Monthly Archives: May 2002

Books Online

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Since I got myself “online” , Internet has been my second bookshelf.

There really are thousands of books available in digital format , so-called etexts/eBooks – but it is not always easy to find material – so I thought

I would share some resources I personally use a lot.

First of all, Project Gutenberg has survived 31 years, since it was begun

in 1971 when Michael Hart began scanning manuscripts into electronic

text format.. since then it has pioneered the literary history of the Internet,

enlightening thousands of students with internet access but no fat wallets.

Gutenberg delivers literary classics held to be within the “Public Domain” after international standards of intellectual property law, therefore not every book you are likely to find in a “real life” library. The formats range from plain 8-bit ascii text which all desktop computers can process, to newer formats for diverse mediums, includding Pocket PC`s etc.

The Online Books page

is one such resource, in all my surfing on the Net I haven`t found any site

so comprehensive… The New Listings is interesting for anyone who have already made themselves acquianted with what is available in the main Index.

As you might suspect, I am interested in the diversity of religious

and philosophical ideas, not only in terms of history, but also throughout

geography and culture.. A good place to start in order to find general

and specialized material is The Internet Sacred Text Archive

A specific Christian literature site can be found at the Christian Classics Ethereal Library.

The more heretically inclined could always surf down to

The Gnostic Society Virtual Library… or to the Alchemy Virtual Library

Bruchion domain hijacked

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It should not occur, especially since name/domain servers receive payment for their services – but it has happened, www.bruchion.com which were the former

address for the Ecclesia Gnostica Norvegia, Bruchion Gnostic Center have had its content removed and replaced with a brasilian pron caper.

I am not aware what kind of agreement Jan had with the name domain server, but that agreement isn`t worth anything at all. I feel bad for all those who have bookmarked the former site, and now upon directing friends and acquiantances there – tada! gets directed to some kind of moneymaking scheme.

In fact, im not sure if this hasn`t been a hijacking, where hackers of the more nefarious kind – members of so-called conservative or fundamentalis congregations, decided to replace the Gnostic material for a more “cosmos-friendly” content….

Anyways, I decided to remove all direct links to the former address, and also the posts on this weblog which provided access there.

Continue reading →

Star Wars II

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Yesterday I went to the movies with my brother, his wife and her daughter.

We saw Star Wars II.. forgot the title.. nevermind.Fortunately I am still

so childish (or gullible) to enjoy a good fable, but the well appears to

be drying out for George Lucas. Apparently there is a covert narrative of

events in the world the last few years..but is no kind of epic drama of

the soul.It was the so-called action bits which were the most rewarding….

But it was good to get out of the house and do something with

my brother and his folk for once…

Quotations of interest

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The Gnostic Friends Network has a Quotations

section which I discovered just now, and some of it I found to be very interesting and inspiring… especially since so many “provocateurs” and truely modern thinkers are represented there. James Joyce, in his Ulysses, offers the following pearl :

History… is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake.”

I also never dreamed of seeing this from Soren Kierkegaard (in Either/Or. 1843):

The gods were bored, and so they created man. Adam

was bored because he was alone, and so Eve was created. Thus boredom

entered the world, and increased in proportion to the increase of

population. Adam was bored alone, then Adam and Eve were bored together;

then Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel were bored en famille; then the

population of the world increased, and the peoples were bored en masse.”

.

The particular quote of M.C.Escher explains a lot about his artwork, I think:

Only those who attempt the absurd will achieve the impossible. I think it’s in my basement… let me go upstairs and check.

Work…

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The last few months I have skimmed through the papers and the net for

a job. It isn`t easy when you know that first of all you have to make ends

meet not only for yourself, but for an entire family. And everyone asks

for qualifications (such as a Drivings License…) which I haven`t got.

There`s not much to say about this progression from hopelessness towards

some kind of solution, at the moment.

I plan to put up a portofolio of recent Graphic design/artwork and a professional looking CV soon on the net. I will just have to find the time to do so.

Postscript for Pentecost

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On Saturday we had Pentecost eve celebrations at our chapel of the Ecclesia Gnostica Norvegia in Oslo, the Capella Santa Sophia. To me personally it was an extraordinary event, as the intensity of the presence of the Spirit in my life have waned and become compromised over the last few months. The event of the pentecost – the descent of the holy spirit in its fiery blaze upon the gathered disciples, all but lost to their own doubts and interior turmoil, occasions wonder and awe at the outrageous intervention Grace makes into the human life and the human “universe”… During this particular period of the Pentecost, which marks the conclusion of our progression through Easter, prefigured in the glorious Ascension – we held a vigil, through which three persons entered a new life in Gnostic baptism and Initiation.

Ascension Day Celebration

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On last thursday the Christian Community all over the world
commemorates the event of Christ´s ascent into heaven.
A theme like this provokes us in our contemporary orientation
– foremost because of the great investment of meaning and value
we have made, into the idiom of having our feet firmly
planted on the ground. Yet, there is something in us which
is prone to be enthused about the idea of flying and
surpassing the fixations of our earthly existence. To seriously
embrace the holy day of the Ascension, demands more of us than a
wish to believe that the Gospel´s are correct, authorative or
true – it demands of us to inspect the Gnostic´s aspiration
as our own: to ascend beyond the boundaries of this fixation
and all its authorities, its why´s and wherefore´s – it´s
do´s and don´ts . If the earthly are absolved of its weight
in such a manner – that physical and moral gravity no longer
restrict its movement – it is truelly transliterated into that
which the mind holds heavenly and sublime.. and through that
glorious liberation, the breach between the two are conciled,
and to our vision´s eye are revealed a road less travelled,
a winding stair of existence towards unsurpassed glory and
fullness. So, at least I myself – see the event and image of
the Ascension of Christ – as a type for the reintegration of
all beings into one eternal communion with Divine Reality.

I will shortly be going to mass to commemorate that day, as
the fashion of the tradition is to celebrate such days on
the Sunday after.

Getting Started

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I have finally given in to volunteering personal and priveleged
information on the web through the medium of the “blog” –
I am not yet sure what to use it for, even though my brother´s
example shows quite effectively how useful a blog can be.
The networking/interaction etc. aspect of blogging must
come later, I guess I will have to learn a bit about this
standard before anything “looks” and “sounds” right..

The One responsible for the existence of this completely
irrelevant piece of data on the worldwide information highway
is none other than….

Jarle
my brilliant brother who inspired/taunted me into experimenting with this here blog thingy.

He has been, as usual, one step ahead of me in the
endeavour of realizing himself
through Technology.

…To think that
this fellow sat
hours behind my
Amiga1200, a
frustratingly
low bandwidth modem
– and “surfed” the
Bulletin Board
Systems of Southeastern Norway
…only 13 years ago.. We more or less discovered Information Technology together..ah, those were the days..etc.

Flash – most people will associate the word with “unfortunate weather phenomenon” or “indecent expousure” …or a mix between both..but it is really a standard in Internet “multimedia” (sic! Sound,Image,Text and Interactivity &c)..produced by Macromedia.
Jarle´s weblog is profoundly preoccupied with Flash and related technology/issues..