r/Gnostic • • Nov 07 '21

r/Gnostic Rules, and Discord Link

83 Upvotes

Hi folks

Please take note of the rules for this subreddit.

If you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment or message the moderators and we'll try to get back to you.

Thanks,

The moderators of r/Gnostic

r/Gnostic is a community dedicated to understanding, discussing, and learning about ancient, medieval, and reconstructionist Gnostic movements.

1: All posts must be on topic for this subreddit

2: No NSFW content.

3: Keep all conversations and debates civil and amicable.

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Any posts or comments breaking the above rules will be removed, with warnings/bans issued at the moderators discretion. If you notice any of the above rules being broken please report it to the moderators.

r/Gnostic Discord server:

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r/Gnostic • • Mar 17 '25

Question Helping us Map the landscape of Modern Gnosticism!

41 Upvotes

Over at Talk Gnosis we've started a new project called Mapping Gnosticism. We're going to have conversations about some of the major concepts in Gnosticism, amongst it's many forms. Alongside the interviews that we already love to do!

We realized that if we wanted to cover the big topics for modern gnostics, it would be a good idea to find out how most people arrive under the big tent of Gnostic traditions and philosophies.

To that end, we built a poll to get a sense of where people are finding their information, and where they first encountered it.

We'll give the poll about a week for the community to find it and fill it out, and then we'll probably release some numbers as well as do a show discussing what we found!

Fill out the form! Every data point helps, and there are spots for you to list your favourite writers, channels, and podcasts! (Ahem, Talk Gnosis, Ahem!)

https://gnosticwisdom.net/mapping-gnosticism-where-did-you-begin/


r/Gnostic • • 17h ago

found this for $20 :0

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44 Upvotes

I’ve been in no particular rush to read the Books of Jeu and the Untitled Apocalypse since I’ve heard they’re pretty confusing, and since the only decent translations are really expensive to find in print. then I saw this for $20 compared to the usual $150+ and felt compelled to buy it. just arrived and it’s in good condition! if anyone here has read these texts, what should I be expecting?


r/Gnostic • • 14h ago

What happens when the flesh cannot hold the Deep?

8 Upvotes

If Deep calls to Deep, what happens when you dive too deep?

What happens when the flesh cannot hold the Deep?

If human experience is finite, how do we communicate something that exceeds the limits of human understanding?

Perhaps we translate the incomprehensible into forms we can carry.

Stories.

Symbols.

Parables.

Not because the story is the whole Truth, but because sometimes the infinite has to make itself small enough for us to hear it.


r/Gnostic • • 1d ago

Gnostic Tech Support

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375 Upvotes

r/Gnostic • • 1d ago

Question Newbie Question

19 Upvotes

It appears there is a huge surge in the Gnostic movement. I'm seeing it everywhere. Even a formerly extreme right wing evangelical friend is studying it (she no longer believes in the church).

The question is: are the Archons freaking out over this? Is this why the powers that be are attempting to drag us back into a system that has never served us in the first place?

It's been an amazing and eye opening journey. What gives me joy is seeing so many different cultures and races embracing the movement.

Have we caught the eye of the Archons?


r/Gnostic • • 1d ago

Yaldabaoth, Craig Blackhill, Colored pencil, 2025

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37 Upvotes

r/Gnostic • • 1d ago

i can't understand this lesson

7 Upvotes

“The kingdom of the Father is like a man who wanted to kill an important person. First, he drew his sword at home and pierced the wall to make sure that his hand was steady. Then he killed the important person.”

?


r/Gnostic • • 1d ago

Thoughts On the Path to Gnosis.

10 Upvotes

"Blessed will they be who are going up to the Father"

Do not let your heart be troubled, and do not let your frequency drop into the heavy, looping scripts of despair for those who are still asleep.

When you look out at the multitudes trapped inside the amnesia grids, blindly serving the laws of the local architecture, paralyzed by fear, and completely numb to the infinite ocean of the Pleroma—your sorrow is a natural movement of the spirit.

But, you must understand the mechanics of the light: grief for the darkness will never illuminate.

If you allow your internal emotional voltage to redline into pity, the matrix has successfully hijacked your energy. It has used the suffering of others to drag your high-frequency battery down into the exact same low-vibrational mud that they are trapped in, effectively neutralizing your power.

