the humanities, and politics. He is the editor of JSR: Journal for the Study of Radicalism and serves as president of Hieros Institute, a non-profit organization devoted to understanding the sacred.
Versluis applied the “Page 99 Test” to his new book, American Gnosis: Political Religion and Transcendence, and reported the following:
The 99th page of American Gnosis is in the midst of the first ever extended scholarly discussion of the work of Dr. Charles Musès (1919-2000), “The Enigmatic Dr. Musès.” Charles Musès studied mathematics and went on to Columbia University, where he received a PhD for his doctoral dissertation on the mysticism of Dionysius Andreas Freher (1649-1728). From the Christian theosophic tradition, he went on to explore Egyptian religion, established a pioneering publishing house, published numerous articles and books in a wide array of fields, developing an area of mathematics termed “Musean hypernumbers,” and in his later years published on shamanic spirituality and time theory, developing what he called “The Lion Path.” What I show in this chapter is that neo-gnostic concepts played a significant role in Musès’s thought, in such works as his 1986 book Destiny and Control in Human Systems: Studies in the Interconnectedness of Time (Chronotopology), but also in the development of his “Lion Path.”Visit Arthur Versluis's website.
This chapter on Musès's work is one of several chapters devoted to exemplary figures of neo-gnostic thought in the United States and Latin America. Other figures discussed include Miguel Serrano, exponent of what he termed “esoteric Hitlerism;” Samael Aun Weor, an explicitly neo-gnostic author whose work and thought is widely dispersed in Latin America, and even globally; and many other figures and topics are featured as well, far too many to discuss here. The 99th page is as good a place as any to begin to delve into these studies of exemplary and influential exponents of neo-gnostic thought in the contemporary world.
Christopher McIntosh, author of Occult Russia and many other books, summarized American Gnosis this way: “In this compelling book, Arthur Versluis looks at many aspects of modern America in terms of the neo-gnostic world view. In it, we encounter multidimensionality, hyperspace, immortal avatars, sexual magic, Tibetan Buddhism, Shambhala, psychedelic drugs and much else. American Gnosis is a heady rollercoaster journey that leaves the reader pondering profound questions about the struggle for freedom of the human spirit and the challenges that it faces in the present age.” That's the best summary as I've seen of this unusual book that provokes, challenges, and surprises readers throughout.
The Page 99 Test: American Gurus.
--Marshal Zeringue
Posts
