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Neo-Gnostic
Gnosticism in modern times includes a variety of contemporary religious movements, stemming from Gnostic ideas and systems from ancient Roman society. Gnosticism is an ancient name for a variety of religious ideas and systems, originating in Jewish-Christian milieux in the first and second century CE. The Mandaeans are an ancient Gnostic ethnoreligious group that have survived and are found today in Iran, Iraq and diaspora communities in North America, Western Europe and Australia. The late 19th century saw the publication of popular sympathetic studies making use of recently rediscovered source materials. In this period there was also the revival of a Gnostic religious movement in France. The emergence of the Nag Hammadi library in 1945 greatly increased the amount of source material available. Its translation into English and other modern languages in 1977 resulted in a wide dissemination, and as a result had observable influence on several modern figures, and upon modern Wes ...
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Ecclesia Gnostica
Ecclesia Gnostica (Latin: The Church of Gnosis) is an open sacramental neo-Gnostic church in Los Angeles. It has ordained clergy and conducts regular sacramental services, including two weekly Masses (Celebration of the Holy Eucharist), as well as monthly and seasonal services in accordance with the liturgical calendar. It has active parishes in Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon; and Austin, Texas. The church and its affiliate organisation, The Gnostic Society, attempt to "advance the study, understanding, and the individual experience of Gnosis." History The organisation now called the Ecclesia Gnostica was originally organised in England under the name ''the Pre-Nicene Gnostic Catholic Church'' in 1953, by the Most Rev. Richard Jean Chretien Duc de Palatine with the object of "restoring the Gnosis – Divine Wisdom to the Christian Church, and to teach the Path of Holiness which leads to God and the Inner Illumination and Interior Communion with the Soul through the mo ...
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Gnostic Church Of France
The Gnostic Church of France (french: Église gnostique de France) is a neo-Gnostic Christian organisation formed by Jules Doinel in 1890, in France. It is the first Gnostic church in modern times. History The esoteric Freemason Jules Doinel, while working as archivist for the library of Orléans in France, discovered a medieval manuscript dated 1022, which had been written by Stephen, a canon of the Orléans Cathedral, burned at the stake in 1022 for his pre-Cathar Gnostic doctrines (see Orléans heresy). Doinel founded the Gnostic Church in 1890, a date which opened for him and his followers ‘the first year of the Restoration of Gnosis’. Doinel claimed that he had a vision in which the Aeon Jesus appeared, He charged Doinel with the work of establishing a new church. When Doinel attended a séance in the oratory of the Countess of Caithness, it appears that the disembodied spirits of ancient Albigensians, joined by a heavenly voice, laid spiritual hands on Doinel, cre ...
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Gnosticism
Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ... and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized personal spiritual knowledge (''gnosis'') above the orthodox teachings, traditions, and authority of religious institutions. Gnostic cosmogony generally presents a distinction between a supreme, hidden God and a malevolent demiurge, lesser divinity (sometimes associated with the Yahweh of the Old Testament) who is responsible for creating the nature, material universe. Consequently, Gnostics considered material existence flawed or evil, and held the principal element of salvation to be direct ...
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Gemstone
A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semiprecious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, and obsidian) and occasionally organic materials that are not minerals (such as amber, jet, and pearl) are also used for jewelry and are therefore often considered to be gemstones as well. Most gemstones are hard, but some soft minerals are used in jewelry because of their luster or other physical properties that have aesthetic value. Rarity and notoriety are other characteristics that lend value to gemstones. Apart from jewelry, from earliest antiquity engraved gems and hardstone carvings, such as cups, were major luxury art forms. A gem expert is a gemologist, a gem maker is called a lapidarist or gemcutter; a diamond cutter is called a diamantaire. Characteristics and classification The traditional classification in the West, wh ...
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Léo Taxil
Marie Joseph Gabriel Antoine Jogand-Pagès, better known by the pen name Léo Taxil (; March 21, 1854 – March 31, 1907), was a French writer and journalist who became known for his strong anti-Catholic and anti-clerical views. He is also known for the Taxil hoax, a spurious exposé of Freemasonry and the Roman Catholic Church's opposition to it. Early life Marie Joseph Gabriel Antoine Jogand-Pagès was born in Marseille, and at the age of five, he was placed into a Jesuit seminary. After spending his childhood years in the seminary, he became disillusioned with the Catholic faith and began to see the religious ideology as socially harmful. He also wrote some novels under the pseudonym Prosper Manin. La Bible amusante Taxil first became known for writing anti-Clerical or anti-Catholic books, notably '' La Bible amusante'' (''The Amusing Bible'') and ''La Vie de Jesus'' (''The Life of Jesus''), in which Taxil satirically pointed out inconsistencies, errors, and false belie ...
