Tom Wright on Gnosticism
Tags: Gnosticism, Videos
PERFECTIBILISTS: The 18th Century Bavarian Order of the Illuminati, by Terry Melanson
The Ascendancy of the Scientific Dictatorship, by Paul & Phillip Collins
Memoirs Illustrating the History of Jacobinism, by Abbe Barruel
Fire in the Minds of Men: Origins of the Revolutionary Faith, by James H. Billington
America's Secret Establishment: An Introduction to the Order of Skull & Bones, by Antony C. Sutton
March 16th, 2011 at 1:02 am
Definitely permeates films.
March 18th, 2011 at 4:31 pm
One of my concerns is the extent to which Gnosticism permeates the modern truth movement. The notion of secret archons, trapping us in a world we never made and preventing us from realizing our true destiny seems to fit nicely with many Truthers assessment of reality. For example, ultra-gnostic films like the Matrix and V For Vendetta are often employed as powerful symbols against elite tyranny. Even the ostensibly anti-gnostic Larouche movement exhibit many of the traits of Gnostic theology. (For example Lyndon Larouche rejects much of the Old Testament, while only upholding those Christian thinkers who comfortably fit with his form of Platonism. He also celebrates Percy Shelley’s Prometheus Unbound: a work that is gnostic to the core.
While I agree with the Truth Movement at large (including many of Larouche’s assessments) I worry that the movement may, ultimately, be hijacked by Gnostic revolutionaries.
March 19th, 2011 at 4:30 am
The reason why I wanted to embed the video is that Tom Wright underscored a gnostic awakening inherent in the 60s as well as the “Enlightenment.” This spark of divinity he talks about finds its equivalence with the Kabbalistic notion of the “holy sparks,” and is to be expected as the gnostic Cathars were a key influence - particularly in the Languedoc area of France during the 12th Century - upon the formation of the “Kabbalah.” One can safely say, moreover, that the entire edifice of Western Esotericism - from Freemasonry to the “New Age” - is dependent upon either gnosticism or the Kabbalah, or a combination of both. And since these beliefs have long since been mainstreamed, it is to be expected that it turns up everywhere in popular culture.
March 25th, 2011 at 1:33 pm
The Cathars (believers in Jesus Christ) were the ones burned alive by order of the Pope. Gnostics have no power structure, no hierarchy, and a clean record as far as I know. So why would you worry about Gnosticism infiltrating the movement and not Christianity?
March 26th, 2011 at 4:14 pm
Good question Franco. I am concerned about this for several reasons. Though the Cathars and other Gnostic groups might have incorporated Jesus into their movements, I believe they grossly misrepresented or at least misinterpreted his fundamental teachings. The belief that the universe is an inherently evil prison created by a tyrannical god is not the original teachings of Jesus Christ. The Gnostic idea that the world must be reworked or overcome is at the heart of many dangerous revolutionary movements.
For example Blavatasky’s highly Gnostic Theosophical Society, influenced the occult Thule Society that would form the core of the original Nazi party.
Freemasonry also has been a receptacle of Gnostic doctrines.
There is also good reason to believe that many of today’s Elite are adherents to some form of Gnosticism.
Anyway, rather than me going on and on about it you’d be better to read many articles by the Collins brothers on this website.
http://www.conspiracyarchive.com/Articles/index.php?n=54
March 28th, 2011 at 7:27 pm
Thanks for your reply Ross. But if there’s one thing I’ve learn from Terry, is that first we have to go to the primary source in order to form our own opinion about any conspiracy subject. I find that relaying on other conspiracy theorists’ views could easily lead you away from the facts instead of closer to the truth.
I don’t know where you get the idea that Gnostics are at the heart of some revolution movements, because from the Gnostic texts I’ve read, I don’t see any reason to be fearful about their teachings. Jesus’ teachings are very simple and clear in most cases, and Mr.Wright’s views about Gnosticism are not exactly unbiased, so I suggest checking other scholars like Bart Ehrman (agnostic) for further insight.
