Dictionary of Gnosis & Western Esotericism

Get access Subject: Religious Studies
Edited by: Wouter J. Hanegraaff, in collaboration with Antoine Faivre, Roelof van den Broek and Jean-Pierre Brach

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Dictionary of Gnosis & Western Esotericism Online is the comprehensive reference work to cover the entire domain of “Gnosis and Western Esotericism” from the period of Late Antiquity to the present. Containing around 400 articles by over 180 international specialists, Dictionary of Gnosis & Western Esotericism Online provides critical overviews discussing the nature and historical development of all its important currents and manifestations, from Gnosticism and Hermetism to Astrology, Alchemy and Magic, from the Hermetic Tradition of the Renaissance to Rosicrucianism and Christian Theosophy, and from Freemasonry and Illuminism to 19thcentury Occultism and the contemporary New Age movement. Dictionary of Gnosis & Western Esotericism Online also contains articles about the life and work of all the major personalities in the history of Gnosis and Western Esotericism, discussing their ideas, significance, and historical influence.

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Gichtel, Johann Georg

(2,282 words)

Author(s): Versluis, Arthur
Gichtel, Johann Georg, * 4 Mar 1638 (Ratisbon (Germany)), † 21 Jan 1710 (Amsterdam) Gichtel's life can be divided into three primary sections: from 1638 to 1664, when he had problems with the clerical authorities in Ratisbon; from 1665 through 1667, when he moved about, staying for a time with Friedrich Breckling (1629-1711); and from 1668 to his death in 1710, the time during which he lived, wrote, and taught in Amsterdam. Much of our information comes from this last period, during which he established his community of the “Brethren of the Angelic Life”, the Engelsbrüder, or “Angelic Bre…
Source: Dictionary of Gnosis & Western Esotericism

Giorgio, Francesco

(4,997 words)

Author(s): Vasoli, Cesare
Giorgio, Francesco, * 7 Apr 1466 ((?) Venice), † 1 Apr 1540 (Asolo) Giorgio was born in Venice at a date which is undocumented, but which study of his astrological nativity indicates to be April 7, 1466, thus disproving his previous identification with one Dardi Zorzi. The scarcity of sure information on his youth and early manhood prevents us from knowing about his intellectual formation or his possible places of study. We know only that he belonged to the powerful patrician family of the Zorzi, and that he…
Source: Dictionary of Gnosis & Western Esotericism

Gnostic Church

(2,173 words)

Author(s): Toth, Ladislaus
The Gnostic Church (Église Gnostique), created in 1890 by Jules-Benoît Doinel (1842-1902), was born in the environment of modern → spiritualism and the → Theosophical Society. Doinel had for some years frequented esoteric and occultist circles, and, while practicing spiritualism, had attended the Swedenborgian Church [→ Swedenborgian Traditions]. In 1875 he met Léon Denis (1846-1927), for whom he would always have a great admiration. From 1882 to 1893 Doinel belonged to the sect of Guillaume Mon…
Source: Dictionary of Gnosis & Western Esotericism

Gnosticism

(24,815 words)

Author(s): Broek, Roelof van den
Gnosticism I: Gnostic Religion 1. The Problem of Definition The term “Gnosticism” is a scholarly invention, coined by the Cambridge Platonist → Henry More (1614-1687), who used it in a pejorative sense (Layton 1995). In Antiquity, the religious phenomenon it designates was simply called “Gnosis” (Gr. gnōsis, “knowledge”) or, by its opponents, “the Gnosis falsely so called” (already in 1 Timothy 6:20). In this connection, the word Gnosis does not refer to rational, philosophical knowledge, but to religious, spiritual insight, based on revela…
Source: Dictionary of Gnosis & Western Esotericism