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THEGNOSTICSOCIETY
4516 Hollywood Blvd. Los Angeles, California 90029
Established in America in 1928, The Gnostic Society is dedicated to advancing the study, understanding, and individual experience of Gnosis. "He who has ears, let him hear!"
Lecture Schedule -- 1997
Upcoming lectures to be given at The Gnostic Society Center in Hollywood, California. Lectures are held at the Gnostic Society center (located at 4516 Hollywood Blvd, near the intersection of Hollywood and Sunset) every Friday evening at 8:00 pm. Unless otherwise noted, all lectures are presented by Dr. Stephan Hoeller. Lectures are free and open to the public (donations are appreciated and accepted at the door). Refreshments are offered following the lecture. Further information is available by calling 213-467-2685. (All lectures given at the Gnostic Society are available on audio cassette for $9.50 per lecture tape plus shipping, from BC Recordings - Web, PO Box 2811, Los Angeles, CA 90078. Write for a complete catalog.)
Listen to Lectures here on the Web:
You may now listen to several of these lectures right here on the Web! Using a RealAudio player along with your Web browser, you will be able to join with us any time you wish to hear complete weekly lectures from the Gnostic Society. Click here for a list of lectures currently available in RealAudio in the Gnosis Archive.
June 1997 Lecture Series: The Eternal Feminine in a Gnostic Perspective.
June 6: No Lecture.
June 13: Eve as Wise Woman: The Gnostic Teachings about the Feminine. How the conventional reading of Genesis led to the demonization of the feminine and how the Gnostics offer the remedy to this demonization.
June 20: The Divine Sophia: Paradigm of the Gnostic Eternal Feminine. An examination of the archetype of the daughter of the True God and her involvement in humanity's salvation.
June 27: Sophia and the Demiurge: Overcoming the World by way of the Feminine. The blind creator of this world and his relationship to the holy Sophia.
Lectures in Recent Past Months:
May 1997 Lecture Series: Great Teachings of the Gnosis
This series will introduce the principal tenets of the Gnostic World View.
May 2: the Journey of the Soul: Whence, Where, and Wither. A Summary of the origins, existential state and ultimate destiny of the human soul according to the Gnostics.
May 9: Gnosis and World. How do Gnostics view life on earth. Can we overcome the world? Must we conform to the world?
May 16: Spiritual Freedom: Gnostic Liberation. What does it mean to lead an autonomous life? What is the relationship of Freedom and Responsibility? How can we be free from Jehovah's law?
May 23: No Lecture.
May 30: The Experience of Gnosis. Is Gnosis secret knowledge reserved for the few? Is it ecstatic insight?
April 1997 Lecture Series: To Live and (or) to Die: A Gnostic Perspective.
R ecently much publicity attached itself to the religious suicide of a number of men and women in Southern California. While Gnostics have no connection whatsoever with advocating suicide, the issues raised by these events merit discussion from an authoritative perpective of true Gnosis.
April 4: Earthly Life: Its Merits and Demerits. Embodied life in the perspective of Greater Life. Is life precious, and if so, why?
April 11: Death, Life and Gnosis. Death as an opportunity. What of rebirth? What is the "good life", and what the "good death"?
April 18 The Gnostic Resurrection. Resurrection as the grand Metaphor of Gnosis. How Christendom misunderstood the resurrection.
March 1997 Lecture Series: Sir Laurens Van Der Post -- A Two Lecture Tribute to a Sage of Our Time.
O n December 15, 1996, there died in London one of the loveliest of souls and wisest of minds of our century, of which he lived ninety years. Author, soldier, philosopher, mystic and lover of nature, he wrote twenty-five books (one of which became the film, Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence). In this tribute of two lectures, Dr. Hoeller will explore van der Post's message for our times and for all times.
March 7: Laurens van der Post and C. G. Jung. Sir Laurens produced and narrated several documentary films about C. G. Jung, and in 1976 published a major biography, entitled Jung and the Story of Our Time. He was Jung's friend and emissary to the culture of our time.
March 21: Laurens van der Post: His Life and Insights. Prince Charles of England described van der Post as a visionary, poet soldier, sage, and explorer of land and the human spirit. We shall consider why he so well deserves this description.
February 1997 Lecture Series: Signs of the Times
Some contemporary non-material preoccupations of the culture evaluated from a Gnostic point of view. (Recommended reading along with this series: Omens of Millenium by Harold Bloom.)
February 7: The Enigma of Angels. In recent years there has been an upsurge of interest in angels, yet some of this seems debased and wrong-headed. What is a truly Gnostic view of angels?
February 14: Dreams; Real and Unreal. Since the beginning of the 20th Century dreams have risen in prominence. Will dreams endure and lead to Gnosis in the 21st Century?
February 21: The Sting of Death. St. Paul asked: "Death, where is thy sting?" Our age brought attention to "Near-Death Experience". What is the Gnostic view of this?
February 28: Gnosis as the Final Answer. The wholeness of the Gnostic answer, superseding the fads of the culture.
