Samael Aun Weor

Full Biography of Samael Aun Weor

Samael Aun Weor (Hebrew: סמאל און ואור), born Víctor Manuel Gómez Rodríguez on March 6, 1917 in Bogotá, Cundinamarca, Colombia, was a mystic, author, and esoteric teacher who founded the spiritual movement known as Universal Christian Gnostic Movement. Through his more than sixty published books, countless lectures, and tireless personal efforts, he ignited a vast spiritual revival throughout Latin America and became a defining voice in modern esotericism. He consciously left the physical body (disincarnation) on December 24, 1977, leaving behind a legacy of teachings aimed at the psychological and spiritual liberation of humanity.

Early Life and Formation

He was baptized as Víctor Gómez in the Roman Catholic Church and attended a Jesuit school, but he soon rejected conventional religion, dropping out by the age of twelve due to disappointment in formal doctrines. Instead, he immersed himself in metaphysical and esoteric studies. By age 17, he was lecturing at a local Theosophical society, and soon after, he joined the Fraternitas Rosicruciana Antiqua (F.R.A.), an esoteric order of those times. The founding leader of the Fraternitas Rosicruciana Antiqua was Arnold Krumm-Heller. The FRA was founded by him in 1932.

In his book “The Three Mountains” he wrote:

It is not irrelevant to solemnly testify that I was born with enormous spiritual longings. To deny this would be an absurdity…

Even though some will look at this as unusual and incredible, the concrete fact is that there are those in the world who can completely remember the totality of their existence, even the event of their own birth. I want to affirm that I am one of those who can do so.

Following all the well-known processes of birth, very clean and beautifully dressed, I was gently placed on the maternal bed close to my mother…

The Tree Mountains – My Childhood

Little is known about his personal life during the 1930s and 40s, but he described this period as one of spiritual wandering. He lived among indigenous tribes in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta for three years, learning mystical healing practices that later gave form to his work Occult Medicine and Practical Magic. It was during these years he encountered his “Inner Being,” who revealed the name Aun Weor, meaning “Strength and Light.”

Marriages and Family

Samael was first married to Sara Dueñas, with whom he had two sons named Imperator and Salomón, and a daughter Estela. In 1946, he met the woman who would become his lifelong companion and esoteric partner, Arnolda Garro Mora, known spiritually as Master Litelantes. Together, they had four children: Osiris, Isis, Horus, and Hypatia. Litelantes, described as a “Lady-Adept,” instructed Samael in mystical practices including Jinn science, or transporting the physical body into the fourth dimension.

The Birth of a Movement

By 1948, he had begun teaching small groups under the spiritual name Aun Weor, which he interpreted as “the verb or messenger of God.” In 1950, he published his first major book, The Perfect Matrimony which was originally called “The door to enter Initiation”, which revealed the hidden sexual teachings he said were embedded in all true religions. The book caused public outrage for its openness about sexuality and led to violent opposition and even imprisonment for five days in 1952 under accusations of “healing the sick.” as we read in his book “Secret notes of a Guru”.

“This man, in addition to committing the crime of healing the ill, is also the author of a book entitled The Perfect Matrimony, which is an outrage against public morality and the good customs of the citizens.”

So stated the official document demanding the arrest and imprisonment of Samael Aun Weor. So began his diary written from prison, in which he documented his meditations and insights, and the process of spiritual initiation related to his imprisonment. This book is full of details about dream interpretation, meditation, degrees of initiation, the awakening of the sacred fire, and much more. Most significantly, he emphasized the necessity for spiritual aspirants to consume blessed food and drink at home, that sacred meal known in every religion by names like communion, eucharist, kiddush, tsog, prasad, etc. He also provided a complete ritual for families to practice at home around their dinner table, to invoke the help of the supreme savior known as Christ, Avalokitesvara, Quetzalcoatl, etc. Thus, instead of being cowed by the attempts of the dominate religions to suppress him, they served to increase his efforts to help humanity, resulting in this beautiful and deeply mystical book. Source: glorian.org

In 1954, after undergoing a mystical initiation he called the “birth of the Inner Christ”, he began using the name Samael, aligning his human soul (Aun Weor) with his divine Logos (Samael). He described this union as marking the arrival of the Maitreya Buddha or Kalki Avatar for the new Age of Aquarius, though he insisted this meant only that he was a messenger, not a divine being:

“A messenger or avatar… is a courier, a man who delivers a message… I am a cosmic mailman, since I am giving the content of a cosmic letter.”

Gnostic Teaching and Growth

Samael called his spiritual system the Doctrine of Synthesis, which combined the esoteric truths of all great religions into one practical path. Central to his teaching were the goals of Christification (incarnating the inner Christ) and Final Liberation (freedom from the cycle of suffering). His teachings emphasized psychological work, meditation, sexual transmutation, and direct experience of spiritual realities.

In 1956, he left Colombia and settled in Mexico City after two years of pilgrimage through the Central American countries, where his movement flourished. Over the next two decades, he published prolifically on subjects as varied as Kabbalah, meditation, tantra, consciousness, astrology, alchemy, sociology, and even UFOs and criminology. He created a vast network of Gnostic institutions throughout Latin America, reaching millions — even in places without electricity or infrastructure.

