TheGreekword“gnosis,“definedasdirectspiritualknowledgeorinsight,hasitsoriginsinhistoricaloffshootsofChristianityinlateantiquity.Buttheterms“Gnosticism“and“gnosis“havebecomewidespreadinmanyothercontexts.Theyarecommonincontemporaryscholarshiponreligionandinpopularusageamongmagical,religious,andspiritualpractitioners.Andtheyhaveenteredpopularusageincontemporarysociety,withapplicationsinnumerouspolitical,religious,andculturalcontexts.GnosisandGnosticismhavebecomeleitmotifsinpopularculture,infilmssuchasTheMatrixandDarkCity,aswellasinanimeandotherpopularartforms.InAmericanGnosis,ArthurVersluisexploresthefascinatingconnectionbetweentheGnostictraditionandcontemporaryAmericanspirituality,politics,andpopularmedia.VersluissurveysthemesofGnosticismandgnosisinAmericanculture,bothwithintheUnitedStatesandinglobalcontexts.Versluisshowsthatgnosisiskeytounderstandingawidespectrumofglobalsyncreticreligiousandintellectualmovements-somesensational,evenwild,butallfascinating.Americangnosis,heargues,isadefiningfeatureofhybridnewreligiousformsinthetwenty-firstcentury.Versluisprovidescasestudiesofmajorcontemporaryfiguresandtextsthatareemblematicofneo-gnosticism,offeringacomprehensiveframeworkofgnosisandanunderstandingofgnostictrendsinmodernity.Heexploreshowneo-gnosticmemesrecurinsocialmediaandshowshowAmericangnosishasmanifestedasspiritualindependence,reflectingtheever-growingdemographiccategory“spiritualbutnotreligious.“IndelvingintotheintersectionofcontemporaryAmericanspirituality,politics,andliterature,AmericanGnosisuncoverstheremarkableprevalenceofneo-gnosticelementstoday.
