The Modern Gnosis
The nature of the Renaissance was a cultural synthesis, in which the previous unifying paradigm of the West (the Catholic expression of the Christian religion) was to a large extent replaced by a new unifying paradigm- a shared perception that the cultures of Europe had their spiritual and intellectual roots in classical Greece. The whole notion of Western culture and a Western tradition- previously defined by the notion of Christendom and, to a lesser extent, by the thought of Aristotle- began to be defined by this broader synthesis. The various cultures of Europe, while remaining distinct, laid claim to a shared heritage and a shared source of insight, seeing themselves as the modern heirs of the ancient Greeks.
We have the potential now for the same kind of synthesis, made possible by an unprecedented intellectual access to the great civilizations and spiritual traditions of the entire world. While the separate traditions and cultures remain distinct and unique, it is increasingly possible to speak of a world civilization, a metaculture drawing on many sources. In my own library I have access to Plato, but also to the ancient Irish epic sagas and the Three Hundred Poems of the T’ang Dynasty; the Latin Psalms of the pre-Vatican II Catholic Church as well as the Analects of Confucius. It would be both superficial and wrong-headed to muddy the waters, to mix and match bits and pieces outside of cultural context. Regardless it is not only possible, but increasingly necessary, to be genuine cosmopolitans, “citizens of the cosmos” as the ancient Stoics who coined the term would have it.
As a man of the modern world my spiritual and intellectual ancestors are not only Greek, but Chinese, Indian and Japanese as well. I still read and draw inspiration from Western sources of mythology like the Tain, but I also read and draw inspiration from Eastern sources like the legends of the Taoist immortals or the stories of Durga in the Devi Bhagavatam.
Because I read all these sources and am affected by all of them, they all become part of the vocabulary of my dreams. When I experience contact with transcendent reality in the realm of dreams, that transcendence might speak to me through the mouth of the ancient Welsh bard Taliesin, the Indian goddess Sarasvati or an old Chinese sage on Wudang mountain.
From that perspective, it would seem parochial to me to restrict myself entirely to the Western tradition, but it would seem like spiritual sycophancy to embrace only the Eastern. My daily spiritual practices are Celtic in form because that focus works for me, but I draw inspiration from all sources and love spiritual wisdom wherever I find it.
There is a lot of discussion and debate in the pagan community about appropriation, the exploitative claiming of a specific cultural tradition by those who aren’t actually within that tradition. The kind of “metaculture” I’m talking about is a matter of inspiration- it’s not about claiming an identity or borrowing elements of a spiritual technology. That’s why I don’t call myself a shaman or by any other term from a specific cultural tradition. My inspiration may draw on many sources, but my personal spiritual experiences are exactly that- direct and unmediated encounters with transcendent reality, with the realm of myth directly rather than with the spiritual landscape that defines a particular people. The ethical commandment of the modern gnosis is: go straight to the source.
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