""The Lord loves a hanging,
that's why he gave us necks..." --- song from Ren & Stimpy
BEFORE we begin this narrative, we shall state: we are interested here in concepts and symbols that reside in the background of the history of the Near East. By stating this, we may omit elements of other cultures, which also bear Sumerian origins, such as the Tree mythos from the Nordic cultures and from the Celtic cultures. We want to avoid the kitchen sink problem that can occur when attempting to include everything, like Higgins and Forlong were known for. Indeed, we hope that our omissions will lead others to connect the dots and complete the picture.
The story we are following takes up the ideas that we were analyzing in The Stone That Fell To Earth. This time, however, the Tree motif is what is being analyzed. Showing how, over time, a historical object (the Teacher's Oak), can be spiritualized into something which actually connects to the ancient Dur.An.Ki. theme. From there, it takes us to the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, which is not so much a historical object, as much as it is something that is a part of each and every one of us. In the East, the Dur.An.Ki. was spiritualized along different lines. Rather than the Tree, it was the Mount. Mount Su.Meru. Shortened to Mount Meru, and sometimes known as Mount Kailasa, Shiva's Mountain. A historical location, but one which is spiritualized in the context of the macrocosm: the Mount being the hub of all creation; but in that of the microcosm too: the spinal column, the Nadis. We can say, Dur.An.Ki, Su.Meru, Sushumna. Before we get to an analysis of the Dur.An.Ki., and its relation to the Tree symbol, we have a few items which tie in to the story in progress.
We excerpted a considerable amount of material from Allegro's work, The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Christian Myth, in the previous section, because we wanted to run a continuous narrative of the events and ideas that went into the Messianic mission, as typified by the Essenes and/or their Masters.
One important item in the story of the Teacher's Oak, is that the Teacher himself was hung, upside down, from the very tree he came to be associated with. Are we to suggest that the Hanged Man symbol originated with the Teacher of Righteousness, who was murdered by the Wicked Priest? Maybe. Here are a few interesting items:
These events took place at the dawning of the Piscean Age. The dawning of the Piscean Age was actually around the year 173 BCE: Decan 3, Degree 30 of Pisces, 10 of Cups, Queen of Wands, according to the Tables of Correspondence. Now, at this time, the Time System of the Code of the Eternal tells us, was Sossu 1 of Ner 1 of Sar 4 of Mahayuga 28 Cycle 1 of Manvantara 7 of Kalpa 3 of the present day of Parabrahma.
In the classic tables of correspondence, The Hanged Man card of the Tarot is associated with the Letter Mem. Mem, is Water. Water is the element to which the astrological sign of Pisces is attached.
Water plays an important part in the story of the Nephilim, in the story of Exile and Redemption, in the Kabbalah; and of the Tikkun symbolism we need not go into in depth save to state that the reclamation of the plain girl, Naamah / Lilith, may actually go back to the destruction of Tiamat by the Elder Gods. And Tiamat, really, is the Primordial Mother Goddess, par excellence. Behind all the others, and older than any other. The Sea of Energy in Which the Earth Floats, to quote the title of T. Henry Moray's famous book. The Ether of Space, to refer to Oliver Lodge and Meade Layne. The Sea of Space, which is depicted in Egyptian art. The Star card, really, should have to do with embodying this redemption process, because in reality, the droplets of water flow both ways.
We could take Crowley's description of the Hanged Man card, from The Book of Thoth, and read it in the light and get some interesting parallels.
"It would perhaps be better to say that it represents the spiritual function of water in the economy of initiation; it is a baptism which is also a death. In the Aeon of Osiris, this card represented the supreme formula of adeptship; for the figure of the drowned or hanged man has its own special meaning. "
"It is notable that there is an apparent increase of darkness and solidity in proportion as the redeeming element manifests itself; but the colour of green is the colour of Venus, of the hope that lies in love. That depends upon the formulation of the Rose and Cross, of the annihilation of the self in the Beloved, the condition of progress. In this inferior darkness of death, the serpent of new life begins to stir."
"Note on the Precession of the Aeons. "The Hanged
Man" is an invention of the Adepts of the I.N.R.I.-I.A.O. formula; in the
Aeon previous to the Osirian, that of Isis (Water), he is "The Drowned
Man". The two uprights of the gallows shewn in the Mediaeval packs were,
in the parthenogenetic system of explaining and ruling Nature, the bottom of
the Sea and the keel of the Ark. In this Aeon all birth was considered an emanation,
without male intervention, of the Mother or Star-Goddess, Nuit; all death a
return to Her. This explains the original attribution of the Atu to Water, and
the sound M the return to Eternal Silence, as in the word AUM. This card is
therefore specially sacred to the Mystic) and the attitude of the figure is
a ritual posture in the Practice called "The Sleep of Shiloam"."
So, what we are interested in pursuing is the concept of the Hanged Man as a redemptive sacrifice for the inauguration of an Age. At the time in question, the world-famous ruler, Antiochus IV "Epiphanes" ruled the Near East. He was the constant thorn in the side of the Jews, and his persecution of them led to what became necessary in relation to the Messianic movement. Furthermore, we are told that it was in this very year, 173 BCE, that Antiochus Epiphanes seized Judea and Coele Syria.
This would be rather auspicious for him, since a man of his fame and notoriety decided to bother the Chosen People at the very time the Age of Pisces came into being. A century later, the Teacher of Righteousness was slain, by being hung from the Teacher's Oak. But was there something that took place under Antiochus' beat, that was of the nature of an Initiatory Sacrifice, Initiating the Age?
We are told, in I Maccabees, that Mattathias, the patriarch of the Maccabee family, was the first of the pious men to offer up resistance to the invading Hellenizers. Mattathias, son of John, son of Simeon, a priest of the sons of Joarib. He had five sons. Mattathias preached zeal for the Law. At the same time, an unnamed Jew began to offer a sacrifice on the altar of the town in which they were gathered, and Mattathias cut him down right on the altar, and the king's officer who was there, too. Several of these people, men, women, children, young and old alike, exiled themselves in the wilderness. Where, it is not stated. These people became known evidently as the Hasideans.
We are told that the Apocrypha aren't really to be regarded as books of scripture. Why? Because the Church Fathers at the Church Councils, determined that they were not to be included as books of scripture. This was not a Divinely ordained rule. This was ordained by men: low, cunning men with political agendas and buried bodies.
So, the Maccabees are, particularly in the Protestant world, regarded as spurious. At least they are retained in the Catholic bibles, but, still, regarded a bit less than the rest of the books, which were also written by men, we might add.
