Fear Not

 I wrote this article for my Gnostic blog, but perhaps some of you need to read it, too. I'm reposting it here for your edification.

The Archons Are Making a Full Court Press for the Earth...

It becomes more and more clear that life has taken a distinctly weird turn to the left into territory usually occupied by apocalyptic science fiction. There is no denying that the archons are making a big power play right now for Earth. Distinctions between vice and virtue, evil and good, materialism and spirit, are being revealed to all. What was once murky and confusing becomes more clear by the day.

As I type this, a world-wide pandemic has locked down humans to their homes. In the name of the pandemic, humans are wearing masks to hide their faces. In the name of the pandemic, humans may no longer shake hands in greeting or come within six feet of each other. In the name of the pandemic, children do not go to school. In the name of the pandemic, small businesses remain boarded up while mega-corporations prosper. In the name of the pandemic, politics as usual has been suspended in favor of protests, riots, and assassinations.

Cataclysmic weather and fires assail the earth. The sky is orange and  thick with smoke. Homes are destroyed.

Are you frightened? There is no need to be. Will you allow me to reassure you?

Most people think the opposite of faith is disbelief. This isn't true. The opposite of faith is fear. The way out of your fear is through the gateway of faith. This is a gateway that every person must pass through on their way to redemption from fear.

Anger will not remove your fear. Blame will not remove your fear. Resistance will not remove your fear. Masks and social distancing will not remove your fear. Only faith will remove your fear.

If you are a religious or spiritually-oriented person, you already know this, deep in your soul. If you are a materialistic or worldly person, you do not realize this truth yet and you reject this advice as hopelessly ignorant and naive. But the fact of the matter is that everyone, every human being on the planet, will come to realize this, and it is a hoop that everyone must pass through. And we all must pass through one at a time, individually.

The good news is this: good is stronger than evil. The One who is above all other distractions, gods, and archons, will win in the end. It is time for you to remember that. It is time for you to remember that you come from Above, and you will return to the One after death. 

Remember, these events shall pass and we will all live happily ever after. 

You may read all about these eternal forces and your home Above in many sources. One good source is my book, The Gnostic Gospel Illuminated, which explains all that you need to know for redemption and freedom from fear.

This book is easy to understand and very affordable.

Onward and upward!

What's the Point in Living a Virtuous Life?

I've just posted another gnostic perspective article over on my gnostic blog. 

This article answers the fundamental question, "why lead a virtuous life?" and its opposite, "what's wrong with a sinful life?" Check it out! See you there.

If All Are Redeemed, Why Not Be Sinful?

Remember, gnostic enlightenment and redemption, and a truer understanding of Judaic and Christian fundamentals, can be found in my book, The Gnostic Gospel Illuminated.

My Appearance on Aeon Byte Gnostic Radio

On Friday, June 28, I was the guest of Miguel Conner on his Aeon Byte Gnostic Radio program. Aeon Byte can be heard on all popular podcast platforms as well as on youtube. 

This was my first interview regarding my new book, The Gnostic Gospel Illuminated. It's good to watch it on YouTube, because we run the illustrations during the program and I explain the visual symbology.

If you have any follow-up questions regarding The Gnostic Gospel Illuminated or The Simple Explanation of Absolutely Everything, please feel free to leave me a comment here.

A Gnostic Perspective of Jesus on the Cross

[This article has been reposted to my new "New Gnostic Gospel" blog. You may read it here, now, or jump to the dedicated Gnostic Gospel blog and continue there.] 

Now that I have completed writing The Gnostic Gospel Illuminated, I am revisiting the standard teachings of my Christian faith. 

One of the central themes of the Christian faith is the death of Jesus on the cross. Christians the world over focus on the body of Jesus hanging on the cross. I have often pondered why this fixation of Jesus on the cross? Why is the crucifix the focal point of every church and altar? Why do people wear the cross as jewelry or hang a crucifix in their bedroom?

The obvious answer Christians give is that without the cross, Jesus could not have saved humanity from sin, for he bore our sins into the grave with his death and they were washed away with his resurrection from the dead. Okay. Praise be to God. But why the cross? If Jesus had been stoned to death, or drowned, or beaten, or thrown from a high tower, would we feel such affinity for a stone, a lake, a club, or a roof? I don't think so. I think there is something very special about the shape of the cross itself.

