REVIEW: GNOSIS

The Secrets of Solomon’s Temple Revealed

By Philip Gardiner

Phase Publications

281 Pages & Photographs

₤ 14.95 UK/$29.95 US

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Publisher’s Note: Gnosis means knowledge of the most esoteric kind. This is the story that has been kept from the ears of mankind for too long. It is the truth, hidden beneath layers of religious deceit for centuries. This is the truth behind the world’s most infamous secret societies—including the Knight’s Templar; it is the revelation of the arcane secrets of mankind and the amazing discovery of the secret of the Temple of Solomon. You cannot live life until you have the “gnosis.”

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Readers of our site know that we are not favorably disposed to contemporary “gnostics” who pursue lucrative careers in metaphysics by resorting to pseudo-science and pseudo-history and declaring their poorly researched phantasmagoric conclusions as “fact.” As a consequence, we do not review such material because it’s a waste of cyberspace.

GNOSIS by Philip Gardiner is a refreshing creation of true spiritual teaching—as well as being a damn good read.

Gardiner possess that rare ability to weave history, mythology and spiritual tradition into writing that is both understandable and enjoyable to those out of the gnostic loop, as well as to steadfast Initiates. His source material is irreproachable and intentions totally above board. GNOSIS contains a wealth of information worthy of Frazer, Blavatsky and Crowley—minus those writers’ ponderous style (Frazer), mystification (Blavatsky), and idiosyncrasy (Crowley).

[NOTE: Many graphics below link to expanded information on the subjects they illustrate.]

In his Introduction, Gardiner claims to have belonged to an unnamed “secret society,” but he left it and is now independent of any specific organization. He is clearly well versed in the Holy Grail and Knights Templar traditions, so there may be some clue there.

We too respect keeping oaths of secrecy quiet even when the member has withdrawn from the organization.

Also in the introduction, the author delineates his lucid and accessible insight and style.

Because of mankind’s attempts at manifesting the mystical into the

physical world he has created mysteries for the rest of us, which need

not have seen the light of day. We shall never find the bones of the

Apostles for they never truly lived as real people; we shall never hold a

fragment of the true cross, for it never carried out its crucifixion; we will

never find the Temple of Solomon, for it is Man himself as we shall discover.

[P. 3]

We concur, and would only add, God is the Human Spirit.

The author may not agree with us here, but his approach is what The Gnostic Pagan School would call historic materialism.

This is a very good thing as it provides an anchor to reality when dealing with things religious and metaphysical.

Another point of consent with Gardiner’s view and our own is that he is not afraid to demonstrate a critical view of capitalism in this era of gross global capitalist corruption.

We have used enticement and threat. We have assumed that mankind can

achieve entry into the Christian club of heaven or be cast down with the

other heretical pagans into hell. He can vote for the good political party or

the evil one and get tax cuts or rises. He can even have a paradise

on earth with flashy sports cars, expensive holidays and a big white

mansion in the Algarve, or he can be part of the lower classes and

struggle just to survive. This is simply the capitalist’s version of heaven

and hell.

[Pgs. 4-5]

Gardiner’s first chapter, The Serpent, is aptly titled as the image of the Gnostic Serpent is central to gnostic symbolism, and sets the stage upon which the theme of spiritual knowledge or gnosis dramatically builds throughout the author’s book in a beguiling and exciting manner.

In Africa the snake was pinned to a cross or tree as a sacrificial offering,

just as Jesus was supposedly pinned to the same in the New Testament

and as Moses lifted the Brazen Serpent, which was thought to have

been on a Tau cross. The Tau cross eventually came also to signify

hidden treasure and as we move one we shall come to the realization that

this was due to the hidden knowledge manifested in the symbol of the

upwardly moving serpent on the cross.

[P. 13]

In 1966 The Gnostic Pagan Collective adopted just such an image (minus the “pinning” aspect) twining upward on an ankh as our totem symbol.

On pages 14-15, Gardiner illustrates semantic correspondences with snakes.

