All Opposites are Identical in the Realm of the Aeons
"The man whom the Rebirth brings into being is a son of God; he belongs to the world of Mind; he is composed of divine Powers. He who has been born again has become an incorporeal being; he is no longer a thing visible to bodily eyes....
He sees things no longer by bodily sense; he sees with the eye of Mind. And thus seeing, he finds himself to be one with all that exists; he feels himself to be omnipresent and eternal.
The new self which has thus come into being is imperishable. He who has once become a god, and son of God, can never cease to be that which he has become."
Fideler, David. Jesus Christ: Sun of God : Ancient Cosmology and Early Christian Symbolism. Quest Books, 1993. 49.
The Creation of Man : a Failed Experiment
"Now the Rulers took some soil from the earth and modeled their Man, after their body and after the Image of God that had appeared to them in the waters."
”Hypostasis of the Archons.” The Other Bible. Ed. Willis Barnstone. Harper San Francisco, 1984. 76.
Sophia Revelaed to the Archons
"As Sophia looked down into the region of the Waters, her Image appeared in the Waters; and the Authorities of the Darkness became enamored of her. But they could not lay hold of that Image which had appeared to them in the Waters, because of their weakness - since beings that merely possess a soul cannot lay hold of those that possess a spirit; for they were from below, while it was from Above. And thus she withdrew up to her light."
”Hypostasis of the Archons.” The Other Bible. Ed. Willis Barnstone. Harper San Francisco, 1984. 77.
Mutiny on Noah's Ark
"It did not happen the way Moses said, 'They hid in an ark.' Rather, they hid in a certain place... They entered that place and hid in a bright cloud... since the first ruler had brought darkness upon the whole earth."
“The Secret Book of John.” The Secret Teachings of Jesus. Trans. Marvin W. Meyer. Vintage, 1984. 84.
The Lion becomes Human
"Jesus said, 'Blessed is the lion that the human eats, so that the lion becomes human. Cursed is the human that the lion eats, so that the lion becomes human."
“The Secret Gospel of Thomas.” The Secret Teachings of Jesus. Trans. Marvin W. Meyer. Vintage, 1984. 20.
The Mysteries of the Sexual Union
"Many of them... indulge unreservedly in the pleasures of the flesh, declaring that flesh should be rendered unto flesh and spirit unto spirit... and all the while they are committing these bestialities and impieties, they treat us as imbeciles and idiots because we abstain from such acts out of our fear of God..."
Lacarriere, Jacques. The Gnostics. City Lights Books, 1989. 69-70.
The Rape of Eve
"Afterwards, when [the Rulers] sobered up from the stupor, they came to Adam. And when they saw the likeness of that woman with him, they were troubled, thinking that this was the true Eve. And they acted recklessly, and came to her and seized her and cast their seed upon her. They did it with a lot of tricks, not only defiling her naturally but abominably, defiling the seal of her first voice, which before spoke with them, saying, "What is it that exists before you?"
But it is impossible that they might defile those who say that they are begotten in the consummation by the True man by means of the word. And they were deceived, not knowing that they had defiled their own body. It was the likeness which the Authorities and their angels defiled in every form."
”On the Origin of the World.” The Other Bible. Ed. Willis Barnstone. Harper San Francisco, 1984. 70.
The Legend of Lilith
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Harbingers of the Apocalypse
"Since the immortal Father... desired to bring to naught the Rulers of destruction... he sent your likenesses, i.e., the blessed little guileless spirits, down to the world of destruction....
These were sent so that they might reveal that which is hidden and expose the seven Authorities of Chaos and their impiety..."
”On the Origin of the World.” The Other Bible. Ed. Willis Barnstone. Harper San Francisco, 1984. 73-74.
Smell This!
"Then the one who is wiser than all of them, this one who was called "the beast," came. And when he saw the likeness of their mother, Eve, he said to her, "What is it that God said to you? 'Don't eat from the Tree of Knowledge'?"
She said, "He not only said 'Don't eat from it,' but 'Don't touch it lest you die.' "
He said to her, "Don't be afraid! You certainly shall not die. For he knows that when you eat from it your mind will be sobered and you will become like God, knowing the distinctions which exist between evil and good men. For he said this to you, lest you eat from it, since he is jealous."
