ORMUS AND THE GRAIL CHALICE.

WHO IS ORMUS?

1. WHO IS ORMUS?

A OVERVIEW

THE FOLLOWING segment consists of fact and fiction. That is to say, the fictions of Masonic and other Legends from the past, as well as the facts of History, if History consists of actual facts, rather than that which is spun for us by those who have an interest in spinning such a story. There are plenty of people who will sneer at us for taking these legends at face value, but it is clear to us that people in the past did, or at the very least, they used these same legends, to pursue an agenda of their devising; to pursue an agenda given by others; to prove the validity of their claims against the rest of Masonry, and for other reasons, possibly.

We care not if people disagree with us because we have seen enough to tell us that something of the sort did happen. That is, something analogous or identical to what we are relating took place. If it can be picked up in the late 20th Century of the Common Era by a Science Fiction author in Orange County, California, without necessarily knowing what he was picking up, and if it could be picked up or discovered by others, across time, yet remain out of the history books that the regular tourists are given to mull over, then what we're speaking of may actually possess value.

So, first we shall cover some elements of these stories, taking the first and third of the segments, above, and listing these events in the Story, and then taking what we have found pertaining to the name itself. Then, we will be in a position to offer our "theory" concerning the "Society of Ormus" . [Interesting aside department: Society of Ormus = S. O. = Strict Observance. This is not a baseless assumption.]

B THE LEGENDS ANALYZED.

The story of Ormus is said to have originated with the Baron de Westerode, member of the Loge des Philalethes. He is said to have gotten it from a source that claims it originated in Sweden. We first came upon it in Holy Blood, Holy Grail. When we did our research we found it in Arthur Edward Waite's New Encyclopaedia of Freemasonry. Later on, we found it again, in his Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross. When we obtained our copy of Mackey's Encyclopaedia of Freemasonry, we found it in there, as well as in a couple of George Oliver, D.d., &c.,'s works. Once we were able to obtain the available materials on the Rite of Memphis, we found it there, too, and while people tend to dismiss this material as fictional, or bogus, or nonsensical, we have seen in it an allegory for how the Authentic Tradition was transmitted from the Dark Ages to the High Middle Ages, fairly intact.

It would probably be redundant to repeat the quotations we have already made regarding this, but repeat we may in order that it be clear what we are writing and that people do not mistake what we have to say.

Starting, then, with the history of the Legend itself, (In Waite's Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross),

"…I will mention here one only of the more recent legends which may be said to have grown up within the Order, far down in the eighteenth century. It has obtained a casual vogue, owing to a dissemination through Masonic channels in France. It postulates a founder of the Rosicrucians in a certain Ormesius or Ormuz and affirms that he was converted to Christianity at Alexandria by St. Mark, a.d. 46. He is said to have purified the Egyptian Mysteries and married them to the new faith. His disciples followed their master, and with these as a centre he established the Society of Ormuz, or of the Light. The sign of membership was a red cross worn on the person. Essenes and Therapeutae entered the ranks of this sodality, in which Hermetic Secrets were preserved and transmitted. The Baron de Westerode has been credited with putting forward this fiction, he being an adventurer among secret societies derivative from Masonry about the period of the French Revolution. An obscure figure in the annals, I conceive him nevertheless to have been connected with one of those cliques which found shelter under the banner of Masonry, offering little distinction between Rosicrucian Rites proper and the numerous obediences of the Rose-Croix Grade in the old Rite of Perfection. These things merged into one another continually—or at least in the records concerning them. The alleged Society of Ormus has been reflected into modern systems. like the confused and unwieldy Masonic Rite of Memphis. It is a characteristic specimen of spurious traditional history, to be met with everywhere in Masonry. [1]

[1. It would be interesting to follow this curious fable further and identify the Rite with which it may have been incorporated at first. Among English references there is Kenneth MacKenzie's Royal Cyclopaedia of Freemasonry, s.v., Ormesius. But he names no source. As a fact, however, he derived information from Thory's Acta Latomorum. Quite naturally, the story has lost nothing in its travels from mouth to mouth. See in particular The Theosophical Review, Vol. XXVII, pp. 422 et seq., 1900-01. It produces some "Reasons" for believing that Francis Bacon was a Rosicrucian and leads up to this main subject in the manner following: (1) The Order of the Rosy Cross claimed Ormuz as its founder: it did nothing of the sort; the Ormuz fable was fathered on the Order at a late period.

[Our note: Yes, but, Arthur. We know what you wrote in your Third Order notes re Felkin et al. That is, that indeed there was a Third Order operating in Germany, but you had to keep denying THAT to the public; therefore, why not deny the obvious to the public as well, like that there was a group in Upper Egypt that existed and combined the Mysteries with Christianity, and buried the scriptures so that they could be discovered in the 1940s, long after you died, and wouldn't have to deal with it…. yes, why not? Arthur Edward Waite has bungled the entire Tradition the which he was the sole legitimate hoaxtorian for. The Waites to the Lions! Ex-lax? Sorry, we're fresh out.]

