Apocryphon of JohnThe Apocryphon of John, also called the Secret Book of John or the Secret Revelation of John, is a 2nd-century Sethian Gnostic Christian pseudepigraphical text attributed to John the Apostle. It is one of the texts addressed by Irenaeus in his Against Heresies, placing its composition before 180 AD. It is presented as describing Jesus appearing and giving secret knowledge (gnosis) to his disciple John. The author describes it as having occurred after Jesus had "gone back to the place from which he came".
BardaisanBardaisan (11 July 154 – 222 AD; ܒܪ ܕܝܨܢ, Bar Dayṣān), known in Arabic as ibn Dayṣān (ابن ديصان) and in Latin as Bardesanes, was a Syriac-speaking Assyrian Christian writer and teacher with a gnostic background, and founder of the Bardaisanites. A scientist, scholar, astrologer, philosopher, hymnwriter, and poet, Bardaisan was also renowned for his knowledge of India, on which he wrote a book, now lost. According to the early Christian historian Eusebius, Bardaisan was at one time a follower of the gnostic Valentinus, but later opposed Valentinian gnosticism and also wrote against Marcionism.
Creator deityA creator deity or creator god is a deity responsible for the creation of the Earth, world, and universe in human religion and mythology. In monotheism, the single God is often also the creator. A number of monolatristic traditions separate a secondary creator from a primary transcendent being, identified as a primary creator. Atenism Initiated by Pharaoh Akhenaten and Queen Nefertiti around 1330 BCE, during the New Kingdom period in ancient Egyptian history.
Horned GodThe Horned God is one of the two primary deities found in Wicca and some related forms of Neopaganism. The term Horned God itself predates Wicca, and is an early 20th-century syncretic term for a horned or antlered anthropomorphic god partly based on historical horned deities. The Horned God represents the male part of the religion's duotheistic theological system, the consort of the female Triple goddess of the Moon or other Mother goddess. In common Wiccan belief, he is associated with nature, wilderness, sexuality, hunting, and the life cycle.
CarcassonneCarcassonne (ˌkɑːrkəˈsɒn, also US-ˈsɔːn,_-ˈsoʊn, kaʁkasɔn, kaχkaˈsɔnə; Carcassona kaɾkaˈsunɔ; Carcaso) is a French fortified city in the department of Aude, region of Occitania. It is the prefecture of the department. Inhabited since the Neolithic, Carcassonne is located in the plain of the Aude between historic trade routes, linking the Atlantic to the Mediterranean Sea and the Massif Central to the Pyrénées. Its strategic importance was quickly recognized by the Ancient Romans, who occupied its hilltop until the demise of the Western Roman Empire.
MazdakMazdak (مزدک, Middle Persian: 𐭬𐭦𐭣𐭪, also Mazdak the Younger; died c. 524 or 528) was a Zoroastrian mobad (priest), Iranian reformer, prophet and religious reformer who gained influence during the reign of the Sasanian emperor Kavadh I. He claimed to be a prophet of Ahura Mazda and instituted social welfare programs. Mazdak was the chief representative of a religious and philosophical teaching called Mazdakism, which he viewed as a reformed and purified version of Zoroastrianism, although his teaching has been argued to display influences from Manichaeism, Carpocratian teachings, and Plato's Republic as well.
DystheismDystheism (from Greek δυσ- dys-, "bad" and θεός theos, "god") is the belief that a god is not wholly good and can even be considered evil. Definitions of the term somewhat vary, with one author defining it as "where God decides to become malevolent". The broad theme of dystheism has existed for millennia, as shown by trickster gods found in ethnic religions and by the view of other representations of what the various belief systems regard as the Supreme Being, such as the creator deity as conceived in Abrahamic religions, through a non-religious lens as angry, vengeful, smiting, and hypocritical.
World of LightIn Mandaeism, the World of Light or Lightworld (ࡀࡋࡌࡀ ࡖࡍࡄࡅࡓࡀ) is the primeval, transcendental world from which Tibil and the World of Darkness emerged. The Great Life (Hayyi Rabbi or Supreme God/Monad) is the ruler of the World of Light. Countless uthras dwell in škintas in the World of Light. (A škinta is a celestial dwelling where uthras, or benevolent celestial beings, live in the World of Light.) The World of Light is the source of the Great Yardna (Jordan River) of Life, also known as Piriawis.
