http://www.metahistory.org/lexicon_M.php
Mesotes Literally, "medium, intermediary." Also spelled "mijotes," meaning "half-united." A strange term found only a couple of times in the Gnostic materials, NHC and elsewhere, referring to the intrapsychic capacity of humans being to follow their hearts and find their way in life by reliance on interior guidance.
The Mesotes might be defined as
the internal auto-pilot function evident in many species, and not unique to humanity: the difference being that with other species the navigational instinct operates automatically,
but with human beings, it has to be consciously engaged. Hence the term mijotes, "half-united," because we of the human species are only half-united with our guiding instincts. In this sense, we are less evolved that other species, like owls, bees, eagles and whales, who function infallibly from their internal instincts. On the other hand, due to the unusual "slack" in our psychic steering mechanism, we have the opportunity to develop as
self-guiding individuals, each conscious of his or her own lifepath whereas other animals, even when they develop a high degree of individuality, remain always closely bound to the generic program of their species.
The Inner Guide
The Mesotes is the innate capacity that enables us to direct our personal lives toward goals that transcend mere personal limits. As such, it is closely connected with the heart-felt intuition that humanity lives in kinship with all species. It is through the inter-species link, at least in part, that we as individuals realize our true path in life. In other words, the inner guiding function allows us to realize a transpersonal focus, but obliges us to develop it within a cross-species or inter-species perspective.
The function of the "inner guide" was called "the living Jesus" in Mystery School teachings. The code found in the NHC,
IS etone, indicates
Iasius etone, "the ever-living healer." Even if IS is decoded as the name "Jesus," it must be allowed that Gnostics and initiates in the Mysteries did not regard the historical Jesus, or any historical person, as the ever-living healer and inner guide. The Coptic word
etone denotes living in a manner that transcends a discrete, incarnated person. The ever-living or ever-lasting guide cannot be identified with an historical person who lives and dies within finite limits.
The Mesotes has been widely recognized in religious teachings, mysticism, and modern psychology, and it may be loosely equated with the "transcendent function" in the individuation process of C. G. Jung. In New Age terms the Mesotes is widely recognized as the "inner guide." In New Age Christological terms, it is called the "Etheric Christ."
Many people in many cultures through the ages have encountered the inner guide, but unfortunately, due to the massive impact of Catholic and Christian indoctrination, witnesses tend to identify that mystical entity with the figure of the historical Jesus, and, in turn, with the superhuman Christ of Pauline and Johannine theology. This association is totally misleading.
Also, most modern interpretations of the inner guiding presence assume that it directs people toward personal fulfillment, rather than towards transpersonal aims. There is a strong narcissistic slant here, typical of the self-concern of the Piscean Age. Jesus, the primary mythological figure of the Age, is identified with the inner presence and regarded as an indwelling spiritual entity who personally guides and protects each individual. The Mesotes is nothing like this. The essential guiding function of the Mesotes becomes hopelessly deviated when such doctrinal concepts and narcissistic expectations are projected upon it. Consider this analogy:
Imagine that you are given a compass to guide you on a journey through unknown territory. The needle of the compass is aligned to the magnetic field of the Earth, hence it provides you with a constant global or cosmic orientation. On the face of the compass are directions such as N, SWS, SE, which assist you in knowing where you are going and in holding a steady course. Now imagine that upon receiving this marvellous tool for self-guidance, you paint over the directions on the face with various private symbols that are dear to you, or with symbols you have inherited from others, believing they have a deep religious significance. You end up with a compass embellished with extraneous markings. At the N position, for instance, you write "GOD" or you inscribe some religious symbol. Soon you forget the purpose of the needle, you lose the global alignment. The compass no longer reads the territory where you are actually walking, it refers to an invisible realm, elsewhere, non-physical, out of this world. All that matters now is that at certain moments the needle points to the cherished symbols into which you read deep meaning. Thus although you have in your hand a device that allows you to hold a steady course, and map your own journey in real territory, you wander in all directions guided by the meaning that you attach to the extraneous markings on the face of the compass.
This is an analogy to what people commonly do with the Mesotes experience. In ancient times this did not occur because tribal people around the world were not subjected to a transmundane, earth-rejecting indoctrination that conditioned them to see the inner guide as a single, unique, historical figure.
Hence, native people had vague names for the Mesotes, names such as Manitou, Manu, Maniboozoo, and others beginning with the root man-; or simply, the "Great Spirit." (The root
man- does not indicate man or manhood, but specifically alludes to the inner voice of thinking, the mantrum that directs human thinking.) The Algonquin term, Manitou, means just that: the Great Spirit. It was understood as a mysterious presence who could not be pinned down or readily understood. In the vision quest of Native Americans, each candidate was expected to meet the Manitou at a certain moment, to gain guidance for living. What came out of this encounter was always a spontaneous development, a mystery to be explored and unfolded through every day of one's life, never a doctrinal or conclusive statement.
