Monday, April 23, 2007

~~ Saint Teresa Of Avila ~ Holy Divine Mystic And Visionary ~~

Chapter XL.

Visions, Revelations, and Locutions.

1. One day, in prayer, the sweetness of which was so great that, knowing how unworthy I was of so great a blessing, I began to think how much I had deserved to be in that place which I had seen prepared for me in hell,--for, as I said before, [1] I never forget the way I saw myself there,--as I was thinking of this, my soul began to be more and more on fire, and I was carried away in spirit in a way I cannot describe. It seemed to me as if I had been absorbed in, and filled with, that grandeur of God which, on another occasion, I had felt. [2] In that majesty it was given me to understand one truth, which is the fulness of all truth, but I cannot tell how, for I saw nothing. It was said to me, I saw not by whom, but I knew well enough it was the Truth Itself: "This I am doing to thee is not a slight matter; it is one of those things for which thou owest Me much; for all the evil in the world comes from ignorance of the truths of the holy writings in their clear simplicity, of which not one iota shall pass away." [3] I thought that I had always believed this, and that all the faithful also believed it. Then he said,: "Ah, My daughter, they are few who love Me in truth; for if men loved Me, I should not hide My secrets from them. Knowest thou what it is to love Me in truth? It is to admit everything to be a lie which is not pleasing unto Me. Now thou dost not understand it, but thou shalt understand it clearly hereafter, in the profit it will be to thy soul."

2. Our Lord be praised, so I found it; for after this vision I look upon everything which does not tend to the service of God as vanity and lies. I cannot tell how much I am convinced of this, nor how sorry I am for those whom I see living in darkness, not knowing the truth. I derived other great blessings also from this, some of which I will here speak of, others I cannot describe.

3. Our Lord at the same time uttered a special word of most exceeding graciousness. I know not how it was done, for I saw nothing; but I was filled, in a way which also I cannot describe, with exceeding strength and earnestness of purpose to observe with all my might everything contained in the divine writings. I thought that I could rise above every possible hindrance put in my way.

4. Of this divine truth, which was put before me I know not how, there remains imprinted within me a truth--I cannot give it a name--which fills me with a new reverence for God; it gives me a notion of His Majesty and power in a way which I cannot explain. I can understand that it is something very high. I had a very great desire never to speak of anything but of those deep truths which far surpass all that is spoken of here in the world,--and so the living in it began to be painful to me.

5. The vision left me in great tenderness, joy, and humility. It seemed to me, though I knew not how, that our Lord now gave me great things; and I had no suspicion whatever of any illusion. I saw nothing; but I understood how great a blessing it is to make no account of anything which does not lead us nearer unto God. I also understood what it is for a soul to be walking in the truth, in the presence of the Truth itself. What I understood is this: that our Lord gave me to understand that He is Himself the very Truth.

6. All this I am speaking of I learnt at times by means of words uttered; at other times I learnt some things without the help of words, and that more clearly than those other things which were told me in words. I understood exceedingly deep truths concerning the Truth, more than I could have done through the teaching of many learned men. It seems to me that learned men never could have thus impressed upon me, nor so clearly explained to me, the vanity of this world.

7. The Truth of which I am speaking, and which I was given to see, is Truth Itself, in Itself. It has neither beginning nor end. All other truths depend on this Truth, as all other loves depend on this love, and all other grandeurs on this grandeur. I understood it all, notwithstanding that my words are obscure in comparison with that distinctness with which it pleased our Lord to show it to me. What think you must be the power of His Majesty, seeing that in so short a time it leaves so great a blessing and such an impression on the soul? O Grandeur! Majesty of mine! what is it Thou art doing, O my Lord Almighty! Consider who it is to whom Thou givest blessings so great! Dost Thou not remember that this my soul has been an abyss of lies and a sea of vanities, and all my fault? Though Thou hadst given me a natural hatred of lying yet I did involve myself in many lying ways. How is this, O my God? how can it be that mercies and graces so great should fall to the lot of one who has so ill deserved them at Thy hands?

8. Once, when I was with the whole community reciting the Office, my soul became suddenly recollected, and seemed to me all bright as a mirror, clear behind, sideways, upwards, and downwards; and in the centre of it I saw Christ our Lord, as I usually see Him. It seemed to me that I saw Him distinctly in every part of my soul, as in a mirror, and at the same time the mirror was all sculptured--I cannot explain it--in our Lord Himself by a most loving communication which I can never describe. I know that this vision was a great blessing to me, and is still whenever I remember it, particularly after Communion.

9. I understood by it, that, when a soul is in mortal sin, this mirror becomes clouded with a thick vapour, and utterly obscured, so that our Lord is neither visible nor present, though He is always present in the conservation of its being. In heretics, the mirror is, as it were, broken in pieces, and that is worse than being dimmed. There is a very great difference between seeing this and describing it, for it can hardly be explained. But it has done me great good; it has also made me very sorry on account of those times when I dimmed the lustre of my soul by my sins, so that I could not see our Lord.