Here is what Maccabees says about Antiochus IV Epiphanes and his seizing of Judea:
[1:20 - 24]
"20. After subduing Egypt, Antiochus returned in the one hundred and forty-third year. [footnote says 169 bc.] He went up against Israel and came to Jerusalem with a strong force. 21. He arrogantly entered the sanctuary and took the golden altar, the lampstand for the light, and all its utensils. 22. He took also the table for the bread of the Presence, the cups for drink offerings, the bowls, the golden censers, the curtain, the crowns, and the gold decoration on the front of the temple; he stripped it all off. 23. He took the silver and the gold, and the costly vessels; he took also the hidden treasures which he found. 24. Taking them all, he departed to his own land."
What was his own land?
Antiochus was a Seleucid emperor. He was descended from Seleucus, general of Alexander the Great. Seleucia was located in Babylonia, near the city of Babylon, near Nippur. Did these articles actually arrive there, as these articles? Or were they melted down? Nobody really knows.
One item worth noting here, relates to the recent theories concerning the Ark of the Covenant. Was the relic really secreted to Ethiopia, or to Rosslyn, for that matter? Most of us will never know. Interesting, in that according to the Graham Hancock yarn, the Ark was taken out of Israel, at the time of Manasseh, or around 687 - 642 BCE according to the timeline in the Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha, Ecumenical Edition. From there... it made its way to Philae, where there was a Jewish settlement, and then to Tana, and then to... Axum, eventually. Nice story for the kids, but is it really true? Or, that of the first challenger to follow in Hancock's footsteps, who couldn't see any reason why such an instrument would be placed in such a dirty place as Ethiopia, and therefore it had to be placed in Rosslyn, Scotland. Well, that's a nice tale, too, but what if it doesn't float either?
To make history confusing, there was another Antiochus, king of Commagene. About him, Adrian Gilbert informs us that he was the king responsible for the creation of Nemrud Deg:
"The decline of Seleucid power offered Commagene in particular the opportunity to gain independence for the first time since the Assyrian invasions centuries before. Early in the third century BC, a king named Samos established a power base in Commagene and built a capital called Samosata. His son, Arsames, moved the capital up the Nymphaus, a tributary of the Euphrates, to a more defensible position: a place called Arsameia-ad-Nymphaeum. Arsames, like his father, was still a vassal of the Seleucids but in 162 BC his grandson, Ptolemy, revolted and declared Commagene an independent state. His son, Samos II made peace with the Seleucids, part of the settlement being that his son and successor, Mithridates (Mithridates I Callinicus) married Laodice, the daughter of the Syrian king Antiochus VIII. By all accounts the marriage was happy and the fruit of the union was Commagene's most famous king, Antiochus I Epiphanes, who seems to have succeeded the throne some time before 69 BC.
"Antiochus was a king who took his religion, a Hellenized
form of Zoroastrianism, very seriously. Fortunately he left behind a large number
of Greek inscriptions, so we know quite a lot about the royal cult that he promoted.
The kings of Commagene, perhaps to legitimize their authority with a mixed population,
claimed descent from both the Greek and Persian royal houses. Accordingly, the
gods that they worshipped were a curious syncretism of more generally recognized
Greek and Persian deities. The royal cult was clearly astral in nature as the
gods were also personifications of the sun, moon and planets. Antiochus built
a number of monuments, but the most important, which has now become an important
tourist attraction, is his so-called hierothesion. First investigated by a German
team in 1883 following its accidental discovery during a land survey, it was
this I now wanted to see." -- MAGI, p. 120.
In his theory concerning the Magi who travelled to Bethlehem,
he writes:
"A deputation of Magi (perhaps more than one) made its
way from the region of Northern Mesopotamia to seek out the place where the
expected birth of a king had taken place. The people sent on this mission would
have been members of a brotherhood, known as the 'Bees' or Sarman, of which
Antiochus Epiphanes of Commagene had been a leading light some thirty years
earlier." -- ibid., p. 254.
So, now, Gilbert is telling us that Antiochus Epiphanes was a leading light in the Sarmoung Brotherhood, or Sarman Society, or "SS". He was the leader of the organization for a time, according to this narrative. This being the case, we get some interesting concepts coming to mind, considering what has been presented elsewhere concerning the Yezidis and the Essenes.
At any rate, this was a period in which the Piscean Age was in its infancy. A time when old orders were crashing down, and a New World Order, that of the Roman Empire, was coming of age.
At the same time that these events were taking place, a new literature,
and new ideas were streaming into Judaism proper. First, we get the writings
of the Prophet Daniel, said by many to be Chief of the Magi at Babylon. We get
the Book of Jubilees, and we get the Book of Enoch, or Enochian literature.
The most peculiar of these would have to be the Book of Enoch, for we get a
story that was not in the Bible, yet was alluded to.
"When men began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born unto them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair; and they took to wife such of them as they chose. Then the Lord said, "My spirit shall not abide in man for ever, for he is flesh, but his days shall be a hundred and twenty years."
"The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also
afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore
children to them. These were the mighty men that were old, the men of renown."
-- Gen. 6:1-4.
We have some Initiated commentary to present on this topic, as
it may be germane to the essay. This comes from one of the sessions that form
a part of the DurAnKi Working, performed between April 1990 and January of 1992.
"Fallen Ones = Fallen Angels = 1/3 of Host of Angels
Fallen to Earth, Given Government of Earth
But Must Aspire Back to Heaven / Godhead
To Correct the Wrong of the Beginning
This is the Christian Message. The 144,000
possibly then referring to the Fallen Race
The Nephilim the Sons of God God's Elect
on Earth, in Malkuth, are these Fallen Ones,
Who must return back to the Kingdom.
The Great Brotherhood consists of these.
Those who have succeeded are in the
Invisible Order guiding those who have
not succeeded."
"A Man/God now aware of my message to remind you to return."
"Evil is created by trying to define it."
"We didn't choose our souls
we chose our bodies
We are the Sons of God
We are the Angels of Light.
The Brotherhood of Man is the Brotherhood of God.
There is no Worship (Whore-ship)
There is Identification
There is no God = There is no Man
There is There Is and there is There Is."
The Book of Enoch, according to R. H. Charles, was
composed over a period of time, ranging from pre-Maccabean times to pre-Christian
times. That is to say, prior to the Essene grouping in the Desert, where several
copies of the Book were discovered. The portion that includes the Story of the
Fall of the Watchers, VI - XI, is said to have been placed in the Pre-Maccabeean
period. In other words, inherited from whatever Magi school was disseminating
this Knowledge...
"The author of the earliest portions was a Jew who lived,
as Burkitt has shown, in northern Palestine, in the land of Dan, south-west
of the Hermon range, near the headwaters of the Jordan. This is important, as
it tends to show that the book, or books, is really Palestinian, and one which,
therefore, circulated among Jews in Palestine. 'If, moreover, the author came
from the north, that helps to explain the influence the book had upon the Religion
that was cradled in Galilee.' Of the authors of the other three books of which
'Enoch' is made up (viz. 'The Dream Visions', 'The Book of the Heavenly Luminaries',
and 'The Similitudes') we know nothing save what can be gathered from their
writings as to their religious standpoint.
"Charles holds that though there is not unity of authorship,
there is, none the less, uniformity; for, according to him, all the books were
written by Chassidim, or by their successors, the Pharisees. This contention
has been strongly assailed and much weakened by Leszynsky in a recent work on
the Sadduccees. While frankly recognizing the composite character of the book,
Leszynsky holds that the original portions of it emanated from Sadducaean circles;
and that the special object of the book originally was the bringing about of
a reform of the calendar. He points to the ascription of the book to Enoch as
supporting his contention, for Enoch lived 365 years, i.e., his years correspond
to the number of days in the solar year; the basis of reckoning time was one
of the fundamental points of difference between the Pharisees and Sadducees,
for whereas the former reckoned time by the lunar year (360 days), the latter
did so by the solar year." -- The Book of Enoch, SPCK edition,
pp. xv - xvi.
It is interesting to note that the first portion of the book is
considered to be the least important, yet this is the portion which contains
the all-important Story. We take the following from an online edition of the
R. H. Charles edition, without his annotations: [ at http://wesley.nnu.edu/noncanon/ot/pseudo/enoch.htm
]
[Chapter 6]
1 And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those
days were born unto 2 them beautiful and comely daughters. And the angels, the
children of the heaven, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another:
'Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men 3 and beget us
children.' And Semjaza, who was their leader, said unto them: 'I fear ye will
not 4 indeed agree to do this deed, and I alone shall have to pay the penalty
of a great sin.' And they all answered him and said: 'Let us all swear an oath,
and all bind ourselves by mutual imprecations 5 not to abandon this plan but
to do this thing.' Then sware they all together and bound themselves 6 by mutual
imprecations upon it. And they were in all two hundred; who descended in the
days of Jared on the summit of Mount Hermon, and they called it Mount Hermon,
because they had sworn 7 and bound themselves by mutual imprecations upon it.
And these are the names of their leaders: Samlazaz, their leader, Araklba, Rameel,
Kokablel, Tamlel, Ramlel, Danel, Ezeqeel, Baraqijal, 8 Asael, Armaros, Batarel,
Ananel, Zaq1el, Samsapeel, Satarel, Turel, Jomjael, Sariel. These are their
chiefs of tens.
[Chapter 7]
1 And all the others together with them took unto themselves wives, and each
chose for himself one, and they began to go in unto them and to defile themselves
with them, and they taught them charms 2 and enchantments, and the cutting of
roots, and made them acquainted with plants. And they 3 became pregnant, and
they bare great giants, whose height was three thousand ells: Who consumed 4
all the acquisitions of men. And when men could no longer sustain them, the
giants turned against 5 them and devoured mankind. And they began to sin against
birds, and beasts, and reptiles, and 6 fish, and to devour one another's flesh,
and drink the blood. Then the earth laid accusation against the lawless ones.
[Chapter 8]
1 And Azazel taught men to make swords, and knives, and shields, and breastplates,
and made known to them the metals of the earth and the art of working them,
and bracelets, and ornaments, and the use of antimony, and the beautifying of
the eyelids, and all kinds of costly stones, and all 2 colouring tinctures.
And there arose much godlessness, and they committed fornication, and they 3
were led astray, and became corrupt in all their ways. Semjaza taught enchantments,
and root-cuttings, 'Armaros the resolving of enchantments, Baraqijal (taught)
astrology, Kokabel the constellations, Ezeqeel the knowledge of the clouds,
Araqiel the signs of the earth, Shamsiel the signs of the sun, and Sariel the
course of the moon. And as men perished, they cried, and their cry went up to
heaven . . .
[Chapter 9]
1 And then Michael, Uriel, Raphael, and Gabriel looked down from heaven and
saw much blood being 2 shed upon the earth, and all lawlessness being wrought
upon the earth. And they said one to another: 'The earth made without inhabitant
cries the voice of their cryingst up to the gates of heaven. 3 And now to you,
the holy ones of heaven, the souls of men make their suit, saying, "Bring
our cause 4 before the Most High."' And they said to the Lord of the ages:
'Lord of lords, God of gods, King of kings, and God of the ages, the throne
of Thy glory (standeth) unto all the generations of the 5 ages, and Thy name
holy and glorious and blessed unto all the ages! Thou hast made all things,
and power over all things hast Thou: and all things are naked and open in Thy
sight, and Thou seest all 6 things, and nothing can hide itself from Thee. Thou
seest what Azazel hath done, who hath taught all unrighteousness on earth and
revealed the eternal secrets which were (preserved) in heaven, which 7 men were
striving to learn: And Semjaza, to whom Thou hast given authority to bear rule
over his associates. And they have gone to the daughters of men upon the earth,
and have slept with the 9 women, and have defiled themselves, and revealed to
them all kinds of sins. And the women have 10 borne giants, and the whole earth
has thereby been filled with blood and unrighteousness. And now, behold, the
souls of those who have died are crying and making their suit to the gates of
heaven, and their lamentations have ascended: and cannot cease because of the
lawless deeds which are 11 wrought on the earth. And Thou knowest all things
before they come to pass, and Thou seest these things and Thou dost suffer them,
and Thou dost not say to us what we are to do to them in regard to these.'
[Chapter 10]
1 Then said the Most High, the Holy and Great One spake, and sent Uriel to the
son of Lamech, 2 and said to him: 'Go to Noah and tell him in my name "Hide
thyself!" and reveal to him the end that is approaching: that the whole
earth will be destroyed, and a deluge is about to come 3 upon the whole earth,
and will destroy all that is on it. And now instruct him that he may escape
4 and his seed may be preserved for all the generations of the world.' And again
the Lord said to Raphael: 'Bind Azazel hand and foot, and cast him into the
darkness: and make an opening 5 in the desert, which is in Dudael, and cast
him therein. And place upon him rough and jagged rocks, and cover him with darkness,
and let him abide there for ever, and cover his face that he may 6,7 not see
light. And on the day of the great judgement he shall be cast into the fire.
And heal the earth which the angels have corrupted, and proclaim the healing
of the earth, that they may heal the plague, and that all the children of men
may not perish through all the secret things that the 8 Watchers have disclosed
and have taught their sons. And the whole earth has been corrupted 9 through
the works that were taught by Azazel: to him ascribe all sin.' And to Gabriel
said the Lord: 'Proceed against the bastards and the reprobates, and against
the children of fornication: and destroy [the children of fornication and] the
children of the Watchers from amongst men [and cause them to go forth]: send
them one against the other that they may destroy each other in 10 battle: for
length of days shall they not have. And no request that they (i.e. their fathers)
make of thee shall be granted unto their fathers on their behalf; for they hope
to live an eternal life, and 11 that each one of them will live five hundred
years.' And the Lord said unto Michael: 'Go, bind Semjaza and his associates
who have united themselves with women so as to have defiled themselves 12 with
them in all their uncleanness. And when their sons have slain one another, and
they have seen the destruction of their beloved ones, bind them fast for seventy
generations in the valleys of the earth, till the day of their judgement and
of their consummation, till the judgement that is 13 for ever and ever is consummated.
In those days they shall be led off to the abyss of fire: and 14 to the torment
and the prison in which they shall be confined for ever. And whosoever shall
be condemned and destroyed will from thenceforth be bound together with them
to the end of all 15 generations. And destroy all the spirits of the reprobate
and the children of the Watchers, because 16 they have wronged mankind. Destroy
all wrong from the face of the earth and let every evil work come to an end:
and let the plant of righteousness and truth appear: and it shall prove a blessing;
the works of righteousness and truth' shall be planted in truth and joy for
evermore.
17 And then shall all the righteous escape, And shall live till they beget thousands
of children, And all the days of their youth and their old age Shall they complete
in peace.
18 And then shall the whole earth be tilled in righteousness, and shall all
be planted with trees and 19 be full of blessing. And all desirable trees shall
be planted on it, and they shall plant vines on it: and the vine which they
plant thereon shall yield wine in abundance, and as for all the seed which is
sown thereon each measure (of it) shall bear a thousand, and each measure of
olives shall yield 20 ten presses of oil. And cleanse thou the earth from all
oppression, and from all unrighteousness, and from all sin, and from all godlessness:
and all the uncleanness that is wrought upon the earth 21 destroy from off the
earth. And all the children of men shall become righteous, and all nations 22
shall offer adoration and shall praise Me, and all shall worship Me. And the
earth shall be cleansed from all defilement, and from all sin, and from all
punishment, and from all torment, and I will never again send (them) upon it
from generation to generation and for ever.
[Chapter 11]
1 And in those days I will open the store chambers of blessing which are in
the heaven, so as to send 2 them down upon the earth over the work and labour
of the children of men. And truth and peace shall be associated together throughout
all the days of the world and throughout all the generations of men.'
[Chapter 12]
1 Before these things Enoch was hidden, and no one of the children of men knew
where he was 2 hidden, and where he abode, and what had become of him. And his
activities had to do with the Watchers, and his days were with the holy ones.
3 And I Enoch was blessing the Lord of majesty and the King of the ages, and
lo! the Watchers 4 called me -Enoch the scribe- and said to me: 'Enoch, thou
scribe of righteousness, go, declare to the Watchers of the heaven who have
left the high heaven, the holy eternal place, and have defiled themselves with
women, and have done as the children of earth do, and have taken unto themselves
5 wives: "Ye have wrought great destruction on the earth: And ye shall
have no peace nor forgiveness 6 of sin: and inasmuch as they delight themselves
in their children, The murder of their beloved ones shall they see, and over
the destruction of their children shall they lament, and shall make supplication
unto eternity, but mercy and peace shall ye not attain."'
[Chapter 13]
1 And Enoch went and said: 'Azazel, thou shalt have no peace: a severe sentence
has gone forth 2 against thee to put thee in bonds: And thou shalt not have
toleration nor request granted to thee, because of the unrighteousness which
thou hast taught, and because of all the works of godlessness 3 and unrighteousness
and sin which thou hast shown to men.' Then I went and spoke to them all 4 together,
and they were all afraid, and fear and trembling seized them. And they besought
me to draw up a petition for them that they might find forgiveness, and to read
their petition in the presence 5 of the Lord of heaven. For from thenceforward
they could not speak (with Him) nor lift up their 6 eyes to heaven for shame
of their sins for which they had been condemned. Then I wrote out their petition,
and the prayer in regard to their spirits and their deeds individually and in
regard to their 7 requests that they should have forgiveness and length. And
I went off and sat down at the waters of Dan, in the land of Dan, to the south
of the west of Hermon: I read their petition till I fell 8 asleep. And behold
a dream came to me, and visions fell down upon me, and I saw visions of chastisement,
and a voice came bidding (me) I to tell it to the sons of heaven, and reprimand
them. 9 And when I awaked, I came unto them, and they were all sitting gathered
together, weeping in 10 'Abelsjail, which is between Lebanon and Seneser, with
their faces covered. And I recounted before them all the visions which I had
seen in sleep, and I began to speak the words of righteousness, and to reprimand
the heavenly Watchers.
[Chapter 14]
1 The book of the words of righteousness, and of the reprimand of the eternal
Watchers in accordance 2 with the command of the Holy Great One in that vision.
I saw in my sleep what I will now say with a tongue of flesh and with the breath
of my mouth: which the Great One has given to men to 3 converse therewith and
understand with the heart. As He has created and given to man the power of understanding
the word of wisdom, so hath He created me also and given me the power of reprimanding
4 the Watchers, the children of heaven. I wrote out your petition, and in my
vision it appeared thus, that your petition will not be granted unto you throughout
all the days of eternity, and that judgement 5 has been finally passed upon
you: yea (your petition) will not be granted unto you. And from henceforth you
shall not ascend into heaven unto all eternity, and in bonds of the earth the
decree 6 has gone forth to bind you for all the days of the world. And (that)
previously you shall have seen the destruction of your beloved sons and ye shall
have no pleasure in them, but they shall fall before 7 you by the sword. And
your petition on their behalf shall not be granted, nor yet on your own: even
though you weep and pray and speak all the words contained in the writing which
I have 8 written. And the vision was shown to me thus: Behold, in the vision
clouds invited me and a mist summoned me, and the course of the stars and the
lightnings sped and hastened me, and the winds in 9 the vision caused me to
fly and lifted me upward, and bore me into heaven. And I went in till I drew
nigh to a wall which is built of crystals and surrounded by tongues of fire:
and it began to affright 10 me. And I went into the tongues of fire and drew
nigh to a large house which was built of crystals: and the walls of the house
were like a tesselated floor (made) of crystals, and its groundwork was 11 of
crystal. Its ceiling was like the path of the stars and the lightnings, and
between them were 12 fiery cherubim, and their heaven was (clear as) water.
