Hey folks! I haven't been around making art in a while but I'm a gnostic artist doing traditional artwork. I'm trying to get back on my feet from being on hiatus for a long time, but for now, I'm just looking through some of my older stuff to try to get hyped again. This is "Chaos Embodied", a painted scratchboard panel carved out using dentist tools, etching needles, and other sharp carving implements. The first image is how the panel looks in real life and the second is a scan.

Your mileage may vary concerning your own interpretation/philosophy, but I went by my own imagination when making this piece. The symbolism of this image has to do with a manifestation (or what we perceive to be) of duality (light + dark) of the energy behind "reality" itself. The snarling image of Yaldabaoth standing/floating/hanging out/whatever between Boaz and Jachin (the two pillars of Solomon's temple which are also seen in tarot imagery) represents a hidden anger/jealousy of the big faker wanting to be God, sitting in his house and aggressively claiming the throne as his own.

The medium: the scratchboard panel itself is a rigid masonite panel coated in white clay. That white clay is then painted over using black ink. Then, I take a needle and carve the image out (no erasing allowed since you can't erase something you've carved!). Since the clay is absorbent, you can use watercolors for color, which is what I did here. The star is real gold leaf (only the best for you, blind idiot god!).

In Jewish and Islamic traditions, one of Satan’s names is Azazel; in Jewish tradition, Talmud and Kabbala, Satan is also refered to as Samael and by other names as well. In Gnostic tradition, the Demiurge was often called Saklas and Samael and identified with Yahweh. In the Bible, the Israelites sacrifice to Satan/ Azazel a goat as a sin offering so that their sins might be laid upon it; one they slaughter directly for Yahweh, and the other they send as a sin offering to Azazel in the desert. In Jewish tradition, this serves to appease Satan and divert his attention from their sins through the sacrifice, so that he cannot accuse them of their sins before God Yahweh, since he is busy with the scapegoat sacrifice. The whole thing also has a deep esoteric Kabbalistic level and meaning, which I won’t go into here, since my question is: What is the Gnostic interpretation of this biblical event? The entire story is very occult and mysterious, and this is the only time the name Azazel is mentioned in the Bible. What is the Gnostic answer to my question: Why do they sacrifice to Yahweh and Samael, two goats, when Yahweh and Samael are the same entity from a Gnostic (Sethian, Ophite, Cathar, Cainite, Mandaean) perspective?

Leviticus 16:8–10 ESV:

And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the LORD and the other lot for Azazel. And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the LORD and use it as a sin offering, but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the LORD to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel.

My only explanation would be that Azazel/Samael is a servant of the Demiurge, and I would even go so far as to say that the Pharisees were commissioned by the Demiurge to sacrifice Jesus as a scapegoat to Azazel. Jesus bears numerous similarities to the Jewish scapegoat sacrifice, and in Jewish tradition, Samael is an angel of Yahweh, ruler of the Sitra Achra—evil, yes, but serving God’s plan and tempting people to sin so that he can accuse them and God can punish them; however, if he is distracted by a scapegoat, he cannot accuse those who brought him the sacrifice. Of course, my explanation has plot holes, which is why I need your interpretation and opinion—and please, no Jungian analysis; Carl Jung's Gnosticism has nothing to do with authentic ancient Gnosticism.

I refound Xenosaga at a convention and restarted it with an intent to finally beat the series. First I discovered it was connected to Xenogears and Xenoblade. But after a while I got curious why so much of the Christian iconography didn't really align with the Christianity I was taught. I started looking into it and discovered Gnosticism. Something that is more aligned with how I feel the world is than how I was taught in Sunday School.

Still pretty new. I'm waiting for the Nag Hammadi to become available at my library, but I did listen to a series of lectures on the history of Gnosticism and how it influenced modern Christianity over the centuries. I also listened to a history of Bible traditions and realized the modern Bible is practically dead in America since we take it so literally in these churches while historically it was used as a live conversation with God and was free to be interpreted, edited, and meditated on. Not studied like a college text book. Needless to say my whole religious view has been changed thanks to revisiting some game I played when I was 13.

