Gnosis II: The Divine Mirror
Dr. Hereward Tilton
Summer 2025
Continuing our exploration of the doctrinal and practical heart of the Western gnostic traditions, in this course we’ll examine the significance of the mirror as both a symbol for and a portal to the divine mind. Our historical investigation will focus upon a specific class of cultic artefacts: ‘electrum’ magic mirrors, which have been utilized to discern our inner divinity for at least two millennia. From the sacred mirror of the Temple of the Seven Gates in Roman Egypt to the hallowed Urim of the powerful Gold- und Rosenkreuz sect, which revered its relic as ‘Jehovah Jesus Himself’, we’ll delve into the delicate balance between attaining gnosis and succumbing to the seductions of the shadow.
Once again, the existential constants of the human condition will serve to explain the persistence of these artefacts in Western gnostic circles, as well as the existence of related symbols, practices, and artefacts in the East. In this case we’ll explore the relation of mirror symbolism to the phenomenon of ‘lucidity’, or the meta-awareness of egoic selfhood; our guide will be the neuropsychology of the hypo-egoic states manifested in both religious ecstasy and peritraumatic dissociation. As we study the longstanding gnostic depiction of the supernal and infernal realms as mirror images of one another, we will strive to understand why the progressive revelation of the shadow is simultaneously a revelation of the self.
THIS COURSE PROVIDES:
—The second installment in a five-part series on the subject of gnosis
—A deep dive into the crucial symbolic dimensions of esoteric history
—Advanced knowledge for researchers and connoisseurs
—An ability to speak to the foundations of spiritual praxis
—Familiarity with the language of esoteric systems
Nine Saturdays Live on Zoom
2 PM — 3:30 PM PST
June 21 - August 23, 2025
Enrollment opens on March 21, 2025
Hereward Tilton (BA Hons 1, Ph.D.,FHEAl is a religious studies scholar who has taught on the history of alchemy, magic, and Rosicrucianism at institutes dedicated to the study of Western esotericism within the University of Exeter and the university of Amsterdam. His interest in psychedelia was first kindled in his early teens, and he was inspired by experiments with LSD and lucid dreaming to study the work of Jung and Eliade as an undergraduate. Since receiving his doctorate he has conducted research on alchemical entheogens in early modern Germany under the auspices of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, and he has translated and introduced an eighteenth-century Austrian black magical manuscript dealing with traditional psychoactive fumigations called Touch Me Not: A Most Rare Compendium of the Whole Magical Art (Fulgur Press, 2019). In his most recent books, The Path of the Serpent, Vol. 1: Psychedelics and the Neuropsychology of Gnosis Rubedo Press, 2020) and its forthcoming sequel, he applies recent discoveries in psychedelic neuroscience to the symbolism and techniques of a European gnostic tradition with historical and phenomenological ties to Indo-Tibetan tantra.