A full-page color illustration of the Gnostic pantheos Abraxas. Abraxas is depicted with a rooster's head, a human torso in golden armor, and two green serpent legs. He stands in a golden chariot pulled by four white horses. In his right hand, he holds a raised scourge, and in his left, a round golden shield. Above the scene are the radiant sun on the left and a crescent moon on the right, set against a dark blue cosmic background. The word "ABRAXAS" is written in stylized orange-red letters at the bottom center. The artist's signature "J.A. KNAPP" appears in the bottom right corner of the illustration.

Copyrighted by Manly P. Hall.

The name ABRAXAS, coined by Basilides, the Egyptian Gnostic, is a word-symbol consisting of seven letters that signify the seven creative powers or planetary angels recognized by the ancients. Sampson Arnold Mackey proposes the theory that the name is compounded from two ancient words: Abir, which means a bull, and Axis, which means the pole. To support his belief, he points to the fact that a motion of the earth—commonly called the alternation of the poles—resulted in the vernal equinox occurring at one time in Taurus, the Celestial Bull, over the North Pole. The four white horses drawing the chariot of ABRAXAS symbolize the four ethers through which the solar power of ABRAXAS is circulated to all parts of the universe.

The seven-lettered name of ABRAXAS is symbolically significant of his seven-rayed power. The modern world's knowledge of ancient Gnostic symbolism is largely due to the greed of those individuals who set out to destroy every understandable record of Gnostic philosophy. Because these fanatics wished to keep rather than destroy items of commercial value, they preserved gems upon which Gnostic symbols were engraved. The plate above is an enlargement and amplification of a Gnostic jewel; the original stone was only slightly over an inch tall. Rings and other jewelry set with Gnostic gems were undoubtedly used by members of the cult as a means of identification. Since the order was a secret society, the designs were kept small and inconspicuous.

The Ancient Mysteries and Secret Societies

Part Two

An ornamental drop cap "T" featuring intricate floral scrollwork and a small, stylized face at its base.The entire history of Christian and pagan Gnosticism is shrouded in deep mystery and obscurity. While the Gnostics were undoubtedly productive writers, very little of their literature has survived. They drew the hostility of the early Christian Church, and when that institution reached its position of world power, it destroyed all available records of the Gnostic system. The name Gnostic means wisdom or knowledge and is derived from the Greek word Gnosis. The members of the order claimed to be familiar with the secret doctrines of early Christianity. They interpreted the Christian Mysteries according to pagan symbolism. They concealed their secret information and philosophical principles from the profane the uninitiated or those outside the spiritual order and taught them only to a small group of specially initiated persons.

Simon Magus, the magician famous from the New Testament, is often supposed to have been the founder of Gnosticism. If this is true, the sect was formed during the first century after Christ and is probably the first of the many branches to spring from the main trunk of Christianity. The enthusiasts of the early Christian Church declared everything they disagreed with to be inspired by the Devil. Even his enemies conceded that Simon Magus had mysterious and supernatural powers, but they maintained that these powers were given to him by the infernal spirits and furies who, they asserted, were his constant companions. Undoubtedly the most interesting legend concerning Simon tells of his theological contests with the Apostle Peter while the two were preaching their differing doctrines in Rome. According to the story preserved by the Church Fathers, Simon was to prove his spiritual superiority by ascending to heaven in a chariot of fire. He was actually carried many feet into the air by invisible powers. When St. Peter saw this, he cried out in a loud voice, ordering the demons—spirits of the air—to release their hold on the magician. When so ordered by the great saint, the evil spirits were forced to obey. Simon fell from a great height and was killed, which decisively proved the superiority of Christian powers. This story is undoubtedly a complete fabrication, as it is only one of many accounts concerning his death, few of which agree. As more evidence is gathered suggesting that St. Peter was never actually in Rome, the last possible trace of the story's authenticity is quickly vanishing.

