1. Hip-gnosis Ancient transformation techniques for a New Age
Presenter: Joe Szimhart

2. Joe Szimhart—bio University of Dayton: BA&S—1969 fine arts
Pennsylvania Academy Fine Arts—1975 certif.
Santa Fe, NM:
Church Universal and Triumphant/Summit Lighthouse—membership
Exit counselor/deprogrammer—1980-present
Crisis caseworker at psychiatric hospital—1998 to present

3. Gnosticism revisited
Gnosis: Greek—to know; Intuitive apprehension of spiritual truths, an esoteric form of knowledge sought by the Gnostics.
Gnosticism: Radical dualism rooted in early Christian/Greek influences, features mythic revelation and ritual initiation, elements of neo-Platonism
Matter is a degraded emanation of spirit—Demiurge/Yahweh
Physical universe: a mistake—should not exist, therefore physical science is a futile enterprise
Sex for procreation avoided; ritualized
Pneumatics: Gnostics, self-realized, enlightened; small percentage of humanity
Psychics: potential for gnosis, recruit-worthy; slightly larger percent of humanity
Hylics: literally ‘mud people’ with no chance for gnosis in this lifetime; vast majority of humanity

4. Gnosticism as radical dualism
The Divine is generally thought of as transcendent, impersonal, and ultimately unknowable rather than as personal and involved in human history.
God did not create the world by a sovereign act; rather, the visible universe is the end result of God's (Pleroma or the uncreated plentitude) emanations of His own spiritual essence.
The universe is structured in layers with the visible universe at the lowest level. Salvation consists in gaining the wisdom (gnosis) that provides the information for escaping the world of matter, in which human entities are trapped on a wheel of reincarnation.
Commonly, Gnostics believe that humans have forgotten their divine origin as an emanation of the deity (Pleroma) and thus need to reawaken their memory by various spiritual disciplines. (gnosis from Answers.com)

5. Gnostic influence through history
Oriental religion—Jnana Yoga, Buddhism
Pythagorean community at Krotona—(500 BCE) proto-Gnostic
Gospel of John; letters of Paul—Gnostic elements
Manicheans (242 CE)—radical dualism; rejected by St. Augustine
Paulicians (657 CE)
Cathars/Albigensians (11th Century)
Rosicrucians—’Christian Rosencreutz’ (1616)
Freemasons (1717)
Theosophy—Madame Blavatsky (1875)
New Thought; Unity (1890)
Anthroposophy—Rudolf Steiner (1912)
New Age (20th Century)
Carl G. Jung
“Self”-transformation groups: est, Scientology (1960s)
Bible cults—Pentecostal, fundamentalist
Ramtha School of Enlightenment (1980s)
Dr Wayne Dyer: Intention and “Source”
The Gnostic Movement: founder Rabolu—1970s; Mark Pritchard/Beelzebub

6. Philosophy, exit counseling and Kevin Garvey
Philosophy examines knowledge, conduct and governance
Knowledge: gnosis, experience, science
Conduct: morals, behavior, psychology
Governance: politics, rule, management
Exit counseling examines cult knowledge, cult conduct and cult governance

7. Kevin Garvey

8. Garvey and ‘est’ Kevin Garvey’s approach was philosophical
Transformational cults emphasize gnosis through experience while suppressing science and reason.
est reduced knowledge to simplistic gnosis or “it” through manipulated experience
est and similar self-transformational “intensives” push attitude and experience but lack applicability and extension.

9. Hip-Hypnosis and self-suggestion
Power of suggestion: Émile Coué

10. Émile Coué: 1857-1926 Tous les jours à tous points de vue je vais de mieux en mieux

11. Affirmation and self-suggestion gone awry
Create your own reality: Leonard Orr and Rebirthing
Rebirthing in the New Age by Sondra Ray & Leonard Orr (Celestial Arts, 1977)

14. The Ten Commandments by Leonard Orr
VII. Thou shalt not commit adultery
The superficial definition of adultery is sleeping with a guy’s wife or a woman’s husband without their permission. Adultery really means adulteration of your own thoughts. If you adulterate the First Commandment, then all you can do is commit adultery. As long as you honor yourself as God you are not adulterating because everything is OK. Because if you are God, you can decide that you are married today and that you are not married tonight (so you could sleep with another woman) and then you could decide you are married again tomorrow…If you are God, you have a right to do that. However, the other people are Gods also and when you mess around with other gods like this the consequences can be very heavy.

15. Ramtha School of Enlightenment
Finding Enlightenment: Ramtha’s School of Ancient Wisdom by J. Gordon Melton (1998)
Chapter 3: Modern Gnosticism

16. Be all you can be: 1980-2001 Army slogan
Attitudinal Healing: Gerald Jampolsky and A Course In Miracles (sin, error, illness are illusion)
Endura of the Gnostics: consolamentum or sacrament of fasting till dead

17. Cathars—10th to 12th century
Objection to the Cathars was not strictly theological in as much of what the Cathars taught and practiced had a very destabilizing effect on society. The dualism of the Cathars was also the basis of their moral teaching. Man, they taught, is a living contradiction. Hence, the liberation of the soul from its captivity in the body is the true end of our being. To attain this, suicide is commendable; it was customary among them in the form of the endura (starvation). The extinction of bodily life on the largest scale consistent with human existence is also a perfect aim. As generation propagates the slavery of the soul to the body, perpetual chastity should be practiced, by all Cathars, at all times (glasgowgnostic.com)

18. The Gnostic Movement/Gnosticweb
Roots in Gurdjieff and Theosophism
Victor Manuel Gomez Rodriguez (Columbian/Mexican: ) aka: “Samael Aun Woer”
Joaquin Amortegui (Columbian: ) aka. “Rabolu”
Mark Pritchard (Welsh: born 1934, a current leader) aka: “Beelzebub”; “Belzebuub”
International: Hundreds of branches mostly Mexico, Latin America, Greece, Spain

19. Belzebuub

20. references The Gnostic Religion by Hans Jonas (1971)
Gnosis: The Nature and History of Gnosticism by Kurt Rudolf (1987)
The Tree of Gnosis: Gnostic Mythology from Early Christianity to Modern Nihilism by Ioan P. Couliano (1992)