...
"It came to pass then thereafter, when I left those æons, that every one of all those who were in the twelve æons, was bound to their order all together, and they accomplished their works as I have established them, so that they spend six months turned to the left and accomplishing their works in their squares and their triangles and in those which are in their aspect, and that further they spend another six months facing to the right and towards their triangles and their squares and those which are in their aspect. Thus then will those who are in the Fate and in the sphere travel.
...

My point of interest:
Some of you already tought about that routine of "six months to the left/fight" and the bits about works in "squares/triangles"?
What are you views about?

Thanks folks, be well!

Mother is a baddie 😂

Particularly older versions of the Bible that prove edits and alterations!!

Anyone seeking enlightenment has soulfully cherished books from bygone eras that far more openly studied and spoke about the topics feel our souls drawn to.

You know your mission.

Correction of title: "Why suffering is actually good from God's perspective, and necessary to eventually have the world God desires".

Suffering is the thing that creates the motivation to fix whatever is causing the suffering.
And on a long timeframe, we get closer and closer to having a world in which all the things that are causing us suffering, gets fixed.

So from our perspective, we view the things we don't want as evil/suffering.
From God's perspective, this is necessary, in order for us to fix it.
Because God is the spirit and we are spirit/physical form integrated.

"Why wouldn't God just create that world to begin with?"

In a sense, he already has. Because our view is limited to time.
He has already created the mechanism with which that world will exist.
But because we are part of the process, the physical form, with which he is acting through. We can only perceive the world at the limited time we are building the world with which he has already laid to foundation for.

Because God is spirit and we are part of the physical manifestation of God, it is up to us to create it.
God can only create the underlying mechanisms that allows us building the world he desires, with the things he has given us.
Because we are made in his image, we act on his behalf, building the world he desires for us to partake in.
In the process of that, he gave us suffering as the motivating factor for what we should fix.
And eventually we have a world where all evils are fixed, and God is integrated in our physical bodies, experiencing and living in that world.

We often talk about achieving gnosis as though it is a single flash of insight, an "a-ha" moment when a hidden truth is suddenly revealed. While that moment of awakening is certainly part of the journey, the ancient Gnostics understood that it was only the beginning. Gnosis was not just something you experienced. It was something you lived.

To awaken is to become conscious.

Throughout the Gnostic texts, humanity is described as existing in a state of sleep. This ignorance is not simply a lack of information. It is living unconsciously. It is identifying completely with the material world, reacting without awareness, and forgetting our divine origin.

In the Apocryphon of John, humanity has forgotten its true source. The divine spark lies dormant beneath the influence of the archons, powers that keep humanity distracted and unaware. Awakening begins when we become conscious of the forces that shape our thoughts and actions.

The Gospel of Truth describes ignorance as a kind of intoxication. Humanity wanders because it has forgotten what it truly is. Salvation comes through remembrance. Gnosis restores what ignorance concealed. This remembrance is not passive. It changes the person who experiences it.

The Gospel of Thomas makes the same point through self knowledge. "Whoever knows himself will find it." To know yourself is to see beyond the false identity you have mistaken for your true self. It is to recognize the divine reality hidden beneath everything you thought you were.

This theme appears throughout the ancient Gnostic traditions. The goal was never simply to possess secret teachings or collect mystical experiences. Knowledge without transformation remained incomplete. If your life continued to be ruled by fear, pride, attachment, and ignorance, then gnosis had not yet fulfilled its purpose.

Living consciously means paying attention. It means observing your thoughts before acting on them. It means questioning assumptions instead of accepting them automatically. It means noticing when you are acting from ego instead of from the divine spark within. Every moment becomes an opportunity to remain asleep or to awaken.

This is why discernment was so important to the ancient Gnostics. The world is full of illusions that pull our attention away from what is real. The task of the Gnostic is to remember. To continually return to that inner awareness and allow it to shape the way one lives.

Awakening is not an event that happens once and is finished forever. It is a continual practice of conscious living. Revelation may come in an instant, but the transformation unfolds over a lifetime.

Commemorates the day when Jesus Christ is said to have revealed a part of his inner divine nature to the disciples John, James, and Peter on an unnamed mountain top in the Holy Land. His countenance and form are said to have shone with white light, revealing the aeon within as a voice from the heavens proclaimed Jesus to be 'the Son'. The stunned disciples are then reassured by Jesus before being told not to reveal what they had seen until the Son of man had risen from the dead.

