The overall point of this article series has been to propose the following: the objective nature of Natural Law (the Law of Karma); the components of how Natural Law functions—through gnostic understanding of the Microcosm and Macrocosm by the Divination Arts of Astrology, Numerology, Tarot, and the Tree of Life; how gnosis applies to alchemical transmutation, which is a cognitive alignment process with Natural Law functionality (the Tao, et cetera); and that all “schools of thought,” if not originally stemming from the idea of gnosis by some degree, are all attempting to discern gnosis.
Whether it be Ufology, quantum physics, modern politics, exoteric religions, or even New Age philosophy, the entire idea of investigation, research, and truth-seeking, is to find an empirical body of understanding with which to gauge the degrees of truth and falsehoods—both outside of the mind and within the mind. The thesis proposed here, is that the true understanding and investigating of the occulted knowledge of Natural Law (gnosis) is not a religion, it’s not a banner that someone is required to wave or a fraternity that someone needs to pledge to, and it is certainly nothing inherently evil. This esoteric/occult knowledge is simply, a guide with which to help deeper understand oneself, and it is an unhindered guide that is based on empirical deduction, and transcends the time-space of human culture and society. Perhaps it could be said that gnosis is the superposition of the intuitive-objective understanding.
With this firmly solidified, it is emphatically stated here that “New Age,” is not gnosis. New Age, is a disembodied, hippie-religion that never takes into account the Divination Arts, nor the Trivium and Quadrivium Methods of Learning. By definition these details are not in New Age, because they would categorically fall into an occult classification with their terminology. New Age, has no backbone or foundation with which to stand. There is a difference between a doctrine, or tenets, and dogma. It is inherently crucial for any school of thought to define what it is and what it isn’t, otherwise it is basically nothing in particular. This is what the New Age is: nothing in particular. Just a patchwork of spiritual philosophy, partially inspired by religion, the occult, and modern science. It is a counter mimicry of true gnosis, because gnosis by definition is an unshakeable foundation, and this is something that New Age boasts to lack! One of the biggest claims to fame of this movement is that it has no specific tenets and follows no specific guidelines, so it simply defeats itself.
New Age
However, before diving even deeper into this argument, this article will propose some “New Age” philosophies that were enjoyed at one time by this journalist, and to a degree are still deeply respected. This example will illustrate the overall point.
Take into account, author Don Miguel Ruiz, and his book, The Four Agreements. Ruiz is supposed to be of ancient Toltec lineage, which were an indigenous Mesoamerican people from the “Early Post-Classic” Period of the archaeology in Mexico. Taken from toltecspirit.com, are the Four Agreements, which given by Ruiz as traditional Toltec philosophy.
Be Impeccable with your Word: Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the Word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your Word in the direction of truth and love.
Don’t Take Anything Personally: Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.
Don’t Make Assumptions: Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.
Always Do Your Best: Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse, and regret.”
Who could possibly say that these four tenets, especially when briefly defined, are misguided or even false? These are genuine mental attunements towards a psychic equilibrium within and around a person, but is this anything even close to gnosis? Of course not—this is well-considered spiritual self-help, and it’s some good advice.
But let’s get one this straight, right here, once and for all, things like: Hermeticism, magick, alchemy, astrology, numerology, astrotheology, archetypes, Tarot, Kabbalah, Eastern Mysticism, Witchcraft and Paganism, Rosicrucianism, Freemasonry, shamanism, herbalism, meditation, extra-sensory perceptions, reincarnation, parallel universes and dimensions, and sacred geometry, are NOT New Age. New Age may try to apply any one of these esoteric traditions in whatever way, but these things are etymologically gnostic teachings. And God help the person who considers Karma to be some sort of New Age bunk, of all things.
So, for anyone who has found some value in New Age philosophy: don’t discount it, but reassess it. Re-contextualize it, and search for the deeper applications of the teachings. Or better yet, scrap them, but keep them in mind, and begin looking into the esoteric philosophy of thinkers like Manly P Hall, Aleister Crowley, Helena Blavatsky, or even Peter Carroll. Of course, these people were merely human beings, with their own karmic shackles, but these people actually understood the balance of Natural Law and gnosis, even if they sometimes chose to forego it (Crowley—who was not evil, but manipulative, and also kind, and wrote about all types of magick, light and dark.) Carroll is the only survivor of these names mentioned.