Despite his growing fame, he lived modestly, walked door to door selling books, he consistently rejected praise, titles, and followers:

“I do not follow anyone, nor do I want anyone to follow me… I am only a lighthouse in the sea of existence.”

He was deeply opposed to spiritual commercialism, false mysticism, and the creation of sects:

“We are not interested in anyone’s money… We are conscious visitors in the cathedral of the soul…”

Final Years and Disincarnation

Through the 1960s and 70s, he continued to write on deeper aspects of esoteric psychology, publishing works like The Great Rebellion, Revolutionary Psychology, and The Revolution of the Dialectic. These offered a framework for transforming the psyche through introspective practice, revealing the inner roots of religious truths.

His final magnum opus, Pistis Sophia Unveiled, was a detailed commentary on an ancient Gnostic scripture. During this period, Samael became increasingly focused on the idea of his physical death and spiritual rebirth. In his 1972 book The Three Mountains, he predicted his death would occur before 1978 as part of a mystical process akin to the biblical Job’s trials.

By August 1977, he was suffering from stomach ulcer, but continued teaching publicly until his health rapidly declined. On December 24, 1977, Samael Aun Weor left the physical body at will. He told those present:

“Don’t cling to my battered body, instead cling to my doctrinal body.”

Legacy

Samael Aun Weor’s teachings live on through the worldwide Gnostic Movement, and his books are now available in multiple languages. He left a unique and vast body of esoteric work that continues to inspire spiritual seekers around the globe.

Though he claimed no authority, took no money, and sought no followers, his impact was unmistakable. He was, in his own words, not a master but a “postman” — a humble servant delivering a cosmic message:

“Why would you visit a simple courier, a miserable postman? It is better for you to study the message…”

In life and in death, Samael Aun Weor remained committed to awakening humanity — not to follow him, but to follow their own Inner Being, the source of true wisdom and liberation.

Samael Aun Weor, Avatar of the New Age of Aquarius

Understand that Kalki Avatar is certainly the Avatar for the age of Kali Yuga in the era of Aquarius.

The word “AVATARA” means “MESSENGER.” Unquestionably, “Messenger” is understood as “one who delivers a message”; and since it has fallen to me to deliver such a message, I am called “Messenger,” in Sanskrit: “Avatara.”

A Messenger or Avatar, in the fullest sense of the word, is a “Messenger,” the person who delivers a message, a Servant, or a Servant of the Great Work of the Father. Let this word not be misleading; it is spelled out with absolute clarity.

I am, therefore, a Servant, or a Messenger who is delivering a message. I once said: “I am a Cosmic Postman since I am delivering the contents of a Cosmic Letter.”

So, my dear brothers and sisters, the word “Avatara” should never lead us to pride, since it means only that, and nothing more: It is an Emissary, someone, a Servant, a Servant who delivers a message, a message, and that is all.

As for the term “MAITREYA BUDDHA,” we must analyze it a little, so as not to fall into error. The INTIMATE BUDDHA, in itself, is, so to speak, the Real Inner Being of each one of us. When someone’s Intimate or Real Inner Being has properly achieved its Intimate Self-Realization, they are declared “Buddha.”

The term “MAITREYA” is both individual and collective. From an individual point of view, it would represent a Master called “Maitreya,” but from a, let’s say, collective point of view, “Buddha Maitreya” is understood, in the fullest sense of the word, as any Initiate who has achieved, let’s say, Christification, and that’s all. I’ve said!

I have said: in the day of the burning we will see the smoke! Remember that in the time of Jesus, there also appeared many prophets, and all of them called themselves avatars of Pisces, but only one prevailed; this was Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ.

At the time of Atlantis, many prophets, many messiahs, appeared who considered themselves to be avatars, and they made themselves to be worshiped as such, but only one prevailed and left triumphant between the waters of the universal flood; that one, the only one, was the Manu Vaisvasvata who, amongst earthquakes and floods, took his people to the central plateau of Asia.

Likewise, my dear brethren, many in our times will declare themselves to be the avatar, but the facts will speak for themselves, and in the day of the great fire, the avatar will be known by itself, that is, the one who will be capable of removing his people between the smoke and the flames at the crucial and definitive moment at the end of the Aryan race: that will be the avatar. So, the facts will speak for themselves; I repeat: the facts will speak; the tree is known by its fruits; from such a tree comes such fruit. Anyhow, I am giving the message here; I am the avatar, although many will not believe it. Yet, let our great army be prepared. That is all!
Samael Aun Weor – Messenger for the New Age

THE PATRIARCH OF THE GNOSTIC CHURCH

Be aware that within the world of the Gnostic Church (the Church of Christ) there exist not two or three patriarchs, but only one, and he is the fifth of the seven, of whom I am solely an instrument perhaps too imperfect, but I am his instrument.

Yes, my insignificant person is worthless, it does not have any value, it is worth nothing. Nevertheless, for the fortune of the few and for the misfortune of the many, inside of me is (Samael) somebody, who is the Lord of Power, and it is not possible for any organization to bloom without the aid of power. Therefore, although my insignificant person is not worth five cents (I personally will not give a nickel for my person), nevertheless, I repeat: for the fortune of the few and for the misfortune of the many, inside of me is the fifth of the seven, the Lord of Power.

Samael Aun Weor