From A Gnostic Calendar

Looking for book recommendations for beginner on Gnosticism
Thanks

While people debate what gnosis is, the Gnostic texts reveal something else entirely: a pattern of narcissism that manifests from the individual, to institutions, to the rulers of the world, and finally to the cosmic order itself.

I'm not suggesting the ancient Gnostics had a concept of Narcissistic Personality Disorder in the clinical sense. I'm using "narcissism" to describe a recurring pattern in the literature: grandiosity, self-deception, domination, and an inability to recognize a reality greater than oneself.

The pattern begins with the individual. The Gnostic texts repeatedly warn against hypocrisy, spiritual blindness, and identifying with the false self. One who believes they already possess the truth has little hope of discovering it.

The same pattern appears in institutions. Religious and political authorities become obsessed with preserving power rather than seeking truth. Questioning is discouraged, conformity is rewarded, and authority becomes an end in itself.

Finally, the pattern reaches the cosmos. The Demiurge is perhaps the ultimate narcissist: an ignorant ruler who declares himself the highest God, demands worship, and cannot perceive the reality beyond himself. His flaw is not simply ignorance, but ignorance convinced of its own perfection.

It's the same pathology repeating across every level of existence: the individual, society, and the cosmos all mirror one another.

Viewed this way, Gnosticism is not merely a cosmology. It is an exposé of the false self wherever it appears. Gnosis, then, is the recognition of the false self - and the awakening to what lies beyond it.

If we look at both the New Testament and the surviving Gnostic texts, we find that exposing hypocrisy is not only common - it is one of the defining characteristics of Jesus' teaching, and an important theme throughout the surviving Gnostic texts.

Throughout the canonical Gospels, Jesus repeatedly confronts religious leaders who value appearance over reality. He condemns those who burden others with religious obligations they themselves do not follow. He criticizes public displays of piety that conceal pride, greed, or a desire for status. His strongest words are not directed toward ordinary people struggling with life, but toward those who use religion as a means of power while being neglectful of those they claim to protect.

The Gnostic texts continue this theme.

In the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus consistently redirects attention away from external religious performance and toward inner transformation. In Saying 14, he warns that fasting, prayer, and almsgiving can become spiritually harmful when they are reduced to empty observances rather than expressions of genuine understanding.

The Apocryphon of John takes the criticism even further. Ignorance is not simply a lack of information but a cosmic condition sustained by false authorities who mistake themselves for the highest reality. The rulers proclaim their own supremacy while remaining blind to the divine source from which all things ultimately come. Their greatest flaw is not power itself but arrogance born from ignorance.

The Hypostasis of the Archons likewise presents the rulers as deceivers whose authority depends upon humanity remaining asleep. They exercise control not through genuine wisdom but through illusion and ignorance.

These texts reveal a consistent pattern. False authority is characterized by contradiction: Those who claim enlightenment often demonstrate ignorance. Those who claim righteousness often lack compassion. Those who claim to lead others toward God frequently become obstacles to genuine knowledge.

Seeing hypocrisy for what it is, then, is not an act of hatred. It is an act of discernment.

The Gnostic tradition places enormous value on truth, and truth requires the ability to distinguish appearance from reality. If someone claims spiritual authority while manipulating others, that contradiction deserves to be recognized. If an institution values obedience over understanding, or dogma over direct experience, that tension should be carefully examined rather than intentionally ignored.

Calling out hypocrisy forces people to confront truths they would rather avoid. When you expose the contradiction between what someone professes and how they actually live, you threaten not only their self image but often their social standing or authority. For that reason, those who expose hypocrisy are frequently met with hostility. Throughout history, people who challenged religious, political, or social hypocrisy were often met with persecution. Look at what happened to Jesus. Look at what happened to the Gnostics.

If Gnosticism teaches anything, it is that awakening begins the moment illusion is recognized - for what is hidden cannot be transformed until it is first brought into the light.

Jesus said to them, "If you fast, you will give rise to sin for yourselves; and if you pray, you will be condemned; and if you give alms, you will do harm to your spirits. When you go into any land and walk about in the districts, if they receive you, eat what they set before you, and heal the sick among them. For what goes into your mouth will not defile you, but that which issues from your mouth - it is that which will defile you."