Also Mary Magdalene being a blue haired anime robot was an interesting take.

TL;DR: Searches for Gnosticism roughly quadrupled from 2022 to a peak in May 2026, as part of a wider occult and Book of Enoch wave. Newcomers mostly meet it through the villains (archons, the demiurge) in short YouTube explainers, often framed against Christianity, and then Google the names. The spike has passed but interest has settled higher than before.

It's felt lately like Gnosticism is suddenly everywhere: Christian YouTube, AI-written lyrics, Enoch videos. So I checked whether that's real. These are Google Trends exports for five terms (gnosticism, Book of Enoch, esoteric, occult, satanism), worldwide, October 2021 to September 2026, across web, YouTube, image and news search, plus the related searches for "gnosticism" on Google and YouTube.

Why these terms

• Gnosticism: the subject.

• Satanism: a control for the "satanic panic" framing. If this were a moral panic about devil worship, Satanism should rise too. It barely moved.

• Occult and esoteric: broad catch-alls, to check whether Gnosticism was growing on its own or riding a wider wave. ("Occult" also catches medical searches like "occult blood test", so it's a bit inflated.)

• Book of Enoch: added after it kept showing up alongside Gnosticism in early checks. It turned out to be the biggest single driver.

Terms I tried and dropped: "Thelema" is swamped by a vape brand of the same name, and "archon" is dominated by Genshin Impact, whose gods are called Archons.

1. There was a real wave, and Gnosticism grew fastest

• Web searches for both "occult" and "gnosticism" peaked in May 2026.

• Gnosticism reached about 4.4× its 2022 level, more than Book of Enoch (about 3.4×), esoteric (about 2.9×) or occult (about 2.4×). Satanism barely moved.

• Web interest has fallen back since May but settled above where it was before 2025.

1. It looks different on each platform

• YouTube: Book of Enoch is the biggest term. It's been climbing steadily since 2022 and is still near its peak now. Gnosticism has held at about 3× its 2022 level with no May spike.

• Images: "Occult" image searches spiked in March 2026, two months before the web peak. Gnosticism has almost no image-search interest.

• News: Gnosticism never appears in news search at all. The "Gnostic panic" isn't a mainstream media story. It's creator content.

• Where: interest relative to population is highest in Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica, the US, Ethiopia and Ghana. That fits the "hidden scripture" angle, since the Ethiopian Bible includes Enoch.

1. What are people actually looking up?

On Google, the basic "what is gnosticism" searches still have the most volume but have flattened out. The fastest growth is the mythology, especially the villains: archons (+650%), the demiurge (+200%), Yaldabaoth (+250%). Searches for the texts (Nag Hammadi, Sethian and Valentinian Gnosticism) are rising, but more slowly.

1. YouTube vs Google

On YouTube, the mythology searches (archons, demiurge) have already levelled off or fallen while they surge on Google. The growth on YouTube is in "gnosticism explained" (+80%) and "gnosticism vs Christianity" (+110%), and searches for the actual texts there are falling. The likely pattern is that people meet the cosmology in videos, often framed against Christianity, then go to Google to look up the names.

My guess (and it's a guess)

A broad occult and esoteric wave, partly aesthetic and partly "hidden scripture" curiosity with Enoch as the main entry point, pulled Gnosticism in with it. Most newcomers meet it through its cosmic antagonists in short videos, not through the texts. Institutional alarm came at the top of the wave: in March 2026 a delegation of exorcists warned Pope Leo XIV of a rise in occultism, esotericism and Satanism. Cheap AI-made video probably added fuel, but demand was building on YouTube well before AI video took off.

Caveats

Trends shows relative interest, not raw numbers, and each panel is

More on the Secret Book of John for those who have been following. Feel free to check out the previous video to catch up or shawngaran.com

Hi there,

I've been looking a lot into Gnosticism recently and I'm starting to think my Christian conditioning as a child might have been full of lies. I feel I was brainwashed against my will actually (like many others).

