"Gnosticism" is, specifically, a category derived to express the emphasis of "Gnosis" in the belief system held by any one of a number of inter-related, spiritual traditions of the Late Antiquities.

We will examine and discuss the history and nature of traditional Gnostics and many other related religious systems, including Manicheism, the Mandeans, the Cathars, Bogomils, Paulicians, Merkabah and Classical Hermeticism.