Thanks for this and looking forward to the next segment. Yes, a resurgence of gnosticism has been percolating in the culture for some time now, and has been manifesting in pop culture via books like Byrne's The Secret, and the new spiritual fads like Wicca and transhuman movements. The idea is that armed with the correct knowledge (gnosis) imparted by an elite knower (influencer) one can rise above the restraints of mere physical reality. This is implicit in the idea that it is possible to transcend the imposed sex assigned at birth and become what you want.
All of the world's major religions as well as many if not most indigenous religions start with claims by the religion's founders and/or followers that he/she received revelations of secret knowledge from divine presences. In most or all of these stories, the revelations occurred when the founder was engaged in ascetic practices, including extended fasts in wilderness areas, days or weeks of uninterrupted meditation, use of psychedelic drugs, prolonged dancing to rhythmic music (drumming), and/or acts of "mortification" of the body (self-flagellation). The context of the revelations is in most or all religions reported as a dream, a waking vision, or some other altered state of consciousness induced by the practices just listed.
For many adherents of these religions, the ecstatic experiences described by "saints," "gurus," "prophets," etc. are the primary draw to membership. As it turns out, it is difficult or impossible to achieve the states of mind necessary to produce these experiences without entering a monastery where the cultivation of such states is the primary focus. Religions that require ascetic practices and monastic lifestyles tend to die out within a generation or two, so religious leaders who want to establish a permanent church tend to moderate or marginalize "contemplative practices." Even so, contemplative monasticism remained the ideal of the Roman Catholic Church until very recently, and anyone who reads the saints will find a lot of gnostic and ascetic themes in their accounts.
The highs created for at least some practitioners by gnostic/ascetic/contemplative practices are reported to be among the most profound and ecstatic obtainable in human life, and as such, they can become very addicting. Practitioners are disappointed when they discover that what goes up also comes down. They long to remain in these exalted states, and are often taught that the greatest saints actually do/did so. (In Buddhism, highly esteemed teachers are referred to as "Enlightened Beings.")
People who undertake "gender reassignment surgery" do indeed talk about the surgery as a transformative experience very similar to a gnostic initiation rite. I am aware that at least one famous gender surgeon gives her post-surgical patients a necklace with a butterfly pendant symbolizing the emergence of the liberated inner spirit. Because we have so little follow up data on men who have completed surgical transitions, I can only guess that many of these patients must have to navigate some type of let down experience subsequently. How they adapt to coming down from the high they anticipated and perhaps felt probably influences the degree to which they regret or do not regret their choice to transition, or whether they move on to other extreme strategies to achieve a similar sense of being reborn as someone else.
Quite; revision surgeries can be addictive for some people, not all of whom are transgender. Obviously there's a strong confirmation bias in post-treatment evaluation, by both patients and surgeons, because the alternative is that horrible mistakes have been made.
I feel truly sorry for people who go through invasive medical and surgical interventions to discover that gender euphoria doesn't always last.
Indeed! The entire psychological situation of gender distressed people is very unfortunate, and deserving of compassion, no matter what harms the trans activists perpetrate on other people.
Saint Irenaeus pretty much already exposed everything about Gnosticism inside and out almost 2000 years ago. And yet not only is Gnosticism extremely popular again nowadays, but they still act as if they had all these big enticing secrets.
Thanks for the comment, Mr Goldstein. It's fascinating to me that the same old ideas can be sold as 'new' again and again to unsuspecting people. The fewer people read the source material, the more easily they are persuaded.
Thanks for this and looking forward to the next segment. Yes, a resurgence of gnosticism has been percolating in the culture for some time now, and has been manifesting in pop culture via books like Byrne's The Secret, and the new spiritual fads like Wicca and transhuman movements. The idea is that armed with the correct knowledge (gnosis) imparted by an elite knower (influencer) one can rise above the restraints of mere physical reality. This is implicit in the idea that it is possible to transcend the imposed sex assigned at birth and become what you want.
Thanks for the comment, Tim! Part two will cover how C.G. Jung worked Gnostic and alchemical belief into psychotherapy.
All of the world's major religions as well as many if not most indigenous religions start with claims by the religion's founders and/or followers that he/she received revelations of secret knowledge from divine presences. In most or all of these stories, the revelations occurred when the founder was engaged in ascetic practices, including extended fasts in wilderness areas, days or weeks of uninterrupted meditation, use of psychedelic drugs, prolonged dancing to rhythmic music (drumming), and/or acts of "mortification" of the body (self-flagellation). The context of the revelations is in most or all religions reported as a dream, a waking vision, or some other altered state of consciousness induced by the practices just listed.
For many adherents of these religions, the ecstatic experiences described by "saints," "gurus," "prophets," etc. are the primary draw to membership. As it turns out, it is difficult or impossible to achieve the states of mind necessary to produce these experiences without entering a monastery where the cultivation of such states is the primary focus. Religions that require ascetic practices and monastic lifestyles tend to die out within a generation or two, so religious leaders who want to establish a permanent church tend to moderate or marginalize "contemplative practices." Even so, contemplative monasticism remained the ideal of the Roman Catholic Church until very recently, and anyone who reads the saints will find a lot of gnostic and ascetic themes in their accounts.
The highs created for at least some practitioners by gnostic/ascetic/contemplative practices are reported to be among the most profound and ecstatic obtainable in human life, and as such, they can become very addicting. Practitioners are disappointed when they discover that what goes up also comes down. They long to remain in these exalted states, and are often taught that the greatest saints actually do/did so. (In Buddhism, highly esteemed teachers are referred to as "Enlightened Beings.")
People who undertake "gender reassignment surgery" do indeed talk about the surgery as a transformative experience very similar to a gnostic initiation rite. I am aware that at least one famous gender surgeon gives her post-surgical patients a necklace with a butterfly pendant symbolizing the emergence of the liberated inner spirit. Because we have so little follow up data on men who have completed surgical transitions, I can only guess that many of these patients must have to navigate some type of let down experience subsequently. How they adapt to coming down from the high they anticipated and perhaps felt probably influences the degree to which they regret or do not regret their choice to transition, or whether they move on to other extreme strategies to achieve a similar sense of being reborn as someone else.
Quite; revision surgeries can be addictive for some people, not all of whom are transgender. Obviously there's a strong confirmation bias in post-treatment evaluation, by both patients and surgeons, because the alternative is that horrible mistakes have been made.
I feel truly sorry for people who go through invasive medical and surgical interventions to discover that gender euphoria doesn't always last.
Indeed! The entire psychological situation of gender distressed people is very unfortunate, and deserving of compassion, no matter what harms the trans activists perpetrate on other people.
Saint Irenaeus pretty much already exposed everything about Gnosticism inside and out almost 2000 years ago. And yet not only is Gnosticism extremely popular again nowadays, but they still act as if they had all these big enticing secrets.
Thanks for the comment, Mr Goldstein. It's fascinating to me that the same old ideas can be sold as 'new' again and again to unsuspecting people. The fewer people read the source material, the more easily they are persuaded.