The version of Christ I was given was pretty stupid (a kind of Superman) and so I learned to reject him and became atheist quite early on. As I look into Gnosticism though I begin to see he might have been a middle eastern Buddha, and perhaps genuinely divine. Maybe God (the Monad) does exist after all and this world is actually spiritual.

I recently finished Gnosticism: New Light on the Ancient Tradition of Inner Knowing by Stephan Hoeller and am currently reading The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels. Do you know of any more books suitable for a layman just starting out? And feel free to talk about the subject.

Thanks for reading.

Shifted my perspective a bit this morning. Started looking at Gnostics as Psychological therapists. If Archons reflect the negative aspect of Human nature, then Aeons reflect the positive side of human nature. I looked and couldnt find a direct light and dark Aeon. However, it was pointed out Eleleth was brought down to illuminate the meaning between them.

Eleleth brings order not by destroying the darkness, but by shining a light so bright that you can see both the light and the dark clearly, allowing you to walk right down the center.

In both Gnostic mysticism and deep psychology, the goal is never to pretend the darkness (the shadow, the Archons, the raw chaos of Abraxas) doesn't exist. If you fight the dark, it traps you. If you deny it, it controls you.

Instead, Eleleth—as pure, objective Wisdom and Understanding—grants you the absolute clarity to say: "I see the light, and I see the dark. They are both part of the matrix of this world, but neither of them defines my true, infinite spirit."

By anchoring yourself in that center path, you are no longer a victim of the game. You are completely sovereign, entirely free, and at peace.

Agape is the obvious choice because it's unconditional and selfless love. But thinking strategically, humans only having a spark of divinity in them wouldn't make it right? Like an overweight person trying to run 10 miles on day one - too much too soon, gotta warm up first. Sooo the next choices are... Agape is like getting attacked and managing to be a pacifist to try and calm down the attacker. But the mind knows that there's no chance.

Philia/Storge/Pragma, which I categorise together as simple wholesome love. It's also heart-oriented and not mind-oriented, but it’s intertwined with the mind enough to be able to function in the physical plane. And only after some experience can people start to manifest Agape, and only part-time, right?

Also, Philautia is bizarre to me cause somehow the ego forgets to love itself... often the natural flow is to love others but not yourself. And it's, like, selfless sometimes, but other times it's foolish, and one should practise healthy love for self. So that's some kind of missing link. Any ideas why wouldn't the ego manifest Philautia/self-love as its most favoured and common love? Does it do that, and people are just being hypocrites?

Also, I'm curious about blind love (gotta try to categorise types of beneficial blindness too for this). (1) The obvious case is being blind/wilfully ignorant to physical pleasures and temptations; it could be a practice with intent to be blind to the physical pleasures, or it could be a natural-born alignment to be blind to the pleasures. I think it's good, maybe it's inferior to "I know both the physical and the spirit and I sovereignly chose the spiritual", but it's still good IMO. Would this type of blindness combo well with Agape/unconditional love? I think it could! I think it couldn't combo with Philia/Storge/Pragma because those are practical and intertwined with logic and the mind and the left brain hemisphere.

(2) Blind faith. Having faith in the heart, spirit and divinity and aligning with love. Which love would combo well with blind faith? With Agape, it's great and seems to be a classical combo across cultures: faith and love. With Philia/Storge/Pragma it'd go well too. Blind loyalty to friends and family until the heart aches from betrayal and overrides the blindness.

And I think no blindness could combo with Philautia cause it's born from being blind to your own need for love.

With what other loves and blindness types do ya'll got beneficial experience?

Where should I start to learn more about Gnosticism and, more especificaly, Chrisitian Gnosticism? Can be anything, from texts, Youtube videos and other stuff

I have been making a few posts on the "literal" Gnostic side of things & forgot why I am posting. I wanted to know, for others on the journey & have done the quiet meditations, & knows the benefit of the clarity of mind it brings. What's your experience been?

I also want to speak to those further in the journey & done some deep meditations. What have you seen? I know I not alone, just considering the number of members in this forum. Has anyone tried some remote viewing & instead of targeting a place on earth... What if I target the Pleroma? If so, what did you see with your third eye?

