The Hidden Passion: The Gnostic Christ (Caruana’s Gnosticism Research)

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Contents:

• My Pages About Caruana’s Work
• About Laurence Caruana – Summary of Scholarly Background
• Websites
• Book: The Hidden Passion: A Novel of the Gnostic Christ Based on the Nag Hammadi Texts
• Books
• Videos
• About Caruana – Details

My Pages About Caruana’s Work

This is my main page about Laurence Caruana’s Gnosticism scholarship.

Gnostic Eucharistic Ascent from the Bridal Chamber through the Aeon Planetary Spheres’ Guarded Doorways to Return to the Pre-existent One
https://egodeaththeory.wordpress.com/2020/12/05/gnostic-eucharistic-ascent-from-the-bridal-chamber-through-the-aeon-planetary-spheres-guarded-doorways-to-return-to-the-pre-existent-one/

Glossary of Gnostic Terms (Caruana)
https://egodeaththeory.wordpress.com/2020/12/03/glossary-of-gnostic-terms-caruana/

Key Concepts: Ransom, Redemption, Reflection, Repentence
https://egodeaththeory.wordpress.com/2020/12/04/key-concepts-ransom-redemption-reflection-repentence/
My annotated/reading copy of select terms from Caruana’s Glossary of Gnostic Terms.

Ptolemaic Astral Ascent Mysticism
https://egodeaththeory.wordpress.com/2020/11/10/ptolemaic-astral-ascent-mysticism/
The basic model of the cosmology used for gnostic ascent through the Aeon spheres to the One.

About Laurence Caruana – Summary of Scholarly Background

o Philosophy degree –
o Specialization in Biblical Interpretation (Hermeneutics)
o Research in Gnosticism & Alchemy
o Visionary Art – Academy Director

Websites

Caruana’s main site
http://lcaruana.com
The Visionary Art of L. Caruana

Caruana’s gallery at academyofvisionaryart.com
http://academyofvisionaryart.com/faculty/teachers-work/laurence-caruana

GLOSSARY OF GNOSTIC TERMS
Laurence Caruana
https://gnosticq.com
https://gnosticq.com/az.text/glos.af.html

Glossary of Gnostic Terms (Caruana)
https://egodeaththeory.wordpress.com/2020/12/03/glossary-of-gnostic-terms-caruana/
My page about Caruana’s glossary, just listing all his entries, where I can eg. flag entries of interest.
My motivation for creating that page was:
Restructure my “Concept-sections WordPress pages”.

The Vienna Academy of Visionary Art
http://academyofvisionaryart.com

Book: The Hidden Passion: A Novel of the Gnostic Christ Based on the Nag Hammadi Texts

Book:
The Hidden Passion: A Novel of the Gnostic Christ Based on the Nag Hammadi Texts
Laurence Caruana, 2007
http://amzn.com/0978263707
“This is the tale of the Gnostic Christ, based on the ancient sources.

In a compelling narrative, L. Caruana seamlessly weaves over 1500 sayings from the Nag Hammadi texts to recount The Hidden Passion of the Gnostic savior.

Wandering round Galilee, increasingly hailed as the Messiah of the Five Seals, the Gnostic savior preaches divine awakening through compassion.

But he must still contend with Judas, his dark twin, and Magdalene, his promised bride.

At once earthly and spiritual, the Nazarene’s love for these two is finally transfigured into a higher, hidden passion.

Each page of this novel rings with the authentic message of the lost gospels.

By combining numerous narrative fragments from the Nag Hammadi texts, The Hidden Passion makes the Gnostic Gospels come alive.

Complete with a map, diagram and glossary, this novel elucidates the Gnostic worldview in an eloquent , engaging narrative.”

Author Page at Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/L-Caruana/e/B00J6ZRFO4/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1

Books

All of Caruana’s Books, in First-Edition Chronological Order

A First Draft of a Manifesto of Visionary Art (2001)
The First Manifesto of Visionary Art (2010)
Confirmed the Copyright dates:
2001 – 100 signed copies, titled:
A First Draft of a Manifesto of Visionary Art
2010 – per Copyright page
Jun 19, 2017 – Amazon date on author page:
“Publisher : Recluse; 1st edition (June 19, 2017)”

The Hidden Passion: A Novel of the Gnostic Christ Based on the Nag Hammadi Texts
2001 – 1st Ed.
Jan 1, 2013 – this 2nd Ed.
Confirmed Copyright dates.