A flaming fire surrounded the walls, and its 13 portals blazed with fire. And
I entered into that house, and it was hot as fire and cold as ice: there 14
were no delights of life therein: fear covered me, and trembling got hold upon
me. And as I quaked 15 and trembled, I fell upon my face. And I beheld a vision,
And lo! there was a second house, greater 16 than the former, and the entire
portal stood open before me, and it was built of flames of fire. And in every
respect it so excelled in splendour and magnificence and extent that I cannot
describe to 17 you its splendour and its extent. And its floor was of fire,
and above it were lightnings and the path 18 of the stars, and its ceiling also
was flaming fire. And I looked and saw therein a lofty throne: its appearance
was as crystal, and the wheels thereof as the shining sun, and there was the
vision of 19 cherubim. And from underneath the throne came streams of flaming
fire so that I could not look 20 thereon. And the Great Glory sat thereon, and
His raiment shone more brightly than the sun and 21 was whiter than any snow.
None of the angels could enter and could behold His face by reason 22 of the
magnificence and glory and no flesh could behold Him. The flaming fire was round
about Him, and a great fire stood before Him, and none around could draw nigh
Him: ten thousand times 23 ten thousand (stood) before Him, yet He needed no
counselor. And the most holy ones who were 24 nigh to Him did not leave by night
nor depart from Him. And until then I had been prostrate on my face, trembling:
and the Lord called me with His own mouth, and said to me: ' Come hither, 25
Enoch, and hear my word.' And one of the holy ones came to me and waked me,
and He made me rise up and approach the door: and I bowed my face downwards.
[Chapter 15]
1 And He answered and said to me, and I heard His voice: 'Fear not, Enoch, thou
righteous 2 man and scribe of righteousness: approach hither and hear my voice.
And go, say to the Watchers of heaven, who have sent thee to intercede for them:
"You should intercede" for men, and not men 3 for you: Wherefore have
ye left the high, holy, and eternal heaven, and lain with women, and defiled
yourselves with the daughters of men and taken to yourselves wives, and done
like the children 4 of earth, and begotten giants (as your) sons? And though
ye were holy, spiritual, living the eternal life, you have defiled yourselves
with the blood of women, and have begotten (children) with the blood of flesh,
and, as the children of men, have lusted after flesh and blood as those also
do who die 5 and perish. Therefore have I given them wives also that they might
impregnate them, and beget 6 children by them, that thus nothing might be wanting
to them on earth. But you were formerly 7 spiritual, living the eternal life,
and immortal for all generations of the world. And therefore I have not appointed
wives for you; for as for the spiritual ones of the heaven, in heaven is their
dwelling. 8 And now, the giants, who are produced from the spirits and flesh,
shall be called evil spirits upon 9 the earth, and on the earth shall be their
dwelling. Evil spirits have proceeded from their bodies; because they are born
from men and from the holy Watchers is their beginning and primal origin; 10
they shall be evil spirits on earth, and evil spirits shall they be called.
[As for the spirits of heaven, in heaven shall be their dwelling, but as for
the spirits of the earth which were born upon the earth, on the earth shall
be their dwelling.] And the spirits of the giants afflict, oppress, destroy,
attack, do battle, and work destruction on the earth, and cause trouble: they
take no food, but nevertheless 12 hunger and thirst, and cause offences. And
these spirits shall rise up against the children of men and against the women,
because they have proceeded from them.
[Chapter 16]
1 From the days of the slaughter and destruction and death of the giants, from
the souls of whose flesh the spirits, having gone forth, shall destroy without
incurring judgement -thus shall they destroy until the day of the consummation,
the great judgement in which the age shall be 2 consummated, over the Watchers
and the godless, yea, shall be wholly consummated." And now as to the watchers
who have sent thee to intercede for them, who had been aforetime in heaven,
(say 3 to them): "You have been in heaven, but all the mysteries had not
yet been revealed to you, and you knew worthless ones, and these in the hardness
of your hearts you have made known to the women, and through these mysteries
women and men work much evil on earth." 4 Say to them therefore: "
You have no peace."'
We are told elsewhere, though, that Shemyaza was given a unique
type of punishment. Azazel was banished to the pit the Essenes were given the
secrets pertaining. This pit being at Dudael. Shemyaza, on the other hand, was
made to hang. According to Andrew Collins, in The Ashes of Angels,
"One by one the angels of heaven are appointed by God
to proceed against the Watchers and their offspring the Nephilim, described
as 'the bastards and the reprobates, and the children of fornication.' Azazel
is bound hand and foot, and cast for eternity into the darkness of a desert
referred to as Dudael. Upon him are placed 'rough and jagged rocks' and here
he shall forever remain until the Day of Judgement, when he will be 'cast into
the fire' for his sins. For their part in the corruption of mankind, the Watchers
are forced to witness the slaughter of their own children before being cast
into some kind of heavenly prison, an 'abyss of fire'. Although the Watchers'
leader, Shemyaza, is cast into this abyss alongside his brothers, in other versions
of the story he undergoes a more dramatic punishment. Since he was tempted by
a beautiful mortal maiden named Ishtahar to reveal the Explicit Name of God
in exchange for the offer of carnal pleasure, he is to be tied and bound before
being made to hang for all eternity between heaven and earth, head down, in
the constellation of Orion." -- p. 27
Now, this is really interesting. This story about being tempted
by a mortal maiden to reveal 'the Explicit Name of God' brings to mind the Legend
of Ra and Isis:
THE CHAPTER of the divine (or, mighty) god, who created himself, who made the heavens and the earth, and the breath of life, and fire, and the gods, and men, and beasts, and cattle, and reptiles, and the fowl of the air, and the fish, who is the king of men and gods, [who existeth] in one Form, [to whom] periods of one hundred and twenty years axe as single years, whose names by reason of their multitude are unknowable, for [even] the gods know them not.
Behold, the goddess Isis lived in the form , of a woman, who had the knowledge of words [of power]. Her heart turned away in disgust from the millions of men, and she chose for herself the millions of the gods, but esteemed more highly the millions of the spirits. Was it not possible to become even as was Ra in heaven and upon earth, and to make [herself] mistress of the earth, and a [mighty] goddess-thus she meditated in her heart-by the knowledge of the Name of the holy god?
Behold, Ra entered [heaven] each day at the head of his mariners, establishing himself upon the double throne of the two horizons. Now the divine one had become old, he dribbled at the mouth, and he let his emissions go forth from him upon the earth, and his spittle fell upon the. ground. This Isis kneaded in her hand,' with [some] dust, and she fashioned it in the form of a sacred serpent, and made it to have the form of a dart, so that none might be able to escape alive from it, and she left it lying upon the road whereon the great god travelled, according to his desire, about the two lands.
Then the holy god rose up in the tabernacle of the gods in the great double house (life, strength, health!) among those who were in his train, and [as] he journeyed on his way according to his daily wont, the holy serpent shot its fang into him, and the living fire was departing from the god's own body, and the reptile destroyed the dweller among the cedars.
And the mighty god opened his mouth, and the cry of His Majesty (life, strength, health!) reached unto the heavens, and the company of the gods said, "What is it?" and his gods said, "What is the matter?" And the god found [no words] wherewith to answer concerning himself. His jaws shook, his lips trembled, and the poison took possession of all his flesh just as Hapi (i.e., the Nile) taketh possession of the land through which he floweth.
Then the great god made firm his heart (i.e., took courage) and he cried out to those who were in his following:-" Come ye unto me, O ye who have come into being from my members,' ye gods who have proceeded from me, for I would make you to know what hath happened. I have been smitten by some deadly thing, of which my heart hath no knowledge, and which I have neither seen with my eyes nor made with my hand; and I have no knowledge at all who hath done this to me. I have never before felt any pain like unto it, and no pain can be worse than this [is]. I am a Prince, the son of a Prince, and the divine emanation which was produced from a god. I am a Great One, the son of a Great One, and my father hath determined for me my name. I have multitudes of names, and I have multitudes of forms, and my being existeth in every god. I have been invoked (or, proclaimed?) by Temu and Heru.-Hekennu.
My father and my mother uttered my name, and [they] hid it in my body at my birth so that none of those who would use against me words of power might succeed in making their enchantments have dominion over Me. I had come forth from my tabernacle to look upon that which I had made, and was making my way through the two lands which I had made, when a blow was aimed at me, but I know not of what kind.
Behold, is it fire? Behold, is it water? My heart is full of burning fire, my limbs axe shivering, and my members have darting pains in them. Let there be brought unto me my children the gods, who possess words of magic, whose mouths are cunning [in uttering them], and whose powers reach up to heaven."
Then his children came unto him, and every god was there with his cry of lamentation; and Isis came with her words of magic, and the place of her mouth [was filled with] the breath of life, for the words which she putteth together destroy diseases, and her words make to live those whose throats are choked (i.e., the dead).
And she said, "What is this, O divine father? What is it ? Hath a serpent shot his venom into thee? Hath a thing which thou hast fashioned lifted up its head against thee ? Verily it shall be overthrown by beneficent words of power, and I will make it to retreat in the sight of thy rays."
The holy god opened his mouth, [saying], I was going along the road and passing through the two lands of my country, for my heart wished to look upon what I had made, when I was bitten by a serpent which I did not see; behold, is it fire? Behold, is it water? I am colder than water, I am hotter than fire, all my members sweat, I myself quake, mine eye is unsteady. I cannot look at the heavens, and water forceth itself on my face as in the time of the Inundation."
And Isis said unto Ra, "O my divine father, tell me thy name, for he who is able to pronounce his name liveth." [And Ra said], "I am the maker of the heavens and the earth, I have knit together the mountains, and I have created everything which existeth upon them. I am the maker of the Waters, and I have made Meht-ur to come into being; I have made the Bull of his Mother, and I have made the joys of love to exist. I am the maker of heaven, and I have made to be hidden the two gods of the horizon, and I have placed the souls of the gods within them. I am the Being who openeth his eyes and the light cometh; I am the Being who shutteth his eyes and there is darkness. I am the Being who giveth the command, and the waters of Hapi (the Nile) burst forth, I am the Being whose name the gods know not. I am the maker of the hours and the creator of the days. I am the opener (i.e., inaugurator) of the festivals, and the maker of the floods of water. I am the creator of the fire of life whereby the works of the houses are caused to come into being. I am Kheperi in the morning, and Ra (at the time of his culmination (i.e., noon), and Temu in the evening."'
Nevertheless the poison was not driven from its course, and the great god felt no better. Then Isis said unto Ra, "Among the things which thou hast said unto me thy name hath not been mentioned. O declare thou it unto me, and the poison shall come forth; for the person who hath declared his name shall live."
Meanwhile the poison burned with blazing fire and the heat thereof was stronger than that of a blazing flame. Then. the Majesty of Ra, said, "I will allow myself to be searched through by Isis, and my name shall come forth from my body and go into hers."
Then the divine one hid himself from the gods, and the throne in the Boat of Millions of Years was empty. And it came to pass that when it was the time for the heart to come forth [from the god], she said unto her son Horus, "The great god shall bind himself by an oath to give his two eyes." Thus was the great god made to yield up his name, and Isis, the great lady of enchantments, said, "Flow on, poison, and come forth from Ra; let the Eye of Horus come forth from the god and shine(?) outside his mouth. I have worked, and I make the poison to fall on the ground, for the venom hath been mastered.
Verily the name hath been taken away from the great god. Let Ra live, and let the poison die; and if the poison live then Ra shall die. And similarly, a certain man, the son of a certain man, shall live and tbe poison shall die."
These were the words which spake Isis, the great lady, the mistress of the gods, and she had knowledge of Ra in his own name. The above words shall be said over an image of Temu and an image of Heru-Hekennu, and over an image of Isis and an image of Horus.
Not that we needed to quote the whole thing, since it can be found elsewhere. We want it here, since it is an integral part of the work.
So, then, in Pre-Maccabeean times, or whenever the hanging legend was penned, Shemyaza was hung upside down, from Orion, to atone for the sins of the Watchers, the Wrong of the Beginning, as it were. Much like the Teacher of Righteousness was an atonement for the Essene movement. AND SO, we come, full circle, back to the Hanged Man of the Tarot, as described by Aleister Crowley in The Book of Thoth.
Now, we know fairly well, that Shemyaza is none other than Samael, and that is where we shall next turn for some interesting lore.
Mention has been made of Sarman / Sarmoung elsewhere, in relation to the elusive Secret Order that Gurdjieff sought after, that is said to have existed since at least the time of Antiochus of Commagene. And, that the Sarman / Sramana grouping was actually a cell of Buddhist missionaries who came west as a part of the Emperor Ashoka's agenda. In the Lightfoot paper, we have seen that the word Sarman / Sramana can also be rendered Samman /Sammana, which is one step away from Sammane, a Greek form of Samael, also known as Shemyaza. In the Jewish Encyclopedia 1906 Edition his name is given as Samhazai. Now this brings us to some interesting etymologies.
For Sam / Shem = Name (or Rocket Ship, according to Sitchin).
And,
Haza = to see, seers. We don't have our Ben Yehudah's handy, at present. Sepher Sephiroth gives HZH as to dream, to rave. Which could be the right word, which is = 17.
Interesting here, is that while Haza indicates the property of Seeing, as a Seer does, Samael translates as "The Blind One". Now we can get into some good Greek mythology, with Blind Tiresias the seer in the Oedipus cycle.
Just as Ha-Brachah Dobara means "The Voice of the Chief Seer", then, Shem-Haza would be the Name of the Seer.
