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Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica
Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica (E.G.C.), or the Gnostic Catholic Church, is a Gnostic church organization. It is the ecclesiastical arm of Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), an international fraternal initiatory organization devoted to promulgating the Law of Thelema. Thelema is a philosophical, mystical and religious system elaborated by Aleister Crowley, and based on ''The Book of the Law''. The word ''Catholic'' denotes the universality of doctrine and not a Christian or Roman Catholic belief set. The chief function of ''Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica'' is the public and private performance of the Gnostic Mass (''Liber XV''), a eucharistic ritual written by Crowley in 1913. According to William Bernard Crow, Crowley wrote the Gnostic Mass "under the influence of the Liturgy of St. Basil of the Russian Church". Its structure is also influenced by the initiatory rituals of Ordo Templi Orientis. Its most notable separation from similar rites of other churches is a Priestess officiating ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gnosticism In Modern Times
Gnosticism in modern times (or Neo-Gnosticism) 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, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Blake
William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake has become a seminal figure in the history of the Romantic poetry, poetry and visual art of the Romanticism, Romantic Age. What he called his "William Blake's prophetic books, prophetic works" were said by 20th-century critic Northrop Frye to form "what is in proportion to its merits the least read body of poetry in the English language". While he lived in London his entire life, except for three years spent in Felpham, he produced a diverse and symbolically rich collection of works, which embraced the imagination as "the body of God", or "human existence itself". Although Blake was considered mad by contemporaries for his idiosyncratic views, he came to be highly regarded by later critics and readers for his expressiveness and creativity, and for the philosophical and mystical undercurrents within his work. His paintings and poetry have ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tetragrammaton
The TetragrammatonPronounced ; ; also known as the Tetragram. is the four-letter Hebrew-language theonym (transliteration, transliterated as YHWH or YHVH), the name of God in the Hebrew Bible. The four Hebrew letters, written and read from right to left, are ''yodh, yod'', ''he (letter), he'', ''waw (letter), vav'', and ''he''.The word "tetragrammaton" originates from Greek 'four' + ( ) 'letter' The name may be derived from a verb that means 'to be', 'to exist', 'to cause to become', or 'to come to pass'. While there is no consensus about the structure and etymology of the name, the form ''Yahweh'' (with niqqud: ) is now almost universally accepted among Biblical and Semitic linguistics scholars,The form ''Yahweh'' is also dominant in Christianity, but is not used in Islam or Judaism. though the vocalization ''Jehovah'' continues to have wide usage, especially in Christian traditions. In modernity, Christianity is the only Abrahamic religion in which the Tetragrammaton is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Judaeo-Christian
The term ''Judeo-Christian'' is used to group Christianity and Judaism together, either in reference to Christianity's derivation from Judaism, Christianity's recognition of Jewish scripture to constitute the Old Testament of the Christian Bible, or values supposed to be shared by the two religions. The term ''Judæo Christian'' first appeared in the 19th century as a word for Jewish converts to Christianity. The term has received criticism, largely from Jewish thinkers, as relying on and perpetuating notions of supersessionism, as well as glossing over fundamental differences between Jewish and Christian thought, theology, culture and practice. In the United States, the term was widely used during the Cold War in an attempt to invoke a unified American identity opposed to communism. The use of the more inclusive term "Abrahamic religions" to refer to the common grouping of faiths which are attributed to Abraham (Islam, the Baháʼí Faith, Samaritanism, Druzism, and other fa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amen
Amen (, ; , ; , ; , ) is an Abrahamic declaration of affirmation which is first found in the Hebrew Bible, and subsequently found in the New Testament. It is used in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic practices as a concluding word, or as a response to a prayer. Common English translations of the word ''amen'' include "verily", "truly", "it is true", and "let it be so". It is also used colloquially, to express strong agreement. Pronunciations In English, the word ''amen'' has two primary pronunciations, () or (), with minor additional variation in emphasis (e.g., the two syllables may be equally stressed instead of placing primary stress on the second). In Anglophone North American usage, the ''ah-men'' pronunciation is used in performances of classical music and in churches with more formalized liturgy. The ''ay-men'' pronunciation is a product of the Great Vowel Shift (i.e., it dates from the 15th century); it is associated with Irish Protestantism and with conservative eva ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baphomet
Baphomet is a figure incorporated across various occult and Western esotericism, Western esoteric traditions. During Trials of the Knights Templar, trials starting in 1307, the Knights Templar were accused of heresy for worshipping Baphomet as a Demon, demonic Cult image, idol. Baphomet subsequently resurfaced during 19th century speculation and debate regarding the suppression of the Templars, with various occult and mystical traditions claiming Baphomet as a symbol of balance and synthesis, originating in teachings of the Gnostics, while others maintained Baphomet as a profane deity. Since 1856 the figure of Baphomet has been associated with the Sabbatic Goat illustration by Éliphas Lévi, composed of binary elements representing the "symbolization of the equilibrium of opposites": both Human–animal hybrid, human and animal, both Androgyny, masculine and feminine, combined in Unity of opposites, metaphysical unity. Lévi's intention was to symbolize his concept of balance, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Babalon