Enter Through the Image: The Ancient Image Language of Myth, Art and Dreams
Nov 11, 2009
Confirmed Copyright date.

“A journey to the primordial language at the source of all dreaming, art & mythmaking…

In 1945, on a hill overlooking the Nile, a Gnostic text was accidentally unearthed after having been buried for seventeen hundred years.

Within its aged pages there appeared the mysterious fragment: enter through the image.

Taking this as his starting point, the noted Visionary artist L. Caruana guides his reader through a labyrinth of imagery, exposing the forgotten image-language at the root of all dreaming, art and mythmaking….

Drawing examples from a diversity of ancient cultures (Buddhism, Alchemy, Gnosticism) and from contemporary Visionary art (Dali, Fuchs, Johfra), many beautiful and intriguing symbols are illuminated with crystal clarity.

Retracing the steps of 20th century mythmakers (Hesse, Kazantzakis) and scholars (Jung, Campbell, Eliade), Caruana opens our eyes to the ancient mythic patterns underlying our lives.

[false – should read: “opens our eyes to the ancient mythic patterns underlying things that are observed and experienced in the psychedelics-induced altered state” -mh]

[20th century mythmakers = acid-inspired Rock lyrics; Matrix movies -mh]

As many fascinating dreams are offered and decyphered (Baudelaire, Descartes), a new key is given to us for the elucidation of dreams.

[false – rarther, this new key is useful for eleucidation of things that are observed and experienced in the psychedelic altered state. -mh]

richly-illustrated study

our daily experiences are heroic adventures culminating in rare moments of epiphany.

[false! {hero/adventure/epiphany} ONLY happens in the entheogen-induced altered state, NOT in the mundane ordinary state of consciousness, nor in dreaming. -mh]

“We discover that our own lives are a gradual unfolding of the Sacred.”

Sacred Codes: The Forgotten Principles of Painting Revived by Visionary Art – Volume I – The Drawing Stage
Aug 14, 2017
Confirmed Copyright date.

Moreau’s Labyrinth: A Visual Journey Through Jupiter & Semele – Its Narrative, Composition & Philosophy
Mar 20, 2018 – “the majority of this text appeared as ch 12, 18, 19 of
Sacred Codes: The Forgotten Principles of Painting Revived by Visionary Art“
Confirmed copyright dates.

Videos

The Vienna Academy of Visionary Art
YouTube channel: Videos list
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTXBYcDblSfl3YrkEkqryUQ/videos

Video:
THE GNOSTIC WORLDVIEW – A Lecture by LAURENCE CARUANA
Laurence Caruana, May 27, 2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJBn6ZKrQKo&t=5944s

This visual presentation of the Gnostic Worldview is given in three parts:
I. A Scholarly Introduction – Gnosticism in Context (2:19)
II. The Gnostic Myth of the Creation (42:55)
III. The Gnostic Saviour and the Soul Ascent (1:22:30) — I transcribed much of this section, at my page:

Gnostic Eucharistic Ascent from the Bridal Chamber through the Aeon Planetary Spheres’ Guarded Doorways to Return to the Pre-existent One
https://egodeaththeory.wordpress.com/2020/12/05/gnostic-eucharistic-ascent-from-the-bridal-chamber-through-the-aeon-planetary-spheres-guarded-doorways-to-return-to-the-pre-existent-one/

[I’m a little uneasy with his wording, using the word ‘soul’; ‘soul’ connotes
the “freewill power in branching-possibilities”-premised, egoic personal control system
that is,
the possibilism-premised personal control system

Not sure I’d create a phrase/concept/WP page-section called “the Soul Ascent”, though I’ve added it to the Key Mythemes page, the {astral ascent mysticism} Concept/section, as merely a Synonym (not as a Concept-section with label “the Soul Ascent” as Caruana would suggest).
Possible phrases/ concept-names/ optimized concept-labels:
astral ascent mysticism
Ptolemaic astral ascent mysticism
the Soul Ascent (Laurence Caruana’s phrase)