Continuing…

"(2) It was allied closely to the Knights Templar and [or] the Knights Companions of St. John of Jerusalem. (3) Battista Porta in 1605 was Chief of the Rosy Cross, who 'under cover of his comedies instructed initiates in things human and divine' – not apparently under cover of his famous work on Magia Naturalis. (4) Wickliffe, Lollard, Chaucer, Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Voltaire, Goethe, Lessing, Swedenborg, Mesmer and Böhme 'are to-day openly acknowledged as Brethren of the Craft,' by whom does not appear, but by those presumably who regard Bacon as a Rosicrucian and as the 'concealed poet' of the Shakespeare plays. It is scarcely necessary to say that no particle of evidence is produced in support of these statements: they are the vapourings of foolish dreams. Porta, for example, died in 1615, one year after the Rosy Cross made its public appearance on the stage in Germany. We may compare an essay of the Rosicrucians which appeared in Theosophical Siftings, Vol. III. All accounts are said to agree 'in pointing to an origin outside Europe, in oriental lands.' They do nothing of the sort, and in fact the Ormuz fiction appears to stand alone.

[OUR NOTE: Well, then, was Damcar in Europe, or Fez, or Damascus, or Damasco? You limit yourself, Arthur. But then we are well aware that you liked to deny plenty which actually took place, if it gave you grief to admit it.]

Continuing:

"It stands or falls on the authority of Thory, who says: (1) That a letter by the Baron de Westerode is in the archives of the Philosophical Rite; (2) that it was written from Ratisbon in 1784; (3) that it was addressed to the Head Tribunal; (4) that it contains the Ormuz story; and (5) that the story in question is described as 'received in Sweden,' which may mean that it is a traditional history belonging to the Swedish Rite of Masonry, an incorporation of many elements; (6) that, according to de Westerode, the Rosicrucians came to Europe in 1188—an important date connected with Templar history; (7) that three of the adepti proceeded to Scotland and there established an Order of Masons of the East. This legend is naturally set aside by Thory. There is very little doubt that he had seen the letter of Baron de Westerode, the present whereabouts of which are beyond speculation, as the archives of the Scottish Philosophical Rite were dispersed on February 23, 1860. A catalogue was printed, but I have failed to obtain a copy. Baron de Westerode was on the Council of the Rite of the Philalethes and was present at the Convention of Paris summoned by that illustrious Masonic body. See Acta Latomorum, I, 336, 337; II, 97."

Now, why did he do this? This work originally came out in 1924, at the same time that a collection of Masonic articles of his were compiled together under the name Emblematic Freemasonry. In there he speaks of the Knights of the Morning and of Palestine – Tschoudy's Legend – and writes there, and in his New Encyclopaedia, about the Thebaid Solitaries, about the Knights who were contacted by them, who went back to Europe, about the depositing of a sacred treasure in the Crypt of the Three Kings at Uppsala. We see in this, and in the Legends already quoted at the beginning of this Part Four of Book Two, pertaining to the Gold R+C. snipped remnants of the Story.

C POSSIBLE PARALLELS.

One of the fundamental legends in the Rite of Memphis package, is that of the Legend of Ormus – his conversion and fusing the Mysteries with Christianity and creating the Rose + Croix, inaugurating a School of Solomonic Wisdom, et cetera. There is a chronology involved, that goes back to very ancient times, using Masonic Legend as a way to tell the Story.

Taking the various legends, we get the following:

1. "The true brethren of all periods have had but one aim, and have laboured for the accomplishment of a single mission. This aim, this mission, is the study of that wisdom which enables us to discern truth. Our labour is that of developing reason and intelligence, and thus to cultivate the beneficent qualities of the human heart and the repression of its vices. In all times our brethren have been distinguished by their extensive tolerance. They admit without distinction all men of elevated soul, of gentle manners, and of recognised probity, whatever their religious opinions may be. In the interior of our Temples are found neither Israelites nor Mussulmen, Jews nor Christians, Catholics nor Protestants; there are only Brothers working in common to enlighten each other, and thus reach a higher state of moral perfection." – p. 82.

2. That Adam received immediately from his Creator the Gift of Wisdom, in virtue of which he understood universal Nature.

3. That this is intimated by Genesis when it is said that he gave names to all creatures.

4. That such knowledge was transmitted by him to his children.

5. That it has descended through all generations to the Brotherhood of the Golden and Rosy Cross and will remain in their custody, seeing that they are the chosen Sons of Wisdom.

6. That many are called but few elected, for few only are inspired by a valid fear of God and enlightened by the science of Nature. Certain Greek Initiates emigrated to Asia Minor, where they established the Antient and Primitive Rite of Memphis, under the name of Dionysian Mysteries, about 1060 b.c.

7. The headquarters were at Byblos, identified with the Scriptural Gebal.

8. That the succession of Wise Masters included Noah, Isaac, Moses, Aaron, Joshua, David, Solomon, as well as Hiram Abiff and Hermes Trismegistus.

9. That the Keepers of the Secret Tradition separated themselves from the profane multitude and that a law of deepest silence was established in Egypt and Arabia in the days of Moses.

10. That the secret association flourished in those of Solomon and Hermes. "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.

11. They were called the Kadosh Fathers, which means 'detached by the holiness of their lives.'

12. "They did not last too long a time, however, for they forgot their duty and their obligations, and avarice made them hypocrites.

