Gnosticism in popular culture
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History of Gnosticism | |
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Persian Gnosticism Mandaeism Manichaeism | |
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Syrian-Egyptic Gnosticism Sethians Thomasines Valentinians Basilideans | |
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Fathers of Christian Gnosticism Simon Magus Cerinthus Marcion Valentinius | |
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Early Gnosticism Ophites Cainites Carpocratians Borborites Thomasines | |
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Mediaeval Gnosticism Paulicianism Bogomils Cathars | |
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Gnosticism in modern times Gnosticism in popular culture | |
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Gnostic texts Nag Hammadi Library Codex Tchacos Gnosticism and the New Testament | |
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Related Articles Gnosis Pythagoreanism Neoplatonism and Gnosticism Esoteric Christianity Theosophy | |
Contents
Literature
- Harold Bloom explores Gnosticism in his novel , and, with William Golding, traces Gnosticism in American beliefs in The American Religion: The Emergence of the Post-Christian Nation. Another work of Bloom's - Genius, in which he reviews one hundred literary figures and identifies their own peculiar genius - makes introductory reference to Gnosticism as "the religion of literature".
- Authors Jorge Luis Borges and Emil Cioran both make reference to Gnosticism in their work.
- John Crowley's novel series Ægypt draws on Hermetic Gnostic traditions employed by Renaissance alchemists and magical thinkers as well as a Gnostic conception of history as malleable by human understanding.
- Dan Brown's bestselling novel The Da Vinci Code draws on Gnostic scriptures and modern re-interpretations of those works as well as a pseudohistory of Christian faiths along the lines of that presented in Holy Blood, Holy Grail.
- Several works of science fiction author Philip K. Dick draw on various Gnostic notions, especially his novels Valis and The Divine Invasion.
- Nobel author Herman Hesse occasionally refers to gnostic doctrine, particularly in the novel Demian
- The author and philosopher Umberto Eco repeatedly indicates Gnostic influence, this being particularly apparent in two novels: Foucault's Pendulum and Baudolino. In the latter, one character describes the Gnostic creation myth at length.
- Anatole France's novel The Revolt of the Angels (La Revolte des Anges) weaves the story of an unhappy guardian angel and the doctrine of Yaldabaoth, to satiric effect.
- Gnosticism figures heavily in the Jesus Mysteries Thesis of Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy.
- Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy draws heavily on gnostic ideas. The trilogy comprises Northern Lights (released as The Golden Compass in North America), The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass.
- Allen Ginsberg uses several Gnostic terms in his poem Plutonian Ode.
- In her book The Secret Magdalene, the writer Ki Longfellow explores the birth of gnosticism in her novel treatment of the life of Mary Magdalene, as well as in the life of Jesus.
- Robert Charles Wilson's work has gnostic themes to it, particularly overt in his 1994 novel Mysterium.
Comics and illustrated narratives
- The universe detailed in Neil Gaiman's Sandman series is broadly gnostic in cosmological structure, detailing the existences of seven archetypal figures that, at various times, control human action (their designated areas of power are reflected in their titles): Destiny, Death, Dream, Destruction, Desire, Despair, Delirium (who, at an unknown time in the past, was called Delight). These figures are likened to gods yet, being representative of human abstracts, ones that are not worshipped nor which are subject to the ebb and flow of belief; indeed, gods and goddesses from a wide variety of pantheons are acknowledged as their inferiors and, in some senses, subordinates. However, at the same time it is implied that the seven figures are intermediaries, acting on the behalf and at the behest of another, superior agency; though the exact identity of the figure that presides over them is ultimately unknown, it is implied that it is a primal creative force or God.
- In the Marvel Comics universe, the origins of Earth are described using gnostic mythemes, including the notion of a subordinate creator of the universe. This view of the creation of the earth was expounded in the back-up features of the 1989 annual editions of their comics, all part of the Atlantis Attacks crossover.
- Alan Moore, acclaimed writer of From Hell, Watchmen, V for Vendetta, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Promethea, converted to Gnosticism in the late 1990s. His work, typically of Gnostic interests, demonstrates a keen engagement with the often-ambivalent relationship between subject and reality, consciousness (especially altered and enlightened states of consciousness) and revolt against constrictive systems of control. In Watchmen, Moore appears to explore (or at least evoke) the concept of Voegelin's 'Immanentization of the Eschaton' through a central character in the series, who hatches a monstrous plot to save the world through the fabrication of an alien invasion. Promethea explores Gnostic issues even more directly, though the vehicle of Kabbalistic, alchemical and other esoteric framing devices.