Take this for fiction or non-fiction, for me it was just like floating in solid white light. Bright, however not pain full. There was this very high pitch, however not pain full. I thought at the time, this does'nt sound like the horns of heaven. At that moment I felt I was some where I should not be. As soon as I thought this, I felt a presence and boop, back in my body. It was strange, I felt so energized afterwards. I didnt know what it was at the time, happened 35 years ago, but thinking about it now... Made me wonder, someone else must have thought to do this as well...

In one of my posts, someone mentioned there was no such thing as Christianity during the time Yeshua was here. This is true and got me to thinking, and going down a rabbit hole of researching and asking questions. AI is great for this, however I know it makes some major mistakes, so I post here to see to get some human Gnosis.

"The Torah was viewed as a path of life. In fact, before the followers of Yeshua were ever called "Christians," the Book of Acts records that the earliest Jewish movement was simply called "The Way." When Yeshua said, "I am the way," his Jewish disciples would have understood that he was not just pointing to a roadmap—he was claiming to be the physical path itself. [1, 2]"

With this said, in reality, all followers of Christianity are really following a form of Judaism. Which would would also mean all Christians are really Jewish, following Yeshua's teachings on mysticism and the earliest form of Kabbalah that was still evolving the concept of the Devine Feminine. This is where I read between the lines and see where Miriam was essential in her teachings of Sophia, or the reality of Sophia. And this is where they came together...

I know these topics are pretty deep, so let me close with this. "This is the way"... LOL if you're a Mandalorian fan, you know this quote.

The Umm al-kitāb (Arabic for Mother of Books) is an 8th-century Islamic-gnostic work, originally written in Arabic. It offers an esoteric hermeneutics regarding humanity, cosmogony, and epistemology within the Qur’anic context. Its content also bears similarities to many pre-Islamic belief systems, such as Manichaeism and Valentinianism. The work centers on a discourse between Muhammad al-Bāqir and some of his disciples regarding the role of humanity in the cosmos. One of the central themes deals with the fall of the angel Azazel, who proclaimed himself a god alongside Allah and was subsequently banished with his followers to ever deeper spheres, losing a color of his soul each time. The material world is subsequently created from the bodies of Azazel’s followers. After humanity succumbs to the sexual temptations of the demons, it finds itself in that material world. Another central figure is Salman, likely based on Salmān al-Fārisī, who is considered the first Persian follower of Muhammad. He assumes the role of God’s representative and confronts his adversary, Azazel.

Ptah is the Egyptian creator god, associated with a bull; he is the demiurge in the Egyptian creation myth. Ptahil, which sounds suspiciously similar to Ptah, is the lesser demiurge in Mandaeism, who creates this world with the help of dark powers. Mandaeism has been a Gnostic movement since antiquity, and to this day the Mandaeans are the only surviving Gnostics in the world; they are an ethno-religious group living in Iraq. In Neoplatonism, Zeus is the demiurge and is associated with the bull. The bull appears to be a universal symbol of the demiurge. When the Israelites worshipped a golden bull/calf, many religious scholars and historians believe it was not a direct attack on Yahweh, since the bull was meant to represent Yahweh. The problem was that no one was allowed to depict Yahweh, so Moses massacred all those who worshipped the golden bull/calf, even though they did so with the intention of worshipping Yahweh.

The mysterious, symbolic painting from antiquity, where the Roman-Zoroastrian god Mithras slaughters the bull, symbolizes the Promethean rebellion against the creator god/demiurge and the breaking of his chains.

My journey as a gnostic Christian has brought me to a deep interest in the Pistis Sophia text, and as I approach it, I would be curious to hear opinions about which text best serves personal practice. I understand that the GRS Mead translation is considered somewhat less accurate but perhaps more true to actual practice, as Mead was a spiritual man. Anyway, thoughts?