Nazi doctrine was opposed to Blavatsky’s teachings; in fact the SS banned and persecuted both Freemasonry and Theosophy among other cults that could compete with their beliefs, just as the church did with any “pagan” culture that stood on their way.
We are only scratching the surface, and seems like there is a lot of debunking ahead.
March 31st, 2011 at 2:31 pm
One thing that can be said with some certainty is that there is fairly a split down the middle in conspiracy culture between orthodox Christian conspiracy theorists (traditionally right-leaning politically) and those legions of the “paranoid style” who are in the heterodox camp - whose inclinations are toward Gnosticism and myriad esoteric pursuits - who are most generally left-leaning politically.
And they say that the left and the right are illusory and yet naturally they group this way.
I don’t think the conspiracy scene can be painted totally so, but the most significant portions of it definitely appear to have that dichotomy, doing battle and assigning the belief of the other of being the evil religion of a conspiratorial power elite wishing to enslave them.
The totalising apocalyptic bias given to the proceedings seems to elide agnostics and atheists from this discourse, true believers only please (well, as true as the side they take, anyway), they say.
Going back to the original post of Terry’s here, yes, Gnostic philosophies have definitely made a big impact on popular culture today; in movies, books, and comics. Without a doubt.
But the orthodox Christian paradigm has held sway for a long time in Hollywood, and still has considerable influence on the output of the dream factory, I would say.
Films such as The Book of Eli, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Legion, etc, are all heavily influenced by some of the most powerful memes originating from the Biblical canon - the OT especially - and this can be applied to mega - films such as The Dark Knight, whose messianic avenging neo-conservative Templar is the personification of worrying currents alleged in various articles that have been included in this blog.
It’s possible that all horror films made concerning exorcisms and the paranormal originate with the fear of the unknown given a placeholder in magick and the demon other from the Old Testament.
As much as some comments here have stated that the truth movement is permeated by a Gnostic worldview with its phraseology, it can be easily flipped around to a Catholic or Protestant one with attendant terminology, and very often that is the case.
April 1st, 2011 at 4:29 am
- Justin
No doubt, however, it seems to me that, that portion of the elite who adhere to such philosophies as eugenics and depopulation themselves are often practitioners of what might broadly be called New Age spirituality. (As a student of memes you can, no doubt, appreciate the significant of both the Prometheus statue and Urizen relief at Rockefeller Centre.)
Additionally, it has usually been the more traditional Christian churches that have been the most vocal opponents of eugenics, especially eugenics in the form of abortion. For this they are generally derided by the mainstream secular media, academia and the political left. This isn’t to say that all Christians are pro-life and all “new agers” aren’t, even Blavatsky herself openly opposed abortion. My point is, the ethics inherent in mainstream Christianity are often more likely to put it at odds with many of the very real goals of today’s elite.
In the case of Protestant Christianity on mass, with it’s focus on individual worship and it’s rejection of hierarchical structures, you’re more likely to have a rejection of ideas like One World Government and One World Religion. And it’s (some might dare say pathological) apocalyptic obsession ensures that it is always keeping a watchful eye out for some new Anti-Christ. Even if this seems silly to some, it often causes them to unearth some threat that might have otherwise gone unnoticed by the less obsessive. Something like sub dermal RFID chips for example, receive much focus from many Christians who take them to be the “mark of the beast.”
Nonetheless, I would not dispute the assertion that Christianity can be used by the elite to lead the masses along. Some times the elite are merely using Christianity while not believing it themselves. I’m relatively convinced this was the case with George W Bush. Other times, as is likely the case with the so-called Dominionist, the elite creeps are themselves true-believers.
While Christianity’s apocalyptic aspects can be abused by leaders to direct men towards violent revolution, I would agree with Eric Voegelin’s assessment, that this attempt by man to “immanentize the eschaton” (to bring about the end of days by human agency) is not true Christianity but rather a form of Gnosticism. You might call this cheating and say that when Christianity does something good I call it Christianity but when it does something bad I call it Gnosticism. That wouldn’t be fully fair though, I can admit that the above mentioned Crusade against the Cathars wasn’t an example of Christians attempting immanentization, rather they were attempting to eliminate a heresy. It was wrong but it wasn’t Gnostic in the Voegelian sense. Ultimately, however I would still say that they were behaving in an “un-Christian” manner, at least how I would define it.
