All About PTG 2011

Palm Tree Garden Case for Dickian Religion

The Palm Tree Garden is a non-denominational site dedicated to the exploration of the traditions evident in the Nag Hammadi Library and related materials, and likewise committed to the development of creative applications of this ancient wisdom in a contemporary religious setting. Our goal is to provide an online nexus for creative interaction with religion that does not rely on any external organization for direction or funding, overtly or otherwise. We take our inspiration and our name from the works of the modern visionary Philip K. Dick, and establish the Palm Tree Garden in his honor.

Contributors

Jeremy Puma is an independent student of, and commentator on, various spiritual traditions, with a special interest in Sethianism and Zen Buddhism. His current projects include Kimetikos, a system of Bodywork and Ascent based on the Sethian Secret Book of John; Living Apocrypha, exegetical transliteration of noncanonical works (aka ‘getting rid of those danged ‘thees’ and ‘thous,’ and This Way: a spiritual path.

Brother Spark has spent the last five years of his life studying the dynamics of orthodoxy and heresy in the ancient world. He has a master’s degree in Ancient Semitic Languages and Literatures, for which he specialized in Gnostic and Heresiological literature in both Coptic and Greek. You can email him at Brother.Spark.PTG at gmail dot com.

Lucidus Valentine‘s life-long interest in spirituality and religion led him to look deeper into Gnostic scripture. Soon afterwards a profound spiritual encounter led him to search for gnosis both within himself and in others. Formally trained in literature and history, he both writes and is a literary critic and is especially interested in the works of Philip K. Dick. He is the author of the essay “The Owl in Daylight: How Many Worlds Do We Live in Simultaneously?” chronicling the fate of the last, unfinished novel of Dick and of “A Place in the Heart: A Literary Tour of Pistis Sophia”, both of which appeared in the first two issues of The Gnostic journal respectively.

Scott Finch lives and works as an artist in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He received his MFA from the Tyler School of Art at Temple University in 1996. He takes inspiration for his paintings from reading and meditating upon the Nag Hammadi Scriptures. Scott has contributed artwork to such exhibitions as the Second Annual Gulf South Regional Exhibition at BECA in New Orleans, the Critic’s Choice Exhibition at the Dallas Visual Art Center, Dallas, Texas, and the Art Challenge at the Fleisher Art Memorial in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Miguel Conner is a radical dualist and Gnostic free-agent marching to the tune of his own spark. He is the operator of the Aeon Byte Gnostic radio show. His show features guests from all over the Gnostic spectrum, from erudite scholars to the completely bizarre.

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The Palm Tree Garden is an independent group of writers, artists, and researchers and does not represent any cults, sects, denominations, or churches, Gnostic or otherwise. Any opinions expressed are solely the opinions of the individual PTG contributors, not the entire PTG membership.