A Knight's Vow In Every Perilous Adventure

[I have often personally made the association of the Priesthood with that of the Grail Knight, with regards to the role in the Western Tradition. There is an entire other post in the works about the critical role of laity in the Restoration, so let's say for now this role is not exclusive to clergy. What do you do if you're a Gnostic alone? Repeat after me. "I vow..."]

To quest for the Holy Grail.

To speak the truth and maintain the right.

To protect the poor, the distressed, and all women.

To practice courtesy and kindness with all.

To despise the allurements of ease and safety.

To maintain honor and the cause of God.

To all, with strength and will, to right the wronged.

On the Nativity of John the Baptist

© AV Phibes, evilkid.com
This is a great, juicy season for those rooting around in the attic of the Western Mystery Tradition - the Sirian Dog-days from the Solstice through Sinjin's Day (er, the Nativity of John the Baptist); almost as rich as Umbers (October 13) through Halloween, or say the week around Christmas when St. Everybody and His Dog get a Feast day.

Strap in, it gets bumpy: John the Baptist is, for our purposes, not an historic person but rather a job description, being either a Priest of Oannes or the actual Incarnation of Big (mitre-headed) Fish Daddy Himself - a possible Dogon-worshipped alien from Sirius B, who is also Jonah, swallowed by (incorporated into) Leviathan, which is a precursor to Christ's three days in Hell, as is JBap (who is NOT the Beloved Disciple even though it makes a great deal of sense for him to be)'s sacrifice, being the severing of the head (higher self) at the wishes of Salome (the earthy, lustful, belly-dancing self), making him into the archetype of the Dying God and giving the Templars a head to worship later on (even though the Atbash cipher renders "Baphomet" into "Sophia") just as Bran the Blessed who was the son of a sea god had his severed head worshipped and served as the prototype for the Fisher King. Plus, I'm pretty sure you could work a Lovecraft thing in there without a great deal of effort.

See? Archetype-a-palooza. What's really going on here? The mistake is in assuming that there's one, intelligible story. Certainly there are echoes of an Initiatic mystery tradition, and specific ideas about sacrifice, individuation, and the hero's journey. There is also real history, such as the identification of the Templar relic. The myriad myths resonate into actual history before long, and the waters are muddy indeed. This process - the need to concretize the abstract - is an artifact of the idea of Incarnation itself, and the key to all Western religion.

What do we do with this? We go inward, and we go outward.

Outwardly, for our own sanity, we don't need to hunt down "what happened", but rather understand what people "thought" happened, and how that affected their decisions. There need not be aliens crashing into New Mexico to create a UFO panic, or for cultists to overdose in their bunks in hope of hitching a ride (and a weather-balloon ride with Japanese progeria patients with radiation poisoning is probably not what they had in mind). The Merovingians don't need to actually be Jesus' grandkids, but knowing that a bunch of people thought they were explains a few things.

Inwardly, however, the responsibility of the individual Gnostic is to savour these relationships, and learn how they resonate within our own gnosis, test them on the battlefield of our inner landscapes, see how these stories illuminate the heart. It's all a koan, a trick of fullness that can only be solved by emptiness (kenosis).

Continuity

The question arises repeatedly: are you the real Gnostics? How much in common do you have with classical Gnosticism, or the Cathars? How can you say you are the same as these people, when there's no unbroken or contiguous Church?

Isn't this the same as the SCA or a Star Trek convention, only with cassocks instead of Klingon outfits? This is a fair criticism.

In response, certainly one can claim documented succession from the "secessionist" Johannites of the early second century, through the See of Constantinople, up until the supression of the Order of the Temple in the fourteenth century. Thereafter, things do become a little dodgy in the "relay race" department, as it is very difficult to document specific claims, and rather a lot of noise in the channel ("I'm the heir to the Templars!" - "No! I'M the heir to the Templars!"). Hard to make a point about spiritual integrity against such a backdrop. And even though the Albigensian Crusade couldn't have slaughtered all the Cathars, there's no evidence of a contiguous surviving Cathar Church after the fall of Quéribus in 1255.

Again, arguably, there is a small-g gnostic flavour (via Hermeticism) to the Renaissance Platonic humanism of Pico della Mirandola, and to the Rosicrucians - but even then, modern claims to direct inheritance of such movements or organizations are entirely suspect.

