Gnostic Christianity and the Myth of Sophia by Bette Stockbauer 1. An in-depth survey of early Gnostic Christianity, its teachers, its relationship to modern esoteric thought, and the religious/political environment which shaped its expression.
In 1945, near the banks of the River Nile, a jar was unearthed which contained one of the richest manuscript finds of modern history — the Nag Hammadi codices. Like the Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered two years later, this library of ancient documents (dated AD 350) contained texts relating to early Christianity that the world had never seen. The Dead Sea texts belonged to an earlier, Jewish branch of Christianity, and the works from Nag Hammadi to a later philosophical movement, called Gnosticism. Since their discovery scholars have long pondered their contents, questioning their relation to original Christianity.
In Share International, May 1994, Benjamin Creme refers to these two sets of documents, saying that their discovery "... was inspired by the Master Jesus to shed a clearer light on the events of that time in preparation for the Christ's return today." We suggest that the "clearer light" of the Christian Gnostics was their understanding of esoteric wisdom or "gnosis" — those sacred truths of the spiritual universe which sustain all human progress. These writers of the Nag Hammadi documents belong to a long and ancient line of similar teachers who, throughout the world and over the ages, have kept these truths alive. In many ways they can be considered the true early Christians, the real inheritors of a wisdom tradition which Jesus relayed, in secret, to a select group of his disciples. Between 50 and 250 AD their ideas flourished and were largely tolerated, but reactionary voices began to prevail and by the end of the 4th century they were practically silenced, their writings, until now, lost to history...
" When Sophia saw what her desire had produced, it changed into the figure of a snake with the face of a lion. Its eyes were like flashing bolts of lightning. She cast it away from her, outside that realm so that none of the immortals would see it. She had produced it ignorantly.
She surrounded it with a bright cloud and put a throne in the middle of the cloud so that no one could see it except the Holy Spirit, who is called, 'Mother of the Living'. Sophia named her offspring Yaldabaoth. Yaldabaoth is the first ruler, who took great power from his mother. Then he left her and moved away from the place where he was born. He took control and created for himself other realms of luminous fire, which still exists. He mated with the mindlessness in him and produced authorities for himself. Yaldabaoth stationed seven kings, one for each sphere of heaven, to reign over the seven heavens, and five to reign over the depth of the abyss. He shared his fire with them, but he did not give away any of the power of the light that he had taken from his mother. For he is ignorant darkness. When light mixed with darkness, it made the darkness shine. When darkness mixed with light, it dimmed the late and became neither light nor darkness, but rather gloom. This gloomy ruler has three names: the first name is Yaldabaoth, the second is Sakla, the third is Samael. He is wicked in his mindlessness that is in him. He said, 'I am God and there is no other god but me.', since he did not know where his own strength had come from."
- excerpt from the creation story in The Secret Book of John from the Gnostic works known as The Nag Hammadi Codex.
So, it's been a while since I've posted ANYTHING up here. Been a little stagnant lately, but hopefully that's about to change. Working in politics can get you to a point of burnout that some might consider unhealthy, especially during election season. But anyhow, there is going to be a bit of a new, more eclectic format to this blog, kinda like a webzine or something. I'm going to post the feature articles and videos, the things I was posting on my facebook page up here now, as well as some other articles I might not have been willing to post on facebook for whatever reason. Anyone who knows me or my interests know my pet subjects are politics, spirituality/philosophy, phenomena, and of course, art. I also like music and stuff, like any other human being, but it's not really going to be a focus here, unless it relates to the main subject. Anyhow, as far as the Holos Project,right now it's really just a loose idea based on the concept of "holarchy". A holarchy, if you don't already know, is basically a conceptual systemic alternative to a hierarchy. I'm sure everyone is aware of the fact that the traditional hierarchy is the prevailing system of most of human civilization where as you get to the higher seats of power and control, you find fewer and fewer persons sitting in those seats. This holds true in the corporate world, as well as in governments, which have slowly become one in the same over the past century or more. There are exceptions, of course such as the co-operative corporation of Mondragon in Spain, as well as other democratic and co-operative movements that have popped up in both business and government, adding a positive resistance against the total monopolistic control of the very rich and very few. Which leads us the concept of Holarchy and the Holos Project. A holarchy is where the individual is just as important as the whole, and the whole is just as important as the individual. There is a balance and understanding between both that each is important to the survival of the other. I realize this concept is very broad, and very, very idealistic, and might require a complete elevation of consciousness and a total rewiring of the human psyche. But people change their levels of consciousness and fiddle with the wires of their psyche all the time, it's just the nature of doing so is often either small, or just negative and/or frivilous. So basically the point of most of the postings are going to be about seeing the world in a different light. Multiple different lights, perspectives and perceptions. Of course I will still be showcasing my art, that will continue to be a main focus, but it is still part of a bigger whole.
