This newsletter is a publication of the Mystical Order of the White Rose, an emerging multi-faith, monastic cyber-community. We support and share information about mystical, monastic, contemplative and creative ways of living.  We encourage prayer, meditation, lectio divina, journaling, fasting, silence, hospitality, worship, spiritual and religious communities, simple living, creativity and service to others (including humans, animals, the environment and the planet).You can view past issues here and you can subscribe here if you are not already a subscriber.

 

 This Month's Theme:  Modern Expressions of Gnosticism

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *    *   *   *   *   *   *

Table of Contents

-- Editor's Update: "Meanwhile, Back At the Ranch" by Cynthia Lee

-- Multi-Faith, Multi-Media Daily Devotionals for September 1-30

-- Article:  "Seasons of Our Lives" by Cynthia K. Lee

-- Article: "Musings On Modern Gnostic Matters" by Cynthia K. Lee

--  Poem Excerpt:  "Autumn" by John Keats

--  Interview:  : "Tau Malachi, A Sophian Gnostic Bishop, Talks About Gnosticism and 'The Da Vinci Code'" by David Ian Miller

--  Article:  "What Heresy?" by Frederica Mathewes-Green

--  Gnostic Resources & Communities

--  Links of Interest

 

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * 

Editor's Update:  Meanwhile, Back At the Ranch

         Yesterday's anniversary of the thousands of lives lost, material wreckage and national trauma of 9/11 led me to focus on destruction, loss and trauma.

          In a very micro, very small scale way, destruction, loss and trauma are strong presences in my husband's life right now and, by extension, mine.  And yes, there is rubble involved, and I am not able to crawl out of it with anywhere near the frequency and ease that I would like.

       The serenity and order of monastic and contemplative communities, places and lifestyles are deeply appealing to me, but this time in my life is anything but serene and orderly. 

       While I am horrified and embarrassed by the many disruptions and delays now taking place in several areas of my life, including  the late publication of this issue of the Mystical Order of the White Rose Newsletter, I have been grateful for the sympathy,  encouragement and prayer support of friends and associates--as well as subscribers to my newsletters that I have never even met. I publish six newsletters, five of them monthly; they all have paying subscribers except for the Mystical Order of the White Rose newsletter.

      Oh yeah, I also have a full-time day job (that I love) in a history museum and care for five fur-covered surrogate children whom my husband and I adore. 

      My husband Johnny has lost the ability to walk without crutches, a cancerous tumor was recently removed from his colon, and back surgery is very likely in the next few weeks.  Most recently he came down with a kidney infection that involved high fever, nausea, night sweats, severely disrupted sleep and almost daily visits to our local doctor who was seriously considering  hospitalizing him.  We also had our usual almost weekly trip out of state to a hospital in Oklahoma for more tests.

      Even my computer became "ill" and came down with a viral infection--I mean was infected with a virus. Fortunately, my daily consumption of probiotics and other nutritional supplements has kept me healthy. 

      Johnny has been experiencing chronic, high levels of pain and, after four months of seemingly endless medical tests and consultations and "procedures," he is emotionally drained and very frustrated. The suddenness of his health breakdown, and the development of problems with his heart, colon, stomach, pancreas and back at pretty much the same time, has been traumatic for him. His hair has turned almost completely white and he says he feels like he has aged 10 or 15 years.

       In what seemed like "the blink of an eye," Johnny went from being a very active business man managing his own "fleet" of drivers and vehicles and  spending most of his time on the road, to being a home-bound invalid who requires help with everything from getting dressed to taking his medications and meal preparation.  His hair has turned almost completely white.

       And so,  as much as it pains me to have my husband experiencing such physical and mental distress, and as much as I dislike the disruptions, delays and chaos and the loss of private personal time for my home-based projects and publishing empire (as well as aspects of household maintenance) I am coming to accept that this is simply the way things are for now and possibly will be for weeks and months to come.

        Acceptance, surrender, prayer, love, forgiveness, kindness, and service are my spiritual goals and disciplines in this time.  There is never a time when I do not feel the love and  support of God, the sheltering wings of angels and the loving presence of incarnate and discarnate friends and companions.

       The bad news is that I've temporarily abandoned my exercise studio workouts, fasting and dieting efforts, and all evening activities, such as choir practice and dinner and theatre outings with friends.

        Working on this newslettter is always a stimulating, fun and uplifting experience for me, despite pressures and frustrations re: time and days and days of hours and hours of work on it.  I hope that you too will find this issue a positive and helpful influence in your life. 

