The horizontal experience of Life on earth, in a human body, intersecting the vertical inner knowledge and understanding of our true ascendant nature and potential. The Gnostics’ understanding of our psychological sub-strata was really quite simple, and sort of profoundly perpendicular, in a way, as symbolized, finally, not as the iconic early Christian fish, submerged in the depths of Life, but as The Cross that supports the ego-death that’s necessary if we want to get back to “The Kingdom”. Joseph Campbell Rebellion and Resurrection the natural metaphysical impulse to transcend the illusion of separation. The story of an authentic spirit’s journey from a fragmented, semi-conscious “death”, to the wholeness of a compassionately conscious “re-birth” mirrors every individual’s shared journey to wholeness and happiness. This is what attracted people like Joseph Campbell (The Hero’s Journey) and Carl Jung (individuation) to Gnosis and Gnosticism, the fact that it pre-dated every form of modern depth psychology with its remarkable synthesis of human experience into an archetypal framework, and mystical, ritual process of rebirth, recovery, and “resurrection”. Yeshua said: ‘When you bring forth that within you, then that will save you.
The water holds the painful obstacles, the earth is the plane of their realization and exposure, the fire burns away those onerous human handicaps, the inner spark breaks free and expands back into transcendent light – a “marriage” of opposite aspects: yin and yang, male and female, darkness and light, etc., that takes place in the effulgence of “Heaven”. In a way, Buddhists call this “The Buddha, The Dharma, and The Sangha”, Catholics, “The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit”.Īcross the spiritual board, these constituent parts are very nearly identical in every process of Gnosis, from humankind’s earliest indigenous nature religions, to contemporary Twelve Step Programs, where this triangular incubator of Gnosis is called “a higher power, the steps, and the fellowship.” Gnostic Spiritual Mythology Was The First Depth Psychologyįor the Gnostics, all of these iconic, archetypal metaphors were very elemental, indeed, proceeding from the concept of a watery submersion of the eternal self in the depths of the psyche (the path of water to find its greatest power by seeking its lowest point) to the transformational fire of human suffering – alive in that desperate need to reunite with The Divine to the emergence of the light within, and its re-merging into “the sun of God”. An approach, or set of principles designed to merge the earthly ego with the eternal self and a community of shared consciousness – individuals who are seeking the same state of happiness, wholeness, and purpose – are necessary parts of the process, too. The self-realization of the light within requires some help from The Divine, and that’s where Sophia and her male counterpart (and husband-to-be), The Christ enter into the process, as specific objects of divine devotion. It sounds quite a bit like Buddhism doesn’t it? That’s because it is, in a way – there are ways, in ritual, action, and practice, that the suffering can be avoided. Humanity is an expression of a Divine Light imprisoned in a clunky, imperfect plane of existence, surrounded by the beauty of human life and the earthly realm, but victimized by the suffering that is such a big part of it all.Įach human contains a spark of the Divine Light within, and enduring Life’s painful challenges inspires the desire to reunite that inner spark with the great field of Divine Light, our Source, called the pleroma. Summing up the essential myth of the Gnostic inner journey goes something like this: Hers is the classic myth of metaphor, describing the Gnosis of the Gnostics in a way that resonates in the heart and mind. In a previous article, I told a version of the wonderful Gnostic myth of Sophia, the princess of Wisdom itself, and her descent to earth to elevate humanity through the example of her struggle back up to the light, and her gift of consciousness to mankind through the power of feminine energy. The Gnosis of “The Gnostics” (And Everyone Else…)