Because the snakes movements are sinuous and wave-like, similar to

the course of a river, three letters are attributed to the snake – M, W and

S – and the use of these letters has to be closely watched when used in

conjunction with snake mythology or even Alchemy (such as Mary or

Mare for water. Water itself and Serpent). The snake is not implied

every time these letters are used, just when in association with other

snake symbolism.

On page 19 the author refers to the Mithraic god of time as Zervan.

We know this entity as Aion.

Gardiner relates the pre-dynastic worship of the serpent goddess in northern Egypt with the concept of the third eye of the charkas.

…The asp had the title of uzait, meaning ‘the eye’ for its

Otherworld sight and wisdom. The goddesses Hathor and Maat were

both called ‘the eye’. The uraeus headdress, worn by the pharaohs,

symbolically gave the wearer the power of the third eye…

[P. 19]

Philip Gardiner completes each chapter with a Notes section. Unlike many books of the genre, the notes are limited to just a few items of added information and are as involving as the main text.

Of particular interest is a section in Note 1 referring to the Agathodaemon on pages 25-26.

…the Agathodaemon, which in

ancient Egypt presided over the affairs of men as the

guardian spirit of their houses…

Agathodaemon the sacred serpent, in one god. He is like

many other serpent deities in charge of the weather, he

has knowledge and wisdom, and above all he can heal

and resurrect and disperse disease.

The pagan gnostics in Alexandria, who associated this principle with the triad of Thoth, Anubis and Isis, came to simplify the term as “daemon.” The daemon is the inner god or Self, capable of revealing what consciousness or intellect alone remains unaware.

In other words, subterranean gnosis brought to the surface.

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Ouroboros

Chapter 2 is titled, The Kundalini and the Chakra Systems, and deals with these unique teachings in manner that can be called “cultural fusion.”

This too is a good thing and gives a fresh approach to material that has become popularized and, in many cases, trite and trivialized. Gardiner’s style maintains an appealing rhythm as well.

The author focuses on Hindu Naga worship, “the root of much Western belief.” [P. 29]

And on page 31:

…the Kundalini system which I will show to be related to the

root of all the various wisdom traditions and core to the secret of the

Temple of Solomon.

Philip Gardiner offers some other interesting remarks also on page 31.

Shakespeare…Although his plays are obviously written in 17th century

English, they never the less sound like another language entirely.

Eventually, after listening to plays or reading the books of the great bard

for long enough we will learn to understand what he is trying to say. But

Shakespeare also placed depth in his texts. These depths were no

different to the ancient fables and folklore teachings of the world, where

esoteric knowledge was hidden beneath layers of a seemingly

ordinary, if sometimes ridiculous plot.

This is probably the major reason why there are so many people who claim that just one person, or a person of Shakespeare’s rather humble background, could not possibly have authored the greatest works of written drama.

This creative spark of Shakespeare’s corresponds with what modern gnostic author Peter Wilbur calls Deep Gnosis, the hidden knowledge behind or beyond the word.

[See, FROM NEW AGE TO NEW GNOSIS.]

Near the conclusion of Chapter Two, Gardiner deals with the idea of intuitive understanding that has far-reaching implications and close affiliations with our own more “seditious” gnostic practices.

It’s no surprise to find that intuitively, our ancestors were correct if not

‘instructed’ in this knowledge…The reason being that

altered states of consciousness, I have found a remarkable number

who saw what they could only describe as atoms, particles and

sometimes even DNA. Research across the globe has now shown

to be a universal experience.

[P. 36]

…But this system is just a stepping-stone to the opening up

of the Third Eye, Eye of Ra or indeed the thalamus. Once opened, and

once activated this amazing human system would lead thousands of

people on mystical journeys that have since puzzled and confused the

rest of mankind.

[P. 38]

[Depicted above is the Eye of Horus who allegorically replaced Ra as the Sun God when he avenged his father Osiris and vanquished the Darkness; Set, Shaitan (Persian) or Satan.]

Gardiner supports this thesis with a concluding note penned by a unnamed person who experimented with an unnamed substance that opened what Allan Watt’s would call The Doors of Perception (see also, Psychedelics and Religious Experience.) We have a problem with this particular note as the experimenter worked alone, hence his conclusions can hardly be scientific or objective.