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Jules Doinel
Jules-Benoît Stanislas Doinel du Val-Michel (8 December 1842 in Moulins, Allier – 16 or 17 March 1903), also known simply as Jules Doinel or Tau Valentin II was an archivist and the founder of the first Gnostic church in modern times who claims that he was consecrated into a new episcopal lineage in a dream by the "Eon Jesus". Gnostic Church revival After spiritual experiences in 1888–89, he proclaimed 1890 the beginning of "the era of Gnosis restored", Doinel assumed the office of Patriarch of the '' Église Gnostique'' ( French: ''Gnostic Church''), taking the ecclesiastical name of Tau Valentin II, after Valentinius, the 2nd century Christian Gnostic teacher. The doctrinal orientation of the church was based on extant Cathar documents, with the Gospel of John, and a strong influence of Simonian and Valentinian cosmology. The church was officially established in autumn 1890 in Paris, France. Liturgical services were based on Cathar rituals. Clergy were both male and fe ...
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Cathar
Catharism (; from the grc, καθαροί, katharoi, "the pure ones") was a Christian dualist or Gnostic movement between the 12th and 14th centuries which thrived in Southern Europe, particularly in northern Italy and southern France. Followers were described as Cathars and referred to themselves as Good Christians; in modern times, they are mainly remembered for a prolonged period of religious persecution by the Catholic Church, which did not recognize their unorthodox Christianity. Catharism emerged in Western Europe in the Languedoc region of southern France in the 11th century. Adherents were sometimes referred to as Albigensians, after the French city Albi where the movement first took hold. Catharism was initially taught by ascetic leaders who set few guidelines, leading some Catharist practices and beliefs to vary by region and over time. The movement was greatly influenced by the Bogomils of the First Bulgarian Empire, and may have originated in the Byzantine Empire, ...
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Lucifer (magazine)
''Lucifer'' was a journal published by Helena Blavatsky. The first edition was issued in September 1887 in London. The journal published articles on philosophical, theosophical, scientific and religious topics. It also contained book reviews, for example of Friedrich Nietzsche's ''Thus Spoke Zarathustra''. History The journal was first published by Blavatsky. The first issues were co-edited with Mabel Collins. From 1889 until Blavatsky's death in May 1891 Annie Besant was a co-editor. Besant then published the journal until September 1895, when George Robert Stowe Mead became a co-editor. The journal appeared twelve times a year and was 80 to 90 pages long. The last of twenty volumes was published in August 1897. More than 2800 articles were published in this journal between 1887 and 1897. Then the journal was renamed to ''The Theosophical Review''. See also * "Is Theosophy a Religion?" * "Philosophers and Philosophicules Modern Theosophy is classified by prominent repr ...
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Isis Unveiled
''Isis Unveiled: A Master-Key to the Mysteries of Ancient and Modern Science and Theology'', published in 1877, is a book of esoteric philosophy and Helena Petrovna Blavatsky's first major work and a key text in her Theosophical movement. The work has often been criticized as a plagiarized occult work, with scholars noting how Blavatsky extensively copied from many sources popular among occultists at the time. ''Isis Unveiled'' is nevertheless also understood by modern scholars to be a milestone in the history of Western esotericism.Johnson, K. Paul. (1994). ''The Masters Revealed: Madame Blavatsky and the Myth of the Great White Lodge''. State University of New York Press. pp. xv-x-x, 241-245. "The Western Esoteric Tradition has no more important figures in modern times than Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831-1891)."Godwin, Joscelyn. ''The Theosophical Enlightenment'' (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1994)Bevir, Mark. ''The West Turns Eastward: Madame Blavatsky and ...
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Theosophy (Blavatskian)
Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion as both a new religious movement and as part of the occultist stream of Western esotericism, it draws upon both older European philosophies such as Neoplatonism and Asian religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism. As presented by Blavatsky, Theosophy teaches that there is an ancient and secretive brotherhood of spiritual adepts known as the Masters, who—although found around the world—are centered in Tibet. These Masters are alleged by Blavatsky to have cultivated great wisdom and supernatural powers, and Theosophists believe that it was they who initiated the modern Theosophical movement through disseminating their teachings via Blavatsky. They believe that these Masters are attempting to revive knowledge of an ancient religion once fou ...
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