September 21, 2025 • 50 mins
This week we're diving into the beliefs of the ancient Gnostics. Were we created by the Demiurge and not a loving God? Are there trickster Archons persuading us to stay stuck in a cycle of birth, death and rebirth? What can the beliefs of the Gnostics teach us today?
Thanks for listening! If you enjoy the show, please tell a friend, subscribe, rate and leave us a kind review.
Don't forget to join our community on Facebook by searching Psychic Teachers.
If you have a question or story to share with us, send us an email at psychicteachers@gmail.com.
For more information on us, check out our websites: debbowen.com and samanthafey.com.
You can also find Samantha on Instagram @samanthaofey.
If you want to pre-order Deb's book, go to debbowen.com or (if outside the US), check out clairegelder.com
Signed copies of Samantha’s book Heavenly Alliance and The Awake Dreamer are available at samanthafey.com.
Be sure to check out Samantha’s other podcast Enlightened Empaths.
Have a great week. Be the Light!
Thanks for listening! If you enjoy the show, please tell a friend, subscribe, rate and leave us a kind review.
Don't forget to join our community on Facebook by searching Psychic Teachers.
If you have a question or story to share with us, send us an email at psychicteachers@gmail.com.
For more information on us, check out our websites: debbowen.com and samanthafey.com.
You can also find Samantha on Instagram @samanthaofey.
If you want to pre-order Deb's book, go to debbowen.com or (if outside the US), check out clairegelder.com
Signed copies of Samantha’s book Heavenly Alliance and The Awake Dreamer are available at samanthafey.com.
Be sure to check out Samantha’s other podcast Enlightened Empaths.
Have a great week. Be the Light!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Hello, and welcome to Psychic Teachers Podcast. I'm your host Deb.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Bowen and I'm Samantha Fay, and we're so delighted and
honored that you have joined with us.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
This week, Samantha and I are going to be talking
about a subject that has been near and dear to
our researchy geeky kind of hearts for a long time.
We're going to be talking about gnosticism this week. This
is one of history's most intriguing, often misunderstood, and profoundly
relevant spiritual traditions. For centuries, ideas were suppressed, their text
(00:51):
hidden away, but thanks to incredible discoveries like the I
never can say this word correctly nag Hamadi. Yes, these
ancient teachings have re emerged, offering a unique lens through
which we can view spirituality, the nature of reality and
our place within it, and what you might find is it.
(01:14):
These ancient concepts resonate profound with many of us today,
speaking to a deep intuitive knowing with it.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Yes, so we are going to unravel some core gnostic concepts,
delve into the captivating history of all sorts of incredible
mystical things like the bridal Chamber ritual and hopefully answer
crucial questions like Worthy Cathar's Gnostics, why was the early
Church so threatened by these ideas? And most importantly, what
(01:46):
powerful lessons can we as modern spiritual seekers learn from
the Gnostics today. Let's start at the heart of gnosticism,
the concept of gnosis. This isn't just intellectual nonledge like
knowing facts from a textbook. Nosis is a direct, intuitive,
experiential knowing of the divine. It's a revelation and awakening
(02:09):
to spiritual truths that transcend dogma and external authority. So
at its core, gnosticism generally proposes a radical dualism. First,
you have the supreme True God. This is the ultimate, unknowable, perfect,
divine source, often referred to as the fullness, monad or plorroma.
(02:35):
This God is beyond our comprehension and completely good. This
God is a supreme, transcendent, perfect, and unknowable true God
that exists entirely separate from our material universe. It's beyond
our human comprehension. It's pure light, and as I said,
it's absolute goodness.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
And then we have the demi Urge. This is a lesser,
often flawed or ignorant creator God, who mistakenly made the
material world we inhabit. This world, being the creation of
an imperfect deity, is inherently flawed, filled with suffering, and
(03:14):
is a kind of prison for the divine sparks within us.
Think of this as the cosmic error. Far from the benevolent,
omnipotent creator God of most fates, the demi Urge is
a flawed, often ignorant, and sometimes belevolent entity responsible for
fashioning the material world we inhabit. The demi Urge believes
(03:39):
that he is the supreme Creator. Gnostic texts describe various
origins for the demi Urge, but most sources say he
emerged from the true God, often a divine feminine principle
named Sophia which means Wisdom, who also experienced a crisis
or falling away from truth. In her flawed yearning or
(04:01):
accidental creation, she inadvertently gives birth to a clumsy, ignorant,
and sometimes malformed entity, the demi Urge.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
So by now you've got to be thinking, wait, this
is pretty radical for today's religions. So can you imagine
back then? So let's just review a minute. The demi
Urge is not the true God. He's a cosmic misunderstanding.
At the heart of the Gnostic worldview lies a fundamental dualism.
(04:32):
On the one hand, you've got this supreme, utterly transcendent,
perfect and unknowable true God who exists entirely separate from
our material universe. The demi Urge, on the other hand,
is not this true God. Instead, he's arrogant, diluded. This entity,
unaware of the higher spiritual realms from which it indirectly sprung,
(04:54):
then proceeds to create the physical cosmos and humanity out
of its own limited understanding and power. The result is
a world that is inherently flawed and ultimately a prison
for the divine sparks that are trapped within us.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
All right, y'all, you probably need to listen to what
Samantha's just said again. But before we move on, let
me just tell you I'm going to add to what
she said with some words that are going to be
kind of odd to us, and.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Bear with me here.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
The Gnostic demi urge goes by many names in many
different texts. For example, there is y'all Debout, one of
the most common and striking names, meaning child of chaos
or blind God. This name emphasizes his ignorance and the
chaotic nature of his creation from a higher perspective. Then
(05:44):
they're Socklus, meaning fool or foolish one, further highlighting his
ignorance and arrogant. Then there's Samael sort of like Samuel
exaidit Samael sometimes translated also as blind God or venom
of God, a name also associated with There's that d
(06:06):
word demonic figure in some Jewish mystic traditions. And then
finally there's the God of the Old Testament. Crucially, many
Gnostic texts identify the demi Urge with the Old Testament
God of Judaism and Christianity, particularly the jealous, vengeful, and
(06:26):
legalistic deity described in certain Biblical passages. This identification, this
is really important. This identification was a core point of
contention with proto orthodox Christianity. So for Gnostics, the material world,
with its inherent suffering, decay, and limitations, was clear evidence
(06:50):
of a flawed creator. Unlike the traditional Abrahamic view, where
God created a fundamentally good world and humanity fell from grace,
Gnostics saw the very act of creation by the demi
Urge as the initial fall. So basically, the Gnostics at
this point are saying the world is flawed, it's full
(07:11):
of all sorts of problems and issues and decay and suffering,
and it must have therefore been created. The world must
have therefore been created from a God whose view of
the world and us was that same way.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Which is radically different from what the other religions were saying,
where they were putting all of the blame solely on
us or e for eating the fruit. Even our physical
bodies were seen as constructs of the demi Urge, trapping
the divine spark within. This is why the gnostic path
was one of liberation, not from sin in a moral sense,
(07:49):
but from the ignorance of the demi Urge's world and
the awakening to one's true divine origin. Of course, this
belief created a lot of issues for church leaders. If
the true problem was cosmic ignorance and imprisonment, not mortal sin,
then salvation came through nosis, direct knowledge and awakening, not
(08:10):
through faith in Christ, sacrifice, or adherence to church sacraments.
So this bypassed the need for priestly mediation and church institutions.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
And you have to remember that at the time that
this nosis concept was coming along the Christian faith was
very young, very new good, and there was a lot
of dissent among various Christian folks around the at that
time what was known of the world as to what
Jesus's intent really was. So here you have these groups
(08:43):
of people who say, this church and the way it's
run is supposed to be legalistic, and they're supposed to
be rules and sacrifices and sacraments and so forth. And
the Gnostic people are saying, no, you just got a
no stuff. I mean, that's very simplistic, but that's sort
of it, and nuts it is.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
It's good.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
And so by identifying the Old Testament God as the
ignorant demiurge, gnosticism directly questioned the divine inspiration and authority
of sacred text central to both Judaism and Christianity, not
to mention that it directly contradicted the fundamental belief in
(09:23):
one supreme, good God who created a perfect world. You
can see how we're going to end up with the
word heretic related to the word dosticism.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Oh yeah, I mean, no wonder the Gnostics had to
hide away their text. So let's move on to some
other key elements of their faith. In addition to the
demi Urge and the True God, Gnostics also believed in
the eons. These aren't angels or gods in the traditional sense,
but rather primal, eternal emanations from the ultimate, unknowable divine source.
(09:57):
Understanding the eons is essential to grasping the Gnostic view
of existence, the nature of divinity, and the path to
spiritual awakening. The Gnostics believe that from the True God
flowed forth a series of divine emanations, like ripples spreading
from a stone dropped into a cosmic ocean, and these
(10:17):
emanations are the eons. They are eternal spiritual beings, divine thoughts, qualities,
or archetypes that collectively form the plurima, the divine realm
of light, truth, and perfection.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
And the eons are often described as existing in payers,
representing masculine and feminine principles or complementary divine attributes. The
number of eons varies across different Gnostic schools. Some texts
mention thirty, some thirty six, some even more, but they
generally represent the totality of the divine attributes and powers
(10:57):
of the True God, and of course, the most significant
one in terms of our discussion is Sophia or Wisdom.
