Gnosticism & Western Esoterocism

How do I into Gnosticism & Western Esotericism?

I'm already aware of the Nag Hammadi codices and Corpus Hermeticum, but I don't know where to start. I feel compelled to dive right into intermediate and more advanced texts, but I don't think I have the necessary background. At the same time, I don't want to waste my time on beginner schlock no better than a bargain bin self-help book.

I want well translated essential texts with extensive footnotes. Any recommendations? Is Elaine Pagels actually good? Any good intros to Qabbalism, astrology? Is too early to buy sackcloth robes and a caduceus cane? I am very enthusiastic about this.

>inb4 go to /x/
Too many spooks.

Other urls found in this thread:

theforbiddenreligion.com/
twitter.com/NSFWRedditGif

Pic related is a very convenient book containing all the main Gnostic texts split into useful categories.

Thank you. Any other suggestions?

Bump?

>Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and Qabalah
Read The middle pillar by Israel Regardie
>Golden Dawn:
Complete Golden Dawn by Regardie.
>Qabalah
Sepher Yetzirah by Aryeh Kaplan.
>Chaos magic
Read Liber Null and Psychonaut by Peter J. Carroll
>8 circuit
Read Prometheus Rising by Robert Anton Wilson
>Rosicrucian
Read The Mystic Path by Raymund Andrea
>General practice
Read "Initiation into Hermetics" by Franz Bardon (better accompanied by "A Bardon Companion" by Rawn Clark).
>General theory
"Three Books of Occult Philosophy" by Agrippa.
"Theurgia or the Egyptian Mysteries" by Iamblichus.
>Ars Memoriae
Rhetorica ad Herennium
The New Psychology by William Walker Atkinson

For gnosticism is a good introduction.

Why even read anything on Gnosticism when you can just look at Gnostic memes?

...

Top kek

Why doesn't the Demiurge just kill itself? It got pretty BTFO over here.

...

thru

Bump

I just want to get all those references.

Want so much to know about gnosticism? You seem like a Forbidden Religion type of guy theforbiddenreligion.com/

I myself have been exploring these topics for fifteen years...

I would suggest the following books:

>The Bible
>The Midrash
>The Nag Hammadi Library
>Sefer Yetzirah
>Tetrabiblos
>The Golden Chain: An Anthology of Pythagorean and Platonic Philosophy (or get the Prometheus Trust Thomas Taylor series if you're a true completionist)
>Philosophy as a Rite of Rebirth
>Philosophy and Theurgy In Late Antiquity
>Orpheus and the Roots of Platonism
>Corpus Hermetica
>Orphic Hymns
>Chaldean Oracles
>Greek Magical Papyri
>Techniques of Graeco-Egyptian Magic
>Techniques of Solomonic Magic
>The True Grimoire
>Geosophia: The Argo of Magic
>Testament of Cyprian the Mage
>Three Books of Occult Philosophy
>Transcendental Magic
>Introduction to Magic
>The Hermetic Tradition
>Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy
>Collected Works of CG Jung
>Liber Novus
>Star.Ships
>Chaos Protocols
>Occult Traditions
>Alchemical Traditions

These books form the core of my practice at the moment. Probably the most frequently visited books on my bookshelf. Pretty much covers the gamut of the Western Esoteric Tradition.

There's not much point in getting into Gnosticism if you don't have a solid background in the Old and New Testaments. Much of what's going on in the tradition only makes sense in terms of them, especially Genesis but to a lesser extent Isaiah in the OT and the Gospel of John and the Pauline epistles, and to a lesser extent Revelation, in the NT. Passages like 2 Corinthians 4:4 are especially relevant.

From there I'd recommend reading up a little bit on Marcion, followed by the Gospel of Thomas, and then reading up a little bit on Valentinus, followed by the Gospel of Phillip. From there, the Gnostic myth can be found in The Reality of the Rulers, and On the Origin of the World. From there you can go through the Nag Hammadi library more systematically: much of it will reiterate similar themes, and in some places it gets pretty wacky with cosmology.

The Questions of John / The Secret Supper is then a neat appendix that provides a medieval Bogomil / Cathar twist on the old Gnostic myths.

>tell normies I'm interested in Gnosticism
>"Sweet, I happen to be an Agnostic myself. What do you want to know?"

This has happened at least 3 times.

>tfw moral imperative to free as many divine souls from their fleshy prisons as possible

For anyone who has read the Nag Hammadi Scriptures: According to an amazon review, the translator/editor of it has "a greater commitment to political correctness than to accuracy." Apparently the translator did not do his job correctly and added his own flavor, changing genders and stuff for example, the review proceeds to say that
>When the text says "Son of Man" that should not - in my view - be mistranslated as "Child of Humanity." When the text says "Father," that should not become "Parent." When the text says, "He," that should not be transformed into "It."
Should I still buy it or should I look for for something else?

I don't think that this is a sufficient reason not to familiarise oneself with these scriptures at all. Just bear it in mind when you read.

user...easy on the wisecracking..

Should I just assume that everytime a neutral gender is stated, that it is male?

Is it even possible to be authentically Gnostic? Surely all of the teachings in the nag hammadi library etc would have been augmented with 'gnostic' hidden oral teachings too? The lineage seems utterly broken unless you believe you can self-initiate.

Just read PKD bro!

>hidden oral teachings
bruh... this is a blue board

There's no such thing as a "pure" Gnostic tradition and there never has been.

/x/>occultism and magick general thread>thel ibrary of Solomon link>"Gnostic"

Holy shit, thanks a ton!

