Summer Harvest

Ran Prieur’s essays always get the old brain-juices flowing, and today he’s published his first one in a year. Back on Fantastic Planet, I often wrote about the End of Civilisation in terms of Gnostic mythology (and vice-versa). Although many of my opinions on the subject have changed, I still think there’s some merit to these essays. I especially think it’s valuable to think about the intersection of spirituality and history– in other words, how does what we consider the ’spiritual’ realm effect what we consider our collective interaction with space and time? How does the Pleroma behave within the World of Forms? For those worried that this discussion is too “literalist” (an opinion I certainly don’t share), consider it a question of the relationship between the macrocosm and the microcosm, and an investigation of the question of what our internal processes might be if we lived every day as though tomorrow was the collapse.

This essay was originally posted in three parts, but I’ve jammed them all together and reworked them a bit in this post. There are a few substantial differences, but mostly the changes are aesthetic. The essays work best if you understand them as mythology. Enjoy!
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Running Towards the Bomb: Gnosticism and the End of Civilization

I. The Slow Crash and the Gnostic Revival

When most people think about a crash of society in spiritual terms (as opposed to the socio-political terms of most so-called conspiracy theorist end-timers), they think of something like the Rapture, or maybe some kind of New Agey Mayan reality shift or silly UFO escape plan. Those who embrace these ideas are usually fundamentalist types who either embrace the idea of getting sucked up into a heavenly city while billions are consumed by fire, or look forward to some kind of “shift to a higher vibration” directed by UFOnauts or Mayan overlords or Ascended Masters, where we’re all having orgasms all the time. Either way, you have what Tim Boucher’s referred to as an “Armageddon Fantasy,” the desire of a group of people who perceive themselves as outsiders for the tables to turn on social power structures via a literal Deus ex Machina.

These scenarios are all well and good, and one has to allow for the possibility that hey, maybe they’ll happen, in which case you’re welcome to back up the truckload of crow meat I’ll be eating as my penance. There’s an essential problem with these scenarios, however, inasmuch as they picture a solid end-times event which occurs from without, instead of something that occurs within. This makes them pretty much spiritually bankrupt–- if the changes implied in some kind of ‘end times’ are all external, what the heck good are they? Gnosticism, however, provides us with a spiritual context for dealing with a collapse of society and civilization more realistically.

To begin, Gnostics tended to recognize eschatological scenarios as internal processes, not external events. The ressurection occurs within one’s self while one is alive, as illustrated in texts like The Treatise on the Resurrection:

Therefore, do not think in part, O Rheginos, nor live in conformity with this flesh for the sake of unanimity, but flee from the divisions and the fetters, and already you have the resurrection. For if he who will die knows about himself that he will die - even if he spends many years in this life, he is brought to this - why not consider yourself as risen and (already) brought to this?

If we want to look at an upcoming collapse of society through the lens of Gnosticism, the first thing we have to do is to realize that we can’t do so via their teachings on eschatology. In fact, Gnostic eschatological scenarios (which are few and far between) share a common characteristic: generally speaking, they do not refer to the collapse of civilization, at least not the kind through which we’re currently traipsing. Instead, we have to analyse the situation through the larger lense of Gnostic teaching, that of inner change, external illusions and false control systems within the Black Iron Prison.

Let’s discuss the current major potential, realistic crash scenario, the Slow Crash. I believe that the evidence indicates that we’ve already entered the Slow Crash, and probably entered it long, long ago. The sad fact is that we’ve essentially run out of the resources we’ve grown to depend on, and the planet can now only very barely sustain industrial society as we’ve known it. Social structures are becoming increasingly more fundamentalist, conservative and literalist. The gap between those who have material wealth and those who do not increases apace. As the environment changes, whether due to natural circumstances or human interference, we’re seeing more natural disasters and freaky weather. Those who have paid attention have also noticed an increase in what could be termed “paranormal” activity– UFO sightings/contacts, occultism, etc.

Sure, one could argue that these same things have happened throughout recorded history, but the difference is that culture is now truly global, and there’s simply no more room on the planet in which to expand. We’re also seeing a consolidation of control systems, most notably in the US, but really worldwide. So-called democratic governments are turning into police states, governments are cracking down on anticonsumerism, and dehumanizing corporate power is rapidly filling up all of the empty spaces within the psyche. This isn’t just limited to the United States; Great Britain, Australia and Canada are just as guilty in different degrees. I don’t figure on needing to go too much further into detail– other folks have done that better than I. If you read this site, you’re probably already aware of all of this. It’s the Slow Crash, but instead of happening to a single society or empire, it’s happening to the planet, and it’s happening faster and faster.

