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Interview with Jordan Stratford
When I met Jordan Stratford + online I was really excited to have the opportunity to talk to him, because our stories complement each others’ so well. I set up one of the first big Gnostic sites on the web in the mid-90s but wound up getting initiated as a priest in an African witchcraft [...]
Key Concepts
Cognitive frames of reference informing the design and purpose of this web site:
Antinomianism - taboo-breaking as a means to wisdom, e.g., the “transgression” of Georges Bataille, Ikkyu , the “left hand” or “short path” of Tantra and Vamamarga.
Animism - the underlying assumption of indigenous shamanism is that everything is alive and capable of communication: rocks, [...]
“Five Criticisms of Modern Gnosticism”
Interesting commentary from Jordan Stratford+ and Eckhart Christopher on modern gnosticism.
I am probably profoundly misunderstanding them, but they seem to be saying that Modern gnosticism derives its authority, legitimacy, succession, etc solely from the RCC - the one that Benedict is in charge of now, and John Paul before him, etc. - and that [...]
The Socratic Method
"THRASYMACHUS: What's that you're saying?
SOCRATES: Just what you said, I believe…. Haven't you admitted that the Rulers…. sometimes mistake their own best interests, and that at the same time it is right for the subjects to obey?…
THRASYMACHUS: Yes, I suppose so.
SOCRATES: Well, that amounts to admitting that it is right to do [...]
Admit
"When a man does not admit he is an animal, he is less than an animal…. Blake was the revolt of one man. He was not a revolutionary but a man in revolt. A creature in revolt can conceive that there is NO solution and that there will be unending construction and destruction…. Blake revolted [...]
Animals & Robots
"In contrast to man, animals are not mechanical or sadistic, and their societies (within the same species) are incomparably more peaceful than man's societies. The basic question runs: What caused the human animal to deteriorate and become robotlike?
His viciousness, his inability to live peacefully with his own kind, his wars, bear witness [...]
The Incredibly Strange Story of Intelligent Design
Reprint of an article originally published in New Dawn Magazine #97, expanded and revised with original illustrations. A fascinating survey of alternative human origins theories and their links to Gnostic mythology!
The Spelling Error
In an ancient monastery in a faraway place, a new monk arrived to join his brothers in copying books and scrolls in the monastery’s scriptorium. He was assigned as a rubricator on copies of books that had already been copied by hand.
One day he asked Father Florian (the Armarius of the Scriptorium), "Does not the [...]
Jesus fills in for St. Peter
Jesus decided to go say hi to his old buddy St. Peter, so he strolled out to the Pearly Gates and noticed a HUGE long line of people waiting to get in.
St. Peter saw Jesus coming and said "Oh, thank goodness someone showed up! Listen, Jesus, there's a huge line of people [...]
God’s Vacation
God is tired, worn out. So he speaks to St. Peter, "You know, I need a vacation. Got any suggestions where I should go?"
St. Peter, thinking, nods his head, then says, "How about Jupiter? It's nice and warm there this time of the year."
God shakes His head before saying, "No. [...]
