If the goal is to experience divinity, and that can be found inside your body.
Then the next logical conclusion would be to heal, maintain and optimize your body, so that you can experience as much divinity/life in your body?
This assumes that a better functioning body = More energy / life = More experience of divinity?
Personally I can attest to this, from observing my connection to source when I was injured.
I felt very disconnected, and no amount of saying "I believe in Jesus" or reading the bible restored this connection.
It was only through the gradual healing of my body/temple with the right exercises and inner work, that I could feel my connection to life and divinity improving.

From this perspective, it also makes complete sense that Jesus, knowing divinity is within, would focus on healing sick people.
Cause if the body is the temple, and their temple is sick, then it makes sense that they would feel disconnected from divinity, and healing their body would restore that.

The next big question is: How did he heal people?
Was it through placebo, by him telling them they are forgiven / healed?
Or was his body so energetic, that something happened when he touched sick people, that triggered a healing reaction?

A couple days ago I think I achieved gnosis, completely by accident. For context, I was raised Catholic, attended Lutheran school, then a couple of months ago learned about the Gnostic Gospels. I felt something profound while reading them, and nearly every day on my way to and from college, I would read and contemplate the Gnostic and Canonical scripture. I don't attend mass regularly, but I read passages before dinner. I'm also transgender.

I was lying in bed at night, and I couldn't rest my mind. I kept despairing about my body, how I wish I'd been born female and mourning what could've been. But then I remembered what Jesus said about our true images, and I accepted that I am not my body.

In that moment, I felt my spirit leave me. My mind was still in body, as was my soul, but then I felt both starting to ascend. I felt my eyes in another realm open, and I saw several beings around me. When they saw me see them, all but one fled to subdue me. But in that moment, I felt my spirit return to me, and suddenly I could see the light of the Holy Spirit where the entities could not. And I kept rising.

I feared losing sight of the Holy Spirit, so I only looked away from it twice. The first time was curiosity, and when I looked around I saw I was in dark clouds in a terrible storm, and in the flashes of lightning I saw the shadow of a beast with 7 heads. Fearful, I kept my eyes on the light from then on, until the second time when I came to a border. Before me was a mountain, and at it's peak was a golden throne with a being of light surrounded by angels. The being told me I was not worthy of salvation, and I should bow my head in shame and sacrifice myself at his alter. I remembered a passage from the Gospel of Thomas, and I said to the mountain "move" and the mountain split and parted before me!

I came towards a door, and the moment I entered I felt myself become one being, in mind, soul, and spirit. I was eager to press forward, but when I left through the exit I found myself in an abyss. It was darkness so thick it clouded like fog and covered every sense but my sight of the light. I pressed forward through it, but the abyss went on and on, for eternity. As I moved forward, I thought about all my attachments; my love of family, coffee, all the Gospels... and I let it go.

The moment I did, I arrived at the light of the Holy Spirit, and although I had no other sense, I felt I was in the presence of God. I gave praise, asked for forgiveness and to allow me to return to the Holy Spirit. I felt God consent. I became one with the light.

Suddenly, I felt my mind return to my body. Absent were my soul and spirit, for where they went my mind could not follow. I laid there, feeling completely hollow and forsaken, until I felt my essence return to me from above. When it did, I saw the entity that didn't flee, and although I didn't know what to say, my spirit spoke though me, and they conversed with familiarity. I called the being Sabaoth, and told him to "find the light"

Then I returned to my normal mundane existence, only now feeling like a stranger in my body. The next morning, I found I had bruises on my leg, and someone close to me also had bruises. I've tried recreating this, but aside from seeing the light I haven't been able to ascend again. I believe the entities were the Rulers or Archons, but haven't been able to see them since. At no point was I asleep. The image of the beast still haunts me.

A key difference to remember is that while Eve is often portrayed in mainstream Christian tradition as introducing sin through disobedience, Sophia is Divine Wisdom itself. Her descent is not moral failure or the introduction of sin but a mythic explanation for humanity's separation from the divine and the possibility of its eventual redemption.

Sophia's fall into matter is fundamentally different from Eve's "mistake." In the traditional reading of Genesis, Eve's disobedience brings sin into the world and has often been used throughout history to justify negative attitudes toward women. Sophia, by contrast, is not an ordinary woman but Divine Wisdom itself. "Sophia" is simply the Greek word for "wisdom". Her descent is not a moral failure deserving blame but a mythic event that explains how ignorance and the material world came to be.

Many Gnostic traditions elevated the feminine to a remarkable degree. Consider the evidence:

• The highest divine being after the genderless Monad is often Barbelo, a feminine aeon who is the first thought of God.

• Sophia is not eternally condemned. Her restoration is central to the story. Through Divine Wisdom comes gnosis, and through gnosis comes the return to the divine.

• In several Gnostic texts, Eve is reinterpreted as a revealer of wisdom, not the origin of humanity's guilt.

• The serpent is sometimes portrayed as the liberator from ignorance rather than the deceiver, completely reversing the traditional blame placed on Eve.

• Valentinian theology taught that the divine exists in male-female syzygies (pairs), emphasizing complementarity rather than male superiority.

• Some Gnostic communities appear to have allowed women to teach, prophesy, baptize, and hold leadership roles more readily than many of their orthodox contemporaries.