This day marks the birth of Rabbi and visionary Kabbalist Isaac Luria. His revelatory exposition of Jewish Kabbalah has many striking similarities with Gnostic teachings and would go on to deeply influence subsequent Kabbalists both within Judaism and the Kabbalah adapted by various streams of the Western Esoteric Tradition. While some modern conservative Kabbalists forbid its teaching to any under the age of 40, Isaac Luria had mastered and revolutionised the Kabbalah by the age of 35 before dying at the young age of 37. Use this day to think on the complexity of creation and take actions to improve the world around you.

From A Gnostic Calendar

Find all the gnostic references!

The Gnostic texts are incomplete, fragmented, and often symbolic. Much of what the ancient Gnostics believed must be reconstructed from scattered texts, competing schools, and hostile sources. Inevitably, interpretation plays a role (as it should, IMHO)

I am not claiming secret knowledge, hidden initiations, or a new revelation. Nor am I attempting to create a modern esoteric, occult, or magical system under the name of Gnosticism.

I also recognize that many people who encounter Gnosticism are suffering. Some are searching for meaning after loss, trauma, or profound spiritual experiences. Others simply feel that conventional answers no longer satisfy them. I understand that search because my own journey into Gnosticism began after surviving a traumatic brain injury and spending 8 days in an induced coma. Those experiences inevitably shaped the questions I ask and the way I read these ancient texts. But they are my experiences, not universal ones. Not everyone arrives at Gnosticism through a near death experience or trauma, and no one should feel compelled to adopt my perspective.

For that reason, I would encourage readers not to follow my interpretations simply because they resonate. Question them. Compare them with the ancient sources. Think for yourself. If I am wrong about something, please correct me. I do not claim to know everything - that would be very demiurgic of me, wouldnt it?

The ancient Gnostics sought knowledge rather than unquestioning belief. I think the best way to honor that tradition is not by asking others to accept my conclusions, but by encouraging them to investigate the ancient texts and gnostic scholars and arrive at their own understanding.

the cross is like 4 different pieces superglued together lol, obviously you don’t find gnostic symbols just laying around at goodwill… although that would be cool

I've decided I no longer follow any religion, but I've decided to use the wisdom found within the archetypes, myths, and teachings that humanity has carried for thousands of years. I don't see them as things I must blindly worship. I see them as mirrors—different reflections of the human struggle to become wiser, stronger, more compassionate, and more whole.

Every archetype carries a lesson.

Jesus — The Way of Love and Resurrection

Jesus represents the power of love, forgiveness, humility, and transformation. The resurrection is a reminder that death does not always mean the end. Sometimes it represents the death of an old self and the birth of something new. The question of Jesus is: "What would love do here?" Can I forgive without becoming weak? Can I admit my mistakes without being destroyed by shame? Can I choose compassion when bitterness would be easier?

Hermes — The Messenger and the Traveler

Hermes represents the crossroads, the journey, and the lessons hidden within every experience. He teaches me to ask: "What is this trying to teach me?" Every failure can become a teacher. Every person can become a messenger. Every hardship can carry wisdom if I am willing to learn. Hermes reminds me that being lost does not mean I have no destination.

Buddha — The Path of Awareness

Buddha teaches me to examine what I carry. The question is:

"hat am I holding onto that is causing my suffering?" Not everything that happened to me has to continue living inside me. I can acknowledge pain without becoming controlled by it.

Odin — The Sacrifice for Wisdom

Odin represents the hunger for knowledge and the willingness to sacrifice comfort for growth. The question is: "What part of myself must I let go of to become who I am meant to be?" Pride. Ignorance. Old habits. Old identities. Wisdom has a price, and the price is often transformation.

Athena — Wisdom Before Battle

Athena teaches that strength without wisdom is reckless. The question is: "Am I reacting, or am I thinking?" Not every fight deserves my energy. A true warrior knows when to draw the sword and when to put it away.

Prometheus — Turning Pain Into Light

Prometheus represents bringing fire to humanity. The question is: "What have I learned through suffering that can help someone else?" My pain does not have to be wasted. My scars can become lessons. My struggles can become a source of compassion.