”On the Origin of the World.” The Other Bible. Ed. Willis Barnstone. Harper San Francisco, 1984. 71.
This picture shows the gnostic symbol of the universe - the ouroboros, a vast cosmic serpent devouring it's own tail.
Here the serpent is taking a break from its' steady diet of tail to force a man to smell a dirty old shoe. The man in question stubbornly refuses to recognize the cyclical nature of existence - thus he must rely on his sense of smell, the source of humanity's oldest and most powerful memories. We can only hope that he will some day awaken.
sprout_n_fight
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The Prison Planet
"The foolish - thinking in their heart that if they confess, "We are Christians," in word only...while giving themselves over...to a human death, not knowing where they are going nor who Christ is, thinking that they will live, when they are really in error - hasten towards the principalities and the authorities. They fall into their clutches because of the ignorance that is in them."
"The Testimony of Truth." The Nag Hammadi Library. Ed. James Robinson. HarperCollins, 1978. 450-51.
The Demiurge Emerges fron the Darkness
"A veil exists between the World Above and the realms that are below; and Shadow came into being beneath the veil; and that Shadow became Matter; and that Shadow was projected apart. And what she [Sophia] had created became a product in the Matter, like an aborted fetus."
”Hypostasis of the Archons.” The Other Bible. Ed. Willis Barnstone. Harper San Francisco, 1984. 79.
Immortal Man in the Garden of Eden
"The entire realm of the Chief Ruler quaked, and the foundations of hell shook. The bottomside of the waters above the material world was lit up by the image that had appeared. When all the Authorities and the Chief Ruler stared at this appearance, they saw the whole bottomside as it was lit up. And through the light they saw the shape of the image in the water."
“The Secret Book of John.” The Secret Teachings of Jesus. Trans. Marvin W. Meyer. Vintage, 1984. 69.
Exorcising Evil Spirits
"While they were going out, a man who was demon-possessed and could not talk was brought to Jesus. And when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowd was amazed and said, 'Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.' But the Pharisees said, 'It is by the prince of demons that he drives out demons.'"
[Matthew 9:27-34]
Christ + Sophia = Immortal Man
"This Man is a single unity, incomposite and indivisible, composite and divisible; wholly friendly, wholly peaceable, wholly hostile, wholly at enmity with itself, dissimilar and similar, like some musical harmony, which contains within itself everything which one might name or leave unnoticed, producing all things, generating all things..."
Bloom, Harold. Omens of Millennium. New York: Riverhead Books,1996. 241.
The Crucified Criminal
"This abominable congregation should be rooted out... a religion of lust and fornication. They reverence the head of an ass... even the genitals of their priests... And some say that the objects of their worship include a man who suffered death as a criminal, as well as the wretched wood of his cross; these are fitting altars for such depraved people, and they worship what they deserve..."
Holding, James Patrick. "No Apologies : Or the Dissolving of the Second Century." Tektonics Apologetics Ministries. www.tektonics.org/doherty/dohertypatr.html
Homunculus
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The False Resurrection
"It is equally silly of these christians to suppose that... those long since dead will rise up from the earth possessing the same bodies as they did before. I ask you: Is this not the hope of worms? For what sort of human soul is it that has any use for a rotted corpse of a body? ...it is nothing less than nauseating and impossible."
"Celsus : On the True Doctrine." Trans. R. Joseph Hoffman. Oxford University Press, 1987. 86.
Jehovah the Ass-Headed Angel
"For...the reason why Zechariah was slain in the temple was that he saw... a vision. And when he wished to tell the vision his mouth froze from fear. For... in the hour of the offering of incense he saw, as he was offering incense, a person standing at rest, having... the form of an ass. And when he went outside... and wanted to say, "Woe unto you! What are you worshiping?" the thing he had seen inside in the temple froze his mouth, so that he could not speak. And when his mouth opened so that he might speak, then he revealed it to them, and they slew him. And thus...did Zechariah die..."
"St. Epiphanius : Medecine Chest Against Heresies." The Gnostic Scriptures. Trans. Bentley Layton. Doubleday /Anchor, 1995. 212.
The Seven Archons create Adam as a worm-like creature
"The (first) human being… was a creation of angels [but was] unable to stand erect because of the angels' impotence, and rather writhed on the ground like a worm…."