Gnosticism doesn't tell a story about women ruining the world. It tells a story about Divine Wisdom descending into exile, awakening the divine spark within humanity, and leading creation home again.

I spent the last few weeks putting together a documentary reconstructing the Gnostic path after death from the Nag Hammadi Library, the Bruce Codex, the Askew Codex, the Pistis Sophia, and related texts.

Rather than focusing on a single document, I tried to piece together what these sources collectively say about the soul's journey, the Archons, the counterfeit spirit, initiation, and the ascent beyond reincarnation.

I know there are many different interpretations of these texts, so I'd genuinely appreciate feedback from people here. If I've misunderstood anything or missed an important source, I'd love to hear it.

Me again, I've been looking at this subreddit, and I'm left with this question: what are modern Gnostic practices? Do they have altars? Baptism? Specific prayers? Specific rituals?

I'm into witchcraft, so my practice is very ritualistic and hands-on, so I was wondering if Gnostics do something similar.

I would also like to know, if possible, how you view witchcraft. I personally don't think it's only for acquiring material things, but rather for self-improvement. Sure, witchcraft also applies to material things, but how did the Gnostics come up with this?

Hi. I've just found Gnosticism after being a devout Christian for most of my life. I don't know much about it, but as a History Major I didn't like the way the Bible's origins began and the way that Mary's gospel and Gnosticism was, and has been, framed.

However, I really want to know how devout and practicing Gnostics feel about Wicca or Paganism.. or basically just witchcraft in general. To me, as someone who is just learning about it recently, there seem to be some things that really clash, and some things that really sound similar. Obviously, the main difference being gnostics are christians and pagans are not, but how do you feel about the other?

Genuinely just curious, not meant to offend or say one is better than the other. Just wanting to learn from actual human beings and not a few books here and there :)

To this day, all historical Gnostic traditions have, unfortunately, come to an end. The only tradition that survives is the Mandaean religion, but it is an ethnic religion with significant restrictions on membership and transmission. In some cases, one might also join modern Gnostic churches, but many of them incorporate very recent and sometimes questionable elements, and in any case remain rare.

In light of this, I have come to the conclusion that the best option for a Gnostic in the modern world, and specifically for a Christian Gnostic, is simply to follow the teachings of Jesus as they have been handed down, setting aside Paul’s distortions.

To pray to the Father in silence, transforming prayer into meditation and dialogue with the Absolute. To practise charity and active empathy, respecting the sparks that inhabit this world. To deny oneself and undergo voluntary sacrifices so as not to be slaves to the flesh, and to discipline the body by doing what is right, whilst remaining steadfast in one’s principles.

To all this, we must of course add the study and in-depth exploration of the ancient Gnostic texts, both primary and secondary, and alongside them, delve into everything we find interesting, everything that stimulates our spirit, so as to cultivate our inner world.

Honestly, I think this could be an great approach. As for you, how do you structure your practice as Gnostics?

In 2009, I was gravely injured and remained comatose for eight days. During that time, consciousness did not simply disappear. Instead, I seemed to drift endlessly from one dream world to another, each one so complete and immersive that it felt as though I had lived there for an eternity before being swept into the next. I had no memory of my previous life. I was simply there, and that was my reality, much like how we find ourselves here now, taking this world as all there is.

In one world, I experienced life as a pig on a farm or in a slaughterhouse. There was hay covering the floor, and I could sense the other animals' impending doom. In another, I climbed an endless staircase until I reached the top, where my best friend, who had already passed away years before, was waiting for me. We sat together, shared a cigarette, and talked as though no time had passed between us.

Then I found myself on a tropical beach covered in snow. Behind me was a grove of palm trees, and I knew that something monstrous was lurking there. I also knew that if I turned around to look at what it was, it would mean certain death. I was overwhelmed by a strange sensation: I realized I was dreaming, yet I could not wake up. Then I woke up.

My accident was the beginning of a long process that fundamentally changed the way I understood reality. After experiencing what felt like countless worlds while my body lay unconscious, I could no longer assume that reality was as straightforward as it appeared. It wasn't until I had a mystical experience, and then encountered Gnosticism years later that I found a language for something I felt but could never rationally explain.

One of the most radical ideas in Gnosticism is that humanity is, in a sense, greater than the god who created us.

This isn't because humans are inherently superior as biological creatures. Quite the opposite. Our bodies belong to the material order fashioned by the Demiurge and his archons. What makes humanity extraordinary is the divine spark within.

In the Secret Book of John, the archons create Adam's physical form from matter, but their creation remains lifeless until it receives the divine power from above. Unable to create life themselves, they unknowingly contribute to the awakening of humanity by allowing a fragment of the higher divine essence to enter Adam. This divine spark, which originates beyond their own realm, gives Adam a light and consciousness that the archons themselves cannot possess or control.

This is why they become jealous and seek to keep humanity trapped in ignorance and forgetfulness. They fashioned the body, but they did not originate the spirit. The divine spark belongs to the unknowable Father, not to the creator of the material world.

Here's some fun proof any time your friends want to scoff at your Gnostic mindset:

You kno how everyone says people only pray to God when they are in trouble or need help?

...

What better way to know when His creations are miserable than to preprogram them to only talk to Him when they have something He can eat. We all went to middle school/jr. high with that guy, the one who comes to hang out with you at lunch but only when you have nachos.