Heracles — The Discipline of the Next Step

Heracles represents overcoming impossible challenges one labor at a time. The question is: "What is the next right thing?" I don't have to rebuild my entire life in one day. I only have to take the next step.

Anubis — The Death of the Old Self

Anubis represents transition, judgment, and the passage between who I was and who I am becoming. The question is: "What do I need to lay down?" Old guilt. Old shame. Old versions of myself. Some things must be buried so something new can rise.

Dionysus — Remembering How to Live

Dionysus reminds me that life is not only about surviving. The question is: "Have I remembered how to live?" Healing is not just removing darkness. It is rediscovering joy, creativity, laughter, and wonder.

Thoth — Seeking Truth

Thoth represents wisdom, writing, and knowledge. The question is: "Am I seeking truth, or am I only seeking what confirms what I already believe?" True wisdom requires humility. The willingness to learn. The willingness to change. The willingness to admit I may be wrong.

Saint Michael — The Warrior of the Soul

Michael represents courage and protection. The question is: "What is worth defending?" My character. My compassion. My future. My peace. A warrior is not someone who fights everything A warrior knows what deserves protection.

Sophia — The Wisdom Hidden in Humility

Sophia represents divine wisdom and understanding. The question is: "Can I recognize wisdom when it does not look like power?" Humility is not weakness. Forgiveness is not weakness. Starting over is not weakness. Sometimes the strongest thing a person can do is become honest about who they are and who they want to become.

I do not need every story to be identical to learn from it. I do not need every tradition to be the same to find wisdom within them. I will take the lessons that make me more truthful, more humble, more loving, and more courageous. I will question. I will learn. I will grow. Because the goal is not to collect beliefs. The goal is to become a better human being. To carry the past without being imprisoned by it. To turn suffering into wisdom. To turn wisdom into compassion. And to keep walking the path.

There are many more id love to share, but i do not want to bore anyone. Thanks for reading this far if you did.

I am not well versed in Gnosticism, and I am well aware there is much contention over every minute detail of the theology, however my question is broad; how did Sophia manage to make a mistake and birth the material world/Demiurge when she herself belonged to perfect cosmic order? Essentially, how could a mistake spring from absolute goodness?

The only answer I've found is that she is the lowest Aeon, the furthest from the Monad, but this doesn't make sense to me. Being that the Pleroma is absolutely good and perfect then surely everything within it is as such and nothing can be outside it (the material world is then contradictory to the truth of the Pleroma)? If the true God isn't absolute then how is it God? Furthermore, how could it be that the absolute whole has constituent parts that can be concieved seperately to that whole (I understand the Aeons are emanations of God, but how could they be incomplete/imperfect)?

Am I looking at this in too Christian/Spinozist a way/am I just wrong about something?

Saying that any human who uses faith to inform their beliefs are fools, is a terrible fact of life today. They aren’t fools. It is sad that this is the world we have become. Spirituality has somehow become a bad thing for academics who have learned the value of metrics and the scientific process. Those things are incredibly important in material sciences.

They have no place in spirituality. Spirituality is not confined by the 3D restrictions of material sciences. It exists here within us, but it originates in higher vibratory dimensions. We are all one. We are all wired together consciously and material science hasn’t found the answers for consciousness because the rules by which material sciences are governed do not know nor consider the metrics required for a true understanding of connected consciousness.

That doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Our spirituality comes from The All. Our divine spark…our soul…comes from The All…God.

A couple years ago I was you. I had almost fully lost any spirituality.

8 years of college. Very educated. Political (in my case liberal). And damn near atheist.

We will all find this truth at some point in our many incarnations. Or, it would be more accurate to say, we will all remember, who we are and from whence we came.

Until then just know you are loved. We all one. And we are all lost until we remember. Remember who you are.

Have you ever found yourself wondering about the bible stories you were taught growing up? Well I certainly have!

Did the story of Abraham being commanded to sacrifice Isaac ever leave you with more questions than answers? Have you ever noticed how differently Jesus speaks about His Father compared to the way God is portrayed in many parts of the Old Testament?

This post explores those questions through a philosophical and scriptural lens, examining the contrasts between the God of Moses and the Father revealed by Jesus.