The Mandaeans are inarguably a contiguous surviving Gnostic Tradition - but we must be clear that we are not them (and no, you can't convert - you must be born Mandaean).

So really, until we see "reconstruction" or "revival" Gnosticism in the 18th century (and not really until the late 19th century), we don't seem to have an unbroken lineage to anybody - except of course those Apostolic Churches who can justly claim to have had something to do with a bunch of people centuries ago - people who happened to have been most definitely not Gnostic.

That being said, what distinguishes Gnostics today from other "reconstruction" religions, such as Hellenic Paganism (who at least have a precedence going back to the Emperor Julian and can argue Reconstruction is a part of their religion) or the efforts of Kemetic Orthodoxy?

More polemics: We as Gnostics can point to an event, specifically the discovery (or rediscovery) of our Scripture in 1945. However, that just makes us more-recently-even with the Hellenists and KO's etc., who've had access to their Scriptures practically forever.

In order to understand we need to back up a bit, which is to say "let's pick on Christianity for a second". It is intellectually dishonest for Christianity to claim, as it does, that it is an unbroken contiguous Church from the first century. The religion of Christian Greeks in oh, say, 230 CE had very little in common with that of a bunch of Jewish reformers in 30 CE, and the post-Nicene Church was again a radical departure from the agenda that started the whole thing. This is the "time machine" problem of Christianity: modern evangelicals would be horrified at the dusty Aramaics and their lack of WWJD bumper-stickers, just as those same Aramaics would be horrified at a 14th century Roman Mass in their honour - assuming they'd recognize anything, which I very much doubt. So even when you have "a guy who knew a guy who knew a guy", you still have a tremendous range of experience and expression within the same religion; a range that stems from both region and era.

Both Judaism and Islam escape this dissonance, as they chose early on a linguistic and cultural integrity which Christianity - and Gnosticism - rejected. For both Judaism and Islam, you must understand one language and one culture with a scientific accuracy. Christianity sought to promulgate itself through a variety of linguistic and cultural vernaculars, which while successfully promoted the "brand" deviated the original messages into syncretism. Which is perfectly okay. There is a kind of vital current in the religion which remains valid even though it hops around from time and place, learning and morphing as it goes. But it is historical revisionism to claim one smooth ride, either with Christianity or Gnosticism.

So, if it's acceptable to suggest that a modern Christian is still a Christian, despite the great variance in regional expression and even firmly held tenets of faith (no one is suggesting for a moment that "primitive" Christians believed in the Assumption, for example, even though it's absolute infallible dogma today) then to my mind it's equally acceptable to claim that a twenty-first century Gnostic is in fact a Gnostic.

Like our 200 BCE Greek-speaking Egyptian Jewish forebears, we hold;

• to the pre-existence of the human spirit as a spark of the Divine (this one was a deal-breaker in our later negotiation with Christianity)
  
• to the responsibility of the individual to attain intimate knowledge (gnosis) of one's relation to the Divine
  
• to the salvific exclusivity of gnosis
  
• to the due respect and honour of those who have attained gnosis
  
• to the distinction between the ideal world and that of the inhabited world, and a rejection of the kosmos, or system, as a means of understanding who we are [a philosophy castigated as "dualism" or "world-hating", but if I tell you that a tuna sandwich is all well and good, it just is limited in terms of what it can tell you about your Divine origins and the true nature of the human condition, is that "tuna sandwich-hating"?]
  
• to the obligation of such a rejection, and a constant critical examination of Authority
  
• to the value of creativity, curiosity, imagination, and intuition in discovering and celebrating our relationship to G@d
  
• to a pragmatic syncretism, honouring a variety of techniques and stories to enhance and illustrate gnosis, regardless of their culture of origin

With respect to the Cathars, we have even more in common;

• similar ecclesiology, both with respect to the role of the church and to the structure of orders
  
• similar theological language (the Pleroma, the Demiurge, etc.)
  