- Grant Morrison's comic series The Invisibles draws on Gnostic mythemes (particularly those of Manicheanism), both in terms of overall structure and also through occasional direct reference. Morrison's other works, such as Animal Man and The Filth, also possess frequent moments of structural cohesion with Gnostic worldviews, though these make no direct reference.
Film and television
- Such films as Dark City, Pleasantville, The Matrix, The Thirteenth Floor, eXistenZ, The Truman Show, Twelve Monkeys, Groundhog Day and Vanilla Sky can be compared to Gnostic cosmological myth in the presentation of a world that is illusory, that is created with the intention to deceive or restrict its inhabitants, and that is not configured to humanity's benefit save through the illuminating realization of its falsehood. Ultimately, the key to unravelling the illusion and perceiving reality without obscuration resides in a form of self-knowledge or enlightenment (often this perception is concurrent to a 'return' to a material or extended reality that persists beyond the illusion).
- Hedwig and the Angry Inch makes reference to a pseudo-gnostic myth throughout; therein, the Gnostic reverence for the androgyne as symbolic of superior spiritual realities is contrasted with the protagonist's sexual and gender difficulties. Additionally, one of the main characters in the film is named 'Tommy Gnosis'.
- In the anime (movie and series) and manga Revolutionary Girl Utena, there are Gnostic themes and visual symbolism. Much focus of the film's focus is directed to the dichotomy between light and dark and the interplay between the two though, at its heart, it is a passionately post-modern fairy tale. The operation of the colour scheme and drives of the individual characters harkens towards the search for a "true will" similar to that presented in Aleister Crowley's Thelema doctrine.
- The anime series, movies, and manga Fullmetal Alchemist contain strong Gnostic elements. In the series, it's towards the latter half. The movies contain the strongest influences of the animation, and the manga contains heavy Gnostic influence throughout. This can be attributed to the influence of Gnostic thinking on certain real-world Alchemic systems.
- The anime Big O can be considered a modern Gnostic drama, containing themes entrenched in Gnosticism. The series is set in a city where mankind has lost its memory, the action centering around a professional negotiator who has inexplicably gained memories of the previous world, thus gifting him with special talents that reveal themselves as the series progresses. The city he resides in is revealed in the latter half of the series to be a massive, elaborate stage, and the main character himself is revealed to be a sort of memetic clone of a previous negotiator who's primary function was to negotiate with the forces in control of the city. This essentially makes the main character a reborn Gnostic Christ figure.
- Yet another anime with Gnostic influences is the series Last Exile. The influences are not particularly or immediately obvious. The setting is a degrading partially terraformed world dominated by hostile, elitist rulers called "The Guild" who maintain a dogmatic grip over the activities of two warring nations. Other Gnostic and/or contemporary Christian elements inclued an airship captain who is essentially crucified on a cross by rose vines (undergoing attempted interrogation in the process), an exiled Empress named Sophia who has an unrequited love for the aforementioned captain, and a reconciliation between conflicting worlds during the series' climax. There are also highly important sacred mysteries tied directly to the main plot, Greek (the language of many early Christian documents) featured as the written language of the series' inhabitants, and the theme of a forgotten world as the source of humanity (in this case, planet Earth).
- One anime movie, Sol Bianca, contains strong reference to Gnosis. In it the Gnosis (or G'Nohsis as it is erroneously pronounced in the movie) is a tangible object reputed to be the Galaxy's greatest treasure. Upon attaining the Gnosis they discover it is an old optical storage disk containing information of a long lost source-world for humanity, which is revealed to be The Earth, long gone and even forgotten over the eons.
- The popular science fiction show Stargate SG1 arguably demonstrated Gnostic elements in its later seasons, including the classical gnostic notion of evading or circumventing the constrictive material self in order to ascend to a higher state of existence. The parallels increased during the ninth season, with the introduction of the Ori, a race of ascended beings that deceive and oppress humanity for the purpose of deriving energy from humanity to fuel their level of ascension. However, the argument of outright Gnosticism in Stargate is extremely dubious at best, as there are many systems of spiritual belief that include a form of ascension. Also the theme of the Ori can be taken as a repetition of the original 'false gods' theme of the series simply taken up to a higher and arguably more intense level. Notably the Ori crusaders bear a stark resemblence to the Goa'uld Jaffa.