Filmed at The Vienna Academy of Visionary Art on March 4th 2019, this lecture was given by Academy Director Laurence Caruana, author of several books with Gnostic themes. It is illustrated with works by Visionary artists, both classical (Blake, Michelangelo) and contemporary (Fuchs, Venosa, Alex Grey etc). More information on L. Caruana’s books: https://www.amazon.com/L.-Caruana/e/B…

About Caruana – Details

From Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/L-Caruana/e/B00J6ZRFO4/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1

L. Caruana is an artist and writer [scholarly researcher] living between Paris and Vienna.

Born in Toronto Canada of Maltese descent, he graduated from the University of Toronto with a Philosophy degree specializing in Hermeneutics (the study of Biblical Interpretation).

He also studied Classical Techniques of Painting at die Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Vienna before apprenticing directly with Prof. Ernst Fuchs.

After living in a number of cities (Vienna, Munich, Malta, Monaco), he settled in Paris, where he has authored several books on Spirituality and Art.

As the present director of The Vienna Academy of Visionary Art, he frequently travels abroad to give lectures, hold workshops and exhibit his works.

About Caruana, from Academy of Visionary Art

Biographies: Laurence Caruana
http://academyofvisionaryart.com/faculty/biographies#laurencecaruana —

“Detailed, precise, with a fine line and accomplished hand, Laurence Caruana brings a classical approach to his painting, which abounds nevertheless with fantastic, dream-like and visionary imagery. As principle instructor at the Academy, he brings many of these same qualities to his teaching, urging the student to explore both the technical and imaginative aspects of creation.

Born in Toronto Canada of Maltese descent, he graduated from the University of Toronto with a degree in Philosophy. To learn classical techniques of painting, he moved to Europe, studying at die Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Vienna.

In Europe, Caruana led mostly an itinerant existence, living variously in Malta, Vienna, Munich, Monaco and Paris, while travelling extensively through Asia, Europe and Central America to enrich his passion for different sacred traditions and cultural iconographies. This passion is reflected, not only in his painting, but also in a series of books and articles, such as his erudite study into the ‘image language’ of myth, art and dreams called Enter Through the Image. Caruana also wrote and edited The Visionary Revue, an on-line journal where his highly-influential Manifesto of Visionary Art first appeared.

His art is highly mythological, exploring the interplay of different cultural symbols and styles. Classical in approach, hieratic in structure, his images vibrate with strong saturated colours.

In the year 2000 he received the invitation to work with Ernst Fuchs at the Apocalypse Chapel in Klagenfurt. It was here that he met Amanda Sage and A. Andrew Gonzalez, who were instrumental in bringing him into the Chapel project. More than a decade later, they realized that the seeds had been planted then for their joint Seminars and the Visionary Academy.

After Klagenfurt, Caruana apprenticed under Ernst Fuchs for a year, learning the Mischtechnik while working as his assistant in Monaco and Castillon. At the same time, his wife Florence Ménard worked as Fuchs’ personal assistant in arts administration.

In 2008, Caruana created The Visions in the Mischtechnik Seminar, a popular painting class held in the Italian eco-village of Torri Superiore, just across the mountain from Ernst Fuchs’ studio in France. After teaching solo for two years, he invited a series of other artists to attend or co-teach, thus forming the foundations for the Academy. During the 2012 seminar, this idea was firmly set in motion, due to the inspiration of Amanda Sage and the confirmed collaboration of severak artists who had either taught or attended the seminar.

With the blessings of Ernst Fuchs, the couple of Caruana and Ménard co-founded The Vienna Academy of Visionary Art in the autumn of 2012. As Academy Director, Laurence Caruana brings his strong organizational skills but also his profound love of Visionary art to the programme. In collaboration with his colleagues, he develops the curriculum and co-teaches a number of the courses. In this way, he is able to share his Old Masters expertise while exploring new facets of painterly creation.

L Caruana has also authored several books:

• Sacred Codes: The Forgotten Principles of Painting Revived by Visionary Art
• Enter Through the Image: The Ancient Image-Language of Myth, Art and Dreams
• The Hidden Passion: A Novel of the Gnostic Christ, Based on the Nag Hammadi Texts
• A Manifesto of Visionary Art (available in English, French & Portuguese)

(All those books are listed in the Books section of the present page.)