Sophia often plays a pivotal role as the last and
furthest eon from the True God. Her story is central
to understanding the existence of our flawed material world. In
(11:19):
many Gnostic texts, Sophia, driven by an intense desire to
fully comprehend or directly know the unknowable, which was a
desire beyond her capacity, she steps outside the bounds of
the True God. This act of yearning, curiosity, or flawed
(11:40):
emanation results in a miscarriage, a premature or incomplete creation,
and this flawed offspring is the demi Urge, the ignorant, arrogant,
and lesser God, who then mistakenly creates the material universe
we inhabit, believing himself to be the so true God.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
It's so hard that it's always a woman they blame,
no matter what faith you're looking at. You ever notice that? Oh?
Speaker 3 (12:07):
Absolutely?
Speaker 1 (12:08):
And you know there are other stories about Sophia in
the Grape text.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
For any yes, that are completely different.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
Yeah, it's an interesting thing to think about. Is this
like Pandora's Box? Is this like Icarus in the wings
trying to get close to God?
Speaker 3 (12:22):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
But it's interesting to at least look at as far
as this part of the story goes. Sofia, in her
sorrow and repentance, often becomes a figure of redemption, and
so what she decides to do is scatter fragments of
her divine light, which are of course fragments of the
True God's light into humanity. And this is why it
(12:44):
is said that we human beings possess the divine spark.
It is a remnant of Sophia's original connection to the
True God trapped within this material world. So Sophia's story
of yearning, fall an eventual restoration offers a profound allegory
for the human soul's journey. It speaks to the experience
(13:04):
of feeling disconnected, making mistakes, and then finding a path
back to wholeness and divine connection. Her story is one
of ultimate redemption and integration.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
Within the Gnostic belief system.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Right, okay, and certain sects of the Gnostic belief system,
because like any other group, there's different variations and branches.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
True exactly, so if the eons represent divine attributes, then
connecting with these artypical forces can be seen as a
way of activating dormant divine qualities within ourselves. The eons
exists beyond conventional human morality. They are expressions of divine essence.
(13:48):
This can encourage a more expansive view of spiritual reality,
moving beyond simplistic binaries of good and evil to understand
the inherent nature of divine entity. So, in essence, the
gnostic eons paint a universe that is far more nuanced, layered,
and ultimately hopeful. They invite us to look beyond the
(14:12):
immediate confines of our material existence and recognize the vast
shimmering an ultimately perfect realm from which we originated and
of which our inherent divine spark yearns to return.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
All right, now, let's get to some spooky stuff, right ready, Okay,
here we go the arkans. These deplorable figures are sometimes
called the jailers of our universe. Unlike the angels or
demons of traditional Abrahamic religions, gnostic arcons are not simply
(14:50):
fallen beings or divine messengers. They are best understood as
petty cosmic rulers, bureaucratic jailers, or blind overseers of the
material universe. They are the offspring of the ignorant Demiurge.
They dwell in the planetary's spheres and heavenly realms that
separate humanity from the True God, effectively acting as guards
(15:14):
or toll collectors along the soul's journey. Gnostic texts, particularly
those found in the nan Kamani Library, depict Arkans with
various characteristics and functions.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
That's right, they were often depicted as blind and arrogant.
Archons are ignorant of the true Supreme God. They believe
the demi Urge is the ultimate Deity and operate within
the confines of his limited creation. They are blind to
(15:46):
hire spiritual truths. They're also portrayed as controlling. Their primary
function is to maintain the order of the material cosmos
created by the Demiurge and to keep the divine and
spark the Gnoses trapped within human beings. They enforce cosmic laws,
(16:07):
generate faith, and control earthly affairs. They are often depicted
as grotesque, animalistic, or hybrid beings, reflecting the imperfect and
sometimes monstrous nature of their creator, the Demiurge. For instance,
yowled about the primary archon is often described with the
(16:30):
head of a lion and the body of a serpent.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
And this is kind of scary. Arkans are believed to
exert influence over human minds, particularly those who remain ignorant
of their divine origin. They can induce fear, doubt, distraction,
and carnal desires to keep humanity enslaved to the material
world and prevent spiritual awakening. They are the source of
(16:59):
much human sold and confusion. In some text they are
called robbers because they try to steal the divine light
or spiritual energy from humans, often by encouraging ignorance and materialism.
Doesn't that remind you of C. S. Lewis's book The
Screwtape Letters.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
Oh yeah, gosh, I love that book. It's been a
long time since I've read it.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
Me too.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
It's about the little demon who sits on the guy's
shoulder and just tries to keep him off his path.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
I remember.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
Oh absolutely So this really does sound very scary, But
the Gnostics to them, the existence of the archon provides
an explanation for the inherent, suffering, injustice, and seemingly chaotic
nature of the material world. We don't live in a
perfect creation, nor are we governed by an all loving,
(17:50):
omnisipiant god.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
In the traditional sense.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
Instead, our world is won by a cosmic bureaucracy that
is fundamentally fawed and seeks to perpetuate its own existence
by keeping humanity in spiritual bondage. The archons are also
said to be responsible for the creation of the physical body.
In some Gnostic myths, the archons collaborate with the demi
(18:15):
urge to fashion the human physical body designed to be
a prison for the divine spar that's weird.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
That is, And they're also said to be in charge
of imposing fate and destiny. They control astrological influences and
the laws of the material world, creating a sense of
predestination that can trap individuals, and they generate ignorance and forgetfulness.
They actively work to make humans forget their divine origin
(18:46):
and prevent them from attaining nosis.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
So how do we overcome their influence?
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Well, the Gnostic path to salvation is a journey of
liberation from the archon's influence and the demi urges domain.
This liberation is achieved not through conventional workship or moral obedience,
but through gnosis direct experiential knowledge. And one way we
(19:14):
can do this, say the Gnostics, is by awakening the
divine spark by realizing our true divine nature is a
spark of the real God. According to the Gnostics, when
we do this, we can transcend the Archion's power.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
It makes you think about all those times you've seen
people who are not doing well in life and they're
struggling with I don't know, an addiction, a temptation, something
like that, and they're like, no, I'm going to overcome this.
I'm going to get my life back on path. And
they do for a little bit, and then life rains
some chaos onto them and back they go. I mean,
(19:55):
is this another way of saying the devil made me
do it type thing? Or could there be some truth
to this? It's interesting to contemplate now. They also believed
that spiritual knowledge was like a passport. Gnostics believed that
having the correct noosis acted like a password or a key,
allowing the soul to navigate past the arkan's custom stations
(20:18):
after death, preventing reincarnation back into the material world, which
would allow us to ascend to the ploroma, or what
I would call heaven. And they believed that when we
gained an awareness of how the arkans work, we could
figure out when they were trying to tempt us towards materialism, fear,
(20:39):
or limiting beliefs, and consciously reject them. See depth. This
is why I think it's so important to explore the
light and the t Oh you do, know.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
You do, And I understand why you say that. And
now you know without the dark there can be no light.
So let it be a dance, said that wonderful poet
I love so much, so I get that. But ultimately
all of that, however, you're looking at, or balancing or
not the various aspects of the world, both within and
(21:11):
without you. In the Gnostic belief, it really goes back
to the core of knowing your own truth, who you
are and where.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
You come from.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
And while the liberal belief in cosmic entities with lions
ads ruling planets might not resonate with everybody today, the
metaphor of the Gnostic archids pulls surprising power and relevance
in contemporary spirituality and in critical thought. For example, the
(21:42):
archads can be seen as a metaphor for the pervasive,
often invisible systems of control, disinformation, and societal programming that
keeps humanity unaware of its true potential, like oppressive political structures,
some limiting belief systems, or manipulative media.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Yes, And on a psychological level, arcons can represent the
inner demons or shadow aspects of the psyche, like self
sabotaging thoughts, fears, doubts, and ego driven impulses that prevent
personal growth and spiritual awakening. Think about like the Matrix metaphor.
The popularity of that film series, with its depiction of
(22:27):
humanity trapped in an illusion of reality created by unseen controllers,
resonates strongly with the gnostic understanding of the Arkans and
the demi Urge. The gnostic pursuit of liberation from arconic
influence empowers us to question authority and to forge our
own path to truth.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
And I wish I had a nickel for every single
time I have said these words. There is always hope.
Here's where it gets truly exciting for us. Gnostics believed
that within each human being lies a fragment, a tiny
spark of the true supreme divine light. This spark is
(23:09):
trapped within the material body and the illusionary world created
by the Demiurge. The goal of gnosticism, therefore isn't salvation
through fate than a redeemer or through rituals performed by
a priest. It's salvation through gnosis, through awakening to the
knowledge of your true divine origin, realizing that you are
(23:33):
a spark of the Ultimate God, not merely a creation
of the Demiurge. This nosis then allows you to escape
the cycles of the material world and return to Pleroma,
that heaven place, the divine fullness. This emphasis on personal
revelation and the divine within makes gnosticism incredibly empowered, and,
(23:58):
as we'll see, all so challenges the established religious hierarchies
for sure.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
But before we get to that, let's talk about some
of the similarities between traditional faiths and the Gnostics. Now,
they did perform baptisms, but their understanding of it differed
radically from the Christian sacrament. For Gnostics, traditional water baptism
was often seen as a symbol of a deeper spiritual purification,
(24:28):
rather than the ultimate act itself. Gnostic baptism aimed to
cleanse the initiate not from original sin, but from the
ignorance of the material world and the influence of the Demiurge.
It was a symbolic washing away of the earthly cell
to reveal the divine spark within. The True baptism was
(24:48):
the reception of the Holy Spirit or a divine emanation,
which infused the initiate with gnosis. This might be understood
as an inner energetic experience than solely in external right.
Some Gnostic groups, like the Sethians, believed they were directly
receiving the Divine Spirit that had descended upon Seth, a
(25:10):
primordial ancestor figure.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
And in some Gnostic traditions, baptism was immediately followed by
an anointing with oil, symbolizing the ceiling of the initiate
with the divine light and protecting them from hostile cosmic powers.