- The final episode of the 2005 series of Doctor Who, entitled The Parting Of The Ways, contains a highly gnostic storyline. The Emperor Dalek like the demiurge believes in his ignorance and madness to be god. Rose looks into the time vortex and gains knowledge of everything in the universe. Thus armed with this perfect gnosis - becomes effectivly a goddess.
Music
- In her book "Piece By Piece", the musician Tori Amos explores the influences and experiences in her life that have shaped her musical compositions. In the first two chapters she explores the Gnostic belief that Mary Magdalene wrote the fourth Gospel of the apostles; this research would have a profound impact on her subsequent 2005 album The Beekeeper.
- Musician Bill Nelson was interested in Gnosticism in the mid-1980s and his album Chance Encounters in the Garden of Lights includes songs with titles evocative of Gnostic concepts. The dedication of the album reads 'I offer this work to my fellow initiates as a testament to the Gnosis and a confirmation of The World Within'.
- The pop group The Police recorded a hit song in the 1980s, "Spirits in a Material World", which touched on Gnostic concepts.
Art
- The art of William Blake is arguably expressive of a world-view that finds several parallels with gnosticism. Though it would be incorrect to state that Blake consciously sought to depict gnostic themes, several of his mythic figures, such as Urizen (as he is presented in the famous Ancient of Days) find correspondents in Gnostic myth; one might also note Blake's distrust of materialism, as expressed in such paintings as his portrait of Newton and, less overtly, his illustrations to Dante's Divine Comedy. Of note is also his illustrations to the Book of Job.
- Artist Alex Grey frequently references Gnosticism in his work; he has, for example, painted a portrait of Sophia, a recurrent Gnostic figure, as part of his Sacred Mirrors series.
Computer, console and 'tabletop' games
- The computer role-playing games Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, and Xenogears by Squaresoft as well as the Xenosaga series (now in the hands of an ex-Square team known as Monolith Soft) contain subtle Gnostic themes, if not outright references to Gnostic myth (as in the case of Xenosaga).
- The MTV animated science fiction television series, Æon Flux, contains many Gnostic ideas.
- The Legacy of Kain series of games has many Gnostic elements, particularly in the character of the Elder God, as revealed in the most recent game in the series, Defiance.
- The role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons makes references to gnostic concepts in its supplemental books, such as the Book of Exalted Deeds, which details Pistis Sophia, an archon and a patron of the game's martial-arts-wielding monks. The same is also true of the alternate role-playing system Kult.
- The video game series Silent Hill presents several Gnostic mythemes, including the concept of the material world as Hell, in contrast to a superior, paradisial plane of existence, though inverted as the matrial world is shown to be normal, even pleasant, while the paradise is a world of flames, rusted surfaces, mutilated corpses, twisted demons, and anguish and torment.
- The GameCube console game Tales of Symphonia contains variances and odd fusions of Norse and Gnostic themes. The beginnings of the game are fairly clichéd as a rag-tag team of heros sets out on an adventure to encounter an angel at various locations to regenerate the world. There are also veritable concentration camps known as "Human Farms" run by a corrupt race of half-elves that are supposedly going to be destroyed by this regeneration. As the game progresses, it is revealed that the angels featured are not actually divine beings and the quest is based on falsehood unintentionally propagated by the church. It is revealed that there are two worlds, a declining world and a rising world. The declining world is a creation for the purpose of sapping the mystical energies of its inhabitants. The game's focus then shifts to the reconciliation or fusion of the two worlds and the defeat of the arguably demiurgical main villain named Lord Yggdrasil and his host of created angels. The plot somehow quickly turns into a creatively constructed fusion of Gnostic and Norse mythologies.
External links
- Emerson, John [Phildickian Gnosticism], a series of articles discussing the Gnostic influences upon the writings of Philip K. Dick.
- Flannery-Dailey, Frances & Rachel Wagner, ["Wake Up! - Gnosticism & Buddhism in The Matrix"], an essay on Gnostic and Buddhist influences on The Matrix.
- Klock, Geoff, [X-Men, Emerson, Gnosticism], an essay discussing Gnostic influences on The X-Men
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