Pocket Essentials: Gnostics. First Christian Heretics

Review "Good, basic introduction to a fascinating religious belief." --Fortean Times "Well written, informative." --Independent Product Description Gnosticism - derived from the Greek word gnosis, 'to know'' - is the name given to various religious schools that proliferated in the first centuries after Christ. Although largely stamped out by the Church by the sixth century, Gnostocism survived underground through groups such as the Bogomils and the Cathars and influenced the Renaissance, the Enlightenment,the psychologist Carl Jung, the Existentialists, the New Age movement and writers as diverse as William Blake and Albert Camus. Sean Martin recounts its long and diverse history, relevant to this very day. About the Author Seán Martin is a writer, poet and filmmaker. He is the author of The Knights Templar, The Cathars, The Gnostics, The Black Death, Alchemy and Alchemists, A Short History of Disease and, for Kamera Books, Andrei Tarkovsky and New Waves in Cinema. His films include Lanterna Magicka: Bill Douglas & the Secret History of Cinema ('a fine documentary' – Guardian), Folie à Deux, and a series of documentaries on Tarkovsky: Tarkovsky's Andrei Rublev: A Journey and The Dream in the Mirror.