A HISTORY OF GNOSTIC SCHOOLS

While our concern with Gnosticism is in the understanding of ideas, some attention must be payed to the various historic schools that comprise the general modern category. Most of them are only known through their detractor's writings: some self-proclaimed Gnostics, others who may not have been aware of what they were. Today a similar phenomenon is accompanying the loosened rules of religion. With no one fearing for their lives, new concepts are blooming constantly. A brief browse of the net reveals hundreds of Gnosis-inspired pages already in existance. It is likely that in a free-thinking region such as Alexandria, schools were as numerous as teachers. All we can do is observe the brief notes left behind, yet even such empty resources, common ideas are hard to miss, and is easy to understand why they were so threatening to the newly formed Roman Catholic Church.

MENANDER (200BC-0CE?)

Taught distinction between God and the Powers; that Wisdom is attained by disciplined 'magick' and conscious endeavor. He also claimed he was sent to teach man the sacred knowledge necessary to free themselves from the lower Angels. Opposed the idea of a material resurrection of the body in favor of a spiritual one.

SATURNIUS (100-200CE)

From Syria, most likely an offshoot Zoroastrian, which remains a living tradition among Persian people. Taught that Angelic demiurgii created the form of man in the likeness of a briefly shining manifestation coming from Logos. In their attempts to recreate it, all resulted was a crawling ball of plasm. The Higher Power took pity on it, and gave it the spark of life necessary to evolve the being into men, who prefer at death to return to another physical form as their own forms dissolve. A precedence for Aeonology comes from the Zoroastrian concept of the Amshaspends, or personal emanation of Ahura Mazda.

The OPHITES or OPHIANI

Considered pre-Christian, one of many schools who took their symbol as a serpent. Taught that quickening, the evolution of the soul, is the result of an animal proving stronger than the surroundings. Called the Serpent within the Egg the mighty whirlwind, vast vortex, and divine will. Described as trancendentalists [gr. peratae]. Described the elements as water, darkness, abyss and chaos. Sophia emanated in the form of a drop of light which fell into the waters of man.

The NAASSENI

Another school called the Serpents. Little else is known of them other than a practice of initiating into a Mother-cult.

The PERETAE

Sidereal cult, meaning their school included the involvement of the stars. According to this school, the universe was symbolized as a circle enclosing a triangle. Three aspects of logos; three worlds; three gods; three Logoi, minds, men, etc. The 'threefold nature, body and power'. They were also likely involved in medecine as Hippolytus points out, and much of their cosmology looks very much like physio-psychiatric analogy.

brain => Father cerebellum => Son medulla => Matter (Hylic)

"The cerebellum, by an ineffible and inscrutible process, attracts through the pineal gland the spiritual and life giving essence from the vaulted chamber [?] and on receiving this... things flow into the spinal marrow." This process remains inscrutible even by today's standards.

The SETHIANS

Perhaps named after the Hyksos' Seth, who after expulsion from occupied Egypt was renamed Set, the dark one. Taught that light, spirit and darkness are intermingled. The darkness strives to retain the light & spirit, and imprisons light-sparks in matter. Meanwhile the light & spirit strive to liberate their powers from matter & darkness. Matter, as in form, is therefore a seal. The Great Seal would then be heaven & earth: the world-egg in the womb of the universe. The light-spark is perfect God. Ocean of immortality.

The DOCETAE

Meaning Illusionists. Taught the very eastern concepts of the un-reality of matter, and of void (skt. sunyata). The idea of the unreality of Christ's body, however, was even more widespread.

MONOIMUS

Though little record remains, he was generally attributed with combining Monism, Gnosticism and number systems, which led to the heavy use of Greek language cabal in later Gnostic records. A monad is a single constant, which therefore has two descriptions. The monad of visibility is light and dark. Many deities, especially Egyptian ones are monad in quality (Osirus & Isis, etc.).

Monad = iota = Yod = one horn.

The CAINITES

Classed in some cases as Ophite, which could mean anything. They are attributed a more blasphemous quality for their direct identification with Christianity's famous villians, such as Cain and Judas. This is perfect Gnostic example of the use of existing names and context as a pliable clay from which new lessons and expressions may be transmitted. Their contention strikes right to the roots of Jadaism, although it is questionable that their intention was an attack.

