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THE GNOSTIC CRUCIFIXION




WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR

                                      _Net._

  THRICE GREATEST HERMES (3 vols.)      30/-

  FRAGMENTS OF A FAITH FORGOTTEN        10/6

  DID JESUS LIVE 100 B.C.?               9/-

  THE WORLD-MYSTERY                      5/-

  THE GOSPEL AND THE GOSPELS             4/6

  APOLLONIUS OF TYANA                    3/6

  THE UPANISHADS (2 vols.)               3/-

  PLOTINUS                               1/-




  ECHOES FROM THE GNOSIS

  BY G. R. S. MEAD

  VOL. VII.


  THE GNOSTIC CRUCIFIXION


  THE THEOSOPHICAL PUBLISHING SOCIETY
  LONDON AND BENARES
  1907


  PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN




ECHOES FROM THE GNOSIS.


Under this general title is now being published a series of small volumes,
drawn from, or based upon, the mystic, theosophic and gnostic writings of
the ancients, so as to make more easily audible for the ever-widening
circle of those who love such things, some echoes of the mystic
experiences and initiatory lore of their spiritual ancestry. There are
many who love the life of the spirit, and who long for the light of
gnostic illumination, but who are not sufficiently equipped to study the
writings of the ancients at first hand, or to follow unaided the labours
of scholars. These little volumes are therefore intended to serve as
introduction to the study of the more difficult literature of the subject;
and it is hoped that at the same time they may become for some, who have,
as yet, not even heard of the Gnosis, stepping-stones to higher things.

G. R. S. M.




THE GNOSTIC CRUCIFIXION




CONTENTS

                             PAGE

  PREFACE                       9

  THE VISION OF THE CROSS      12

  COMMENTS                     20

  POSTCRIPT                    69


TEXTS

Bonnet (M.), _Acta Apostolorum Apocrypha_ (Leipzig, 1898).

James (M. R.), _Apocrypha Anecdota, T. & S._, v. i. (Cambridge, 1897).


_F._ = _Fragments of a Faith Forgotten_, 2nd. ed. (London, 1906).

_H._ = _Thrice Greatest Hermes_ (London, 1906).




ECHOES FROM THE GNOSIS


  VOL. I.   THE GNOSIS OF THE MIND.
  VOL. II.  THE HYMNS OF HERMES.
  VOL. III. THE VISION OF ARIDAEUS.
  VOL. IV.  THE HYMN OF JESUS.
  VOL. V.   THE MYSTERIES OF MITHRA.
  VOL. VI.  A MITHRIAC RITUAL.
  VOL. VII. THE GNOSTIC CRUCIFIXION.


SOME PROPOSED SUBJECTS FOR FORTHCOMING VOLUMES

  THE CHALDAEAN ORACLES.
  THE HYMN OF THE PRODIGAL.
  SOME ORPHIC FRAGMENTS.




THE GNOSTIC CRUCIFIXION.




PREFACE.


The Gnostic Mystery of the Crucifixion is most clearly set forth in the
new-found fragments of _The Acts of John_, and follows immediately on the
Sacred Dance and Ritual of Initiation which we endeavoured to elucidate in
Vol. IV. of these little books, in treating of _The Hymn of Jesus_.

The reader is, therefore, referred to the "Preamble" of that volume for a
short introduction concerning the nature of the Gnostic Acts in general
and of the Leucian _Acts of John_ in particular. I would, however, add a
point of interest bearing on the date which was forgotten, though I have
frequently remarked upon it when lecturing on the subject.

The strongest proof that we have in our fragment very early material is
found in the text itself, when it relates the following simple form of the
miracle of the loaves.

"Now if at any time He were invited by one of the Pharisees and went to
the bidding, we used to go with Him. And before each was set a single loaf
by the host; and of them He Himself also received one. Then He would give
thanks and divide His loaf among us; and from this little each had enough,
and our own loaves were saved whole, so that those who bade Him were
amazed."

If the marvellous narratives of the feeding of the five thousand had been
already in circulation, it is incredible that this simple story, which we
may so easily believe, should have been invented. Of what use, when the
minds of the hearers had been strung to the pitch of faith which had
already accepted the feeding of the five thousand as an actual physical
occurrence, would it have been to invent comparatively so small a wonder?
On the other hand, it is easy to believe that from similar simple stories
of the power of the Master, which were first of all circulated in the
inner circles, the popular narratives of the multitude-feeding miracles
could be developed. We, therefore, conclude, with every probability, that
we have here an indication of material of very early date.

Nevertheless when we come to the Mystery of the Crucifixion as set forth
in our fragment, we are not entitled to argue that the popular history was
developed from it in a similar fashion. The problem it raises is of
another order, and to it we will return when the reader has been put in
possession of the narrative, as translated from Bonnet's text. John is
supposed to be the narrator.

(The Arabic figures and the Roman figures in square brackets refer
respectively to Bonnet's and James' texts. I have added the side figures
for convenience of reference in the comments.)




THE VISION OF THE CROSS.


1. [97 (xii.)] And having danced these things with us, Beloved, the Lord
went out. And we, as though beside ourselves, or wakened out of sleep,
fled each our several ways.

2. I, however, though I saw the beginning of His passion could not stay to
the end, but fled unto the Mount of Olives weeping over that which had
befallen.

3. And when He was hung on the tree of the cross, at the sixth hour of the
day darkness came over the whole earth.

And my Lord stood in the midst of the Cave, and filled it with light, and
said:

4. "John, to the multitude below, in Jerusalem, I am being crucified, and
pierced with spears and reeds, and vinegar and gall is being given Me to
drink. To thee now I speak, and give ear to what I say. 'Twas I who put it
in thy heart to ascend this Mount, that thou mightest hear what disciple
should learn from Master, and man from God."

5. [98 (xiii.)] And having thus spoken, He showed me a Cross of Light set
up, and round the Cross a vast multitude, and therein one form and a
similar appearance, and in the Cross another multitude not having one
form.

6. And I beheld the Lord Himself above the Cross. He had, however, no
shape, but only as it were a voice--not, however, this voice to which we
are accustomed, but one of its own kind and beneficent and truly of God,
saying unto me:

7. "John, one there needs must be to hear those things, from Me; for I
long for one who will hear.

8. "This Cross of Light is called by Me for your sakes sometimes Word
(Logos), sometimes Mind, sometimes Jesus, sometimes Christ, sometimes
Door, sometimes Way, sometimes Bread, sometimes Seed, sometimes
Resurrection, sometimes