There is no doubt that Simon was a philosopher, for wherever his exact words are preserved, his comprehensive and transcendent thoughts are beautifully expressed. The principles of Gnosticism are well described in the following word-for-word statement by him, supposed to have been preserved by Hippolytus:

"To you, therefore, I say what I say, and write what I write. And the writing is this: Of the universal Aeons periods, planes, or cycles of creative and created life in substance and space; celestial creatures there are two shoots, without beginning or end, springing from one Root, which is the invisible power, unknowable silence

[Bythos Greek: "the Deep" or "the Void"]. Of these shoots, one is manifested from above, which is the Great Power, the Universal Mind ordering all things, and is male. The other is manifested from below, the Great Thought, which is female, producing all things. Pairing with each other, they unite and manifest the Middle Distance, the incomprehensible Air, without beginning or end. In this is the Father who sustains all things and nourishes those things that have a beginning and an end." (See Simon Magus by G. R. S. Mead.) By this, we are to understand that manifestation is the result of a positive and a negative principle acting upon each other. This takes place in the middle plane, or point of equilibrium, called the pleroma Greek: "fullness". This pleroma is a unique substance produced from the blending of the spiritual and material Aeons. Out of the pleroma was individualized the Demiurgus the "craftsman" or subordinate creator of the physical world, the "immortal mortal" to whom we owe our physical existence and the suffering we must endure within it. In the Gnostic system, three pairs of opposites, called Syzygies, emanated from the Eternal One. These, along with the Eternal One, make a total of seven. Simon described the six (three pairs) Aeons—living, divine principles—in the Philosophumena A work titled "Refutation of All Heresies" in the following manner: The first two were Mind (Nous) and Thought (Epinoia). Then came Voice (Phone) and its opposite, Name (Onoma), and lastly, Reason (Logismos) and Reflection (Enthumesis). From these primary six, united with the Eternal Flame, came the Aeons (Angels) who formed the lower worlds under the direction of the Demiurgus. (See the works of H. P. Blavatsky.) We must now consider how this early Gnosticism of Simon Magus and his disciple Menander was expanded, and often distorted, by later followers of the cult.

A woodcut titled "THE DEATH OF SIMON THE MAGICIAN" from the Nuremberg Chronicle. It depicts Simon Magus falling from the sky. Several winged, monstrous demons are shown in the air around him, having let him go. Below, a group of figures including St. Peter and St. Paul are kneeling in prayer on a tiled area, while other spectators look on in shock. A city and hills are visible in the background.

The Gnostic School was divided into two major branches, commonly called the Syrian Cult and the Alexandrian Cult. These schools agreed on essentials, but the Alexandrian division tended to be pantheistic believing God is identical with the universe, while the Syrian was dualistic believing in two opposing principles, like good and evil. While the Syrian cult was largely based on the teachings of Simon, the Alexandrian School grew out of the philosophical conclusions of a clever Egyptian Christian named Basilides, who claimed to have been taught by the Apostle Matthew. Like Simon Magus, he believed in emanations the idea that the world flowed out from a divine source and had Neo-Platonic leanings. In fact, the entire Gnostic Mystery is based on the hypothesis that emanations are the logical connection between the irreconcilable opposites of Absolute Spirit and Absolute Substance, which the Gnostics believed existed together in Eternity. Some claim Basilides was the true founder of Gnosticism, though they likely mean that Simon Magus established its fundamental principles in the previous century.

The Alexandrian Basilides taught his followers Egyptian Hermeticism, Oriental occultism, Chaldean astrology, and Persian philosophy. In his doctrines, he sought to unite early Christian schools with the ancient pagan Mysteries. The creation of the unique concept of the Deity known as Abraxas is attributed to him. In discussing the original meaning of this word, Godfrey Higgins, in his Celtic Druids, demonstrated that the numerical values of the letters in Abraxas add up to 365. Higgins also notes that the name Mithras, when treated the same way, has the same numerical value. Basilides taught that the...