The Gnostic Notebook: Volume One: On Memory Systems and Fairy Tales

by Timothy James Lambert

An ancient Latin text, the Ad Herennium, lays down instructions for building effective Memory Systems. These instructions just happen to mirror one of the central images of Christianity as found in the Gospels. Were the Gospels constructed to act as a type of literary memory system? Could it be that the authors were actually adepts at the Art of Memory? Perhaps the tri-fold nature of the Synoptic Gospels is not a historical accident, but is actually a method of encrypting the data contained within the miraculous tales of Jesus the Wonder Worker. More importantly, perhaps this correspondence is a signifier to anyone familiar with the Art of Memory, that here is something screaming for attention, begging to be decrypted, promising, knock, and the door will be opened. The Gnostic Notebook is an examination of hidden layers of meaning uncovered within various classic and ancient texts including the Grimm Brothers' fairy tales and the Gospels. The meanings are decrypted using a variety of steganographic and cryptographic techniques. These hidden readings are not the usual esoteric or Freudian interpretations, rather they seem to reveal actual, undeniable information encoded into the texts ages ago.

Genres: Gnosticism, Spirituality

63 pages, Paperback

First published February 9, 2015

Reviews

[Michael Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Innovative approach -- I like the idea of wordsmiths hiding "easter eggs" in their work. The playfulness and love for communication on multiple levels could in some cases leave room for those who would want to leave a more lasting "gift" to readers in their contemporary time, and also for future readers.

[kit · Rating 1 out of 5]

very weak, amateurish research. it's certainly an achievement to have me eye-rolling about some of my favorite subjects. had this book been...a collection of questions—an experiment in associations—presented as a contemplative riff...maybe it could have some merit. as it is, the author leaps from correlation to causation with all the eagerness of a teenager upon discovering their first conspiracy theory.

[Arnold · Rating 2 out of 5]

Weak and uninteresting

Reading this book, I felt like I was a horse led with blinders. Ideas were too forced and connections were weak. The Grimm fairy tales were indeed weird and I expected to be fascinated unraveling them. But connecting it to an oriental occult system? And then connecting 2 authors because they were situated a few kilometers away? Nah...

[Jabberwocky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting

The book posits some interesting correlations between the I Ching and other mystical systems, as a way of encrypting esoteric meaning into fairy tales. I don’t know that I’m totally convinced, but the correlations seem too uncanny to be mere coincidence. I’m definitely intrigued, and will continue reading the rest of the volumes in the Gnostic Notebook.

[Paul T. Fitzgerald · Rating 1 out of 5]

Totally contrived

I guess I am just “un-enlightened “ as this makes no sense to me. Heaven help us if all clergy would take this approach to scriptures. No wonder Gnosticism was declared heresy. Enjoyed reading fairytales again-feet and all.

[Tucker · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short book that uses Gurdjieff and the I Ching to interpret several brief fairy tales. This hybrid framework is possibly useful but not sufficiently advocated for. Feels a bit of a reach.

[Ozifer Eris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book but would be better if the author edits some of the paragraphs to make sense to the reader.

[Jake Rueth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my second read through of this book and Timothy Lambert, the author, uses intriguing examples showing how secret messages can be hidden within fairytales. Why is this important? In this first book, the author proposes that something is hidden in the Bible. After reading this (and his next volumes) I agree that the Bible is a cryptic puzzle, keys unlocking keys that takes us deeper into the catacombs of our past.

[Bonnie Dale Keck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kindle Unlimited, but was sent free copies of the trilogy {wonder if the number of books had a meaning, just saying}. one of those we send you free books and hope you like them and/or actually review them, though of course they don't put as you have to review, but it's all I do most days. The Bible{s}, fairy tales and fables, geometric figures, I Ching, astrology, coded and encoded and encrypted and hidden meanings, yes it all rather made me think of masonic myth and movies such as National Treasure but then again my mind works in much stranger ways than most people's do.The books were fine, and pretty much made sense to me, because I read a lot, and a lot of different things, but...there didn't seem to be a...reason for them, as in what was the point, what was it all trying to show in the context/theme running through the 3 books, what conclusion overall or separately were we supposed to have gotten and why 3 books of somewhat different but linked stories. Interesting stories, but again not quite sure what the point{s} were, beyond finding similarities and themes running through certain things. Maybe I was still missing something or some things, but pretty sure wasn't.

The Gnostic Notebook: Volume One: On Memory Systems and Fairy Tales
The Gnostic Notebook: Volume Two: On the Secrets of James and Thomas
The Gnostic Notebook: Volume Three: On Plato, the Fourth Dimension, and the Lost Philosophy
Available as 3 set, this is 1 of 3

[Trisha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe offered one or two nuggets of information. Otherwise unreadable and uninformative