Spiritual practice is essential to the Johannite tradition, and this book will show you how to begin. Using the framework of the Logos Service, the quintessential Johannite practice, you will learn the basic techniques of many different types of prayer, meditation, contemplation, asceticism, and esoteric practice from a Johannite perspective. Whether you attend mass regularly at a Johannite parish, or if you live far from one, you will find a practice or two that will help guide you on the path to Gnosis.

This Is A New Release Of The Original 1922 Edition.

At the age of forty, Ethel, who grew up in Los Angeles, California, decided to take possession of her true name, Hannah-the name on her Israeli birth certificate. To make a little ceremony of it, she asked the bishop of an esoteric storefront Gnostic church in Hollywood to baptize her. Without preconception or preparation, she found herself pulled into a world of early Christian myths and symbols. The "dreamtime" world that engulfed her after this baptism became her guidance, as marriage and family disintegrated. As Hannah, she was drawn up through church sacraments from a suburban life she'd never wanted to live, through a mystical initiation she never asked for, which culminated in ordination to the Gnostic priesthood. But that attainment was not the conclusion. Hannah Rappaport's memoir of this journey is mystical and pragmatic, heartbreaking and healing. "I am mesmerized by Hannah's story. When a Jewish woman can be utterly transformed by her encounter with an ancient Christian Wisdom Way, and still honor her roots, there is hope for peace on earth. Hannah Rappaport is a living example of the power of the interspiritual life. Highly recommended." Mirabai Starr, Author of GOD OF LOVE: A Guide to the Heart of Judaism, Christianity & Islam "Hannah Rappaport's uniquely beautiful and accomplished tale of spiritual transformation will serve as guidance and inspiration for those who hear the call of the transcendent in their own lives." Sean Murphy, Author of: Hope Valley Hubcap King, Time of New Weather, The Finished Man, One Bird One Stone

Early Heresiological Works Against the Gnostics

The world of Jesus and the early Christians swarmed with prophets and exorcists, holy men and healers, who invoked angels and demons, gods and ghosts. Magic in Christianity: From Jesus to the Gnostics explores that world through the surviving texts of the first Christians and their pagan and Jewish contemporaries. Ecstatic spirit possession, handing opponents over to Satan, sending demons into swine, striking others dead on the spot by pronouncing curses, using articles of clothing and parts of corpses to perform magical healing and exorcism, invoking ghosts and angels for protection-these are all ancient Christian practices described in the New Testament, explained in detail by early Christian writers, and preserved by Christian amulets. Pagans and Jews accused Jesus and his followers of practicing magic and Christians accused one another of sorcery. Both pagan and early orthodox writers describe the rituals of the Gnostic sects in detail, including the magical passwords required to cross through the gates of the lower heavens. Magic in Christianity: From Jesus to the Gnostics examines evidence from the New Testament, the first Christian apologists, early apocryphal works, curse tablets and amulets to reconstruct the apocalyptic magical world of Jesus and the first Christians.