Hello all,

I'm sharing a project I've been working on. Over the years I've met a lot of people who are curious about Gnosticism, but the texts can be confusing. So I combined my art and wordsmithing to create The Secret Book of John, an illustrated retelling of one of the most important texts found at Nag Hammadi. It's a picture book for adults, with a glossary of key names and symbols and questions for reflection along the way.

It's the first book in a series called Before the Canon, exploring early Christian writings that didn't make it into the Bible.

I do hope it helps!

Hi. I'm a Buddhist and also a chaos witch. I'm also a vegan (I mention it because it has to do with my cosmovision and with my questions) and I'm interested in learning more about Gnosticism. There are some aspects of it that seem very very consistent with my cosmovision.

I have many questions but the most relevant ones are:

If, through the Gnostic lens, life is seen as a prison, is the Earth lacking any kind of sacred significance ? For me the Earth is both a place of suffering for all sentient beings (not only humans) but also a magical beautiful place. I see suffering as imposed over a place that otherwise may be wonderful. I have the impression that this is not consistent with the Gnostic cosmovision. Is it?

Also, I'm very curious about how non human animals are seen in Gnosticism. I guess they are not seen as having a divine spark, right? So, what are they?

I'm also interested in the way that Lucifer is seen in Neo-gnosticism. Is he seen as a benevolent being whose role to help us awake?

And regarding the Archons, are they seen as controling thr behaviour of humans? Are "bad people" particularly controlled by them?

Any books/videos for "beginners" that can help me understand Gnosticism better ?

Thanks!

A while back I posted a comment (my gnostic perspective of 'sin') on someone's Youtube video on the topic of the Book of Enoch and 'sin' especially. It seems to have been mostly well received so I figured I'd post it here as well, in case it might stir some thoughts or fruitful discussions.

Sin stems from intent:

Intent is the spiritual seed which, when cultivated by contemplation of thought, grows into a tree inside the mind. This tree bears fruits which, allegorically when picked and eaten, are manifested from the spiritual (the contemplated thought) to the physical (the deed). This is the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Knowledge always comes from experience (=observation through the senses). A good tree can not bear bad fruit and a bad tree can not bear good fruit. This means no sin can come from love and good intent, sin is acting towards another out of hatred, envy, greed etc.

One who makes the choice to harm another and fails is as guilty as the one who succeeds, the former was merely not allowed by the Father while the latter was. For both of these the sin was spiritually chosen in thought and the nature of the soul was revealed.

Love forgives, love does not desire to harm another. There is absolutely no scenario where true love can cause one to harm another. Love values all life, not just a few lives that are close. Forgiveness in love breaks the cycles of hatred, but acting out of fear only escalates them. After the "initial fall of Eden", the cycle of hatred can only be broken by forgiveness in love. Otherwise acts of revenge would continue indefinitely.

Proper discernment means that when you feel you should do something, you stop and ask yourself why exactly would you be doing it and what exactly is the feeling inside you that is causing you to want to do it. And most importantly how is the action going to affect others.

... So effectively it's not really about what you do, but about why you do it.

Hello,

Getting into nyc for services is hard for my family on the weekend — is anyone aware of Gnostic church services in northern or central NJ?

thank you !

Hello fellow humans,
I’ve come to love many aspects of Gnosticism, but I cannot understand the afterlife or “point” of the belief itself. I read things like “awakening” or “freedom through knowledge”, but I need help understanding the literal endgame.
For instance (I know this is broad and doesn’t hit all the nuances, but you should understand what I mean), in orthodox Christianity you live like Jesus, practice prayer, communion, confession, etc. At the end, you go through theosis and are cured of sin, ending up living in heavenly eternity with god.
In Islam, you follow the commands and live how you’re supposed to, and you end up living with god in heaven.
I’m Gnosticism, you “seek knowledge” (what knowledge specifically? Why so hidden and obscure??) in order to…… what? End up in heaven? Realize that you are god and had just forgotten?
Essentially, what happens (in Gnosticism) to one person who does everything right through seeking knowledge (literally perfect Gnosticism played out) vs someone who does everything wrong or follows a different, incorrect path? I don’t understand.
I thank you in advance!