"Satorninos." The Gnostic Scriptures. Trans. Bentley Layton. Doubleday /Anchor, 1995. 161.
The Breath of Life
"Yaldabaoth breathed into man the breath of life [Gen. 2:7] and was thus secretly deprived of the power; hence man had mind and desire, and these are the parts of man which are saved."
"The Sethian Ophites." The Other Bible. Ed. Willis Barnstone. Harper San Francisco, 1984. 662.
The Archons Plan the Rape of Eve
" When they saw Eve speaking with him, they said to one another, "What is this female light-being? For truly she is like the likeness which appeared to us in the light. Now come, let us seize her and let us cast our seed on her, so that when she is polluted she will not be able to ascend to her light, but those whom she will beget will serve us.
But let us not tell Adam that she is not derived from us, but let us bring a stupor upon him, and… teach him in his sleep as though she came into being from his rib so that [she] will serve and he will rule over her."
”On the Origin of the World.” The Other Bible. Ed. Willis Barnstone. Harper San Francisco, 1984. 70.
Intelligent Design : Proof of the Demiurge?
"Now these things were revealed by the will of...Christ to the souls who will come to the molded bodies of the Authorities; and concerning these, the holy voice said, "Multiply and flourish to rule over all the creatures." And these are the ones who are taken captive by the First Father according to lot and thus they were shut up in the prisons of the molded bodies until the consummation of the Aeon."
”On the Origin of the World.” The Other Bible. Ed. Willis Barnstone. Harper San Francisco, 1984. 69.
The Hidden God is almost Impossible to Understand
"Now, it is not difficult to know the Creator of all creatures, but it is impossible to comprehend the likeness of this One. For it is difficult not only for men to comprehend the All, but it is also difficult for every divine being, both the angels and the archangels."
"The Teachings of Silvanus." The Nag Hammadi Library. Ed. James Robinson. HarperCollins, 1978. 387.
Buried Heresies
"A newly translated Gnostic gospel, entitled The Secret Book of Judas of Kerioth, promises to blow more fuses than Holy Blood, Holy Grail and The Last Temptation of Christ put together. According to this seemingly authentic early Cainite-Ophite text, translated from the Coptic by Mohammed al-Murtada and Francis Bendik, Jesus had an active bisexual love life, including relations with John, Lazarus and Mary Magdelene, served an LSD-like psychedelic at the Last Supper, faked his own crucifixion in collaboration with Judas and Joseph of Arimathea [as in the Koranic account] and died a natural death in India many years after the alleged Resurrection.
Worse: the Old Testament god, as described by Jesus, appears as an evil demiurge who perverted the creation begun by the true Creator. This very interesting text was found in 1986 near the Nag Hammadi library, and has an introduction and annotations by Dr. Maxwell Selander of Briggs- Melton Theological Seminary."
The World's Most Incredible Stories: The Best of Fortean Times. Ed. Adam Sisman. Avon, 1992. 184.
Spiritual Cannibalism
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Toll-Collectors in the Afterworld
"When the soul had overcome the third power, it went upwards and saw the fourth power, which took seven forms.
The first form is darkness,
the second desire,
the third ignorance,
the fourth is the excitement of death,
the fifth is the kingdom of the flesh,
the sixth is the foolish wisdom of flesh,
the seventh is the wrathful wisdom.
These are the seven powers of wrath. They ask the soul, 'Whence do you come, slayer of men, or where are you going, conqueror of space?'
The soul answered and said, 'What binds me has been slain, and what surrounds me has been overcome, and my desire has been ended, and ignorance has died..."
"The Gospel of Mary." The Nag Hammadi Library. Ed. James Robinson. HarperCollins, 1978. 526.
Adam, where are you?
"Then when the Rulers knew that they had transgressed their commandment, they came in an earthquake with a great threat into Paradise to Adam and Eve in order to see the result of the help…. Then, because the Rulers did not know where they were, they said, 'Adam, where are you?"
”On the Origin of the World.” The Other Bible. Ed. Willis Barnstone. Harper San Francisco, 1984. 71.