Although it is “illegal,” The Gnostic Pagan School advocates the use of pure LSD within a collective, ritual setting—and yes, we have seen the objects Gardiner lists. We have also experienced telepathy and what is often called astral projection (actually when the brain is stimulated by LSD it has the capacity to utilize much of the 90% of its energy that is usually latent, and “astral projection” is nothing more or less than the brains ability to seemingly bi-locate.) Many other trans-physical episodes have been experienced as well.

Unfortunately enlightenment is a real threat to the State and to the status quo, so they make illegal those very substances that can psychically heal.

“Turning On” is the new heresy—that and, of course, the on-going bourgeois condemnation of advocating socialism.

[It would be remiss to fail to note that we oppose the use of LSD as a “club drug.” People who take LSD just for kicks tend to have a shallow attitude and are asking for trouble. Most people are so hung-up on their egos and the surface nature of reality, that to suddenly become aware of its true depths and the images of the subconscious and/or collective unconscious can be shattering. This is one reason why we believe Gnosis can and never will be a “mass religion.” Gnosis is confined to small groups because its revelations are lost exponentially and qualitatively to the increasing numbers of poorly trained & unprepared egos involved.]

On page 37 the author delivers another fascinating statement regarding the possible relationship or manipulation between the mind and sub-atomic physics.

The level or shell in which the electron is orbiting will depend on the

amount of light-energy the electron is absorbing or emitting every

instant. It is known that the electron needs to gain energy to reach the

outer orbits of the atom so as to finally escape it. More often than not, the electron will be captured by another atom another miniature vortex. If it is true that there can be “mind over matter”, in that our concentrated thoughts can effect atoms and even sub-atoms then it may be true that what we are really doing is transferring energy by thought.

In this way, the chakra system of improved mental capabilities affecting our own self and our own health may have more truth than previously assumed.

Our thoughts may indeed raise the energy discovered in the atom. To

add to this new and proven theory of quantum entanglement,

whereby particles across any distance can entangle with each other,

and we have the amazing ability to alter matter from a distance by mere

thought. What the ancients have been telling us all along, may in fact

have some reality.

[See, NUMBERS, MAGICK & MOTION]

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Chapter 3, The Shining, (no, not the Stephen King novel/movie) relates to the cross-cultural currents of metaphysical symbolism that have appeared throughout human history. Gardiner hypothetically proposes that “The Shining Ones” were a group or groups of enlightened individuals who used their knowledge for good as well as evil. This brings up the idea of “Ascended Masters” who mystically control mankind’s destiny. This notion was popularized by Blavatsky and took root in the spiritualist movement of the late 18th to early 19th centuries. The Gnostic Pagan Collective categorically denies the existence of these preternatural entities. If Ascended Masters do exist, then they have fallen asleep at the Wheel as the world turns into a reality of increasing violence and disorder.

Madame Blavatsky was much more than an eccentric with a penchant for cigar smoking. In The Secret Doctrine she manufactured the idea that humanity was comprised of five root races, the fifth and most select being the so-called Aryan. It was her belief that the Aryans had the spiritual evolutionary right to wipe out the lesser fourth race. In fairness to the sage, Blavatsky was referring to the Indo-Aryan race—that has nothing to do with German or Teutonic peoples. Nonetheless, Blavatsky’s lack of historic materialism—along with the hazy thinking of other “mystics”— created the ideological foundation upon which the early National Socialists built their crazed philosophy.

When Hitler came to power he sent scientists off to search for the Holy Grail and unearth any ancient objects bearing the swastika. A recent documentary, Occult Roots of the Nazi Movement, depicts a 1920’s Nazi poster depicting the gnostic serpent Ouroboros (depicted above center) engirdling the Christian cross, the ankh and the swastika (reversed). Hitler and his occultists consistency referred to themselves and the German race as “the shining ones” who would vanquish the darkness of Judaism and Bolshevism.

