S2 Ep 18. Gnosticism for our time?

Gnostic themes of entrapment, profound alienation, the struggle for gnosis (knowledge, illumination), the battle between the light and the dark, the forces of evil and good, the illusions of the world, the devilish devices to distract one from truth are all archetypal themes that reoccur throughout history and across all cultures. Gnosticism, despite some of its excesses, speaks profound truth in wonderful poetry which once heard is unforgettable. They speak of the soul like no others: “In that world of darkness I dwelt thousands of myriads of years, and nobody knew of me that I was there. . . . Year upon year and generation upon generation I was there, and they did not know about me that I dwelt in their world." In the modern era Gnostic motifs have surfaced in films such as Superman and the Matrix. This episode is the last in the Gnostic series. It finishes with a contemporary question: is there a gnostic dimension to the transgender question?