Regarding the films you mentioned, while Emily Rose and Book of Eli might have Traditional Christian themes, I would strongly disagree with the notion that Legion is in anyway a Christian film. You’re correct that it has memes that originate in Christian scriptures but it’s spin is highly anti-Christian. The angle Michael is presented as a courageous rebel fighting against evil ol’ God who wants to exterminate Mankind and prevent the birth of a new messiah. Most mainline Christians would find it decidedly Satanic. Just because something employs the ornamentation of Christianity doesn’t mean the message is the same beneath the surface. The Gnostic scripture “Hypostasis of the Archons,” which presents the O.T God as evil and the serpent as a saviour is a perfect example of this. Even Book of Eli, though somewhat kinder to traditional Christianity, hardly beats the viewer over the head with it. In fact, I would argue that it chickens out on being too Christian in the end, leaving the door open to a pluralistic religious interpretation when we see the Bible placed on the shelf with other “great books” like the Koran. This was sort of saying, all religions are good “shanna-nannaaa” (that last bit was supposed to sound like the theme from Family Ties)
I don’t disagree that there are movies with Christian themes of course. I wasn’t trying to say that all films are Gnostic. I suppose the difference is that I perceive Gnosticism and many anti-Christian philosophies as potentially dangerous. Again I know that I’ll be accused of being biased in this regard and frankly I don’t really care. Obviously my critics are also “biased” in favour of their particular beliefs. Simply saying someone is biased is an insufficient argument. One must demonstrate the veracity of their assertions with at least some facts.
So let me attempt to illustrate my point with the following example: Not to long ago a colleague and I were discussing the remake of “I am Legend.” He told me that he hated the remake because it was typical Christian tripe. In the original film, he explained, the hero, realizing himself to be the only human left in a world where people had become vampires, comes to grips with the fact that really HE is now the monster. This, he told me, showed the real truth of the world, that there is no fixed definition of morality or humanity. What’s wrong today is right tomorrow, it’s simple evolution. The modern remake, however, does not support this wonderful positive message about life, rather it’s hero is a stand in for Christ, who cures the vampirized humans through the power of his blood. This message, which my associate found so nonsensical, is the reason I hold the essential message of Christianity to be the only sane option in an otherwise mad world. The notion that Man is not something essential but rather something to be overcome, is the core principle that informed the Communist and Nazi genocides, eugenics, transhumanism and many other similar travesties.
I know the response will be a list several miles long, listing all the evils Christianity has done from the Crusades to the Jonas Brothers and I guess my defence would be this: When some one has killed innocent people in the name of Christianity (be it the Black Water guys or whoever else) they were acting in opposition to it’s teachings but when people have undermined or destroyed human life in the name of social-Darwinism they were acting in accordance with that philosophy’s message.
I wouldn’t say agnostics an atheists are totally underrepresented in conspiracy theory. There also exists both Marxist, Anarchist and Libertarian camps in the conspiracy community, many of whom are vocal atheist. I haven’t yet seen any of the Zeitgeist movies in full. Am I correct in assuming that they are mostly atheists?
Anyway, perhaps we can discuss this more at later. As per usual I’ve been typing in a somewhat misdirected manner and for too long. I better go to bed now.
One more thing: I mentioned Rockefeller centre’s symbolism above, since you study memes perhaps you’re the man to ask: Do think there is anything to the fact that 30 Rock has Urizen (Blake’s Demiurge) presiding over both Prometheus (symbol of both Marxism and Larouche movement) and Atlas (Symbol of Randian Libertarianism). It’s as if to say, “no matter which path you take, socialism or freemarket capitalism, you’re still trapped in a world we made.” Does this seem plausible or do you think I’m reaching? I’d love to know your thoughts.
