, and intelligence;-with sense that we may feel Thee; with reason that we may track Thee out from appearances of things; with means of recognition that we may joy in knowing Thee.

Saved by Thy Power divine, let us rejoice that Thou hast shown Thyself to us in all Thy Fullness. Let us rejoice that Thou hast designed to consecrate us, still entombed in bodies, to Eternity.

For this is the sole festival of praise worthy of man-to know Thy Majesty.

We know Thee; yea, by the Single Sense of our intelligence, we have perceived Thy Light supreme,-O Thou True Life of life, O Fecund Womb that giveth birth to every nature!

We have known Thee, O Thou completely filled with the Conception from Thyself of Universal Nature! We have known Thee, O Thou Eternal Constancy!

Form the whole of this our prayer in worship of Thy Good, this favour only of Thy Goodness do we crave: that Thou wilt keep us constant in our Love-of-knowing- Thee, and let us ne’er be cut off from this kind of Life.

The Prayers

The People stand.

Officiant                   The Lord be with you.
People                       And also with you.
Officiant                   Let us pray.

The Lord’s Prayer

Officiant and People

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our tresspasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.

O Holy Mother                                    a 13^th Century Cathar prayer

Officiant and People

O Holy Mother

Rightful Queen of all the faithful souls

Who never erred

Who never lied

Follower of the rightful course

Who never doubted

Lest we should accept death

In the realm of the false god;

As we do not belong to this realm

And this realm is not ours:

Teach us Thy Gnosis

And to love what Thou lovest.

Amen.

Prayer of Thanksgiving                     from the Nag Hammadi Library

Officiant

The thanksgiving of one who attains to You is one thing: that we know You. We have known You, intellectual light. Life of life, we have known You. Womb of every creature, we have known You. Womb pregnant with the nature of the Father, we have known You.

People

Eternal permanence of the begetting Father, thus have we worshiped Your goodness. There is one petition that we ask: we would be preserved in knowledge. And there is one protection that we desire: that we not stumble in this kind of life. Amen

Then may be said

Let us bless the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Optionally, the Officiant may lead the Dance

The Hymn of Jesus & Dance

Officiant

I have recognized myself and gathered myself
together from all sides. I have sown no children to the ruler of
this world, but have torn up his roots;
I have gathered together my limbs that were scattered
abroad and I know thee who thou art.

Officiant

and People                Amen. Amen. Amen.

Officiant                   For the Logos danceth.

People                       Amen!

Officiant                   And the Sophia danceth.

People                       Amen.

Officiant                   The Ogdoad playeth to our dancing.

People                       Amen.

Officiant                   The Dodecad danceth above us.

People                       Amen.

Officiant                   The Heptad danceth with us.

People                       Amen.

Officiant                   Yea, and we all dance the dance!

Officiant

and People                He who danceth not, knoweth not
what is being done.
Officiant                     May we all within the All forever dance.

Officiant

and People               Amen. Amen. Amen.

At present the suggested format for readings is to loosely follow those outlined according to the A, B, C yearly cycle in the Revised Common Lectionary. Naturally, some variations will need to be modified as a more comprehensive liturgical format is innovated or used in accordance to one’s pre-existing Gnostic community.

The current format, according to the Revised Common Lectionary is as follows:

Year A:  2007-2008, 2010-2011, 2013-2014

Year B:  2008-2009, 2011-2012, 2014-2015

Year C:  2009-2010, 2012-2013, 2015-2016

Readings for the Gnostic Gospels can be chosen from those suggested in A Gnostic Book of Hours, combining the readings of Laudes, Prime, and Terce for the Morning Office and None, Vespers and Compline for the Evening Office. These, naturally, can change according to one’s specific liturgical tradition.

Ethiopic-inspired painting of St.Tekle Haimanot by Laura James