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Belzebuub is an author and spiritual teacher of modern Gnosticism. He founded the international organisation The Gnostic Movement in 1999, which provides his teachings through free courses taken by more than 60,000 people in more than 100 countries, in Gnostic Centres around the world and online on the website Gnosticweb. He has four published books, and readily contributes a range of material on his personal website Belzebuub.com in the form of articles, videos, interviews and audio recordings of live talks. Belzebuub has been the subject of more than 70 media interviews on television and radio around the world in the USA, Canada, UK, Australia Greece and Cyprus, on topics such Out-of-Body Experiences, Gnosticism and a variety of spiritual subjects.

Life
Belzebuub was born Mark H. Pritchard in the 1960’s in Wales, UK and was brought up as a Roman Catholic. In his personal biography he describes having many paranormal experiences as a child and a strong interest in spirituality and the occult, which drove him to search for something more than conventional religion could offer, and scour his local library for esoteric books.

From the age of 18 he began attending different spiritual groups in search of something greater, a process he described as, “like looking through a fog”. He graduated from university with a degree in fine arts, and spent time working, travelling and attending various spiritual groups, but found those he came across lacking in some way. Eventually, at 26, he discovered the Gnostic teachings when he attended a lecture and course in his local library. The lecturer Edith would later become his wife.

Belzebuub studied and applied methods from modern Gnostic teachers Rabolu and Samael Aun Weor and found great worth in the exercise of self observation and awareness. He learned further practices such as astral projection and alchemy and nine months after starting to practice Gnosis became a teacher.

He and Edith got married and began opening and teaching at a succession of Gnostic Centres throughout the UK in Wales, Scotland and England. During this time, Belzebuub describes beginning to walk the spiritual path, going through an inner process of change and mentions having many out-of-body experiences and lucid dreams related to this.

In 1994, Belzebuub and Edith moved to Sydney Australia to teach Gnosis. It was in Australia where he states that he reached “mastery” and began the “second mountain” which in Gnosticism refers to a stage on the esoteric path to awakening.

It was during this period in Sydney that he mentions he found out the name of his spiritual being – Belzebuub. After sharing this name and announcing that he had reached Mastery, he founded The Gnostic Movement.

The Gnostic Movement
Belzebuub founded “The Gnostic Movement” in the year 1999. He opened centers in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane and taught the fundamental aspects of the Gnostic teachings in courses which explain it in stages. With the help of students, he also developed a means to teach these courses online, allowing them to reach a global audience. The Gnostic Movement has since grown and today has centres and study groups spread across six countries. To date, Belzebuub’s courses have been taken by more than 60,000 people.

Teachings
Belzebuub’s teachings are laid out in his books When I Go to Sleep, A Course in Astral Travel and Dreams, a bestseller in its genre, Secret Knowledge, Hidden Wisdom and The Peace of the Spirit Within, which provide the main reading material for his courses. He also recommends that people study other spiritual texts, such as the ancient Gnostic Christian scriptures, the four gospels, the last works of Samael Aun Weor and The Flight of the Feathered Serpent, which explores the life and role of Judas Iscariot.

Like the other Gnostic teachers before him – Rabolu and Samael Aun Weor – Belzebuub never claims that Gnosis is something he invented, but is rather something that has always existed across time, religions and cultures and is “as ancient as humanity”. Belzebuub writes that there is only one path to the true awakening which has been represented in different ways; however, there are specific things people need to do to walk this path which have always remained the same, even if the symbols used to convey this have changed. This path allows a person to reach “enlightenment” and change from a normal person into a spiritual being. He states that enlightenment is not a realisation, but a process of gradual transformation that takes time, effort and the application of specific practices to bring about. He outlines that his aim is to explain this ancient wisdom as clearly as possible so that other people can experience it in the modern day by practising the techniques needed to walk along the spiritual path.

"So I have written these books, to explain from my experience how to walk along the esoteric path ... I just offer the information so that whoever is interested can take it up, practice it and achieve it. If you want to know about the path you will have to walk it. This is not a question of believing what is said, because beliefs are not based on experience. It is experience which gives knowledge, which is gnosis."

Throughout his works, Belzebuub emphasises a need for personal experience and writes that Out-of-Body experiences (OBEs) are an important way to get this experience since they allow someone to discover “what is really going on in this life”. He teaches methods for astral projection aimed at allowing people to have self willed OBEs, which are explained in his books A course in Astral Travel and Dreams, When I go to Sleep and his course in Dreams and Out-of-Body Experiences. 67% of participants surveyed in this course reported having at least one OBE during it. He writes that near death experiences, OBEs and dreams happen in the same place, another dimension of life referred to as the astral plane. In an objective OBE a person is aware they are outside their body and is not clouded by subjective dream imagery that usually occur during normal sleep. These are brought about through concentrative techniques that allow a person to remain conscious as their body falls asleep, enabling them to investigate the mysteries of life and explore beyond the confines of the physical body (19). He believes OBEs are unlikely to gain acceptance in the scientific community due to the fact that it is not possible to provide physical evidence for something non physical, and it therefore “remains for the individual to prove it for themselves”.

Another main element to his teachings is self-observation and awareness which is explored in his book, The Peace of the Spirit Within and his course in Self-Discovery. These methods are aimed at bringing about “self-knowledge” whereby a person understands what is motivating their thoughts feelings and actions, and is able to uncover hidden desires, drives and impulses which bring about suffering. By discovering these psychological processes a person is said to be able to change for the better:

"If you can learn how to see what is within you clearly and precisely, you will be able to change it, thus changing your actions, your life and your whole interaction with others."

His book for more advanced students of Gnosticism, Secret Knowledge, Hidden Wisdom, accompanies his course in Gnostic Wisdom and explains the technique of alchemy – a practice that involves the transmutation of a persons energy which he describes as “the foundation of the esoteric work”.