10. This vision seems to me very profitable to recollected persons, to teach them to look upon our Lord as being in the innermost part of their soul. It is a method of looking upon Him which penetrates us more thoroughly, and is much more fruitful, than that of looking upon Him as external to us, as I have said elsewhere, [4] and as it is laid down in books on prayer, where they speak of where we are to seek God. The glorious St. Augustin, [5] in particular, says so, when he says that neither in the streets of the city, nor in pleasures, nor in any place whatever where he sought Him, did he find Him as he found Him within himself. This is clearly the best way; we need not go up to heaven, nor any further than our own selves, for that would only distress the spirit and distract the soul, and bring but little fruit.

11. I should like to point out one result of a deep trance; it may be that some are aware of it. When the time is over during which the soul was in union, wherein all its powers were wholly absorbed,--it lasts, as I have said, [6] but a moment,--the soul continues still to be recollected, unable to recover itself even in outward things; for the two powers--the memory and the understanding--are, as it were, in a frenzy, extremely disordered. This, I say, happens occasionally, particularly in the beginnings. I am thinking whether it does not result from this: that our natural weakness cannot endure the vehemence of the spirit, which is so great, and that the imagination is enfeebled. I know it to be so with some. I think it best for these to force themselves to give up prayer at that time, and resume it afterwards, when they may recover what they have lost, and not do everything at once, for in that case much harm might come of it. I know this by experience, as well as the necessity of considering what our health can bear.

12. Experience is necessary throughout, so also is a spiritual director; for when the soul has reached this point, there are many matters which must be referred to the director. If, after seeking such a one, the soul cannot find him, our Lord will not fail that soul, seeing that He has not failed me, who am what I am: They are not many, I believe, who know by experience so many things, and without experience it is useless to treat a soul at all, for nothing will come of it, save only trouble and distress. But our Lord will take this also into account, and for that reason it is always best to refer the matter to the director. I have already more than once said this, [7] and even all I am saying now, only I do not distinctly remember it; but I do see that it is of great importance, particularly to women, that they should go to their confessor, and that he should be a man of experience herein. There are many more women than men to whom our Lord gives these graces; I have heard the holy friar Peter of Alcantara say so, and, indeed, I know it myself. He used to say that women made greater progress in this way than men did; and he gave excellent reasons for his opinion, all in favour of women; but there is no necessity for repeating them here.

13. Once, when in prayer, I had a vision, for a moment,--I saw nothing distinctly, but the vision was most clear,--how all things are seen in God and how all things are comprehended in Him. I cannot in any way explain it, but the vision remains most deeply impressed on my soul, and is one of those grand graces which our Lord wrought in me, and one of those which put me to the greatest shame and confusion whenever I call my sins to remembrance. I believe, if it had pleased our Lord that I had seen this at an earlier time, or if they saw it who sin against Him, we should have neither the heart nor the daring to do so. I had the vision, I repeat it, but I cannot say that I saw anything; however, I must have seen something, seeing that I explain it by an illustration, only it must have been in a way so subtile and delicate that the understanding is unable to reach it, or I am so ignorant in all that relates to these visions, which seem to be not imaginary. In some of these visions there must be something imaginary, only, as the powers of the soul are then in a trance, they are not able afterwards to retain the forms, as our Lord showed them to it then, and as He would have it rejoice in them.

14. Let us suppose the Godhead to be a most brilliant diamond, much larger than the whole world, or a mirror like that to which I compared the soul in a former vision, [8] only in a way so high that I cannot possibly describe it; and that all our actions are seen in that diamond, which is of such dimensions as to include everything, because nothing can be beyond it. It was a fearful thing for me to see, in so short a time, so many things together in that brilliant diamond, and a most piteous thing too, whenever I think of it, to see such foul things as my sins present in the pure brilliancy of that light.

15. So it is, whenever I remember it, I do not know how to bear it, and I was then so ashamed of myself that I knew not where to hide myself. Oh, that some one could make this plain to those who commit most foul and filthy sins, that they may remember their sins are not secret, and that God most justly resents them, seeing that they are wrought in the very presence of His Majesty, and that we are demeaning ourselves so irreverently before Him! I saw, too, how completely hell is deserved for only one mortal sin, and how impossible it is to understand the exceeding great wickedness of committing it in the sight of majesty so great, and how abhorrent to His nature such actions are. In this we see more and more of His mercifulness, who, though we all know His hatred of sin, yet suffers us to live.

16. The vision made me also reflect, that if one such vision as this fills the souls with such awe, what will it be in the day of judgment, when His Majesty will appear distinctly, and when we too shall look on the sins we have committed! O my God, I have been, oh, how blind! I have often been amazed at what I have written; and you, my father, be you not amazed at anything, but that I am still living,--I, who see such things, and know myself to be what I am. Blessed for ever be He who has borne with me so long!

17. Once, in prayer, with much recollection, sweetness, and repose, I saw myself, as it seemed to me, surrounded by angels, and was close unto God. I began to intercede with His Majesty on behalf of the church. I was given to understand the great services which a particular Order would render in the latter days, and the courage with which its members would maintain the faith.

18. I was praying before the most Holy Sacrament one day; I had a vision of a Saint, whose Order was in some degree fallen. In his hands he held a large book, which he opened, and then told me to read certain words, written in large and very legible letters; they were to this effect: "In times to come this Order will flourish; it will have many martyrs." [9]

19. On another occasion, when I was at Matins in choir, six or seven persons, who seemed to me to be of this Order, appeared and stood before me with swords in their hands. The meaning of that, as I think, is that they are to be defenders of the faith; for at another time, when I was in prayer, I fell into a trance, and stood in spirit on a wide plain, where many persons were fighting; and the members of this Order were fighting with great zeal. Their faces were beautiful, and as it were on fire. Many they laid low on the ground defeated, others they killed. It seemed to me to be a battle with heretics.

20. I have seen this glorious Saint occasionally, and he has told me certain things, and thanked me for praying for his Order, and he has promised to pray for me to our Lord. I do not say which Orders these are,--our Lord, if it so pleased Him, could make them known,--lest the others should be aggrieved. Let every Order, or every member of them by himself, labour, that by his means our Lord would so bless his own Order that it may serve Him in the present grave necessities of His Church. Blessed are they whose lives are so spent.

21. I was once asked by a person to pray God to let him know whether his acceptance of a bishopric would be for the service of God. After Communion our Lord said to me: "When he shall have clearly and really understood that true dominion consists in possessing nothing, he may then accept it." I understood by this that he who is to be in dignity must be very far from wishing or desiring it, or at least he must not seek it.

22. These and many other graces our Lord has given, and is giving continually, to me a sinner. I do not think it is necessary to speak of them, because the state of my soul can be ascertained from what I have written; so also can the spirit which our Lord has given me. May He be blessed for ever, who has been so mindful of me!

23. Our Lord said to me once, consoling me, that I was not to distress myself,--this He said most lovingly,--because in this life we could not continue in the same state. [10] At one time I should be fervent, at another not; now disquieted, and again at peace, and tempted; but I must hope in Him, and fear not.

24. I was one day thinking whether it was a want of detachment in me to take pleasure in the company of those who had the care of my soul, and to have an affection for them, and to comfort myself with those whom I see to be very great servants of God. [11] Our Lord said to me: "It is not a virtue in a sick man to abstain from thanking and loving the physician who seems to restore him to health when he is in danger of death. What should I have done without these persons? The conversation of good people was never hurtful; my words should always be weighed, and holy; and I was not to cease my relations with them, for they would do me good rather than harm."

25. This was a great comfort to me, because, now and then, I wished to abstain from converse with all people; for it seemed to me that I was attached to them. Always, in all things, did our Lord console me, even to the showing me how I was to treat those who were weak, and some other people also. Never did He cease to take care of me. I am sometimes distressed to see how little I do in His service, and how I am forced to spend time in taking care of a body so weak and worthless as mine is, more than I wish.

26. I was in prayer one night, when it was time to go to sleep. I was in very great pain, and my usual sickness was coming on. [12] I saw myself so great a slave to myself, and, on the other hand, the spirit asked for time for itself. I was so much distressed that I began to weep exceedingly, and to be very sorry. This has happened to me not once only, but, as I am saying, very often; and it seems to make me weary of myself, so that at the time I hold myself literally in abhorrence. Habitually, however, I know that I do not hate myself, and I never fail to take that which I see to be necessary for me. May our Lord grant that I do not take more than is necessary!--I am afraid I do.

27. When I was thus distressed, our Lord appeared unto me. He comforted me greatly, and told me I must do this for His love, and bear it; my life was necessary now. And so, I believe, I have never known real pain since I resolved to serve my Lord and my Consoler with all my strength; for though he would leave me to suffer a little, yet He would console me in such a way that I am doing nothing when I long for troubles. And it seems to me there is nothing worth living for but this, and suffering is what I most heartily pray to God for. I say to Him sometimes, with my whole heart: "O Lord, either to die or to suffer! I ask of Thee nothing else for myself." It is a comfort to me to hear the clock strike, because I seem to have come a little nearer to the vision of God, in that another hour of my life has passed away.

28. At other times I am in such a state that I do not feel that I am living, nor yet do I desire to die but I am lukewarm, and darkness surrounds me on every side, as I said before; [13] for I am very often in great trouble. It pleased our Lord that the graces He wrought in me should be published abroad, [14] as He told me some years ago they should be. It was a great pain to me, and I have borne much on that account even to this day, as you, my father, know, because every man explains them in his own sense. But my comfort herein is that it is not my fault that they are become known, for I was extremely cautious never to speak of them but to my confessors, or to persons who I knew had heard of them from them. I was silent, however, not out of humility, but because, as I said before, [15] it gave me great pain to speak of them even to my confessors.

29. Now, however,--to God be the glory!--though many speak against me, but out of a zeal for goodness, and though some are afraid to speak to me, and even to hear my confession, and though others have much to say about me, because I see that our Lord willed by this means to provide help for many souls,--and also because I see clearly and keep in mind how much He would suffer, if only for the gaining of one,--I do not care about it at all.

30. I know not why it is so, but perhaps the reason may in some measure be that His Majesty has placed me in this corner out of the way, where the enclosure is so strict, and where I am as one that is dead. I thought that no one would remember me, but I am not so much forgotten as I wish I was, for I am forced to speak to some people. But as I am in a house where none may see me, it seems as if our Lord had been pleased to bring me to a haven, which I trust in His Majesty will be secure. Now that I am out of the world, with companions holy and few in number, I look down on the world as from a great height, and care very little what people say or know about me. I think much more of one soul's advancement, even if it were but slight, than of all that people may say of me; and since I am settled here it has pleased our Lord that all my desires tend to this.

31. He has made my life to me now a kind of sleep; for almost always what I see seems to me to be seen as in a dream, nor have I any great sense either of pleasure or of pain. If matters occur which may occasion either, the sense of it passes away so quickly that it astonishes me, and leaves an impression as if I had been dreaming,--and this is the simple truth; for if I wished afterwards to delight in that pleasure, or be sorry over that pain, it is not in my power to do so: just as a sensible person feels neither pain nor pleasure in the memory of a dream that is past; for now our Lord has roused my soul out of that state which, because I was not mortified nor dead to the things of this world, made me feel as I did, and His Majesty does not wish me to become blind again.

32. This is the way I live now, my lord and father; do you, my father, pray to God that He would take me to Himself, or enable me to serve Him. May it please His Majesty that what I have written may be of some use to you, my father! I have so little time, [16] and therefore my trouble has been great in writing; but it will be a blessed trouble if I have succeeded in saying anything that will cause one single act of praise to our Lord. If that were the case, I should look upon myself as sufficiently rewarded, even if you, my father, burnt at once what I have written. I would rather it were not burnt before those three saw it, whom you, my father, know of, because they are, and have been, my confessors; for if it be bad, it is right they should lose the good opinion they have of me; and if it be good, they are good and learned men, and I know they will recognise its source, and give praise to Him who hath spoken through me.

33. May His Majesty ever be your protector, and make you so great a saint that your spirit and light may show the way to me a miserable creature, so wanting in humility and so bold as to have ventured to write on subjects so high! May our Lord grant I have not fallen into any errors in the matter, for I had the intention and the desire to be accurate and obedient, and also that through me He might, in some measure, have glory,--because that is what I have been praying for these many years; and as my good works are inefficient for that end, I have ventured to put in order this my disordered life. Still, I have not wasted more time, nor given it more attention, than was necessary for writing it; yet I have put down all that has happened to me with all the simplicity and sincerity possible.

34. May our Lord, who is all-powerful, grant--and He can if He will--that I may attain to the doing of His will in all things! May He never suffer this soul to be lost, which He so often, in so many ways, and by so many means, has rescued from hell and drawn unto Himself! Amen.

I.H.S.

The Holy Spirit be ever with you, my father. [17] Amen. It would not be anything improper if I were to magnify my labour in writing this, to oblige you to be very careful to recommend me to our Lord; for indeed I may well do so, considering what I have gone through in giving this account of myself, and in retracing my manifold wretchedness. But, still, I can say with truth that I felt it more difficult to speak of the graces which I have received from our Lord than to speak of my offences against His Majesty. You, my father, commanded me to write at length; that is what I have done, on condition that you will do what you promised, namely, destroy everything in it that has the appearance of being wrong. I had not yet read it through after I had written it, when your reverence sent for it. Some things in it may not be very clearly explained, and there may be some repetitions; for the time I could give to it was so short, that I could not stop to see what I was writing. I entreat your reverence to correct it and have it copied, if it is to be sent on to the Father-Master, Avila, [18] for perhaps some one may recognise the handwriting. I wish very much you would order it so that he might see it, for I began to write it with a view to that I shall be greatly comforted if he shall think that I am on a safe road, now that, so far as it concerns me, there is nothing more to be done.

