I took a few months away from Substack, so I'm only just now getting around to reading this series. Very interesting! Gnosticism has always been this vague thing on the outer edges of my knowledge of spiritual and esoteric topics, so this helped my understanding a lot.
My initial feeling on Gnosticism is that it's not for me. Seeking after forbidden knowledge, intentional immorality, the chaos and fluidity of it all... it's *tempting*, certainly, but to me that temptation is a red flag. I'm ultimately a rule-follower - I think Order is necessary to allow for human flourishing, and too much transgression undermines that.
Then again, I am a little-G gnostic in some ways. My whole Mind & Mythos Project is seeking after esoteric knowledge, I'm trying to know the unknowable (the human mind). The image of a scholar sitting in a darkened library room, nose-deep in strange tomes... that's my idea of a perfect day.
Anyway, this was a perfect introduction to Gnosticism. Thanks for writing it!
I took a few months away from Substack, so I'm only just now getting around to reading this series. Very interesting! Gnosticism has always been this vague thing on the outer edges of my knowledge of spiritual and esoteric topics, so this helped my understanding a lot.
My initial feeling on Gnosticism is that it's not for me. Seeking after forbidden knowledge, intentional immorality, the chaos and fluidity of it all... it's *tempting*, certainly, but to me that temptation is a red flag. I'm ultimately a rule-follower - I think Order is necessary to allow for human flourishing, and too much transgression undermines that.
Then again, I am a little-G gnostic in some ways. My whole Mind & Mythos Project is seeking after esoteric knowledge, I'm trying to know the unknowable (the human mind). The image of a scholar sitting in a darkened library room, nose-deep in strange tomes... that's my idea of a perfect day.
Anyway, this was a perfect introduction to Gnosticism. Thanks for writing it!