The Lineage
Samael Aun Weor, Founder of the Modern Gnostic Movement
Samael Aun Weor (1917 to 1977) founded the contemporary Gnostic Movement, wrote more than seventy books on esoteric science and psychology, and renounced copyright on all of them so the teaching could reach anyone. His writings and practices form the curriculum studied in Gnostic centres worldwide, including our own centre in Midrand, South Africa.
Early Years
The Journey to Find the Real Interior Path
Samael Aun Weor was born on 6 March 1917 in Bogotá, Colombia. From his youth he pursued the transcendental questions: who are we, where do we come from, and what is the purpose of existence? His early spiritual education took in Theosophy, Masonry, the systems of Gurdjieff, the Gnostic-Rosicrucian tradition, yoga and the teachings of Krishnamurti.
By seventeen he was lecturing at the Theosophical Society; at eighteen he joined the Ancient Rosicrucian school under Dr Arnoldo Krumm-Heller. Yet the theoretical approaches of these schools left him dissatisfied, and he turned instead to intensive meditation and the path of direct spiritual initiation.
In his seminal work, The Perfect Matrimony, he described the discovery of a transformative key enabling genuine spiritual development, work that began in 1947. In 1948 he established the first Gnostic organisation, which went on to expand across the world.
A Life of Service
The Birth of the Modern Gnostic Movement
The Perfect Matrimony and the writings that followed through the 1950s and 1960s established the International Gnostic Movement. Working from Mexico, Samael Aun Weor authored treatises spanning anthropology, psychology, philosophy, art, science, mysticism, Kabbalah, alchemy and medicine.
Across three decades he wrote more than seventy books and delivered thousands of lectures, and he renounced the copyright to all of his works so that the teaching could be shared freely. At the heart of his message is the unifying principle he found underpinning every authentic religion and esoteric tradition, and the practical science of awakening consciousness.
The movement he founded began in Colombia in the 1950s and has since spread across the Americas, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa. Our classes in Midrand study his curriculum step by step, always with the same instruction he gave his own students: verify everything through your own experience.
from his writings
Read Samael Aun Weor's Teachings
An Introduction to Gnosis
Self-knowledge, inner transformation and spiritual awakening in his own framework.
Read the articleEsoteric Discipline of the Mind
192 aphorisms on meditation and imagination: "Meditation is the esoteric discipline of the Gnostics."
Read the articleThe Revolution of Meditation
How profound inner meditation awakens the Buddhata and transforms the psyche.
Read the articleStudy the Gnostic Teaching in South Africa
Weekly, donation-based classes at our Midrand Gnostic Centre work through Samael Aun Weor's introductory curriculum, from esoteric psychology to meditation and the Kabbalah. Newcomers are welcome at any time.
