Can Gnosticism and Politics mix? We survey ancient and modern times to see if Gnostics got involved in the messy business of politics. This is a partial show for nonmembers. For the full show, please become a member: http://thegodabovegod.com/members/subscription-levels/ or patron at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aeonbyte ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0euZ57ptQkw

Within central Gnostic texts, we find a common disturbing storyline: Eve in the Garden of Eden suffers graphic sexual violence at the hands of the Demiurge and his Archons. This narrative of brutal oppression, suppression, and control reveals profound cosmic truths and psychological processes that thunder across history— still relevant in today’s culture. Yet within the harrowing tests of Eve, who is an avatar of Sophia, lies a lesson of restoration, dignity, and healing love. And so much Gnosis. Astral Guest – Celene Lillie, author of The Rape of Eve: The Transformation of Roman Ideology in Three Early Christian Retellings of Genesis, as well as Director of Adult Education and Spiritual Formation at First United Methodist Church in Boulder, Colorado and an adjunct professor at the University of Colorado Boulder. As a bonus, we’ll provide a Trimorphic Paranoia for members. Dr. Joanna Kujawa joins us in a group discussion to relate her views on these Gnostic myths and the Eastern versions of sexual predator deities, among other topics. This is a partial show for nonmembers. For the second half of the interview, please become a member: http://thegodabovegod.com/members/subscription-levels/ More information on Celene: https://www.westarinstitute.org/membership/westar-fellows/fellows-directory/celene-lillie/ Get Celene’s book (and support him and Abraxas): https://amzn.to/2GyHBaA Download these and all other shows: http://thegodabovegod.com/ Become a patron and keep this Red Pill Cafeteria open: https://www.patreon.com/aeonbyte ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIozvF7AnhA

The Cathars are known as the greatest heresy of the Middle Ages, perhaps in all of western culture. Yet new scholarship reveals that the Cathars never existed. They were a fabrication and projection of both heresy hunters and romance hunters. We deeply understand one of the greatest historical mistakes in all times, as well as how it forces much of medieval history to be completely rewritten, including that of Christianity...and Gnosticism and Occultism as well. Astral Guest—Mark Gregory Pegg, author of The Corruption of Angels and A Most Holy War b ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4-imkYbPWw

One the preeminent figures in understanding the Occult is Colin Wilson. Some of his books, like The Outsider and The Occult, are canonical when it comes to Western Esoteric studies. His voice helped usher in the cultural revolution of the 1960s. Wilson followed this intelligent, meticulous and unprecedented exploration of individualism and creativity with several more books over the next decades—ranging from mystical experience to the psychology of crime. A new biography mines deep into profound insights and legacy of Wilson; and so we do as we comprehend the psychic and spiritual revolution of an august individual who parallels the counterculture ethos of the ancient Gnostics. Astral Guest—Gary Lachman, author of Beyond the Robot Download/listen to this and all other shows: http://thegodabovegod.com/ More info on Gary Lachman: https://garylachman.co.uk/ Become a Patron of Aeon Byte: https://www.patreon.com/aeonbyte ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNduJISpNuE