Terminology

the Divine: The “Higher Power” that governs nature and ourselves. It is this that truly controls our lives, and to this we must surrender our power. 2) The abstract principle of a divine force, not an anthropomorphic ‘god.’

“This discourse I shall also deliver to you in full, O Tat, lest you go uninitiated in the mysteries of the god who is greater than any name.” (Hermetica, Corpus Hermeticum…)

“Since the Father is unengendered, he alone is the one who begot him for him(self) as a name, before he brought forth the aeons, in order that the name of the Father should be over their head as lord, that is the name in truth, which is firm in his command through perfect power.” (Nag Hammadi, The Gospel of Truth, p. 49)

Hermes: “‘This, Asclepius: God, father, master of all, whatever name people use to call him something holier or more reverent, a name that should be sacred among us because of the understanding we have (given the greatness of this divinity, none of these titles will name him precisely; if a word is this–the sound of spirit striking the air and declaring a person’s whole wish or meaning as his mind happens to grasp it from the senses, a name, its whole content defined and circumscribed, composed of a few syllables, providing the necessary exchange between human voice and ears–then the whole of god’s name also includes meaning and spirit and air and everything at once that is in them or through them or from them; no, I cannot hope to name the maker of all majesty, the father and master of everything, with a single name, even a name composed of many names; he is nameless or rather he is all-named since he is one and all, so that one must call all things by his name or call him by the names of everything), god, the only and the all, completely full of the fertility of both sexes and ever pregnant with his own will, always begets whatever he wishes to procreate….’”

Asclepius: “‘Do you say that god is of both sexes, Tresmegistus?’”

Hermes: “‘Not only god, Asclepius, but all things ensouled and soulless, for it is impossible for any of the things that are to be infertile.’” (Hermetica, Asclepius, pp. 78-9)

“He is unnameable since [there is no one prior to him] to give [him] a name.” (Nag Hammadi, The Apocryphon of John, p. 106)

“Not one of the names which are conceived, or spoken, seen or grasped, not one of them applies to him, even though they are exceedingly glorious, magnifying and honored.” (Nag Hammadi, The Tripartite Tractate, p. 62)

“The [true] God, the Father of the All, the Holy [Spirit], the invisible, who is over then all, who exists in his imperisability, since he [is in] the pure light into which no eye may look. Concerning him, the Spirit, it is not fitting to think of him as a God, or that he is of a (particular) sort. For he is more excellent than the gods: he is domination (archē) over which no one rules; for there is none before him….He needs nothing, for he is not capable of being perfected, since he did not require to be perfected, but he is at all times entirely perfected. He is light. He is illimitable since there is none before him to limit him. [He is] not subject to judgement, since there is none before him to judge him. [He is] the immesurable, for no other who was before him has measured him. [He is] the invisible, for none has seen him. [He is] the eternal, who exists forever. [He is] indescribable, because no-one has comprehended him in order to describe him.” (Rudolph, Gnosis, p. 63)

Gnosis: Divine Knowledge. No human has the capacity of spirit to fully grasp Gnosis. To see the Divine head on would terrify and destroy us [Zeus, Allah, Krishna, Moses and bush]. Since knowledge is the acquisition and storage of facts, an extensive, eclectic, scriptural background makes up the foundation of Gnosis. Human Gnosis is useless without Nous.

Nous: Divine Understanding. It is marked by profound awe, speechlessness, and overpowering love, not by logic and reason. One who has Nous has no need of religious scripture.

Religion: The rituals, practices, and specific myths and legends of a given faith. 2) The Law, or Rules of a faith. To say that someone is “religious,” in this context, is to say that they are dogmatic in their beliefs.

Sin: Any action or belief that hiders, evades, and/or distances ourselves from Nous. This word is not equivalent to “evil.”

Spiritual: To be moved by the faith, love, and peace of a specific religious belief. 2) To be moved by the emotional aspects of a religious belief rather than the religious rules and dictates. In this context, a spiritual person would be one who follows the “teachings of the heart” or rules of behavior to the self and others, without paying too much attention to specific rules and details.

Spiritualism: The belief and trust in one’s grasp on Nous including peace and love for the entire world. With this only, one follows their own “inner guidance” to the Divine.

Tetan: The Divine Spark within every living thing and a complement to belief in Tao. Whereas the tradition of Tao can be thought of as a passive element in the world, Tetan is more active as it indirectly controls the actions of any living thing. The goal of Sattvic Action is to unite oneself with their Tetan and act fully as a Divine entity.

“That in Gnosis the relation between the destiny and teh individual soul and that of mankind as a whole is not always logically defined is something which it shares with all religions. The “soul” of the individual is part of the “universal soul”, which is caught up precisely in the image of the “inner” or “spiritual man” and forms the secret backbone of mankind, without which there would be no redemption.” (Rudolph, Gnosis, p. 109)