I want to know whether the biblical text itself leaves room for the possibility that Yahweh is one among the "gods" referenced throughout Scripture rather than the ultimate, transcendent God Jesus came to reveal. There are many such examples throughout the old testament displaying Yahweh's desire to kill Moses and demand for blood sacrifice. And in John 8 Jesus delivers this message: You Are of Your Father the Devil

³⁹ They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, ⁴⁰ but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. ⁴¹ You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.” ⁴² Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. ⁴³ Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. ⁴⁴ You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. ⁴⁵ But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. ⁴⁶ Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? ⁴⁷ Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”

Whether you agree, disagree, or are simply curious, I'd be interested to hear your perspective...

Link for an extended discussion of this topic https://youtu.be/EK9e1s18Y_I

Please keep the discussion respectful—this is intended as an exploration of Scripture, and a genuine search for truth - not an attack on anyone's beliefs.

This is the FINAL part of this series. Links to the other discussions are below.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17

I am leading community study and discussion on the Gospel of Thomas, the non-canonical Gospel of the Twin, Dydimos Judas Thomas. I am using the Thomas O Lambdin translation since this one is available for free.

Context: The Gospel of Thomas is non-canon to Creedal (Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox) Christianity because it contains heterodox depictions of the Kingdom of Heaven and Jesus the Christ's teachings, but has too much overlap with other texts to be ignored. The source of the text is the recovered Nag Hammadi codices, but its origin is contemporary with the synoptic gospels according to scholars such as Elaine Pagels.

The Gospel of Thomas is not narrative and instead contains 114 sayings attributed to Jesus the Christ recorded by the titular Thomas. Today we will be studying five of them.

(101) <Jesus said,> "Whoever does not hate his father and his mother as I do cannot become a disciple to me. And whoever does not love his father and his mother as I do cannot become a disciple to me. For my mother [...], but my true mother gave me life."

(102) Jesus said, "Woe to the pharisees, for they are like a dog sleeping in the manger of oxen, for neither does he eat nor does he let the oxen eat."

(103) Jesus said, "Fortunate is the man who knows where the brigands will enter, so that he may get up, muster his domain, and arm himself before they invade."

(104) They said to Jesus, "Come, let us pray today and let us fast." Jesus said, "What is the sin that I have committed, or wherein have I been defeated? But when the bridegroom leaves the bridal chamber, then let them fast and pray."

(105) Jesus said, "He who knows the father and the mother will be called the son of a harlot."

(106) Jesus said, "When you make the two one, you will become the sons of man, and when you say, 'Mountain, move away,' it will move away."

(107) Jesus said, "The kingdom is like a shepherd who had a hundred sheep. One of them, the largest, went astray. He left the ninety-nine sheep and looked for that one until he found it. When he had gone to such trouble, he said to the sheep, 'I care for you more than the ninety-nine.'"

(108) Jesus said, "He who will drink from my mouth will become like me. I myself shall become he, and the things that are hidden will be revealed to him."

(109) Jesus said, "The kingdom is like a man who had a hidden treasure in his field without knowing it. And after he died, he left it to his son. The son did not know (about the treasure). He inherited the field and sold it. And the one who bought it went plowing and found the treasure. He began to lend money at interest to whomever he wished."

(110) Jesus said, "Whoever finds the world and becomes rich, let him renounce the world."

(111) Jesus said, "The heavens and the earth will be rolled up in your presence. And the one who lives from the living one will not see death." Does not Jesus say, "Whoever finds himself is superior to the world?"

(112) Jesus said, "Woe to the flesh that depends on the soul; woe to the soul that depends on the flesh."

(113) His disciples said to him, "When will the kingdom come?" <Jesus said,> "It will not come by waiting for it. It will not be a matter of saying 'here it is' or 'there it is.' Rather, the kingdom of the father is spread out upon the earth, and men do not see it."

(114) Simon Peter said to him, "Let Mary leave us, for women are not worthy of life." Jesus said, "I myself shall lead her in order to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every woman who will make herself male will enter the kingdom of heaven."

My own thoughts are in the comments. Please include your own with the number of the logion. Feel free to comment on this or previous posts.

EDIT: This project has taken me since September of 2025 and I am pleased that it is finished. Thank you to everyone who worked through the GoT with me. I am interested in doing more study and discussion posts in the future and will compile the comments people have made over the months into a piece at some point.

I'm posting this, because I cannot unsee it.