From the Gnostic standpoint, this all makes perfect sense. It’s completely explicable. You can point all kinds of fingers at various causes for all of this stuff: it’s oil consumption, it’s greed, it’s our violent nature, it’s technology’s false sense of efficiency, it’s this or that. To the Gnostic, however, the finger can be pointed in only one direction: up. To explain, let’s play with the story-system surrounding the Archons. Taking this too literally will be dangerous, of course, but whether you look at it as literal fact or metaphor, the ends remain the same. Check out some of the named Archons and their psychological attriubtes and you’ll see what I mean (example: Nenentophni: Ruling Archon of “grief” passion. Bearer of envy, jealousy, distress, trouble, pain, callousness, anxiety, mourning, etc).

The World of Forms, as we know it, is imperfect and insane. It’s ruled over by entities (or psychological manifestations) who believe that they are gods, and the way in which they retain this power is by creating and implementing control systems. By exploiting people through these systems, causing them to engender internal states due to outward control as opposed to allowing internal states to develop in each person individually, the Archons maintain their stranglehold on the World of Forms and, consequently, their god-disguises. What we’re seeing in society is nothing less than a Rally of the Archons.

There’s a good reason it’s happening with such intensity right here now. What we see as the expansion of humanity and information also includes the expansion of human experience. Every time humanity’s ability to perceive, know and expand for itself on a spiritual level increases, the Archons are weakened. They’re increasing their attacks in response to a general trend towards openness and enlightenment that is a natural result of greater contacts between different human experiences. It’s as though each of us is a synapse, and we’re expanding and creating pathways, opening new routes, and eventually we’ll be able to heal the insanity of the World of Forms. The Archons don’t like this, however; when the world is healed, their “personality” will vanish. They’re fighting to survive, and who can blame them?

In 1945, two very important opposing events occurred: the detonation of the atomic bomb in Japan and the discovery of the Gnostic library in Nag Hammadi. These two events were a watermark in the Slow Crash, providing both the Archons and their enemies, the Secret Grey Robed Christians, led by the Logos, with Ultimate Weapons. The current Gnostic revival and the current Culture of Death can both be traced to this momentous year. Don’t get me wrong about the Bomb; the weapon isn’t useful to the Archons because it kills so many people, it’s useful for what it represents, and for the ideas it introduced into culture. Likewise, the Nag Hammadi library isn’t useful to the Logos because of its contents, but rather because it reintroduced the ideas behind gnosis into popular culture, allowing these ideas to expand and come out of hiding in any manifestation, be it Zen or Sufism or Kabbalah or canonical Christianity or Sunni Islam or Orthodox Judaism or whatever– there is now a universal semiotic context into which these ideas can be placed (or vice-versa) that had been hidden for quite some time.

And it is a revival! Twelve years ago, when I first became a Gnostic Christian, almost nobody knew what the heck Gnostcism was. Now it’s everywhere! The Matrix, Dan Brown, Philip Dick’s increased popularity, not to mention the scads and scads of Gnostic websites and blogs– these things may not all agree one hundred percent, but they speak a similar language and as this information spreads and infects other synapses, the Archons have no choice but to fight back with all of their power.

So, in light of this situation, the Slow Crash is a purposeful societal demolition, in which both “sides” participate. I mentioned in a previous post that there are worse things than the Crash of Civilization. To expand a bit, my next post (Part II) will take a look at the situation from the standpoint of the Archons, and what their plans are for our changing society.

II. The Archons Are Coming, The Archons Are Here! The Secret Plans of the Rulers of the Universe, Revealed!

Let us return to the aforementioned rulers, so that we may offer some explanation of them. Now, when the seven rulers were cast down from their heavens onto the earth, they made for themselves angels, numerous, demonic, to serve them. And the latter instructed mankind in many kinds of error and magic and potions and worship of idols and spilling of blood and altars and temples and sacrifices and libations to all the spirits of the earth, having their coworker fate, who came into existence by the concord between the gods of injustice and justice.

