“Jesus and the Goddess: The Secret Teachings of the Original Christians”
is a book by Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy, published in 2001. It´s the sequel
to the more well known “The Jesus Mysteries” by the same authors. I read the
book years ago, found it weird and recently realized that I never reviewed it. Hence
this short little piece.
I think it´s obvious that “Jesus and the Goddess” doesn´t reveal the original
teachings of Christianity. Rather, the authors project later Gnosticism onto
the early Christians. However, they also seem to do two other things. First,
they argue that all Gnostic groups – despite obvious outward differences – shared
the same basic teachings, teachings which were wholly distinct from those of “official”
literalist or orthodox Christianity. Even Plotinus is impressed in the service
of Gnosticism. Second, the authors project their own spiritual teachings onto
the ancient Gnostics. Both moves are problematic from a scholarly viewpoint.
Today, the trend is apparently towards questioning whether “Gnosticism” is a
valid category at all. The distinction between “Gnosticism” and “orthodoxy”
might also be anachronistic during the earliest Christian centuries. Further,
Gnostic teachings are usually interpreted as sharply dualist. There is an
absolute opposition between the good and the evil, the former being wholly
spiritual in nature, the latter identified with matter. The idea probably comes
from the Orphics, but in different ways also appears in Zoroastrianism and Buddhism.
Freke´s and Gandy´s message, by contrast, is “monist” or rather “non-dual”,
the latter being a contemporary term used by some Tantrics. Indeed, the kind of
spirituality promoted in the book is strikingly similar to Non-Dual Shaiva Tantra
or Vajrayana, and I wouldn´t be surprised if the two authors have studied such
material. What kind of gives the game away is the statement that the Gospel
stories of Jesus are myths. Well, exactly: Freke and Gandy have created their
own myth, the myth of ancient Gnosticism being “Tantric” in nature. I think the
book is best read as a very creative modern reworking of Gnosticism, rather
than as a scholarly work on ancient religion. In fact, I wouldn´t be surprised
if the authors tacitly acknowledged this fact. After all, “myth” is a positive
term in their worldview. While it´s certainly possible that some Gnostic groups
did have the perspective in this book, Gnostic scriptures are notoriously
difficult to comprehend. Other groups would probably have regarded Freke and
Gandy as dangerous heretics!
The message of “Jesus and the Goddess” is frequently paradoxical. The
Demiurge, who is imperfect and evil from one perspective, is “good” and necessary
from another. Christ creates the world of multiplicity through the Demiurge,
since all creation is necessarily a “fall” from the primordial Oneness. Thus,
the Demiurge or the Devil is the brother of Christ! Evil is really tough love.
Gnosis turns out to be the insight that existence is really a mystery.
Nothing can be known about its origins or its deeper nature. Everything in the
cosmos is Consciousness, but since Consciousness needs an object to exist, it
can´t be the ultimate ground of existence. If the objects disappear, so does
Consciousness. Of this primordial Void, nothing can be said. It is the dazzling
darkness underlying everything. The One is like a state of dreamless sleep. The
true Gnostic has no “knowledge”, but rather tremendous faith in the Mystery. The
goal of the spiritual path is *not* to return to the dreamless sleep of the
One, but rather to remain in the created cosmos of multiplicity. The Gnostic is
the person who knows the truth about our existence: it´s not evil, it´s just a
dream-like illusion emerging from the One, and knowing this, he or she can stay
inside the illusion, untouched by apparent evil and suffering, gazing in wonder
at the sheer beauty of it. In other words, the Gnostic is a mahasiddha. More
paradoxes: while the One is dreamless sleep and hence completely unconscious,
in relation to the phenomenal world, the One comes across as Love, Bliss, the
Good, and so on.
The authors spend several chapters exegeting the complex Gnostic myths
about the fall of Sophia, the different Sophias, the role of Christ in salvation,
the true meaning of resurrection, and so on. The myth cycle culminates in the sexual
union between Christ and the Goddess. Unsurprisingly, Mary Magdalene symbolizes
the fallen Sophia redeemed by Christ, so Freke and Gandy would have no problem
with the idea that Jesus and the Magdalene were married and sired children…provided
it´s interpreted as myth, not literal reality (the authors don´t believe that
Jesus was a real historical person). If “the sacrament of the bridal chamber”
is literal or allegorical is never explicated, as far as I can tell, but
probably the latter, although the authors admit that some ancient Gnostics were
into orgies.
As already noted, I think Freke and Gandy are aware of their book being
a creative re-interpretation of Gnosticism, rather than the thing itself. The
Gnostics distinguished between hylics, psychics and pneumatics. A hylic is a “Normie”,
a completely unenlightened materialist person (although I suppose in ancient
times they would follow pagan cults, but for wholly selfish ends). A psychic is
presumably an exoteric Christian, while the pneumatics are the Gnostics
themselves. However, in Freke´s and Gandy´s scheme, the category of Gnosis is
higher even than the pneumatic understanding. I take this to mean that while
the pneumatics (the really existing Gnostics of history) are still stuck in
duality, while the highest insight is the Non-Dual one.
My objections to the above are the usual ones you´ve heard before. The “Mystery”
(which in itself is like an eternal dreamless sleep) *by necessity* emanates an
imperfect world filled with evil and suffering. Which can only mean that the
Mystery is imperfect, and so is the dream it´s dreaming. In other words: the One
really is the Demiurge. The “Gnosis” of Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy turns out
to be another trick of the evil creator-god to keep souls stuck in his psycho
world. Some copium in the form of non-dual meditation and psychedelic drugs provided
for free!
Still searching for Jesus and the real Goddess…
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