                                                                     

                                                                      Cynthia

         

      The reading to the self of material designed to increase one's awareness of thanksgiving is recommended.  Even repetitious reading of inspiring words is helpful, for sometimes those of humankind are resistant to feeling better about themselves, to accepting their limitations, and to continuing to offer the praise and thanksgiving that is rightfully the one infinite Creator's, who offered each of you and each of us a magnificent opportunity, the opportunity to grow, to be, to perceive and to act.

    --Q'uo transcript  dated January 7, 1990, pp. 3-4 from  A Wanderer's Handbook  written by Carla Lisbeth Rueckert  http://www.llresearch.org/default.aspx

 

 *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

                    Multi-Faith, Multi-Media Daily Devotionals

                              for September 1-30, 2008

        You may be tempted to give these daily devotionals a miss and just skim through the newsletter in one swell foop---I mean one fell swoop.  But, the devotionals require far more time to compile than the newsletter portion and offer a lot of upliftment--and learning, so don't be too quick to skip them. 

      Here's the link:  http://www.mysticalwhiterose.com/septdailydevotionals.html

        Some of our members like to skip through all of the devotionals quickly, in one sitting, like children who eagerly open every Christmas present under the tree.  Others prefer to slowly savor the day's quotation, poem, information and links, returning a few times to the same page to ever more deeply explore the links it contains. 

        If you were to read these devotionals every day and to read, view or listen to what's available in the "related links" sections, you would acquire quite an education in a painless, pleasurable manner.  

        Whether you use these devotionals for journal prompts, lectio divina, or a swift swoop, may you find glimpses of God, gladness and a quickening of  your life of the spirit.  And may they stimulate your awareness of and gratitude for life itself in its myriad, miraculous expressions.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

Seasons of Our Lives

by Cynthia Kiteley Lee

        Our lives have seasons too.  It might be autumn outside, with cooler temperatures, leaves starting to  turn red, gold and orange, and longer nights, but what is the season for you inside? 

         Are you experiencing a dark winter night of the soul?  Have you completed big projects and autumn-harvested the fruit of your labor? Is your life in full summer blossom? And what about a spring time of new beginnings, hope, and enthusiasm? In our lives, as in nature, we experience cycles of darkness and light, growth and decay, planting seeds and harvesting. 

          How apt are the words of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 of the Bible (King James Version)

To everything there is a season, and
a time to every purpose under heaven:

A time to be born, and
a time to die;
a time to plant, and
a time to pluck up
that which is planted;

A time to kill, and
a time to heal;
a time to break down, and
a time to build up;

A time to weep, and
a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and
a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones, and
a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and
a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to get, and
a time to lose;
a time to keep, and
a time to cast away;

A time to rend, and
a time to sow;
a time to keep silence, and
a time to speak;

A time to love, and
a time to hate;
a time of war; and
a time of peace.

          It is not enough to contemplate and celebrate the outer seasons of nature.  Let us learn to discern the seasons of our hearts, our souls, our lives, our relationships, our careers.  Remember that all aspects of life move in cycles, that sad endings are  followed by joyful beginnings and that darkness always gives way to light.

 

Copyright 2008 Cynthia Kiteley Lee -- All Rights Reserved

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

Musings On Modern Gnostic Matters

by Cynthia Kiteley Lee 

       I realize this may sound odd, but I had a lot of fun using the Internet to find communities, groups, authors and resources relating to modern expressions of gnosticism, the theme of this month's newsletter.  After all, the Internet is full of fascinating  and stimulating "alternative" information, groups and organizations, especially so with regard to mystical, religious and esoteric subjects.

      When you venture into this spiritual "Alice In Cyber-Wonderland" world of self- proclaimed gnostics, mystics, prophets, initiates, spiritual warriors, spiritual teachers and heirs to the occult secrets and  wisdom traditions of the ages, maintaining a sense of humor and tolerance for diversity will stand you in good stead.

        One of the things that struck me during  my swooping and skimming around modern gnostic communities and their beliefs was the intuitive impression that most of the people drawn to them are sincere old souls and initiates who have had extensive past life experiences in mystery schools, esoteric groups and/or religious communities. 