This chrism or anointing oil was believed to bestow spiritual
(25:34):
powers and mark the individual as chosen. Gnostics also engaged
in eucharistic meals, but like baptism, their interpretation deviated from
the mainstream Christian understanding. For Gnostics, the bread and wine
were generally not viewed as the literal body and blood
(25:55):
of a physical Jesus who had truly suffered, given their
belief that the material body was flawed. They believed his
physical body was an illusion or merely a vessel for
the divine spirit. Instead, the Gnostic Eucharist was more likely
a symbolic meal to commemorate the gnosis revealed by Jesus
(26:18):
or to affirm spiritual communion among initiates, rather than literal
substance for a material body, The Gnostic eucharists focused on
spiritual nourishment for the divine spark within, strengthening the initiates
for their journey out of the material realm.
Speaker 2 (26:38):
Okay, let's talk about another fascinating right developed by the Gnostics,
called the bridal chamber. Now, among the various Gnostic practices
and sacraments, the bridal chamber or sometimes called Chamber of
the Bride, stands out as one of the most intriguing
and for its time, radical concepts. It's crucial to understand
(26:58):
that for most Nostia traditions, the bridal chamber was not
a literal sexual act, but a profound, symbolic and spiritual sacrament.
It involved the union, which represented the mystical union of
the individual gnostic soul, often seen as feminine, with its
divine counterpart or its heavenly angel or spirit, often seen
(27:20):
as masculine. It was spiritual alchemy, a reunion of separated
halves of the divine light. This union was considered the
highest sacrament, a crucial step in the soul's journey back
to the fullness. It symbolized the restoration of the soul
to its original perfect state of oneness within the divine
(27:40):
prior to its entanglement with the material world. It was
about achieving ultimate spiritual integration and completeness. Because of its
deeply personal and esoteric nature and its radical departure from
conventional practices, information about the Bridal Chamber rituals was often
kept secret among the initiates. This secrecy naturally fueled suspicion
(28:02):
from outsiders. We still don't know all the details of
the ritual due to its secretive nature, but texts like
the Gospel of Philip allude to it as the highest sacrament,
transcending water, baptism and anointing and providing ultimate spiritual liberation.
It involved a deeper inner transformation and recognition of one's
(28:22):
divine entity.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
This is twice now this week I've heard about the
Gospel of Philip.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
I guess I need to get a copy of it.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Yeah, that's a sign for sure, I thiks so too. Yeah,
you can find it online too, can just read it there.
Oh okay, good, thanks, it's nice, but I find it
interesting Socrates talked about Was it Socrates who talked about
the split aparts?
Speaker 3 (28:44):
I don't remember.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
I believe it was Socrates who talked about the split
aparts and how we are constantly looking for our better half,
our soulmate, the counterpart, because we were split apart at creation,
and that was in ancient Greek times, and now we
have the Gnostics over to millennia ago talking about the
spiritual unions. That interesting. How you see these concepts over
(29:08):
and over again in different various ways, whether it's mythology
or different religions or cultural beliefs.
Speaker 3 (29:14):
It really is.
Speaker 1 (29:15):
I guess one of the things about these kinds of
episodes that we do this can sometimes make my eyes
glaze over even.
Speaker 3 (29:21):
As we're talking about it.
Speaker 1 (29:22):
I can imagine that folks who are listening to it think, wait,
why what is this about, and what does it have
to do with me? But it really does bring into
the forefront the thought that the world is filled with
different ways of thinking, and that those differing ways of
thinking have a long and convoluted history, and that there's
(29:43):
no real one truth, And it's so much fun to
think about the various ways of being and see how
we may have pulled in any given culture pieces from
other beliefs and other cultures to derive at the way
we think and so see the world today, and to
see how these ancient thoughts continue to impact.
Speaker 3 (30:05):
How we see the world and ourselves today.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
Oh, I know, it's just it's a beautiful thing and
it gives us nosis. Also, before I get a ton
of emails, it wasn't Socrates who said that. It was
Plato in his symposium who talked about the split aparts.
Thanks you really a beautiful story. Okay, let's take a
very quick break and we will be right back to
dive more into how gnosticism can help us today. Hey, guys,
(30:33):
Deb and I just wanted to take a moment to
thank you for listening to the show and ask you
to share it with a friend or leave a comment
on Spotify or Apple. It really does help us. You
can also show your love and support by signing up
for our newsletters or following us on social media. Our
websites Samantha Fay dot com and Deb Bowen dot com.
(30:54):
You can find our e courses, meditations and crystal bracelets.
You can also pre order Dev's new book, Crafting the
Wheel of the Year, and on my site you can
order sign copies of my books as well. We have
lots of fun stuff going on, right Deb.
Speaker 1 (31:09):
We really do, and I am so excited about this
new book I've written Samantha with Claire Gelder again. It's
called Crafting the Wheel of the Year. And whether you're
a craft or not, you will enjoy the history, lore
and cultural aspects of the eight Celtic Agrariat holidays that
I've written about. And if you are a crafter, you
(31:30):
will love making the seventeen projects that Claire has created
the correspond to the holidays. You can see details about
it again on my website, Deb Bowen dot com and
if you are in countries other than the US, certainly
check out Claire's website wilcotour Coompany dot com.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
And I'm excited to announce that Deb is going to
be on my other podcast, Enlightened Mpaths, So we're really
happy to share a beautiful conversation we have with Denise
and Deb and myself.
Speaker 3 (31:59):
Hope you check it out.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
Welcome back, so beyond formal rituals. The very essence of
Gnosticism was the pursuit of gnoses through direct personal experience.
This often involved practices of contemplation, meditation, and visionary experiences.
Gnostics engaged in deep introspection, seeking to understand the nature
(32:25):
of their own being and discern the divine spark within.
This was a continuous, ongoing personal practice. Through meditative states, visions,
or dream works. Initiates might experience symbolic journeys through the
various eons or navigate the perilous realms of the archons.
(32:49):
These were direct experiential forms of gnoses, revealing the true
structure of the cosmos.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
Now, the Gnostic texts often depict dialogues between human seekers
and divine revealers like Jesus, Mary Magdalene, or Sophia. So
it's plausible that these dialogues were not just literary devices,
but maybe they reflected practices from their inner communion or
visionary encounters with these spiritual guides when they were doing
(33:19):
these meditations, visions, and dream work.
Speaker 1 (33:23):
So what happened to the Gnostic movement, Well, basically, the
church leaders wanted one unified church with one unified system
of teachings. Influential church leaders wrote volumes against the Gnostics,
painting them as evil, sinful, crazy, and dangerous, and the
(33:45):
slander worked. Gnosticism fundamentally undermined the authority of the church,
its hierarchy, and its priest. If salvation came through personal nosis,
a direct in it. If knowing, then what need was
there for the animediaries, for rituals, for official doctrines. This
(34:08):
was a direct threat to the power structure of the
nascent church. The Gnostic path to salvation differed significantly from
the mainstream Christian view of salvation through the faith in
Jesus Christ as a sacrificial redeemer and adherence to church teachings.
(34:29):
Gnosticism offered an entirely different narrative.
Speaker 2 (34:33):
Well, you know, a lot of people might be listening
to this and thinking, yeah, I can see how the
early Church would have been against all of this, But
if this was going on today, it might be the
same thing. I mean, as you guys know, I have
a lot of friends who are very traditionally religious, and
I was really surprised when my book Heavenly Alliance came out.
(34:55):
One of my friends said, I'm afraid to read your book,
I feel I'm going against the teachings of my church. Yeah,
very educated woman, and I was so shocked to hear that.
So this stuff is still very much real.
Speaker 1 (35:11):
Absolutely it is, and not just in terms of varying
Christian views, but in the way that other world religions
are are denigrated, are not accepted as agreable as a belief,
it's legitimate.
Speaker 2 (35:27):
Well, look at the work of Phyllis Carot, the work
she did to get the religion of paganism.
Speaker 1 (35:33):
Approved of the pentagram on the tombstones and yeah, Terry cemeteries.
Speaker 2 (35:38):
Yes, I mean that's very recent.
Speaker 3 (35:41):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (35:43):
The idea of a flawed demiurge creating the material world
clearly challenged the Biblical notion of an all good, all
powerful God creating a perfect world. This was seen as blasphemous.
The Gnostic emphasis on personal revelation and individual spiritual experience
was difficult for an institutional church to control or standardize.
(36:05):
It led to diverse interpretations and teachings, which the church
fewed as heresy, leading to disunity. While many Gnostics were
ascetic some interpretations of dualism, If the material world doesn't matter,
then actions in it don't either led to all sorts
of nefarious accusations from their critics, further fueling the Church's
(36:26):
fear and condemnation. The secrecy around rights like the bridal
chamber sure didn't help either.
Speaker 3 (36:32):
No, it didn't.
Speaker 1 (36:33):
And the fact that you know Sophia, who, long before
she was connected in any way to Gnosticism, was also
a Greek goddess didn't help either.
Speaker 3 (36:43):
No.
