Gnosis
Gnosis (Greek gnōsis, knowledge) is direct, experiential, mystical knowledge — opposed to discursive or doctrinal knowledge. Central in Gnosticism, the diverse Christian and Hellenistic religious current of the 1st-4th centuries AD (Valentinians, Sethians, Manichaeans), considered heretical by mainstream Christianity. The Nag Hammadi library (discovered 1945) revealed important Gnostic texts.
Modern relevance
The term was reclaimed by 20th-century esoteric movements (Theosophy, Anthroposophy) and by Jung (gnosis as direct psychic experience).