The Laughter of Christ
"And as soon as Christ went down into the water, he came out laughing at everything of this world, not because he considers it a trifle, but because he is full of contempt for it. He who wants to enter the Kingdom of Heaven will attain it. If he despises everything of this world and scorns it as a trifle, he will come out laughing."
"The Gospel of Philip." The Other Bible. Ed. Willis Barnstone. Harper San Francisco, 1984. 96.
Lions = 1, Christians = 0
"Allow me to be eaten by the beasts, through whom I can attain to God. I am God's wheat, and I am ground by the teeth of wild beasts, so that I may become pure bread of Christ... Let there come upon me fire, and the cross, and struggle with wild beasts, cutting and tearing apart, racking of bones, mangling of limbs, crushing of my whole body...may I but attain to Jesus Christ!"
Pagels, Elaine. The Gnostic Gospels. Vintage, 1979. 82-83.
The Birth of Cain + Abel
"The first ruler raped Eve, and produced in her two sons, a first and a second: Elohim and Yahweh. Elohim has the face of a bear, Yahweh has the face of a cat. One is just, the other is unjust. He placed Yahweh over the fire and the wind, and he placed Elohim over the water and the earth. He called them by the names Cain and Abel, for he meant to deceive.
To this day copulation has persisted because of the first ruler. He planted the lust for reproduction within the woman who was with Adam. Through copulation the first ruler produced duplicate bodies, and he breathed some of his contrary spirit into them. He placed these two rulers over the elements, that they might rule over the bodily tomb."
“The Secret Book of John.” The Secret Teachings of Jesus. Trans. Marvin W. Meyer. Vintage, 1984. 79-80.
The Earth is Balding!
"...The stars of the heaven will disregard their course and a great thunder will come out of a great power that is above all the powers of Chaos, the place where the firmament of woman is situated. When she has created the first work, she will take off her wise flame of insight. She will put on a senseless wrath.
Then she will drive out the gods of Chaos whom she had created together with the First Father. She will cast them down to the abyss. They will be wiped out by their own injustice.For they will become like the mountains which blaze out fire, and they will gnaw at one another until they are destroyed by their First Father. "
”On the Origin of the World.” The Other Bible. Ed. Willis Barnstone. Harper San Francisco, 1984. 73-74.
Immortal Man creates the Infinite Aeons
"Now Immortal Man revealed Aeons and powers and kingdoms and gave authority to everyone who appeared from him to make whatever they desire until the days that are above chaos. For these consented with each other and revealed every magnificence, even from spirit, multitudinous lights that are glorious and without number."
"The Sophia of Jesus Christ." The Nag Hammadi Library. Ed. James Robinson. HarperCollins, 1978. 237.
In Search of the Alien God
"One should not think of it as a god, or like a god. For it is greater than a god, because it has nothing over it and no lord above it. It does not exist within anything that is inferior to it, since everything exists only within it...
It is impossible to say, 'How much is it?' or 'What kind is it?' for no one can understand it. It is not one among many things that are in existence: it is much greater. Not that it is actually greater. Rather, as it is in itself, it is not a part of the worlds or of time, for whatever is part of a world was once produced by something else."
“The Secret Book of John.” The Secret Teachings of Jesus. Trans. Marvin W. Meyer. Vintage, 1984. 57-58.
Yaldabaoth Bungles Creation
"And the great Demon began to produce aeons in the likeness of the real Aeons..."
"The Trimorphic Protennoia." The Nag Hammadi Library. Ed. James Robinson. HarperCollins, 1978. 516.
Sophia Hurls Yaldabaoth back into the Darkness
"When Sophia saw what her desire had produced, it changed into the figure of a snake with the face of a lion...She threw it away...so that none of the Immortals would see it. For she had produced it ignorantly."
“The Secret Book of John.” The Secret Teachings of Jesus. Trans. Marvin W. Meyer. Vintage, 1984. 64.
Yaldabaoth is Born in Ignorance
"...a Ruler first appeared out of the waters... having a great authority within himself, but not knowing whence he came into being."
”On the Origin of the World.” The Other Bible. Ed. Willis Barnstone. Harper San Francisco, 1984. 64.
The Path of the Stump
"Who has made me live in the Earth, who has thrown me into the body-stump?... My eyes, which were opened from the abode of light, now belong to the stump. My heart, which longs for the Life, came here and was made part of the stump. It is the path of the stump, the [gods] will not let me go my own path. How I must obey, how endure, how must I quiet my mind!"