Speaker 1 (36:44):
So the Church set about, of course, to destroy this
religious sect. A significant part of the suppression involved the
destruction of Gnostic scriptures and writings. Prior to the discovery
of the nag Hamadi Library in nineteen forty five, most
of what scholars knew about Gnosticism came from critiques from
(37:07):
its opponents. The act of burying the Nogamati texts themselves
it seen by many as evidence of the pressure Gnostics
were under to hide their sacred writings. Once Christianity became
the official religion of the Roman Empire under emperors like
Constantine in the fourth century and Theodosius the First, who
(37:31):
made Nicene Christianity the state religion in three eighty c,
Gnostic practices and teachings were outlawed. This led to organized
persecution outlawing of Gnostic churches and in some cases violence
against the followers, plus the emphasis on secret knowledge and
(37:52):
often complex mythologies, made Gnosticism less accessible to the general
populace compared to the more straightforward evangelical messages of proto
orthodox Christianity, and the decentralized nature of Gnosticism, while fostering
diversity might have made it harder to organize and resist
(38:15):
unified persecution compared to the increasingly structured and unified Christian Church.
Speaker 2 (38:24):
But some Gnostic influence groups managed to survive in more
remote areas, particularly in the Middle East. The Mandeans of
present day Iraq and Iran are a rare example of
an ancient Gnostic religion that has maintained its distinct identity
and practices to this day, though they have faced severe
persecution in modern times. Gnostic ideas also resurfaced in modified
(38:49):
forms in various medieval movements, such as the Polytians in
the Byzantine Empire and the bogle Meals in the Balkans,
and most famously, the Cathars in southern France. While not
direct descendants, these groups shared significant dualistic beliefs and were
also heavily persecuted by the Church.
Speaker 1 (39:09):
So let's talk about the Catharists, which is an offshoot
of Gnosticism.
Speaker 3 (39:15):
Is it an offshoot? Really?
Speaker 1 (39:17):
This is a common question and the answer is no.
Not a direct offshoot in the sense of a continuous
historical lineage, but there are similarities. The Kaffers, a dolistic
religious movement in southern France from the twelfth to the
fourteenth centuries, did have a lot in common with the Gnostics.
(39:37):
They believed in two gods, a good God of the
spiritual realm and an evil God of the material world,
similar to the demi Urge. They rejected the material world,
the physical body of Christ, and the sacraments of the
Catholic Church, and they were also highly ascetic. However, modern
(39:59):
scholarship generally views Catharicism as a separate medieval movement rather
than a direct, unbroken continuation of Gnosticism from antiquity. The
connections are more thematic and philosophical than direct lineal descent.
Like the Gnostics, the Cauthurs were fiercely persecuted by the
(40:20):
Catholic Church through crusades and the Inquisition, highlighting the Church's
consistent fear of dualistic beliefs and alternate paths to salvation
that challenged its authority. And if you want to go
off on a tangent about the Cauthers and Mary Magdalene
and the Knight's Templar, that's a really fun rabbit hole to.
Speaker 2 (40:40):
Go down and read Holy Blood, Holy Grail. Absolutely, And
if we haven't turned everyone off by now, and you
want us to do a show on the Cathars, let
us know, because I'd be happy to research that too,
me too. So why are these ancient ideas resurfacing now now?
(41:00):
And what can we in our modern spiritual landskeep learning
from them? Well, for one thing, we can learn how
to empower ourselves as an individual spiritual seeker. Narsissism champions
the idea that the divine is within you. You don't
need a church, a priest, or even a particular scripture
to access ultimate truth. This resonates deeply with today's unchurched
(41:25):
but spiritual those who seek direct personal experience of the divine.
It encourages radical self responsibility for your spiritual journey.
Speaker 1 (41:36):
And it also reminds us to question dogma, to look
beyond established narratives and ask deeper questions about reality. The
nature of creation and our purpose. It asks us to
have a healthy skepticism towards any system that demands blind
(41:56):
faith claims exclusive access to truth.
Speaker 2 (42:01):
And their focus on the divine spark within is probably
their greatest gift. This concept is so incredibly uplifting in
a world that often makes us feel small, flawed, or disconnected.
The Gnostic idea that each of us carries a fragment
of the ultimate divine light is profoundly empowering. It reframes
(42:21):
suffering not as punishment, but as a journey of awakening
to your true, magnificent nature. It encourages inner work and
self discovery as the path to liberation, and I.
Speaker 1 (42:35):
So appreciate the Gnostic encouragement of inner knowing and self
reflection in an age of information overload. Gnosticism reminds us
of our power of intuition, our ability to have an
inner knowing and to understand our personal revelations. It encourages
(42:56):
us to cultivate a quiet space within where we can
hear the whispers of our own divine spark. While the
Gnostic view of the material world can be seen as
pretty bessionistic, it also invites us to consider that there's
more to reality than what meets the eye. It opens
up dialogues about hidden truths, cosmic mysteries, and multi layered existence,
(43:22):
which appeal to many who feel limited by a purely
materialistic worldview.
Speaker 2 (43:28):
And we can see the beliefs of the Gnostics echoed
in our world today. The desire to break free from
societal conditioning, consumerism, or perceived systems of control, often metaphorically
referred to as the matrix, echoes the Gnostic yearning to
escape that demi urges illusory creation. The idea that our
(43:49):
reality is a simulated or imperfect construct, which as we've said,
is a popular theme in science fiction, but also philosophical discourse,
bears a striking resemblance to the Gnostic demi urges illusionary world.
The core Gnostic belief that a divine spark resides within
each individual waiting to be discovered, shifts the focus from
(44:11):
external salvation to internal awakening. The Gnostics, in their pursuit
of inner truth and direct experience, left behind a legacy
that continues to inspire. They remind us that the greatest
spiritual journey is often the one inward to rediscover the
boundless light that lies eternally within us all, and I
(44:33):
really think that's the true legacy of gnosticism and what
we can take from it today.
Speaker 3 (44:39):
I do too, Samanthy.
Speaker 1 (44:40):
I've been studying gnosticism for a long time, fascinated by
all the offshoots and how we got here, and how
Christianity morphed and changed and grew under Constantine and the
Nice and Creed and all of that stuff from the
early days of the Church. And it's fascinating to me
(45:01):
to see the different branches in the different ways of
thinking and being and thinking about these documents that were
hidden for so many centuries into what nineteen forty eight
I believe it was when we finally pulled those up.
Takes me right back to Sue munk Kid's wonderful book,
The Book of Longings, and her writing about early days
(45:27):
before the Christian Church actually became a quote church of
writings that were hidden away and schools of thought that
were available to women back in those early days. It's
fascinating to see how thought and politics and ways of
seeing the world have morphed and changed and grown and
(45:49):
shifted over time. And in many ways, gnosticism takes us
back to that notion of self discovery and self reli
and understanding of one's own spiritual space in the world.
And that's one of the things I love the most
about the study of gnosticism.
Speaker 2 (46:07):
Yeah, I do too. And think about they talked about
how flawed the world was, and I know we think
our world today is flawed, but imagine back then. I mean,
think about this, the idea of crime and punishment, the
idea of having a police force that didn't even come
(46:28):
into form until the seventeenth century in France. It was
just the wild wild West for a good long time,
for centuries. And then just think about what was the
average lifespan of a man in America in nineteen hundred
was what forty two forty five? So not much, not much,
(46:49):
So I can't imagine what it was when these early
Gnostics were alive. You were probably lucky to live to
be thirty five. And then just think about how thirty
it must have been. I was watching this documentary a
Gnosticism where they found the non commodity text, right, they
found all of their bathing polls because as aesthetics, they
would bathe three to four times a day. So you're thinking, well,
(47:13):
these are some clean people, right, when they found their bodies,
they needed to determine were these the Gnostics of these
skeletal remains they found, or were these other people that
lived beyond Well, the Gnostic skeletons that they found, they
were covered in lice. Think about that they were so
(47:33):
clean and yet they still had lice and they were
able to do DNA blood analysis work on the lice
and determine that they were actually the Gnostics. I know.
So just imagine like how I mean, people were uneducated.
You couldn't read, you couldn't write, you were not clean.
(47:55):
I mean, what did the average person bathe like once
a year? Back then? I think I read the history
of bathing is a fascinating study. Oh it really is.
Do you guys want to know when toilet paper was invented?
I'm going to blow your mind. When do you think
toilet paper was invented deb.
Speaker 1 (48:11):
Back with the Egyptians? I think Nope, try a ken.
Speaker 3 (48:16):
Oh I don't know, like.
Speaker 1 (48:18):
Well, I'm scared to guess. Now maybe like nineteen twenty five.
Speaker 2 (48:21):
Eighteen fifty seven. Oh yes, and we didn't even have
it on rolls like we have it now until hotels
were invented and that's when they went to the Scott
Brothers because the hotel owners were like, people are putting
like corn husks and newspaper and I don't know what
else down these toilets. We need an easier way. So
they refined this other man's invention of toilet paper. And
(48:45):
that was like in the nineteen hundreds, like the turn.
Speaker 1 (48:48):
Out, You just never know the incredible wisdom and fascinating
information that is going to come to you on a
psychic teacher's podcast.
Speaker 2 (48:57):
Just well my mind, Like we can build build the
Wall of China, we can build the Great Pyramids, we
can build all sorts of fascinating structures that survive for
thousands of years, and toilet paper has only been around
for like one hundred and fifty years.
Speaker 3 (49:13):
Anyway.
Speaker 2 (49:14):
I just think it's interesting to think about how difficult
their world was and yet they had this longing for
a deeper knowing. And if you have people today who
are afraid to read my sweet book about working with
ancestors and angels and guides, can you imagine what these
(49:34):
gnostics were facing when they were declaring what they believed
was their spiritual truth.
Speaker 3 (49:40):
Oh absolutely so.
Speaker 1 (49:41):
I sure folks who enjoyed today's episent.
Speaker 2 (49:44):
I do too, and I really wanted to do this
episode for all the people who email us who are
struggling with trying to hold on to their traditional faith
and also engage in their own spiritual pursuit of meditation
and intuition and working with crystals and toureau and all
the other various facets of inner discovery. And I hope
(50:05):
that this brings some illumination and some noses. See what
I did there?
