/lit/ - Literature

What are some books that provide serious and convincing arguments against gnostic cosmology (us being trapped here by a demiurge, the world being evil...)?
Before anyone recommends Plotinus, his criticism is lackluster and basically him going "I'm right and you're wrong". I'm looking for something more substantial because even though I know it's wrong, part of me wants to buy into their bullshit.

The western world would have been better of if gnosticism had become the dominant sect of christianity.

We are all bundles of cells manifesting a meta self awareness that we call consciousness, in truth all of our desires are cellular in nature, we enable and inhibit our very actions in a constant to and fro while our cells decide what the best course of action is. Our consciousness, this thing we call consciousness is completely at the whim of our cellular desires.

Books for this feel?

I'd like to study Neoplatonism, but don't know exactly where to start. For instance, which Platonic dialogues should I read before moving on to people like Plotinus, and what thinkers/texts should I engage from there? it'd be nice for those of us interested in this to construct something like a syllabus of sorts.

Cheers.

I want to get into Gnosticsim, where should I start? Who are the best writers on this subject?

>>9148190
>>9148243
you are the basic bitches of 4chan

Hello /lit/, first time poster here.

I'm looking for a book that I read probably close to 15 years ago, and I only remember few details, most of which are vague.

>Book was about the end times, possibly set in the 50's or 60's
>Pretty sure there were norse gods in it, definitely mentions valkyries, maybe there were actually valkyries in it
>Sun dies out or gets blocked out
>Earth goes cold
>Near the end some people light a forest on fire either cause chaos ensues or they need to stay warm or whatever
>Pretty sure everyone dies at the end
>Particular cover of the one I read had a blond man facing you, with thor or someone standing behind him, and taller. There might have been an old school two way radio sitting on a table beside them, and the background was red and black

Any assistance in rediscovering this little bit of nostalgia in my life would be greatly appreciated!

I shall post art and memes for your troubles, and to bump the thread, until someone might find me an answer :)

Gnosticism.

Normie tier: Have children, don't kill themselves.
Shit tier: Have children, kill themselves.
Acceptable tier: Don't have children, don't kill themselves.
Great tier: Don't have children, kill themselves.

Should I bother reading about Gnosticism, /lit/? Is there any recommended reading on the subject or am I wasting my time?

Can anyone recommend some literature discussing Rene Guenon's criticisms of western tradition from a Catholic perspective?

I was under the impression he didn't like Catholicism because it isn't initiatic, and that there isn't a 1-1 correspondence between metaphysical truth and christian theology, hence his interest in Vedanta and later Islam.

How can a Christian get past his criticisms? I've been stuck in this for a while now.

The Judeo-Christian God is a tyrannical demiurge who wanted to keep humanity captive and ignorant, Satan is a Prometheus figure, stealing the light of knowledge and giving it to the humans so they can discover the ultimate truth that is divine knowledge so that they may escape from the grasp of the demiurge and set their souls free from the material plane and transcend towards pure light.

The Judeo-Christian God is a tyrannical demiurge who wanted to keep humanity captive and ignorant, Satan is a Prometheus figure, stealing the light of knowledge and giving it to the humans so they can discover the ultimate truth that is divine knowledge so that they may escape from the grasp of the demiurge and set their souls free from the material plane and transcend towards pure light.

Any good books on Gnosticism?

Apart from "Republic", which works of Plato mention Demiurge and metempsychosis?

>>3900980
the judge was the demiurge

>>3734975
also, the blue cliff record, the gateless gate, Dogen's shobogenzo, Zhuangzi, Tao te ching, the Upanishads, Schrodinger's "My view of the world", Bohm's 'Wholeness and the Implicate Order', Spinoza's ethics, Freya Mathews' "For Love of Matter" and George Sessions - Deep Ecology for the Twenty-First Century

shit, who says you need drugs to get your mind blown?

Is there anything out there like a beginners guide to Gnosticism? If so, could you help me find it?