The History of Gnosis

The Gnostic Society (Samael Aun Weor) is an international order following faithfully the original teachings of Samael Aun Weor, the founder of the Contemporary Gnostic Movement in 1950. However, Gnosis itself is “a very natural function of the consciousness, it is a perennial and universal philosophy”. This is why it is not a contradiction that Gnosis is both modern and ancient and incorporates teachings from many different cultures.

The Contemporary Gnostic Movement can trace its lineage back to the Essenes by the dead sea, deeply spiritual society with whom Jeshua Ben Pendera (Jesus) was initiated. From there the teachings spread to the Ancient Gnostics, Augustine, Valentinius, the Cathars, Templars, Early Freemasons, Alchemists of the dark ages and finally Rosicrucians always changing and moving with those who were living and experiencing its teachings. It was from the remains of the dying Rosicrucian school that Samael picked up the lineage and through his internal and physical efforts unveiled the path and founded the Contemporary Gnostic movement.

​This is the history of Gnosis in the west, however in the high plateaus of Tibet the true gnosis never ceased. In fact the great female initiate Helena P Blavatsky made pilgrimage to these Lamaseries and brought to the west these teachings founding the Theosophical Society and which brought forth many fruits before falling to intellectualism.

The great Sufis of the middle east whom Gurdieff found after devoting his life to the search for truth. Upon which he based his school of the 4th way. The Taoist of ancient China: who still practice the true secrets on meditation and Tantra in secret right through the communist occupation. These.  schools teach they're disciple in legitimate practices  of Self-gnosis in secret.
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The Gnostic school is the only society expounding the true teachings of the path and self realisation publicly.

Who is Samael Aun Weor?

The man known as Samael Aun Weor was born on the 6th of March, 1917 in South America, in Bogota (Colombia). At a young age, he was interested in many transcendental aspects of life – he wanted to know who we are, where we come from, and what is the purpose of life? 

​He began to search for those answers in the different metaphysical schools of those times. He studied Theosophy, Masonry, the systems of Gurjieff, the Gnostic-Rosicrucian tradition, he practiced yoga, studied Krishnamurti etc.

By the age of 17 he was giving lectures at the Theosophical Society and became a member of the Ancient Rosicrucian school (founded by Dr Arnoldo Krumm-Heller / M. Huiracocha) at the age of 18, which served to educate him in practical esotericism.

But after all that he felt something was missing. He became tired of so many theories and yearned to investigate, to awaken, and to enter into the path of initiation. In his very first book, called The Doorway to Initiation or The Perfect Matrimony (1st edition) he explains that after many, incredible efforts, he found the key—or the Great Arcanum–that would allow him to prepare what the alchemists called “the sacred fire of the philosophers” and this granted him the fortune and immense happiness of beginning his process of genuine spiritual initiation. This occurred in 1947 and in 1948, the formation of a small organisation began, which soon after became an international one.