gnostic handbook

Chapter Two:
The Great Chain of Being
The reference point for modern man is the material world, he judges life by his perceptions and
acts accordingly. His life is hence governed by physical desires and materials requirements. This
way of life, whether it be Western consumerism or Marxist materialism, was created by the development
of the (Western) scientific worldview, whereby man was removed from his place at
the center of the universe and reduced to his new status as an "evolved monkey". Beginning in
the 19 th century (some would argue earlier) prevailing ideologies began to jettison God, spirituality
and the Medieval worldview and replace "superstition" with a "scientific" model based on
matter, evolution and technology coupled with a belief in progress. This new scientific model
was and is a direct contradiction of the earlier "traditional" model, which was based on the
"Great Chain of Being".
This Great Chain is the traditional view of the universe which is not locked in a simple "nuts and
bolts" view, but which encompasses the great span of existence from the very heights of spirit to
the depths of the infernal realms. The Great Chain of Being while expressed in many cultures is
not doctrinally specific, it can be found in Hindu, Buddhist, Platonic, Christian and Mystical cosmology,
it is found throughout literature from myth and legend to the visions of Dante.
" The plan and structure of the world, which, through the Middle Ages and down
to the late eighteenth century most educated men were to accept without question
- the conception of the universe as a " Great Chain of Being", composed of an
immense or infinite number of links ranging in hierarchical order from the meagerest
kinds of existents.. through every possible grade up to the ens perfectissimum"
Great Chain of Being,
Arthur Lovejoy.
Modern mans vision of reality can be seen like those locked into Plato's cave, he perceives only
shadows and presumes these to be real. This is far more dangerous than we admit, for if we limit
our reality to our sense alone then we remove all possibility of ethical or spiritual insight and reduce
existence to material banality. While psychology may wish to somewhat expand our horizons
by positing spiritual equivalents within the mind, it is still reductionist and everything is
referenced back to the senses and the material world. If it is from matter we come, then to matter
we shall return.
A useful allegory may be that of a chess game, the pieces move and we assume they do so of
their own volition. We may build complex theories regarding their movements, even creating
laws and theories to explain why they move in certain ways. We can classify the different pieces