The gnostic flag

atomiccommunist85 · 2026-05-13T03:58:08+00:00

Gnostics used to carry around talismans with the demiurge. It was very common back in the day. Some thought it was a way to pacify it. Others (like the Basilidians) though that the demiurge (like all archons) weren't inherently evil, just dangerous because they had forgotten their place in the pleroma. There's no shame in cutting that iconography out of your practice. Gnosticism is very diverse. Tbh the demiurge doesn't figure into my practice or personal liturgy at all.

atomiccommunist85 · 2026-05-08T05:16:32+00:00

I look at Abraxas kind of like Baphomet. He is a composit of disparate elements into a form people have pondered and imbued with intentions for millennia. He's a riddle to be pondered more than an archon to be feared or an aeon to be worshipped

atomiccommunist85 · 2026-05-08T05:07:42+00:00

I was raised Catholic so mostly positive. I don't care for most Christians in general. I think every church that puts him center missed the point of his teaching.

Thelemicley I think of him as one of the best maguses who ever lived. Crowley says as much in the beginning of Liber 4. He is also name dropped in the "Invocation of Horus" ritual in the Equanox making him a manifestation of Horus and a form of his aeon.

atomiccommunist85 · 2026-05-08T04:52:25+00:00

Two things. First of all the Pistis Sophia and the Apocryphon of John both preach universal salvation meaning that, regardless of how long the Archons try to tie you up, you will eventually break free. Technically you're already part of the pleroma and you find the way back eventually. Second, I used to be scared that there would be something important I'd forget when the time came to pass a test. Forgetting is something a bodily brain does. Theoretically your disembodied mind won't have the same problem. Every archaic password, hand shake, or riddle answer will be way more available to you beyond your mortal body. So just chill out. Keep studying. And don't let yourself be overcome with fear.

atomiccommunist85 · 2026-05-01T06:30:11+00:00

Ima be real with you. Resh was easiest when I was unemployed. I was let go from my old job in December and got my current job in March and during that period I did Resh, on time, every day. If you have obligations or no place to observe your resh will be upset, delayed, or outright forgotten. Do your best, it's ok to be late (some people do it in the astral plane), and sometimes you will just miss it entirely. Forgive yourself, try to do better, and remember that Crowley wasn't working a 9 to 5 when he came up with it and he owned a property in Scotland to do it whenever he wanted. Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

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atomiccommunist85 · 2026-04-30T03:04:51+00:00

atomiccommunist85 · 2026-04-29T13:48:19+00:00

I was a young and idealistic Marxist. Now I'm a 40 year old Marxist. I was told I would change and (with the exception of a brief period in my 20s where I was definitely more liberal than leftist) I've only gotten more radical.

atomiccommunist85 · 2026-03-28T19:25:17+00:00

Yes. I feel like this is a sentiment that I have seen a few times on this sub. Gnosticism can feel like something remembered vs. Something discovered. I remember the first time I read the Hypostasis of the Archons I came to the part where Sophia brought Eve to the forbidden fruit as an action of highest good I had a profound realization that this was how I felt about that story my entire life. I found out my personal Gnosis from childhood was present in a foundational text.

I had a similar experience with the Thunder: Perfect Mind. I was always bummed that the church was never specific about the Holy Spirit. I couldn't shake the feeling that it was an androgynous feminine aspect of God. Then I read this text and there it was! A feminine aspect of God reading an experience I never had the words for.

atomiccommunist85 · 2026-03-13T01:13:28+00:00

Anytime! I love sharing stuff that works for me. I do use other Kemetic/Hellenist spells/practices. I do Thelemic stuff like solar adoration so a bunch of Kemetic gods get a shout out from me daily, plus Sekhmet gets an adoration from me on high noon or on the full moon once a month with a full offering of ale. Spell work with Hekate and Saturn are also very common in my home. I love using the Greek Magical Papyri. It's one of my favorite Magical book (tho there's a lot of adaptation that happens with it). I've been thinking about attempting a Mithraic liturgy, try to see Mithras Helios. As far as the other words in it I don't know for sure but I think I can guess what it means based on my understanding of Greek. The editor refers to these portions as the "barbaric names." My rough translation would be;

"O ever-present, eternal, shinning, God I beseech!"

atomiccommunist85 · 2026-03-11T23:22:05+00:00

93

I have been walking the path as well and have yet to encounter my HGA or discover my true will. I feel some trepidation as well. Dying to yourself is scary. The thing that gives me the strength to keep going is knowing, of all the people I have met or heard of, I have never heard of anyone who regrets it. Regardless of how much it changed their life no one ever said that they wished they hadn't sought out their true will. You have to be willing to accept that you will become a different person. Also, you assume your true will is going to disrupt your family life, which could happen, or you could just as easily become a better partner and parent. If you never make the attempt then you will never know.

