Talk Gnosis

The Rev. James Ishmael Ford is an American Zen Buddhist priest, a Unitarian Universalist minister, writer, and a spiritual seeker who’s explored and been connected to the last 60 years or so of religious developments in the West. Our frank, funny, and enlightening (literally) conversation touches on everything to nonduality to the quirks of modern Gnosticism. Look, you don’t want to miss any of our shows but you’ll get a lot out of this one!

Check out James’ blog at https://www.patheos.com/blogs/monkeymind/

Get his books at https://wisdomexperience.org/content-author/james-ishmael-ford/

A mysterious group of soldiers, theatre artists, writers, and mystics tried to bring the magic and mystery of ancient Egypt into 19th Century France through the Sacred Order of the Sophisians. A long forgotten secret society with some Gnostic qualities, the Sophisians are a fascinating group because of their beliefs, rituals, art, and entanglements with Napoleon and politics. An extremely obscure group we hope you enjoy discovering them with scholar Dr. Darius Spieth who’s the authour of “Napoleon’s Sorcerers: The Sophisians.”

Follow Dr. Spieth and his work at https://design.lsu.edu/faculty/spieth-darius/

Buy the book: https://udpress.udel.edu/book-title/napoleons-sorcerers-the-sophisians/

The canonical Gospel of Mark is one of the oldest Christian documents and while many Christian mystics and Gnostics may not pay much attention to it we think it might reveal some esoteric secrets of the universe if looked at through new eyes. To talk about Mark and Gnosticism we put together another panel of all Talk Gnosis all stars: Clark Aitkins, Deacon Angie Wisk-Nowell, Nic Laccetti, Jason Memel, and Deacon Jon.

Mentioned in this ep is our show on Secret Mark: https://youtu.be/uoIhzYmsiFc

And this talk on Mark and the Zodiac: https://youtu.be/IyFc-mHvMoE

Art and creation is a form of magical creativity and theatre has always had a special relationship to mystical ritual, religion, and the occult. Dr. Ed Lingan, scholar/professor/theatre artist, has a book specifically about theatre and the occult revival of the late 19th century, a revival that included many of the Gnostics and mystics who influence esoteric religion to this day. We talk to Dr. Lingan about his book but also about the Gnosis and power of live theatre.

Get Theatre of the Occult Revival: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1057/9781137448613

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The opinions expressed in this show do not necessarily reflect those of the Gnostic Wisdom Network, the Apostolic Johannite Church, or any other organization. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

A mystical experience for you to have is checking out this interview with writer, poet, and scholar Emmalea Russo. She’s our guide to this huge and dense topic as we go through what mysticism even is—and we cover some serious ground including what horror has to do with mysticism, unexpected and underknown mystics, transcendence in a secular age, what art has to do with the mystic and, of course, always so much more.

Get more Emmalea at her homepage: https://emmalearusso.com/

It’s not too late to sign up for her course on Mysticism and/or on Angels: https://emmalearusso.com/upcomingclasses

Don’t miss her upcoming course at the Global Centre for Advanced Study (GCAS): https://gcascollege.ie/philosophical-theology-2022

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The opinions expressed in this show do not necessarily reflect those of the Gnostic Wisdom Network, the Apostolic Johannite Church, or any other organization. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

The canonical Gospel of John has inspired mainstream mystics, heretical Gnostics, occultists, and people of faith of many stripes for almost 2000 years. We put together a panel to talk about the magic and power of this biblical text.

We’ve got all returning all stars for this one: Deacon Angie Wisk-Nowell, Nic Laccetti, Jason Memel, and Deacon Jon.

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The opinions expressed in this show do not necessarily reflect those of the Gnostic Wisdom Network, the Apostolic Johannite Church, or any other organization. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

REUP DUE TO GLITCH: Joséphin Péladan: mystic, art critic, Rosicrucian and curator (sometimes called the “first art curator”) was a late 19th century/early 20th century French visionary who could change your life—and whose vital impact on everything from high art to esoteric and occult spirituality has been almost forgotten. But we’re in a bit of Péladan renaissance now and Dr. Sasha Chaitow returns to the show to talk about his life and work and tell us about the Péladan course she’s offering online.

Take Dr. Chaitow’s course on Péladan: https://www.treadwells-london.com/events-1/peladans-system-for-self-initiation-foundation-level

Hit up these links for more of her work on Péladan and more of her work in general: https://pansophers.com/category/peladan-project/

https://peladan.net/

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The opinions expressed in this show do not necessarily reflect those of the Gnostic Wisdom Network, the Apostolic Johannite Church, or any other organization. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Dr. Matthew R. Anderson is a Biblical scholar, professor, and ordained Lutheran clergy and he’s the perfect guest for our New Year’s Eve special thanks to his new book “Pairings: The Bible and Booze.” From apple cider (Genesis) to bloody Caesars (Revelation), this book offers a collection of biblical texts paired with drinks reveals a rich complexity of scholarship while remaining satisfyingly easy on the palate. “Pairings” opens up generous undertones of prophetic justice and plush and full-bodied humour.

Whether it be the book of Ruth, the Gospel of Matthew, or the Psalms of Contrition, peppery life observations and fragrant historical notes are kept superbly balanced, allowing a satisfyingly long finish of scriptural understanding.

Find out more about the book and order your copy at https://somethinggrand.ca/pairings-the-bible-and-booze/ Happy New Year!!!!

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The opinions expressed in this show do not necessarily reflect those of the Gnostic Wisdom Network, the Apostolic Johannite Church, or any other organization. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Dr. Jeffrey Kupperman returns to the show to discuss his new book “A Theurgist’s Book of Hours,” a collection of daily practices and prayers that provides a structured framework which while drawing primarily upon Neoplatonic teachings, is adaptable and accessible to practitioners of any tradition which seeks direct connection and union with the divine. Check it out at

https://www.avaloniabooks.com/product-page/kupperman–book-of-hours

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The opinions expressed in this show do not necessarily reflect those of the Gnostic Wisdom Network, the Apostolic Johannite Church, or any other organization. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

It’s our chill casual hangout show: Talking Gnosticism! Once a month, a diverse group of Gnostics will stream, live, their conversation/exchange/friendly debate on a specific Gnostic topic. This month we talked about esoteric Christmas! And your panelists are podcaster, Gnostic artist, esotericist, and numerologist Rebecca Scolnick from Divine Spark Media, Bishop Tim Mansfield from the AJC, theologian and writer Nic Laccetti, scholar and Talk Gnosis hosts Deacon Jonathan Stewart and Jason Memel.

Check it out and be sure to catch our next stream LIVE at https://www.twitch.tv/gnosticwisdom

Subscribe to the video on YouTube | Subscribe to the podcast via RSS | Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes | Subscribe to the podcast on Stitcher

The opinions expressed in this show do not necessarily reflect those of the Gnostic Wisdom Network, the Apostolic Johannite Church, or any other organization. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.