It was early on in my journey that I was introduced to Elaine Pagels and the Gnostic Gospels. Due largely to her studies and writing on these 'other gospels' I was able to quickly grasp the concept of metaphorical 'transformations' and, at the same time reconcile that knowledge with my early religious 'indoctrination' in the Christian myth. It was Campbell who first pointed me to the Gnostic teachings and when I started my research it was Pagels who came to my attention. It pretty much follows my other experiences of 'chance' encounters with teaching sages {synchronistic events?}, especially since

during those early years the internet was not yet the easily attainable resource and the vast reserve of information we have today. During those years sorting through the limited resources and determining what was 'truth' and what was biased ideology was still very much left to chance discovering of materials {books/audio books} purchased from a bookstore. Pagels led the way in disseminating and communicating what has become accepted scholarly 'science'. Today Pagels is one of the 'go to' sources, having become an icon in televised media {Learning Channel, Discovery Channel, PBS, etc}. She has even been a guest on the Colbert Report {the link in red will take you to the 6 minute Colbert video} where she skillfully leads Stephen Colbert through the various possibilities of the life of Jesus despite Colbert's skillful comedic playfulness which has made him so popular {if you didn't know Colbert is the opposite of his character in his show}. PBS featured her in their well presented documentary From Jesus to Christ, their investigation of the various possibilities of life of Jesus. I have created several pages over the years featuring his works including Matthew, Mark, Luke and ....Thomas, an interview with Pagels back in 2001, and The Lost Teachings of Jesus, a page I designed in 2005. A great page with a catalog of Pagels many works including videos is these things inside.

As for reconciling the Gnostic Jesus with the dogma I was taught when I was young, the introduction to the Gnostic teachings gave me a whole new perspective of Jesus that felt right, not one that left questions that could not be objectively answered but one that 'intuitively' fit. Today when I speak of my spirituality, and I do often when I believe it can influence, Jesus is still the example but in metaphorical references that fit with the spiritual concepts of 'going inward' and experiencing for myself a 'death and resurrection', psychologically. In this view his death on the cross makes all the sense in the world. As does my own.

The power of the feminine. Pagels is one of many feminine influences in my journey, along with Marion Woodman, Jean Houston and Jean Raffa {I have contact with Jean through Twitter}. It does seem feminine influence was scripted to be a part of my journey, there being so many feminine experiences along my path. Not the least of which was the life shaping experience of being raised by a mother and living with three sisters. I have begun to question whether this whole matter of the feminine influence as some how being scripted. Being a true extrovert I've lived an introverted life. The learning experiences with the feminine perhaps is indeed intentional, abiding by the concept Jung suggested was the intent of the natural psyche from the beginning, that of achieving wholeness for the human psyche. The concept sounds very plausible to me and the experiences definitely fit with the concept. And to support it all, it all seems to fit. Naturally and intuitively.

Jerry

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