• similar liturgical language
  
• similar cosmology

Now the reason for this similarity may be entirely due to the fact that Doinel co-opted all of it for the Restoration, to which I argue the following;

Let us imagine that a thousand years hence a Martian colony anachronistically formulates itself around the US Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights (albeit with translations into the Martian language). A hundred years on and an entire Martian society is operating under these principles, with a Supreme Court and a Senate and Congress and a President and a Postal Service and a Department of Agriculture. How much would these future people have with 18th century romantic humanists and revolutionaries? Could they be said to be "American"? Or would they too be criticized for playing dress-up? Is the Bishop of Rome playing anachronistic dress-up when he uses the term Pontifex Maximus, reserved for the chief priest of the Sol Invictus Cult of the Empire?

Am I any less a Gnostic than a like-minded Alexandrian of 200 BCE?

Oak and Ash and Thorn

Sing Oak, and Ash, and Thorn good sirs,
All on a midsummer's morn.
Surely we sing of no little thing
In Oak, and Ash, and Thorn.

Oh, do not tell the priest our plight, or he would call it a sin,
But we've been out in the woods all night, a-conjuring summer in,
And we bring you good news by word of mouth, good news for cattle and corn
Now is the sun come up from the south, by Oak, and Ash, and Thorn.

A blessed Solstice all.

Listening to Sophia

The other day, distracted by a mental buzz of chores, errands, client demands, an inbox and a cellphone, dropping the children off at my mother-in-law's for care, I was blessed with a moment, one of those fragile moments, where I was actually paying attention.

A summer rain had begun, and I went out to roll up the windows on the car. I could smell the earth opening to recieve the rain, the metallic scent of soil and the perfume of the blossoming trees. And I thought, how effortless to receive this gift. How perfect to be this open, this listening. So this image came to me, and with it this prayer;

Holy Sophia, Daughter of Light, renderer of the veil, Mother, Spirit, and Presence, deliver us from ignorance, and bring us through Your Grace into our Reunion. Let loose our jesses that we may return to You our Falconress.

Gnostic Gem Unearthed

Image shamelessly stolen from Pravda, who owes the world a favour or two

Is it wrong to covet this? Unearthed in the Kaliningrad dig, dates to the 16th century. Wish I had a talent for silver (and yes, that was a pun).

Tip o' the zooch to the ever-lovely and talented Jennifer for the link.

Even though we're not on About's "Gnosticism" list. Oh honey, let's never fight again.

Katherine Maltwood, 1878 - 1961

"In her later life, Mrs. Maltwood devoted herself more and more to research work concerning the Glastonbury Zodiac, which she claimed to have discovered in 1925 while living in Chilten Polden, Somerset. The discovery was the result of her intensive study of medieval Arthurian romances. She was interested, above, all in legends of the Holy Grail and their connection with the visit of Joseph of Arimathea to Glastonbury. While tracing a map of the adventures of Arthur in the "Kingdom of Logres" - which she felt to be, in fact, modern Somerset - Mrs. Maltwood came to believe that the giant creatures with which the knights did battle actually existed in the form of giant earthworks laid out in a circular pattern ten miles in diameter. She claimed that these effigies, representing the figures of the zodiac, explained symbolically the processes of nature brought about by the sun's seasonal pageant of death and rebirth and that the whole formed a ritual complex devoted to a mystery religion wide-spread over the whole world in the second millenium before Christ. As a result of her findings Mrs. Maltwood published several books explaining her theories and, in fact, work on the Glastonbury zodiac continued after her death. It is noticeable that many of what seem miscellaneous objects in the archive are, in fact, directly related to zodiacal symbolism in one way or another."

- Bio page from the Maltwood Gallery, University of Victoria

As a sculptress and painter, Katherine was a leading figure in the Arts and Crafts Movement, and her sculpture Magna Mater was installed at the Roycroft in New York. She had a lifelong interest in mysticism, particularly Buddhism, Theosophy, and the Grail Tradition. Her work and her spirit have always resonated for me, and I'm fortunate to live not far from her home and studio, and I went to the University which houses much of her collection. Right outside the building which is home to the sculpture pictured here (The Holy Grail) is a Palestinian Thorn tree, a rare specimen. And here's where the story gets interesting, for this tree - this actual tree - is a scion of the Grail Tree.