Your reverence will do in all things that which to you shall seem good, and you will look upon yourself as under an obligation to take care of one who trusts her soul to your keeping. I will pray for the soul of your reverence to our Lord, so long as I live. You will, therefore, be diligent in His service, in order that you may be able to help me; for your reverence will see by what I have written how profitable it is to give oneself, as your reverence has begun to do, wholly unto Him who gives Himself to us so utterly without measure.

Blessed be His Majesty for ever! I hope of His mercy we shall see one another one day, when we, your reverence and myself, shall see more clearly the great mercies He has shown us, and when we shall praise Him for ever and ever. Amen. This book was finished in June, 1562.

"This date refers to the first account which the holy Mother Teresa of Jesus wrote of her life; it was not then divided into chapters. Afterwards she made this copy, and inserted in it many things which had taken place subsequent to this date, such as the foundation of the monastery of St. Joseph of Avila, as in p. 169. [19]--Fray Do Bañes."

1. Ch. xxxii. § 1.

2. Ch. xxviii. § 14.

3. St. Matt. v. 18: "Iota unum aut unus apex non præteribit a lege."

4. Ch. iv. § 10.

5. "Ecce quantum spatiatus sum in memoria mea quærens Te, Domine; et non Te inveni extra eam. . . . Ex quo didici Te, manes in memoria mea, et illic Te invenio cum reminiscor Tui et delector in Te" (Confess. x. 24). See Inner Fortress, Sixth Mansion, ch. iv.

6. Ch. xx. § 26.

7. Ch. xxv. § 18, ch. xxvi. § 4. See St. John of the Cross, Mount Carmel, bk. ii. ch. xxii.

8. § 8.

9. Yepez says that the Order here spoken of is the Carmelite, and Ribera understands the Saint to refer to that of St. Dominic. The Bollandists, n. 1638-1646, on the whole, prefer the authority of Ribera to that of Yepez and give good reasons for their preference, setting aside as insufficient the testimony of Fray Luis of the Assumption, who says he heard himself from the Venerable Anne of St. Bartholomew that the Order in question is the Order of our Lady of Mount Carmel. Don Vicente, the Spanish editor, rejects the opinion of Ribera, on the ground that it could not have been truly said of the Dominicans in the sixteenth century that the Order was in "some degree fallen," for it was in a most flourishing state. He therefore was inclined to believe that the Saint referred to the Augustinians or to the Franciscans. But, after he had printed this part of his book, he discovered among the MSS. in the public library of Madrid a letter of Anne of St. Bartholomew, addressed to Fray Luis of the Assumption, in which the saintly companion of St. Teresa says that the "Order was ours." Don Vicente has published the letter in the Appendix, p. 566.

10. Job xiv. 2: "Nunquam in eodem statu permanet."

11. See ch. xxxvii. §§ 4, 6.

12. See ch. vii. § 18.

13. Ch. xxx. § 10.

14. Ch. xxxi. §§ 16, 17.

15. Ch. xxviii. § 6.

16. See ch. xiv. § 12.

17. This letter, which seems to have accompanied the "Life," is printed among the other letters of the Saint, and is addressed to her confessor, the Dominican friar, Pedro Ibañez. It is the fifteenth letter in the first volume of the edition of Madrid; but it is not dated there.

18. Juan de Avila, commonly called the Apostle of Andalusia.

19. I.e. of the MS. See p. 337 of this translation.

The
Relations or Manifestations
of Her
Spiritual State
Which
St. Teresa Submitted to Her Confessors.

The Relations.

Relation 1.

Sent to St. Peter of Alcantara in 1560 from the Monastery of the Incarnation, Avila. [1]

1. The method of prayer I observe at present is this: when I am in prayer, it is very rarely that I can use the understanding, because the soul becomes at once recollected, remains in repose, or falls into a trance, so that I cannot in any way have the use of the faculties and the senses,--so much so, that the hearing alone is left; but then it does not help me to understand anything.

2. It often happens, when I am not even thinking of the things of God, but engaged in other matters, and when prayer seems to be beyond my power, whatever efforts I might make, because of the great aridity I am in, bodily pains contributing thereto, that this recollection or elevation of spirit comes upon me so suddenly that I cannot withstand it, and the fruits and blessings it brings with it are in a moment mine: and this, without my having had a vision, or heard anything, or knowing where I am, except that when the soul seems to be lost I see it make great progress, which I could not have made if I had laboured for a whole year, so great is my gain.

3. At other times certain excessive impetuosities occur, accompanied with a certain fainting away of the soul for God, so that I have no control over myself; [2] my life seems to have come to an end, and so it makes me cry out and call upon God; and this comes upon me with great vehemence. Sometimes I cannot remain sitting, so great is the oppression of the heart; and this pain comes on without my doing anything to cause it, and the nature of it is such that my soul would be glad never to be without it while I live. And the longings I have are longings not to live; and they come on because it seems as if I must live on without being able to find any relief, for relief comes from the vision of God, which comes by death, and death is what I cannot take; and with all this my soul thinks that all except itself are filled with consolations, and that all find help in their troubles, but not itself. The distress thus occasioned is so intense that, if our Lord did not relieve it by throwing it into a trance, whereby all is made calm, and the soul rests in great quiet and is satisfied, now by seeing something of that which it desires, now by hearing other things, it would seem to be impossible for it to be delivered from this pain.

