In 1982, I was finishing my first year of college. I was enrolled in a two-year program to become a registered nurse and had been doing rounds on the oncology floor of the local hospital and in geriatrics. I was eighteen years old and any romantic notions I may have had about health care when I started school vanished with the first catheter I had to insert....
Historical influence of the Gnostic religion of Simon Magus on the formation of the first Johannine community; Gnostic storyline of the Gospel of John that has been obscured for centuries by inaccurate translations; Gnostic controversy in the epistles of John. Engages the movie, “The Dark City.”
Examines rise of Gnostic Spirituality within historical environment of shamanic practices and mystery initiation; Engages the movie, “The Truman Show.”
Valentinian Christians functioning within the Catholic Church until the third century when they were expelled; shared teachings and rituals with Catholics, while elaborating and redefining them; divine humans and angelic twins; sacred marriage and holy eroticism; Valentinus; Ptolemy; Heraclean; Marcus. Engages the movie, “Avatar.”
Elaborate second- and third-century Christian Gnostic movements; Basilidians, Peratics; Ophians; Naassenes; Platonic Sethians; soul-journeys through hell and through the star system as initiatory practices; connection to ancient mystery religions and Greek philosophical schools. Engages the movie, “Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.”
Discusses Servant Spirituality, Covenant Spirituality, and Mystic Spirituality as models that pre-exist the rise of Gnostic Spirituality. Engages the movie, “The Matrix.”
Closing remarks that leave reader to wonder about the therapeutic and personal shape of religion in modern America; debt to the ancient Gnostics who altered the very fabric of religion. Engages the film, "Out on a Limb."
