Friendship is Gnosis

Big adventure
Tons of fun
A beautiful heart
Faithful and strong
Sharing kindness!
It's an easy feat
And magic makes it all complete
– My Little Pony Theme Song

"Become earnest about the word! For as to the word, its first part is faith; the second, love; the third, works; for from these comes life. For the word is like a grain of wheat; when someone had sown it, he had faith in it; and when it had sprouted, he loved it, because he had seen many grains in place of one. And when he had worked, he was saved, because he had prepared it for food, (and) again he left (some) to sow. So also can you yourselves receive the kingdom of heaven; unless you receive this through knowledge, you will not be able to find it." – Apocryphon of James

Outside of running Alpha & Omega: Christian Gnostic Church, I have many interests and activities that I pursue. Being the Gnostic and pastor in training that I am, finding links between these activities and my spiritual path is to be expected. Finding these links not only helps me understand my spiritual path more clearly but also allows me to convey my understanding of my path to others in images that others understand. One of my most resent interests is a series called My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. A point of interest is mystical artifact called the Elements of Harmony. These elements are basically virtues but one of these elements seems kind of out of place and unexplained in the series, the element of magic. Now I could be completely off with this connection but I believe that this particular element represents gnosis. The element of magic in Friendship is Magic is gnosis because the way that she discovers her element of harmony is very similar to the general process of how one experiences gnosis; as gnosis is dependent on certain virtues and behaviors, her element grows in response to the other elements of harmony; and the character who represents this element is an intellectual that grows as a person/pony through the series progression.

The process that Twilight Sparkle went through to learn her element is very similar to the process of receiving gnosis. In the first episode, Twilight Sparkle is ordered to leave Canterlot to the small village of Ponyville where she is told to make some friends by her mentor Princess Celestia, a god-like being who rules the land and raises the sun. She is distraught by this order because she discovered some sign that a great catastrophe was going to occur and says to her companion, “The fate of Equestria does not rest on me making friends.” So as expected, the catastrophe occurs and the ponies that did try to make friends with her know that she knows more about what is going on than them. They decide to follow her into an area that is uncontrolled and untamed by the town ponies called the Everfree Forest to find the mystical artifacts that can stop the disaster, the Elements of Harmony. After a few trials where the ponies demonstrate each of their strengths, Twilight Sparkle’s moment to shine comes but all seems to be lost when not only is she unable to use the artifact, the artifact gets destroyed. She then has a moment, where out of nowhere, she understands the importance of friendship and that the friends that she had made through this adventure actually represent the elements that the artifacts are supposed to contain. After this moment, the artifact that was destroyed reconfigured itself and they were able to redeem the evil they had to confront.

This is like the process of receiving gnosis because gnosis is an experience that is triggered by having the right type of knowledge, the right type of understanding, and an awakening event (Thank you Jeremy Puma for summarizing this). All of these have to be present to receive gnosis. It is not just book learning, it is not just feelings and intuition, it is not just an experience; it is a full package of all of these together. Without the experience, you are Twilight Sparkle wondering why in the world she’s in Ponyville in the first place and seeing the Ponyville that we are in as a waste of time. The experience of gnosis of God reveals something that wisdom and knowledge alone do not convey but without knowledge and wisdom of what this experience is, it is meaningless. If Twilight Sparkle had not of had the knowledge and understanding that she did, the event that triggered her awakening would have not triggered this awakening at all. She would have been lost in the despair at the lost of the artifacts and not realized that what they need was within them all along.

Each of the Elements of Harmony contributes to the element of magic. Without the other elements the element of magic is essentially useless. This was illustrated in the end of the first season when the ponies who represented the other elements forgot who they were and were unable to stop another great disaster. But the element of magic was able to be used to remind the ponies who lost their way to find who they were again. Like gnosis, it is useless without certain virtues. Without compassion, integrity, optimism, charity, and faith, gnosis within a person cannot grow. But gnosis can help those who have lost their way and rediscover the importance of those elements you might have forgotten. Like the fall of Sophia, Sophia could not be saved until she cried out for help and admitted that she could not do it alone. The other aeons and her consort rescued her from her fall. It is in her risen state that she was able to being the process of saving the mistake she had created. It was her descending into the fruit of the tree of knowledge that awakened us to understanding the difference between good and evil and prepared the way for us to recognize the savior when he appears.

Finally, Twilight Sparkle continues to grow as a pony/person throughout the entire series. Even after she becomes a princess as a reward for all the hardships and trials she went through, she still continues to grow. The thing that a lot of people on my particular spiritual path forget, myself included, is that gnosis is not a one time deal. As long as we are alive, we are growing; so it is also with gnosis. Information that does not grow is essentially dead and useless. Just as her element of magic continues to grow in Twilight Sparkle, gnosis continues to grow when it is inside of us. We have to put in the effort to keep that fire alive else it will burn out or burn us up in the process. Being the intellectual that she is, it is not too surprising that her personal growth would correlate to gnosis since much of what she learns is through experience and applying the knowledge that she has in her life in her world of forms, Ponyville. Time and time again, her experiences have been salvific for her personally, for her friends, and even her country of Equestria.

The model of this fantasy world of Equestria, seems to be largely based on Plato’s Republic but I could be wrong on this. If I am correct though and it draws from Plato’s Republic, the element of magic being gnosis does not seem too farfetched. As I demonstrated, Twilight Sparkle, who represents this element grows from being a soul lost in the world of forms, to its eventual savior. She goes through a process and series of awakenings that eventually brings her to where she is currently. And finally like Sophia received assistance from the other Aeons, Twilight Sparkle could not have gotten to where she is without her friends. It is her gnosis of the value of friendship that saved her and her land. It is our gnosis of the nature of the unknowable Father-Mother that will save us from ourselves. May our time in our Ponyville, the World of Forms, help us awaken to what is valuable in our lives.

www.aeonbytegnosticradio.com/2014/09/friendship-in-gnosis-by-robert-wood.html