    Another thing I noted was the importance that some groups attach to things like "apostolic succession" and spiritual lineage in the history of their group as a means of demonstrating the group's legitimacy and long history.  I must admit that an unbroken chain of human initiates passing on secret or occult (i.e., hidden) teachings to new generations down through the centuries, does not impress or reassure me regarding the quality of the spiritual energies of these groups or convince me that  they are somehow spiritually (or otherwise) superior to groups lacking such a lineage. However, to each their own.

      Thanks to the enormous number of readers and the electrifying  impact of Dan Brown's book The Da Vinci Code, previously little known Gnostic and Western mystery tradition teachings have become topics of animated dinner table conversation in millions of ordinary households.

      Traditionally, these teachings have allegedly been zealously protected and carefully passed on through the centuries by--and to--only a small number of trained initiates and esotericists. They have only recently been published in fictional and non-fictional (i.e., Holy Blood, Holy Grail) form and sold to millions of avid readers. This in itself is a noteworthy development that begs the question:  "why?"

        Jay Kinney, a writer, scholar and (Gnosis) magazine publisher who has specialized in Western inner traditions shares my own curiosity in this matter. In his article "Gnosticism:  Ancient and Modern," Kinney writes: 

       "Every dog has its day, so they say, and it looks like Gnosticism, an ancient approach to spiritual experience, may be having its day, once again. Of course, despite the best efforts of the early Catholic Church, Gnosticism never really disappeared, but its reappearance over the centuries has been fleeting and sporadic. Why, as we march into a new millennium, is this hidden stream of quasi-Christian mysticism triggering a fresh interest among both spiritual seekers and readers of popular novels?"

         The resurgence and popularity of Gnosticism in modern times is due to much more than best-selling books about the Divine Feminine, Secret Orders of High Initiates, Mary Magdalene, Jesus' marital status and descendants/bloodline and other "revelations" -- or heresies and falsehoods -- depending on what piece of theological and historical turf you are standing on. 

            Kinney points out that the "success of The Da Vinci Code is just the culminating phase of a gradual public awareness of Gnostic matters that extends back at least a century to the great Occult Revival of the late 19th century. At that time, Gnosticism slowly re-emerged from the shadows, nudged by the French occultist Eliphas Lévi, and propelled along by Madame Blavatsky’s Theosophical Society, French neo-gnostics such as Papus and Jean Bricaud, and researchers such as G.R.S. Mead (whose pioneering discussion of the Gnostics, Fragments of a Faith Forgotten, was for many decades one of the few sourcebooks on the subject for general readers).

      "However, it was the discovery of a cache of ancient Gnostic scriptures at Nag Hammadi in the Egyptian desert in 1945 that really set off the modern phase of the Gnostic revival. Although their translation into English was not complete until the late 1970s, early access to some of the writings inspired the great psychologist Carl Jung to draw parallels between the ancient Gnostics and modern depth psychology. The publication in 1977 of the Nag Hammadi Library translations, followed in 1978 by religious scholar Elaine Pagels’ best-selling exposition, The Gnostic Gospels, guaranteed that Gnosticism would not go away anytime soon."

          Like mysticism, gnosticism inspires myriad explanations and interpretations as well as vigorous defenses and attacks.  There is no truly "unified field" theory of Gnosticism or tidy theology that has been consistently articulated and practiced by self-identified gnostics through the centuries.

           Some modern expressions of gnosticism emphasize direct personal experience of spiritual knowledge (i.e., gnosis) and freedom from formal creeds and cosmologies to the exclusion of everything else.  Others draw heavily upon the Nag Hammadi texts for inspiration and liturgical purposes and mine the rich historic and scriptural heritage of gnosticism. 

          The strong and growing modern interest in gnosticism, combined with the creativity and diversity that characterize its expression, make it clear that gnosticism is a fertile, nourishing spiritual tradition that is being both rediscovered and re-invented in ways that have much to offer modern mystics, monastics and contemplatives. 

Copyright 2008 by author Cynthia K. Lee -- All Rights Reserved. 

         

         *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

 

    "Seasons of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o’er-brimm’d their clammy cells."

-   John Keats, To Autumn  

 

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

 *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

What Heresy?

by Frederica Mathewes-Green

     I can’t be the only Christian reading "Beyond Belief," Elaine Pagels’ celebration of Gnostic theology and texts, and thinking, "What’s so heretical about this?"

     This best-selling book, and its accompanying train of reviews and author profiles, presents a familiar cast of characters. The Gnostics, developers of a variety of Christ-flavored spiritualities in the earliest centuries of the Christian era, are enthroned as noble seekers of enlightenment. The early Church, which rejected these theologies, is assigned its usual role of oppressor, afflicting believers with rigid Creeds. It’s the old familiar story of oppressive bad guys and rebellious good guys, and Americans never tire of it.

