Happy New Year

Okay, it's late June, but I must shamefacedly admit that this is my first blog post of 2008. The good news is that I've been busy. Near the beginning of the year I completed The Gnostics: History Tradition Scriptures Influence. This is a full introduction to Gnosticism. the first half of the book looks at the ancient Gnostics, their writings, practices, their spiritual psychology, their variety, origins and demise. Then I follow the Gnostic legacy, taking in the Manichaeans and Mandaeans, the Cathars and, Bogomils and Paulicians, Gnostic-ish movements in other religions, and the modern revival of interest in gnosticism. The book is published by Watkins/Duncan Baird and will come out in October. http://www.dbponline.co.uk/book_preview.asp?b_id=577

I've also just completed a dictionary of Gnosticism, (as I like to call it, but it will probably be called A Guidebook to Gnosticism) for Quest. This is the first comprehensive dictionary of Gnosticism, and it provides a thorough guide to Gnostic terms and also covers most of the related movements and concepts. It's the sort of book that I wished that I had access to when I began to study the Gnostics. I'll still have some work to do once I receive feedback from my editor, Richard Smoley, and it will be out spring 2009.

I'm also editing and publishing a new magazine The Gnostic (I told you that I had been busy), a journal of Gnosticism and Esotericism which will be out in the next few weeks. The first issue is going to be massive and brilliant, and a lot of talented people, both famous and unknown, have contributed to it. More soon...

Mandaean Petition

I'm passing on a petition to help the Mandaeans, the last historical Gnostic-related community, achieve refugee status. They are suffering severe persecutuin during the current chaos in Iraq.

From John Bolender:

Dear all:

At this site, you will find a petition addressed to US Sec. of State Rice concerning granting asylum to Mandaeans as a community. In order to see the petition, you will have to click the link marked "letter," which I admit is rather small and easy to miss. I urge you to sign the petition and to spread the word to others to do likewise. Thank you very much.

John

William Blake's 250th Birthday

Today is the 250th birthday of William Blake, and there are a few articles in the British newspapers about him:-


Guardian Unlimited: Arts blog - books: Blakean visions in south London
Guardian Unlimited | Comment is free | Face to faith
Fresh finds unveil Blake's mystic world | UK News | The Observer
Blake power - Times Online

Blake really was a Gnostic. His works inverted and subverted conventional religion, he used creative mythology to express his views of the world and mankind, and above all, he was concerned with personal spiritual experience--Gnosis. He could only have come across ancient Gnostic doctrine in encyclopedias or in the Hermetica or possibly in heresiological accounts, but this was enough for him to recreate the Gnostic myth in a new form, and to live it.

Dublin and Stephen Emmel on the Gospel of Judas

Well, I, my wife and son, and Bardic Press too, have moved to Dublin, Ireland. We've been here for about two and a half weeks, and we're still easing ourselves in to life here. If anyone living in Dublin who is interested in Gnosticism either from a personal or a scholarly viewpoint would like to meet up with me for a pint, please contact me through this blog or through andrew@bardic-press.com.

On Thursday I shall be going to see Stephen Emmel lecture on the Gospel of Judas. The details are here, though it looks like it's already booked up.



http://www.ria.ie/events/emmel-discourse.html

"Summary
In the early years of Christianity, bishops and emperors did their best to eradicate heretical teachings. Among the Church’s most threatening opponents were the Gnostics, whose dark and secret wisdom was passed on orally from teacher to student or handed down in apocryphal and apocalyptic books, most of which have been lost since late antiquity. In 2006, The Gospel of Judas was published, with sensational headlines worldwide. What is the meaning of this unusual early Christian literature? And why does it survive almost exclusively in the language of Egypt?"

"FRAGMENTS OF A LOST GNOSTIC POEM OF THE TWELFTH CENTURY" by Melville

FRAGMENTS OF A LOST GNOSTIC POEM OF THE TWELFTH CENTURY

by: Herman Melville (1819-1891)

Found a family, build a state,
The pledged event is still the same:
Matter in end will never abate
His ancient brutal claim.

Indolence is heaven's ally here,
And energy the child of hell:
The Good Man pouring from his pitcher clear
But brims the poisoned well.

Gnostic Writings ont he Soul on Coffee, Cigarettes and Gnosis

Miguel Conner interviewed me on my latest book, Gnostic Writings on the Soul: Annotated & Explained. The interview will be broadcast Sunday June 24. See http://thegodabovegod.com

"The Hymn of The Pearl & The Exegisis of the Soul. Two of the most important and beautiful Nag Hammadi Scriptures dealing with the fall of the soul. Mythic themes and cosmology that doesn’t just deal with the Gnostic version of the fall but is also our story. Astral Guest: Andrew Philip Smith author of ‘Gnostic Writings on the Soul’, ‘The Gospel of Philip: Annotated and Explained’ & ‘The Gospel of Thomas: A New Translation Based on the Inner Meaning’."

The Gospel of Judas, Critical Edition: Together with the Letter of Peter to Phillip, James, and a Book of Allogenes from Codex Tchacos

Amazon.com has finally listed The Gospel of Judas, Critical Edition: Together with the Letter of Peter to Phillip, James, and a Book of Allogenes from Codex Tchacos.
384 pages, and reduced from $45 to $29.70.

"For the first time in a single volume, discover the complete text of Codex Tchacos—the remarkable ancient papyrus book that contains the Gospel of Judas. Hidden for 1,600 years in an Egyptian cave, only to be found, traded, and all but destroyed before its restoration began in 2001, Codex Tchacos contains four texts that shed important light on the ancient world and the emergence of Christianity.

Featuring beautifully rendered, full-color photographs of the original papyrus pages alongside the Coptic text and its English translation, this critical edition provides everything needed for a full examination of the Codex. The Letter of Peter to Philip provides a mystical, Gnostic picture of Jesus; the text entitled James presents Jesus discussing the meaning of life and death with his brother James; the Gospel of Judas casts a new light on Judas' betrayal; and the previously unknown book of Allogenes, though fragmentary, portrays Jesus as a stranger who brings light to a world of darkness. Ideal for the scholar and layperson alike, these texts are published here by an international team of scholars and supplemented by insightful introductions, indices, and other revealing, explanatory essays."