Gnosticism

What does Sup Forums think of Gnosticism? Is it just another hippy occult ideology, or is there more to it? There's a lot of contradicting information about it on the internet, so it's kind of hard to really tell whether or not it is a legit belief system. Anyone here personally subscribe to it?

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I like the ideas behind it, but I don't know of any well adjusted gnostics.

It's a pretty fringe belief system and most people only seem to understand it theoretically. I haven't come across anyone on the internet who claims to have experienced gnosis (or identified it as such).

I think there are other paths to the same thing (direct intuitive knowledge of god/the all/the one/whatever) that don't require you to belong to some ancient religious sect that only loons these days follow.

all truths comes from the same light.

All things that are, are lights.

oh god did we summon something? repent OP! before its too late! theyre coming with the dubs!

Gnosticism - literally 'know oneself'
At its purest, it's the heart of all truths.
At its worst, it's just another dogma for the hipster who doesn't believe he is a hipster.

Sup Forums is the epitome of bluepilled when it comes to religion, don't even bother.

6666 get!

Gnosticism isn't a specific religion. It's any kind of religion that doesn't reveal it's truths openly to every person who comes by.
There's gnostic christianity, islam, buddhism etc.
but besides that, yeah I think they're pretty interesting.

I subscribe to fate and the useful parts of every belief structure fate shows me. The bits of wisdom contained within each are much more useful once you scrape off the theoretical ideologies, from my perspective. Theosophy was similar to gnosticism, until it was killed for not fitting into the cult versus cult script being manufactured.

I have gone trough it, 5 years ago.

Holy kek, checked.
Also,
>Gnosticism - literally 'know oneself'
This is what I've always thought it was, so I've personally taken an interest in it.

>legit belief system
by what authority is a belief system legitimized?

to my knowledge Gnosticism is the idea that what most people think is god is really an evil entity called the demiurge that keeps us here in the physical to feed it i with blood and devotion in our unwitting servitude and that lucifer is the light bringer that gave us intellect and the free will to choose, most peoples understanding of Gnosticism is that they are similar to druids etc and have an inner circle that manages outer circles of membership and knowledge distribution. the symbol of the snake eating itself has been rumored to actually be a snake speaking itself into existence which is in line with the doctrine that all consciousness is individual fragments of the creator experiencing itself in its own creation, thus rendering the individual god in its own right.

I meant that in the sense of whether or not it was just a meme and never actually was or is a real thing thay people follow.

>the symbol of the snake eating itself has been rumored to actually be a snake speaking itself into existence
Like meme magic?

can you elaborate

There is a lot of philosophy attached to gnosticm, some of which is good when profoundly understood (different to intellectual understanding).
But at its core it is 3 things, none of which have an end point:
-understand self through meditation. Without honest self scrutiny, you are full of shit.
-practice the alchemy to build your power levels.
-kill your egos. Destroy your vices.

Pretty sure the cathars that the catcholic church went after had a similar structure to their belief system

>and never actually was
Do you mean whether the gnostic sects actually existed or whether their belief systems can be generalized to a common one?

Its the difference in intellectual knowledge and true self knowledge. To look beyond ones own mind is not easy. Because you are your mind, or so does a normal human beign think. But the true self lies beyond. So when a hipster reads know thyself he cherry picks some cool ideas and spins them on a intellectual level, reinforcing current belief systems. But to truly knowthyself is to see beyond the mind and to do that without substances

>whether the gnostic sects actually existed
This.

Gnosticism was an actual religion you dumb spic. The Catholic Church persecuted them.

Have been meditating for a while now and have never felt better, the self reflection and understandings that it brings have been really expanding for me and the synchronicity that follows in life afterwards is kind of weird, I have noticed a lot of " right place, right time " moments occur for me now especially in my research into the actual world I live in post public education system.

that's gnostic christianity,burgertard.

Quit the night

That's a mystery religion, not gnosticism.

Oh, they did exist. Bogomils, Cathars, Marcionists. And some secret societies derive their aesthetics and secret lore at least in part from Gnosticism (Freemasons and Illuminati, for example)

Good for you, just keep it simple and dont start to build up complex belief systems on top of your new found understanding.
Every human beign should meditate if they know whats good for them, but then again maeby many do, in thie own ways and just not label it as meditation.

what do you know about cathars?

12th to 14th century gnostic movement in north eastern spain and south west France. Believed that men and women were created equal and did not uphold the gender roles of its time, more liberal than anything seen before. Believed in reincarnation. Viewed sex and war as the most grievous sins of war, therefore you could only become one by conversion, not being born into them. Quite interesting reading

Was pretty lucky, I grew up around alot of this crowd as a kid, wicca, druidism etc some pretty awesome people but had a seriously conflicting set of ideologies and religions to explore so complex seems to be my thing learning to boil it all down to its essences so to speak very slowly

yeah i read this book holy blood holy grail and it mentions them and the templars and w whole host of other things related to those areas and those time periods it was really interesting reading

>it mentions them and the templars
Yea, don't take it too seriously. That book is absolutely attrocious when examined critically.

Well yes, you could for example look up the Mandeans.
Here's some texts and suggested literature: gnosis.org/library/mand.htm

No you fuckhead, it's JUST Gnosticism. Just because you want to add the term "Gnostic" to this or that doesn't make it Gnosticism. The word you're looking for is ESOTERIC. Gnosticism is an actual fucking religion on its own ffs you dumb fucking nigger

I take everything I read pretty loosely and never treat it as genuine knowledge, more just an idea of a thing that I have after, just trying to educate myself as best as I can on the history that was left out in school, my middle name was in that book though haha that was weird

Fair enough. It is sad, though, that there is a distinct lack of good books on the subject of Cathars.
But if they piqued your interest, check out Martinism. It's similar, but with all the shite removed.

>Do you mean whether the gnostic sects actually existed or whether their belief systems can be generalized to a common one?

These are related no? There is no common sect and many sects are fundamentally different at the foundation. Someone correct me if i'm wrong.

Its hard to find good books on a lot of subjects and then you always have to find a good counter argument piece as well for objectivity haha sweet will do

the gnostic sects all shared the common belief of gnosis or exalted spiritual knowledge through which your soul would gain ascent through the aeons, but the rituals and doctrines could vary between the sects

Gnosticism is PRIMARILY the christian sect, not JUST the christian sect. Learn english pablo.

forgot pic.

Right, isn't that's like saying all religions share the common belief of God(s) but the rituals and doctrines are different.

>literally reinforcing what I just said
Okay, whatever you say, Luigi. Apparently your strongest argument is one of semantics. You're a literal retard.

Gnosticism came SPECIFICALLY OUT OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY. Have you actually read or listened to anything from Carl Jung or Stephan Hoeller? Fuck you're stupid.

yes that is what defines a religion, gnostic sects are defined by the presence of gnosis. but in the definition of a religion the gods can also be different (unless you're a perennialist) while the concept of gnosis is the same in the different gnostic sects