The GCC has chosen to establish what was once called a regular clergy, as distinct from a secular clergy-that is to say, something much closer to monks than to ministers. This was the core model for clergy in the old Celtic Church in Ireland, Wales, Brittany, and other Celtic nations, in the days before the Roman papacy imposed its rule on the lands of Europe's far west. Members of the Celtic clergy were monks first and foremost, living lives focused on service to the Divine rather than the needs of a congregation, and those who functioned as priests for local communities did so as a small portion of a monastic lifestyle that embraced many other dimensions. In all Gnostic traditions, personal religious experience is the goal that is set before each aspirant and the sole basis on which questions of a religious nature can be answered-certain teachings have been embraced as the core values from which the Gnostic Celtic Church as an organization derives its broad approach to spiritual issues. Those core teachings may be summarized in the words "Gnostic, Universalist, and Pelagian" which are described in this book.

The fifth issue of The Gnostic. Interviews with Gary Lachman on Hermes Trismegistus, Patrick Harpur on the soul, and Nicholas Baker-Brian on the Manichaeans. Sean Martin on David Lindsay's A Voyage to Arcturus, Jeffrey Kupperman on the Neoplatonic roots of Hermeticism, Dean Wilson on the links between Enochian magic and Gnosticism, and a brilliant article by Stevan Davies on the Odes of Solomon and the origins of Christianity. Sorita D'Este on the Great Rite. The theology of Nick Cave. The bright side of Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian. Scott Finch's Gnostic comic, short fiction, a Cathar travelogue, reviews and more

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The disheveled beggar approached Jo Anna Ford shortly after she exited the Church of St. Francis of Assisi in Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico. He had a simple request: Fifty cents for the bus that would take him to a free meal at the Community Center. Jo Anna carried no purse during her evening walks; she apologized for having no money with her. "Then, would you just talk with me for a moment?" he asked. "We could sit on that stone wall and just chat a bit." It seemed to be a simple request, and Jo Anna agreed to sit with him for just a few minutes. Within a few seconds she was listening to a story of hardship, loss, loneliness, and despair. As he finished the brief chronicle of his life, he revealed his most painful secret. He had been diagnosed as "schizophrenic with messianic ideation" and locked away in a mental institution for years. With a determined gaze and a soft smile, he assured Jo Anna that he was not insane. She began to doubt her own sanity when she realized she actually believed him - not that he was the Messiah, but that he was not insane. That strange encounter rekindled her interest in the historical Jesus. It was the beginning of a journey that would lead her to the philosophers and historians of Jesus' time: Philo of Alexandria, Josephus, Tacitus, Seutonius, Pliny, and others. She found the epic poems of Ovid, and Homer, and Euripides. The puzzle pieces each of these ancient sources held eventually led her to a most startling realization. Someone would have to rewrite The History of the Roman Empire to include the amazing feats of the man and woman who played the roles of Jesus the Nazarene and Mary Magdalene. And as far as she knew, she was the only person who had been able to uncover their secret historical identities.

Gnostics are those who have faith in Grace through Wisdom. They know their Redeemer liveth along with the evil angels of our worst nature. If God existed as a great guru and manic delusion, they would have to kill Him to keep him out of their lives, lest the crux and soul of truth be lost.

THIS 38 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Fragments of a Faith Forgotten, by G. R. S. Mead. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 092280222X.

Diary of the Antichrist is the written record of the Spirit and Life of the ANTICHRIST, whose time is now at hand. Also in this book are the Scriptures of the Antichrist, as well as the Qabalah of the Antichrist. This is the second edition of the book (December 21, 2012) published in association with the Aleister Crowley Foundation.

So for centuries among the Jews, writers sought to shelter themselves behind the names of the great dead. In this they were guilty of no fraud. They imagined what Solomon or Enoch would say, or sing, upon a particular theme under given circumstances. It was not really they themselves, but their Solomon, their Enoch, Solomon or Enoch in them, who uttered the new prophesies or temple praises. Thus arose that body of literature, called by modern scholars, "Pseudepigrapha," that is, writings erroneously, unhistorically, and yet sincerely, ascribed to heroic figures summed from the vasty deep by a self-denying imagination, eager to alter man's belief and custom, to interpret his hope and sorrow, without personal gain or fame, and also, may one add, without the deterrent of persecution to arrest free utterance Now it is a foolish modern prejudice against an ancient piece of literature that its author veiled his person in this fashion. The only question is: Was the writing of inherent value? Did it exercise influence?

THIS 32 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Fragments of a Faith Forgotten, by G. R. S. Mead. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 092280222X.

THIS 26 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Fragments of a Faith Forgotten, by G. R. S. Mead. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 092280222X.

1897. A short history of the Manichaean religion, which was taught by Manes, a native of Babylonia, who was put to death by order of the Shah Bahram or Varanes I in 175.

THIS 42 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Select Works of Plotinus, by Plotinus . To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 1564594297.