Babalon (also known as the Scarlet Woman, Great Mother or Mother of Abominations) is a goddess found in the occult system of Thelema, which was established in 1904 with the writing of ''The Book of the Law'' by English author and occultist Aleister Crowley. The spelling of the name as "Babalon" was revealed to Crowley in '' The Vision and the Voice''. Her name and imagery feature prominently in Crowley's "Liber Cheth vel Vallum Abiegni". In her most abstract form, Babalon represents the female sexual impulse and the liberated woman. In the creed of the Gnostic Mass she is also identified with Mother Earth, in her most fertile sense. Along with her status as an archetype or goddess, Crowley believed that Babalon had an earthly aspect or avatar; a living woman who occupied the spiritual office of the "Scarlet Woman". This office, first identified in ''The Book of the Law'', is usually described as a counterpart to his own identification as " To Mega Therion" (The Great Beast) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chaos (cosmogony)
Chaos () is the cosmological void state preceding the creation of the universe (the cosmos) in early Greek cosmology. It can also refer to an early state of the cosmos constituted of nothing but undifferentiated and indistinguishable matter. Etymology Greek ''kháos'' () means ' emptiness, vast void, chasm, abyss', related to the verbs ''kháskō'' () and ''khaínō'' () 'gape, be wide open', from Proto-Indo-European ', cognate to Old English ''geanian'', 'to gape', whence English '' yawn''. It may also mean space, the expanse of air, the nether abyss, or infinite darkness. Pherecydes of Syros (fl. 6th century BC) interprets ''chaos'' as water, like something formless that can be differentiated. Greco-Roman tradition Hesiod and the pre-Socratics use the Greek term in the context of cosmogony. Hesiod's Chaos has been interpreted as either "the gaping void above the Earth created when Earth and Sky are separated from their primordial unity" or "the gaping space below the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Creed
A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) which summarizes its core tenets. Many Christian denominations use three creeds: the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, the Apostles' Creed and the Athanasian Creed. Some Christian denominations do not use any of those creeds. The term ''creed'' is sometimes extended to comparable concepts in non-Christian theologies. The Islamic concept of '' ʿaqīdah'' (literally "bond, tie") is often rendered as "creed". History The earliest known creed in Christianity, " Jesus is Lord", originated in the writings of Paul the Apostle. One of the most significant and widely used Christian creeds is the Nicene Creed, first formulated in AD 325 at the First Council of Nicaea to affirm the deity of Christ and revised at the First Council of Constantinople in AD 381 to affirm the trinity as a whole. The creed was further aff ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Wasserman
James Wasserman (23 June 1948 – 18 November 2020) was an American writer and occultist. A member of Ordo Templi Orientis since 1976 and a book designer by trade, he wrote extensively on spiritual and political liberty. Publishing career Wasserman began working in 1973 at Weiser Books, then the world’s largest bookstore and publishing company to specialize in esoteric literature. While working at Weiser, he met and befriended filmmakers and occultists Harry Everett Smith, Harry Smith and Alejandro Jodorowsky. Wasserman worked with Brazilian occultist Marcelo Ramos Motta to publish the ''Commentaries of AL'' in 1975, for which he wrote the introduction. Additionally, he supervised the 1976 Weiser publication of The Book of the Law, the first popular edition to append the holograph manuscript to the typeset text. In 1977, Wasserman arranged to professionally re-photograph Frieda Harris' Tarot paintings for use in an improved second edition of Aleister Crowley's Thoth tarot deck, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hymenaeus Beta
The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as star (as, for example, in ''the A* search algorithm'' or ''C*-algebra''). An asterisk is usually five- or six-pointed in print and six- or eight-pointed when handwritten, though more complex forms exist. Its most common use is to call out a footnote. It is also often used to censor offensive words. In computer science, the asterisk is commonly used as a wildcard character, or to denote pointers, repetition, or multiplication. History The asterisk was already in use as a symbol in ice age cave paintings. There is also a two-thousand-year-old character used by Aristarchus of Samothrace called the , , which he used when proofreading Homeric poetry to mark lines that were duplicated. Origen is known to have also used the asteriskos to m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grady McMurtry
Grady Louis McMurtry (October 18, 1918 – July 12, 1985) was an American ceremonial magician, student of occult writer Aleister Crowley, and an adherent of Thelema. He is best known for reviving the fraternal organization Ordo Templi Orientis, which he headed from 1971 until his death in 1985. Early life and career He lived in various parts of Oklahoma and the Midwest, and graduated from high school in Valley Center, Kansas in 1937. He then moved to Southern California to study engineering at Pasadena Junior College, where he made friends with some students at the nearby California Institute of Technology. Among them was Jack Parsons, who shared his enthusiasm for science fiction, and who introduced him to Thelema. In 1941 McMurtry was initiated into the Minerval and I° of Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), a secret society headed at the time by Aleister Crowley. In February 1942, two months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, McMurtry's entire Reserve Officers Trainin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
