ELIPHAS LEVI, in The Book of Splendours, gives us a variant of this legend. The Masonic legend which he is dealing with is one called The History of the Knights of the Lion. This is important, because it is in the Lion's mouth, in other Masonic legends, that we find the key and the number 525. This legend is not the same as the one we are about to quote, but it is important all the same.
"After the temple was finished, several workers placed themselves under a single leader and worked for the reformation of moral behaviour, building spiritual edifices and gaining a reputation for their charity. They were called the Kadosh Fathers, which means 'detached by the holiness of their lives.'
"They did not last too long a time, however, for they forgot their duty and their obligations, and avarice made them hypocrites.
"The Ptolemy Philadelphians, kings of Egypt, princes of astrologers, were among the most celebrated and constant friends of truth; they ordered that sixty brothers work on a translation of the holy Scriptures.(21)
"The Kadosh Fathers soon strayed from their duties by over-reaching the limits of decency. Nevertheless, the order was preserved, for several of them, devoted observers of the laws they had originated, withdrew to themselves. They elected a grand master for life; one part remained in Syria and Sicily, centring their lives on good works; the other part went to live in the lands which they held in Lybia and Thebaid. These same solitary places were later inhabited by recluses known as Fathers of the Desert; once again they were called Kadosh, meaning 'holy' or 'separate'.
"Neither Jews nor Christians have ever said anything bad of them. Their grand master was named Manchemm.
"After the destruction of the temple, several embraced Christianity, adopting it because they saw nothing in it which was not in conformity to their way. They formed groups, members of a single larger family. All they possessed became common property. Alexander, patriarch of Alexandria, was the movement's greatest partisan and ornament. Athey passed their lives praising and blessing God and helping the poor whom they considered their own brothers. It is in this way that this respectable order maintained itself until near the end of the sixth century; and all brothers today seek to enhance its honoured reputation."(22)
The Qadosh Fathers were the compilers of the Septuagint at the behest of Ptolemy. Their Grand Masters were elected "AD VITAM.' They split into two groups of two:
We can see the similarities between this group, this legend, and the legends referred to by Waite. If we view it chronologically, they lasted from the period of the completion of the First Temple, the 10th Century b.c.e., to the end of the 6th century c.e. That accounts for 1,500 years. We tend to be of the mind to state that this legend covers some of the Essenian groups, and their dispersion across the Near East, and other places in the Mediterranean. If we put this together with the Waite material, (the material he quotes, that is) -- we can see that some group or another DID last until the time of the Crusades, perhaps coming forward to the high families in Europe discussed in HBHG, because of the separation in the 1050s c.e., between East and West. Remarkably, this is roughly the same time that the Hermetica is said to have left Harran, and ended up in Byzantium. The crisis in Church and State that occurred at this period is one of the REAL reasons for the Crusades, although we are still told that it was merely to protect the pilgrims on their way to the Holy Land, from attacks by the Saracens (Infidels).
History tells us that in Egypt in the 10th Century B.C.E., the New Kingdom was ending. A new Dynasty rose up, the XXIst, which was Ethiopian. So, it would be plausible to speculate that at this time, migrations of certain priesthoods took place. This happened around the time of Cadmus, and this undoubtedly happened several times, in order to preserve the priesthoods that were dying out in the centres of antiquity.
It is also likely that a migration took place in Egypt during the Akhnaten debacle.
It is not possible to determine who actually was responsible for the Septuagint, at least as far as who the translators were.
At the time Jerusalem fell, the Qadosh Fathers split the scene. These were the Holy Ones (Qadoshim) of the Essenes, or the highest degrees. They undoubtedly proliferated in Syria, Sicily, Libya, and Thebes. In fact, Josephus tells of several Jews being transported back to Italy, and it is not unreasonable to suppose that several of these ended up in Sicily or in Calabria. In Libya, we have the Tripolitan School of philosophers, many of these being Jews. Syria calls for a whole work by itself, as does Egypt.