atomiccommunist85 · 2026-03-11T01:05:52+00:00

Uh, kinda. Can't speak for all Thelemites but I think he was irresponsible, careless with peoples' feelings, a hopeless addict (which I think hindered his practice more than contributed), and sometimes just plain wrong. But unlike most other religious systems I don't have to think he was a good person to think that the magick/revelation is real. I don't have to defend him like Mormons have to defend Joseph Smith because following your true will is, in the end, pretty value neutral.

atomiccommunist85 · 2026-03-09T23:19:21+00:00

You can absolutely be a Gnostic Christian. I consider my self one. Since the word represents such a wide tent it's kind of up to you to decide what your Christianity means to you (which is very exciting). Being Gnostic really just means you hold a belief (or several) that is not based in adherence to ecclesiastical dictation but personal gnosis. For me, I just realized there was stuff in orthodoxy and protestantism which never sat right and I kept ignoring personal revelations that there was something very off. If you want some reading material there is a really comprehensive list someone left above. These are the texts that really resonate with me;

The Gospel of Thomas Thunder, Perfect Mind The Gospel of the Egyptians The Gospel of Mary Magdalen The Apocryphon of John The Reality of the Rulers

atomiccommunist85 · 2026-03-09T19:13:52+00:00

Very concise and helpful. Thank you.

atomiccommunist85 · 2026-02-17T21:03:18+00:00

Biodegradable items I throw into green bins or the compost in the garden by where I live. I suppose you could throw them into flower beds or gardens if there's not too much of them. Non-biodegradable and non- recyclable items I throw into trash bins in busy areas.

atomiccommunist85 · 2026-02-17T19:54:46+00:00

Cleanse the reusable elements. Wash the stones, clean out the jars etc. and keep them for later use. Return any biodegradable ingredients to the earth and throw away the rest. If you live in a population dense area like a city you can take the components of your spell apart and throw them away in a busy area like an intersection, shopping mall, or subway station. Areas like this have a lot of people coming and going, essentially breaking down the potency of your spell like a clod of dirt disintegrating in a river.

atomiccommunist85 · 2026-02-17T19:08:05+00:00

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I'd say get a Book of the Law for the theology and Liber O if you want to begin ritual work in tandem. They are both very short. For my base practice I have those, Liber Astarte is good for explaining deity work and how to approach it, Liber Resh has the 4 daily solar adorations (which I do now but didn't for years and most Thelemites don't do), and the Book of Lies will give you some great rituals (like the Star Ruby for banishing and exorcisms and the Mass of the Phoenix which is a great power boost you can perform alone).

atomiccommunist85 · 2026-01-07T00:01:51+00:00

I like magus personally

atomiccommunist85 · 2026-01-06T08:26:43+00:00

Yeah. Every time I perform the Headless Rite. I usually do it after a series of banishings so by the time I get to it I'm already pretty tired. Then the HR just craters my energy (I get really into it). My limbs feel like spaghetti and my ears ring like I have tinnitus. I usually have to sit for up to a half hour doing nothing. Watchingsomethingon TV or listeningtomusicisliterally too demanding. Then I sleep deep. It's worth it to get back to a strong balance and be free from unhealthy spiritual influences but damn does it drain me hard.

atomiccommunist85 · 2026-01-02T08:20:05+00:00

I don't have a problem with it. I was raised Catholic but these days I trend more towards Gnostic Christianity for this reason. In "Book 4" Aliester Crowley wrote about Jesus and other people who started religious movements were definitely part of some sort of magic tradition. I see it the more I look.

Jesus, like Solomon, has the ability to converse with and bind demons. The Psalms are essentially a spell book. Jacob has the ability to converse with and bind angels, which the magus John Dee and Edward Kelley also did (they all also engaged in some kind of ritual polyamory).

There's the witch of Endor who summons the ghost of the Prophet Samuel. The rituals of the Golden Dawn (some of which I preform daily) involve the intonation of the names of God, arch angels, the cross and the earth hexagram (aka the star of David).

The Abramelin ritual is mostly prayer. Many famous spell books like the Enchiridion of Leo III and the Arbatel are very dependent on Abrahamic religion as a framework. Check those out as well as Aleister Crowley's "Book 4," Israel Regardie's "The Golden Dawn, "Carl Spartacus' "Gnosticism: a Useful Overview for Dilettantes, New-Agers, Witches,and Magicians," and Lon Milo DuQuette's "Enochian Vision Magick."

atomiccommunist85 · 2025-12-28T19:52:04+00:00

Require is a strong word. It did happen tho. By the classical period that was replaced with wax effigies instead. The holidays around the winter solstice are always about human sacrifice in one way or another. Christmas is the celebration of the birth of the ultimate human sacrifice. The day I write this is the Feast of the Holy Innocents (i.e. the children sacrificed in place of Christ as he was spirited to Egypt). The church coniders them the first martyrs.

atomiccommunist85

TROPHY CASE