Frangements of a Faith Forgotten E-Book

G. R. S. Mead

• Herausgeber: Harmakis Edizioni
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Beschreibung

The writing of the present work has been a congenial task to Mr. Mead, and he has brought to bear lovingly and zealously upon the portraiture of the figure of Christ and of early Christianity, all the knowledge which a deep study of Oriental religions from their emotional side could furnish.The outset that there is very little of what is commonly regarded as the Theosophic method apparent in the work, which is the product of a scholarly though withal very devotional spirit. Mr. Mead's aim has been to enable the reader to obtain a glimpse of a world of which he has never heard at school, and of which no word is ever breathed from the pulpit; to take him away from the pictures which the rationalists and the apologists have presented, and to enable him to obtain an unimpeded view of that wonderful panorama of religious strife which the first two centuries of our era presented. He will here see a religious world of immense activity, a vast upheaval of thought and a strenuousness of religious endeavor to which the history of the Western world gives no parallel. Thousands of schools and communities on every hand, striving and contending, a vast freedom of thought, a mighty effort to live the religious life. Here he finds innumerable points of contact with other' religions; he moves in an atmosphere of freedom of which he has previously had no experience in Christian tradition. Who are all these people—not fishermen and slaves and the poor and destitute, though those are striving too—but these men of learning and ascetic life, saints and sages as much as many others to whom the name has been given with far less reason?

Leseprobe

Fragments of a

Faith Forgotten

by G.R.S. Mead

1900

FRAGMENTS OF A FAITH FORGOTTEN

by George Robert Stow Mead

SOME SHORT SKETCHES AMONG THE GNOSTICS, MAINLY OF THE FIRST TWO CENTURIES: A CONTRIBUTION TO THE STUDY OF CHRISTIAN ORIGINS BASED ON THE MOST RECENTLY RECOVERED MATERIALS.

Theosophical Publishing Society: London [1900]

All rights on this book are reserved by Harmakis Edizioni

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ISBN 978-88-85519-21-3

So understand the Light, He answered, and make friends with it.

HERMES THE THRICE-GREATEST.

Synopsis of Contents

IL LUSTRATIONS

Tetramorph (Anthropos symbol) standing on two wheels, symbol of the Figure 1 Old and New Testaments. From the Vatopedi Monastery, Mt. Athos.

13th century.

The “union of irreconcilables,” marriage of water and fire Each figure Figure 2 has four hands to symbolize their multitudinous capabilities. From an

Indian painting in Nikolaus Mueller, Glauben, Wissen and Kunst der Alten Hindus, Mainz 1822.

Gnostic Gem, Harpocrates on the lotus. From C. W. King, The Gnostics Figure 3

and Their Remains, London 1864.

Unicorn and his reflection, depicting the motto “De moy je Figure 4 m’epouvante.” From Jacobus Boschius, Symbolographia, Augsburg 1702.

Mercurius standing on the globe. The caduceus and horns of plenty 1

symbolize the richness of his gifts. From V. Cartari, Le Imagini de i dei de gli antichi, Lyons 1581.

Communion table with seven fish. Christian earthenware lamp from 3

Carthage.

p. xxviii

Two dragons forming a circle, and, in the four corners, signs of the four elements. From Abraham Eleazar (Abraham the Jew), Uraltes chymisches Werk, Leipzig 1760.

Hermes conjuring the winged soul out of an urn. Attic funeral lekythos, 121

Jena.

Hermes on Greek vase painting. In the Hamilton Collection. 155

Melusina. From Abraham Eleazar (Abraham the Jew), Uraltes 157

chymisches Werk, Leipzig 1760.

The Uroboros as symbol of the æon. From Horapollo, Selecta hieroglyphica, 1597.

Fermentatio, symbolic representation of the conjunctio spirituum. The 451 lines react: “But here King Sol is tight shut in / And Mercurius philosophorum pours over him.” From the Rosarium, Frankfort 1550.

Crowned dragon as tail-eater. In the four corners signs of the four 453 elements. From Abraham Eleazar (Abraham the Jew) Uraltes chymisches Werk, Leipzig 1760.

Christ as Anthropos, standing on the globe, flanked by the four elements. 603 From Bartholomew de Glanville, Liber de proprietatibus rerum Bartholomew Anglici, Strasbourg 1485.

Anima Mundi. From Thurneisser zum Thurn, Quinto essentia, Leipzig, 1574.

The Mercurial spirit of the prima materia, in the shape of a salamander, 608 frolicking in the fire. From Michael Maier, Scrutinium chymicum, Frankfort, 1687.

NOTE: These illustrations are from the 1960 University Books edition. They are all believed to be in the public domain.--JBH.

INDEX

A

Abdias, 418.

Aberamenthō, 514, 519.

Abiram, 226.

Abortion, 225, 269, 329, 340, 356.

Aboulfatah, 162, 163.