NEWS:
Principle of astrology proven to be scientific: planetary position imprints biological clocks of mammals:
(NaturalNews) Mention the word "astrology" and skeptics go into an epileptic fit. The idea that someone's personality could be imprinted at birth according to the position of the sun, moon and planets has long been derided as "quackery" by the so-called "scientific" community which resists any notion based on holistic connections between individuals and the cosmos.According to the conventional view, your genes and your parenting determine your personality, and the position of planet Earth at the time of your birth has nothing to do with it.Then again, conventional scientists don't believe the position of the moon has anything to do with life on Earth, either. They dismiss the wisdom that farmers have known for ages -- that planting seeds or transplanting living plants in harmony with the moon cycles results in higher crop yields. Even the seeds inside humans are strongly influenced by the moon, as menstruation cycles and moon cycles are closely synchronized (28 days, roughly). Researchers demonstrate scientific principle of astrologySkeptics must be further bewildered by the new research published in Nature Neuroscience and conducted at Vanderbilt University which unintentionally provides scientific support for the fundamental principle of astrology -- namely, that the position of the planets at your time of birth influences your personality.In this study, not only did the birth month impact personality; it also resulted in measurable functional changes in the brain.This study, conducted on mice, showed that mice born in the winter showed a "consistent slowing" of their daytime activity. They were also more susceptible to symptoms that we might call "Seasonal Affective Disorder."The study was carried out by Professor of Biological Sciences Douglas McMahon, graduate student Chris Ciarleglio, post-doctoral fellow Karen Gamble and two additional undergraduate students, none of whom believe in astrology, apparently. They do, of course, believe in science, which is why all their study findings have been draped in the language of science even though the findings are essentially supporting principles of astrology."What is particularly striking about our results is the fact that the imprinting affects both the animal's behavior and the cycling of the neurons in the master biological clock in their brains," said Ciarleglio. This is one of the core principles of astrology: That the position of the planets at the time of your birth (which might be called the "season" of your birth) can actually result in changes in your brain physiology which impact lifelong behavior.Once again, such an idea sounds preposterous to the scientifically trained, unless of course they discover it for themselves, at which point it's all suddenly very "scientific." Instead of calling it "astrology," they're now referring to it as "seasonal biology." How to discredit real scienceIt all reminds me of the discovery of cold fusion in 1989 by Fleishmann and Pons, who were widely ridiculed by the arrogant hot fusion researchers who tried to destroy the credibility (and careers) of cold fusion researchers (http://www.naturalnews.com/025925_cold_fusion_Amazon_research.html). After the very idea of "cold fusion" was attacked and demolished by these arrogant scientists, it soon returned under a new name: Low-Energy Nuclear Reactions (LENR).LENR has now been verified as true by none other than the U.S. Navy -- along with hundreds of other researchers around the world (see link above). And yet, even today, the conventional scientific community still insists cold fusion doesn't exist and cold fusion researchers are frauds.Just as there is a solid scientific basis for LENR, there is a scientific basis for astrology, too. The relationship between the Earth, Moon and Sun naturally alter light exposure, temperature, gravitational pull and other conditions that may be sensed by living organisms. To believe in astrology, all that's really required is to grasp the basic concepts of the interrelationships between all living things. Does the position of the sun or moon influence life on Earth? Of course it does: Life as we know it wouldn't even exist without the moon tugging on Earth and preventing its rotational axis from shifting around to the point where radical changes in seasonal temperatures would make life far more challenging. (The moon, in other words, is one of the key "stabilizers" of life on planet Earth because it tends to stabilize the seasons and keep the Earth on a steady rotational plane.)None of this, of course, means that the position of Saturn today is going to make you win the lottery or find a new love. That's the tabloid version of astrology, not real astrology. Don't confuse tabloid astrology with real astrologyEven astronomy has its tabloid versions, too, which are entirely non-scientific. For example, every model of our solar