Robert Freke Gould, in The History of Freemasonry, Volume One, Chapter One, Section C, page 28, First American Edition, gives a description of the degree structure of the Essene Hierarchy. We might be tempted today to dismiss it, since so much material has come to light in the years since 1947 e.v. But, there are reasons why we should at least give it a hearing. For starters, the structure described is very much like the systems we have been analysing, and like those which we shall analyse later, most notably, the Elkesaites, the Ebionites, the Nazareans, the Sabaeans (and Sabians). We shall now run the quote, which starts at the bottom of page 27 and carries over to page 28, fifth paragraph.
"Celibacy being the rule of Essenism, recruits were obtained from the Jewish community at large. Every grown-up candidate had to pass through a novitiate of two stages, which extended over three years, before he could be finally accepted. In the first, which lasted twelve months, he had to cast all his possessions into the common treasury, and received a copy of the ordinances, as well as a spade, [Gould note: See Deut. xxiii., 12-14.] an apron, used at the lustrations, and a white robe, to put on at meals, being the symbols of purity. After his probation, he was admitted into the second stage, which lasted two years, and was called an approacher. During this period he was admitted to a closer fellowship, and shared in the lustral rites, but could not hold any office or sit down at the common table. On passing through the second stage of probation, the approacher became an associate, or a full member of the society, when he was received into the brotherhood, and partook of the common meal.
"Before, however, he was made a homiletes, or finally admitted into close fellowship, he had to bind himself by a most solemn oath (this being the only occasion on which the Essenes used an oath), to observe three things: 1. Love to God; 2. Merciful justice toward all men -- to be faithful to every man, and especially to rulers [Gould note: Neander lays great stress on this inculcation, saying 'they were particularly distinguished on account of their fidelity, so different from the seditious spirit of the Jews, in rendering fidelity to the magistrates' (General History of the Christian Religion and Church, vol. i., p. 62).]; and 3. Purity of character, which implied inter alia strict secresy toward outsiders, so as not to divulge the secret doctrines [Gould note: 'Their whole secret lore can hardly be imagined to have consisted simply of ethical elements, but we are here forced to the supposition of a peculiar theosophy and pneumatology' (Neander, General History of the Christian Religion and Church, vol. i., p. 64).] (fill in greek here) to any one, and perfect openness with members of the order.
"The three sections, consisting of candidate, approacher, and associate, were subdivided into four orders, distinguished from each other by superior holiness.
"From the beginning of the novitiate to the achievement of the highest spiritual state, there were eight different stages which marked the gradual growth in holiness. At the sixth of these the aspirant became the temple of the Holy Spirit, and could prophesy. Thence, again, he advanced (seven) to that stage in which he was enabled to perform miraculous cures and raise the dead. And, finally, he attained (eight) to the position of Elias, the forerunner of the Messiah."(23)
This is most interesting, because it can be seen to relate to the hierarchy we delineate in the next chapter. There were several degrees in this system, and many of these degrees became separate orders in their own right, after the community split up in 68 e.v. Also, we can see a relationship to the John the Forerunner / John the Follower motifs to be discussed later. Clearly, from the Dead Sea Scrolls themselves, the Messiah was the Anointed Head of the Community.
It is interesting to note that Saint Anthony the Hermit, or Saint Anthony of Egypt, might actually have been one of the Thebaid Brethren. This is the famous Saint Anthony, who was tempted. In The Tomb of God, special emphasis is paid to a painting by David Teniers of Saints Anthony and Paul, both Hermits. This painting conceals the same geometry that is to be found in the famous painting by Nicholas Poussin, Les Bergers d'Arcadie, and in the parchments of Berenger Sauniere. When we looked into the background of Saint Anthony, we found out some important things, which led us to conclude that perhaps Teniers wasn't just concealing secret geometry in his painting, but the key to the survival of the ancient Initiatory hierarchy, the Qadosh Fathers. In Mackey's Encyclopaedia of Freemasonry, we find the following article:
"St. Anthony. An order taking its rise from the life and habits of St. Anthony, the hermit, who died about 357. His disciples, called Anchorites, near Ethiopia, lived in austerity and solitariness in the desert, until John, Emperor of Ethiopia, in 370, created them a religious order of knighthood, and bestowed privileges upon them under the title of St. Anthony, who was made patron of the empire. They established monasteries, adopted a black habit, and wore a blue cross in the shape of a Tau.