And thus when the world had come into being, it distractedly erred at all times. For all men upon earth worshiped the spirits (demons) from the creation to the consummation - both the angels of righteousness and the men of unrighteousness. Thus did the world come to exist in distraction, in ignorance, and in a stupor. They all erred, until the appearance of the true man. . . .

When a multitude of human beings had come into existence, through the parentage of the Adam who had been fashioned, and out of matter, and when the world had already become full, the rulers were master over it - that is, they kept it restrained by ignorance. For what reason? For the following: since the immortal father knows that a deficiency of truth came into being amongst the eternal realms and their universe, when he wished to bring to naught the rulers of perdition through the creatures they had modelled, he sent your likenesses down into the world of perdition, namely, the blessed little innocent spirits. They are not alien to knowledge. For all knowledge is vested in one angel [the Logos] who appeared before them; he is not without power in the company of the father. And gave them knowledge. Whenever they appear in the world of perdition, immediately and first of all they reveal the pattern of imperishability as a condemnation of the rulers and their forces. Thus when the blessed beings appeared in forms modelled by authorities, they were envied. And out of envy the authorities mixed their seed with them, in hopes of polluting them. They could not.

- On the Origin of the World

In yesterday’s post, I introduced the Gnostic idea of the Slow Crash of civilization as a clash between the Archons, or rulers of the Materia, and the Logos and its rescue organization, referred to previously as the Secret Grey Robed Christians. My post discussed the fact that the Archons are essentially rallying at this point in history because the expansion of human intelligence and consciousness threatens their ability to retain control like never before.

Today I’ll discuss the role of the Archons in the Slow Crash, their methodology and goals. Now would also be a good time for a reminder that taking things too literally can be a bad idea. Although I refer to the Archons as “entities,” one must always remember that they are also present as internal processes. “As above, so below.”

Although the Archons are currently in charge, it’s important to remember that humans rarely, if ever, experience these things first-hand. Thinking of them in purely anthropomorphic terms can be deceiving. When we discuss the fact that the Archons are in control of the ball, we’re referring rather to those who serve their interests, the politicians and fundamentalists and literalists and propagandists of the world who are, whether or not they realize it, the servants of the Rulers of the Materia. George W. Bush isn’t an Archon, and neither is your average UFO manifestation. The Gnostic texts (see above for the best example) are perfectly clear on this– they work through servants who establish ideologies. The Archons maintain their power through disguise, deception and deceit; that’s how they operate. One can never make assumptions about them based on appearance.

The worst assumption anyone could make about the Archons, however, is that they want the system to completely crash. When we think of the crash of civilization in dialectical terms, we might think of “bad guys” who want to “destroy our way of life” and make us utterly miserable by ruining culture and society. The Archons, however, have no such intentions. Their goal, remember, is control–- specifically, control of the illusion that they’ve established and directed since the beginning. The destruction of materialist culture via the collapse of civilization, the end of reliance on corporate propaganda and fossil fuel would be the Archons’ worst nightmare! So, we have to realize that the Archons aren’t trying to bring society down.

Rather, the Archons and their servants are trying their hardest to preserve the System as we know it and as we’ve known it for tens of thousands of years or more. This is why it’s so easy for them to infiltrate Conservative movements. And, it introduces a couple of pretty scary scenarios. Remember how I mentioned that there are worse things than civilization’s collapse? Here they are.

Considering that the Archons aim to maintain control over individuals, one begins to understand what a move towards a fully Archonic society would look like. Their primary methodology will be to hijack the Slow Crash. It’s begun already with the creeping establishment of a police state, which is the logical extension of any class-based governmental system. As resources dry up, the Rulers will attempt to maintain their stranglehold on society by accepting that the Crash is an actual societal concern, but that the individual citizens of the world are best served by allowing the State to control greater and greater aspects of their lives. Instead of encouraging healthy sustainability and conservation, the Rulers will encourage dependence upon rationing and propaganda.

They’ll also focus more on perpetuating external threats, which will become more and more confusing and less “human,” because even if we despise “terrorists,” they’re still human, and we can feel empathy with even those most despised by our society. It’s already being suggested by some that UFOs will play some role in this charade, and why not? Even Wernher von Braun allegedly knew of the eventuality of this plan:

Corporate Manager of Fairchild Industries, Spokesperson for Wernher Von Braun, Dr. Carol Rosin
Von Braun [founder of modern rocket science] told me [in 1974] that the reasons for space-based weaponry were all based on a lie. He said that the strategy was to use scare tactics-that first the Russians, then the terrorists are going to be considered the enemy. The next enemy was asteroids. “The last card is the alien card. We are going to have to build space-based weapons against aliens, and all of it is a lie.”