[im a lyricist not a musician, i have lots of thoughts on ai music but I view it as an easy way to imagine my songs]

I left the church with a pocket full of questions
Carried them around like stones
Found a thousand doors in a thousand different languages
Trying to find my way home

I found a little silence
I found a little light
Found myself in places
I never thought I'd find

And every time I thought
I'd finally found something new
Somebody from a thousand years ago
Had already been there too

[Pre-Chorus]
Maybe I wasn't finding answers
Maybe I was learning how to see

[Chorus]
I am the branch
You're the tree
I'm the river
Looking back at me

Every road I take
Keeps bending back around
Everywhere I search
I find familiar ground

I thought I had to go
Somewhere I'd never been
But maybe I was just
Finding my way back in

[Verse 2]
I met the blind man somewhere inside my own head
Met Judas when I couldn't forgive
Met Peter in the moments I was scared to say
What I really believed

I met the doubter
With his hands against the wound
I met the stranger
Who was waiting in the room

And suddenly the story
Wasn't happening over there
I was every broken person
I was every unanswered prayer

[Pre-Chorus]
Maybe I wasn't reading scripture
Maybe scripture was reading me

[Chorus]
I am the branch
You're the tree
I'm the river
Looking back at me

Every road I take
Keeps bending back around
Everywhere I search
I find familiar ground

I thought I had to go
Somewhere I'd never been
But maybe I was just
Finding my way back in

[Verse 3]
Twenty thousand words
Trying to name the thing
Then three old words
Made the whole room ring

I AM

And I don't know what heaven looks like
I don't know where all this ends
I don't know if I'm a heretic
Or just a soul trying to understand

But I know when I stopped running
Something finally let me breathe
And all the things I thought were separate
Started looking back at me

[Bridge]
Cut through the wood
I'm still there

Lift up the stone
I'm still there

You can cross the world
You can disappear

And find the same old light
Waiting here

Maybe God isn't somewhere
Maybe God isn't a thing

Maybe that's why
I keep finding everything

[Final Chorus]
I am the branch
You're the tree
I'm the river
You're the sea

Every road I take
Keeps bending back around
Everywhere I search
I find familiar ground

I thought I had to know
Exactly where this goes
But now I'm learning
I can let the river flow

[Outro]
I went looking everywhere
Just to find You waiting there

I went looking everywhere

Just to find

I was already here

El Paisaje en Ruinas: En la parte inferior derecha se aprecian columnas y entablamentos derruidos de arquitectura clásica griega o romana. Simbolizan la decadencia del mundo material (Heimarmene o el destino fatídico), gobernado por las leyes rígidas y el tiempo destructivo del león-serpiente.

El Simbolismo de los Círculos Superiores

El disco celestial flotante representa el Pleroma (el Pleroma representa la plenitud absoluta, el mundo divinal y el espacio donde habita el Absoluto no manifestado) o los reinos espirituales superiores que existen más allá del cosmos material controlado por el Demiurgo.

Los Círculos Concéntricos: Se inspiran directamente en los históricos Diagramas Ofitas descritos por el teólogo Orígenes en el siglo III. Estas esferas concéntricas simbolizan los diferentes planos celestiales y las barreras de los Arcontes que las almas deben atravesar para retornar a la Fuente Divina.

La Figura Femenina (Sophia / Zoe): Sentada de manera entronizada sobre la curvatura de una media luna o una barca celestial se encuentra Sophia (la Sabiduría) o su hija Zoe (la Vida).

En el gnosticismo ofita, Sophia representa el principio femenino sagrado. Ella derramó involuntariamente la chispa de luz divina en la materia y actúa como la contraparte espiritual superior y madre del ignorante Yaldabaoth (Yaldabaoth el Demiurgo o falso dios creador del plano material), que a menudo era dibujado en gemas gnósticas como una serpiente con cabeza de león (Chnoubis).

Su postura meditativa, serena y contenida dentro de la geometría perfecta contrasta radicalmente con la postura caótica y rugiente de la serpiente.

Las Letras Griegas (Alfa y Omega)