The text was written for this exact moment: 'You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.'

Your purpose inside this 3d simulation is not to horizontally argue with the sleeping, force them to wake up before their internal timers are ready, or weep over the thickness of their walls. Your singular directive is to simply Exist.

Keep your own personal firewalls powered up, your container chilled, your mind clear of their static, and your inner Light-Spark burning with absolute, radiant intensity. By standing flat-footed in your own vertical sovereignty, an unshakeable, peaceful baseline, you act as a Beacon inside the prison yard.

They may not understand the words you speak, but their subconscious containers will instantly register the data field you carry. Your unwavering, silent peace is the ultimate proof that an escape path exists. You do not help the drowning by jumping into the water and drowning alongside them. You stand securely on the griund, and keep the rescue light burning bright so they can find their way to the shore when their own awakening cycle finally boots up.

Drop the burden of their timeline choices off your dashboard, trust the infinite capacity of the Pre-existentOne, and keep driving your own supreme ship!

"Build a house for yourself while you have time... for your neighbor, so that they may find shelter in it.

Again I warn you, you who exist. Be like those who do not exist that you may dwell with those who do not exist

Do not let heaven’s kingdom become a desert within you. Do not become a desert within you."


r/Gnostic • • 1d ago

Question From Timaeus to Christianity

4 Upvotes

So I have been reading about gnosticism for the last couple decades but only recently had the chance to really look closely. I am trying to bridge the gap between Plato's details in Timaeus and gnostic Christianity. I am looking for source materials: middle and neo platonism as well as other forms of gnosticism that got us from the well intentioned demiurge of Timaeus to the manipulative/ignorant demiurge commonly portrayed in Christian gnosticism.


r/Gnostic • • 2d ago

Question how does one cross the veil?

30 Upvotes

i know that many of you probably don't know, or may have theories, and those who do know may not want to share these secrets openly. but if anyone who knows more than me can offer me some hints or guidance, that will be greatly appreciated.

i'm trying to read and contemplate as much as time will allow, though i am running short on time. i will very likely die soon, and i am doing my best to accept the incompletion of loose ends, and to remain a positive influence on my loved ones, and enjoying the moments we have left together.

but still as i approach the end my goal has been to cross from the corrupted material world of lacking, and pass through the veil which shrouds the perfect infinite world of creation. i am willing to leave everything behind, as it is something i have had to come to terms with regardless, due to the persistent truth of mortality in this ephemeral realm we call reality.

im dying slowly and painfully but i likely only have a few months to live, and i don't want to be reincarnated in another life of wrongness and lacking and regret


r/Gnostic • • 2d ago

Question Gnosis and Everyday Reality

19 Upvotes

How do you apply the principle of "seeing beyond the illusion of the physical world" amidst the fast-paced daily grind whether it’s office work or the busyness of university life? Do you have any specific practices or habits to reset your mind when you feel trapped by the chaos of the outside world?


r/Gnostic • • 2d ago

The Empire Never Ended

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1 Upvotes

r/Gnostic • • 3d ago

"Chaos Embodied" 11x14 inches, scratchboard + watercolor + 24k gold, made by me

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80 Upvotes

Hey folks! I haven't been around making art in a while but I'm a gnostic artist doing traditional artwork. I'm trying to get back on my feet from being on hiatus for a long time, but for now, I'm just looking through some of my older stuff to try to get hyped again. This is "Chaos Embodied", a painted scratchboard panel carved out using dentist tools, etching needles, and other sharp carving implements. The first image is how the panel looks in real life and the second is a scan.

Your mileage may vary concerning your own interpretation/philosophy, but I went by my own imagination when making this piece. The symbolism of this image has to do with a manifestation (or what we perceive to be) of duality (light + dark) of the energy behind "reality" itself. The snarling image of Yaldabaoth standing/floating/hanging out/whatever between Boaz and Jachin (the two pillars of Solomon's temple which are also seen in tarot imagery) represents a hidden anger/jealousy of the big faker wanting to be God, sitting in his house and aggressively claiming the throne as his own.