Eventually, the ultimate goal of the Archons would be to excise the divine spark from the Materia completely. How better to do this than to establish control systems in which humans are completely at their mercy, and how better to do that than draw out any crisis currently facing the planet indefinitely? That’s far more worrisome for the long term than any societal crash could be.

Well, not necessarily indefinitely. Once all of the dissenters have been “taken care of,” the Archonic Utopia would doubtless be a sort of soulless Eden, similar to Huxley’s Brave New World, where everyone is at the mercy of the State and consequently the Rulers– no need for independent thought or freedom. It may not look anything like what you think of as a “police state.” It might even be some kind of weird “ecotopia”– they might have to shift the focus once resources run out even for them. Be exceptionally wary of pro-environmental propaganda released by powerful individuals. Remember, their goal isn’t destruction, it’s preservation.

Plus, they’re super good at manipulating their control systems by reading which way the public wind blows. If the public starts to lean left, the Archons are pushing them that way. If the public verges to the right, the Archons are just a few steps ahead. The point is that the Archons will always manipulate people into believing that they’re not being influenced. They’re masterful propagandists. Hijacking via co-op is their specialty. Peak Oil a valid concern? Just wait until the Archons get their hands on it. Worried about environmental change? Wait until you’re not allowed to leave the compund on odd numbered days.

How do they want us to react right now? If their ultimate goal is to keep us in, and to stay in power by keeping us under control, they need to address the threat of the Logos. The best way to do this is via distraction and misdirection, something else at which they’re really skilled. They want us to expend our passions, be they anger, fear, love, greed, outrage, emotional investment or what have you, on staged systems and day-to-day existence. They want us to wake up, go to work, read the news and get outraged, attend political gatherings, go home and go to bed feeling as though we’ve accomplished something special, when the opposite is the case. That way we won’t notice the Crash, or recognize it for what it is. They’d like us to hate one another for stupid, external reasons, because every time we do, we fall just a few steps behind. They want us to see others in terms of objects. They know that every time they slip up and lose just a modicum of control over an independent being, that being might see behind the facade and open his or her arms to the Logos and Sophia.

There’s a darker aspect to their operation, too, an aspect that only a few people have gleaned from the sidelines and fewer still have experienced directly. This is the ‘black ops’ of the Archons, the level of Abu Ghraib and UFO abduction and summoned entities and government sex rings, the internal nightmare machinery of the Black Iron Prison that seems too outlandish for the general public but, for this very reason, is perhaps their most effective weaponry. It’s intended to seem this outlandish so that the intensity can continue behind the curtain. This activity has been picking up steam for some time now, and unspeakable numbers of individuals have been sacrificed at altars that would drive you insane if you saw what was written thereon.

This is what’s worse than a catastrophic collapse of civilization: an indefinite materialist control system. This is what should concern each and every one of us, that we might have to wake up every morning and go to work in a metaphorical cubicle for eternity, our ability to decide things for ourselves atrophying for good, and us liking it and asking for more. This is the target for which the Archons are aiming. Sound paranoid? Remember the old canard about paranoia and what it means if they’re really out to get you.

There’s good news, though: they’re destined to lose. The only question is, will it be this time or next? In Part III, I’ll discuss the salvific nature of the Logos, Sophia and their allies, and why, in the long run, it’s all good.

III. Gnostic Emancipation for Just Pennies a Day

Should the Archons get their way, we’ll be in for some exceptionally difficult times. The establishment of a police state society will be the first and mildest of their control systems. They’ve tried it before during various epochs, and seen how effective it is in maintaining the worship and control they so desire. Luckily for us, we’ve got an out—a silver ladder descends from the skies, and it’s up to us to grab on and hang on tight.

According to most Gnostic teachings, the Logos, that creative spirit consisting of living information, and Sophia, the feminine aspect of the God, have consistently been able to break into the defective Materia and establish a sort of spiritual underground railroad for those of us who are trapped by the Archons. It’s not for us to say that any single individual knowingly participates in this underground railroad; as soon as its given a permanent structure, it can be co-opted by the Rulers. For this reason, the individuals who, whether knowingly or unknowingly, work on behalf of the Logos/Sophia, are “invisible.” This isn’t to say that they can’t be identified per se, just that their actions tend to be overlooked by the Rulers who can’t function very well beyond the level of images. Since we’ve already discussed the ultimate goals of the Archons, let’s take a look at the end of civilization as a goal of the Invisible Gnostic Underground, and how it applies to us.