SS Commander Heinrich Himmler was particularly fanatical about this concept and the SS emblem represented the sun with bolts of lightening emanating from it. Inspired by Blavatsky and others, he also ordered expeditions to Tibet in search of the non-existent historic origin of the Aryan race. Himmler also built an elaborate castle with a round table to sit his twelve most elite SS leaders. There was a special niche in this Arthurian-like room to house the Holy Grail (when the psychotic Himmler found it among the destitution of his racist fantasies).

19th and early 20th century “mystics” have a lot to answer for.

Be that as it may, Gardiner defines the words “White” or “Shining” as applied to this chapter.

White, bright or shining are all indicative of the Solar Shining Ones

way of truth. White appears again and again in stories related to our ancient

and mystical monuments. In popular myth and traditional fairy stories,

white ladies usually dwell in great white towers or atop mysterious snow

capped mountains. These towers or mountains are nothing more than

the full achievement of the chakra system.

[P. 47]

[For more on this psychological/mythic view refer to DAIMONIC REALITY and the works of Carl G. Jung.]

Gardiner includes a comment we felt compelled to state and comment on for reasons of clarification.

In North America it is said by folk and oral tradition that upon

mountains, sacred and holy people exist called the Great White

Brotherhood. These are the Lemurians or people from the days of the

past who are advanced souls and who help us through our evolution.

They are guiding us through the generations, with a set goal in mind for

mankind. They inhabit esoteric monasteries and make themselves

visible from the light at certain important times in our history…

[P. 48]

We feel a duty to insert a critical observation in regards to this statement because (1) The Northern California Branch of the Gnostic Pagan Collective lives near one of the most significant mountains alluded to, that is, Mt. Shasta. (2) We have witnessed first hand the negative impact that has resulted from associating Mt. Shasta with supernatural beings or Ascended Masters (including the Great White Brotherhood which is an organization created and operated by mortals with a highly conservative agenda).

There are other groups that have formed around the Mt. Shasta mythology.

For example, there is the “I AM Society” that is a quasi-Kabbalistic-oriented organization based on what can only be described as the cult of the fabulous Count St.Germain of the Violet Ray.

According to misguided occultists, St. Germain is supposedly hundreds of years old and has made clandestine appearances since the French Revolution up to 20th Century “visitations” on Mt. Shasta. Offshoots of this group include the crassest mediumistic charlatans and confidence tricksters. The most influential and dangerous is The Church Universal and Triumphant that has set up bunkers in the outlands, armed themselves to the teeth, and stockpiled food for the Armageddon (the date they prophesied has long since come and gone.)

The gist of our criticism is that unpleasant and unbelievable things can happen when one strays too far from historic materialism.

[NOTE: Philip Gardiner has expressed in unambiguous terms that in no way does he support the belief in Ascended Masters—or any of the exploitative cults promoting them. His original statement was based on historical, mythic, and allegorical tradition alone.]

The vast majority of Chapter 3 lists excellent correspondences in history, religion and mythology with the symbolism of the color white and the idea of shining. To list any here would be redundant. We found them very remarkable and instructive.

The Notes for this chapter are particularly good.

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In Chapter 4, The Void, asserts what too many people involved in esoteric studies seem to forget.

As we saw in the previous chapter,

across the world a great “brotherhood in

the shining” arose only to eventually fall into the base world of greed,

desire and power crazy control. This can seem almost a paradoxical

situation that an enlightenment can eventually bring about such things,

but the fact remains human nature is based upon evolutionary desires

and these desires often cause the sins of man if not balanced out with

love.

[P. 60]

Our concept and hypothesis is that this void or zero point energy is in

in fact the substance of thought. It is the quantum realm of our

real consciousness.

[62]

Formerly it was believed that the universe was rapidly expanding and would eventually totally collapse into a giant black hole. A new theory asserts that the universe is slowly expanding and will continue to do so because of the existence of some unknown vacuum that exists on the outer edge of the universe. It was also formerly assumed that a vacuum could not exist in space. If this theory is correct, one day the earth would be so separated from any other celestial objects that if one could view the night sky nothing at all would be seen.

Regarding the human brain that originates all these curious theories, Gardiner quotes from Gopi Krishna.

