I have looked for this book since I found an excerpt from it on the net over a year

ago, after that 11.September occured and me and my neighbours are somewhat estranged

for being Christians and Moslems in the manner almost we as kids played

Cowboys and Indians. As some people who know me might have guessed, I have a

particular interest in the mysticism and advanced esoterism of Islam (which I got

quite a lot of criticism for calling “Blessed Islam”, but those who criticized me

for using that expression failed to see where I was going with my expression; namely,

for the Gnostic (in manner of Sufi “knower”/”lover” of God) – the submission inherent

in the term Islam is based on an insight and understanding whose true impulse is the

positive “Yea”, even into the controversies and contradictions of phenomenological

existence; a recognition whose response and impulse is the embrace. This is a deeper

“faith” which shares the power of attraction which Divine Grace and Mercy possess

inherently, so through this “loving knowledge” or enlightened compassion, Man

may participate in the restoration and creation which proceeds from the Will and

Mind of the Most Merciful One. With no recognition, only a dull fear, and with

resistance and a suspicion towards the One – no Gnosis may ever enlighten Man

either, because it lacks the dynamic potency of direct participation.) –

finding Richard Burton`s Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah

on the Internet is quite a joy for me and I can`t wait to bury myself in his tale

of his covert entry into the forbidden and mysterious sanctuaries of the religion

we still know too little about in the Christian west…

The Gutenberg Project has made the work available in two volumes –

you can find them through these links: Volume I , Volume II

When I turned 18,I was living at an adult boarding school studying practical writing

and painting… I had just began realizing that my worldview were remarkably alike

that of the Gnostics, and that in the muddle of it all, a personal incarnation of

Sophia, Divine Wisdom – were very important. Reading a lot, I discovered the

Russian Poet Alexandr Blok (1880-1921). He figured among the Symbolist circle

which often went under the name The Argonauts, “facing the wrong way” briefly before he began translating his visions into language which even the Marxists could

digest and accept (the cultural revolution/revisionism of the early 20th century Russia

were as intolerant for fancy as the Fascist regime of Mussolini and Hitlers Volkische

national socialism ..but Russia has always loved her bards, with tough love nonetheless)

..of course, after that, his colleagues in Europe could find it hard to find the red thread in his lyricism.. Mikhail Bulgakov, I feel, portrays the dilemma of Blok and his kin, pretty well in the form of the “Poet” in his fable The Master and Margarita.

His most known work in english is his Verses to The Beautiful Lady, which is dedicated to Sophia – yet also towards his wife, which is very much in the spirit of later Troubador mysticism, which touches ground with Sophianism and the Christian Gnosis as well.

Lynn Harvey at www.anthemion.com presents own translated excerpts from Blok`s Verses to the Beautiful Lady

At the Poems of Alexandr Blok homepage you can find other examples of his work.

William Blake are among several poets and artists who have, from own isionary capacity, expressed the Gnostic attitude to his fellows.

His lines:

“The Vision of Christ that thou dost see is my Visions Greatest enemy.” opening the final stanza of the poem The Everlasting Gospel has become ever more pertinent to the raging seas of theological dispute, now happening in the midst of ordinary people- no longer the privilege of clergy and scholars – no longer confined to the halls of academia. Christology is a very complex,variated and dangerous field of “knowledge”; it consists more or less of opinion and contention – one includes a Soteriology, which is to say, a teaching concerning a role of Christ as saviour – another negates it entirely as pertinent;

one includes a Eschatology, a teaching of how the whole world and Time with it, will come to an end.. even considerations of the calculation of day and hour this will occur – another still negates it. One of the Christologies would hold that that particular Christ (since Christos is Greek for “The Anointed”, and in context with New Testament hermeneutics that Anointed one in particular is held to be the Messiah/Maschiach of the Hebrew tradition) which is named Jesus of Nazareth – were all his life simply a man – others would negotiate another space, place and role for this Christ which would originate in and with the Father, God – and hold him to be only and first begotten of God, some christologies – notably that of the Jehovahs Witnesses, hold Jesus to be the corporal incarnation of an angel, namely Michael – and in so doing – they follow the pattern of one among a hundred of Christological “heresies” according to the victorious and dominant Church traditions.

