Gnostic duality is an ancient concept based on the fact that there are two separate parts, elements, and or aspects to human beings. One element is immortal being made of light (spirit or soul) and the other mortal darkness (flesh or materiality).
The essence of this dualistic philosophy centers around the Gnostic teachings that these two opposing forces are an inherent part of human natures and these forces are constantly in an eternal battle to gain control over the minds and bodies of humankind.
This ancient Gnostic science was later developed into the teachings of Christianity which are represented in the Scripture as good and evil, airy and unclean spirits, and angels and demons, Jesus and Satan and the true Gnosis (knowledge) of the inner self and outer world where there is truly “A war being waged for your soul.”
In researching the history of Gnostic duality, I have found that there are no modern interpretations of this ancient philosophy. As a Modern Gnostic living in the 21st century, one of my passions is studying these ancient teachings to see if I can find any modern parallels in science that may help to bridge the gap between an old mythological belief that many people today would think is fiction and what may actually be a scientific fact.
As 33rd Degree Freemason and author, Sir Godfrey Higgins had once written, “The more I reflect upon Gnosticism, the more I am convinced that in it we have, in fact, the real science of antiquity—for a long time almost lost—but, I trust, by means of our oriental discoveries, yet to be recovered.”
What I would like to theorize with my modern explanation of “Gnostic Duality” is that we humans are really made up of two distinct beings living in one body. A symbiotic relationship formed over millions of years to the point today that we can begin to explain this ancient relationship through modern science.
I also want to emphasize to you that this science is at the “core” of not only Gnostic Duality but also Abrahamic religions such as Judaism and Christianity.
Brain Science/Cognitive Psychology
Today, the fact that humans are dualistic beings can be explained and quantified through a branch of psychology known as “Cognitive Psychology” or what we can just call “Brain Science,” which is concerned with mental processes (as perception, thinking, learning, and memory) especially with respect to the internal events occurring between sensory stimulation and the overt expression of behavior.
The meaning of cognitive is related to the word cognition which is what humans do with the act or process of knowing (Gnosis), perceiving, etc. and is connected to cognitive development and cognitive functioning ie; relating to the mental processes of perception, memory, judgment, and reasoning.
These mental processes are not only what makes us truly human, this is where our IQ (ancestral Gnosis) is derived from and how we learn to become true Gnostics (Know Thyself + Know Thyworld).
This brain science was further expounded upon by Ulric Neisser who is considered the Father of Cognitive Psychology with his 1967 publication of Cognitive Psychology which made him famous. In his groundbreaking paper, Neisser brought together research concerning perception, pattern recognition, attention, problem-solving, remembering with an emphasis on both information processing and constructive processing.
Neisser’s work in Cognitive Psychology was what he considered an assault on the current theories at the time in relation to “behaviorism.” When Neiser went to work at Cornell University, he developed a keen interest in James J. and Eleanor J. Gibson’s theory of direct perception, which is the process of recognizing and interpreting sensory stimuli and the array of information in our sensory receptors (5 senses) is all we need to perceive anything
Later in his career, Neisser helped spark another intellectual revolution in this science of Gnostic Duality by becoming an advocate for ecological cognitive research which explores the interactive relationship between organism-environment interactions and its impact on cognitive phenomena. He believed that scientists should specifically research how “our real-world environments” can affect how people perceive, think, and remember.
It is through the study how the human brain works — how we think, remember, learn and know (Gnosis) that we began to understand that we actually have two brains. and this is where we get “Gnostic Duality.”
The duality of human beings can be explained by the study of our brains and the facts that we have two cerebral hemispheres which contain the left and right hemispheres of our brains. The word hemi means half and these two different areas of our brains have been proven by modern science to function as if they are two separate entities.
Not many people are aware that different sides of our brains have unique and specific functions that act independently of one another as if they are two separate entities or we have two different beings (organisms) controlling our brains and bodies.
For example, we now know that our left hemisphere of our brain controls the right side of our body such as the movement of our right hand and leg, The right hemisphere of our brain controls the left side of our bodies which of course would include our left hands and legs.
What I would like to emphasize to you is that both sides of our brains also have different talents and traits that are completely unique to each respective side. For example, the right side of the brain is responsible for emotion, insight, intuition, imagination, religion, and creative abilities such as art and music,
The left side of the brain is responsible for the more academic and logical side of the brain. It would be the side of our brains that we use for language, math, science, logic, reasoning etc.
This right and left brain research was pioneered in the 1960’s by Michael Gazzaniga and Nobel Prize-winning research of Roger Wolcott Sperry on split-brain patients. Sperry studied patients with epilepsy, who were treated with a radical surgery that cut the brain in half along a structure called the “Corpus Callosum.”
The Corpus Callosum is the part of the mind that allows communication between the two hemispheres of the brain.