Perfection, an important religious theme, was placed in a fittingly heavenly place, free of matter: the world of the Aeons, called Perfection [gr. Pleroma]. This was placed opposite the creative power of nature, which is seen as an afterthought to the first intial explosion of life in the mythic origin of the world. Therefore it is called After-birth [gr. Hystera]. Between this generative power and perfection lies the sensible world, also known as the Valentinian deficiency. This is termed the Abortion [gr. hysterema].

This model places the creative power in opposition to perfection. The Inferior Power, therefore, is the generative God while the Superior Power would be a God of Enlightenment. Therefore obedience to the God [Yaweh, Ialdaboath, Demiourgos, etc.] of the old testament equates to obedience to an inferior power. Thus the opponents of these laws are to be exemplified: Abel offered sacrifices of blood, while Cain offered the fruits of the field. According to the Cainites, this is a traceable precedent to the involvement of Angels and Powers of the Superior and Inferior powers. Hence the Cainite statement:

The enemies of Yahweh are friends of God.

The CARPOCRATIANS (Alexandria 117-138CE)

Poor records exist. It is known that they taught openly that men could reach higher states of illumination than even Christ himself could. This purportedly was a common idea among the very early Christians. Apparently they taught reincarnation from the very beginning, and were so successful there was an established branch in Rome around 150CE, and their school there was decorated with statues and images of their school lineage, which included the various Greeks and Jesus. This Roman branch called themselves Marcellians, possibly also the Harpocratians [followers of Horus]. One tract attributed to them brings up an interesting debate into the identity of Jesus, whom they considered to be an enlightened mortal man. The Greek term for the Hebrew word messiah is Christos, the title of Jesus. However, the greek term for a perfected saint is Chrestos.

BASILIDES

Considered the teacher of Valentinus, Basilides brought together many lingering ideas in Gnosticism. First of all he repudiated all emanation and projection ideas, the assorted Aeonology that was at the core of many teachings. He instead seperated Being from Divinity and Universality, declaring them to be beyond all things that are sensible in the world. The void that envelops all this Divinity, this non-being is then the Deity beyond all being. Very similar to the eastern concept of Sunyata. The Universality can be called the Seed concept, which continues to be prominent theology today, that God or Spirit or Neutron is in all things. Reincarnation and Karma were also Basilidian themes, and it was also taught that while marriage was natural it was not necessary.

This author senses a strong Buddhist presence in Basilides, and during his time frame Buddhist monastaries were carving tall Buddhas in the cliffs of Afghanistan. He also taught that the same drop which fell into the Christ fell into the powers of a heaven-layer called the Hebdomad, where it also instructed these powers in the mysteries. This is a striking correlative between the Chrestos and the Tushita heavens from whence the latest and all future Buddhas spend an incarnation perfecting their teachings. He defined the Great Limit as Spirit, the Great Mercy as freedom from suffering, and the Great Ignorance as desire for things which are impossible [skt. maha pralaya?]. Like eastern orthodoxies, Basilidians described endless heirarchies, heavens and hells.

VALENTINUS [Alexandria 200-280CE]

Perhaps the most famous leader of main-stream Gnostics, excommunicated from the early church though he claimed to be Christian on up to the end. In the wake of his predecessors, and undoubtedly a caustic time as Rome attempted to amalgamate its empire-wide Pagan beliefs with newly adopted Christianity, Valentinus attempted to demonstrate Gnosis throush numerous technical treatises, in which he attempted to explain Gnosis from as many entirely different anlgles as possible. Drawing on a library of resources, he used cabal, numbers, biblical commentary and reanalysis of current themes as they were debated in the Orpheum.

In one treatise he describes primitive man as Plasm, in another it is creation that is the Plasm. In the light of Egyptian theology, he attributed Mind the importance of the after-death concept of Name [egy. Ren], "the mystery which decides the nature and class of things." In another place mind is the Breath of Deity.

Under another context he touches upon the idea promoted by most haeresiologist that the Gnostics believed that our world is hell and is ruled by the devil. In one particular model, he provides us a list:

Wisdom = Spirit Workman = Soul Accuser (Diabolus) = Ruler of this world = Body Becheboul = Ruler of Daemons = Chaos

It is said that Valentinus came upon a newborn babe, and in thinking outloud proceeded to question it. It replied directly that it was Logos.