Original post: Jenfucius
I'm just curious are there sacred symbols in traditional Gnosticism? I know in certain religions symbols like the Star of David, Cross (depends on what type of cross), Swastika etc. have special meanings or significance in thier religion.
Symbols in Gnosticism
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Symbols in Gnosticism
Original post: Shepard of Arcadia
I believe the Ouroboras(sp?) The snake biting its tail, has significance within traditional Gnosticism.
I believe the Ouroboras(sp?) The snake biting its tail, has significance within traditional Gnosticism.
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Symbols in Gnosticism
Original post: pmcv
Jenfucius, there really aren't many examples for Gnosticism, but as Shepard points out the Ouroborus is one (it may be the same symbol that is called "laviathan" in the Ophite diagram as well... but it is hard to tell from the descriptions). Another is that little thing you see on the side of Shepard's posts... the Abraxas symbol. I don't think we can see these in the same light as, say, the Cross is for modern Christians, but they are identifiable symbols of Gnosticism.
Here are some pictures from the Bruce Codex, but we can't really call them Gnostic holy symbols so much as diagrams and illustrations. http://www.gnosis.org/library/1ieo.htm
There are also some secret symbols.
PMCV
Jenfucius, there really aren't many examples for Gnosticism, but as Shepard points out the Ouroborus is one (it may be the same symbol that is called "laviathan" in the Ophite diagram as well... but it is hard to tell from the descriptions). Another is that little thing you see on the side of Shepard's posts... the Abraxas symbol. I don't think we can see these in the same light as, say, the Cross is for modern Christians, but they are identifiable symbols of Gnosticism.
Here are some pictures from the Bruce Codex, but we can't really call them Gnostic holy symbols so much as diagrams and illustrations. http://www.gnosis.org/library/1ieo.htm
There are also some secret symbols.
PMCV
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Symbols in Gnosticism
Original post: Jenfucius
Thanks Shepard of Arcadia and PMVC. I guess I have to look more into that. I always wonder where the Ouroborus symbol came from.
Thanks Shepard of Arcadia and PMVC. I guess I have to look more into that. I always wonder where the Ouroborus symbol came from.
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Symbols in Gnosticism
Original post: [Gnostic]a+
i was under the influence that the ancient hermetics used symbols and images of the ouroborus before the gnostics did, but maybe im wrong.
i was under the influence that the ancient hermetics used symbols and images of the ouroborus before the gnostics did, but maybe im wrong.
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Symbols in Gnosticism
Original post: pmcv
Hey GnosticA+, you may be right, or maybe not..... it is impossible to know for sure at this point. At this point there is dabate as to which came first, Classical Hermeticism or Gnosticism. The two movements are so interwoven that I don't think the answer will come anytime soon. They may have popped up at the same time since they are both dependant on the same sources (neo-Platonism).
And, while many speculate a distant history for poppular Hermeticism (as opposed to Classical) based on a legendary origin of the "Emerald Tablets", most academicians say this text didn't come about until the 600s to 800s AD.... and even this stuff would not answer who used the symbol first since many of these texts from both kinds of hermeticism as well as Gnosticism don't mention the symbol anyway.
However, there is the Egyptian Sun Disk symbol that comes in a few forms, one of which looks exactly like the Ouroboros. Many interested in comparative mythology have assumed this is the same symbol, (and it probably is the origin of the Gnostic and Hermetic usages, both, but the latter two use a slightly different meaning for the symbol in spite of the fact that many modern books on the subject state otherwise).
What we can say is that both movements are related, and they both used the symbol, and the both applied a Platonist meaning to what they probably saw from earlier Egyptian sources.
PMCV
Hey GnosticA+, you may be right, or maybe not..... it is impossible to know for sure at this point. At this point there is dabate as to which came first, Classical Hermeticism or Gnosticism. The two movements are so interwoven that I don't think the answer will come anytime soon. They may have popped up at the same time since they are both dependant on the same sources (neo-Platonism).
And, while many speculate a distant history for poppular Hermeticism (as opposed to Classical) based on a legendary origin of the "Emerald Tablets", most academicians say this text didn't come about until the 600s to 800s AD.... and even this stuff would not answer who used the symbol first since many of these texts from both kinds of hermeticism as well as Gnosticism don't mention the symbol anyway.
However, there is the Egyptian Sun Disk symbol that comes in a few forms, one of which looks exactly like the Ouroboros. Many interested in comparative mythology have assumed this is the same symbol, (and it probably is the origin of the Gnostic and Hermetic usages, both, but the latter two use a slightly different meaning for the symbol in spite of the fact that many modern books on the subject state otherwise).
What we can say is that both movements are related, and they both used the symbol, and the both applied a Platonist meaning to what they probably saw from earlier Egyptian sources.
PMCV
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Symbols in Gnosticism
Original post: frater luciferi
the oroboros was a common pagan symbol during the time of the hermetics and the gnostics. I would have guessed that they both adopted it for it symbolism. Although the symbol does seem to show up in every culture that i have found.
here's an example of a orobos in a tibetan monastry.
the oroboros was a common pagan symbol during the time of the hermetics and the gnostics. I would have guessed that they both adopted it for it symbolism. Although the symbol does seem to show up in every culture that i have found.
here's an example of a orobos in a tibetan monastry.