     But a look at the supposedly scandalous material comes up short. The most-cited Gnostic text, the Gospel of Thomas, mixes familiar sayings of Jesus with others of more mystical bent. These are sometimes cryptic, but hardly outrageous. They’re not far different from Christian poetry and mysticism through the ages. Where’s the problem?

     Well, not here. Early Christians rejected Gnosticism, all right. But what Pagels presents is not the part they rejected. What they rejected, Pagels does not present.

     Let’s look at the first part of that statement. Pagels in fact does Christianity a service by calling us afresh to the truth that God is within and permeates all creation. Every person can awaken to this and experience God directly. This truth gets emphasized or neglected according to the pressures of the surrounding culture; most recently, Christianity had to cope with Enlightenment rationalism, which held suspect all things supernatural. Followers of many religious traditions have benefited from recent years’ new openness.

     But even in hostile environments, direct encounter with the divine can’t be fully suppressed, because it is true. It keeps bursting out, in the form of Christian mysticism or as charismatic and evangelical movements. When a preacher says you can have a "personal relationship with Jesus" or have "Jesus in your heart," that’s what he’s talking about. It’s a direct, personal, and probably electrifying encounter with the interior presence of God.

     You don’t have to be a full-time contemplative to experience this; lightning can strike anywhere, any time. When it first hit me, I was a non-Christian tourist strolling around an Irish church. Teens praying after a Christian rock concert, a Hispanic Catholic woman on silent retreat, a Greek Orthodox man with an icon by his computer—anyone can experience this dynamic presence of God, because God is within everything he creates. There’s no way to force this experience, but it never hurts to be open, to ask.

      So "The Kingdom of God is within you" is hardly a heretical statement. Today’s NeoGnostics would find a crowd around them, from 17th century Spanish nuns to polyester-clad Pentecostals, saying, "That sounds like what I’m talking about."

     Now let’s take a look at the second half of the previous statement. "That =sounds like= what I’m talking about" is a qualified endorsement-a gesture of openness till we hear more. There is such a thing as self-deception, and confusion can bloom in unfamiliar spiritual realms. Though such experiences are indisputably beyond words, after we have them we try to talk about them. We want to share them with others, and we want to check whether we simply flipped out.

     Say that it’s like going to Paris. Everyone takes a photo of the Eiffel Tower. When we get home, we compare them; some snapshots are fuzzy and some from funny angles, but we can recognize them as depicting the same thing. The snaps don’t capture the reality; nothing can; but they’re OK as records.

     The Creeds are photos everyone agreed on. They are minimal and crisply focused, not fancied-up. They are not a substitute for personal experience, but a useful guide for comparison, for discernment. If someone’s snap shows King Kong climbing up the Tower, we can say, "Hey, you’re off base there. Something’s messing with your head." If Kong is wearing a lei and a paper party hat we might say, "Aw, now you’re just making stuff up."

     That’s what early Christians said to the Gnostics. The problem wasn’t the insistence that we can directly experience God. It was that the Gnostics’ schemes of how to do this were so =wacky=.

     Preposterous stories about creation, angels, demons, and spiritual hierarchies multiplied like mushrooms. (Even some erstwhile Christians, like Origen and Clement of Alexandria, dabbled in these fields.) The version attributed to Valentinus, the best-known Gnostic, is typical. Valentinus supposedly taught a hierarchy of spiritual beings called "aeons." One of the lowest aeons, Sophia, fell and gave birth to the Demiurge, the God of the Hebrew Scriptures. This evil Demiurge created the visible world, which was a bad thing, because now we pure spirits are all tangled up in fleshy bodies. Christ was an aeon who took possession of the body of the human Jesus, and came to free us from the prison of materiality.

     "Us" didn’t mean everybody. Not all people have a divine spark within, just intellectuals; "gnosis," by definition, concerns what you *know*. Some few who are able to grasp these insights could be initiated into deeper mysteries. Ordinary Christians, who lacked sufficient brainpower, could only attain the Demiurge’s middle realm. Everyone else was doomed. Under Gnosticism, there was no hope of salvation for most of the human race.