Speaker 3 (50:10):
I did that was lovely true jure.
Speaker 2 (50:14):
Thank you guys so much for listening. We hope you
have a wonderful, wonderful week where you truly remember, explore,
and shine your own divine spark, be the light for
yourself and others.
Speaker 1 (50:28):
Take care everyone.
Speaker 2 (50:35):
Thank you for listening to Psychic Teachers, your podcast for seekers,
light workers, mystics, and magical thinkers. If you like the show,
please tell a friend or leave us a review wherever
you listen to your podcast. For more information, check out
our Facebook page Psychic Teachers, or our websites Samantha Fay
dot com and Debbowen dot com. Thanks for listening and
(50:55):
have a great week.
Hello, and welcome to Psychic Teachers Podcast. I'm your host Deb.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Bowen and I'm Samantha Fay, and we're so delighted and
honored that you have joined with us.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
This week, Samantha and I are going to be talking
about a subject that has been near and dear to
our researchy geeky kind of hearts for a long time.
We're going to be talking about gnosticism this week. This
is one of history's most intriguing, often misunderstood, and profoundly
relevant spiritual traditions. For centuries, ideas were suppressed, their text
(00:51):
hidden away, but thanks to incredible discoveries like the I
never can say this word correctly nag Hamadi. Yes, these
ancient teachings have re emerged, offering a unique lens through
which we can view spirituality, the nature of reality and
our place within it, and what you might find is it.
(01:14):
These ancient concepts resonate profound with many of us today,
speaking to a deep intuitive knowing with it.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Yes, so we are going to unravel some core gnostic concepts,
delve into the captivating history of all sorts of incredible
mystical things like the bridal Chamber ritual and hopefully answer
crucial questions like Worthy Cathar's Gnostics, why was the early
Church so threatened by these ideas? And most importantly, what
(01:46):
powerful lessons can we as modern spiritual seekers learn from
the Gnostics today. Let's start at the heart of gnosticism,
the concept of gnosis. This isn't just intellectual nonledge like
knowing facts from a textbook. Nosis is a direct, intuitive,
experiential knowing of the divine. It's a revelation and awakening
(02:09):
to spiritual truths that transcend dogma and external authority. So
at its core, gnosticism generally proposes a radical dualism. First,
you have the supreme True God. This is the ultimate, unknowable, perfect,
divine source, often referred to as the fullness, monad or plorroma.
(02:35):
This God is beyond our comprehension and completely good. This
God is a supreme, transcendent, perfect, and unknowable true God
that exists entirely separate from our material universe. It's beyond
our human comprehension. It's pure light, and as I said,
it's absolute goodness.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
And then we have the demi Urge. This is a lesser,
often flawed or ignorant creator God, who mistakenly made the
material world we inhabit. This world, being the creation of
an imperfect deity, is inherently flawed, filled with suffering, and
(03:14):
is a kind of prison for the divine sparks within us.
Think of this as the cosmic error. Far from the benevolent,
omnipotent creator God of most fates, the demi Urge is
a flawed, often ignorant, and sometimes belevolent entity responsible for
fashioning the material world we inhabit. The demi Urge believes
(03:39):
that he is the supreme Creator. Gnostic texts describe various
origins for the demi Urge, but most sources say he
emerged from the true God, often a divine feminine principle
named Sophia which means Wisdom, who also experienced a crisis
or falling away from truth. In her flawed yearning or
(04:01):
accidental creation, she inadvertently gives birth to a clumsy, ignorant,
and sometimes malformed entity, the demi Urge.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
So by now you've got to be thinking, wait, this
is pretty radical for today's religions. So can you imagine
back then? So let's just review a minute. The demi
Urge is not the true God. He's a cosmic misunderstanding.
At the heart of the Gnostic worldview lies a fundamental dualism.
(04:32):
On the one hand, you've got this supreme, utterly transcendent,
perfect and unknowable true God who exists entirely separate from
our material universe. The demi Urge, on the other hand,
is not this true God. Instead, he's arrogant, diluded. This entity,
unaware of the higher spiritual realms from which it indirectly sprung,
(04:54):
then proceeds to create the physical cosmos and humanity out
of its own limited understanding and power. The result is
a world that is inherently flawed and ultimately a prison
for the divine sparks that are trapped within us.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
All right, y'all, you probably need to listen to what
Samantha's just said again. But before we move on, let
me just tell you I'm going to add to what
she said with some words that are going to be
kind of odd to us, and.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Bear with me here.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
The Gnostic demi urge goes by many names in many
different texts. For example, there is y'all Debout, one of
the most common and striking names, meaning child of chaos
or blind God. This name emphasizes his ignorance and the
chaotic nature of his creation from a higher perspective. Then
(05:44):
they're Socklus, meaning fool or foolish one, further highlighting his
ignorance and arrogant. Then there's Samael sort of like Samuel
exaidit Samael sometimes translated also as blind God or venom
of God, a name also associated with There's that d
(06:06):
word demonic figure in some Jewish mystic traditions. And then
finally there's the God of the Old Testament. Crucially, many
Gnostic texts identify the demi Urge with the Old Testament
God of Judaism and Christianity, particularly the jealous, vengeful, and
(06:26):
legalistic deity described in certain Biblical passages. This identification, this
is really important. This identification was a core point of
contention with proto orthodox Christianity. So for Gnostics, the material world,
with its inherent suffering, decay, and limitations, was clear evidence
(06:50):
of a flawed creator. Unlike the traditional Abrahamic view, where
God created a fundamentally good world and humanity fell from grace,
Gnostics saw the very act of creation by the demi
Urge as the initial fall. So basically, the Gnostics at
this point are saying the world is flawed, it's full
(07:11):
of all sorts of problems and issues and decay and suffering,
and it must have therefore been created. The world must
have therefore been created from a God whose view of
the world and us was that same way.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Which is radically different from what the other religions were saying,
where they were putting all of the blame solely on
us or e for eating the fruit. Even our physical
bodies were seen as constructs of the demi Urge, trapping
the divine spark within. This is why the gnostic path
was one of liberation, not from sin in a moral sense,
(07:49):
but from the ignorance of the demi Urge's world and
the awakening to one's true divine origin. Of course, this
belief created a lot of issues for church leaders. If
the true problem was cosmic ignorance and imprisonment, not mortal sin,
then salvation came through nosis, direct knowledge and awakening, not
(08:10):
through faith in Christ, sacrifice, or adherence to church sacraments.
So this bypassed the need for priestly mediation and church institutions.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
And you have to remember that at the time that
this nosis concept was coming along the Christian faith was
very young, very new good, and there was a lot
of dissent among various Christian folks around the at that
time what was known of the world as to what
Jesus's intent really was. So here you have these groups
(08:43):
of people who say, this church and the way it's
run is supposed to be legalistic, and they're supposed to
be rules and sacrifices and sacraments and so forth. And
the Gnostic people are saying, no, you just got a
no stuff. I mean, that's very simplistic, but that's sort
of it, and nuts it is.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
It's good.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
And so by identifying the Old Testament God as the
ignorant demiurge, gnosticism directly questioned the divine inspiration and authority
of sacred text central to both Judaism and Christianity, not
to mention that it directly contradicted the fundamental belief in
(09:23):
one supreme, good God who created a perfect world. You
can see how we're going to end up with the
word heretic related to the word dosticism.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Oh yeah, I mean, no wonder the Gnostics had to
hide away their text. So let's move on to some
other key elements of their faith. In addition to the
demi Urge and the True God, Gnostics also believed in
the eons. These aren't angels or gods in the traditional sense,
but rather primal, eternal emanations from the ultimate, unknowable divine source.
(09:57):
Understanding the eons is essential to grasping the Gnostic view
of existence, the nature of divinity, and the path to
spiritual awakening. The Gnostics believe that from the True God
flowed forth a series of divine emanations, like ripples spreading
from a stone dropped into a cosmic ocean, and these
(10:17):
emanations are the eons. They are eternal spiritual beings, divine thoughts, qualities,
or archetypes that collectively form the plurima, the divine realm
of light, truth, and perfection.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
And the eons are often described as existing in payers,
representing masculine and feminine principles or complementary divine attributes. The
number of eons varies across different Gnostic schools. Some texts
mention thirty, some thirty six, some even more, but they
generally represent the totality of the divine attributes and powers
(10:57):
of the True God, and of course, the most significant
one in terms of our discussion is Sophia or Wisdom.
Sophia often plays a pivotal role as the last and
furthest eon from the True God. Her story is central
to understanding the existence of our flawed material world. In
(11:19):
many Gnostic texts, Sophia, driven by an intense desire to
fully comprehend or directly know the unknowable, which was a
desire beyond her capacity, she steps outside the bounds of
the True God. This act of yearning, curiosity, or flawed
(11:40):
emanation results in a miscarriage, a premature or incomplete creation,
and this flawed offspring is the demi Urge, the ignorant, arrogant,
and lesser God, who then mistakenly creates the material universe
we inhabit, believing himself to be the so true God.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
It's so hard that it's always a woman they blame,
no matter what faith you're looking at. You ever notice that? Oh?
Speaker 3 (12:07):
Absolutely?
Speaker 1 (12:08):
And you know there are other stories about Sophia in
the Grape text.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
For any yes, that are completely different.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
Yeah, it's an interesting thing to think about. Is this
like Pandora's Box? Is this like Icarus in the wings
trying to get close to God?