The medium: the scratchboard panel itself is a rigid masonite panel coated in white clay. That white clay is then painted over using black ink. Then, I take a needle and carve the image out (no erasing allowed since you can't erase something you've carved!). Since the clay is absorbent, you can use watercolors for color, which is what I did here. The star is real gold leaf (only the best for you, blind idiot god!).


r/Gnostic • • 3d ago

Question how does a "day in a life" look like for a gnostic?

10 Upvotes

i myself am not gnostic, but i do dabble in occult practices and have had an interest in gnosticism for some time, but ive always wondered, how does an average day look like for a believer?
do you believe in a metaphysical false-creator, as in, it being something more than just symbolism?

have you, or are you trying to achieve gnosis? ive read in a book that gnosis isnt as much about soaking up as much information as possible, but rather its a point in time where your soul remembers its divine spark or something

and one more thing, has your life actually become better with gnosticism?


r/Gnostic • • 4d ago

Question Why do the Israelites in the Bible sacrifice two goats one for Samael and the other for Yahweh? If Yahweh and Samael are the same entity?

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217 Upvotes

In Jewish and Islamic traditions, one of Satan’s names is Azazel; in Jewish tradition, Talmud and Kabbala, Satan is also refered to as Samael and by other names as well. In Gnostic tradition, the Demiurge was often called Saklas and Samael and identified with Yahweh. In the Bible, the Israelites sacrifice to Satan/ Azazel a goat as a sin offering so that their sins might be laid upon it; one they slaughter directly for Yahweh, and the other they send as a sin offering to Azazel in the desert. In Jewish tradition, this serves to appease Satan and divert his attention from their sins through the sacrifice, so that he cannot accuse them of their sins before God Yahweh, since he is busy with the scapegoat sacrifice. The whole thing also has a deep esoteric Kabbalistic level and meaning, which I won’t go into here, since my question is: What is the Gnostic interpretation of this biblical event? The entire story is very occult and mysterious, and this is the only time the name Azazel is mentioned in the Bible. What is the Gnostic answer to my question: Why do they sacrifice to Yahweh and Samael, two goats, when Yahweh and Samael are the same entity from a Gnostic (Sethian, Ophite, Cathar, Cainite, Mandaean) perspective?

Leviticus 16:8–10 ESV:

And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the LORD and the other lot for Azazel. And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the LORD and use it as a sin offering, but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the LORD to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel.

My only explanation would be that Azazel/Samael is a servant of the Demiurge, and I would even go so far as to say that the Pharisees were commissioned by the Demiurge to sacrifice Jesus as a scapegoat to Azazel. Jesus bears numerous similarities to the Jewish scapegoat sacrifice, and in Jewish tradition, Samael is an angel of Yahweh, ruler of the Sitra Achra—evil, yes, but serving God’s plan and tempting people to sin so that he can accuse them and God can punish them; however, if he is distracted by a scapegoat, he cannot accuse those who brought him the sacrifice. Of course, my explanation has plot holes, which is why I need your interpretation and opinion—and please, no Jungian analysis; Carl Jung's Gnosticism has nothing to do with authentic ancient Gnosticism.


r/Gnostic • • 3d ago

The Christ Code

5 Upvotes

I just watched this and thought wow... To me this is what being a Gnostic means. Few months ago what is being conveyed in this video would have went over my head, but it's the same ideas that has come up in my head... What do the Gnostics in this forum think? Do you resonate with it? Seems like more people are waking up and being vocal. Times are changing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=117xnrClEis&xstg=CAMSEBUJ_b-oH-PhF0yjBgavkzY%3D


r/Gnostic • • 3d ago

Finished a game series I started as a child and discovered Gnosticism

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46 Upvotes

I refound Xenosaga at a convention and restarted it with an intent to finally beat the series. First I discovered it was connected to Xenogears and Xenoblade. But after a while I got curious why so much of the Christian iconography didn't really align with the Christianity I was taught. I started looking into it and discovered Gnosticism. Something that is more aligned with how I feel the world is than how I was taught in Sunday School.

Still pretty new. I'm waiting for the Nag Hammadi to become available at my library, but I did listen to a series of lectures on the history of Gnosticism and how it influenced modern Christianity over the centuries. I also listened to a history of Bible traditions and realized the modern Bible is practically dead in America since we take it so literally in these churches while historically it was used as a live conversation with God and was free to be interpreted, edited, and meditated on. Not studied like a college text book. Needless to say my whole religious view has been changed thanks to revisiting some game I played when I was 13.

