So I have recently begun to attend gnostic services at a lodge here in Los Angeles . The group was founded by a man from Hungary named Stephan . He dedicated his life to translating and interpreting Gnostic texts . It has been an interesting experience so far to be part of a gnostic community in person rather just talking about it here on this board . Anyway last Sunday I asked for some reading material and they gave me this catechism booklet . I have decided to share pages of this booklet with you guys in order to enlighten all of you and spur discussion about gnosticism. I would like to thank this board also for introducing me to gnosticism through helpful memes which inspired me to study and search for information .

>>40591195 (OP)
>Stephan Hoeller
Interesting. Maybe a german-hungarian. Maybe even one of the Transylvanian saxons.

Btw nice that you found a "gnostic lodge". Are they for real or it's all just a larp?

>>40591195 (OP)

Im LA too. Can I get info to attend?

>>40591195 (OP)
Gnostics are fags who don't recognize the beauty of life, no different than nihilists.

>>40591204
Not sure I will have to ask him . He is like 90 years old though and it is kind of taxing for him him to talk to much . Yeah they for are real and they hold their services at the Besant Lodge but they call themselves the Ecclesia Gnostica (Church of Gnosis)
>>40591214
Sure let me provide some relevant links for the thread. Masses are in the morning on Sundays and Evenings on Wednesdays but they also provide other services . If anyone decides to attend I will be the dude wearing sunglasses if you are interested in conversing .
Website: http://www.gnosis.org/eghome.htm
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecclesia_Gnostica#Worship_and_spiritual_practice
>>40591222
Yeah the whole achieving Gnosis just to return to the Pleroma and leave this cursed realm of the Demiurge I am not sure I really entirely want or agree with . I am still uncertain how I feel about the Demiurge and Sophia and how this realm came into existence . I just believe what the Gnostics have to tell us about this realm to be more close to the truth than other things I have heard .

>>40591222
Doesn't matter really, and it all depends on which sect of gnosticism you apply to.

Regardless, most religion have tales of a ancient paradis(Eden the most famous, but also Earth under Saturn's rule)

>>40591195 (OP)

>>40591293
Fascinating thread OP, thank you very much for posting

>>40591282
I see. Crowley's people.
Never looked to deep into that.

Are they gnostics like the christian gnostics?

>>40591308
Well they do consider themselves Christians but whether other people would consider them Christians is an entirely different matter . They for example recognize Mani as a prophet which most Christians do not .

>>40591293

>>40591321

>>40591330

>>40591312
Hmm. I guess these are not Crowley's kin, then? In the OTO there's a rite called "ecclesia gnostica catholica"

But reading the texts you're posting it seems these are more old school gnostics

>>40591339

>>40591339
Interesting. They apparently follow the idea that the Demiurge is not necessarily evil, just foolish

>>40591350

>>40591365

>>40591373

>>40591385

>>40591393
This text here is probably what most christians would consider to be the most heretical belief the gnostics probably have . The garden of Eden being a prison and Adam a idiot who had to be saved by Eve and the Serpent is really a rather bizarre perspective to consider . I am going to ask one of the deacons about it at the next mass I attend .

>>40591393

>>40591410

>>40591416
Anyway this is the last text I will be sharing with you guys that I think is insightful or interesting . I wanted to give back to this community as thanks for all the useful wisdom and knowledge it has imparted to me . So I hope that some of you find this information to be useful or interesting and I have not seen it posted here before so the novelty of it should spark some good conversation .

>>40591401
>I am going to ask one of the deacons about it at the next mass I attend .
You won't like the answer

>>40591195 (OP)
The gnostic theology is a view on the world that is the most hopeless you can find. If you believe that an evil all-powerful Demiurge is the big boss of you reality, and makes you suffer for no reason, it means you have no chance. Any real resistance agianst the Demiurge will just cause more suffering for you. He will send his Archons to make your life miserable. And not even death is a way out, he will bring you right back and continue to torture you.

>>40591401
The garden of Eden is the garden of Adonai or gnosis.

I’ve fallen down the gnostic rabbit hole a few times, but as I’ve gotten older I’ve come to accept that a lot of that appreciation was ego-driven. I wanted a sense of control, so I was more willing to accept a seemingly full solution to spirituality.

Now? I’ve learned that a lot of religion is basically encrypted by language itself. I’ve learned that naming anything spiritual in absolute terms is a form of idolatry. Abrahamic religions — written by people with vastly different cultures and languages — all explicitly state that we must not presume to know God. We’re human, and God is too great for our minds to ever hope to pin down with a single word. This is why many orthodox religions forbid spelling God’s name or creating an image of Him — those are inherently heretical and ego-driven.

God is just a word we use. No false idols.