However brief it might be, the transcendental flight of the soul must be

reflected in the cerebral matter in some way…

[P. 64]

And Gardiner concludes:

…Science therefore should be able to pick out these effects in

the various elements, which make up our “mind”, be they

electromagnetic frequencies or chemical and biological actions.

[P. 64]

The brain may be attractive only to a pathologist or pre-med students, but is also the bridge between spirit and matter. In fact, the brain may be the closest manifestation of spirit the naked human eye can see.

On the same page the author delineates the primary difference between humans and other animals.

…The difference with humans is

that we are conscious…[of the self-evolutionary process] of this fact, and so we

can cause an affect upon our own evolution. This can be seen over the

course of human history whereby drugs have been employed to create

altered states of consciousness.

The author elaborates on this theme.

There can be no doubt that the various drugs bring on a process known

to the mystics as enlightenment. There can be equally no doubt that

these processes can also be brought on via physical and mental actions

as described above, creating neuron transmissions which affect our

thoughts and release chemical hormones. But all of this is simply

reducing the process down to a scientifically physical, biological and

chemical action. The questions is not how the experience is brought on;

the question is what truth is there to it? Is this process a truth of human

evolution? And is this process being caused by the union of our selves

with the collective superconscious state or Universal Mind? Are we in

fact creating our own evolution in a quantum universe?

[P. 69]

Yet the scientifically physical in regards to evolution can hardly be ignored.

It is the development of technology that could make possible the universal dream of an end to hunger, lack of housing, disease and ignorance for the underclass made possible by trans-humanist socialism—just as technological determinism imposed by a capitalist elite can destroy the dream for just about everybody.

Then “enlightenment” becomes a moot point.

On the same page Gardiner continues:

We however want to get to the bottom of this process and I wish to see a

balance struck between hard rationalistic science and true human

experience, if indeed that is possible.

Such a balance is the goal of Modern Gnosticism.

Getting back to the Void and the Origin of things, in 777 Aleister Crowley came up with a profoundly simple equation:

0 = (+1) + (-1)

The Early Gnostics represented this equation as Ouroboros, the Serpent eating its own tail. According to the Early Gnostics, the Void wasn’t such a bad thing. In fact, they believed that the most tragic event in cosmic history was that there was any Beginning at all.

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Chapter 5, The Hidden Bible: Clues in the Bible about the Gnosis, is quite straightforward and requires little comment or elaboration. However, there is a short section on page 86 concerning matriarchal society we would like to include.

No wonder that the female line of descent (the matriarchal relationship)

is so important to Judaism. Even in Arabic the words for ‘snake,’ ‘life’ and

‘teaching’ are closely related to the word or name, ‘Eve’ and eventually

emerged as pure wisdom.

The classic metaphysical concept of the Aeon of Matriarchy was beginning its gradual dissolution into the patriarchal Aeon of Osiris by 3000 BCE, accelerated with the consolidation of the Kingdom of Israel under David (either historically or allegorically), and definitively ended with the death of Cleopatra. This is known as the Aeon of Isis and in many parts of the world society was communistic, including sexual relations and the rearing of children. Matriarchal society remained more or less intact closer to our own time in such isolated places as Hawaii (where at least one child was often raised by a maternal aunt and land was handed down through the maternal line)—before the missionaries brought the “gifts” of guilt, disease and land-grabbing.

The Aeon of Osiris solidified with the Jesus Cult.

[NOTE: The earliest concept of “Aeons” is historically linked to the ancient Hindu philosophy and, of course, the Early Gnostics. There is no question as to whether this concept is literal or not. The idea of aeons were, perhaps intuitively, invented by people—quite possibly seers—to explain the progression of human thought and belief, both physically and spiritually.]

Early Gnostic texts regarded Eve as the serpent herself, guarding the

secrets of divine immortality and wisdom. They taught that the Hebrews had regarded Eve with jealousy and stole the creation of mankind from the serpent and attributed it to Yahweh. How right they were, and yet they were called heretics for their statements.