-Cheers
April 1st, 2011 at 3:59 pm
One of the problems is that when people use traditional Christianity it is immediately apparent, while gnosticism, occultism, hermeticism, etc., is almost always couched as something else. Freemasonry is a perfect example of this. Many masons swear up and down that its symbolism has nothing to with occultism, or that it is actually Christian (and they dupe people in to the organization because of it). Even things such as the pagan (mystery religion) symbols that permeate government buildings. Rarely, if ever, is it stressed openly what the tradition is behind it. If we’re taking sides here, there’s ubiquitous subterfuge in one camp without a doubt.
April 1st, 2011 at 7:09 pm
@Ross,
Thanks for your reply. In my comment I was broadly addressing both Terry’s original blog post and the other comments in toto, not picking any comment out in particular.
I’ll say from the get go though that I’m not going to come down heavy commenting on what evils have been committed in the name of the Christian God. A multitude of bloodshed has taken place in the name of just about everything under the sun, but religion in general (or some analogous absolutist secular creed) seems to top the bill.
All I’m doing here, as stated previously, is noting the rather obvious bifurcation with those claiming definite metaphysical beliefs in the conspiracy community. The reality is a little more fuzzy than a glaring black and white division, but I think it largely exists and that atheists/agnostics are rather underrepresented in the ranks of the truth movement. I’d love to have real numbers on this but I don’t, it’s a rather anecdotal account gathered from the years on years debating on conspiracy boards, viewing the output from various researchers in the community theory community. Time after time it seems to come down to individual and collective metaphysical belief and a grand metaphysical foundation to whatever hidden agenda is mooted.
But of course, secular groups exist. I just don’t think their numbers are anywhere near as high as those who identify as I’ve mentioned previously.
Again, I’d like to really test this notion but the idea of some kind of gallup poll, a conmspiracy census, seems unfeasible.
I can see the obvious problems with Gnosticism, as much as I think it at times a marvelous and inventive fantasy, even in it’s poetic and metaphoric form, beautiful; the essential conceit of the world being a black iron vault where all that is material being inherently evil to be nonsense. And the other main thing is that Gnosticism doesn’t even solve the problem of evil, as it stands in opposition to orthodox Christian thought, as so many Gnostics claim.
Then again, I don’t believe in the legend of the Fall of man and the idea of original sin; but I appreciate many beautiful and astounding things contained in the Biblical canon.
I’m quite happy for people to believe as they see fit, as long as they don’t insist that I do the same as them (not that I’m saying that this is what you do).
As I said earlier, I’m taking note of a tendency within the truth movement, and presenting the other side of the coin to the one put forward in Terry’s post. I’m not saying that Gnostic thought is A.O.K. and that orthodoxy is all bad. I had an interesting recent debate with a self-identified Luciferian along these line recently, having to point out that the foundation of philosophy stems from the transcendental impulse fostered in organised religion, and that many great things originated with fine minds in the Roman Catholic Church, and many other great religions.
As for the film Legion, I still feel that it addresses the vengeful wrath, blood and fire themes from the OT, even if it seeks to invert the paradigm. As a matter of fact, I think it may be a point of contact between two distinct themes, the orthodox and the heterodox. As I mentioned earlier, the dream factory is just willfully harvesting the sound and fury of some parts of the OT for its purposes, and mixing in some Miltonesque Lucifer-style rebellious angel into the mix. The influence is still there.
As for 30 Rock, I have no comment there. I may have an interest in memetics (the way information and themes propagate and evolve, in the more organic sense) but what you’re asking for strays over into full blown semiotic interpretation. I don’t have a stance on what it could mean really, other than obvious symbols of power.
But my interest is piqued, I’ll have a think about it.
Anyway, I hope you get more of where I’m coming from, a place where I try to get an objective, even etic, view of the situation. The latter being somewhat difficult as I’m quite involved in conspiracy culture myself. So I live in hope then.
@Terry,
Yes, the themes are often camouflaged with the esoteric currents in culture, yes. That’s the point of Gnosticism in the end though really isn’t it? To subvert the traditional, orthodox paradigm.
