When Aleister Crowley wrote in the 1912 e.v. Manifesto of O.T.O. that its initiates held in their hands the "concentrated wisdom and the knowledge" of The Gnostic Catholic Church, what did he mean? It is evident that he did not mean that the Gnostic Catholic Church (Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica) was or is reliant upon the tradition of O.T.O. for its existence. In fact the E.G.C. as manifest in the United Kingdom is a body in its own right, and the Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica (U.K.) is the only E.G.C. body in the world that holds the lineage of the Patriarch W.B. Crow, which Crow received directly from the Prophet of the Aeon of Horus, Aleister Crowley in August of 1944 e.v.
But a further explanation of how the E.G.C. came to be is evidently needed. There are many manifestations of the Gnostic Church, and the E.G.C. is only one, although an important development for Thelema. The history of Gnosticism is a tortuous one, as in any School of Thought, divine or philosophical, with as many factions, sects, schisms, and "groups within groups" as there has been, is now or will be. But Crowley, through the O.T.O. and Theodore Reuss, had inherited one important branch of this Knowledge, and through his writing of the Gnostic Mass developed it into the Thelemic Church that we know today, under the name that he gave it; "Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica". And he must have thought the E.G.C. important enough evidently, as he listed it foremost in a list of seventeen other Orders "of equal merit" (inc. The Order of the Illuminati, The Rites of Memphis and Mizraim, and other worthy Orders unlisted and "of less fame"). But when in this context A.C. lists Merlin, King Arthur and Pan as being part of "the constituent originating assemblies of the O.T.O.", one presumes such a statement is not just to excite our Wonder (or spirit of scepticism!) but also to induce the seeker to look a bit further than the end of their nose.
Gnosticism itself, aside from the idea of a Gnostic Church, is of course not "one belief", consisting of syncretistic belief systems from Asian, Babylonian, Egyptian, Greek and Syrian religions, with elements of astrology, Jewish Mysticism and early Christianity. Gnosticism, being eclectic and non-sectarian, assimilated some of the emerging ideas of the early Christians in the 1st and 2nd centuries of the vulgar era. But it also by return brought ideas to this emerging religion, and some of them not to everyone's taste, particularly the forces of Priestcraft who wished to control it. Docetism within some Gnostic creeds, for example, put forward that Christ was not a person at all, but a spirit or phantom sent forth from Abraxas (the One True God; cf. the Basilides School), and by implication of course did not really die on the cross. Such ideas were not unusual at this time. It was this free-thinking attitude and encroachment upon early Christianity that brought its rivals and persecutors down upon the early gnostics. After the Council of Nicea in 325 e.v., whereupon Constantine and his cohorts began to establish "official Christianity" as we know it, i.e. that which in 1054 e.v. finally schismed into the present-day Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Churches, Gnosticism was persecuted relentlessly and was finally forced underground.
The basic doctrine of Gnosticism is one of corruption through manifestation. A Supreme God, in Himself perfect, sends forth "emanations". One of these being Wisdom (Sophia), who Herself emanated a being called the "Demiurge". (1) This Being is identified with the god Jehovah of the Old Testament, and is accordingly seen as tyrannical, jealous and authoritarian. The Demiurge is placed on the Tree of Life below the Abyss in Chesed, which in this schema equals Authority. This Demiurge seems to mistake Itself for the Supreme God and moves to usurp the True Creator's position (an apt allegory for the formulation of the Ego) and through its own inferiors, the Archons ("Rulers"), it creates the Universe we find ourselves in. This gives rise to the Gnostic idea of Divinity entrapped in flesh and matter.
One can see clearly here, for example, an empathy with the Buddhist doctrine of "All is Sorrow". Even within Thelema we find confirmation of this doctrine, although with the insistence upon ultimately transcending it. (This should not be surprising as Thelema claims to contain elements of all the "Three Schools of Magick". Cf. Chps 6-8 of "Magick Without Tears". Also on pg 77 of MWT Crowley says "The central idea of the White School is that, admitted that 'everything is sorrow' for the profane, the Initiate has the means of transforming it to 'everything is joy' " and goes on to say that perhaps Zoroaster was first, historically speaking, to put forward this view; in this way; "…even the evil germs of Matter may alike become useful and good".) An interesting example, in this context, from the Holy Books of Thelema is verse 59 from Liber VII : "And the fish shall be sacrificed to Thee and the strong man crucified for Me, and Thou and I will kiss, and atone for the wrong of the Beginning; yea, for the wrong of the beginning." Also the final hexagram from Liber XXVII : "Therefore was the end of it sorrow; yet in that sorrow a sixfold star of glory whereby they might see to return unto the stainless Abode; yea, unto the Stainless Abode."