13. That it continued to exist in Syria during the Babylonian captivity.

14. That in course of time the hidden science which it connoted was spread over the whole globe.

15. That this diffusion led, however, to its deterioration through the wickedness of mankind. "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.

16. That the Magi ~~~ who were ancestors of Masonry ~~~ left Egypt, a.m. 3095, and went to Jerusalem, taking with them the annals of the Order;

17. At the beginning of the Christian Era an Egyptian Sage named Ormus, represented as a convert of St. Mark, married the Mysteries of Egyptian priests with those of the New Law, and so produced the Grade of Rose-Croix, according to the Memphis version.

18. That they studied the Mysteries of Nature and practised all virtues till the year 4074, when Jerusalem was destroyed by Titus;

18. "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'.

19. "Neither Jews nor Christians have ever said anything bad of them. Their grand master was named Manchemm.

20. "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."

21. That they retired into Scythia and the Thebaid, where they continued to propagate their doctrine;

22. That St. John the Almoner (550-619) was one of their initiates, and became Grand Master;

23. That on such account it was reformed in the sixth century A.D., by Seven Wise Masters and was brought in fine to its present position and development.

24. Time came when the Confederacy of Initiates – being those otherwise described in the text above – began to feel the need of general unification, in which Christian teaching should be joined to the old wisdom of the Magi;

25. That a new alliance arose in this manner and framed its laws in accordance with the doctrine of Christ;

26. That under this form it suffered many changes and adopted many names;

27. That, as apostles of the true light, they joined the Crusaders under Godfrey de Bouillon and regained possession of their temple when Jerusalem fell into the hands of the Christian army;

28. That Baldwin II became Grand Master of the Order, and instituted the Grand Knights of St. Andrew, or Princes of the Royal Secret;

29. In 1118 a.d., a chivalric body, vaguely denominated Knights of Palestine – a name borrowed from Baron Tschoudy – seem to have reached Edinburgh, and there founded a Grand Lodge for the purpose of reviving the knowledge of Ormus.

30. That he entrusted to their care the Sacred Treasure of the Order;

31. That the members of this chivalry were chosen from the Grade of Kadosh and were proclaimed Princes of Masonry;

32. That when the Holy City came once more into the hands of the infidels all Masons were driven out, losing the greater part of those precious archives which had come under their charge;

33. That they commissioned a deputation of eighty-one Brethren to Upsala, who deposited the remnant of the archives in the Crypt of the Three Crowns;

34. That when the Prince Masons were finally expelled from Palestine they removed the hidden treasure and repaired with it to Scotland;

35. That the said treasure was again committed to the charge of eighty-one members, who remained in Scotland to guard it, while the rest were scattered abroad;

36. That before parting they bound themselves by a solemn pledge to win back their temple at Jerusalem and the lost sacred treasures;

37. That the Princes of the Royal Secret are descendants of these ancient Prince Masons and that those who are admitted among them must be vowed like these."

38. That in 1115 it was known as the Magical Alliance of Magical Brothers and Associates;

39. That this was the period of the Crusades and that the Knights Templar were formed with the help of the Alliance;

40. That the Templars were associated with the Magical Brothers and shared their secrets;

41. That they stood, however, in the same rank as the last and youngest Grade of the Secret Knowledge, under the rule of the Alliance;

42. That when the Templars were practically exterminated in 1311 these Apprentices or Neophytes were "overlooked in the cruelties of the time" and escaped the evil days;

43. That they incorporated subsequently with the remnant of surviving Templars and founded a permanent Brotherhood, with definite rules for its maintenance;

44. That like the Magical Alliance at large – which recedes into the background is said to have suffered a decline – this institution assumed different names at different epochs;

45. That the better to conceal their real purpose the Superiors of the Order established those lower Degrees which pass under the name of Freemasonry.

46. That they served, moreover, as a seminary or preparation for the higher curriculum of the Rosicrucian Order and as a kind of symbolical prolegomenon.

47. That at the same time Masonry has deteriorated on its own part and has passed almost beyond recognition, being profaned and adulterated by so many idle and usless additamenta.

48. That all this notwithstanding it remains the preparatory school of the Rosy Cross and from this source only can the Order itself be recruited.

49. that it was called the Order of the Cross, the Brothers of the Cross, Noachites, and finally Freemasons;

50. That under the Masonic guise the headquarters were situated at Berlin;

51. That in the capacity of a Head Lodge it promulgated the true and fundamental system of Masonry, but the statement is worded so vaguely that the significance of the affirmation escapes;

52. That in addition to the three Craft Grades which were of universal recognition there were also High Grades subsisting from time immemorial and involving apparently many local differences of practice, claim and privilege;

53. That the High Grade Masons included many earnest students of the Secret Knowledge, who knew that Freemasonry was rooted in the Ancient Mysteries;

54. That an incorporation was formed by these for the extension and application of knowledge derived from those sources and from the Magical alliance of antiquity;

55. That it was known as the Alliance of the Wise and then as the Golden Alliance, in succession to the Templars and the fallen Magical Brotherhood;

56. That it received only the highest class of Master Masons or Masters of the Appearance of Light; [our note: Appearance of Light: would that be Aurora Naissante? i.e., Nascent Dawn? Hmmmm…….]