The legend goes that Joseph of Arimathea, fleeing Roman authorities and personal tragedy, brings the Holy Grail to Glastonbury in England. Exhausted, he climbs a hill in search of a fitting resting place for the Grail, sets his staff in the ground, and leans against it to to sleep. When he awakens, the staff has taken root and flowered into a mature Palestinian thorn tree, and this very tree was revered as holy for centuries, until chopped down by Protestant lunatic during the Civil War (the real Civil War, not the American one). Locals, despondent over this blasphemy, took cuttings from the tree and replanted it in the exact same spot.

Three hundred years later, when Katherine decided to finally settle in North America - specifically our little Parish here, Victoria BC Canada, she brought with her a cutting of the Holy Tree. And here it blooms every Christmas.

I have long desired to take cuttings from this Tree, and send them around the world. How magical would it be to have 100 such Trees, flowering around the world as a testament to Hope in the face of Enmity.



The Grail Tree in Glastonbury

From The Brasil Diaries

We have discovered our Religion. It is Life. Its tenets are love, and food and wine and sex and natural joy, art and beauty and drunkenness, stargazing and swimming in the ocean. It has a great deal to do with cooking, browsing in used bookshops, children, desserts, flirting, pregnant bellies in the market, stray dogs, lighting too many candles and smiling at strangers. Its cathedrals are lightning skies, clean sheets, storm beaches, the wind on the sand that is the breath of god shaping and forming and molding the dunes.

It is a Religion without a priesthood, but rather a Knighthood. It must be quested for, and championed, fought and bled for. Its saints are Miller and Nin and Picasso, Rosetti, Byron, Joyce and Leary and all rebel angels. Surfers and street musicians, poets and magicians are its altar children.

This is a great and terrible secret.

- Florianopolis SC Brasil, April 2000

Theodor Reuss: The Gnostic Neo-Templars c. 1912

St Augustine writes 340 AD: "What one now calls the Christian religion existed long before Jesus Christ appeared with the ancients". The New Testament of the Christian Bible contains countless passages confirming the old "Christos" (Apollo-, Mithras-, Sun-) cult, and which prove that the conception of the Mithras-Christos cult still formed the basis of the new Jesus teaching even after the foundation of the Christian-Nazarene Church.

Christianity as created by the Church Fathers, which still prevails today, is not the Christianity of the original Christians, the first Christians call Primitive or also Gnostic Christians but a pseudo-Christianity.

The Gnostic Templar-Christians (Neo-Christians, Primitive Christians, Neo-Gnostics) do not seek to found a new religion, but they only desire to clear away the debris which the reigning pseudo-Christianity of the Church Fathers heaped on the original Christian religion, so that the true "Christos" doctrine and the religion of the original Christians, the Christian Gnostics, will once more come into its own.

The Gnostics are Johannite Christians, not so-called Nazarene Christians (Jesus of Nazareth).

The Gnostics condemn the doctrine of Original Sin. The Gnostics of the Neo-Christian Church, also called Brethren of the Light of the Seven Churches in Asia or Order of Oriental Templars, make known to misled and suffering humanity the glad tidings of FREEDOM, JUSTICE, LOVE.

Freedom in and before God, that is the liberation from Original Sin, through which the reigning Christian-Nazarene Church has enslaved humanity from birth to their priests.

Justice in existence on earth, that is the equality of all adult people who are able to work towards the common duty to work. Because every capable member of the Gnostic-Christian community has the duty to do a certain amount of work -suited to his capacity- every day. Lazy people, loafers and do-nothings can never become members of the Gnostic- Church, because the purpose of life upon earth is devotion to duty.

Love is the crowning of the world. Love is the highest law. Love is God.
Love is the reward for active selflessness, for active brotherliness, for the practice of strict self-control, for gaining iron self-discipline, which are the result as well as the sine qua non for liberation from original sin. The freedom of the gnostic Templar-Christians is noty indulgence, licence and lawlessness leading to chaos, but : Greatest bond within the Law! That means: Highest development of a feeling of responsibility before God, equivalent to the laws of Karma.

A new civilization, a new system of morals will arise from the new Christianity of the Gnostic Templar-Christians. In order to carry through the above mentioned doctrines in practice the Church of the Gnostic Neo-Christians seeks to found communities, existing on a co-operative basis, of sinless people, i.e. freed from the nazarene-Christian idea of Original Sin.