system that I've ever seen is a wildly inaccurate tabloid version of reality, with planet sizes ridiculously exaggerated and planet distances not depicted to scale. These silly, non-scientific solar system models imprint a kind of solar system mythology into the minds of schoolchildren and even school teachers. Virtually no one outside the communities of astrophysics and astronomy has any real grasp of the enormity of not merely our solar system, but of our galaxy and the space between neighboring galaxies.To show a giant sun the size of a basketball, with a depiction of the Earth as a marble-sized planet three inches away is the astronomical equivalent of a gimmicky horoscope claiming you're going to win the lottery today because you were born under the sign of Pisces. Both are fictions. And both are an insult to real science.In fact, even the whole idea that an "electron" is a piece of physical matter, made up of other "particles" is an insult to real science. The sobering truth of the matter is that "particle physics" doesn't have much to do with actual particles at all. It's all about energies that might, on occasion, vibrate in just the right way so that they momentarily appear to take on the illusion of a particle as measured by our observers -- observers who inevitably alter the outcome of the entire experiment, by the way, once again proving the interrelated nature of things in our universe, including observer and experiment.The horoscope predictions in the Sunday paper -- as well as much of the hilarious mythology found in the modern description of an atom -- are both simplified, comic-book versions of a larger truth -- the truth that we live in a holistic universe where every bit of physical matter, every bit of energy and every conscious mind impacts the rest of the universe in subtle ways. There is no such thing as an individual who is isolated from the cosmos, because we are of the cosmos and we exist as the physical manifestations of energies that, for our lifetimes, are momentarily organized as beings.We are made of star stuff, says Carl Sagan. He he's right: We are not only made of star stuff, we are influenced by that stuff, too. And finally, modern science is beginning to catch up to this greater truth that astrologers have known since the dawn of human existence on our tiny planet.Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/030698_astrology_scientific_basis.html#ixzz17y5QgsNj
Tax Exempt Foundations and Think Tanks: The Process of Invisible Power Old-Thinker News December 11, 2010 By Daniel Taylor “Philanthropy is the essential element in the making of Rockefeller power. It gives the Rockefellers a priceless reputation as public benefactors which the public values so highly that power over public affairs is placed in the Rockefellers’ hands. Philanthropy generates more power than wealth alone can provide.” – Myer Kutz Rockefeller Power (1974)
Some have suggested that the large foundations are monopolizing development. The hidden influence of tax-exempt foundations and think tanks in the halls of power has dramatically impacted our society, and in turn the world. The Rockefeller dynasty paved the way for eugenics in 20th Century America and heavily influenced the education system. Now Bill Gates’ various philanthropic institutions are impacting the globe, with a new initiative promising to make the next several years the “Decade of vaccines“. These institutions are impacting the globe to such an extent that some have suggested that the large foundations are monopolizing development. The United States has seen a shift of power to individuals who have been called “action intellectuals”. Who’s agenda are they serving? We didn’t elect these individuals, but large foundations are functioning like national governments. The United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense has picked up on this trend in its Strategic Trends program. The MoD’s Global Strategic Trends – Out to 2040 document foresees “…the emergence of a global elite, a powerful network of individuals and institutions that sits above the level of individual states and influences the global agenda…” Our health, society and future are all impacted by these elites. Who are they? What agenda are they pursuing? A look back… The U.S. Congress first investigated the activities of the large foundations in 1915 under the Commission on Industrial Relations. The Commission found that, “The domination by the men in whose hands the final control of a large part of American industry rests is not limited to their employees, but is being rapidly extended to control the education and social survival of the nation. This control is being extended largely through the creation of enormous privately managed funds for indefinite purposes, hereafter designated “foundations”, by the endowment of colleges and universities, by the creation of funds for the pensioning of teachers, by contributions to private charities, as well as through