Speaker 3 (12:22):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
But it's interesting to at least look at as far
as this part of the story goes. Sofia, in her
sorrow and repentance, often becomes a figure of redemption, and
so what she decides to do is scatter fragments of
her divine light, which are of course fragments of the
True God's light into humanity. And this is why it
(12:44):
is said that we human beings possess the divine spark.
It is a remnant of Sophia's original connection to the
True God trapped within this material world. So Sophia's story
of yearning, fall an eventual restoration offers a profound allegory
for the human soul's journey. It speaks to the experience
(13:04):
of feeling disconnected, making mistakes, and then finding a path
back to wholeness and divine connection. Her story is one
of ultimate redemption and integration.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
Within the Gnostic belief system.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Right, okay, and certain sects of the Gnostic belief system,
because like any other group, there's different variations and branches.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
True exactly, so if the eons represent divine attributes, then
connecting with these artypical forces can be seen as a
way of activating dormant divine qualities within ourselves. The eons
exists beyond conventional human morality. They are expressions of divine essence.
(13:48):
This can encourage a more expansive view of spiritual reality,
moving beyond simplistic binaries of good and evil to understand
the inherent nature of divine entity. So, in essence, the
gnostic eons paint a universe that is far more nuanced, layered,
and ultimately hopeful. They invite us to look beyond the
(14:12):
immediate confines of our material existence and recognize the vast
shimmering an ultimately perfect realm from which we originated and
of which our inherent divine spark yearns to return.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
All right, now, let's get to some spooky stuff, right ready, Okay,
here we go the arkans. These deplorable figures are sometimes
called the jailers of our universe. Unlike the angels or
demons of traditional Abrahamic religions, gnostic arcons are not simply
(14:50):
fallen beings or divine messengers. They are best understood as
petty cosmic rulers, bureaucratic jailers, or blind overseers of the
material universe. They are the offspring of the ignorant Demiurge.
They dwell in the planetary's spheres and heavenly realms that
separate humanity from the True God, effectively acting as guards
(15:14):
or toll collectors along the soul's journey. Gnostic texts, particularly
those found in the nan Kamani Library, depict Arkans with
various characteristics and functions.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
That's right, they were often depicted as blind and arrogant.
Archons are ignorant of the true Supreme God. They believe
the demi Urge is the ultimate Deity and operate within
the confines of his limited creation. They are blind to
(15:46):
hire spiritual truths. They're also portrayed as controlling. Their primary
function is to maintain the order of the material cosmos
created by the Demiurge and to keep the divine and
spark the Gnoses trapped within human beings. They enforce cosmic laws,
(16:07):
generate faith, and control earthly affairs. They are often depicted
as grotesque, animalistic, or hybrid beings, reflecting the imperfect and
sometimes monstrous nature of their creator, the Demiurge. For instance,
yowled about the primary archon is often described with the
(16:30):
head of a lion and the body of a serpent.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
And this is kind of scary. Arkans are believed to
exert influence over human minds, particularly those who remain ignorant
of their divine origin. They can induce fear, doubt, distraction,
and carnal desires to keep humanity enslaved to the material
world and prevent spiritual awakening. They are the source of
(16:59):
much human sold and confusion. In some text they are
called robbers because they try to steal the divine light
or spiritual energy from humans, often by encouraging ignorance and materialism.
Doesn't that remind you of C. S. Lewis's book The
Screwtape Letters.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
Oh yeah, gosh, I love that book. It's been a
long time since I've read it.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
Me too.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
It's about the little demon who sits on the guy's
shoulder and just tries to keep him off his path.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
I remember.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
Oh absolutely So this really does sound very scary, But
the Gnostics to them, the existence of the archon provides
an explanation for the inherent, suffering, injustice, and seemingly chaotic
nature of the material world. We don't live in a
perfect creation, nor are we governed by an all loving,
(17:50):
omnisipiant god.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
In the traditional sense.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
Instead, our world is won by a cosmic bureaucracy that
is fundamentally fawed and seeks to perpetuate its own existence
by keeping humanity in spiritual bondage. The archons are also
said to be responsible for the creation of the physical body.
In some Gnostic myths, the archons collaborate with the demi
(18:15):
urge to fashion the human physical body designed to be
a prison for the divine spar that's weird.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
That is, And they're also said to be in charge
of imposing fate and destiny. They control astrological influences and
the laws of the material world, creating a sense of
predestination that can trap individuals, and they generate ignorance and forgetfulness.
They actively work to make humans forget their divine origin
(18:46):
and prevent them from attaining nosis.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
So how do we overcome their influence?
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Well, the Gnostic path to salvation is a journey of
liberation from the archon's influence and the demi urges domain.
This liberation is achieved not through conventional workship or moral obedience,
but through gnosis direct experiential knowledge. And one way we
(19:14):
can do this, say the Gnostics, is by awakening the
divine spark by realizing our true divine nature is a
spark of the real God. According to the Gnostics, when
we do this, we can transcend the Archion's power.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
It makes you think about all those times you've seen
people who are not doing well in life and they're
struggling with I don't know, an addiction, a temptation, something
like that, and they're like, no, I'm going to overcome this.
I'm going to get my life back on path. And
they do for a little bit, and then life rains
some chaos onto them and back they go. I mean,
(19:55):
is this another way of saying the devil made me
do it type thing? Or could there be some truth
to this? It's interesting to contemplate now. They also believed
that spiritual knowledge was like a passport. Gnostics believed that
having the correct noosis acted like a password or a key,
allowing the soul to navigate past the arkan's custom stations
(20:18):
after death, preventing reincarnation back into the material world, which
would allow us to ascend to the ploroma, or what
I would call heaven. And they believed that when we
gained an awareness of how the arkans work, we could
figure out when they were trying to tempt us towards materialism, fear,
(20:39):
or limiting beliefs, and consciously reject them. See depth. This
is why I think it's so important to explore the
light and the t Oh you do, know.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
You do, And I understand why you say that. And
now you know without the dark there can be no light.
So let it be a dance, said that wonderful poet
I love so much, so I get that. But ultimately
all of that, however, you're looking at, or balancing or
not the various aspects of the world, both within and
(21:11):
without you. In the Gnostic belief, it really goes back
to the core of knowing your own truth, who you
are and where.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
You come from.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
And while the liberal belief in cosmic entities with lions
ads ruling planets might not resonate with everybody today, the
metaphor of the Gnostic archids pulls surprising power and relevance
in contemporary spirituality and in critical thought. For example, the
(21:42):
archads can be seen as a metaphor for the pervasive,
often invisible systems of control, disinformation, and societal programming that
keeps humanity unaware of its true potential, like oppressive political structures,
some limiting belief systems, or manipulative media.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Yes, And on a psychological level, arcons can represent the
inner demons or shadow aspects of the psyche, like self
sabotaging thoughts, fears, doubts, and ego driven impulses that prevent
personal growth and spiritual awakening. Think about like the Matrix metaphor.
The popularity of that film series, with its depiction of
(22:27):
humanity trapped in an illusion of reality created by unseen controllers,
resonates strongly with the gnostic understanding of the Arkans and
the demi Urge. The gnostic pursuit of liberation from arconic
influence empowers us to question authority and to forge our
own path to truth.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
And I wish I had a nickel for every single
time I have said these words. There is always hope.
Here's where it gets truly exciting for us. Gnostics believed
that within each human being lies a fragment, a tiny
spark of the true supreme divine light. This spark is
(23:09):
trapped within the material body and the illusionary world created
by the Demiurge. The goal of gnosticism, therefore isn't salvation
through fate than a redeemer or through rituals performed by
a priest. It's salvation through gnosis, through awakening to the
knowledge of your true divine origin, realizing that you are
(23:33):
a spark of the Ultimate God, not merely a creation
of the Demiurge. This nosis then allows you to escape
the cycles of the material world and return to Pleroma,
that heaven place, the divine fullness. This emphasis on personal
revelation and the divine within makes gnosticism incredibly empowered, and,
(23:58):
as we'll see, all so challenges the established religious hierarchies
for sure.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
But before we get to that, let's talk about some
of the similarities between traditional faiths and the Gnostics. Now,
they did perform baptisms, but their understanding of it differed
radically from the Christian sacrament. For Gnostics, traditional water baptism
was often seen as a symbol of a deeper spiritual purification,
(24:28):
rather than the ultimate act itself. Gnostic baptism aimed to
cleanse the initiate not from original sin, but from the
ignorance of the material world and the influence of the Demiurge.
It was a symbolic washing away of the earthly cell
to reveal the divine spark within. The True baptism was
(24:48):
the reception of the Holy Spirit or a divine emanation,
which infused the initiate with gnosis. This might be understood
as an inner energetic experience than solely in external right.
Some Gnostic groups, like the Sethians, believed they were directly
receiving the Divine Spirit that had descended upon Seth, a
(25:10):
primordial ancestor figure.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
And in some Gnostic traditions, baptism was immediately followed by
an anointing with oil, symbolizing the ceiling of the initiate
with the divine light and protecting them from hostile cosmic powers.
This chrism or anointing oil was believed to bestow spiritual
(25:34):
powers and mark the individual as chosen. Gnostics also engaged
in eucharistic meals, but like baptism, their interpretation deviated from
the mainstream Christian understanding. For Gnostics, the bread and wine
were generally not viewed as the literal body and blood
(25:55):
of a physical Jesus who had truly suffered, given their
belief that the material body was flawed. They believed his
physical body was an illusion or merely a vessel for
the divine spirit. Instead, the Gnostic Eucharist was more likely
a symbolic meal to commemorate the gnosis revealed by Jesus
(26:18):
or to affirm spiritual communion among initiates, rather than literal
substance for a material body, The Gnostic eucharists focused on
spiritual nourishment for the divine spark within, strengthening the initiates
for their journey out of the material realm.