For the formation of such Gnostic "Christos" communities only those are suitable who are convinced of the existence of a soul who enables us to g ain resemblance to God; who are permeated by the understanding that selfish actions are the source of all human sufferings, and that we prepare our fate after death during our life on earth according to the laws of Karma; who are convinced of the truth of Mani's saying: "Only he who has understood the holy doctrine of sanctity of the God-Organs is truly liberated and free from all sins."

Accordingly the Gnostic Catholic Church is seeking a world-wide community of truly free people, of people liberated from Original Sin, free from sexual sin.

The Gnostics recognize that humanity's "resemblance to God" consists in the fact that they are able to grasp and understand the divinity of the earthly act of procreation as a parallel of the divine act of original creation, by which they are distinguished from the animals. And in this sense, according to Gnostic teaching, is to be understood this passage of
the Bible: And God created man in His image, in His image created He them.

Therefore the act of love consummated under the control of the will in God is a sacramental act, a "Mystic Marriage with God", a communion, a union of self with God. The Holy Mass is a ceremonial, symbolical representation of a mystic union of man and God, a communion of man with God through the sacrament of the Mass.

The Gnostic Catholic Church

The Gnostic Catholic Church (Eglise catholique gnostique universelle) pursues the aim of re-establishing the pure original Christianity, of making known to their adherents the unfalsified glad tiding of the true Christos, and of unveiling to same the secret holy miracle of the sacrament of the Eucharist. The Gnostic Catholic Church does not fight any of the other churches or religions. It respects every honest conviction. But it demands the same tolerance from adherents of the other churches and religions.

The Gnostic Catholic Religion is equally open to all. It knows of no difference of race, nation or class.

Conditions of admittance are adapted to each candidate's situation.

There are representatives in all parts of the earth.

Further information from:
Prof. Reuss-Willsson
Diplom. Hon. professor of the school for applied medical sciences in Paris (Universite de Paris); former director of the college for Hermetic Sciences in London, etc.

The Gnostic Catholic Church in Germany, Holland, Austria, Hungary, Russia, America, Roumania,
Switzerland, Turkey & the Slavonic Countries is under the personal leadership of the present head of the Gnostic Neo-Christians and Oriental Templars.
Carolus Albertus Theodorus Peregrinus,
Sovereign Patriarch & Primate of the Gnostic Catholic Church, Vicarius
Solomonis & Caput Ordinis O.T.O. His leadership is supported by the
members of the Grand Synod.

Eglise Gnostique Universelle
Primatie de Lyon
S.G. + Jean II. Bricaud, Eveque Primat de France, Souv. Patriarche de
l'Eglise Gnostique Universelle.

+ Jean Baptiste, Eveque de Russie.

+ B. Clement, Eveque des Etats-Unis d'Amerique.

+ Peregrinus I. Merlin, Souv. Patriarche de l'Eglise Gnostique Catholique. Legate Gnostique de l'Eglise Gnostique Universelle de France pour la Suisse.

Favourite Movie Priest?

I love this movie, and Gabriel Byrne as Father Andrew. For one thing it's visually gorgeous, with a five-star soundtrack, and despite much of the usual movie-priest silliness he doesn't sleep with the heroine (cliché dodged!), and decides to risk life, limb, and very cool Vatican job so that the Gospel of Thomas can see the light of day. Of course, the Vatican has been keeping Thomas a deep dark secret (presumably the screenwriter has yet to meet any actual Italians) and is willing to kill for it. I bet the Vatican really does have a crack hit squad, and they rent this stuff and get crocked and howl until their ribs hurt.

So who's your favourite movie Priest? Fr Merrin? Alex Bernier (Heath Ledger from The Order)? Fr Greg from Priest?

Somebody Said Reading List?

Here's the "top shelf", from almost 20 years of practicing Gnosticism. See how many you recognize from the spine art.

Apostolic Johannite Church FAQ

We're currently doing over the website at the AJC (stay tuned) and one of the things that's needed adressing is the copy, so I began with this (and ran it by my Bishop);

What is the Apostolic Johannite Church?
We are an esoteric Gnostic Christian communion with valid Apostolic Succession.