controlling or influencing the public press…” Again in 1953 the Reece Committee found that tax-exempt foundations were wielding an unprecedented amount of influence over American society, including the education system. Norman Dodd served as the chief director of research for the Committee. In the monumental interview below, Dodd outlines what he found: Foundations serve another, much less discussed purpose. The wealth of the individuals who own the large foundations is protected from taxation. The Rockefeller Foundation was conveniently founded in 1913, the same year that the income tax was ratified. John D. Rockefeller Sr. pioneered this art of so called “scientific giving”, and modern day philanthropists have followed in his footsteps. When John D’s public image became tarnished by his notoriously ruthless nature in his business dealings, he hired the PR man named Ivy Lee. Lee suggested that Rockefeller begin giving away his wealth, and give it away he did; with strings attached. Gary Allen explains in The Rockefeller File, “He [Rockefeller] would “give” money away to foundations under his control and then have those foundations spend the money in ways which brought even more power and profits to the Rockefeller empire. The money “given” away would be bread cast upon the waters. But bread that always had a hook in it. John D. Jr. was to refer to this as the “principle of scientific giving.” The influence of large foundations on American society is documented by Dr. Lily E. Kay in her book The Molecular Vision of Life: Caltech, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Rise of the New Biology. Kay writes, “Their numerous projects and the unprecedented scope of their financial and institutional resources shaped the development of culture and the production of knowledge in the United States. Through education, public opinion, stimulation of specific research agenda, and the promotion of selective categories of knowledge and research, the Foundation played a key role in the creation of a hegemonic bloc…” Foundations Today In May of 2009 several top philanthropists met at the home of Sir Paul Nurse, president of Rockefeller University. David Rockefeller Jr, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, George Soros, Michael Bloomberg, Ted Turner and Oprah Winfrey were all in attendance. According to the London Times, the meeting was so secret that, “…some of the billionaires’ aides were told they were at ‘security briefings’”. The Times reports, “Over dinner they discussed how they might settle on an “umbrella cause” that could harness their interests.” The Times interviewed a guest at the meeting, who said that the group wanted to meet in secret because they didn’t want their statements ending up in the media, “painting them as an alternative world government.” A brief overview of the activities of these groups will show that they have been acting as an alternative world government, and that they have been for decades. Through their grant-making power and immense wealth, they can effectively choose which scientific research projects are funded, what education reforms are initiated, and in turn the entire direction of society at large. In an interview with the Seattle Times, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was asked, “Some say the emergence of super rich philanthropies like the Gates Foundation has undermined the effectiveness of the U.N. and its member organizations, like the WHO.” Moon responded, “On the contrary that is what we really want — contributions from the business community as well as philanthropies. We need to have political support, but it doesn’t give us all that we need. NGOs and philanthropies and many foundations such as Bill Gates Foundation — they’re taking a very important role…” In October of 2007, the Global Impact Investing Network was established by the Rockefeller Foundation. The GIIN will “help solve social and environmental problems” by encouraging investment that will bring both profit and produce real world change. The GIIN is taking John D’s “principle of scientific giving” to another level. This conglomerate of various banks and foundations will attempt to mold industry and society by investing in selected social programs and “screening” out investments for Co2 emitters and others deemed to be unworthy. A few of the banks and organizations involved with GIIN include: Acumen Fund The Annie E. Casey Foundation The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Calvert Foundation Capricorn Investment Group Citigroup Deutsche Bank Equilibrium Capital Generation Investment Management J.P. Morgan The Rockefeller Foundation Think Tanks: A profile on an “action intellectual” “Herman Kahn has been a major figure in one of the most fascinating shifts of power in U.S. History: from identifiable public leaders to the ‘action intellectuals.’” – Life Magazine, December 6, 1968 Herman Kahn is known as one of the founding fathers of future studies. After