America - The Dangerous Influx of Gnosticism, Solutions

The answer to the spreading Gnostic attitudes is simple. Just realize that no culture has ever been built around Gnostic beliefs because they are anti-culture, anti-life and even anti-existence.  That makes it fairly hard to inspire folks to pull together and build something. Also, most people have the good sense to see that such beliefs are nonsense. The World is a mix of good and evil; it never is totally one or the other. Accept that and get over it. Then move on and enjoy the time you have on this magnificent Earth. Live your life, enjoy your loved ones and trust your Creator. In every bit of darkness is a seed of light. Look for that seed and nurture it. Things will get better, for awhile, then they will darken again and you have to go back to work. All of that is a Dance of the Divine. Have fun with it or carry it like a burden, your choice. Me? I would much prefer to have fun.

Why the rise of Gnosticism at this time? Easy. Times right now are rough and uncertain and most folks have no sense of history. If they did, they would realize that, in past times, things were much, much worse. Now, yes they are bad and there is the potential for them to become nightmarish for many of us. The folks running the show (or so they think), the Powers that be, want us compliant and Gnosticism breeds apathy.

Just realize the foolishness, the inanity of Gnostic beliefs and ground yourself in a more spiritually satisfying and rational belief system and avoid Gnostic pitfalls. But, you might ask, what about those pesky Archons or demons or whatever you want to call them? Good question.

These entities play on our weaknesses, so, toughen up. Get yourself healthy. Get plenty of sleep, eat well and exercise. If you feel rested . that is enough sleep for you. Do not overdo it. Eating well does not mean living on wheat grass smoothies and exercise does not mean you spending hours each day in the gym. A sensible ordinary diet and a daily brisk walk should do the trick. If you still do not feel well,  consider a trip to the  doctor, preferably one who does not start writing prescriptions the minute you walk in.

Psychologically, things are a bit more complicated. The entities we are talking about pick up what bothers you and magnify that; they know how to push your buttons. So, learn your buttons. Are there things that anger you? That you are ashamed of/ That produce irrational fear? That is what they look for. Deal with those issues. Anger and shame generally come from past actions. You can spend countless hours in therapy and you may get to the root of some of those  but, there is a quicker way. Realize that you, me, and every other human are damaged, flawed individuals, yet, our Creator is willing to forgive us. That being the case, you have no right to hold grudges against anyone, including the person you were in the past. Just the act of forgiveness takes all of the power out of those past misdeeds. Move on and do better. Things will be better and you take power from your tormentors. Fear, when rational is healthy, unless it becomes obsessive. If your fears are irrational, just learn to trust your Creator. All will ultimately be just fine.

Are these entities real? Can they ever be trusted? I will answer the second question first. If you feel that during at any time, you are being communicated with by any of them, look for one thing. Do they tell you just what you want to hear and promise incredible powers and/or wealth? Then no,  they are not to be trusted. Just ignore them. If they point out flaws that you must work on, if they occasionally seem to give you a slap on the head when you mess up, if they soothe that same head when you do well, in other words, if they act as any good teacher or councilor would, then trust them, until and unless they start to vary from that behavior.

Are these real entities. projections from the minds of other beings, or just projections of your own mind. I really do not know. My best guess? Some of each. It is a fascinating question, one you can spend countless hours investigating. Many do, and that is a problem in itself. You cannot and will not get answers to all those questions in this life. Maybe later, but not now. You are here to live a life, to  work, play, love, and learn. Do not spend too much time on unanswerable questions. A little is alright, after all we humans love mysteries and these entities are a tremendous mystery, but do not dwell on these things. It only feeds them. Get on with your lives. They are good lives, worth living and enjoying. Do your best.. 

America - The Dangerous Influx of Gnosticism, The Gnostics

Gnosis simply means knowledge. The term is usually applied to a group of early Christians who rejected faith as a path to salvation. They believed that you had to gain knowledge, knowledge of the Nature of God and the Creation. This differed from Paul's emphasis on faith and James' emphasis on good works. Beyond this, things get murky.

The early Church fathers fought a battle against Gnosticism because a) they felt it was false doctrine and b) you cannot organize a Church if everyone is learning things in their own way. Point b is especially important because the Church, at this point was making an effort to consolidate their power. Ultimately they won and for long years they were the greatest Power in Europe, a position they turned into a Kingdom, not of God as much as a Kingdom of wealth and control..

The Church mentioned some of the Gnostic writing in their early documents but seemingly destroyed all of them they could, or so they thought. In the late 1940s, a clay jar was found at Nag Hammadi containing scraps of these old documents that had been hidden . Some were nearly complete texts, others, the barest of scraps. Since, others have turned up on the antiquities market.

Most of these writing share a common theme. The original Creator made a world of spiritual essences that were perfect but, somehow, something went wrong and one of those essences, later known as the Demi-urge decidied to try his hand at creation. Either he was grossly incompetent, and the little spirits of what would become humans were trapped or he was evil and sought power by trapping them. Either way, the World, they believed is an illusion, an evil, corrupt mess.

This appealed to the citizens of that day because they were under the control of the oppressive Romans. The Romans had not always been heavy handed in their rule, but the Empire was starting its decline and they kept upping taxes and were having a difficult time keeping control over their dissatisfied poulation. This situation is mirrored in our present society as we witness, in the US and Europe, the decline of Western Civilization.

You would have thought that the Romans would have loved a bunch of people who really did not care about this world but they did not. If folks do not participate in society, economies fail. Besides, they had grown power hungry and power tolerates no dissent. So the Church had the Roman backing in stopping this dissident movement.

The Gnostics truly did not care what happened in this World. Why try to change a corrupt evil illusion? The modern day equivalent of this is Tim Leary's insipid motto 'turn on, tune in, drop out.' And like the 60s hippies, the Gnostics were bound to fade away. Most people, while recognizing the evil that does exist on Earth, do not find the Earth and life itself, evil. It is a blend of both good and evil, and as such, can be improved.

Well, the Romans did not like that either and finally they found, or maybe invented, Paul who said that yes, the World was a wretched place, doomed to soon be destroyed, but, that God ordained this, to test us and, as such, we should meekly comply with oppression and suffering. Ultimately, over time, as the Rennaissance and the Age of Enlightenment arrived,  such beliefs started to fade. although, they still have some power today.

The whole fascination with Gnosticism that we see today is a poor reaction to the terrible problems we see around us. It is frightening to see people just give up without a fight and lose interest in this beautiful World. It is appalling that folks allow themselves to be so manipulated and that is what is going on. There are now so many people in the World that the economy will keep chugging along, for a while, and it is convenient for the Powers that Be to allow some, often very bright and educated people, to just opt out of participation.

If you find all of this confusing, good. It shows that you are still sane. To attempt to read something like the Secret Gospel of John or the Apocalypse of James is a daunting task. Half way through, you will either be dozing or ready to teart your hair out. If you make it through and think you understand and agree, seek psychiatric counciling immediately.

There are 2 useful things to come out of Gnosticism. First, the Gospel of Thomas. Unlike the other books found at Nag Hammadi, it contains no distaste for life. It is a collections of sayings, nothing more, no cosmology, no prophesy, just the sayings of Jesus. Are they the true roiginal sayings? Who knows, but we can say the same for the sayings in the Synoptic Gospels. To me, and many others, the words in the Thomas Gospel ring true. They have a power and a sense of being truly revolutionary. They seem like the kind of words that would inspire men and women. By comparisom, the words in the other Gospels, while similar, seem watered down, just what you would expect from a religion designed to control.

In addition, the Gnostic books intrioduce the idea of the Archons. We will get into that strange and fascinating topic in my next blog.