Please respond...

bugs ... easy on the gnosos

Made me smirk.

why has Gnosticism become a recent meme?

is it the peterson --> jung ---> Gnosticism connection?

is because bloom talks about it vaguely every so often?

has some youtuber that im not aware of gone full on gnostic?

has everyone suddenly become current 93 fans because they did the soundtrack to some kind of vidya or anime I'm not aware of?

what the fuck is going on?

Flavour of the month. Like those people that make an one-year contract with the gym after new years and stop going after a month, don't pay those people any mind.

The Kybalion

What have you gained from all of this study? I mean no disrespect, I am just genuinely curious if it's worthwhile

...

Gnosticism was popular around here at least in 2014. Well before that mediocre psychology professor was known for his memetic hugbox talks.

Videogames

people are looking for areas of study they can do on their own that will take up so much time theyll forget that they were just trying to avoid making any decisions about their lives;gnosticism seems to offer a pit you vould spend a lifetime crawling out of-perfect for that sort of purpose

Helpful tip: the g is silent. It's pronounced "nosticism"

Read Rene Guenon and Julius Evola.

Guenon yes, disregard the other fuckwit

I know, that's exactly how I pronounce it. Still sounds like "agnosticism" to the retards I talk to.

>Gnosticism was popular around here at least in 2014.

not like this, newbuddy

This, in fact I believe I found out about Gnosticism from Veeky Forums somewhere around 2012 or 2013.

Personally I'm moving on to idries shah's brand of sufism

Thot?

What happens when the Demiurge wakes up?

...

i'd say the kybalion is a good place to start
you wont learn much from it but its meant more to intrigue you into following the whole thing
its like a small handbook meant to push you forward, no?

No-one fucking post it, please.

The occult is essentially a religion or religious practice. It is the essence of all true religion, in my opinion. But it is not dogmatic. It is the shamanism of the west.

What does anyone gain from anything, ever?

What profit hath a man for all he labors under the sun?

OP here

The Saturnian threads on /x/ got me interested. They were later revealed to be a LARP, but I found the mysticism fascinating.

Well if you're looking for lit deeply rooted in Western Esoterism I would recommend reading the works of Alistair Crowley.

Why is the demiurge the final boss of Persona 5?

because your are a little bitch that didn't did the ultimate boss of strange journey

I've read the Gnostic Gospels, I've understood them. I've read the Corpus Hermitcum. I've read Dion Fortune and Williams Atkinson (meaning to get onto Crowley's weird notes). I've read The Secret Teachings of All Ages. Where do I go now?

The Secret Teachings of All Ages contains introductory information for loads of stuff. Read up on the Gnostics and Hermes Trismegustus there. Get HT's Corpus Hermitucum (similar to the more complicated, mythology-heavy Gnostic Gospels except it's only hinting at Jesus and other stuff that gets expanded on in the Gnostic Gospels. Good starting point).

It offers a more interesting and attractive perspective on the divine, reading Philip K. Dick and later into Gnosticism got me out of nihilism

These

Read and appreciated, thank you user

Good thread, wrote down a lot of the recs. Using it to ask where to start with Gurdjieff?

The Struggle of The Magicians and Beelzebubā€™s Tales to His Grandson are on my reading list, suggestions came highly recommended.

A very nice user here recommended beginning with Ouspensky first, because he simplifies a lot of Gurdjieff and puts it in readable form.

A man of the warrior caste can self-initiate without the rule of the priestly caste.

See: Napoleon

Where can I read more about this?

Evola, Revolt Against the Modern World.

>Evola
>Revolt Against the Modern World
WARNING: extremely biased and ideological work. Read with caution and understand his are interpretations.

It's hard to be biased when he is right.

First things first, you need to understand that esotericism isn't a set of stale doctrines and moldy practices uniformally static throughout the centuries, but like Proteus, ever shapeshifting and fluid, sometimes slightly, sometimes greatly.

The biggest mistake I see newcomers make time and time again is to start off with writings from the 19th century onwards, iredeemably interpreting the various strands of esotericism through a bolted set of discolored lenses. Understand the history and specialize afterwards.

>Western Esotericism: A Guide for the Perplexed, Wouter J. Haanegraaf
>Eros and Magic in the Renaissance, Ioan P. Couliano
>The Theosophical Enlightenment, Joscelyn Godwin

Then he has a big surprise lol

Why would anyone start with the 19th century when all the most interesting esoteric writings happened before that?

God fucking damn it.

ageru

And that's all you're gonna get, you vain hare.

> Western Esotericism: A Guide for the Perplexed, Wouter J. Haanegraaf

One of the best books I've read, it's a sincerely enjoyable read. I have a few of his other works but haven't gotten around to reading them, very much looking forward to it though.

Make sure to pick up his translation of Lodovico Lazzarelli. It's out of print, but still avaliable for a reasonable price through secondhand sources.

I've been wondering this, my research interests are related to neoplatonism and hermetic philosophy and I'm a bit bewildered I increasingly see threads about this stuff. Also pleased ofc.

Hermeticism is about LIVED experience, not some dogmas you can learn in a book. Here is a good list for practical hermeticism:


Good texts:
The Hermetic Tradition - Evola
Theosophia Practica - Gichtel
The Book of Supreme Truth - John Ruysbroeck
The Way to Christ - Boehme
The Imitation of Christ - Kempen
Bhagavad Gita

Alchemy:
Rosarium Philosophorum - Rosary of the Philosophers
Splendor Solis (with text www.rexresearch.com/splsol/trismosin.htm)

Fiction:
Golem and The Green Face by Meyrink

Read with the "ear of the heart", and don't assume anything.

a treatise on cosmic fire