Jonas, Hans. The Gnostic Religion. Beacon Press, 1991. 67.
The Great Ignorance
"When this [the end] takes place, God will bring the great Ignorance upon the whole universe so that... nothing may desire anything contrary to nature. All the souls of this space which have a nature such as to remain immortal only in this space will remain; they will know nothing different from this space or better than it. There will be no report or knowledge of things above... so that the souls below will not be tormented by the desire of what is impossible, like a fish desiring to graze on the mountains with sheep; for such a desire would mean destruction for them."
”Basilide's System.” The Other Bible. Ed. Willis Barnstone. Harper San Francisco, 1984. 633-34.
Christian Chaos
"...From the very first centuries, what was to become Christian orthodoxy vehemently suppressed those Christians of psychic, shamanic, or visionary temperament called the Gnostics. The authorities of the early institutional Church soon established a strict orthodoxy of doctrine against to which all contrary views were stigmatized as heretical. When in 313 the Emperor Constantine made Christianity the official state religion, attempting to syncretize it with various sun-god cults, Christianity was left to deal with the many cults - of Isis, Cybele, Mithras, etc.- that swarmed within the Roman Empire. The monotheistic zeal to convert and eradicate the diversity of polytheism gave the Church an authoritarian character that has plagued the West ever since with schisms, councils, inquisitions, and witch-hunts..."
Woolger, Roger J. Other Lives, Other Selves. Bantam, 1987. 71.
Battling in Darkness
"Thus the senseless man hears the call, but he is ignorant of the place to which he has been called...The result is that the substance of hardness of heart strikes a blow upon his mind, along with the force of ignorance and the demon of error. They do not allow his mind to rise up..."
"Authoritative Teaching." The Nag Hammadi Library. Ed. James Robinson. HarperCollins, 1978. 309.
Yaldabaoth Creates the Earth
"And when Sophia left behind a part of light, the Arrogant One laid hold of it... Now when the Arrogant One had taken a part of the light, he sowed it. And he placed powers over it and Authorities. And he enclosed it in the aeons which are dead."
"Letter of Peter to Philip." The Nag Hammadi Library. Ed. James Robinson. HarperCollins, 1978. 435.
The Tree of Animals
"There are two trees growing in Paradise. One bears animals, the other bears men. Adam ate from the tree which bore animals. He became an animal and he brought forth animals. For this reason the children of Adam worship animals. The tree whose fruit Adam ate is the Tree of Knowledge. That is why sins increased."
If he ate the fruit of the other tree, that is to say, the fruit of the Tree of Life, the one which bears men, then the gods would worship man. For in the beginning God created man. But now men create God. That is the way it is in the world - men make gods and worship their creation. It would be fitting for the gods to worship men!"
”The Gospel of Philip.” The Other Bible. Ed. Willis Barnstone. Harper San Francisco, 1984. 95.
paralytics_head
"As one's ignorance disappears when he gains knowledge, [so too] darkness disappears when light appears..."
"Valentinus : the Gospel of Truth." The Other Bible. Ed. Willis Barnstone. Harper San Francisco, 1984. 292.
Dark Spirits are Born from the Shadow
"[And] as for the shadow, the powers which came into being after [it] called it "the limitless Chaos." And out of it every race of gods was brought forth, both one and the other and the whole place..."
”On the Origin of the World.” The Other Bible. Ed. Willis Barnstone. Harper San Francisco, 1984. 64.
The Predators (aka Archons)
"They took over because we are food for them, and they squeeze us mercilessly because we are their sustenance. Just as we rear chickens in chicken coops, the predators rear us in human coops. Therefore, their food is always available to them...
...the predators have given us our systems of beliefs, our ideas of good and evil, our social mores. They are the ones who set up our hopes and expectations and dreams of success or failure...
In order to keep us obedient and meek and weak, the predators ... gave us... their mind, which becomes our mind... Through the mind... the predators inject into the lives of human beings whatever is convenient for them."
Castaneda, Carlos. The Active Side of Infinity. Harper Perennial, 1999. 213-220.
I like your art..I follow the same scriptures..