Speaker 2 (26:38):
Okay, let's talk about another fascinating right developed by the Gnostics,
called the bridal chamber. Now, among the various Gnostic practices
and sacraments, the bridal chamber or sometimes called Chamber of
the Bride, stands out as one of the most intriguing
and for its time, radical concepts. It's crucial to understand
(26:58):
that for most Nostia traditions, the bridal chamber was not
a literal sexual act, but a profound, symbolic and spiritual sacrament.
It involved the union, which represented the mystical union of
the individual gnostic soul, often seen as feminine, with its
divine counterpart or its heavenly angel or spirit, often seen
(27:20):
as masculine. It was spiritual alchemy, a reunion of separated
halves of the divine light. This union was considered the
highest sacrament, a crucial step in the soul's journey back
to the fullness. It symbolized the restoration of the soul
to its original perfect state of oneness within the divine
(27:40):
prior to its entanglement with the material world. It was
about achieving ultimate spiritual integration and completeness. Because of its
deeply personal and esoteric nature and its radical departure from
conventional practices, information about the Bridal Chamber rituals was often
kept secret among the initiates. This secrecy naturally fueled suspicion
(28:02):
from outsiders. We still don't know all the details of
the ritual due to its secretive nature, but texts like
the Gospel of Philip allude to it as the highest sacrament,
transcending water, baptism and anointing and providing ultimate spiritual liberation.
It involved a deeper inner transformation and recognition of one's
(28:22):
divine entity.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
This is twice now this week I've heard about the
Gospel of Philip.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
I guess I need to get a copy of it.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Yeah, that's a sign for sure, I thiks so too. Yeah,
you can find it online too, can just read it there.
Oh okay, good, thanks, it's nice, but I find it
interesting Socrates talked about Was it Socrates who talked about
the split aparts?
Speaker 3 (28:44):
I don't remember.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
I believe it was Socrates who talked about the split
aparts and how we are constantly looking for our better half,
our soulmate, the counterpart, because we were split apart at creation,
and that was in ancient Greek times, and now we
have the Gnostics over to millennia ago talking about the
spiritual unions. That interesting. How you see these concepts over
(29:08):
and over again in different various ways, whether it's mythology
or different religions or cultural beliefs.
Speaker 3 (29:14):
It really is.
Speaker 1 (29:15):
I guess one of the things about these kinds of
episodes that we do this can sometimes make my eyes
glaze over even.
Speaker 3 (29:21):
As we're talking about it.
Speaker 1 (29:22):
I can imagine that folks who are listening to it think, wait,
why what is this about, and what does it have
to do with me? But it really does bring into
the forefront the thought that the world is filled with
different ways of thinking, and that those differing ways of
thinking have a long and convoluted history, and that there's
(29:43):
no real one truth, And it's so much fun to
think about the various ways of being and see how
we may have pulled in any given culture pieces from
other beliefs and other cultures to derive at the way
we think and so see the world today, and to
see how these ancient thoughts continue to impact.
Speaker 3 (30:05):
How we see the world and ourselves today.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
Oh, I know, it's just it's a beautiful thing and
it gives us nosis. Also, before I get a ton
of emails, it wasn't Socrates who said that. It was
Plato in his symposium who talked about the split aparts.
Thanks you really a beautiful story. Okay, let's take a
very quick break and we will be right back to
dive more into how gnosticism can help us today. Hey, guys,
(30:33):
Deb and I just wanted to take a moment to
thank you for listening to the show and ask you
to share it with a friend or leave a comment
on Spotify or Apple. It really does help us. You
can also show your love and support by signing up
for our newsletters or following us on social media. Our
websites Samantha Fay dot com and Deb Bowen dot com.
(30:54):
You can find our e courses, meditations and crystal bracelets.
You can also pre order Dev's new book, Crafting the
Wheel of the Year, and on my site you can
order sign copies of my books as well. We have
lots of fun stuff going on, right Deb.
Speaker 1 (31:09):
We really do, and I am so excited about this
new book I've written Samantha with Claire Gelder again. It's
called Crafting the Wheel of the Year. And whether you're
a craft or not, you will enjoy the history, lore
and cultural aspects of the eight Celtic Agrariat holidays that
I've written about. And if you are a crafter, you
(31:30):
will love making the seventeen projects that Claire has created
the correspond to the holidays. You can see details about
it again on my website, Deb Bowen dot com and
if you are in countries other than the US, certainly
check out Claire's website wilcotour Coompany dot com.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
And I'm excited to announce that Deb is going to
be on my other podcast, Enlightened Mpaths, So we're really
happy to share a beautiful conversation we have with Denise
and Deb and myself.
Speaker 3 (31:59):
Hope you check it out.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
Welcome back, so beyond formal rituals. The very essence of
Gnosticism was the pursuit of gnoses through direct personal experience.
This often involved practices of contemplation, meditation, and visionary experiences.
Gnostics engaged in deep introspection, seeking to understand the nature
(32:25):
of their own being and discern the divine spark within.
This was a continuous, ongoing personal practice. Through meditative states, visions,
or dream works. Initiates might experience symbolic journeys through the
various eons or navigate the perilous realms of the archons.
(32:49):
These were direct experiential forms of gnoses, revealing the true
structure of the cosmos.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
Now, the Gnostic texts often depict dialogues between human seekers
and divine revealers like Jesus, Mary Magdalene, or Sophia. So
it's plausible that these dialogues were not just literary devices,
but maybe they reflected practices from their inner communion or
visionary encounters with these spiritual guides when they were doing
(33:19):
these meditations, visions, and dream work.
Speaker 1 (33:23):
So what happened to the Gnostic movement, Well, basically, the
church leaders wanted one unified church with one unified system
of teachings. Influential church leaders wrote volumes against the Gnostics,
painting them as evil, sinful, crazy, and dangerous, and the
(33:45):
slander worked. Gnosticism fundamentally undermined the authority of the church,
its hierarchy, and its priest. If salvation came through personal nosis,
a direct in it. If knowing, then what need was
there for the animediaries, for rituals, for official doctrines. This
(34:08):
was a direct threat to the power structure of the
nascent church. The Gnostic path to salvation differed significantly from
the mainstream Christian view of salvation through the faith in
Jesus Christ as a sacrificial redeemer and adherence to church teachings.
(34:29):
Gnosticism offered an entirely different narrative.
Speaker 2 (34:33):
Well, you know, a lot of people might be listening
to this and thinking, yeah, I can see how the
early Church would have been against all of this, But
if this was going on today, it might be the
same thing. I mean, as you guys know, I have
a lot of friends who are very traditionally religious, and
I was really surprised when my book Heavenly Alliance came out.
(34:55):
One of my friends said, I'm afraid to read your book,
I feel I'm going against the teachings of my church. Yeah,
very educated woman, and I was so shocked to hear that.
So this stuff is still very much real.
Speaker 1 (35:11):
Absolutely it is, and not just in terms of varying
Christian views, but in the way that other world religions
are are denigrated, are not accepted as agreable as a belief,
it's legitimate.
Speaker 2 (35:27):
Well, look at the work of Phyllis Carot, the work
she did to get the religion of paganism.
Speaker 1 (35:33):
Approved of the pentagram on the tombstones and yeah, Terry cemeteries.
Speaker 2 (35:38):
Yes, I mean that's very recent.
Speaker 3 (35:41):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (35:43):
The idea of a flawed demiurge creating the material world
clearly challenged the Biblical notion of an all good, all
powerful God creating a perfect world. This was seen as blasphemous.
The Gnostic emphasis on personal revelation and individual spiritual experience
was difficult for an institutional church to control or standardize.
(36:05):
It led to diverse interpretations and teachings, which the church
fewed as heresy, leading to disunity. While many Gnostics were
ascetic some interpretations of dualism, If the material world doesn't matter,
then actions in it don't either led to all sorts
of nefarious accusations from their critics, further fueling the Church's
(36:26):
fear and condemnation. The secrecy around rights like the bridal
chamber sure didn't help either.
Speaker 3 (36:32):
No, it didn't.
Speaker 1 (36:33):
And the fact that you know Sophia, who, long before
she was connected in any way to Gnosticism, was also
a Greek goddess didn't help either.
Speaker 3 (36:43):
No.
Speaker 1 (36:44):
So the Church set about, of course, to destroy this
religious sect. A significant part of the suppression involved the
destruction of Gnostic scriptures and writings. Prior to the discovery
of the nag Hamadi Library in nineteen forty five, most
of what scholars knew about Gnosticism came from critiques from
(37:07):
its opponents. The act of burying the Nogamati texts themselves
it seen by many as evidence of the pressure Gnostics
were under to hide their sacred writings. Once Christianity became
the official religion of the Roman Empire under emperors like
Constantine in the fourth century and Theodosius the First, who
(37:31):
made Nicene Christianity the state religion in three eighty c,
Gnostic practices and teachings were outlawed. This led to organized
persecution outlawing of Gnostic churches and in some cases violence
against the followers, plus the emphasis on secret knowledge and
(37:52):
often complex mythologies, made Gnosticism less accessible to the general
populace compared to the more straightforward evangelical messages of proto
orthodox Christianity, and the decentralized nature of Gnosticism, while fostering
diversity might have made it harder to organize and resist
(38:15):
unified persecution compared to the increasingly structured and unified Christian Church.