57. That the foundation of this Alliance belongs to the twelfth century;

58. That by reflection the Jewish and Christian Scriptures in conjunction with 72 mss. and other writings of the Magi transmitted from the past of ancient wisdom, they produced a new book, 'adorned with the halo of religion';

59. That they assumed another title thereupon, to mark, as it were, a new epoch or dispensation, and became in this manner Brothers of the Golden and Rosy Cross, otherwise true Freemasons;

60. ...and that they have been known under this denomination since 1510.

This is a long story, and because we have collated together a number of different legends, it is a confusing jumble. All that aside, a story emerges from this material, and more facts will be put into this running narrative. Also, please note that this series of stories and those presented in the Johannite Legend of the Templars do not exclude one another.

This thing gets even more interesting, when we add some of those elements of the story related in the Memphis legend, presented in the previous segment: Particularly the "Cabirian Mysteries" component of the Legend. This is the Patriarch of Isis Legend, and is recounted by Waite in his New Encyclopaedia of Freemasonry (anybody have an online edition of this necessary work, yet?) –

"From the banks of the Ganges to the plains of Persia and thence to Ethiopia they passed as far as Egypt and there instituted Mysteries, which were those of Masonic science." – II Waite, 272.

Combine this with a peculiar legend presented by Hargrave Jennings in his anonymously attributed Ophiolatreia:

"The Aethiopes brought these rites into Greece, and called the island where they first established them Ellopia, Solis Serpentis insula. It was the same as Euboea, a name of the like purport, in which island was a region named Ethiopium. Euboea is properly Oub-Aia, and signifies, the Serpent Island."

So that, at one time, survivors of the Anunnaki in India, migrate at a time anterior to the reign of Amenhotep II, find their way across to Ethiopia, crossing Persia and Arabia.

This group is established in Ethiopia and Southern Arabia, and, a portion of this group migrates north, around the time of Akhnaten and crosses the Mediterranean, and from this we get to the time of the Dionysian Artificers, as well as to the origins of the Mystery cults.

Another group assists in facilitating the Moses story, and later, the Building of the Temple, in which case some of the Greek brethren meet, via Tyre, the Israelite branch…

Later on, after the Captivity and Second Temple phase of the Plan, some of these are established in Alexandria as the producers of the Septuagint; and in Israel are behind the splintering off that becomes the Essene movement.

In Egypt after the time of the one called the Historical Jesus, Ormus is converted to Christianity, and fuses the Mysteries with Christianity; and later the Therapeuts and Essenes attach themselves to his school. In reality the Therapeutae and other Gnostic groups become allied to the association known as the Thebaid Brethren, or Desert Fathers.

We will get to the Ideas imparted in the short notes on Ormus presented in the letter of the Baron de Westerode (would that we could get something on this completely elusive person), as well as that presented in the Memphis Legend concerning Ormus, and show that by a slip-up, a person goes from being a Priest of Serapis, to a Serapic Priest. This is not without significance, but more on that to come.

D POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS.

We shall now present some of our earlier research on this subject (from 1997 c.e., when we first wrote this manuscript) – and see how this adds light to the search.

According to Jacques Etienne Marconis de Negre, in his work entitled ‘The Sanctuary of Memphis’, we are told: (English Translation quoted in Mackey’s Encyclopaedia):

“The Rite of Memphis, or Oriental Rite, was introduced into Europe by ORMUS, a SERAPHIC PRIEST of Alexandria and Egyptian Sage, who had been converted by St. Mark, and reformed the doctrines of the Egyptians, in accordance with the principles of Christianity. The Disciples of ORMUS continued until 1118 to be the sole guardians of ancient Egyptian wisdom, as purified by Christianity and Solomonian Science. This science they communicated to the Templars. They were known by the title of Knights of Palestine, or Brethren Rose+Croix of the East. In THEM the RITE OF MEMPHIS recognizes its immediate founders” – II Mackey’s-467a.

Now, The Knights of Palestine are those mentioned by Tschoudy. The Brothers of the Orient or East, is noticed by Ambelain in his Martinism: History and Doctrine, and these would be the Brethren Rose+Croix of the East.

Also, There was a group called Chevaliers de la Croix, which was an R+C group associated with Palaprat’s Templar Order. It was actually above the Templar Order. This group, according to the writing of one of its members, did not have anything but scorn for the Rite of Memphis.

Repeating the story communicated by the Baron de Westerode,

“The Disciples of the Rose Croix came, in 1188, from the East, to Europe, for the propagation of Christianity after the troubles in Palestine. Three of them founded in Scotland the Order of Masons of the East (Knights of the East), to serve as a seminary for instruction in the most sublime sciences. This Order was in existence in 1196. Edward [I] , the son of Henry III, was received into the Society of the Rose-Croix by Raymond Lully. At that time, only learned men and persons of high rank were admitted…

[I.e., at that time, meaning at any time prior to the time when Masonry had splintered off into hundreds of different systems.]