"The vow embraced chastity, defense of the Christian faith, to guard the empire, obey their superiors, and go to war when and wheresoever commanded. Marriage required a license. There were two classes ~~ combatants and non-combatants ~~ the second class being composed of those too old for military duty. Yet ere they retired they were required to serve three years against Arabian pirates, three against the Turks, and three against the Moors.
"The ancient monastery is in the deserts of Thebais, surrounded by an oval wall 500 paces in circumference and 40 feet in height. It is entered by ropes let down from the watch-house, the crane being turned by monks. By age, the cells, which are four by five by seven feet, have been reduced from 300 to 40. Advantage had been taken of one of nature's curiosities in obtaining abundant water from a riven rock, which is reached through a subterraneous passage of 50 paces, extending beyond the walls. In France, Italy, and Spain there are ecclesiastical and military organizations styled Knights of St. Anthony, who wear a plain cross, the principals a double cross. The chief seat is at Vienna. In the abbey rest the remains of St. Anthony."(24)
Here we have the Thebaid Brethren, John of Ethiopia, the original of the Prester John stories. Ethiopian Emperors were called Johns, like the Grand Masters of the Order of SION!
There is evidence that a group existed in Egypt which meets our criteria. In 323 c.e., St. Pachomius founds the first Catholic Monastery, on the island of Tebennisi, in the Thebaid, near Chenoboskion (Diospolis Parva). This is in the same neighborhood as Nag Hammadi. Not only that, he began his life a Pagan. He was a Pagan Initiate before he was converted to Christianity, after a journey to Rome, shortly before he established his Monastic community. For all we know, he could have had a community already operating there.
At any rate, he is said to have initiated his disciples in a cave, and the rules of his community are so much like those found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, that it is hard to see how these could be two different communities!
Also, in one of the binders of the Codices found at Nag Hammadi, is scrawled the name Pachom. It is said that these codices were buried at or around 350 c.e. It was at this time that Pachomius died, after catching a virus. A plague swept the community. We wonder if it was intentional. At the time, Athanasius of Alexandria was warring against the Arian heresy, and the Thebaid was to become the chief weapon in the war against the Arians. Interesting, is it not? Since the Merovingians would end up (or so it is said!) following the Arian heresy? The leader died, the books were buried, and in a few years the popularity of the monastic system in Egypt spread to Syria, where identical communities sprang up, including one in Bosra (Bostra). Pachomius' successor was named Theodore. Theodore has the same meaning and usage as Jonathan, therefore Theodore is a Johannite name, which probably is no surprise to Initiates.
We recommend the interested reader consult the Christian Classics Ethereal Library on the World Wide Web, for the Early Church Fathers Series. Use their site search engine to pull up all the entries on Pachomius. There are some interesting finds. This subject matter will also be dealt with in an upcoming update to the Crowley's Egg? piece, elsewhere on this site.
If we cut these stories in with that of the Johannites, we get a more complete picture. The "Treasure" removed to Upsala? Perhaps. There is a Crypt of the Three Crowns. But we can also see metaphorically that the "Treasure" hidden in Scotland is the surviving Templars, and survivals of the Merovingian bloodline. Of course, it has been recently put forward that the Ark of the Covenant, recently discovered to be located in the Church of Saint Mary of Zion in Axum, Ethiopia, is not there. The Templars removed it from "such a filthy place" (the sentiments of the researcher who posed the theory) and relocated it underneath Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland. Lost Archives? We have no way of knowing entirely. The Druses say that their Invisible Head resides in Scotland, and J. E. Marconis said similar things regarding the Treasure of the Rite of Memphis. There is a definite connection between Syria and Lebanon on the one hand, and Scotland and France on the other. And all of these places saw Templars!
FOOTNOTES
21. Even though Seventy made the Septuagint, hence the name.
22. Levi, The Book of Splendours, pp. 109-110. This is the Weiser edition, (York Beach: Samuel Weiser Inc., 1981 e.v.-- paperback.)
23. The Ninth, then would be that of Messiah, or Anointed Head of the Community. Could this be one of the secrets of the Ninth Degree???
24. II Mackey's 711b-712a.
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