First of all, the Ultimate ultimate goal of the IGU is . . . well, they want to save the entire Universe! They’re intent on healing the Materia, that insane aspect of reality in which we can stub our toes on end-tables and innocent children can be killed by tsunamis and we have to work for faceless, soulless corporations to merely survive. Since the Archons want the present civilization to continue in some form or another, it’s safe to maintain that the IGU wants civilization, in its current form, to come to an end. The main reason they want to do this is because they want us to be free—free from the control systems of the Archons, free from the restrictions and annoyances of working for someone else in order to survive, free from the world of images that separates us, as a society, from the world of nature. They want to replace our society with the Kingdom of Heaven.

The Kingdom of Heaven, as used by the Gnostics—and by Jesus himself—doesn’t refer to the “New Jerusalem” of the Book of Revelations. Rather, as says Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas, “The Kingdom is spreading out over the Earth, you just don’t see it.” The Kingdom refers to a society devoid of control for the sake of power. It refers to a society based on, above all, compassion for individuals, respect, and yes, love for one another as individuals, as opposed to compassion and respect and love for one another as abstract objects. This doesn’t mean that compassion and respect would be enforced, as they are in the systems of the Archons; rather, they would occur naturally, freed from the layers of doubt, loathing and selfishness placed upon each of us by the Archons.

The Kingdom of Heaven would not discriminate based on individual beliefs. It would not exclude any individual based on that individual’s personal predilections or accidents of difference (in the Aristotelian sense of the word accident). Instead, it would base social action and interaction on what comes from within rather than that which is imposed from without. There is no question that the best possible society, in terms of the IGU, would be a sort of romantic anarchism. Starry-eyed idealism? You bet your ass. But somebody’s got to do it, and it’s certainly no more idealistic than a fair and functional consumerist society. After all, if idealism dies, if our desire to strive for the best possible society dies, then humanity dies with it.

The reason compassion plays such an important role is due to our individual status as plural containers of the consciousness of God. To the IGU, the universe and everything it contains is actually a process. This process involves God learning about and coming to know itself through the medium of pluralities of itself. So long as the Archons control this part of the Materia, the universal plurality cannot learn what it needs to know about itself. This process parallels the quest for inner knowledge within each one of us—indeed, the Microcosm mirrors the Macrocosm. This is why compassion is so valuable; harming another means harming one’s self, neglecting another means neglecting one’s self. You will be the person you kill, and will be killed by your self.

This is also why individual, internal experience trumps external, imposed experience. An experience imposed upon one by the Archons is a false experience, and when such occurs, the God is lying to itself, perpetuating its own insanity. This is why the goal of the IGU is a society in which everyone’s actions depend as much as possible upon their inner knowledge.

So, here’s why this idealistic vision of society isn’t all that crazy: it’s happened before. No, it’s never been perfected, but echoes of the perfect society of the IGU can be found in human history within (generally speaking) non-consumerist, tribal cultures. This doesn’t mean that the IGU desires a return to tribal life, though that would certainly be a step up from where we are now. Tribalism is an awesome social structure: basically anarchistic, tribal naturalism keeps the individual in tune with natural and social experience. Perhaps best of all, the work required to maintain a tribal culture is almost negligible compared to the ridiculous work-ethic driven slavery everyone needs to scrape by in our society.

Tribal societies, however, aren’t all they’re cracked up to be by some anti-civilization philosophers. Sure, there are always intertribal wars and problems with disease and whatnot, but there are certain technologies developed by individuals in consumerist societies that, in my opinion, actually further our ability to transcend ourselves and would be major losses should they vanish forever. CD players, for instance, rule. Computers and the internet—these things are great. Headache medicine. Space travel—what better eventual goal for an actual advanced society? The problem with these things isn’t the thing itself, and it’s not in “the way they’re used,” the problem is the structure that surrounds them, a structure designed to eliminate personal freedom and make one dependent upon the Archons.