In this sense we find identity between Gnostic teaching and Thelemic doctrine, in that they both assert a Way Out of this "Web of Lies". Namely self-knowledge. A main teaching to be found in both philosophies is that all men and women contain a "Divine Spark" of the Supreme Being within them - literally "God is within". We find in Thelema this put simply: "God is man" and "Every man and every woman is a star" (AL, I: 3). Although "imprisoned" in matter, according to Gnostic doctrine - by concentrating on this "light within", man realises his Divinity & is liberated. "Worship then the Khabs, and behold my light shed over you!" (AL, I: 9.) "Khabs is the secret Light or L.V.X." and "means star"…"This 'star' or 'inmost light' is the original, individual, eternal essence…This essence is all-worthy; adore it, and the light of all that may be shall be shed upon you" - Crowley's Comments on AL. (Evidently this is what made Gnosticism unpopular with a manipulative Priesthood - if God is within, you don't need a priest as intermediary. The Priest in the Thelemic Gnostic Mass is, if not a servant of the Brethren, seen as co-equal with the congregation; he says "I am a man among men". The Priestess is more an intermediary, but in a much higher sense; she is the "gateway" for the Goddess.) Thelema emphasises such realisations; "This shall regenerate the world, the little world my sister…" and "Remember all ye that existence is pure joy…"
The history of Gnosticism as a whole, its influence on the Cathars in the Middle Ages, to its proponents in the early Schools of Basilides and Valentinus, and its roots going back to the pre-Christians has been covered well enough by now for students to discover for themselves. Also many of the doctrines of the Gnostics, especially with the discoveries of the Nag Hammadi texts and the Dead Sea Scrolls in the late 1940's e.v., are very well documented and accessible (and of course the source of much fresh controversy). Another in-depth "History of Gnosticism" is neither necessary nor desirable in this writing, apart from having an element of the impossible (to please at least) and is certainly if done in full, a life-time's work. Though the very thing that makes it such a difficult subject, its diversity and scope of learning and influence, is the very Strength we should celebrate it for. And while it can be time well spent to study such philosophical matters (sometimes), it's as well to remember that Gnosticism, as with all true divine experience, is precisely that - to be experienced. A scholar with his dusty nose in an antique book may well be able to elaborate upon the finer points of the Manichaean heresy, but is not necessarily any nearer to the "Holy Truth". Also one might learn more in one hour meditating or at a Mass, than one decade in a library (but I suppose it depends on the library…and the Mass).
Gnosis means "knowledge"- that is: to worship, to experience, to transcend. For to worship the God you must identify with It, if you identify with It you will experience It, if you experience It you may unite with and ultimately transcend It; and then you may "know". And whilst we truthfully and in heart "worthily commemorate them worthy" who came before us, let "their successors and their heirs" look forward and strive earnestly to transmit the Light of the Gnosis in the present-day Gnostic Catholic Church of Light, Life, Love and Liberty, the Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica which has been consecrated in the lineage of the Prophet Crowley via the Patriarch Crow, the Word of whose Law is THELEMA.
(1) From Chp 26 of "The Book of Lies" and Crowley's Comment thereon.
(Comment: "The number of the Chapter, 26, is that of Tetragrammaton, the manifest creator, Jehovah.")
"The Second, who is the Fourth, the Demiurge, whom all nations of Men call the First, is a lie grafted upon a lie, a lie multiplied by a lie."
(Comment: "He is called the Second in relation to that which is above the Abyss, comprehended under the title of the First. But the vulgarians conceive of nothing beyond the creator, and therefore call him the First. He is really the Fourth, being in Chesed, and of course his nature is fourfold. This Four is conceived of as the Dyad multiplied by the Dyad; falsehood confirming falsehood.")
"The All-Mighty, the All-Ruler, the All-Knower, the All-Father, adored by all men and by me abhorred, be thou accursed, be thou abolished, be thou annihilated, Amen!"
(Comment: "The last paragraph curses the universe
thus unredeemed. The eleven initial A's in the last sentence are Magick Pentagrams,
emphasising this curse.")