Gnosis (magazine)

Last updated
Gnosis #26 cover (art by Alex Grey)
Gnosis26win93.jpg
Editor Richard Smoley (1990-99)
Editor in chief Jay Kinney (1985-99)
CategoriesWestern esoteric tradition
FrequencyQuarterly
Circulation 16,000 (peak)
PublisherJay Kinney
First issue1985
Final issue
Number
1999
51
CompanyLumen Foundation
CountryUnited States
Based inSan Francisco
LanguageEnglish
Website www.gnosismagazine.com
ISSN 0894-6159

Gnosis was an American magazine published from 1985 to 1999 devoted to the study of Western esotericism.

Gnosis was published by the Lumen Foundation, a San Francisco-based non-profit organization incorporated in California by Jay Kinney and Dixie Tracy-Kinney to produce educational material, including a print magazine, on the Western esoteric tradition. Initial fund-raising resulted in a 5,000-copy print run of the first issue. The first issues were produced on a volunteer basis from a home office, but within three years the Lumen Foundation and Gnosis established permanent headquarters near Mission Dolores in San Francisco. In 1986, the writer Richard Smoley began contributing to the magazine and went on to become its managing editor (briefly) and then, beginning in 1990, its editor for eight years.

By 1990, Gnosis counted a circulation of 11,000 and went on to achieve a peak circulation of 16,000. [1] During its run, Gnosis published interviews with such significant thinkers and teachers as Huston Smith, Karen Armstrong, Graham Hancock, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Colin Wilson, Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Kathleen Raine, David Steindl-Rast, Claudio Naranjo, R. J. Stewart, and June Singer. Its writers and reviewers included many notable authors in the field, such as Peter Lamborn Wilson, Stephan A. Hoeller, Kabir Helminski, Roger Walsh, Jacob Needleman, Carl W. Ernst, Charles A. Coulombe, David Fideler (founder of Phanes Press), Chas S. Clifton, Erik Davis, Robert Hand, and John and Caitlin Matthews. Each issue usually included reviews of a dozen current books on topics of interest to Gnosis readers. [2]

Although it was written for a general readership, Wouter Hanegraaff, professor of history of hermetic philosophy and related currents at the University of Amsterdam, has observed that it "contributed considerably to the setting of academic standards in a field where university chairs or curricula devoted to Western esotericism were still absent, and which at the time [in the 1980s and 1990s] was still dominated by sensationalism and plain ignorance." [3]

The art director of issues 26 and 27 was Tony Lane.

In 1998 Gnosis won Utne Reader 's Alternative Press Award for "best spiritual coverage". In 1999, largely for financial reasons, Gnosis ceased publication. In 2019, the Lumen Foundation was dissolved and remaining assets were donated to the Theosophical Society in America. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Age</span> Range of new religious beliefs and practices

New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars consider it a religious movement, its adherents typically see it as spiritual or as unifying Mind-Body-Spirit, and rarely use the term New Age themselves. Scholars often call it the New Age movement, although others contest this term and suggest it is better seen as a milieu or zeitgeist.

The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism and their varied spells. It can also refer to supernatural ideas like extra-sensory perception and parapsychology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christian theosophy</span> Esoteric Christian movement

Christian theosophy, also known as Boehmian theosophy and theosophy, refers to a range of positions within Christianity that focus on the attainment of direct, unmediated knowledge of the nature of divinity and the origin and purpose of the universe. They have been characterized as mystical philosophies. Theosophy is considered part of Western esotericism, which believes that hidden knowledge or wisdom from the ancient past offers a path to enlightenment and salvation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hermeticism</span> Philosophy based on the teachings of Hermes Trismegistus

Hermeticism or Hermetism is a philosophical and religious system based on the purported teachings of Hermes Trismegistus. These teachings are contained in the various writings attributed to Hermes, which were produced over a period spanning many centuries and may be very different in content and scope.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels</span> Austrian political and racial theorist, occultist, and publisher

Adolf Josef Lanz, also known under his pseudonym as fascist agitator Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels, was an Austrian political and racial theorist and occultist, who was a pioneer of Ariosophy. He was a former monk and the founder of the magazine Ostara, in which he published anti-semitic and völkisch theories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western esotericism</span> Range of related ideas and movements that have developed in the Western world

Western esotericism, also known as esotericism, esoterism, and sometimes the Western mystery tradition, is a term scholars use to categorise a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas and currents are united since they are largely distinct both from orthodox Judeo-Christian religion and Enlightenment rationalism. It has influenced various forms of Western philosophy, mysticism, religion, pseudoscience, art, literature, and music.