I believe that we’re too far along to completely abandon all technology. Unless the Earth passes through some crazy proton beam that eliminates all electricity, we’re going to build and develop and create technologies. They’re here for good. However, what we could do in a society based on individual freedom and compassion is to divorce these technologies from the exploitative and disturbing systems in which they’re bartered as consumer goods and reestablish them in a more tribal, naturalistic, sustainable setting.

Some of these technologies are actually working against the Archons. The internet, for instance, even though it’s being controlled by consumerist and Archonic interests, creates greater connections between individuals. The good thing about globalism (perhaps the best thing) is that it allows us to see the Earth as a complete system. Should society collapse and the Archons lose this round, it would be of absolute essential import to maintain, as much as possible, global communications. This could be accomplished by the absorption of Archonic technologies into free society, a sort of multilevel hacking sans exploitation.

If we don’t enter a police state, if instead the Archons lose and society collapses, here’s how it could play out if the IGU gets its way. During the depths of the Slow Crash, when peak oil hits and we start to see higher prices for gas, more environmental destruction, etc., while the Archons establish stricter and stricter control systems, free humans will continue to awaken to the falseness of the Archons as the Logos and Sophia spread throughout culture by any means necessary. This is already happening via pop culture elements such as the Matrix, Philip K. Dick, etc., and the internet is an exceptionally valuable delivery mechanism for the living information.

The Gnostic Revival seems to be picking up steam daily; more and more individuals are either exploring Gnosticism for themselves or participating in one of the growing Gnostic Eucharistic movements, either of which will produce positive results. Thanks to the internet, it seems to be integrating with other alternative communities, many of whom are already on the “fringes” of accepted culture.

While this occurs, in the face of fuel and food shortages, the Archons will strike back via their attempted establishment of a police state society. The IGU, however, will exist beneath the layers of illusion, and pockets of resistance will crop up based not on violence and power, but instead on compassion and mutual aid during times of crisis. Communities will band together based on individual need and interact with one another with goodness. There will certainly be rioting, looting, violence, theft—these will be the withdrawal symptoms of the consumerist society. On the whole, however, individuals in these communities will learn the skills needed to survive independent of the control systems. More individuals will master basic technologies, hack into established technologies, and learn sustainable sustenance skills. The fact that the Crash will be Slow instead of catastrophic will allow the development of these seed communities.

The Archons will consistently fight back, but since we’re discussing the IGU triumphing here, let’s let ‘em take a beating. Our seed communities will resist the Archons nonviolently, accepting police and soldiers and even Republicans into their midst. The movement will continue to grow and spread as the living information travels throughout the network of communications that our seed communities will have established. After a final flurry of back-and-forth violence, interference from the Archons will gradually recede.

It could take a loooooong time—consider how long it took them to get this far. Someday, though, the Archons will be the ones living in pockets of resistance, dirty little enclaves where anything can be bought and sold. Soon even these will begin to recede into the background, one by one filtering into the compassionate communities surrounding them, who will welcome them with open arms. The Gnostic Gospel of Truth tells us that the creations of the Archons, and the Archons themselves won’t go out with a bang or suffer an eternity in hell. They’ll simply fade away like the illusions they are.

One day, a generation will be born who will never have lived under the tyranny of false systems, and will be taught love, compassion and responsibility. Maybe they’ll be the ones who get to explore space together. The IGU won’t have to be invisible any longer, the Logos and Sophia will have triumphed, and what happens next can’t even be imagined by the wildest of our poets.

Yeah, well, it’s fun to think about. It would certainly be an awesome adventure. It’s definitely a possibility, you know—we can start working on it immediately. Somebody’s got to.

All right, enough speculation on what could be, which is complete awesomeness. Let’s talk about more pressing issues. The fact that culture is finally global is both the greatest boon and the greatest burden of the Archons. Their systems, though more widespread than ever, are also far more precariously established than ever, as the living information now has cross-societal potential. Although one can certainly say that people are subject to more violence than ever before in history, it’s also true that people are generally more compassionate than ever before. The greatest possible way to assist the IGU at this point is on a local level, or an even less-than-local individual level, by exploring that inner aptitude for compassion and looking within one’s self.