What does Johannite mean?
It relates to the Gospel of John, embraced by early Gnostics, to the Apostle John, and to the Initiatic Tradition of John the Baptist.

Is the Apostolic Johannite Church a Christian Church?
We are part of the "catholic" (universal) Tradition as it was understood by the pre-Nicene Christian Churches, and we use Christian form and Sacraments in our worship. While many of our members do consider themselves Christian, we welcome members from a wide variety of faith traditions including Wiccans, Buddhists, Jews, Hindus, and Hermeticists.

Do you believe in the Bible?
Both the Old Testament and the New Testament are sources of our inspiration, as are other works including the Corpus Hermeticum and the Nag Hammadi Gnostic Scriptures. We understand these texts from a Gnostic view, rather than a superficial or literalist one.

What do you believe in?
We invite you to read our Statement of Principles...

"We affirm that there is one Great, Unknowable, and Ineffable Godhead that made manifest the Universe through Emanation and that while the Universe is contained within this Divine Godhead, the Godhead transcends it.

We affirm that every Being contains the 'Sacred Flame,' a Spark of the Divine and that Awareness of the Sacred Flame within constitutes the highest level of Self-Knowledge and the Experience of God simultaneously. This act of Awareness, which is held to be liberating, transcendent and experiential, is called Gnosis."

... click here for more

What do you mean by Gnostic?
Gnosticism is a pre-Christian syncretic religious tradition that stresses mysticism, personal responsibilty, revelation, and practical philosophy. We are saved from Ignorance and Deception through Knowledge (gnosis) of our own Divine origin and nature.

Do you practice the Sacraments?
We do honour the seven Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, Matrimony, Penance, Holy Orders, Eucharist, and Extreme Unction as part of our Apostolic Tradition.

Are your Sacraments valid?
Yes. As an Apostolic Church our clergy and Sacraments are recognized as "valid yet illicit" by the Vatican.

Do you believe in the Trinity?
We do affirm the Trinity of the Divine as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We also use the language of Pleroma (fullness), Logos (word), and Hagia Sophia (holy wisdom).

Are you those guys in the Da Vinci Code?
The book is a work of fiction, and takes its themes to extremes for the purposes of entertainment. However, it did make many people aware of the esoteric tradition that has been part of Western religion for millennia. We are a part of that Tradition.

Do you believe Mary Magdalene married Jesus?
Literally, no. This is best thought of in archetypal terms, as the illustration of the joining of different complementary ideas: Christianity "wedded to" older traditions of the Divine Feminine, whom we identify as both Mary and Sophia.

Is there a Parish in my area?
We currently have Parishes across Canada, the United States, and recently Madrid, Spain. Please check here for your closest Parish or Narthex (study group).

How many clergy do you have?
Worldwide we have currently have four Bishops (including our Patriarch), six Priests, and one Deacon.

Are you connected with the Ecclesia Gnostica?
We have the highest regard for Bishop +Hoeller's work and the EG, but at this time we have no formal association. We have in the past enjoyed friendly work with the EG in specific instances; our previous Primate worked together with Bishop +Hoeller as co-consecrators of Archbishop +Phillip Garver of l'Eglise du Plérôme, for example.

Are you connected with Freemasonry?
We welcome Freemasons in our Church, and there is a longstanding connection between Masonic and Gnostic Traditions. However we are not formally associated with any Masonic Lodge or organization.

Do you ordain women?
Yes. As in our Statement of Principles...

"We recognize the Sacred Flame to be present in all Beings and therefore our Offices are open to all humanity without discrimination on the basis of gender, race, social status or sexual orientation."

Can I attend Mass and take Communion even if I'm not a member?
Yes. We welcome all who come respectfully and openly.

Why so Churchy? Aren't you a bunch of heretics?
For centuries, Gnostic ideas flourished in the Catholic church. Countless Catholic Bishops died peacefully in their sleep after lifetimes of preaching and practicing Gnosticism. These people contributed, debated, and crafted much of what we see of Catholic liturgical culture today. The Cathars and Bogomils had Bishops. The Valentinians and Nestorians celebrated the Eucharist. And of course the Gnostic Revival of the nineteenth century also embraced the structure and liturgy of Catholicism, with a pneumatic understanding.