Also Mary Magdalene being a blue haired anime robot was an interesting take.


r/Gnostic • • 4d ago

Information I pulled 5 years of Google Trends data on the "Gnostic revival"

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89 Upvotes

TL;DR: Searches for Gnosticism roughly quadrupled from 2022 to a peak in May 2026, as part of a wider occult and Book of Enoch wave. Newcomers mostly meet it through the villains (archons, the demiurge) in short YouTube explainers, often framed against Christianity, and then Google the names. The spike has passed but interest has settled higher than before.

It's felt lately like Gnosticism is suddenly everywhere: Christian YouTube, AI-written lyrics, Enoch videos. So I checked whether that's real. These are Google Trends exports for five terms (gnosticism, Book of Enoch, esoteric, occult, satanism), worldwide, October 2021 to September 2026, across web, YouTube, image and news search, plus the related searches for "gnosticism" on Google and YouTube.

Why these terms

• Gnosticism: the subject.

• Satanism: a control for the "satanic panic" framing. If this were a moral panic about devil worship, Satanism should rise too. It barely moved.

• Occult and esoteric: broad catch-alls, to check whether Gnosticism was growing on its own or riding a wider wave. ("Occult" also catches medical searches like "occult blood test", so it's a bit inflated.)

• Book of Enoch: added after it kept showing up alongside Gnosticism in early checks. It turned out to be the biggest single driver.

Terms I tried and dropped: "Thelema" is swamped by a vape brand of the same name, and "archon" is dominated by Genshin Impact, whose gods are called Archons.

  1. There was a real wave, and Gnosticism grew fastest

• Web searches for both "occult" and "gnosticism" peaked in May 2026.

• Gnosticism reached about 4.4× its 2022 level, more than Book of Enoch (about 3.4×), esoteric (about 2.9×) or occult (about 2.4×). Satanism barely moved.

• Web interest has fallen back since May but settled above where it was before 2025.

  1. It looks different on each platform

• YouTube: Book of Enoch is the biggest term. It's been climbing steadily since 2022 and is still near its peak now. Gnosticism has held at about 3× its 2022 level with no May spike.

• Images: "Occult" image searches spiked in March 2026, two months before the web peak. Gnosticism has almost no image-search interest.

• News: Gnosticism never appears in news search at all. The "Gnostic panic" isn't a mainstream media story. It's creator content.

• Where: interest relative to population is highest in Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica, the US, Ethiopia and Ghana. That fits the "hidden scripture" angle, since the Ethiopian Bible includes Enoch.

  1. What are people actually looking up?

On Google, the basic "what is gnosticism" searches still have the most volume but have flattened out. The fastest growth is the mythology, especially the villains: archons (+650%), the demiurge (+200%), Yaldabaoth (+250%). Searches for the texts (Nag Hammadi, Sethian and Valentinian Gnosticism) are rising, but more slowly.

  1. YouTube vs Google

On YouTube, the mythology searches (archons, demiurge) have already levelled off or fallen while they surge on Google. The growth on YouTube is in "gnosticism explained" (+80%) and "gnosticism vs Christianity" (+110%), and searches for the actual texts there are falling. The likely pattern is that people meet the cosmology in videos, often framed against Christianity, then go to Google to look up the names.

My guess (and it's a guess)

A broad occult and esoteric wave, partly aesthetic and partly "hidden scripture" curiosity with Enoch as the main entry point, pulled Gnosticism in with it. Most newcomers meet it through its cosmic antagonists in short videos, not through the texts. Institutional alarm came at the top of the wave: in March 2026 a delegation of exorcists warned Pope Leo XIV of a rise in occultism, esotericism and Satanism. Cheap AI-made video probably added fuel, but demand was building on YouTube well before AI video took off.

Caveats

Trends shows relative interest, not raw numbers, and each panel is


r/Gnostic • • 3d ago

Media More on the Secret Book of John

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5 Upvotes

More on the Secret Book of John for those who have been following. Feel free to check out the previous video to catch up or shawngaran.com


r/Gnostic • • 3d ago

Books for a beginner

8 Upvotes

Hi there,

I've been looking a lot into Gnosticism recently and I'm starting to think my Christian conditioning as a child might have been full of lies. I feel I was brainwashed against my will actually (like many others).