So, then, these are originally functions of the Company of God, as it were, even if Shemyaza and company were banished to the abyss for finding pleasure with the Daughters of Men.
The Shemyaza of the Book of Enoch is also Samael. This is a controversial area to get into, to be sure, because writing bilge about such subjects can lead to great error. Now, we have the name Sarman = Bee; plus Sarman / Sramana, the Buddhist Monks; which in other forms can be Samman. We have Shem Haza the Name of the Seer; and Ha Brachah Dobara, the Voice of the Chief Seer. And in both of these names the idea of Bees is implied, much like in some of the Merovingian symbolism, we come across the golden bees, and Aristaeus was the inventor of bee culture. Not to mention the fine acting of Joanna Frank in the Outer Limits episode, "ZZZZZ"!The few words in the above sentences could in fact be expanded into volumes.
In the grander scheme of things, ultimately Samael will be reclaimed and restored to his original position, and this is in accordance with the Kabbalistic tradition. Unlike Christianity and Islam, the fallen ones are not accursed for ever and ever -- the fallen ones are one of the main components of the entire scheme of redemption, restoration, Tikkun. And this goes all the way back, past the Jews even, to ancient Sumer, as mentioned at the beginning of this article.
Gershom Scholem is as good a choice as any for a description of Samael and his etymology:
It can be found in the collection entitled "Kabbalah". Since we encourage the purchasing of books, particularly those which are on our Curriculum, we may actually extract bits of the article on Samael, rather than the whole piece:
From the amoraic period onward, Samael is the major name of Satan in Judaism. The name first appears in the account of the fall of angels in the Ethiopic Book of Enoch 6, which includes the name, although not in the most important place, in the list of the leaders of the angels who rebelled against God. The Greek versions of the lost Hebrew text contain the forms Sammanh (Sammane) and Semiel (Semiel). The latter form takes the place of the name Samael in the Greek work of the Church Father Irenaeus in his account of the Gnostic sect of the Ophites (see below; ed. Harvey, I, 236). According to Irenaeus the Ophites gave the snake a double name: Michael and Samael, which in the Greek work of the Church Father Theodoretus appears as Sammanh (Sammane). The Greek version of Enoch used by the Byzantine Syncellus retained the form Samiel. This form still retains the original meaning derived from the word sami ( yms ), meaning blind, an etymology which was preserved in various Jewish and non-Jewish sources until the Middle Ages. In addition to Samiel, the forms Samael and Sammuel date from antiquity. This third version is preserved in the Greek Apocalypse of Baruch 4:9 (from the tannaitic period), which states that the angel Sammuel planted the vine that caused the fall of Adam and therefore Sammuel was cursed and became Satan. The same source relates in chapter 9, in an ancient version of the legend of the shrinking of the moon, that Samael took the form of a snake in order to tempt Adam, an idea which was omitted in later talmudic versions of the legend.
In the apocalyptic work "The Ascension of Isaiah",
which contains a mixture of Jewish and early Christian elements, the names Beliar
(i.e., Belial) and Samael occur side by side as names or synonyms for Satan.
What is recounted of Samael in one passage is stated in another about Beliar.
For example, Samael dominated King Manasseh and 'embraced him,' thus taking
on the form of Manasseh (ch. 2). In chapter 7, Samael and his forces are stated
to be under the first firmament, a view that does not accord with his position
as the chief of the devils. Samael is mentioned among the 'angels of judgment'
in the Sybilline Oracles 2:215. In the tannaitic and amoraic period, Samael
is mentioned as being outside the alignment of the hosts of the Merkabah. Drawing
from Jewish tradition, several Gnostic works refer to Samael as the 'blind god'
and as identical with Jaldabaoth, who occupied an important place in Gnostic
speculations as one or the leader of the forces of evil. This tradition apparently
came down through the Ophites ('the worshippers of the Snake'), a Jewish syncretistic
sect.
...
The Hebrew Enoch 14:2, acknowledges him as 'chief of the tempters' 'greater
than all the heavenly kingdoms'. This text differentiates between Satan and
Samael, the latter being none other than the guardian angel of Rome (ibid.,
6:26).
...
In Jewish astrological sources, which in time influenced those of other groups,
Samael was considered the angel in charge of Mars. This idea recurs at first
among the Sabians of Harran, who called him Mara Samia, 'the blind archon',
and later in medieval Christian astrological magic literature....
This is all we are going to extract for now. In Origins of the Kabbalah, Scholem informs us that Isaac the Blind taught the doctrine that at the time of the Restoration, Samael / Satan will be reclaimed and restored to his former position.
There is another theme running through this material: that of the Identification of Samael with Ialdabaoth. In several places, we have seen references to Ialdabaoth being identified with Samael. If this is true, then, Samael and Yahweh are the same being, or, rather: two natures of the same being. This is not so surprising, since the Bible itself is filled with this dual function of Deity.
We are coming close to a very important Gnostic Mythos. That of Simon Magus and Helen of Tyre. The article, above, states that Samael / Sammane was regarded as the guardian angel of Rome. That is not without base in fact. We shall get to this. First, though, we quote from Scholem's article, in the same collection, on Lilith:
Widespread, too, is the identification of Lilith with the
Queen of Sheba -- a notion with many ramifications in Jewish folklore. It originates
in the Targum to Job 1:15 based on a Jewish and Arab myth that the Queen of
Sheba was actually a jinn, half human and half demon. This view was known to
Moses b. Shem Tov de Leon and is also mentioned in the Zohar. In Livnat ha-Sappir
Joseph Angelino maintains that the riddles which the Queen of Sheba posed to
Solomon are a repetition of the words of seduction which the first Lilith spoke
to Adam. In Ashkenazi folklore, this figure coalesced with the popular image
of Helen of Troy or the Frau Venus of German mythology.... - p. 358.
So here, we have Lilith being compared to Helen of Troy. Helen
of Tyre was advertised as the reincarnation of Helen of Troy. Simon the Magician
has, by historians of the Gnosis, said to have left traces of his sect and his
name, in Rome. Actually it was Semo Sancus (or sometimes Sem-On), the God of
Oaths. But, here we have some interesting parallels in other places. An allusion
to an allusion to an illusion ad infinitum. The caption to a reproduction of
a famous pillar, in Rome, dedicated to Semoni, in Kurt Rudolph's GNOSIS,
reads:
"Dedication to the old Roman god of oaths, Semo Sancus,
found in 1574 on the island in the Tiber at Rome, where Justin Martyr (or his
informant) may once have seen it in the 2nd Century (1 Apol. 26, 56) and wrongly
considered it a statue of the deified Simon Magus, reading the Latin inscription
as Simoni deo sancto instead of Semoni Sanco Deo Fidio Sacrum..." -- p.