working for the RAND Corporation, Kahn founded the Hudson Institute in 1961. The satirical film Dr. Strangelove is largely based on real documents and ideas that came from RAND. The December 6, 1968 edition of Life Magazine details Kahn’s career, and the larger implications of an unprecedented shift of power to unelected “action intellectuals.” “…Herman Kahn has been a major figure in one of the most fascinating shifts of power in U.S. History: from identifiable public leaders to the “action intellectuals.” As counselors to the decision-makers, men such as Kahn often have access to future technology (what is known, but not yet disclosed) and official intelligence (what is known, but not yet revealed, about the capacities and plans of other nations). Thus, decisions – based on private knowledge, analyzed by private consultants and debated in private – can become public policy. This is a process of invisible power. At its extreme this influence can commit a nation to social programs and military actions which have neither been fully explained nor publicly debated. One day, as that power pervades and grows more sophisticated, it may so affect the course of government that any nation’s policies may be locked in, as if by automatic pilot, years before the men who are elected to govern ever take office.” Whos agenda are they serving? We didn’t elect these individuals. The historical record is ripe with open admissions on part of the elite to use their philanthropic power to manipulate society at large. The world is now in their sights. Whether the elite’s intent is good or bad, are they giving us a choice?
Now, this MAY or MAY NOT be based on a true story... I'm only gonna say that I came up with this scenario when I was a part of 24 hour comics day a couple years ago. The challenge is to create a 24 page comic from scratch in a 24 hour period. So I decided to use the wildest, most insane story I could think of, and this was it. Of course, me being as anal as I am, I was only able to complete 10 pages in that time of sleeplessness, but it is still one of my favorites regardless of it being incomplete.
This was an accordian book I made. The first four pages were in a sequence, then the final spread was on the back. If you're not familiar with what an accordian book is, or with artist books, I definitely urge you to do some research. I found it to be a great way to blend narritive with fine art. Pretty rad stuff. Not gonna ramble too much here; I think the book says enough...
One cannot truly know light without first understanding darkness. From time immemorial, man has looked to the cosmos in awe, looking for many of the answers to the timeless questions of his existence within its vast expanse. From knowledge of basic survival, such as weather and seasonal patterns, to that of the patterns of time and change, all the way to the understandings of the innermost workings of man himself; humans have looked to the heavens with a feeling of awe and reverance, as well as fear, with a sense of an innately known kinship. The light and dark energies that work with one another as well as in opposition, to help create the reality that each person perceives in their own unique way. All the way back to the times before ancient history, men of varying levels of enlightened consciousness and wisdom have sought to not only understand these energies, but put them to use for either good or malevolent purposes. An early to mid- twentieth century german philosopher and clairvoyant named Rudolph Steiner, best known for establishing the Waldorf Schools, took an interesting insight into the classification of the major light and dark energies that work to create the experience of our reality. He first went and broke down the current Christian concept of "the Devil" into two distinct entities: first there is Lucifer, the bearer of light. A controversial character from religeous lore, it is said that Lucifer was the best and brightest of all the angelic beings, but it was his pride that got the better of him, refusing to bow down before God as well as man, he revolted, and ultimately lost. He and his followers were cast out of heaven, and onto the realm of Earth to act as obstacles in the evolution of mankind. Other stories give a different role to Lucifer, as more of an enlightener of mankind, bring the true occult knowledge of the tree to a mankind that was wished to be kept in ignorance by the Archons of this material world. Others claim him to be the true creator of mankind. A member of a highly evolved race that 'interfered' with the evolution of mankind, manipulating their DNA. He felt symathy for the oppression of his creations, and clandestinely sought to give them the 'fire' of knowledge and intellect, making them more than dumb beasts. This enraged his masters, the Elohim, who punished him as well as mankind for his disobedience. The character of Lucifer is also closely identified with the Greek mythological demigod, Prometheus.