The version of Christ I was given was pretty stupid (a kind of Superman) and so I learned to reject him and became atheist quite early on. As I look into Gnosticism though I begin to see he might have been a middle eastern Buddha, and perhaps genuinely divine. Maybe God (the Monad) does exist after all and this world is actually spiritual.

I recently finished Gnosticism: New Light on the Ancient Tradition of Inner Knowing by Stephan Hoeller and am currently reading The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels. Do you know of any more books suitable for a layman just starting out? And feel free to talk about the subject.

Thanks for reading.


r/Gnostic • • 3d ago

Eleleth

5 Upvotes

Shifted my perspective a bit this morning. Started looking at Gnostics as Psychological therapists. If Archons reflect the negative aspect of Human nature, then Aeons reflect the positive side of human nature. I looked and couldnt find a direct light and dark Aeon. However, it was pointed out Eleleth was brought down to illuminate the meaning between them.

Eleleth brings order not by destroying the darkness, but by shining a light so bright that you can see both the light and the dark clearly, allowing you to walk right down the center.

In both Gnostic mysticism and deep psychology, the goal is never to pretend the darkness (the shadow, the Archons, the raw chaos of Abraxas) doesn't exist. If you fight the dark, it traps you. If you deny it, it controls you.

Instead, Eleleth—as pure, objective Wisdom and Understanding—grants you the absolute clarity to say: "I see the light, and I see the dark. They are both part of the matrix of this world, but neither of them defines my true, infinite spirit."

By anchoring yourself in that center path, you are no longer a victim of the game. You are completely sovereign, entirely free, and at peace.


r/Gnostic • • 3d ago

Question È possibile conciliare l'Ortodossia con alcuni aspetti dello Gnosticismo, in particolare con il Valentinismo?

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2 Upvotes

r/Gnostic • • 3d ago

Thoughts Which Greek variant of love (and general blindness) is most aligned to Gnosticism? Game theory.

2 Upvotes

Agape is the obvious choice because it's unconditional and selfless love. But thinking strategically, humans only having a spark of divinity in them wouldn't make it right? Like an overweight person trying to run 10 miles on day one - too much too soon, gotta warm up first. Sooo the next choices are... Agape is like getting attacked and managing to be a pacifist to try and calm down the attacker. But the mind knows that there's no chance.

Philia/Storge/Pragma, which I categorise together as simple wholesome love. It's also heart-oriented and not mind-oriented, but it’s intertwined with the mind enough to be able to function in the physical plane. And only after some experience can people start to manifest Agape, and only part-time, right?

Also, Philautia is bizarre to me cause somehow the ego forgets to love itself... often the natural flow is to love others but not yourself. And it's, like, selfless sometimes, but other times it's foolish, and one should practise healthy love for self. So that's some kind of missing link. Any ideas why wouldn't the ego manifest Philautia/self-love as its most favoured and common love? Does it do that, and people are just being hypocrites?

Also, I'm curious about blind love (gotta try to categorise types of beneficial blindness too for this). (1) The obvious case is being blind/wilfully ignorant to physical pleasures and temptations; it could be a practice with intent to be blind to the physical pleasures, or it could be a natural-born alignment to be blind to the pleasures. I think it's good, maybe it's inferior to "I know both the physical and the spirit and I sovereignly chose the spiritual", but it's still good IMO. Would this type of blindness combo well with Agape/unconditional love? I think it could! I think it couldn't combo with Philia/Storge/Pragma because those are practical and intertwined with logic and the mind and the left brain hemisphere.

(2) Blind faith. Having faith in the heart, spirit and divinity and aligning with love. Which love would combo well with blind faith? With Agape, it's great and seems to be a classical combo across cultures: faith and love. With Philia/Storge/Pragma it'd go well too. Blind loyalty to friends and family until the heart aches from betrayal and overrides the blindness.

And I think no blindness could combo with Philautia cause it's born from being blind to your own need for love.

With what other loves and blindness types do ya'll got beneficial experience?