“Their founder was a SERAPHIC PRIEST OF ALEXANDRIA, a MAGUS of Egypt named ORMESIUS, or ORMUS, who with six of his companions was converted in the year 96 by St. Mark.

[NOTE: IN Mackey’s Encyclo., the original term SERAPIC is replaced by SERAPHIC, and the date is mis read as 96 rather than 46. The date is not important, but the slip on the word Seraphic is.].

He purified the doctrine of the Egyptians according to the precepts of Christianity, and founded the SOCIETY OF ORMUS, that is to say, THE SAGES OF LIGHT, to the members of which he gave a red cross as a decoration. About the same time the ESSENES and other Jews founded a School of Solomonic Wisdom, to which the DISCIPLES OF ORMUS united themselves. Then the society was divided into various Orders known as the Conservators of Mosaic Secrets, of Hermetic Secrets, etc.

“Several members of the Association having yielded to the temptations of pride, SEVEN MASTERS united, effected a reform, adopted a modern constitution, and collected together on their tracing-board all the allegories of the hermetic work.” – 2 Mackey’s 636a.

Now, again, we take the Original Version of the Legend, from John Yarker, translating Marconis:

"I have now to inform you, my brethren, that the Order of the Rose Croix is of the highest antiquity, and has a double origin assigned to it, the one historic and the other philosophic. It was founded by Ormus, who was a Serapian Priest at Memphis, and a friend of the Christian Apostles. Converted by St. Mark in the year 46, he reformed the doctrines and ceremonies of the Egyptians by the recognition of the law of the Apostles. His disciples united with the Essenes, who had founded Lodges or Schools of Solomonic science, and travelled from the East to propagate their secret doctrines in the West, where they instructed their pupils in the mysteries of religion and philosophy. The Society, thus became divided into two sects, or orders, known as conservators of the Mosaic secrets, and conservators of the Hermetic secrets, or the doctrines of the Egyptian Thoth.

"The Rosicrucians of the twelfth century, were Hermetic philosophers, who derived from an anterior association which came from the East, with the mission of propagating the secret sciences in the West. Three of them founded in Britain a philosophical seminary, where they taught the sublime sciences. Of these some joined the Crusaders to fight in Palestine, side by side with those valiant Maccabees, and became known as Knights of Palestine and Knights of the Rose Croix, forming themselves into armed associations for the protection of pilgrims who visited the Holy City; there they cultivated our mysteries and entrusted them to Guarimont, Patriarch of Jerusalem, and Hugh de Payens in the year 1118." - from Masonic Charges and Lectures, by John Yarker…. Probably a translation of J. E. Marconis de Negré. Lecture entitled "History of the Degree of Rose Croix".

Now from the original by Marconis, in Le Sanctuaire du Memphis ou Hermes:

“Mais de qui les Templiers avaient-ils reçu l’ensemble de la science maçonnique? Des FF.’. d’Orient, don’t le fondateur était un sage d’Egypte du nom d’Ormus, converti au christianisme par saint Marc. Ormus purifia la doctrine des Egyptiens, selon les préceptes du christianisme. Vers le même temps, les Esséniens et autres Juifs fondèrent une école de science Salomonique, wui se réunit à Ormus. Les disciples d’Ormus, jusqu’en 1118, restèrent seuls dépositaires de l’ancienne sagesse égyptienne, purifiée par le christianisme et la science Salomonique. Cette doctrine, ils la communiquèrent aux Templiers: ils étaient alors connus sous le nom de Chevaliers de la Palestine ou FF.’. Rose-Croix d’Orient; c’est eux que le Rit de Memphis reconnait pour fondateurs immédiats..“En 1150, quatre-vingt-un d’entre eux arrivèrent en Suéde, sous la conduite de Garimont, et se présentèrent à l’archevèque d’Upsal, qui reçut d’eux le dépôt des connaissances maçonniques. Ce furent ces quatre-vingt-un maçons qui établirent la maçonnerie en Europe.” – pp. 5-6.

This appears to follow the story we have been given above. The addition is the part usually left out, that of the Knights who left Asia and went to Sweden and deposited the Masonic Knowledge with the Bishop of Uppsala. The name of Garimont, is significant as well, because this is the name of the Patriarch of Jerusalem at the time of the First Crusade. This could not have been the same person. Perhaps another allegory.

Next, in chronological form, the Story Emerges, (taking into consideration the above outline of course, but limiting it to the Ormus legend):

1 Circa 46 c.e., ORMUS converted to Christianity, founds the Sages of Light or Society of Ormus

2 1118 The DISCIPLES OF ORMUS communicate their Science to the Templars. This is the year that the Templars are officially organized, though it is clear to us that this might not be reality. Indeed, if we collate the Stricte Observance Legend in with this one, we will get a different picture about the Foundation of the Templars that gels with the Johannite Legend and possibly, too, the Priory of SION story, even though we are wrong for assuming there is any truth value to be attached to the main book about the Priory………….!