The corpus callosum is akin to a legal mediator or judge (in the middle – cross) between two different parties (left and right sides of the brain) who have a disagreement or dispute.
In the Christian religion, Jesus is known as the mediator between God and humans as he is depicted in most churches being affixed to a crucifix.
The meaning of crucifix is from the Latin cruci fixus meaning “(one) fixed to a cross”. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the corpus (Latin for “body”).
In the Scripture, Jesus is crucified at a place known both as Calvary and in Hebrew, Golgotha. The English word Calvary is derived from the Greek word κρανίον (kran-ee-on), which means skull and the Gogatha meaning the “Place of the Skull.”
John 19:17 “And, bearing the torture stake for himself, (bastazón hautó ton stauron), he went out to the Skull Place (Calvary), which is called Golgotha in Hebrew.”
I will expand more on the science of the religious Crucifix concept in a future article, but for now, let us get back to the core science of Gnostic Duality…
This research of split-brain patients led to many interesting behavioral phenomena that allowed both Gazzaniga and Sperry to study how the two sides of our brains work via various cognitive and perceptual processes. One of their main findings was that the right hemisphere had no very little ability to process language and did not have any grammatical abilities.
Meaning that the right side of our brain could not formulate words to think, reason and speak. They learned that language is primarily localized in the left hemisphere and this is why it is said in the mysteries that if we want to learn the secrets of the “Word of God,” all disciples must eventually travel to the East (left hemisphere of their brains) to obtain the eternal wisdom.
The Scientific Problem of Gnostic Duality Solved by Jesus Christ (Our Lord and Saviour)
In Christianity, this split brain science is revealed by the Gnostic Saint John who had written thousands of years ago;
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”
This Christian science of Duality revealed by the biblical Gnostic prophet Saint John can be seen in our modern era in one of the experiments carried out by Gazzaniga which involved a split-brain male patient. The patient was sitting in front of a computer screen while having words and images presented on either side of the screen and the visual stimuli would go to either the right or left visual field, and thus the left or right brain, respectively.
If he was able to feel around for certain objects, he could accurately pick out the correct object, despite not having the ability to verbalize what he saw. This led to confirmation that the left brain is localized for language whereas the right brain does not have this capability, and when the corpus callosum is cut, the two hemispheres cannot communicate in order for situation-pertinent speech to be produced.
As it is said in Matthew 6:3-4, “But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” And in Hebrews 4:12; “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
I would equate the severing of the corpus callosum to the Biblical story of when Jesus was crucified at the place of the skull on the Logos (Reason/Word) but I would add that the Christ never was raised from the dead three days later.
Hence, no corpus callosum, no Jesus Christ, no Savior and no salvation for the human race for it is through Jesus which we are saved!
This science is again revealed in Ephesians 5:23 when it is said, “For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body,” and in Philippians 3:20, “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
This is why the left hemisphere of our brain could be considered the “Master” and the right hemisphere the “Student,” or what author Iain McGilchrist describes in his book “The Master and his Emissary.”
My Brain Science of Gnostic Duality Part #1 Conclusion
McGilchrist had written “The left hemisphere is dependant upon the right, ‘an “emissary” of the right hemisphere, valuable for taking on a role that the right hemisphere – the “Master” – cannot itself afford to undertake’. The emissary is, however, not only unaware of its dependence on the Master, but has ‘has his own will, and secretly believes himself to be superior to the Master’.
And ‘he has the means to betray him. What he doesn’t realize is that in doing so he will also betray himself’.
What McGilchrist calls the left and right hemispheres of the brain as Master and Emissary being aware of one another is akin to the teachings of the Old and New Testaments where the biblical prophets Moses, Job, and Jesus are masters of their minds, AKA mediators, and priests via the Corpus Callosum between God who is the Master which operates from the Left Hemisphere Brain and Satan or the Devil who would be the Emissary which represents the Right Hemisphere Brain.
The meaning of the English prophet is from the Latin from Greek prophētēs ‘spokesman,’ from pro ‘before’ + phētēs ‘speaker’ (from phēnai ‘speak’).
I have good news for you all!
In order to become a true Gnostic or Christian, we must go to the Place of the Skull so we use mostly our left brain to rule the right brain by utilizing the eternal mediator Jesus Christ (corpus callosum) who then becomes the chief speaker on the Logos (reason) between God and Satan, Good and Evil or in modern Pol-i-tics – the Alt-Left and Alt-Right.
As Saint Paul said in Corinthians 1:17-18 “For Christ dispatched me, not to go baptizing, but to go declaring the good news, not with wisdom of speech, that the torture cross (stake) of the Christ should not be made useless. For the speech about the torture cross (stake) is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is God’s power.”
Moe is the founder of GnosticWarrior.com. He is a father, husband, author, martial arts black belt, and an expert in Gnosticism, the occult, and esotericism.