I ask this question because Jesus never said, "I am soon to pass on from this world, and I want you to focus on my body hanging on the cross as I take on the sins of the world." Yet, that's what people do, as if that were the point of the Gospel. As far as I can tell, Jesus did not ask for his death and resurrection to be the focal point of worship. What Jesus actually said was, "I and my Father are One," and "Whoever welcomes me welcomes the Father that sent me." In other words, Jesus acknowledged himself in reference to his Father, and he deflected glory to his Father. Yet, Jesus is worshiped by modern Christians to the extent that the Father almost goes unmentioned. Thank goodness for the Lord's Prayer which is directed to the Father, and not the Son. Jesus taught it to be said to the Father; he did not teach it to be recited to himself. No slight to the Son, of course; I am here simply emphasizing the Father.

During the Last Supper, Jesus instructed his followers to think of his broken body as they break and eat bread, and to consider his blood as the fulfillment of a contract with humanity as they drink wine. This is what Jesus left the church as instruction regarding his death. He did not instruct them to erect images of crosses and to worship him hanging on the cross as if he were stuck up there forever. Yes, Protestants have allowed Jesus to come down off the cross and therefore their crosses are unoccupied to remind us that Jesus resurrected. But still, the focus is on the cross.

Again, why the cross in particular?

Last year I wrote "A Simple Explanation of the Sign of the Cross," wherein I explained my view of the symbolism of the cross. It is still a good explanation. In the meantime, I have developed a visual symbolism for the Gnostic Gospel, laid out in The Gnostic Gospel Illuminated. Now I can apply the Simple Explanation to the Gnostic Gospel, or is it the Gnostic Gospel to the Simple Explanation? And here it is:

The cross draws down power from above to earth below, and bridges side-to-side the Powers engaged in Endless War.

If you read The Gnostic Gospel Illuminated book, you will fully understand the symbolism presented here. 

We who dwell on earth are engaged in endless warfare with the imitation that always seeks to lure us away from our Father in heaven. Oftentimes we do not realize we are engaged in warfare with the imitation because it can appear disguised as goodness. That is what is meant by the devil being a liar.

The Second Order of Powers are engaged in endless warfare with the deficiencies of the imitation. Although the Second Order of Powers comes from the good disposition of the Father and the Fullness, they have forgotten their heavenly nature and become deluded through rage and other passions and addictions.

The Christ came to earth in the form of a Son of Man to bring the Third Order of Powers to earth as the solution to overcoming the phantoms of the imitation that have mired the Second Order Powers in error. Those who have eyes to see the Christ are able to remember their Father in Heaven. Those who remember their Father in Heaven and repent from the imitation are redeemed.

Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of the promise to redeem the fallen. Jesus, as the Son of God and the Son of Man, brought salvation to the deficiency and restored it to the Kingdom of Heaven.

The reason the cross looks as it does and occupies such a central role in worship is that the cross represents human beings. The cross is shaped like a human, a Son of Man. It is no accident that Jesus was crucified on a cross, because Jesus is a Son of Man, the Son of Man. If, hypothetically, humans looked like dogs, then the Son of Man would have come in the form of a dog and the cross would look like that, too.

The human form is shaped like a cross. Small wonder we are drawn to the crucifix.

The cross should remind us that humankind has been redeemed by the body and blood of Christ in an even more profound way than acknowledging the indignity and suffering of Jesus on the cross; it should remind us that the Son of God, the Christ, bridged with the form of his human body, Spirit to Matter, Top to Bottom (Spirit to Earth) and Neighbor-to-Neighbor (side-to-side). 

In the Gnostic Gospel, redemption comes to all of creation through the incarnation of the Son of God into the body of the Son of Man. The manner of the Savior's birth, death, and resurrection will come to every soul as they realize their Father is in Heaven and to Heaven they will return. For every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. It just takes time.

The First, Second, and Third Powers follow Christ the King, while the Phantoms of the Imitation cling to the darkness below.

We aren't there yet, because of the common delusion of presumptuous thought, which causes people to behave selfishly. Ego must first make way for the love of Christ to take over the throne of the Self. Only then may you rise above the egoic imitation, for then you will have a Champion and King.

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For more Gnostic Gospel Illuminated, you may begin with Chapter One of the series posted to the Simple Explanation blog.

Better yet, you may purchase your own ebook, readable on all e-reader platforms here.

Or, if you are like me, you will want your own printed copy to stand on the shelf and show to your friends. There are two versions available, a 6x9 full color paperback, and a 4x5 full color pocket edition. All Gnostic Gospel Illuminated books are available at my lulu.com storefront. 

A Gnostic Perspective on the Fall and Redemption of Tiger Woods

Everybody is excited over Tiger Woods winning the Masters golf tournament. His victory is a great archetypal story none of us can get enough of--a disgraced fallen hero battles through defeat after humiliating defeat for twelve grueling years, finally coming to his triumphal reentry.