3 1187 “The Troubles in Palestine” (See the Legenda for the 27°)

4 1188, a formal separation between the Order of the Temple and the Order of SION according to the story… The splitting of the Elm at Gisors, the word for Elm in French being Orme, and the star in a certain episode of the Avengers entitled “Warlock”, being one Peter Orme [a program utilized in the indoctrination of Minervals in the state that boasts the highest suicide rate] ….. When we get to elaborating more on Guillaume du Tyr’s account of the Crusades, it will be clear that there was a lot more going on in Palestine than protecting the pilgrims. Drink up, Pilgrim! Hey – Marion himself was a Mason.

According to Jacques Vallee, Anatomy of a Phenomenon: UFO’s in Space, p. 8, “A luminous cross was seen in 1188 between Gisors and Neaufles-Saint-Martin; a cross carved in stone still marks the spot.” The cutting of the elm was a pivotal event in the history of both Orders, we are told. And, in the accound, above, the disciples of the Rose+Croix came, in 1188, from the East to Europe… after the troubles in Palestine..

5 The order is in existence in 1196.

6 13th Century. Raymond Lully was a member in good standing, and initiated Edward I, sone of English King Henry III. Henry III, it is known, was presented with a chalice purporting to be the cup of the Last Supper, i.e., the Holy Grail, by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, in the mid 13th Century.

7 1617, the Convention of Seven at Magdebourg, which may or may not have occurred, may be what is referred to when the Legend speaks of “Seven Masters”.

8 “They were known by the title of Knights of Palestine, or Brethren Rose+Croix of the East. In Them, the Rite of Memphis recognizes its immediate founders.” i.e., in the Priory of SION (or what it represents in the land of popular legends and franchise cults), and its external branches, the Brethren of the Rose+Croix of Gold, the Philadelphes of Narbonne, an offshoot of the Philalethes, which was organized in the Loge des Amis-Rèunis, founded by disciples of Martines Pasqually, whose lineages of succession would reach Saint Adam Weishaupt.

In HBHG, it is stated that not only was the name Priory of SION adopted in 1188, but there was a subtitle adopted. This was the name ORMUS.

“This subtitle was supposedly used until 1306 – a year before the arrest of the French Templars.

The device for ‘ORMUS’ was –

~~ and involves a kind of acrostic or anagram which combines a number of Key words and symbols.

OURS means ‘bear’ in French – URSUS in Latin [cf. Tafurs, ARTUS, URSUS, above…], an echo, as subsequently became apparent, of Dabobert II and the Merovingian Dynasty. ORME is French for ‘elm’, And Karl Kellner was married to a Delorme, according to an article on an insignificant Swiss website. OR, of course, is ‘Gold.’ And the ‘M’ that forms the frame enclosing the other letters is not only an M, but also the astrological sign of Virgo. – connoting in the language of medieval iconography, Notre Dame.” – HBHG, p. 122

[or, perhaps, a tendency to overanalyze things to death?]

But, in all of this, they missed one thing that was glaringly obvious to us, ORUS, which is a variant of HORUS, but also shows up in Greek mythology. AND we can’t forget RUSO, SURO, OSUR, SOUR, SROU, USOR, and all the other permutations as well………...

It isn’t only in Masonic Literature, or in HBHG, that we find this name. Abraham Ortelius’ maps of the late 16th Century c.e., not only located the real DAMCAR for us (in Southern Arabia), but he spells the word HORMUZ, as in the straits of Hormuz, the entrance to the Persian Gulf, ORMUS.

In a curious book which we found in a Second-hand Book-stall in Fullerton, California, a book made for the French Tourism industry, entitled Chronicles of the Chateaux of the Loire, by Pierre Rain, 1952, p. 22, speaking of CHINON and its environs:

“The Monks of the Order of Saint OURS, who had built in the thirteenth century the wonderful collegiate church with the two conical towers crowning the nave which has rightly been called ‘a building unique in the world, of a strange and savage beauty’; had so much reason for gratitude to Agnes Sorel that they built her a magnificent mausoleum in their monastery. It was so magnificent that during the reign of Louis XI they began to regret it and asked to be liberated from the charge of their benefactress,”

Agnes Sorel was connected to the house of Anjou. Why is it that the Ravenscroft material has to go on about Anschau, when there is plenty in Anjou that is valid? Agnes Sorel was a mistress of Charles VII, and worked in the house of Isobel de Lorraine, wife of Rene d’Anjou, Grand Master of the Priory of Sion.

ORMUS, we are told, was, according to Mackey, a “Seraphic Priest,” According to the original materials, he was a “Serapic Priest”. This is not insignificant and we shall deal with that later.

ORMUS, as a “Seraphic Priest of Alexandria,” suggests that he was not necessarily associated with the Neoplatonists, or Jews, Therapeuts and Essenes, so much as he was an ECSTATIC CEREMONIAL MAGICIAN. This is exactly what the leaders of gnostic communities were, as we have seen above in our survey of the Ophite tradition.

We also recommend remembering our previous survey on the Quietists.

The type of Magick that was practiced in Alexandria at that time is best depicted in Marvin Meyer’s Ancient Christian Magic. Still better, is the Ritual of Exorcism known today as the Bornless Ritual. Legge, in Forerunners and Rivals of Christianity, gives an interesting Ritual, which the supporters of Marcelo Motta will consider heretical since he hated it: an invocation of Typhon (which we have had success with, by the way), for the purpose of receiving an oracle. It is rather potent, as we can avow from our own practice.of it. Gnostic texts in the NHL attest to this sort of Magick. The Great Egyptian Gospel, the Three Tablets of Seth, the Eighth Reveals the Ninth are all examples of this.

