© paul linjamaa,  | doi:./- This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the cc by 4.0 license. Aries – Journal for the Study of Western Esotericism () – ARIES brill.com/arie The Reception of Pistis Sophia and Gnosticism Uncovering the Link Between Esoteric Milieus and Contemporary Academia Paul Linjamaa Centre for Theology and Religious Studies, Lund University, Lund, Sweden paul.linjamaa@ctr.lu.se Abstract This article surveys the reception of the Gnostic text Pistis Sophia in esoteric milieus in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Europe. The first part of the article contains an overview of the text and scholarship on it. Then follows a study of the reception of Pistis Sophia in a broader array of esoteric circles. It becomes clear that the text was hailed as an example of ancient and great spiritual wisdom, although seldom discussed in detail theologically. Next, this is compared to the academic reception at the same time where it was, as previous scholars have made clear, discarded due to what was understood as a discrepancy with “Gnostic” characteristics. This article shows that Pistis Sophia was not discarded in esoteric circles but rather read in light of already established esoteric trajectories, for example Blavatsky’s, Krumm-Heller’s, or Papus’ particular spiritual evo- lutionary perspectives. Lastly, it is argued that the understanding of Gnosticisms that both these receptions reflect is still very much active today: academics and esoteric groups are guided by similar trajectories vis-à-vis Gnosticism, seeing it as a representa- tive of a “universal religious essence” associated with progressive attitudes (for example regarding sex and gender), which allows/forces them to renegotiate the ancient sources themselves. Keywords reception of Gnosticism – Pistis Sophia – esotericism – Counter Culture – theosophy – Ancient Wisdom Tradition – libertinism This article contributes to a neglected topic in studies of western esoteri- cism: the reception of ancient Gnostic sources in esoteric movements. Many Downloaded from Brill.com02/03/2022 11:57:52AM via free access