Tiger Woods Triumphs over the Fall
photo credit: https://www.ffgolf.org

Since writing The Gnostic Gospel Illuminated, I can't help but notice the Gnostic mythos enacted through the story of Tiger Woods Masters' win. In Simple Explanation terms, this is  a fractal of a Gnostic mythical tale, one that is played out over and over again in a myriad of forms, but always with the same overall pattern.

This particular Gnostic story involves that aeon often called the "demiurge," but which I refer to as "Logos"--he who was the best of them all. Christians are taught his name is "Lucifer," the Light, for he was a bright and shiny star placed atop the hierarchy of angels.

Logos sat atop the hierarchy of the aeons. He was the final aeon created by the ALL, and he embodied every good and perfect aspect of all the aeons. 

All of the other aeons loved Logos, for he was their youngest and he represented the best of them all. 

In like manner, Tiger Woods was the same type of young talent, representing the best that golf and golfers had in them, and fully in charge of the powers given him by God and by his earthly father.

Logos mistook himself for the Fullness, forgetting that he stood on the shoulders of giants. Ego overcame Logos and he overreached for the heights, stumbled, and fell.

Logos forgot all about his role in the Fullness, and he let personal pride propel him to overreach and fall.

Tiger Woods suffered a similar fall from exalted status. If you are not familiar with his story, you can look up the details elsewhere. What we need to know for our purposes is that Tiger Woods was hailed as a conquering hero from an early age. He was the best and brightest of them all, but only as long as he kept his eyes on the ball, the flag, and the hole. In other words, Tiger was good at his job and this was why he was elevated above the Fullness of the other golfers.

When one is highly talented and given glory by others, they may be filled with pride. Pride cometh before the fall. This is what happened to Tiger Woods. He took his eyes off the prize and quickly stumbled and fell. And, because he was lifted up, his fall was all the more disastrous when it came.

When Logos fell, his true Self broke apart and all of his lovely virtues that had made him so special and beloved shriveled up and became weak little Egoic versions of his prior glory. What was light was now dark. What was strong was now weak. What was virtuous was now vice. The Fullness was shocked and horrified by what their beloved had become. Logos himself was disgusted and ashamed by the condition of his own fallen Ego.

Logos broke apart into dark phantoms of Ego after the fall.

The phantoms born of Logos after the fall are sad, weak, and isolated. They think only of themselves and operate out of a drive for dominion, not duty. And for every virtue of the ALL that exists, there is a corresponding Egoic vice that mimics and mocks the original.

Love becomes lust and marital vows are exchanged for passing pleasures. The body's temple becomes defiled and rather than feed it with nutrition, it is polluted with pharmaceuticals, junk food, soda pop, and alcohol. Devotion becomes obsession, abstinence is traded for indulgence, health is propped up with medicine rather than vitality. Abilities and talents no longer occupy the vessel of their birth, and excellence is replaced with simply trying to survive.

Tiger's fall resulted in his utter, very public, disgrace. He lost his reputation, his wife, his abilities, and his health as he passed through injuries, addictions, hookers, and run-ins with the law. 

Those who are fallen are weak and isolated, blindly struggling to get by.

After the fall, Logos was aghast at what had happened. He was unable to control the monsters he had unleashed. Logos quickly repented and returned to the Fullness for healing. The healing of Logos was begun by his repentance, but it required concentration, prayer, and the effort of All to bring about his redemption.

Logos, the Fullness, and the Father create a Second Order of Powers to correct the deficiency and restore the fallen.

Like Logos, the fallen Tiger struggled to claw his way back from deficiency. The gallery became his Fullness, packed with observant supporters, rooting him on. Months and years of sobriety, surgeries, and hard work replaced the shadow's vices with virtues and Tiger began to shine again.

The redemption of Tiger Woods bore fruit on Sunday, when he won his first major tournament in twelve years. Now his story is the story of redemption from the fall and resurrection from his deficiency. 

When we cheer for Tiger's redemption, let us not forget to give glory to his Father and creator, whose perfection empowers all of our champions, brilliantly illuminating the best and brightest among us.

This has been a presentation of a fractal story of an archetypal Gnostic myth, and one we can all expect to experience from time to time as we repent from our own falls and seek redemption and resurrection from above. 

You can read the entire Gnostic story in one short, easy-to-read book. Please consider buying a copy for yourself and another to share with a friend. 

There is a 6"x9" deluxe edition that sells for $23.45 and a 4"x5" pocket edition only available through my website for only $7.50.