Today, theologians and apologists of one or another school – i.e. one or another heresy (which is even true of that heresy which names itself Orthodox, Apostolic or Catholic! Since Haereses means schools of interpretation/discipline..and initially nothing else) – maintain that conformity to their own norm of who and what Christ is, determine whether one person or one denomination are Christian or not. It is, with other words, still not entirely an issue of majority vote who really are Christian – Catholic and Protestant theologians can congratulate eachother for enstranging thousands of believers of their own Tradition who happened to study or read their books, and moreover the selfsame who bothers with these, will find that although they are initiated and instructed according to the best abilities of their so-called betters in their religious community – the contents registered in their thoughts concerning the mysteries or preoccupations of abstract religion, do not add up to neither a

perfectly pious Christian nor indeed a Christian at all.

Blake continues:

Thine is the Friend of All mankind, Mine speaks in parables to the blind, Thine loves the same world mine hates, Thy Heaven doors are my Hell gates… Socrates taught what Melitus loath as a nations bitterest curse, And Caiaphas was in his own Mind a benefactor of mankind Both read the Bible day & night, But thou readst black where I read white…

There is an illustration of Nicholas Flamel, a 15th century alchemy of the most obscure kind – which has a crowned serpent crucified on a simple wooden cross.. that image came to mind in the preceeding stanza which reads;

And .. with wrath He did subdue The Serpent bulk of Natures dross….

Till he had nailed it to the Cross

He took on Sin in the Virgins Womb,

and put it off on the Cross & Tomb

to be worshipd by the church of Rome

The Gnostic Christ, which again is variant to Blake`s Christ – often turns up as a catalyst for a transformation which penetrates down into the darkest and most obscure and lost places.. an mythologem such as Jesus descent and harrowing of Hell, where he more or less clean`s shop and bursts the jailcells of the dark lord of death and endless sleep..arrives in Christendom during the persecution era, where a rebellion against not only Fate which is topical to even the Judaism of the time, but also against Time, Mortality and indeed Nature took place, the fire of this rebellion burns ever still…keeping people who think about the wellfare of the world keen and attentative to believers of every color and orientation who make claim at being Christian.

What occasioned this rant where my finding of

The William Blake Archive Homepage Where you may find electronic versions of a goodly bulk of his work.

There I also found the following;

No man can think write or speak from his heart but he must intend truth.

weaknesses of every individual.

Which I find to be apropos of my earlier rant of the mind-numbing variety of schools and views and contentions concerning the Mystery person of the Christian religion..Each can only achieve, produce or receive according to the ability and disposition of himself/herself. The concept of fullness not only speaks to singularity in perfection (sic) but also to progression in and through plurality.

The Gnostic Churches of our modern time are usually considered to

have originated in the last decade of the 19th century in France.

As part of his survey of the esoteric orders from that area and

onwards, Milko Bogaard has let the Gnostique site of Philip Garver

, publish his Gnostic Church History, available in three parts. I’ d like to add that I am not

entirely convinced that the OTO “family” of Thelemic sacramental congregations… belong to the history of the Gnostic Churches.

Yesterday Jan told me that the site which had replaced our contents

with our own had been closed down by the name-domain services

with which he had his agreement. Due to the stress put upon our

“reputation” by the incident it is unlikely the address will be used

in the future. Jan also informed me that he would get yet another address from the same provider…I take notice of his trust.

It also appears that the person presented as the owner of the

brasilian firm who took over www.bruchion.com for a brief period..

does not appear to exist. I wonder how many fall prey to this peculiar

kind of “domain hacking”, and even more I wonder why anyone would

care to indulge in it. I have earlier heard about anti-masonic schemes which

involved A) someone hacking a masonic information webpage B)

replacing the contents with illegal p*rn*graphy and C) announcing

to the world, including authorities, that the Masons were making money

on selling p*rn*graphy on the Internet… Now that several countries

and states appear to want to “control” content and services on the

Internet and initiate legal actions locally based on offseas content,

assassination of character and credibility appears to be very easy

to do… a worrying thought for anyone likely to be targeted by hate

crime.

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 →

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.

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.