bP – Culmination of Wisdom

Sayings of Simon Magus

Some Christians refer to Simon Magus as the first Gnostic, and/or the Father of All Heresies, but was he? I highly doubt that. But what did he say / teach that would be in the “Gnostic” school of thought? I decided to browse around on some texts that involve him and wanted to give someContinue reading “Sayings of Simon Magus”

The “Tenchi” – sacred text of the Kakure Kirishitan (3 of 3)

Here is my final post about the “Tenchi.” I hope you all have enjoyed these posts relating to this interesting text. I do recommend everyone grabbing the book, The Beginning of Heaven and Earth by Christal Whelan and doing a full read of the Tenchi for yourself. Well worth it! Book 9, Up Karuwaryu Hill,Continue reading “The “Tenchi” – sacred text of the Kakure Kirishitan (3 of 3)”

The “Tenchi” – sacred text of the Kakure Kirishitan (2 of 3)

Part 2 (of 3) of my posts regarding the “Tenchi”, the sacred book of the hidden Christians of Japan, aka, the Kakure Kirishitan. Book 5, The Tribulations of Santa Maruya, is quite long and begins with Maruya (Mary) arriving home to her parents and they find her pregnant. Being unmarried and pregnant, they are angryContinue reading “The “Tenchi” – sacred text of the Kakure Kirishitan (2 of 3)”

The “Tenchi” – sacred text of the Kakure Kirishitan (1 of 3)

Awhile back, I fell down the rabbit hole of the Kakure Kirishitans, aka, Japan’s Hidden Christians. While a simple blog post can not begin to go into detail about this group, I will give a brief run down. In 1549, the Jesuit missionary St. Francis Xavier introduced Catholicism to Japan. Over the next half century,Continue reading “The “Tenchi” – sacred text of the Kakure Kirishitan (1 of 3)”

A Naassene Psalm

I wanted to share this fragmented text from a Naassene source. Despite being a fragment, it works quite well as is. The text/psalm can relate to the soul, as well as Sophia. The following is based on a G.R.S. Mead translation: First [was there] Mind the Generative Law of All; Second to the Firstborn wasContinue reading “A Naassene Psalm”

Mary Magdalene in the “Speculum Sacerdotale” (2 of 2)

Here is the second (and final) part of the Mary Magdalene story from the “Speculum Sacerdotale“. As I have mentioned before, I’m not a professional, so if there are errors, I do apologize. Please keep in mind that the medieval Mary Magdalene would also take on the contributes of other women/Marys of the bible. AndContinue reading “Mary Magdalene in the “Speculum Sacerdotale” (2 of 2)”

Mary Magdalene in the “Speculum Sacerdotale” (1 of 2)

My medieval translations continue, this time from the fifteenth century collection of sermons titled the “Speculum Sacerdotale.” This modernization was a bit more tricky but I think I was able to get the point across, for the most part. I decided to split this up into two different blog posts. Like the Golden Legend, thisContinue reading “Mary Magdalene in the “Speculum Sacerdotale” (1 of 2)”

Hildegard – Story of a Sinning Soul

Still reading up on Hildegard of Bingen from the book “St. Hildegard of Bingen” by Carmen Acevedo Butcher (excellent, excellent read) and I found another section I would like to share. This translation of the first section of vision four from SCIVIAS sounds quite gnostic in nature. The painting I included in the post isContinue reading “Hildegard – Story of a Sinning Soul”

Hildegard of Bingen: To Sophia…

The other week, youtube’s algorithm recommended to me some music written by Hildegard of (von) Bingen. I was not aware of who she was, but decided to give it a listen and really liked what I heard. Doing some research, I realized how amazing this person was. Yesterday while browsing through some books at aContinue reading “Hildegard of Bingen: To Sophia…”

The Golden Legend of Mary Magdalene (#3 of 3)

Here is the final part of my translation of the Golden Legend of Mary Magdalene. This sectionof the story includes her death and some legends relating to her. I found this exercise of modernizing the story to be quite enlightening. I plan on doing more in the future. It happened that a priest, who desiredContinue reading “The Golden Legend of Mary Magdalene (#3 of 3)”