Gnosis
The word gnosis (from the Greek word for knowledge, γνώσις) has several uses:
Classical meanings
- Among the gnostics, gnosis was the privileged "knowledge of the heart" or "insight" about the spiritual nature of the cosmos, that brought about salvation to the pneumatics - people who believed they could achieve this insight.
- Among heresiologists gnosis denotes different Christian belief systems of esoteric nature, such as, first and foremost, gnosticism and other dualist systems from the 1st and 2nd centuries A.D., but also rosicrucianism, Christian kabbalah etc.
Influences on contemporary culture
- Gnosis is the name of magazine [1] published between 1985 and 1999 in California as a "Journal of the Western Inner Traditions" covering traditions of spirituality and mysticism. It was a project of the Lumen Foundation.
- Among certain modern occult movements, esp. chaos magic, gnosis refers to an altered state of awareness in which the will is "magickally" effective.
- Gnosis is the name of a UK band formed in 2004 [2]. Their eclectic sound blends trip hop beats, rock guitars and female vocals.
- The Gnosis are mysterious alien attackers in the Xenosaga games.
- In the movie series The Matrix, one of the hovercraft is named Gnosis.
Intercultural associations
Gnosis has been associated and often cited as synonmous with terms from numerous cultures and religions:
- enlightenment - Buddhism
- Moksha - Hinduism
- Kingdom of God - Christianity
- body electric - Walt Whitman
- Rapture - Plato (in the sense of esctacy, not the Christian Rapture)