     Now you can begin to see what the early Christians found heretical. Gnosticism rejected the body and saw it as a prison for the soul; Christianity insisted that God infuses all creation and that even the human body can be a vessel of holiness, a "temple of the Holy Spirit." Gnosticism rejected the Hebrew scriptures and portrayed the God of the Jews as an evil spirit; Christianity looked on Judaism as a mother. Gnosticism was elitist; Christianity was egalitarian, preferring "neither Jew nor Greek, male nor female, slave nor free."

     Finally, Gnosticism was just too complicated. Christianity maintained the simple invitation of the One who said, "Let the little children come unto me." Full-blown science-fiction Gnosticism died under its own weight.

     Pagels does not endorse this aspect of Gnosticism. But the Gnostics would not endorse her version either. They did not think of these elaborate schemes as mythopoeic (which is how NeoGnostics describe them), but as factual. Your salvation depended on getting it right, and Gnostics argued with each other much as theologians do today. Some claimed that the body was so evil you had to give up sex; others said the body was so illusory that it didn’t matter what you did with it. A well-meaning modernist who murmured "You’re both right" would be reviled for not grasping what’s at stake.

     NeoGnostics share our culture’s penchant for pick-and-choose religion, and in this case that’s better than inhaling the original whole. But every pick-and-choose religion has this limitation: the follower can never grow any larger than his own preconceptions. He has established himself a priori as the ultimate authority, and his thoughts will never be larger than his hat size.

     Two heads, or a billion, are better than one. This is the reason for community. We might think there are two ways of determining truth, either top-down authority, or every-man-for-himself. But there is an alternative: consensus. We see it from the start of Christian history, in the discussions of Acts 15; we see it in St. Vincent of Lerins’ handy rule that we trust "what has been believed everywhere, always, and by all." A modest core of Creeds and scriptures tells us all we require, while a generous circle of liturgies, devotional writings, and commentaries cast more light.

     "Light" is the key word for the NeoGnostics. As an Eastern Orthodox Christian, I feel strong empathy with their yearning for this encounter. But I’m puzzled that they still seem to be expecting that this experience will be mainly intellectual. "Light" for them means insight.

     Christians would say to them, as we did to the original Gnostics, that there is something better. It will permeate your whole self, not just your mind; it embraces all of creation, celebrates good food and marital communion, and cares enough about this material world to build hospitals and work to free slaves. The thing you are seeking is not an idea but a Person, a Person who is mysteriously your Creator, and thus already present, waiting, at your deepest levels.

     The NeoGnostic writings seem to me evocative but theoretical, a little distant, like they don’t quite know yet what they are looking for. I will be glad to see how these light-seekers evolve. Where there is an open heart there is always good hope, because as Jesus promised, "He who seeks, finds."

Frederica Mathewes-Green is a writer on religion whose works have appeared in the Washington Post, Christianity Today, Smithsonian, the Los Angeles Times, First Things, Books & Culture, Sojourners, Touchstone, and the Wall Street Journal. She is a regular columnist for the multifaith web magazine Beliefnet.com, and she writes movie reviews for National Review Online and Christianity Today Movies.   She is the author of eight books, including Facing East: A Pilgrim’s Journey into the Mysteries of Orthodoxy (HarperCollins, 1997) and The Illumined Heart: The Ancient Christian Path of Transformation (Paraclete, 2001).

Her commentaries have been heard on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered and Morning Edition. Her essays were selected for Best Christian Writing in 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006, and Best Spiritual Writing in 1998 and 2007. She has published over 600 articles.  Frederica lives with her husband, the Rev. Gregory Mathewes-Green, in Baltimore, MD, where he is pastor and she is “Khouria” (“Mother”) of the church they founded, Holy Cross Orthodox Church. Their three children are grown and married, and they have 9 grandchildren. Since 1997, Frederica has been recording books for the blind with the Radio Reading Network of Maryland.  Her website is:  www.frederica.com/ 

 

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

       The effects of the presence of Gnosticism as a systematized religious and spiritual practice were felt throughout Europe, Asia and North Africa. These effects continue to be felt today. While much of the focus in gnostic studies has been with the early Christian forms of gnosis, Jewish, Islamic, Hindu, Taoist, Buddhist, pagan and other forms are also present in the historical and contemporary record.

     An active academic debate about the origins of Gnosticism and gnosis is a major focus for many scholars. The discussion and study of gnosis as an approach to spirituality cannot be easily tied to any single religion.