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Chapter 6, Other Religious Texts and Guides, contains worthy of note observations such as:

There is no thorough evidence that Buddha even existed, just as

there is none that Jesus or other Biblical character did. Never the

less, this does not mean that his [legendary] life does not hold truth,

just as those of the Bible do.

[P. 100]

Thus NONE of the physical relics or artifacts associated with these holy personages ever existed either. So much for the Shroud of Turin, Noah’s Ark, Ark of the Covenant, etc., etc.

[See also, THE JESUS MYSTERIES]

In Chapter 7, Goddess in the Temple & the Three Secrets, states:

Regardless of what the scholars debate for the next three or four

hundred years the fact remains that Asherah was Shekinah as we saw

above and that Shekinah was also Matronit, the consort of the Jewish

god. There can be no denying that the duality, of the female and male

principles, are all important to this, whether the scholars

of the Orthodox priesthood liked it or not.

[P. 124]

Just like today, the “common people” are innately wiser than the rabbis, priests, ministers and politicians.

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Philip Gardiner makes a statement in the opening pages of Chapter 8, The Secret of the Temple1, that is very apropos in today’s environment of superstition and commercialized mysticism:

Probably the most interesting in the current climate of world wide

“bloodline” hysteria is the concept that those medieval warrior monks,

the Knights Templar, actually dug beneath the Temple and discovered

some great and tremendous secret. This secret as many readers will be

aware, is claimed to be the Ark of the Covenant, the Holy Grail, some

incredibly and deadly secrets texts or even the head of Christ.

Whatever one wishes to believe about any of these present-day myths,

we have to understand that there is almost never smoke without fire.

The Knights Templar did go to Jerusalem and they were a creation

roughly of the Lanquedoc region in France. As most of the world

seems to have gone mad on the Knights Templar, and as they seem to

be intricately involved in the whole history of the Temple itself, then we

had better spend a few moments their role in the history of it

since the emergence in the world mystery and this in itself may lead us

into the real secret of the Temple.

[P. 127]

And we’re not going to reveal that secret here or the fascinating historical details Gardiner offers in proof of his fundamental thesis.

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Chapter 9, The Secret of the Temple 2, is a continuation of biblical and cultural de-mystification, focusing on the supposed historical relation between Solomon and Sheba. Again, in order not to give the show away, Sheba is presumed to have come from the region we know as Ethiopia—and members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church believe the Ark of the Covenant is sheltered on an island there today.

Gardiner draws a parallel between the ancient Egyptian image of the Solar B’arque and the Ark of Noah and that of the Ark of the Covenant.

…Now, this Ark or in

Egypt, the Solar B’arque, is both the Ark of Noah, carrying the ‘hopes of

Mankind’ and the Ark of the Covenant also carrying the same.

[P. 161]

We argued this same point in our review Secret Books of the Egyptian Gnostics. In that review we asserted the belief that the pagan religion of ancient Egypt had a more profound on the development of Early Gnosticism (particularly Coptic Gnosticism) than previously or currently admitted or understood by most scholars. The Solar B’arque image (seen in the Book of the Dead) clearly appears not only in descriptions in the gnostic texts, but also early Christian images of the soul progressing through the afterlife. Perhaps they reflect near death images of ancient man?

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Chapter 10, The Continuing Secret, addresses issues such as Freemasonry, Alchemy, and prominent people in occult history including Eliphas Levi, Abbe N. de Montfaucon, and Paracelsus. The book concludes with a brief Chapter 11, wrapping things up with the relevance to us today of Gnosis.

Appendix 1, The Knowledge Dictionary, is really good and lists concepts, people and ideas that are of benefit to beginners and advanced students of gnosis and the occult. This section is followed by Appendix 2, Timeline of Serpent Worship, that is just as instructive and enjoyable to read.

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GNOSIS The Secret of Solomon’s Temple Revealed definitely belongs in a gnostic library or end table. It will be a real eye-opener to people unfamiliar with “true” religious and cultural development—just as it provides remarkable backup information for readers who have already progressed beyond the mass delusions perpetrated by State Religion and “New Age” nonsense.

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Updated 11/07