Tagged: Magic

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Gnosticism in Contemporary Culture

Gnostic. It’s one of those words that many people know, but few can define.  It has the whiff of mystery to it; of secrets kept in old tomes, and wizened scholars – perhaps of a dubious moral bent – who guard their secrets from the unwashed masses, those who’d rather enjoy the vulgar hoots of a carnival horn than the rarefied strands of an Elysium melody.  It appears as a ‘technobabble’ adjective in fantasy works (“The Hammer of Gnostic Strength”), and is used by psychonauts who promise personal enlightenment.  But despite its emotive and flavorful characteristics, it is a word...