Hopefully these points are crystal clear—the source material being the contents of this entire series. New Age is not all bad—but its lack of “backbone” or doctrine, gives it absolutely zero context with which to really investigate the objective truths of nature. With this in mind, there is a great deal of New Age is that is indeed, “bullshit,” as popularized by researcher Mark Passio. For those unfamiliar with Passio, he is a grounded, entertaining, incredibly blunt, researcher of the occult, who currently runs his own website. Passio is known for his extensive analysis on topics, and considers himself more of a “data aggregator” than a person giving new discoveries. Passio’s topic of research is esoteric/occult gnosis, and his lectures are known to be thorough and long. The reason he is brought to discussion in this article, is for the priceless seminar lecture given by Passio, entitled, New Age Bullshit.
Here is a brief video of the seminar’s points in Passio’s own words:
For those looking for Passio’s all encompassing, unfiltered view on the subject, here is his seven hour online seminar (briefer, hour-long live lectures are on YouTube):
Since he has deeply elaborated on this in his own time, this article will let Mark Passio speak for himself—the material is so precise and well done, that there really is nothing more to say on the matter. For brevity, here is a list of Passio’s points of dispute in New Age Bullshit:
- Ignore the Negative
- Never get Angry
- We’re all One—So it’s All Good
- There is No Objective Truth
- It’s all an Illusion so Consequences Don’t Really Matter
- Evil is Necessary for Balance
- Accept—But Never Resist (What You Resist Persists)
- The False Law of Attraction – Ego-oriented mimicry of Natural Law / “The Secret”
(the real Law of Attraction is Natural Law)
- Blame is a False Notion of “Judgement” and Judgement is Bad
- False Notion of Forgiveness (Forgive, forget, and allow to continue because judgement is bad)
- Chaos Should Be Feared
- Truth Doesn’t Need to Be Defended it’s all a Balance
- Enlightenment is Changing Yourself to Feel Good All the Time
- Love is All You Need
- The Savior Myth Re-Visited (Aliens, psychedelics, et cetera will save us!)
Much like a jam band, Passio changes his performance of lecture from time to time, swapping the order, adding on and leaving out some material according to allotted time, et cetera. However, his seven-hour lecture remains the overall source material, and there hardly seems to be a simple list of the points in his lecture on the internet—so voila. To end this consideration of Mark’s work, it is his overall thesis that New Age is one of the many ideologies pushed onto the public today by the media in order to create brain imbalances of perception and thought process. Passio illustrates this with the classic dichotomy of the human being as represented in the occult, as the Sacred Feminine and the Sacred Masculine Principles—New Age embracing only the Sacred Feminine and largely leaving out any principles that involve activism.
Researchers like Don Miguel Ruiz and Mitch Horowitz are educated and interesting to read or listen to, but anyone contributing to the New Age movement is contributing to a structure built on sand. Passio adamantly insists that this movement, at the corporate level, is promulgated by black magick occultists. Whether this is true or not, New Age is definitely not gnosis.
Gnosis is not any sort of faith and it does not ascribe to any entity—it is the utmost principle of truth, intuitive knowledge, and objective understanding. A person who researches and takes the occult seriously could be considered an occultist—but this term is loaded. Really, a person interested in the occult is an empirical seeker of truth. It is someone who is tired of the falsehoods at every turn within and around them, and is looking for a sense of equilibrium that involves application of skill and precision and not faith in some unknown forces.
Historically, a gnostic was an individual who underwent a rigorous initiatic process that embodied harrowing mythology, that itself embodied components of divination through astrotheology—but today, the initiations are of the self. It is a different era, and the true gnostic of today is not a person who belongs to some fancy club or society, but is a person who understands the core tenets of Natural Law through the Microcosm/Macrocosm and classical alchemical transmutation—and applies this to action by corresponding in conjunction with Natural Law.
If someone you know is unfamiliar with or in denial about any of these concepts, and/or is suffering from a misunderstanding of life’s overall meaning, kindly direct them to this article series as a possible starting point.