Our Theory about ORMUS will be presented in connexion with Dositheos our namesake, and the Borborites, when we get to those subjects.

Another variation, and the most obviously but curiously overlooked by Messrs. Baigent, Leigh, and Lincoln, os HORUS. ORUS is a Latinized form of HORUS, which is a Hellenized form of HERU. Also OR, being Gold, and RUS, which is RED. Red-Gold, Gold R+C, Roseae Rubeae et Aurae Crucis, the name of the Second Order of the once Golden Dawn.

Zecharia Sitchin, in Stairway to Heaven, pp. 256-8, gives another reason to connect ORMUS-ORUS with HORUS. He is describing a stele found in the 1850s by Auguste Mariette Bey, founder of the Boulak Museum, home of that famous Stele 666… that explodes the unsound dogma that Khufu built the Great Pyramid, the same Great Pyramid under the shadow of which, Napoleon and Kleber were granted Initiation by virtue of the investiture of a ring, by an ancient Egyptian sage.

This is the insignificant, minor, marginalized opinion of all the orthodox egyptologists and scholars. [that the Great Pyramid was merely a tomb to Khufu.] We are told that we must believe that Khufu built the Great Pyramid, yet its very existence suggests otherwise. The stele is translated as follows:

“Live Horus-Mezdau;
To King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Khufu
Life is given.
For his mother Isis, the Divine Mother,
Mistress of ‘The Western Mountain of Hathor,’ .’.
he made (this) writing on a stela.
He gave (her) a new sacred offering.
He built (her) a House (temple) of stone,
renewed the gods that were found in her temple.’

“Hathor, we will recall, was the mistress of the Sinai peninsula. If the highest peak of the peninsula was her Eastern Mountain, the Great Pyramid was her Western Mountain—the two acting as the anchors for the landing corridor.”

It is also stated that the experts, with the exception of Maspero, denounced the stele as a forgery. Yet why should we accept this dismissal? There is more in favor of the Idea that the Pyramids are far older than the Dynastic period..Now considered franchise material, the works of Graham Hancock and Robert Bauval in the early-mid 1990s suggested a date as far back as 10,500 b.c.e. As to the name HORUS MEZDAU, we see a similarity with AHURA MAZDA, ORMUZD, HORMUZ, and ORMUS.

We have been unable to locate the word Mezdau or its hieroglyph. The hieroglyph in Sitchin’s translation is a symbol associated by Budge with the Egyptian word PEH, or Marsh, and PEHU is the name of Osiris as the Morning Star. So we could have a connection between ORMUS and HORUS MEZDAU.

Now we shall turn to the Greek Lexicon, for ORMUS and ORMESIUS appear to have Hellenistic roots. We are referring to Liddell-Scott, 1846, P. 1050 cols. 1-3.

A wide variety of meanings are offered to us. Violent pressure, shock, rapid motion, a necklace, a circular dance like that practiced at a Sabbat, a shelter or HIDING PLACE, a place where ships are fastened, and the pudenda muliebria. Also, there is a similarity in sound between ORMUS-ORMES and HERMES, the Sage of Wisdom.

As far as Gematria goes:

Ha’Brachah Dobara = the Voice of the Chief Seer. ABRAHADABRA = 418.

See 777 and Sepher Sephiroth, etc.

In Hebrew, in the Ben-Yehudah Hebrew-English Dictionary, Rapidity, in the sense meant by rapid motion, Ormesis, is MHIRUT, (M’HIRUT), which if accompanied by the article, “HA” is equal to 666.

Continuing, we find variants of ORMUS in the Gnostic Scriptures. In The Nag Hammadi Library, we find:

ORMOS (VIII-I: 47,9) (Codex 8, Book 1, Page 47, line 9) (Zostrianos),

“Yesseus, Mazareus, Yessedekeus; he is… of the child… the child of the child, and… and ORMUS… on the LIVING SEED.”

HORMOS (III-2: 60,3) (The Gospel of the Egyptians),

“Then the great angel HORMOS came to prepare, through the virgins of the corrupted sowing of this Aeon, in a Logos-begotten HOLY VESSEL, through the Holy Spirit, the seed of the great SETH.”

HARMAS (III-2: 58,11) (The Gospel of the Egyptians),

“The second is Harmas, who is the eye of the fire.”

(one of the 12 angels… interesting list: 1) Athoth; 2) Harmas; 3) Galila; 4) YOBEL; 5) Adonaios who is called Sabaoth; 6) CAIN whom great generations of men call the sun; 7) ABEL; 8) AKIRESSINA; 9) YUBEL; 10) HARMUPIAEL; 11) ARCHIR-ADONIN; 12) BELIAS.

“These are the ones who preside over Hades and the Chaos.”

II-1: 10,30 (The Apocryphon of John),

“The second one is Harmas, who is the eye of envy.”