Speaker 2 (38:24):
But some Gnostic influence groups managed to survive in more
remote areas, particularly in the Middle East. The Mandeans of
present day Iraq and Iran are a rare example of
an ancient Gnostic religion that has maintained its distinct identity
and practices to this day, though they have faced severe
persecution in modern times. Gnostic ideas also resurfaced in modified
(38:49):
forms in various medieval movements, such as the Polytians in
the Byzantine Empire and the bogle Meals in the Balkans,
and most famously, the Cathars in southern France. While not
direct descendants, these groups shared significant dualistic beliefs and were
also heavily persecuted by the Church.
Speaker 1 (39:09):
So let's talk about the Catharists, which is an offshoot
of Gnosticism.
Speaker 3 (39:15):
Is it an offshoot? Really?
Speaker 1 (39:17):
This is a common question and the answer is no.
Not a direct offshoot in the sense of a continuous
historical lineage, but there are similarities. The Kaffers, a dolistic
religious movement in southern France from the twelfth to the
fourteenth centuries, did have a lot in common with the Gnostics.
(39:37):
They believed in two gods, a good God of the
spiritual realm and an evil God of the material world,
similar to the demi Urge. They rejected the material world,
the physical body of Christ, and the sacraments of the
Catholic Church, and they were also highly ascetic. However, modern
(39:59):
scholarship generally views Catharicism as a separate medieval movement rather
than a direct, unbroken continuation of Gnosticism from antiquity. The
connections are more thematic and philosophical than direct lineal descent.
Like the Gnostics, the Cauthurs were fiercely persecuted by the
(40:20):
Catholic Church through crusades and the Inquisition, highlighting the Church's
consistent fear of dualistic beliefs and alternate paths to salvation
that challenged its authority. And if you want to go
off on a tangent about the Cauthers and Mary Magdalene
and the Knight's Templar, that's a really fun rabbit hole to.
Speaker 2 (40:40):
Go down and read Holy Blood, Holy Grail. Absolutely, And
if we haven't turned everyone off by now, and you
want us to do a show on the Cathars, let
us know, because I'd be happy to research that too,
me too. So why are these ancient ideas resurfacing now now?
(41:00):
And what can we in our modern spiritual landskeep learning
from them? Well, for one thing, we can learn how
to empower ourselves as an individual spiritual seeker. Narsissism champions
the idea that the divine is within you. You don't
need a church, a priest, or even a particular scripture
to access ultimate truth. This resonates deeply with today's unchurched
(41:25):
but spiritual those who seek direct personal experience of the divine.
It encourages radical self responsibility for your spiritual journey.
Speaker 1 (41:36):
And it also reminds us to question dogma, to look
beyond established narratives and ask deeper questions about reality. The
nature of creation and our purpose. It asks us to
have a healthy skepticism towards any system that demands blind
(41:56):
faith claims exclusive access to truth.
Speaker 2 (42:01):
And their focus on the divine spark within is probably
their greatest gift. This concept is so incredibly uplifting in
a world that often makes us feel small, flawed, or disconnected.
The Gnostic idea that each of us carries a fragment
of the ultimate divine light is profoundly empowering. It reframes
(42:21):
suffering not as punishment, but as a journey of awakening
to your true, magnificent nature. It encourages inner work and
self discovery as the path to liberation, and I.
Speaker 1 (42:35):
So appreciate the Gnostic encouragement of inner knowing and self
reflection in an age of information overload. Gnosticism reminds us
of our power of intuition, our ability to have an
inner knowing and to understand our personal revelations. It encourages
(42:56):
us to cultivate a quiet space within where we can
hear the whispers of our own divine spark. While the
Gnostic view of the material world can be seen as
pretty bessionistic, it also invites us to consider that there's
more to reality than what meets the eye. It opens
up dialogues about hidden truths, cosmic mysteries, and multi layered existence,
(43:22):
which appeal to many who feel limited by a purely
materialistic worldview.
Speaker 2 (43:28):
And we can see the beliefs of the Gnostics echoed
in our world today. The desire to break free from
societal conditioning, consumerism, or perceived systems of control, often metaphorically
referred to as the matrix, echoes the Gnostic yearning to
escape that demi urges illusory creation. The idea that our
(43:49):
reality is a simulated or imperfect construct, which as we've said,
is a popular theme in science fiction, but also philosophical discourse,
bears a striking resemblance to the Gnostic demi urges illusionary world.
The core Gnostic belief that a divine spark resides within
each individual waiting to be discovered, shifts the focus from
(44:11):
external salvation to internal awakening. The Gnostics, in their pursuit
of inner truth and direct experience, left behind a legacy
that continues to inspire. They remind us that the greatest
spiritual journey is often the one inward to rediscover the
boundless light that lies eternally within us all, and I
(44:33):
really think that's the true legacy of gnosticism and what
we can take from it today.
Speaker 3 (44:39):
I do too, Samanthy.
Speaker 1 (44:40):
I've been studying gnosticism for a long time, fascinated by
all the offshoots and how we got here, and how
Christianity morphed and changed and grew under Constantine and the
Nice and Creed and all of that stuff from the
early days of the Church. And it's fascinating to me
(45:01):
to see the different branches in the different ways of
thinking and being and thinking about these documents that were
hidden for so many centuries into what nineteen forty eight
I believe it was when we finally pulled those up.
Takes me right back to Sue munk Kid's wonderful book,
The Book of Longings, and her writing about early days
(45:27):
before the Christian Church actually became a quote church of
writings that were hidden away and schools of thought that
were available to women back in those early days. It's
fascinating to see how thought and politics and ways of
seeing the world have morphed and changed and grown and
(45:49):
shifted over time. And in many ways, gnosticism takes us
back to that notion of self discovery and self reli
and understanding of one's own spiritual space in the world.
And that's one of the things I love the most
about the study of gnosticism.
Speaker 2 (46:07):
Yeah, I do too. And think about they talked about
how flawed the world was, and I know we think
our world today is flawed, but imagine back then. I mean,
think about this, the idea of crime and punishment, the
idea of having a police force that didn't even come
(46:28):
into form until the seventeenth century in France. It was
just the wild wild West for a good long time,
for centuries. And then just think about what was the
average lifespan of a man in America in nineteen hundred
was what forty two forty five? So not much, not much,
(46:49):
So I can't imagine what it was when these early
Gnostics were alive. You were probably lucky to live to
be thirty five. And then just think about how thirty
it must have been. I was watching this documentary a
Gnosticism where they found the non commodity text, right, they
found all of their bathing polls because as aesthetics, they
would bathe three to four times a day. So you're thinking, well,
(47:13):
these are some clean people, right, when they found their bodies,
they needed to determine were these the Gnostics of these
skeletal remains they found, or were these other people that
lived beyond Well, the Gnostic skeletons that they found, they
were covered in lice. Think about that they were so
(47:33):
clean and yet they still had lice and they were
able to do DNA blood analysis work on the lice
and determine that they were actually the Gnostics. I know.
So just imagine like how I mean, people were uneducated.
You couldn't read, you couldn't write, you were not clean.
(47:55):
I mean, what did the average person bathe like once
a year? Back then? I think I read the history
of bathing is a fascinating study. Oh it really is.
Do you guys want to know when toilet paper was invented?
I'm going to blow your mind. When do you think
toilet paper was invented deb.
Speaker 1 (48:11):
Back with the Egyptians? I think Nope, try a ken.
Speaker 3 (48:16):
Oh I don't know, like.
Speaker 1 (48:18):
Well, I'm scared to guess. Now maybe like nineteen twenty five.
Speaker 2 (48:21):
Eighteen fifty seven. Oh yes, and we didn't even have
it on rolls like we have it now until hotels
were invented and that's when they went to the Scott
Brothers because the hotel owners were like, people are putting
like corn husks and newspaper and I don't know what
else down these toilets. We need an easier way. So
they refined this other man's invention of toilet paper. And
(48:45):
that was like in the nineteen hundreds, like the turn.
Speaker 1 (48:48):
Out, You just never know the incredible wisdom and fascinating
information that is going to come to you on a
psychic teacher's podcast.
Speaker 2 (48:57):
Just well my mind, Like we can build build the
Wall of China, we can build the Great Pyramids, we
can build all sorts of fascinating structures that survive for
thousands of years, and toilet paper has only been around
for like one hundred and fifty years.
Speaker 3 (49:13):
Anyway.
Speaker 2 (49:14):
I just think it's interesting to think about how difficult
their world was and yet they had this longing for
a deeper knowing. And if you have people today who
are afraid to read my sweet book about working with
ancestors and angels and guides, can you imagine what these
(49:34):
gnostics were facing when they were declaring what they believed
was their spiritual truth.
Speaker 3 (49:40):
Oh absolutely so.
Speaker 1 (49:41):
I sure folks who enjoyed today's episent.
Speaker 2 (49:44):
I do too, and I really wanted to do this
episode for all the people who email us who are
struggling with trying to hold on to their traditional faith
and also engage in their own spiritual pursuit of meditation
and intuition and working with crystals and toureau and all
the other various facets of inner discovery. And I hope
(50:05):
that this brings some illumination and some noses. See what
I did there?
Speaker 3 (50:10):
I did that was lovely true jure.
Speaker 2 (50:14):
Thank you guys so much for listening. We hope you
have a wonderful, wonderful week where you truly remember, explore,
and shine your own divine spark, be the light for
yourself and others.
Speaker 1 (50:28):
Take care everyone.
Speaker 2 (50:35):
Thank you for listening to Psychic Teachers, your podcast for seekers,
light workers, mystics, and magical thinkers. If you like the show,
please tell a friend or leave us a review wherever
you listen to your podcast. For more information, check out
our Facebook page Psychic Teachers, or our websites Samantha Fay
dot com and Debbowen dot com. Thanks for listening and
(50:55):
have a great week.
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