A Traditionalist Perspective on Gnosticism with Charles Upton

Summary

In this episode, Charles Upton provides a traditionalist critique of Gnosticism, exploring its metaphysical assumptions and contemporary resonance. He argues that Gnosticism serves as a symbolic diagnosis of modern ego and spiritual imbalance rather than a literal truth. Upton reframes the Gnostic concept of a false universe and its associated Archons, offering insights into their implications for our understanding of selfhood and chaos.

Key takeaways

• 1Gnosticism is regarded as heresy from a traditionalist perspective.
• 2The concept of the Demiurge is reinterpreted as the ego in Gnostic thought.
• 3Four Archons are presented as spiritual distortions in relation to human experience.
• 4Upton discusses how the Archons reinforce each other and their implications for personal and societal chaos.

Glossary terms

Source

Transcript excerpt

Beings called archons who rule different aspects of existence. And they're all false gods. So this universe is a false universe. And it's a universe, basically, it's a cosmic prison. And that isn't true. But it's the way a lot of people feel nowadays. Socially and environmentally and who knows whatever other reasons. How did I get stuck in this weird world? Keep watching to learn more. Book 4 in the New Thinking Allowed Dialogue Series is Charles T. Tartt, 70 Years of Exploring Consciousness and Parapsychology. Now available on Amazon. New Thinking Allowed is presented by the California Institute for Human Science, a fully accredited university offering distant learning graduate degrees that focus on mind, body, and spirit. The topics that we cover here. We are particularly excited to announce new degrees emphasizing parapsychology and the paranormal. Visit their website at cihs.edu. You can now download all eight copies of the New Thinking Allowed magazine for free. Or order beautiful printed copies. Go to newthinkingallowed.org. Thinking Allowed. Conversations on the leading edge of knowledge and discovery with psychologist Jeffrey Mishlove. Hello and welcome. I'm Jeffrey Mishlove. Today we are going to take a traditionalist look at Gnosticism. My guest is my good friend Charles Upton. He was regarded as the youngest member of the beat generation of poets back in the 1960s when he was still a high school student and his poetry was published by Lawrence Ferlinghetti in San Francisco. Subsequently, he's become active in the traditionalist movement of spirituality. I'm sure he'll have a lot to say about that today. He is the author of many, many books on that topic. Some of his titles include Folk Metaphysics, Mystical Meanings in Traditional Folk Songs and Spirituals. Knowings in the Arts of Metaphysics, Cosmology and the Spiritual Path.…

Excerpt from New Thinking Allowed, Feb 10, 2026. Rights remain with the original creators. Hear the full episode at the source.