4. At other times there come upon me certain desires to serve God, with a vehemence so great that I cannot describe it, and accompanied with a certain pain at seeing how unprofitable I am. It seems to me then that there is nothing in the world, neither death, nor martyrdom, that I could not easily endure. This conviction, too, is not the result of any reflection, but comes in a moment. I am wholly changed, and I know not whence cometh such great courage. I think I should live to raise my voice, and publish to all the world how important it is for men not to be satisfied with the common way, and how great the good is that God will give us if we prepare ourselves to receive it. I say it again, these desires are such that I am melted away in myself, for I seem to desire what I cannot have. The body seems to me to hold me in prison, through its inability to serve God and my state [3] in anything; for if it were not for the body, I might do very great things, so far as my strength would allow; and thus, because I see myself without any power whatever to serve God, I feel this pain in a way wholly indescribable; the issue is delight, recollection, and the consolation of God.

5. Again, it has happened, when these longings to serve Him come upon me, that I wish to do penance, but I am not able. It would be a great relief to me, and it does relieve and cheer me, though what I do is almost nothing, because of my bodily weakness; and yet, if I were to give way to these my longings, I believe I should observe no moderation.

6. Sometimes, if I have to speak to any one, I am greatly distressed, and I suffer so much that it makes me weep abundantly; for my whole desire is to be alone, and solitude comforts me, though at times I neither pray nor read, and conversation--particularly of kindred and connections--seems oppressive, and myself to be as a slave, except when I speak to those whose conversation is of prayer and matters of the soul,--in these I find comfort and joy; [4] yet these occasionally are too much for me, and I would rather not see them, but go where I might be alone: though this is not often the case, for those especially who direct my conscience always console me.

7. At other times it gives me much pain that I must eat and sleep, and that I see I cannot forego these things, being less able to do so than any one. I submit that I may serve God, and thus I offer up those actions to him. Time seems to me too short, and that I have not enough for my prayer, for I should never be tired of being alone. I am always wishing I had time for reading, for I have been always fond of reading. I read very little, for when I take up a book I become recollected through the pleasure it gives me, and thus my reading is turned into prayer: and it is but rarely, for I have many occupations; and though they are good, they do not give me the pleasure which reading would give. And thus I am always wishing for more time, and everything becomes disagreeable, so I believe, because I see I cannot do what I wish and desire.

8. All these desires, with an increase in virtue, have been given me by our Lord since He raised me to this prayer of quiet, and sent these raptures. I find myself so improved that I look on myself as being a mass of perdition before this. These raptures and visions leave me in possession of the blessings I shall now speak of; and I maintain that, if there be any good in me, they are the occasions of it.

9. I have made a very strong resolution never to offend God, not even venially. I would rather die a thousand deaths than do anything of the kind knowingly. I am resolved never to leave undone anything I may consider to be the more perfect, or more for the honour of our Lord, if he who has the care of my soul and directs me tells me I may do it. Cost me what pain it might, I would not leave such an act undone for all the treasure of the world. If I were to do so, I do not think I could have the face to ask anything of God our Lord, or to make my prayer; and yet, for all this, I have many faults and imperfections. I am obedient to my confessor, [5] though imperfectly; but if I know that he wishes or commands anything, I would not leave that undone, so far as I understand it; if I did so, I should think myself under a grievous delusion.

10. I have a longing for poverty, though not free from imperfection; however, I believe, if I had wealth, I would not reserve any revenue, nor hoard money for myself, nor do I care for it; I wish to have only what is necessary. Nevertheless, I feel that I am very defective in this virtue; for, though I desire nothing for myself, I should like to have something to give away: still, I desire no revenue, nor anything for myself. [6]

11. In almost all the visions I have had, I have found good, if it be not a delusion of Satan; herein I submit myself to the judgment of my confessors.

12. As to fine and beautiful things, such as water, fields, perfume, music, etc., I think I would rather not have them, so great is the difference between them and what I am in the habit of seeing, and so all pleasure in them is gone from me. [7] Hence it is that I care not for them, unless it be at the first sight: they never make any further impression; to me they seem but dirt.

13. If I speak or converse with people in the world--for I cannot help it--even about prayer, and if the conversation be long, though to pass away the time, I am under great constraint if it be not necessary, for it gives me much pain.

14. Amusements, of which I used to be fond, and worldly things, are all disagreeable to me now, and I cannot look at them.