How can I learn more about Gnosticism?
There are some excellent sources available online;

The Gnostic Society
Wikiepedia
Gnosticism 101

We also recommend Bishop +Stephan Hoeller's "Gnosticism" and Elaine Pagel's "Beyond Belief".

The Beloved Disciple

© Richard Stodart, with permission
Upon a recent reading of Brown's Community of the Beloved Disciple, about the origin of the Johannine Tradition, it struck me as interesting that he posits no theory as to the identity of the BD. I suppose after getting it wrong (he once thought it was "John the Apostle" but was proved wrong) he was a little gunshy. I however instantly grokked the possibility that BD was in fact Mary Magdalene.

After discussing this online with Bishop +Shaun, he pointed me to this article...

Mary Magdalene: Author of the Fourth Gospel?
by Ramon K. Jusino, M.A. © 1998

This study posits the theory that the Fourth Gospel, once universally believed to have been authored by John of Zebedee, was actually authored by Mary Magdalene. It is further posited that she was the Beloved Disciple of the Fourth Gospel and, therefore, the founder and leader of what has come to be known as the Johannine Community. Indeed, there is more evidence pointing to her authorship of the Fourth Gospel than there ever was pointing to authorship by John. [...]

Mary Magdalene is posited as the author of the Fourth Gospel in the sense in which antiquity defined authorship (Brown 1990: 1051-1052). The author is the person whose ideas the book expresses, not necessarily the person who set pen to papyrus (Brown 1966: lxxxvii). According to Brown, the Fourth Gospel was authored by an anonymous follower of Jesus referred to in the Gospel text as the Beloved Disciple. This Beloved Disciple knew Jesus personally and was in the originating group of the Johannine Community (Brown 1979: 31). The Fourth Gospel was based on this disciple's own eyewitness account (John 21:24). Brown identifies several phases in the development of the Fourth Gospel: 1) the initial pre-Gospel version authored by the Beloved Disciple; 2) the pre-Gospel work produced by "the evangelist" or main writer; and, 3) the final version written by a redactor after the death of the Beloved Disciple (1979:22-23). [...]

One fact is very clear: For some reason, the writer of the Gospel of John wanted to keep the identity of the Beloved Disciple a secret. This disciple was obviously an extremely important figure in the history of their community. Why, then, is the name of this disciple concealed? Was the goal to protect this disciple from persecution? Hardly -- after all, the disciple was clearly deceased when the final draft of John's Gospel was produced (21:20-24). Is it possible that the writer of the final draft had forgotten the name of their beloved founder? Not very likely. This is, indeed, an interesting mystery. [...]

If you are unfamiliar with Gnostics, I suggest that you look them up. They were branded as heretics by the emerging institutional church very early on in ecclesiastical history. Of significance to this study is the following: Many Gnostic groups practiced radical egalitarianism. They believed that God acted and spoke through both men and women. Both men and women were known to be leaders and/or prophets in their communities. Many men, including those in the church, felt threatened by them.

The popularity of the Fourth Gospel among Gnostics made it important for the early church to pursue the question of its apostolic authorship (Perkins: 946). It was Irenaeus who defended the apostolicity of the Fourth Gospel by appealing to a tradition circulating in Asia Minor which, he claimed, linked John of Zebedee to the Fourth Gospel. The testimony of Irenaeus, however, makes for very tenuous evidence establishing John of Zebedee as the Fourth Gospel's author. [...]

The Secessionists, the majority of the Johannine Community, were quickly labeled as "heretics" by the institutional church because they did not make any such modifications. This schism took place before the final canonical redaction of the Fourth Gospel. The final redaction that we have today is the work of an editor belonging to the group which aligned itself with the institutional church. Both groups, however, took their pre-canonical version of the Fourth Gospel with them after the schism and claimed it as their own (Brown 1979: 149).

My hypothesis includes the assertion that, at the time of the schism, this pre-canonical version of the Fourth Gospel clearly identified Mary Magdalene as the Beloved Disciple. The Secessionists, as Brown calls them, preserved the tradition of the Magdalene as the Beloved Disciple -- the founder and hero of their community. The Secessionists brought their tradition with them to several Gnostic groups. This explains Mary Magdalene's identification as the Beloved Disciple in several ancient Gnostic documents from a corpus of literature known as the Nag Hammadi Library.