The traits of the 'Luciferian' aspects of consciousness include creativity, yearning for knowledge and illumination, passion, pride, rebelliousness, ego-centricity, and self-delusion. Modern 'conspiracy' thought places the theosoph luciferian non-religion at the center of notions of an illuminati/freemasonic takeover of the upper-levels of the world hierarchy. These energies and their 'servants' supposedly wish to keep the masses ignorant, deluded, and sedated, leaving the true knowledge of the workings of the powers that be to a select few. The followers of a star of false light. The second aspect of Steiner's devil was named Ahriman. This is after the god of darkness of the Zoroastrian religion of ancient Persia, modern-day Iran. In Zoroastrianism there were two prime gods; Ahura Mazda, god of light and creation; and his brother, Angra Mainyu, or Ahriman, god of darkness and death. The Christian concepts of God vs. Devil were heavily influenced by this elder religion. In contrast to the airy and hot nature of the Light Bearer, Ahriman is said to be a very cold, dense, machine-like energy. He is the supposed lord of the world of matter. He is said to cause the worship of materialism and be resposible for the 'mechanization' of the natural world and it's resources, as well as that of mankind itself. Ahriman wishes man to be of pure matter-base, absence of spirit. A cold, calculating animal, losing bits of soul and spirit until finally sinking into the abyss of the eighth sphere. Ahriman also has the qualities of being mindful of our presence in this world and maintains basic survival needs which are essential. Now, lying in between these two polar opposites that often lead to the diversion of man, lies what is known as the Christ Impulse or energy. Which is simply the energy of love, kindness, and compassion. The great equalizer of the haughty nature of Lucifer and the cold and mechanistic presence of Ahriman. I remember groing up, I was always fascinated by myths, legends, and tales of the un-explainable and the supernatural. I remember playing with my cousins as we would search around in the mysterious corners of the house, as well as some of the 'creepier' old spots around town for entrances to the 'Enchanted World', a place where all the things that supposedly did not exist, resided in secret, coming to this world from time to time. The impulse changed and matured as I grew older, as I looked into and practiced ways of the spirit paths and occult traditions, ultimately coming to face with the light and the dark that lives within my own being and looking to relate it to what I see in my external perceived reality. Looking to the heavens and the stars above for answers much as those of antiquity did many millennia ago. The realization and understanding of these archetypes and energetic impulses lies at the core of the human experience. It is, ultimately a balancing act. Too much of either the higher or the lower energetic qualities creates an imbalance in the individual, as well as the society as a whole. While at the same time, the complete rejection of them creates imbalance and disease as well. It is an ongoing journey of setbacks and redemption. I like to think of my favorite version of the Lucifer story, as a being who was ultimately cast to earth on a 'divine mission' to aid in the evolution of man as both ally and nemesis. Bringing the light as well as the choices of how to use it. Lighting the way to the path of the heart, but also lighting a way from it. Free will is the ultimate divine law, and it is ultimately up to each soul how to use the light. At the end of times, when the presence of the Christ impulse fully integrates, the indentured spirit of Lucifer will be supposedly 'redeemed' and relieved of his mission here on this level of existence, to once again return back to the 'One' from which all things came...
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