15. The longings, which I said I have, [8] of loving and serving and seeing God, are not helped by any reflections, as formerly, when I thought I was very devout, and shed many tears; but they flow out of a certain fire and heat so excessive that, I repeat it, if God did not relieve them by throwing me into a trance, wherein the soul seems to find itself satisfied, I believe my life would come to an end at once.

16. When I see persons making great progress, and thus resolved, detached, and courageous, I love them much; and I should like to have my conversation with such persons, and I think they help me on. People who are afraid, and seemingly cautious in those things, the doing of which is perfectly reasonable here, seem to vex me, and drive me to pray to God and the saints to make them undertake such things as these which now frighten us. Not that I am good for anything myself, but because I believe that God helps those who, for His sake, apply themselves to great things, and that He never abandons any one who puts his trust in Him only. And I should like to find any one who would help me to believe so, and to be without thought about food and raiment, but leave it all in the hands of God. [9]

17. This leaving in the hands of God the supply of all I need is not to be understood as excluding all labour on my part, but merely solicitude--I mean, the solicitude of care. And since I have attained to this liberty, it goes well with me, and I labour to forget myself as much as I can. I do not think it is a year ago since our Lord gave me this liberty.

18. Vainglory [10]--glory, be to God!--so far as I know, there is no reason why I should have any; for I see plainly that in these things which God sends me I have no part myself; on the contrary, God makes me conscious of my own wretchedness; for whatever reflections I might be able to make, I could never come to the knowledge of such deep truths as I attain to in a single rapture.

19. When I speak of these things a few days after, they seem to me as if they had happened to another person. Previously, I thought it a wrong to me that they should be known to others; but I see now that I am not therefore any the better, but rather worse, seeing that I make so little progress after receiving mercies so great. And certainly, in every way, it seems to me that there was not in the world anybody worse than myself; and so the virtues of others seem to me much more meritorious than mine, and that I do nothing myself but receive graces, and that God must give to others at once all that He is now giving unto me; and I pray Him not to reward me in this life; and so I believe that God has led me along this way because I am weak and wicked.

20. When I am in prayer, and even almost always when I am able to reflect at all, I cannot, even if I tried, pray to God for rest, or desire it; for I see that His life was one of suffering, and that I ask Him to send me, giving me first the grace to bear it.

21. Everything of this kind, and of the highest perfection, seems to make so deep an impression on me in prayer, that I am amazed at the sight of truths so great and so clear that the things of the world seem to be folly; and so it is necessary for me to take pains to reflect on the way I demeaned myself formerly in the things of the world, for it seems to me folly to feel for deaths and the troubles of the world,--at least, that sorrow for, or love of, kindred and friends should last long. I say I have to take pains when I am considering what I was, and what I used to feel.

22. If I see people do anything which clearly seems to be sin, I cannot make up my mind that they have offended God; and if I dwell upon this at all,--which happens rarely or never,--I never can make up my mind, though I see it plainly enough. It seems to me that everybody is as anxious to serve God as I am. And herein God has been very gracious unto me, for I never dwell on an evil deed, to remember it afterwards and if I do remember it, I see some virtue or other in that person. In this way these things never weary me, except generally: but heresies do; they distress me very often, and almost always when I think of them they seem to me to be the only trouble which should be felt. And also I feel, when I see people who used to give themselves to prayer fall away; this gives me pain, but not much, because I strive not to dwell upon it.

23. I find, also, that I am improved in the matter of that excessive neatness which I was wont to observe, [11] though not wholly delivered from it. I do not discern that I am always mortified in this; sometimes, however, I do.

24. All this I have described, together with a very constant dwelling in thought on God, is the ordinary state of my soul, so far as I can understand it. And if I must be busy about something else, without my seeking it, as I said before, [12] I know not who makes me awake,--and this not always, only when I am busy with things of importance; and such--glory be to God!--only at intervals demand my attention, and do not occupy me at all times.

25. For some days--they are not many, however--for three, or four, or five, all my good and fervent thoughts, and my visions, seem to be withdrawn, yea, even forgotten, so that, if I were to seek for it, I know of no good that can ever have been in me. It seems to have been all a dream, or, at least, I can call nothing to mind. Bodily pains at the same time distress me. My understanding is troubled, so that I cannot think at all about God, neither do I know under what law I live. If I read anything, I do not understand it; I seem to be full of faults, and without any resolution whatever to practise virtue; and the great resolution I used to have is come to this, that I seem to be unable to resist the least temptation or slander of the world. It suggests itself to me then that I am good for nothing, if any one would have me undertake more than the common duties. I give way to sadness, thinking I have deceived all those who trusted me at all. I should like to hide myself where nobody could see me; but my desire for solitude arises from want of courage, not from love of virtue. It seems to me that I should like to dispute with all who contradict me; I am under the influence of these impressions, only God has been so gracious unto me, that I do not offend more frequently than I was wont to do, nor do I ask Him to deliver me from them, but only, if it be His will I should always suffer thus, to keep me from offending Him; and I submit myself to His will with my whole heart, and I see that it is a very great grace bestowed upon me that He does not keep me constantly in this state.