AS for the Brotherhood, I’ve been having some recent debates with Freemasons who, though being quite variegated on this, have affirmed the occult basis to Freemasonry and others who have denied it has a Christian basis, when I’ve pushed the notion. The mainstream still stress the whole interfaith thing. What is interesting is pushing the Grand Orient button with them, it sets off quite a response.
Of course, trusting what they say is a whole other thing, but the variation in their presentations was giving me pause for thought.
Also, I’m not taking sides here. I’m not interested in doing so in whatever battle is being fought, real or otherwise. I’m just interested in an objective review of the data and encouraging healthy and interesting debate.
April 1st, 2011 at 7:42 pm
- Justin
When you mentioned debates with Masons and the issue of the Grand Orient pushing a button with them, how do you mean? Were they ashamed of G.O’s atheistic proclivities or did they try to excuse it? What, do you find, is the general feeling mainline masonry has towards G.O? I am in possession of the published minutes of a meeting of American, British and Canadian Masons at Niagara Falls back in the early 1920’s. In it they seem critical of G.O’s lack of compliance with the belief in a Supreme Being. I wonder if things have changed much in the last 90 years.
April 1st, 2011 at 7:55 pm
My own experience is exactly what you said about the Supreme Being but also the fact that GO are traditionally of a revolutionary bent. American masons never tire of claiming that they are not real masons. Bring up p2, and you get the GO rap; same with the French Revolution and the socialist upheavals in Europe during the 1800s.
April 1st, 2011 at 8:59 pm
@Ross -
Yes, from those discussions, they definitely have a big problem with the Grand Orient’s stance on a belief in a supreme being. Like Terry says they constantly harp on about how they aren’t part of real Freemasonry any more, clandestine is the term they throw around a lot.
To be honest, so far from the little I know of the Grand Orient in the present day I like their position on things a whole lot more than UGLE and and most of mainstream Freemasonry.
They’re onto admitting women, are up front about discussing politics, have an entry requirement of not having to believe in a supreme being (though believers aren’t excluded), and generally seem more open and progressive than the rigid mainstream obediences. They don’t seem to hide as much as the mainstream. Of course what may be said in lodge may be even more radical…
The obvious conflict between UGLE and the GOdF intrigues me greatly, shall have to really read up on that in the future.
April 3rd, 2011 at 2:03 pm
Interesting. As you say though, what goes on behind closed doors might be more radical. It seems historically speaking, at least since the French Revolution, Grant Orient has, perhaps more than any other form of masonry, severed as a conduit for revolutionary movements. Though I’m no fan of the Tsar, Communism was hardly a better trade up. Personally speaking, I don’t really fault the mainline masons for their exclusionary criteria. They’re a private organization, and I don’t think they receive any public funding, so if they want to have a men’s only group where you have to believe in the Supreme Being or a men’s/women’s group where you don’t, or women’s only group where you have to believe in the Great Pumpkin, that doesn’t really bother me all that much. They can have secret handshakes out the ying-yang, have tickle-fights in member’s basements, and worship whatever two-headed baphomet, Owl of Bohemia or Jabulon suits their fancy. As long as they aren’t doing anything illegal, like running sex trafficking, plotting bloody revolutions, laying the ground work for a surveillance state or providing studio space for MTV Canada, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masonic_Temple_(Toronto) I’m more than willing to live and let live. LOL
April 3rd, 2011 at 9:36 pm
When an obedience is created whose entry requirement is worshipping “The Great Pumpkin,” I’m there.
April 13th, 2012 at 7:17 pm
Oh yes, we Gnostics have it nothing but easy in our society. It’s the easy way out to spend years soul-searching and alienating your family and church by reading the Bible and thinking something different about it. Ah yes, that did me nothing but favors socially and financially, I’ll tell you what. I get all the underaged hookers and constant job offers from the NWO regime and Lucifer incarnate because I read the Nag Hammadi Gospels and Pagels and all those other ABSURDLY POPULAR and RICH authors.
Hint: this is all sarcasm.
It’s the orthodoxy, those claiming to embody orthodox beliefs - who consistently submit to and participate in the NWO agenda. How many US troops in Afghanistan do you think are Gnostic? How many do you think are Southern Baptist? HMMM