Then, one can begin to build one’s network. No, you don’t have to walk up to a stranger and say, “hi, my name’s Jeremy and I’m building a network of invisible Gnostics who will survive the Slow Crash.” In fact, you really shouldn’t try that approach. Just remember—it’s invisible. It’s the underground railroad. Build your Network without telling anyone you’re building it. It’s easy; be nice to people you interact with every day. Try to be nice to everyone, even (especially) people you don’t like. Take some time to meditate. Throw parties and invite friends for dinner. Talk about these possibilities with trusted compatriots. Mainly, though, just be, and trust in the IGU and their transparent helicopters.

Learning skills will also be helpful. Obviously, basic survival skills will be absolutely essential, but as long as the Crash remains Slow and you’re part of a Network, you’ll be able to learn as you go along. Think outside of Archonic structures. Maybe you could learn how to play an instrument and entertain people! Maybe you could be a storyteller or a shaman or a scribe! Maybe you can keep an internet node open when the System shuts it down! Maybe you can collect information for a seed community’s library! Maybe you can be a post-apocalyptic massage therapist (all these soft bodies that will have to do physical work for once will thank you). Just be willing to do it simply to help other individuals, not to be paid for it un any other way.

The ball is rolling. This Invisible Gnostic Underground (IGU) has always been with us, and according to most sources, always will in some manifestation or another. Even in the darkest eras of human history, the Logos has maintained a presence in the form of living information, what Philip Dick referred to as “plasmates,” which, when crossbonded with humans who are open to such a thing, act to spread themselves virally throughout the corrupted world. Oftentimes, when the Archons discover active members of the IGU, they expend a great deal of time and energy confronting and ultimately destroying their human “hosts,” the images which contain the living information. While thus distracted, however, the plasmates always manage to make an escape. During the purges of noncanonical Christian schools, for example, the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Nag Hammadi collection were stowed away for centuries and located at very significant intervals later in history. Or, take for instance the final stand of the original Cathars at Montsegur, who negotiated with the surrounding forces to allow four individuals free passage before the fall of the fortress.

The point is that the Logos/Sophia is always around, and can survive the most heinous persecution. So, should the Archons prevail with their schemes during the current crisis, we can rest assured that the living information will continue on within future generations, so long as humanity survives in some form or another. They might very well win this round, and the next and the next. The Archons don’t want to commit suicide. They aim to exist for as long as possible, by any means necessary. The goal of the Archons is basically to maintain power over the Materia. They want to keep things pretty much the same way they are now, adding layers and layers of control systems over each aspect of human society until there’s literally no way for the Logos/Sophia to penetrate their defenses. Gnostic tradition tells us that this ain’t gonna happen; short of killing us all (and thus themselves) the Archons will always face opposition.

To the Gnostics, those of us who are interested in such a thing must be aware every time they attempt to rally. Each and every time humanity faces a crisis, it’s possible for the Archons to be defeated and the Kingdom of Heaven to be established on the Earth. There’s really no good reason why we can’t at least aim for the craziest, most idealistic, cotton-candy filled dream world we can come up with. The only thing keeping us from doing so is the Archonic lie, that humans will never get along—it’s in our nature to compete and therefore any crash of society will be like a Mad Max movie. That’s a bunch of horseshit. Humans are inherently good and compassionate, no matter what They tell you on the 6 o’clock news or in the latest press conference. Now is our chance to recognize that at RUN with it, baby!

And, to those who fear the collapse of civilization as we know it, I leave you with the following advice. When I was a little kid, my friends and I would play the “what would you do if?” game. We’d stick each other in head-scratching situations, and challenge one another to come up with solutions or outcomes. For instance, one could ask, “what would you do if a giant spider came running out of the woods right now?” Somebody would reply, “I’d freak out and run away!” or, “I’d try to kill it by slicing into its eyeballs with my keys!” or, “I’d try to tame it and ride it around!”

Because I grew up during the Regan years, one of the favorite questions was always, “what would you do if you looked up and saw a nuclear bomb falling towards us?” This was a sticky one; although some kids invariably said they’d try to seek cover, most of us, visions of the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in our heads, replied that we’d run towards the bomb, escaping a slow and painful death at the hands of radiation poisoning. So this is my advice to those of you who consider the collapse of civilization a terrifying possibility: run towards the bomb. Seeking shelter in the flimsy structures of the Archons’ control systems, destined to fail anyhow, will only prolong our suffering as a society. Instead, embrace that descending moment of transformation, not with fear, but with the realization that even if you don’t end up in a better place after it hits, at least it will be over more quickly than the alternative.