In Bentley Layton’s The Gnostic Scriptures, p. 114, The Holy Book of the Great Invisible Spirit (The Gospel of the Egyptians), note to IV 71 (note D), HORMOS is defined as “Seed”, in reference to the verse quoted above (III-2: 60, 3). Seed plays an important role, below, 489ff..

The Gnostic texts: Zostrianos, The Gospel of the Egyptians, The Secret Book of John, were all Sethian Scriptures. ORMUS, or ORMOS, or HORMOS, refer specifically to seed, to a bloodline. The Seed (or posterity) of Seth, the True Messiah. Logos-begotten Holy Vessel – here is a reference to the Sang-Real, through the Holy Spirit, the Seed of the Great Seth. Compare this verse, with the versions quoted above, in reference to the opening verses of the first chapter of the Gospel According to John. Also, see Hippolytus’ account of the Ophites, (in the readings section above, re the Sons of the Serpent Tribe), in reference to the EARTHLY POTTER’S VESSEL.

How does all this connect with the Priory of SION, and with the Rites of Memphis/Misraim? Or, with the other subjects we have been covering? Unless one just fell off the truck, it would seem to have a lot to do with the other subjects we have been covering, and the concept of seed, and hidden places definitely has something to do with the Franchise mythos of the PS story. ORMUS, the word, is connected with the Sacred Scriptures of the Sethian Gnostics. A great deal of these Scriptures were buried at Nag Hammadi. Need we say more? Probably, so here we go.

We have discussed the importance of the Ophites and their successors, the Sethian Ophites and Barbelo Gnostics (Borborites). We have shown the connections between the Solis Serpentis / Serpent Tribe and these Gnostics. We have demonstrated that it was in the hands of the Ophites that the Priesthoods bequeathed the Sceptre of Succession.

The Society of ORMUS, then, was the Society of the Seed, the Seed of Seth, the Serpent Tribe. In this day and age, Seed-Wisdom, after Saint Timothy (Leary that is)…. Whether it be Ophite, Ormus, Tafurs, Artus, Ursus, SION, Rose-Croix, the Seed of the Serpent Tribe, the Brethren of the GIFT, the offspring of the Nephilim, is what it’s all about.

Its successors in Syria at the time of the Crusades we shall discuss later. Again, rather than being a specific name, ORMUS is another code word, like URSUS, ARTUS, or TAFUR. Interestingly, we could interpret SIMON like ORMUS:

The layers of meaning derived from ORMUS – from Horus, Rose + Gold, (Alchemical terms for the Sacred Marriage – the Supreme Ritual, for which see Crowley, De Arte Magica, Liber Agape, et cetera), the Necklace, reminiscent of the name ANAK, which we described earlier in Book One, the father of the ANAKIM. The Sacred Dance, circular, which is part of the old mating rituals and part of the celebrations of the Sabbat, as well as certain forms of Masonry, particularly in the York Rite. The Hiding Place, or Refuge – this we shall get to in Book Three (Is THIS the Holy Mountain?) Also it signifies a connection with this definition, and with the definition pudenda muliebria, and with the Seed, and with HORMOS preparing the LOGOS-begotten Holy Vessel for the Holy Spirit, the Seed of the Great Seth, the Vessel into which the STONE CUT WITHOUT HANDS hath fallen down from the Adamas above.

Far from being Jewish or Christian in origin and in orientation, the Bloodline of the Grail is Ophite, and harkens back to EnKi. Back to the beginnings of TIME on Earth Station One – 442,973 BCE. To appreciate this figure, we refer the reader to our forthcoming work, The Code of the Eternal.

For now, whether wittingly or unwittingly, the choice of the name ORMUS is singular, like the author of the Letter of Prester John to the Byzantine Patriarch. It was a very deliberate, loaded word, signifying Solis Sacerdotibus: only for the Priests (per Lincoln)… or perhaps Priests of the Sun, the Solis Serpentis; the Oldest Tradition known to Planet Earth, and one which pre-empts all Rulers or Ecclesiastics inimical to IT.

CONCLUSIONS

So now here we come to the end of the present survey. We have presented the legends pertaining to ORMUS and various factors associated with that name. Was ORMUS an actual person? Or something that conceals various things? Probably a little bit of both. Whether it was relevant to the Hiding Place, (per the Henry Lincoln usage of the phrase), or to the Feminine, or to the shocks of Initiation... we cannot say for sure. However, if ORMUS was a Serapic Priest or Monk, plenty more awaits us. Whoever came up with this name was concealing something in this story. This story cannot be dismissed as nonsense, or make-believe (as if make-believe is bad, that is)... The majority of the things which people believe, who look down upon us for our insistence upon the truth of "myths" (a myth is regarded as a thing of fiction, to many, even to this day, for some reason unknown to us), are make-believe. That is, those who pull the marionette strings make the puppets believe it. Plain and simple.

NEXT!

We shall (at some time after we get caught up, thanks to missing the 22 December 2003 Deadline) -- present the READINGS Section for this piece, in the next segment, "The Thebaid Brethren: A Solid Clue". This shall primarily be quoted matter, but, there will be some commentary as we go along, so it won't entirely be "copy-paste".

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