- from The Gnosis Archive (Gnostic Studies On the Web)

 

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

 

 "What Is A Gnostic?" an article by Stephen Hoeller    

Ecclesia Gnostica    This organization is the home of Bishop Stephen A. Hoeller, a very well known and widely respected Gnostic leader, scholar and author.  It provides a well organized Gnostic lectionary that draws upon texts of ancient Gnostic documents and a Gnostic calendar. 

Gnosis Magazine  Published from 1985 to 1999, Gnosis Magazine was the only widely available, serious journal devoted to Western esoteric and spiritual traditions. It was highly acclaimed by numerous authors and scholars in the field and was fondly regarded by its many readers.   Gnosis Magazine's  founder, publisher, and editor in chief was Jay Kinney. Its editor was Richard Smoley.  Like most subscribers, I never gave away or threw away any issues. Back issues can still be ordered, and a stimulating selection of articles from past issues is available from this website.

The Gnostic Society  A comprehensive, authoritative and well organized website with lots of helpful texts and information.

Gnostic Teachings -- Practical Spirituality to Conquer Suffering. This website offers 14 free online courses  (no registration required). Subjects include: karma, Gnostic meditation, esoteric astrology, transformation of energy, path of the Bodhisattva, the Book of Revelation, Twenty-two Arcana of Tarot, Kabbalah (4 courses on the Kabbalah, including Gnostic Kabbalah), and sacraments of the Gnostic Church.

Sophian Gnosticism and Christian Gnosticism - Tau Malachi's community and tradition. 

The Matrix -- A Modern Gnostic Myth  - If you're not familiar with the film, you should probably give this a miss. 

Ecclesia Gnostica Universalis  (Universal Gnostic Church) This group is dedicated to the advancement of light, life, love, and liberty through alignment with the Law of Thelema.   It was founded in 2000.

Universal Gnostic Fellowship  Their definition of a Gnostic is: "one who seeks personal knowledge (communication) of the Divine.  They believe that each person has the ability, the right and even an obligation to seek their own enlightenement and gain personal knowledge and communication with the Divine Creator of All.  They are also committed to serving and helping others.

The International Order of Gnostic Templars -   A Division of the Scottish Knight Templars.  Members consider themselves spiritual warriors dedicated to the revival of Gnostic Wisdom and and the Goddess tradition of the original Templars.  They also seek to synthesize the spiritual traditions of the East and the West.  In-depth video interview with the Prior of the Order, Mark Pinkham, can be accessed here.

The Gnostic Druid Fellowship  The fellowship combines the mystical and esoteric teachings of the Qabalah, modern Gnosticism, the Essenes, and Celtic Christians with the nature spirituality of the Druid Revival.  Its parent organization (or mothership) is the Universal Gnostic Church (UGC).  It is also  affiliated with the Ancient Order of Druids in America .

The Gnostic Order of Allogenes - An Independent Gnostic Communion
This is a loosely organized community of people who feel the need to dedicate themselves to the quest for Gnosis.  The order was created in the spirit of monasticism but does not encourage its members to withdraw from the world of form(s).  They engage the world as solitaries who experience Gnosis and personal evolution as an individual phenomenon.  They draw upon the traditions of the past to ruther thier growth into what they call the "Pleroma." 

The Gnostic Order of Christ -  The founders of the order are members of the (Anglican) Order of the Holy Cross.  It was established in 1988 to provide a spiritual structure for those drawn to participate in the Western Tradition of the Priesthood After the Order of Melchizedek of the Order of the Holy Cross.  Members believe that the Order of the Holy Cross has a heavenly spiritual body, but no earthly organization, so the members of this heavenly order ar of all relgions of the world. 

Early Christian Writings

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

 Links of Interest

 

Sophia - Goddess of Wisdom

Anamchara - The Website Of Unknowing  - Christian Mysticism, Celtic Wisdom, Interfaith Spirituality, Emergent Theology

The Order of the Divine Mother   

Monastery Greetings - Products created by Abbeys, Convents, Monasteries, and Hermitages. www.monasterygreetings.com

ShadowFae's Monthly Newsletter -- Pagan and Astrological Information for September, in short, easy to understand texts.

Peter Whiterose - Mystic and Artist

Janosh - Dutch Artist Working With Sacred Geometry

Cafe Cody -  You can listen to this Global Chill Radio through your computer or iPod.  Chill out to commercial free music.  www.cafecody.com

Evelyn Underhill -- Mystic and Theologian
 

 You can find this blog here: http://blog.beliefnet.com/flowermandalas/

 

Ordinary Radicals - Trailer for the movie. Radical grassroots Christianity.