Theos-Talk Archives (September 2004 Message tt00339)

Gregory,
Thanks for your kind comments and the additional information you give. It 
is an interesting perspective and I am sure it will be most interesting to 
read relating to a unique vein of the reappearance of the Gnostic in the Western 
Peoples. Do you trace the groups you mention to leFevbre?

When I lived in Hollywood I had a couple of Gnostic mentors that got me 
interested in the topic, one was a man named "Andy" who was also a Theosophist 
and a Member of the Pasadena Lodge. The other was a close neighbor and friend 
of Andy's whose name was Chapman. They made cryptic references to "The Duke of 
Palatine" from time to time.
My exposure to the Gnostic in LA was meeting Dr. Stephen Hoeller, at that 
time he had a very small Church in a low income part of LA on the near west 
side, it could hold about 50 people. He once let me have a copy of their 
"Liturgy" they used at their services.
One remarkable person I was impressed by was a "Bishop" in his Church from 
the No. Cal. area, San Jose I think, a lady named Rosa Miller. I attended a 
Lecture she gave and was stunned to hear her context of speech and word form. 
The Lecture was about the Gnostic Light. I was aware of a special energy she 
exhibited as she spoke and the usage and manner of her terms and words could 
only be found coming from "One Who Knows" through a direct experience of the 
Noetic Light. 
Perhaps the Gnostic impetus in the modern era could be due to a general 
unfullfillment of Catholics that came to arrive over the advance into the 
Industrial Age and a weariness with the Church of Rome from a perspective of an 
inner desire to experience more in the Mystical sense of Spirituality that 
presages the discovery of the Nag Hammadhi Library. I always have valued G. R. s. 
Mead's "Fragments of a Faith Forgotten" and His "Echoes of the Gnosis" series as 
well as his other contributions on the Gnostics. 
Well, as far as being "Bishops" outside of any mainstream Church, in the 
Pistis Sophia the Bishops (Guides of souls) when receiving the souls of the 
departed of the Earth, they perform the function of binding them, removing their 
memories, and then sending then down once again into new receptacles. So 
perhaps in this sense of "Guide of souls" they appropiate the function for 
themselves individually. 

I hope you can find the time to finish your work in this mentioned area, 
it sounds like it will be a significant contribution that so many could benefit 
from.

My best wishes and regards,
John


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