Gnosticism and gnosis,
words that carry a mystical resonance, surrounded by much mystique. Often explained as something that drifts within sectarian circles, even to the absurd notion that it is a belief inclined towards self-destruction. It is said that Gnostics despise their own bodies, are forbidden to have sex, and must live in suffering until death because the body is supposedly a creation of a false divinity, thus seen as something despicable. Much, very much misinformation, partly due to misunderstanding and partly due to the deliberate vilification of something beautiful into something deemed entirely unworthy. So, what does Gnosticism entail? Gnosticism is an experience, a personal experience without rules, doctrines, or dogmas. A Gnostic experiences life in a way that appears peculiar to many, or at least seems so. But where does Gnosticism originate? It is not a belief or a doctrine; it is a blend of various ancient knowledge from different origins but with the same source. Gnosis dates back far before Christ, deep into ancient Egypt; the tablets of Thoth are part of the source material. Babylonian and Sumerian influences are also present. Gnosticism is the origin of the story surrounding the presence of Yeshua ben Yosef, better known as Jesus Christ, or Jesus of Nazareth. The being of Jesus and the message He came to bring was a Gnostic message; at His time, there was no Catholic Church, a point many easily forget. Due to these misconceptions, it often happens that the Catholic doctrine is equated with the Gnostic experience. This leads to many erroneous interpretations that sadly distort the truth. The Catholic doctrine imposes on its followers that Christ came to earth to erase human sinfulness. This is called the doctrine of atonement, but letting a man (Christ) be sacrificed to erase human sins so that the Father (God) of Christ would once again open His arms to humanity suggests a vengeful deity who initially rejected humanity because of a past mistake (Adam and Eve). Thus, humanity became sinful, so a victim had to be sacrificed from heaven among humans to grant humanity access to heaven again.
By maintaining this thinking, humanity is subjected and subservient to the worshipped deity, and the Catholic Church has assumed the role of intermediary, functioning as the middleman between God and humanity. By taking on this position, the Catholic Church gained a position of power that all followers must accept and endure, for it was the Catholic Church and no one else that had access to God and heaven. In Gnosticism, there is a different view of the events involving Christ. Gnosticism experiences being Christian in a way that brings salvation, not punishment but healing. The concept of original sin is not accepted in Gnosticism, so no atonement is necessary. The story of Genesis is also seen differently in Gnostic belief than in Catholic doctrine. Catholics say that God created the world in seven days, with the seventh being a day of rest. It is also said that God made man from mud, in His own image. But it is also written in the Bible that God said the following; "I am a jealous God and tolerate no other gods beside me." The God of the Bible is thus an easily angered and disturbed god, in stark contrast to the God of love that Jesus came to give us, as described in Gnostic writings. The first insight, therefore, shows that the Catholic doctrine is an imposed system of religion with rules, laws, its own court, a complete religious system that dictates your life from cradle to grave. In the Catholic system of belief, much is asked of the followers. Humanity is viewed and treated as sinful, and the Church takes care of it, but all efforts must come from the followers. The Catholic Church demands much but provides few or inadequate answers to pressing questions, making it a burden to bear with little result, certainly no result on a spiritual level.
In Gnostic belief, there is no mention of a god but of a fullness, a creative force consisting of consciousness, wisdom, and word. This Trinity is called the fullness or the pleroma; it can also bear the name of the light world. It is a primal source of everything; it is unnameable, indescribable, immeasurable. In this pleroma, everything originates, as it did in the past and still does today. But at the beginning of all creation, something went wrong with wisdom; Sophia, or wisdom, had created something on her own without the knowledge of consciousness or the word, creating an empty entity without awareness, only seeing itself. This creation was cast out, left to fend for itself, excluded from the help of the pleroma, and since it had no consciousness but unfortunately did possess great creative power, it sought to prove itself against the pleroma and especially against Sophia. This creation began creating, but without consciousness, it only made empty boxes, forces without spirit, and it is spirit that brings awareness! The banishment led this creature to what we know as the earth, where it created things, fields of force, entities, all without spirit or consciousness. But in the pleroma, a creation was in the making to inhabit this earth, not in the way we understand it, but in a completely light-world system, beings with a soul and a spirit but without a physical body. These beings were intended to bring the pleroma to this earth, described as the "earthly paradise," a spiritual soul society without negativity, only compassion, empathy, and pure spiritual and soul happiness. The earthly world would be the seventh heaven, with the eighth and ninth above it, the ninth being where the pleroma forms and creates. This creation is called the light Adam. The outcast, named Yaldabaoth, and his creatures, known as archons, learned of the light Adam and wanted it for themselves, so they created something in the image of what they thought the light Adam should be. The entire host of archons, led by the chief archon Yaldabaoth, went about creating, as described in the Secret Book of John. They wanted their creation to possess the light they lacked, for without spirit, there is no light; light is spirit. But the creation was flawed; it remained passive and motionless for a long time. However, Sophia, wishing to reclaim the power she had mistakenly given to Yaldabaoth, sought help from consciousness, who agreed to assist her. The immeasurable sent five light angels to Yaldabaoth, who told him to breathe something of himself into the nostrils of the creation. Yaldabaoth, unaware, did just that, but the light angels were equipped to breathe the power of the pleroma in such a way that Yaldabaoth believed he had done it. By breathing in the power of the pleroma (inspirare), the authority over the creation was broken from the Archon, and the pleroma regained control, with the Archon unaware of it. The Archon assumed he had created something, not knowing he was under the control of the pleroma. This narrative, according to ancient writings, shows how humanity ended up on earth; it is the Gnostic belief that the physical human is a material creation but that the light force within, brought by the pleroma, can free him from the clutches of Archontic influence.