December 1996 Lecture Series: Gnosis in America
An overview of three great contributions to Gnostic Consciousness in America in our Century. Three key figures who made unique contributions to "the knowing of the things that are" in modern America.
December 6: Aldous Huxley, Perennial Philosopher. An evaluation of the seminal contribution of the great 20th Century writer to the awakening of transcendental consciousness in this country.
December 13: Gerald Heard: Guide of Souls. Friend of Huxley, philosopher and grey eminence of the New Consciousness Movement, the contribution of this figure merits attention.
December 20: Harold Bloom's American Gnosis. Leading literary and religious critic of America, Bloom is a self-declared Gnostic. The talk will focus on his work "American Religion" and "Omens of Millennium".
November 1996 Lecture Series: The Thomas Tradition of Gnosis.
St. Thomas the Apostle is the exemplary Gnostic apostle. He is known as the Apostle of the Indies, for he is said to have gone to India and to have died near Madras. The Nag Hammadi Library contains two scriptures that are attributed to Thomas. In these three talks, Dr. Hoeller will review the spirit of the Thomas Gnostic tradition, illustrated by its documents.
November 8: Thomas and His Gnosis. Who was Thomas the Apostle? What is his legacy? A discussion of the elements of Syrian Gnosis.
November 15: The Message of the "The Book of Thomas the Contender". The content and the context of the noted treatise from the Nag Hammadi Library.
November 22: The Spirit of "The Gospel According to Thomas". The secrets contained in the most popular of all Gnostic Gospels, and the inspiration derived from some of the key sayings of this Gospel
October 1996 Lecture Series: The Soul and Suffering.
In Buddhism, the Gnosis of the East. suffering is recognized as a fundamental fact of embodied existence. In these talks, Dr. Hoeller will explore the Gnostic meaning of the Soul's suffering and the ways in which Pathos (Suffering) can be transmuted by Gnosis (Salvific Knowing).
October 4: Wasteland of the Soul: The Nature and Meaning of Depression. Based on Studies by the late Jungian psychologist Esther Harding, we shall explore the different varieties of depression and the creative potential of some of these.
October 11: The Suffering God as Archetype of Wholeness. The figure of the Crucified Savior is the greatest Archetype of Christendom. Ancient Egyptian and later Sufi teachings emphasize a similar pattern. What are the contemporary features of this psychic reality?
October 18: The Sorrow of Sophia: Feminine Divine Image of Suffering. The Gnostic myth of Sophia is the Archetype of the suffering soul in feminine form. How may we understand and utilize this exemplary image?
June 1996 Lecture Series: Creative Imagination
Liberating Gnosis depends in part on the power of creative imagination. Spiritual realities can be perceived by us by way of this mysterious faculty. The nature and function of the creative and sacred imagination will be discussed, using Gnostic, Platonic, Sufi and Hermetic sources.
June 7: Creative Imagination, What is It? The foundation of Gnostic, Neoplatonic and other theurgy is explained.
June 14: The Creative Imagination in the treatise "The Eighth Reveals the Ninth". Visionary mystical Magic in a Nag Hammadi treatis, and in Hermetic hymns.
June 21: Ascending to the Real. Ascension symbolism and the creative imagination. Examples of Gnostic Active Imagination.
June 28: Imagination and the Psychology of the Artist. Gnostic and transcendental aspects of artistic creativity.
May 1996 Lecture Series: The Gnosis of Merlin
The wizard Merlin -- trickster, prophet and enchanter -- is a figure of great relevance to thos dedicated to Gnosis. Using primarily material from the research of Count Nikolai Tolstoy, formost contemporary scholar of Celtic lore, Dr. Hoeller will explore the Magic of Merlin in its Gnostic context.
May 3: The Quest for Merlin. Who was Merlin the Magician, and why is he important today?
May 24: The Last of the Druids? Merlin and the traditions of Celtic Druids.
May 31: Shaman, Trickster and Savior Mythic themes of Gnostic Wizardry in Merlin's story.
April 1996 Lecture Series: Highlights from the Acts of John.
The Acts of John, available long before the Nag Hammadi find, tells an amazing tale of wisdom and liberation, as taught by John, the Beloved disciple of Jesus.
April 12: The Nature and End of Suffering. "Hast thous only known how to suffer, thou would learn not to suffer."
April 19: (Rev. John Goelz) The Mystery of John the Beloved. Who was St. John, the disciple whom Jesus loved?
April 26: The Dancing Saviour. The Message of the Mystic Dance of Jesus. "He who dances not, knoweth not what cometh to pass."
The Stephan Hoeller Library
Lecture recordings of Dr. Hoeller.
We now are offering on-line in RealAudioselections from the complete catalog of lectures by Dr. Stephan Hoeller -- you can attend our weekly lecture series on the Web!. A complete catalog of several hundred lectures are available from BC Recordings. Write for a complete catalog to BC Recordings-Web, PO Box 2811, Los Angeles, CA 90078.
Last Updated: May 1, 1997
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