295.
We see reference to this, in various places, like G. R. S. Mead's Fragments of a Faith Forgotten; and, too, it appears in the early heresiologists. But one important place, that it appears, doesn't refer at all to Simon Magus, but it does refer to the names on the marker. The Knight of the Sun (or Prince Adept) is one of the most important degrees in the AASR system as envisioned by its creators and early editors. Not only does it do things with the 7 archangels, that correspond somewhat to the Yezidi and the north African ritual systems. But now, we are considering the SSS over the lights, in the tracing board:
Over each of the three candlesticks which stand near the
Altar is the letter S. The rituals say that these three letters are the initials
of the words, Stelloto, Sedeck, Solo, 'meaning the residence of the Sovereign
Master of all things.' These words are a corruption of the Latin phrase, STELLATO
SEDET SOLO [OR SOLIO], 'he sits in his starry seat [or on his starry throne],'
but the explanation is, like those of Blue Masonry, which it resembles, an arbitrary
guess or mere invention. The three letters stand for the words SOLI SANCTISSIMO
SACRUM "Sacred to the Most Holy Sun," and are borrowed from
an inscription at Rome, accompanying a bust, with a radiating head of an eagle,
and commencing with these words, thus: 'SOLI SANCTISSIMO SACRUM, . . . TIBERIUS,
ETC., VOTUM SOLVERUNT."
We also find the inscription (in Grüter):
"SANCTO. SANCO.
"SEMONI. DEO. FIDIO.
"SACRUM."
SEM-ON signifying the Celestial Sun, and SANCUS
being the Sabine Sun-God. At Rome they called him Zeus Pistios (Greek
of Deus Fidius), as we learn from Dionysius of Halicarnassus. -- 1 Bryant.
Anal. 45.
Thus, the three letters mean, 'Sacred to the Most Holy Sun;'
meaning to the Sun-God, Apollo, Mithra, Sancus, or Sem-on.
Albert Pike, Legenda 28, pp. 130-131; and Words,
p. 161.
This word occurs in the 20° of the AASR. For this, we shall quote (again)
from Sepher ha Debarim, The Book of the Words, for the 20°,
Grand Master of All Symbolic Lodges:
#)r, Ras, 'Head, Chief, Leader, Ruler, Prince, Top, Summit: the sum, aggregate, whole number, multitude, crowd.' Also, 'Principium, the Beginning.' The Bedouin chiefs are still called by the same name.
[Our interjection here: This is also what ACME really means, and
the Hebrew word for ACME is Pisgah, a title of Kether. So, the usage of the
name in reference to "Father_ACME" is not out of step with the Authentic
Tradition, or a completely frivolous thing, but something dead serious!]
)cy , itsa, 'went forth from, proceeded from;' and )yxy ; itsia, 'those that came forth from' (his bowels), i.e., his issue or children. 2 Chron. xxxii. 21.
The word betsijah may be hy-ycybh, or hy-ycb, h'bitsai-Yah or betsiyah, h being the definite article, and b, pleonastic, meaning 'as it were, as, as if, etc.
The whole word is either,
hy-ycybh-#)r , Ras h'a-bitsai-Yah,
'Leader, Master, Head or Chief, of those who are like the Sons of God,' or hy-ycyb-h#)r,
Rasah Bitsai-Yah, h#)r, which is feminine,
meaning, like #)r , 'a multitude, collection
of persons, agmen, caterva;' and hence, very properly, the aggregate
of persons composing an Order or Association. So that the meaning of the word,
thus written, would be, 'The Association of those who are, as it were, the children
of God,' i.e., of those who have emanated from the Deity....
---
Who was the Leader, Master, Head or Chief, of those who are like the Sons of God, or, rather, who WERE/ARE the Sons of God, but Shemyaza, the NAME of the Seer himself? So, evidently, the Grand Master of All Symbolic Lodges held an honorific title that meant something more than its name suggests. Just like with Ahiman Rezon, the Brother of the GIFT, or adopted descendant of the Anakim, the Grand Master of All Symbolic Lodges is Rasah Betzijah, or Chief of those who are like the Sons of God. At least, in one way of looking at the secret meanings underlying the degrees. Did all those folks in France and Charleston have these ideas in their minds when they came up with these rituals? Perhaps it may be doubtful, but one never can tell...
At any rate, it does bring us to the 9th Level of the Essene Hierarchy, that of the Messiah, for the Messiah is the chief of the Hierarchy in this Order. Not, (to repeat ourselves!) - not a one time affair, but a continual leadership role, operating according to rules of succession, which tend to resemble those practiced by the Lamas, rather than those in operation today in certain "Orders" so-called. I.e., this may actually be an incarnational matter, rather than one which involves the Master appointing the Heir, as is the case with Crowley (whether accomplished or not, at least in theory, if not actually in practice).
There is a rule, too, in the Authentic Tradition, that if the succession dies out or the vessels in one area become wholly unsuited to the task, they shall be found elsewhere, and by very subtle means, that involve communication via the astral. The Initiations have not been given in the physical plane for over fifty years already, so who can expect it to happen these days in that fashion? Come on, wake up, and smell the chai latte! The Order is Astral, and so are the Initiations. Those of us who have been receiving them can attest to this. If you are among those of us, then you know. If not, then if it is in accordance with True Will, then so mote it be!
Certainly what we have been researching here and presenting our comments upon, calls into question conventional history. Accepted history is really a fairy tale, and the so-called myths and legends give us more validity, present more truth value, than the accepted picture of what took place, because history is written by its victors. Sometimes by its debunkers, as in the case of those who think the rest of us are insane for finding truth value in various strands of the story that pertains to the Mystery of Rennes-le-Chateau.
It is no good to relegate it all to mere myth and legend, as if that implies some sort of fiction, or merely a part of nature or the makeup of the whole person. That is fairy tale and fantasy in our world. These stories are our ancestral legacy, collectively. Yet, it is okay in some areas, to take the Bible as the only true book on the planet, but after so many edit jobs, and not very good ones at that, it has become a very compromised book. This can be said of all printed scriptures, since the real scriptures are not printed ones but lie in the heart, and mind of the practitioner, and connect the network of "believers", or, better, "practitioners" in a bond that is more secure than any "oath" can enforce. How else could so many innocent persons go to their deaths without fighting back? The Truth is like that
The Tree is alive, the River flows, and the Underground Stream it does exist. In some of us, then, these things are not merely things to read about or parrot gossipy yak yak on the email lists, but they are very living things, true things, real things, Life itself. Isn't it Grand?
All Original Contents Copyright © 1997 - 2003 e.v., Jonathan Sellers. All Rights Reserved.