Samael Aun Weor

Samael Aun Weor (Hebrew: סמאל און ואור)(March 6, 1917 – December 24, 1977), born Víctor Manuel Gómez Rodríguez, Colombian citizen and later Mexican, was an author, lecturer and founder of the 'Universal Christian Gnostic Movement' with his teaching of 'The Doctrine of Synthesis' of all religions in both their esoteric and exoteric aspects. It has been called neo-Gnostic by the historian of esotericism Arthur Verslius and called by the historian Jean-Francois Mayer "a science of consciousness or knowledge that may be attained through certain techniques." In his over sixty books and hundreds of held conferences, he describes a teaching called "Gnosis", the Greek word for "knowledge", from which is derived the name "Gnosticism", which is a term also used to designate various sects such as the Ophites which appeared at the beginning of the Christian Era who were considered heretics by the Catholic Church.