Abrasax, 280, 281, 282, 283.

Abyss, 188, 308, 312.

Accretions, 276.

Acembes, 208.

Achamōth, 334.

Acts, Gnostic, 153, 415.

Acts, Leucian, 417.

Acts of Apostles, 128, 568.

Acts of Andrew, 445.

Acts of John, 426, 434, 443, 445.

Acts of Peter, 152, 417, 580.

Acts of Thomas, 403, 419, 422, 424.

Adam, 189, 190, 247, 299, 446, 447, 551; sons of, 599.

Adam, Book of, 126. Adamant, 277, 406, 413.

Adamas, 465, 474, 510, 512; Sabaōth, 521, 527.

Adembes, 208.

Adityās, 327.

Æon, 207; divine, 390; fourteenth, 532; incorruptible, 191; living, 311, 329, 344, 365;

perfect, 218; of æons, 203; of night, 208; thirteenth, 325, 466, 468, 476, 511, 515, 520,

522, 528, 531, 532, 539.

Æons, 173, 218, 313; names of, 338; parents of, 336; seat of, 440; ten, 337; treasures of,

192; triacontad of, 341; twelve, 337, 465, 511, 531.

Æon-world, 313.

Ætherial, creation, 263; Jesus, 565.

Ethers, 208.

After-death state, 490, 497, 516.

Agape, 235, 423.

Agathōpus, 302.

Agrapha, 412, 593.

“Agree with thine adversary,” 231, 499.

Agrippa Castor, 147, 278.

Ahuramazda, 177.

Ākāsha, 204.

Akhmīm Codex, 152, 579.

Alexander, 39, 97, 99, 279, 357.

Alexandria, 24, 53, 60, 69, 91, 95, 295.

All-Father, 41, 385, 549, 583.

All-Mother, 334, 375.

“All things depending,” 307. Allegories, 71, 79.

Alone-begotten, 218, 341, 388, 390, 553, 554, 555, 586.

Alone-born, 551.

Alpha, 530.

Anāgāmin, 370.

Ananias, 580.

Anatolic, 287, 288, 354.

Anaxagoras, 68.

Anaximander, 37.

Ancestral heart, 301.

p. xxx

Ancient, of days, 348; of eternity, 397. Andrew, 445, 487, 581.

Ani, 393.

Announcement, Great, 165, 167, 170, 173, 174.

Antioch, 175, 178, 288.

Antitheses, 226.

Ambrose, 64.

Amen, 365, 431; first, 527.

Amens, seven, 529; three, 523, 528.

Amru, 106.

Amshaspends, 177, 339.

Apelles, 250.

Aphrēdōn, 551.

Aphrodite, 511, 512.

Apocalypse, untitled, 547.

Apocalypses, 94.

Apocrypha, 94. Apollonius of Tyana, 55.

Apology, 381, 439, 483, 486, 499, 527, 600.

Appendages, 276, 277, 301. Appended Soul, On an, 277. Apostle, The, 245.

Arahat, 371.

Ararad, 505.

Archimedes, 108.

Ardesianes, 355.

Arēs, 510.

Arian, 261.

Arithmetic, 223, 335, 375.

Aristobulus, 117.

Aristophanes, 109.

Aristotle, 53, 104, 107.

Arrogant, 468, 469, 470. Ascension of plērōma, 478. Asceticism, 178, 184, 248, 274.

Askew Codex, 151, 343, 423, 453, 529.

As Others saw Him, 412, 594.

Astrology, 207, 209,. 283, 397.

Athos, Mount, 212, 273.

Atlantic Island, 39, 40.

Atom, 222, 223, 316, 318, 319, 320, 331, 554.

At-one-ment, 389, 556.

Attalus, 104.

Augustine, 251.

Augustus, birthday of, 3.

Authentic, 304, 365, 504, 509, 512, 541, 542.

Axionicus, 288, 355.

B

Babe, 274, 307.

Babel, 407, 410, 411.

Babylon, 86, 89, 204.

Bacchi, 10.

Bacchic mysteries, 67, 81.

Bacchus, 534.

Balance, 512.

Baptism, 176, 238, 377; mysteries of, 499, 533, (vision of) 514, (fires of) 500; myth of

dove, 371; of fire, 522, 526; of incense, 515; of Jesus, 278; of Holy Spirit, 515, 522,

526; of midst, 511; of right, 511; of water, 515, 522, (of life) 524.

Baptismal consecration, 380.

Barbēlō, 178, 334, 514, 515, 531, 583, 584, 585, 586.

Barbēlō-Gnostics, 167, 568, 583, 589. Barcabbas and Barcoph, 278.

Bardesanes, 288, 355, 392, 414, 420.

Bardesanites, 395.

Bar-Manu, 393.

Baruch, Book of, 193, 196.

Basilides, 253.

Basilisk, 474.

