The Etymology of Gnosis

by Moe | Oct 28, 2015 | Meaning of Words

The meaning of the Greek word ‘Gnosis’ (in the nominative case γνῶσις f.) is “knowledge of spiritual mysteries”, which is derived from the Ancient Greek ‘упчгли’ – “to know or understand.” The adjective of this word is “Gnostikos”, and is “cognitive or intellectual.”

The Old Latin word, ‘GNOsoo’ is where we get the modern Latin word ‘novi,’ which is a noun that means “actual knowledge that is the result of past learning”, and ‘noscos’ which is the present use of the verb ‘novi’; it denotes “to learn.”(1)

The Hebrew word “knowledge” (דעת da`ath) in the Septuagint, thus:

Proverbs 2.6 — The Lord gives wisdom (sophia), from his face come knowledge (gnosis) and understanding (sunesis)”

Ovid, the Roman-Greco poet who lived at the time of Augustus, had explained approximatelyt 2,000 years ago; “Gnosus or Gnossus was the chief city of ancient Crete, and from this word are formed the adjectives ‘ Gnosius’ and ‘Gnosiacus,’ (which are used as equivalent to the more general epithets ‘Cressius,’ ‘Cretaeus,’ ‘Creticus,’ ‘ Cretensis,’)

And likewise the feminine Graeco-poetic forms ‘ Gnosis’ and ‘ Gnosias,’ which are frequently placed absolutely, like ‘ Cressa,’ for Ariadne, ‘ puella’ being understood as in the line before us, and below

The towns next in importance to Gnosus were ‘ Gortys’ or ‘ Gortyna,’ and ‘ Cydonia,’ and hence the adjectives ‘Gortynius’ and ‘ Cydonius’ are equivalent to Cretan, as when Virgil names ‘stabula Gortynia’ and ‘Cydonia spicula.’ ‘Cressa’ is used absolutely by Propertius to indicate Pasiphaethe wife of Minos, and by Ovid in one passage for Ariadne3, and in another for Aerope. (Ovid: Selections for the Use of Schools, with Introductions and Notes )

This etymology is also where we get the Old Latin word when a person is lacking Gnosis, which is ‘ignotis’ meaning ‘unknown.” From the word ignotus, we get the modern meaning in English, ‘ignorant’ which in Latin is, ‘ignarus.'(2)

In Old Norse, the root word of Gnosis is “knā (to know how); the Scots spell it, “knaw (to know, recognize), and the Icelandic kná (to know, know how to, be able). In Persian, it is ‘kun-da’ which means learned. In German, Gnosis is spelled “kun-de, for knowledge and kenn-t-niet, for science”. It is from these Old Norse, Persian and German words where we get the modern spelling of ‘kundalini.’ In Old Irish, it is “conn for reason, sense, intellect, prudence.” (1) From this word, we get the English word ‘can’ (to know how) and then ‘cunning,’ meaning, “clever, artful, crafty etc.”

All these various spellings from around the world basically have the same meaning as the Greek word that we know of as ‘Gnosis’, and from these old Greek, Latin, Persian, Norse and Scot words, we get the modern English spellings of the words “know, knowledge, knowledgeable, knowingly etc.”(3)

Plato The Statesman — Stranger

In this way, then, divide all science into two arts, calling the one practical (praktikos), and the other purely intellectual (gnostikos). Younger Socrates: Let us assume that all science is one and that these are its two forms.

SOURCES:

1. Outlines of Etymology By Samuel Stehman Haldemam

2. First steps in Latin  By R.F. Leighton

3. A dictionary of etymology of the English language: and of English synonyms … By John Oswald

RESEARCH:

The initial NO- is strictly the English kNO-w, so that normal has something to do with knowledge. But it has lost initial g- (gay in get,) present in the Greek GNOrizdo’ (I make known,) to search into, to acquire the knowledge of; GI-GNO’sko, to know, to learn; early Latin GNOsoo, afterwards NOsco to know, get knowledge of; Greek GNOmon a rule, square, Ac., also (German kenn-ung) the tooth by which a horse’s age is made kno-wn; Persian kun-da learned, wiso; German kun-de knowledge; kenn-t-niet science; kun-st art, Ac Irish conn reason, sense, intellect, prudence; Welsh cein-ad circumspection. English kno-w, ken, can, eouthe (affable, kind), cunning (formerly in a good sense), cann-y (cautious, Ac), and by dropping the initial—no-ble, no-table; but as this no- was originally gno-, and as n of the prefix in(not) was lost, the negative form of no-ble became i-gno-ble. – Outlines of Etymology By Samuel Stehman Haldeman

Know—Nosco, Scio, Gnorus for Gnarus, Logos, Historia, Sophia, Gnomon, Sagax, Sapio, Lego. See Understand, Wise.  From L. notus, nosco, to know.

Knowledgeable—learning, erudition, letters, science ; wisdom, skill ; acquaintance, notice ; information ; of all things, omniscience. See Learning, Foresight. – A dictionary of etymology of the English language: and of English synonyms … By John Oswald

Moe

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.

www.gnosticwarrior.com

AUM-On

by Moe | Sep 16, 2015 | Meaning of Words

“The word ‘amen’ is from Ammon, the father god of Egypt, and was an ancient Egyptian salutation to the supreme power of the universe.” – Manly P. Hall

The ancient Greek name Ammon (Aum-en or Aum-on) later becomes “Amen” in the Abrahamic religions. The word Abraham is a deviation of Ham (Hebrew: חָם, Modern H̱am Tiberian Ḥām ; Greek Χαμ, Kham ; Arabic: حام, Ḥām), who the Egyptians were said to have called Ham; the father of Egypt who was the chief or first patriarch of Africa.

Ham is the Egyptian name for the planet Jupiter, who the Egyptians and Greeks held as the King of the Gods and Lord of the Universe. Before the ancient Greeks had conquered Egypt and had changed and/or merged their religions, symbols, custom, Gods and Goddess, they called Jupiter by the name of Zeus. After the Greeks had conquered Egypt, they would rename the Egyptian name Ham for Jupiter to the Greek Ammon (or Zeus-Ammon, Jupiter Ammon, Hamaun, or Hammon). Therefor, when the church Saints and Fathers state they are sons of Abraham, what they really mean is that they are sons of Egypt who have brought their Abrahamic religions with them from the East. (more…)

Moe

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.

www.gnosticwarrior.com

What is the Kundalini?

by Moe | Aug 28, 2015 | Meaning of Words

Up the spine, the twisting serpents reach Golgatha, the place of the skull that holds the chalice of our brains. This is also known as the kundalini that rises up our spine, and would scientifically represent our central nervous system as it coils up the spinal medulla like two twisting serpents. This is why people who explain the kundalini, normally say that it feels like an electric current running along the spine.

The explanation of the kundalini that I would like to give, is based on science. This way, we can properly ascertain the truth of what exactly is occurring in the human body when someone feels an electric current running up their spine, or “the coiled power”- a force which ordinarily rests at the base of the spine, described as being coiled there like a serpent by well-known spiritual teacher, translator Eknath Easwaran.

The kundalini, our central nervous system is the most important systems in our bodies. The kundalini is often described as a sleeping or dormant potential force that resides within us, and like the kundalini, the central nervous system is also called the control center of the body that has two main processing organs which are our brains and spinal cords.

Together with the peripheral nervous system, it controls everything we do. From our five senses; seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling and also our emotions, thoughts, and memory. (more…)

Moe

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.

www.gnosticwarrior.com