Lesson 1 - Gnosis
9.2.2003
First things first. I'd like to define the word "Gnosis." The word is Greek and means "Knowledge." This is not simply information obtained through intellectual study, it is actually knowing. You can listen to descriptions or read all you want about sex, but you will never truly know what it's like until you experience it for yourself. I used the example of sex on purpose. In Genesis, the verb "to know" is used to indicate sexual intercourse. This has made its way into popular vernacular, "He knew her in the biblical sense." The first explicit use of "to know" in this way occurs in Genesis 4:1 "And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived..." This event occurs shortly after they had both eaten from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. I will develop this idea more in later lessons.
What we are talking about when we use the term "Gnosis" is direct, experiential knowledge of divinity, humanity and nature. Someone referring to themselves as "Gnostic" is one who has obtained and/or seeks after Gnosis. Usually when you encounter the term Gnostic or Gnosticism, it is referring to a school of thought within Christianity (although this Gnostic Christianity is considered heretical by the majority of Christian sects.) However, true Gnosticism transcends the boundaries of religious segregation. There is a thread of Gnosticism within virtually every religion in the world, some more noticeable than others. For instance, Buddhism and Taoism are two religions that have very pronounced Gnostic elements. Gnosticism has made itself present within Judaism and Islam as well; The Kabalah and Sufism are quite Gnostic in many respects. Hermeticism has nothing within it that is not Gnostic. Hellenic Paganism was also quite a powerful vehicle for the Gnosis. An explicitly Gnostic religion called Thelema was founded by Aleister Crowley (1875-1947).
Although there will be quite a bit of crossover, the form of Gnosticism that these lessons will concentrate on will be Luciferian. The concept of Lucifer and the Luciferian path will be developed in subsequent lessons. We'll get into some Greek Mythology and investigate some veiled symbology in Genesis. Once we get the basics out of the way, we can really start having some fun with this!
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