Baur, 166.

Beelzeboul, 349, 350.

Beloved, people of, 305. Be-with-us, day, 343.

Bird, great, 473.

Birth, new, 203; of Horus, 60; second, 191, 519; of spiritual man, 60.

p. xxxi

Births of joy, 550; of matter, 563. Bitter, 215, 598.

Blossoms, 442.

Body, 496.

Book of Adam, 126.

Book of Baruch, 193.

Book of the Dead, 301, 343.

Book of Gnoses of Invisible God, 518.

Book of Great Logos according to the Mystery, 152, 455, 457, 567.

Book of Laws of Countries, 394, 398.

Books of Ieou, 455, 487, 505, 533, 569.

Books of the Saviour, 151, 374, 507, 546, 567, 573.

Bosom, Abraham’s, 351.

Boundary (see Limit) 307, 342, 343; great, 313, 379; highest, 313.

Brahmarandhra, 205.

Brain, 211.

Breath, great, 330; of their mouths, 467. Bridal chamber, 419, 421.

Brooke, 391.

Brothel, 169.

Brother, Jesus my, 475; Paul our, 568. Bruchion, 98, 100, 103, 105.

Bubastis, 512.

Buddha, 7, 37.

Bugs, story of John and the, 443. Burton, 145.

Bythus, 312, 321, 323, 325, 327.

C

Caduceus, 185.

Cain, 190, 224, 226.

Cainites, 198, 224.

Called, 47, 199.

Calligraphists, 103.

Callimachus, 109.

Canon, 121, 241, 243.

Canopus, 97, 103.

Capernaum, 244.

Capparatea, 175.

Caracalla, 393.

Caravanserai (see Inn), 301, 443.

Carpocrates, 229.

Cave, 435.

“Cease not to seek,” 489. Cecrops, 41.

Celbes, 208.

Celsus, 150, 183, 233, 589.

Cerdo, 240.

Cerebellum, 211.

Cerinthus, 237.

Chaldæan, influence on Jewry, 93; logia, 172; mysteries, 51, 58, 89; star-cult, 206;

tradition, 43, 94.

Chaos, 188, 208, 328, 469, 470, 471, 497; child of, 189.

Charinus, Lucius, 417.

Charis, 588, 595.

Charismatic, 124.

Chassidim, 93, 94.

Child, little, 406; of chaos, 189; of the child, 523, 528.

Children, little, 598; of life, 303; of the fulness, 524; of light, 521; of true mind, 519. Chiliasm, 124.

Choīc, 199.

Chōrizantes, 104.

Chosen, of God, 90, 92; people, 87, 128.

Chrēstos, 249.

Chrism, 205, 382, 515, 522.

Christ, 227, 273, 327, 378, 448, 542, 556, 586, 587; a, 484; above, 190; and Holy Spirit, 341; distinguished from Jesus, 427; historic gnosis of, 508; invocation to, 380; is the word, 448; Jesus, 368; mystic body of, 354; name of, 422; the, 507, 555; the great

master, 430.

p. xxxii

Christliche Welt, Die, 4. Christs, 176, 343, 595, 599.

Circuits (Tours), 446.

City, 419, 421, 547, 557, 566, 602.

Citizens of heaven, 82. Claps of hands, 79.

Claudius, 109.

Clay, 208, 351.

Clement of Alexandria, 119, 148, 418.

Clementine literature, pseudo, 162, 164, 166.

Cleobius, 164.

Cleopatra, 98, 99, 106, 110. Closet, 70. Coats of skin, 190.

Codex, Akhmīm, 152, 579; Askew, 151, 343, 423, 453, 529; Brucianus, 151, 192, 213,

303, 312, 374, 382, 421, 454, 515, 529, 591.

“Come unto us,” 409, 462; day of, 343.

Commandments, good, 522.

Commodus, 250.

Common fruit, 331, 345, 346, 349, 351, 352.

Communism, 234.

Communities, 30; mystic, 60; Orphic, 50; variety of, 85.

Community, Mareotic, 85; of friends, 305.

Compendium, 148; of Hippolytus, 14, 149; of Justin, 178; of Theodoret, 150.

Conception, 169, 173.

Concerning Fate, 394.

Concerning the Offspring of Mary, 198. Confucius, 37.

Conglomeration of seed-mixture, 262, 265, 272, 276.

Consummation, final, 270; of first mystery, 503; gnostic, 405.

Conversion, 448, 449; of spheres, 465, 466, 467.

Conybeare, 61.

Coran, 226.

Corners, four, 525, 542.

Corybantic mysteries, 67.

Counterfeit spirit, 276, 471, 496, 498, 499, 500, 504, 505.

Couch, 433; couches, 76.

Cratylus, 200.

Critias, 39.

Cross, 221, 330, 342, 343, 352, 371, 445, 446, 447, 548, 550, 559; address to, 445; bush