From the Gospel of Philip;

And the companion of the [Savior is] Mary Magdalene. [But Christ loved] her more than [all] the disciples [and used to] kiss her [often] on her [mouth]. The rest of [the disciples were offended] by it [and expressed disapproval]. They said to him, "Why do you love her more than all of us?" The Savior answered and said to them, "Why do I not love you like her? When a blind man and one who sees are both together in darkness, they are no different from one another. When the light comes, then he who sees will see the light, and he who is blind will remain in darkness"

From the Gospel of Mary Magdalene;

Peter said to Mary, "Sister, we know that the Savior loved you more than the rest of women. Tell us the words of the Savior which you remember -- which you know (but) we do not, nor have we heard them." Mary answered and said, "What is hidden from you I will proclaim to you."

While We're Thomasing

"If they say to you, 'Where have you come from?' say to them, 'We have come from the light, from the place where the light came into being by itself, established [itself], and appeared in their image.'

If they say to you, 'Is it you?' say, 'We are its children, and we are the chosen of the living Father.'

If they ask you, 'What is the evidence of your Father in you?' say to them, 'It is motion and rest.'"

- The Gospel of Thomas

Ten Point Nine Percent

I just picked up my own copy of Pagel's Beyond Belief (figured I should own one) at the marvellous Bolen Books, and did a quick count of books in their small (but worthwhile) Religion section.

I counted 120 titles altogether, eleven of which were about Gnosticism.

A random sampling, can't read (ha!) too much into it, but still I think that's pretty impressive.

Ordination Sketches

This with me after a week now: Prostration is very deep yoga. It's so hardcore that I don't think even the Jesuits do it anymore.

In my experience, face down on the hardwood Church floor while my shoulders were cramping up to the point where my muscles were trembling, breathing in the dust and myrrh and surrendering to the prayers of my Ordination, I mentally assumed the form of the Tree, and moving my seat of consciousness up from the root to the Solar Tipareth. The physical reality of the ritual impresses the mind to the abandonment of ego and its subjugation to the Higher Will, to the Annointed Self.

Also kneeling at length, repeatedly - not the "both knees" kneeling of children, but the chivalric kneel, right knee down, left foot on the ground, both palms down on the left thigh, head bowed. A posture of meditation before battle, of thanks and humility and inward resolution. The discomfort is a deep lesson on a muscular level, as any Opus Dei flagellant will attest.

The whole thing has left me with what I've described as a "weird calm" that I've experienced before in martial arts; a kind of relaxed alertness that others find vaguely disquieting.

I mean I still talk too much and swear too much and drink like a fish and drive like a Bavarian and park like a Parisien and leave hairs in the sink and don't wipe down the kitchen counter. But something has happened. Something real and sea-calm and forceful as the slow approach of a thunderhead.

Poster

About a dozen of these will be going up around Victoria, once I firm up venues and get the nihil obstat from the Bishop. I seriously debated about putting the DVC in there as an attention-getter, but when I was getting on the plane in Calgary coming home, I ran into an old business acquaintance, and told him about my recent ordination. He said, "Gnostic? Like those Mary Magdalene Templar guys in the Da Vinci Code?". Thank you, Dan Brown, for simultaneously simplifying and complicating my life.

Ordination Sketches

Meditating in the Church before my Baptism*, with +Shaun and Ken+ in the back making preparations, I opened my Gnostic Bible at random for inspiration. The book opened, naturally enough, toward the middle, on page 337, Valentinian Liturgical Readings.

Specifically, Baptism.

"For the interpretation of John is the eternal realm,
while the interpretation of the Jordan
is the descent that is the ascent to the Pleroma"

John here means Yohanen the Baptizer. As in "Johannite Church". And Jordan of course is my name.

So I took a deep breath and said aloud; "Okayyyy.... we got our spooky on."

*As my only Baptismal experience previous to the AJC was in the EGC, which is not an Apostolic tradition, we did all the Sacraments from scratch. Baptism, Confirmation, Minor Orders, and the Diaconate (which brought me up to speed with my EGC ordination) all in one go. Then a break before my Ordination.