The Gnostics

from Secret Societies by Arkon Daraul (1961)



THE GNOSTICS


An extraordinary number of exceedingly bizarre talismans and inscribed stones bear witness to the power of the secret Gnostic organizations which flourished in various forms during the few centuries immediately before and after the rise of Christianity in the Middle East. One of the oddest emblems of these schools was the figure of Abraxas. A human body clothed in a Roman soldier's garb wielded a battle axe, as if threatening an enemy. In its left hand it carried an elliptical shield, upon which the words of power IAO and SABAOTH were sometimes written. The head of this fearsome being was that of a cock, with open beak. For legs it had twin serpents, coiling to either side. Underneath the figure sometimes lay a conventionalized thunderbolt.



Who was Abraxas? His name, in accordance with cabbalistic computation, is decoded to mean "three hundred and sixty-five" - the number of days in the year. There was no god or idol belonging to the society: the Abraxas figure merely represented the aspects of power which went to make up the supreme intelligence, and the hailing of light which is the cock's habit at dawn. The tunic represented the need for struggle, the arms the protection and power given by the dedication to the Gnosis-- knowledge. The shield was wisdom, the club or whip, power. The two snakes meant NOUS, insight, and LOGOS, understanding. 



By means of this diagram Gnostic teachers inculcated the theory that man comes to his full power by developing certain facets of his mind. He must struggle to arrive at gnosis; but this knowledge is of the mystical kind, and is not the mere collection of facts. Great stress was laid upon personal mystical experience, to and through which the initiate was guided under conditions of great secrecy.


The Gnostics did not confine their studies, or their teachings, to any one religion, but borrowed illustrations from all that were accessible to them. This caused them to be considered Christian heretics, Jews, who were trying to undermine Christianity, remnants of the Persian sun-worshippers. They have been widely studied by early Christian sages, and it is upon the opinions of these latter that many conclusions have been formed. Little or no investigation of these "People of Wisdom" has been done by research workers on the spot- In Asia and North Africa- where strong and interesting traces of their beliefs and practices still remain.


The main teaching states that there is a supreme being or power which is invisible and has no perceptible form. This power is the one which can be contacted by mankind, and it is through it that man can control himself and work out his destiny. The various religious teachers through the ages, putting their creeds in many different ways, were in contact with this power, and their religions all contain a more or less hidden kernel Of initiation. This is the secret which the Knowers can communicate to their disciples. But the secret can be acquired only through exercising the mind and body, until the terrestrial man is so refined as to be able to become a vehicle for the use of this power. Eventually the initiate becomes identified with the power, and in the end he attains his true destiny as a purified personality, infinitely superior to the rest of unenlightened mankind.


The symbolism in which this teaching is concealed, the methods by which the mystical power is attained, vary from one Gnostic society to another. But the constant factor is there: the attainment of that which humankind unconsciously needs. The gnostic claims that within every man and woman there is an unfulfilled urge which cannot be given proper expression in the normal way because there is no social means by which it can be fulfilled. This feeling has been put into man in order that he may seek the fulfillment which the Gnostics can give him. His search for completeness in love, trade, professions, theology is vain and unsuccessful.


The theories of the various schools of Gnosticism with which the Christian clerics came into contact are very much secondary to the rituals and practices which are used to produce the Gnosis, the enlightenment. This has not been fully understood by too many writers, who devote much space to trying to work out the beliefs of the Knowers by a perusal of their writings, or by reports which have been given them by others. 


What were-- and are-- the Gnostic practices? First, discipleship and the inculcated belief that the initiate must struggle, must devote himself as much as possible to the identification with the power which inspires all. Secondly, there are two kinds of men, those who are bound to the earth and matter and those who can refine themselves. It is from the latter class that aspirants are chosen. 


Thirdly, the methods by which the divine illumination may come are many and varied; and it is the province of the teacher to choose which path he will give to his disciple to follow. Some Gnostics believed that frenzy and excitement would produce the necessary liberation of the mind from the fetters of the body; others considered that this could be done best by fasting and mediation. Present-day Gnostic practices in the East has it that different methods suit different temperaments: and this may be one cause for the historical confusion as to which branch of
'heretics' practised what. 


The Gnostics believed themselves to be intellectual aristocrats: their knowledge was only for the few who were ready to receive it. And this is what made them a secret cult, not the fear of persecution. The had their own passwords, in shaking hands they tickled the palm as an identification signal, and they helped one another in every conceivable way.


They could not be called pantheists, because they considered that the doctrine was secondary to the experience of religion; and the theologians and ordinary priesthood of any religion did not approve of that. They were not, in fact, a religion like most others, because they stressed the importance of the individual before that of the community. Those who were more enlightened were more important in every possible way, because they were valuable, refined, aristocrats. At the same time they taught that providing the well-being of the Gnostics was assured, so was that of the community at large. This meant that they could subscribe to the outward doctrines of any religion, and could continue to operate under many different politico-religious systems. Gnosticism profoundly influenced men's minds even in Europe up to and after the Middle Ages, and its basic way of thinking is probably an underlying factor in other secret societies whose members would be
surprised to know it. 



Terrible obscenities and other crimes have been laid at the door of the Gnostics by the early ecclesiastical writers. Although there is little doubt that some of them did believe in mass ecstasy, it seems unlikely that their secrets were well-enough known to enable the commentators to assess them. The belief that certain special men could control their destiny and obtain extra powers through dedication to Gnostic practices meant that, inevitably, there was a belief in magic. The myriad Gnostic 'gems' (inscribed stones) decorated with serpents, cabbalistic names and the rest, are more likely to be proofs of initiation and talismans than mere identification tokens presented to ensure admission to meetings, as some authors have thought. The reason for supposing this is that (1) the 'gems' are very similar in many respects to talismans in use by other communities; and (2) they can often be interpreted as containing magical messages or 'diagrammatical
invocations'.


Ethically speaking, Gnostic belief is that there are two principles: that of good and that of evil. A balance must be struck between these forces; and that balance is in the hands of the Gnostic- the Knower- partly because nobody else can tell whether an action is for the eventual good of the individual or the community. This secret knowledge comes through the mystical insight which the supermen-Gnostics attained. 



The rise of individuals who wrongly believed that they had attained to Gnosis-- all-knowledge-- some of whom were leaders of Gnostic societies, produced notorious characters. Those who followed the way of the Ophite branch glorified the serpent who tempted Eve. They did this because this snake by his actions brought knowledge into the world. Basilides was a leader who taught that Jesus did not die on the cross. Since matter and material things were considered to be part of the inferior, non-spiritual world, the sect known as the Cainites called upon everyone to destroy those things which belonged to the world.



These deviations and aberrations have attracted the greatest attention-- as is natural-- and the quieter teachers of the creed have received less attention. The pious horror with which the less respectable Gnostics were viewed by the early Christian fathers has stamped itself forever on Western literature and belief about the Enlightened Ones. But in more than one place in the Middle East, as well as in small groups in Western Europe, there are still followers of various schools of Gnosticism. They mainly follow the ideas held by Valentinus, with some variations. This school teaches its initiates that matter is more evil than good; that man must be purified by mental concentration; that after death man will rejoin that from which he has been severed, and will be unified with those whom he loves. The also believe that all matter will eventually be destroyed by fire.



The Mandaeans, a small but tenacious community which dwells in Iraq, follow an ancient form of Gnosticism, which practices initiation, ecstasy and some ritual which have been said to resemble those of the Freemasons.