These are the so-called lost years in the life of Jesus of Nazareth, the years strangely absent from the Christian narrative before he took up his public ministry at the age of thirty. The story is told from the viewpoint of his younger cousin, Veronica. Their mothers are sisters, and from the outset Mary and Salome's deep bond is reflected in the lives of the young cousins. Two stories are entwined as one; that of the man Jesus as he studies and travels through distant lands, slowly coming to terms with his extraordinary mission. And it is the story of the women who profoundly impacted his life. He often told them he would only accomplish his work if they stepped up to fulfill their destinies alongside him. Veronica narrates her own experiences in Palestine, Brittany, and Egypt, enriched with visionary glimpses of her cousin on his travels. A second voice follows Jesus during those long years when he is far from his family and all that he knows, studying with the Masters of his day, in turn sharing his wisdom and compassion with the many who are drawn to him. When at last he returns to Nazareth, the two voices join, bringing the story to a close at the baptism in the River Jordan. The story finds its heart in the great cultural crossroads of Jerusalem, where the various Jewish sects collide under increasing pressure from Rome. The teachings of the Master Jesus are as relevant today as they were 2,000 years ago.

THIS 32 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Fragments of a Faith Forgotten, by G. R. S. Mead. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 092280222X.

THIS 118 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Gnostics and their Remains Ancient and Mediaeval, by C. W. King. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 0766103811.

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1897. A short history of the Manichaean religion, which was taught by Manes, a native of Babylonia, who was put to death by order of the Shah Bahram or Varanes I in 175.

Pistis Sophia is an important Gnostic text, possibly written as early as the 2nd century. The five remaining copies, which scholars place in the 5th or 6th centuries, relate the Gnostic teachings of the transfigured Jesus to the assembled disciples (including his mother Mary, Mary Magdalene, and Martha), when the risen Christ had accomplished eleven years speaking with his disciples. In it the complex structures and hierarchies of heaven familiar in Gnostic teachings are revealed. The female divinity of gnosticism is Sophia, a being with many aspects and names. She is sometimes identified with the Holy Spirit itself but, according to her various capacities, is also the Universal Mother, the Mother of the Living or Resplendent Mother, the Power on High, She-of-the-left-hand (as opposed to Christ, understood as her husband and he of the Right Hand), as the Luxurious One, the Womb, the Virgin, the Wife of the Male, the Revealer of Perfect Mysteries, the Holy Dove of the Spirit, the Heavenly Mother, the Wandering One, or Elena (that is, Selene, the Moon). She was envisaged as the Psyche of the world and the female aspect of Logos. The title Pistis Sophia is obscure, and is sometimes translated Faith wisdom or Wisdom in faith or Faith in wisdom. A more accurate translation taking into account its gnostic context, is the faith of Sophia, as Sophia to the gnostics was a divine syzygy of Christ, rather than simply a word meaning wisdom. In an earlier, simpler version of a Sophia, in the Berlin Codex and also found in a papyrus at Nag Hammadi, the transfigured Christ explains Pistis in a rather obscure manner: Again, his disciples said: Tell us clearly how they came down from the invisibilities, from the immortal to the world that dies? The perfect Saviour said: Son of Man consented with Sophia, his consort, and revealed a great androgynous light. Its male name is designated 'Saviour, begetter of all things'. Its female name is designated 'All-begettress Sophia'. Some call her 'Pistis'. The best-known of the five manuscripts of Pistis Sophia is bound with another Gnostic text titled on the binding "Piste Sophiea Cotice." This "Askew Codex" was purchased by the British Museum (now British Library) in 1795 from a Dr. Anthony Askew. Until the discovery of the Nag Hammadi library in 1945, the Askew Codex was one of three codices that contained almost all of the gnostic writings that had survived the suppression of such literature both in East and West, the other two codices being the Bruce Codex and the Berlin Codex. Aside from these primary sources, everything written about Gnosticism before the Nag Hammadi library became available is based on quotes, characterizations, and caricatures in the writings of the enemies of Gnosticism. The purpose of these heresiological writings were polemical, presenting Gnostic teachings as absurd, bizarre, and self-serving, and as an aberrant heresy from a proto-orthodox and orthodox Christian standpoint. The text proclaims that Jesus remained on earth after the resurrection for 11 years, and was able in this time to teach his disciples up to the first (i.e. beginner) level of the mystery. It starts with an allegory paralleling the death and resurrection of Jesus, and describing the descent and ascent of the soul. After that it proceeds to describe important figures within the gnostic cosmology, and then finally lists 32 carnal desires to overcome before salvation is possible, overcoming all 32 constituting salvation. Pistis Sophia includes quotes from five of the Odes of Solomon, found in chapters between 58 and 71. Pistis Sophia was the only known source for the actual wording of any of the Odes until the discovery of a nearly-complete Syriac text of the Odes in 1909. Because the first part of this text is missing, Pistis Sophia is still the only source for Ode 1.

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THIS 158 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Fragments of a Faith Forgotten, by G. R. S. Mead. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 092280222X.

THIS 30 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Gnosis or Ancient Wisdom in the Christian Scriptures or the Wisdom in a Mystery, by William Kingsland. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 1564591697.

THIS 66 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Gnostics and their Remains Ancient and Mediaeval, by C. W. King. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 0766103811.

Written for the general reader, Dr. A. Nyland's new translation contains both the Coptic and the Greek translations of the Gospel of Thomas. New Testament parallels are also included. As usual, Dr. Nyland avoids theological commentary, and the notes address solely the language. The Nag Hammadi discovery of 1945 unearthed a complete version of The Gospel of Thomas in Coptic. This discovery made it possible to identify the Oxyrhynchus texts as fragments of a Greek edition of The Gospel of Thomas. While there is close correlation between the two versions, there are also notable differences.

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