Helen Cohn Schucman was an American clinical psychologist and research psychologist. She was a professor of medical psychology at Columbia University in New York from 1958 until her retirement in 1976. Schucman is best known for having "scribed" with the help of colleague William Thetford the book A Course in Miracles, the contents of which she claimed had been given to her by an inner voice she identified as Jesus. However, at her request, her role as its "writer" was not revealed to the general public until after her death.

<i>Isis Unveiled</i> Key text in the Theosophical movement

Isis Unveiled: A Master-Key to the Mysteries of Ancient and Modern Science and Theology, published in 1877, is a book of esoteric philosophy and Helena Petrovna Blavatsky's first major work and a key text in her Theosophical movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aura (paranormal)</span> Parapsychological and spiritual concept

According to spiritual beliefs, an aura or energy field is a colored emanation said to enclose a human body or any animal or object. In some esoteric positions, the aura is described as a subtle body. Psychics and holistic medicine practitioners often claim to have the ability to see the size, color and type of vibration of an aura.

The phrase "Earth Changes" was coined by the American psychic Edgar Cayce (1877–1945) to refer to the belief that the world would soon enter on a series of cataclysmic events causing major alterations in human life on the planet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">G. R. S. Mead</span> English author, editor, translator, and theosophist

George Robert Stow Mead was an English historian, writer, editor, translator, and an influential member of the Theosophical Society, as well as the founder of the Quest Society. His works dealt with various religious and philosophical texts and traditions, including Neoplatonism, Hermeticism and Gnosticism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wouter Hanegraaff</span> Dutch academic

Wouter Jacobus Hanegraaff is professor of the History of Hermetic Philosophy and related currents at the University of Amsterdam, Netherlands. He served as the first president of the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism (ESSWE) from 2005 to 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hermetic Qabalah</span> Western esoteric tradition

Hermetic Qabalah is a Western esoteric tradition involving mysticism and the occult. It is the underlying philosophy and framework for magical societies such as the Golden Dawn, Thelemic orders, mystical-religious societies such as the Builders of the Adytum and the Fellowship of the Rosy Cross, and is a precursor to the Neopagan, Wiccan and New Age movements. The Hermetic Qabalah is the basis for Qliphothic Qabala as studied by left-hand path orders, such as the Typhonian Order.

Western Esotericism is an academic discipline of research, scholarship, and education that focuses on the history of Western esotericism.

<i>Aries</i> (journal) Academic journal

Aries: Journal for the Study of Western Esotericism is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering the academic and historical study of Western esotericism. It is published by Brill Academic Publishers on behalf of the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism. From 2001 to 2010, the editor-in-chief was Wouter Hanegraaff. The current editor-in-chief is Egil Asprem. Two issues are published annually; in recent years the first one is a special issue, devoted to a specific theme proposed by a guest editor.

Arthur Versluis is a professor and Department Chair of Religious Studies in the College of Arts & Letters at Michigan State University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Smoley</span>

Richard Smoley is an author and philosopher focusing on the world's mystical and esoteric teachings, particularly those of Western civilization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marty Bax</span> Dutch-Canadian art historian

Martine Theodora Bax is a Dutch-Canadian art historian and art critic in modern art. Her specializations are the work of Piet Mondrian and the relationship between art and Western Esotericism, especially Modern Theosophy and Anthroposophy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theosophy</span> Religion established in the United States by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky

Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion as both a new religious movement and as part of the occultist stream of Western esotericism, it draws upon both older European philosophies such as Neoplatonism and Indian originated religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism.

Hans Thomas Hakl is an Austrian publisher, essayist and translator. He has used the signatures H. T. Hakl, H.T.H., or the pseudonym H. T. Hansen.

References

  1. Faith.com
  2. Lumen Foundation website
  3. Hanegraaff, Wouter J. "Kabbalah and Gnosis Magazine: 1985-1999". In Boaz Huss, ed., Kabbalah and Contemporary Spiritual Revival. Beer-Sheva, Israel: Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Press, 2011, p. 256.
  4. "About the Lumen Foundation". www.gnosismagazine.com. Archived from the original on 25 August 2021. Retrieved 25 August 2021. In 2019, the Lumen Foundation was dissolved and its remaining assets turned over to the Theosophical Society in America, a kindred 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit organization.