Gnosis: this is one of the most dangerous sects in the world

They say that faith moves mountains. For many, believing is a reason for hope, something that gives strength and provides an explanatory framework for reality and the universe and that, although sometimes there may be divergences, are generally intended at their deepest core to offer peace of mind and the exercise of kindness and compassion (although at times they have been used utilitarian). And there are many religious beliefs that exist in the world.

However, not all of them have a positive orientation: there are numerous sects that seek to take advantage of those who fall into their hands. One of them is Gnosis, a dangerous sect which has recently received a high level of media attention after the disappearance in 2017 of a young woman from Alicante, Patricia Aguilar. It is about this sect that this article is about.

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Gnosis: what is it?

The name Gnosis is a collective that defines itself as a movement but is also considered a dangerous sect. This organization

It was founded by Víctor Manuel Gómez, a healer and writer of books on esotericism., in 1954. During that year, he declared that he was an incarnation of Samael (a fallen angel from the Bible) and that he had come into the world to spread his word.

This man took the name Samael Aun Weor and began to preach his beliefs, which are based on the practice of the Great Arcanum and the sexual magic within marriage (rejecting onanism, climax or homosexuality among other things) and takes up some of the Gnostic beliefs (in fact, he also uses the name to apply it to the sect in question) that emerged during the first centuries of the Christianity. His followers expanded little by little., and after his death they were distributed to different countries.

What do they believe in?

Gnosis members They consider themselves the invisible church of Jesus Christ and they defend following a doctrine or ideological current that seeks the self-realization of the being and the development of all human possibilities through the evolution of the psyche, soul and body. It also considers itself a scientific school that aims to regenerate humanity in all possible areas, and provide and expand scientific, artistic, mystical and philosophical knowledge (considering that these four are the pillars of the know).

Among some of their most notable beliefs, it stands out that they consider the salvation of the soul not through faith but through introspective knowledge of what It is divine: for them, redemption is something personal and requires forgetting and leaving everything behind to achieve knowledge, which is a sacrifice they must make. Likewise, they distinguish between essence, personality and ego (against which we must fight) as the main components of the human being. On the other hand, Gnosis defends the aforementioned sexual magic, in which you should not reach orgasm.

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The Patricia Aguilar case

Although Gnosis has existed for many years and is widely expanded in various countries (including Colombia, where it originated, Peru or Spain), it It is true that if she has recently been under the spotlight of media attention it is due to the case of a disappearance: that of Alicante-born Patricia Aguilar.

This young woman disappeared at the age of eighteen, in 2017, and numerous documents and notes linked to the group were found in her room and her diaries. It was later discovered that she had traveled to Peru, with the help of Félix Steven Manrique.

This man, who claimed to be a spiritual leader of the Gnosis group, seduced the young woman in a way similar to that used by numerous sects: in a moment of vulnerability after the death of a family member and when she is still a minor age, He began to contact her after the young woman entered an esoteric blog to tell a dream.. Little by little, he would begin to establish an increasingly deeper relationship, in which he would encourage her to believe in find her salvation and in which she even ended up making the young woman leave her home to flee to Peru.

There Manrique, who considered needing women to repopulate the Earth after an upcoming apocalypse and who had maintained contact with numerous young women, he kept her with him and with two other women and their children and left her pregnant, having a daughter with her. His conditions were terrible.: When they were found, both Patricia and the baby were malnourished and surrounded by filth. Fortunately, the young woman is currently located and back in Spain with her baby, while the man who used her is detained.

Gnosis version of the case

Félix Steven Manrique claimed to be a spiritual leader linked to Gnosis, but his representatives They claim that although he was linked to the sect, he was expelled shortly after due to his character. mythomaniac In fact, he was not a leader but an initiate who was only in the group for a few months.

Now, Gnosis indicates that the man falsified sect material for his own purposes, also establishing that he will file a lawsuit for identity theft and distance itself from the actions of the person responsible for manipulating the young woman Alicante.