26. One thing astonishes me; it is that, while I am in this state, through a single word of those I am in the habit of hearing, or a single vision, or a little self-recollection, lasting but an Ave Maria, or through my drawing near to communicate, I find my soul and body so calm, so sound, the understanding so clear, and myself possessing all the strength and all the good desires I usually have. And this I have had experience of very often--at least when I go to Communion; it is more than six months ago that I felt a clear improvement in my bodily health, [13] and that occasionally brought about through raptures, and I find it last sometimes more than three hours, at other times I am much stronger for a whole day; and I do not think it is fancy, for I have considered the matter, and reflected on it. Accordingly, when I am thus recollected, I fear no illness. The truth is, that when I pray, as I was accustomed to do before, I feel no improvement.

27. All these things of which I am speaking make me believe that it comes from God; for when I see what I once was, that I was in the way of being lost, and that soon, my soul certainly is astonished at these things, without knowing whence these virtues came to me; I did not know myself, and saw that all was a gift, and not the fruit of my labours. I understand in all truthfulness and sincerity, and see that I am not deluded, that it has been not only the means of drawing me to God in His service, but of saving me also from hell. This my confessors know, who have heard my general confession.

28. Also, when I see any one who knows anything about me, I wish to let him know my whole life, [14] because my honour seems to me to consist in the honour of our Lord, and I care for nothing else. This He knows well, or I am very blind; for neither honour, nor life, nor praise, nor good either of body or of soul, can interest me, nor do I seek or desire any advantage, only His glory. I cannot believe that Satan has sought so many means of making my soul advance, in order to lose it after all. I do not hold him to be so foolish. Nor can I believe it of God, though I have deserved to fall into delusions because of my sins, that He has left unheeded so many prayers of so many good people for two years, and I do nothing else but ask everybody to pray to our Lord that He would show me if this be for His glory, or lead me by another way. [15] I do not believe that these things would have been permitted by His Majesty to be always going on if they were not His work. These considerations, and the reasons of so many saintly men, give me courage when I am under the pressure of fear that they are not from God, I being so wicked myself. But when I am in prayer, and during those days when I am in repose, and my thoughts fixed on God, if all the learned and holy men in the world came together and put me to, all conceivable tortures, and I, too, desirous of agreeing with them, they could not make me believe that this is the work of Satan, for I cannot. And when they would have had me believe it, I was afraid, seeing who it was that said so; and I thought that they must be saying what was true, and that I, being what I was, must have been deluded. But all they had said to me was destroyed by the first word, or recollection, or vision that came, and I was able to resist no longer, and believed it was from God. [16]

29. However, I can think that Satan now and then may intermeddle here, and so it is, as I have seen and said; but he produces different results, nor can he, as it seems to me, deceive any one possessed of any experience. Nevertheless, I say that, though I do certainly believe this to be from God, I would never do anything, for any consideration whatever, that is not judged by him who has the charge of my soul to be for the better service of our Lord, and I never had any intention but to obey without concealing anything, for that is my duty. I am very often rebuked for my faults, and that in such a way as to pierce me to the very quick; and I am warned when there is, or when there may be, any danger in what I am doing. These rebukes and warnings have done me much good, in often reminding me of my former sins, which make me exceedingly sorry.

30. I have been very long, but this is the truth,--that, when I rise from my prayer, I see that I have received blessings which seem too briefly described. Afterwards I fall into many imperfections, and am unprofitable and very wicked. And perhaps I have no perception of what is good, but am deluded; still, the difference in my life is notorious, and compels me to think over all I have said--I mean, that which I verily believe I have felt. These are the perfections which I feel our Lord has wrought in me, who am so wicked and so imperfect. I refer it all to your judgment, my father, for you know the whole state of my soul.

1. Fra Anton. a Sancto Joseph, in his notes on this Relation, usually published among the letters of the Saint, ed. Doblado, vol. ii. letter 11, says it was written for St. Peter of Alcantara when he came to Avila in 1560, at the time when the Saint was so severely tried by her confessors and the others who examined her spirit, and were convinced that her prayer was a delusion of Satan: see the Life, ch. xxv. § 18. The following notes were discovered among the papers of the Saint in the monastery of the Incarnation, and are supposed to refer to this Relation. The Chronicler of the Order, Fra Francis a Sancta Maria, is inclined to the belief that they were written by St. Peter of Alcantara, to whom the Relation is addressed, and the more so because Ribera does not claim them for any member of the Society, notwithstanding the reference to them in §§ 22, 28.

"1. The end God has in view is the drawing a soul to himself; that of the devil is the withdrawing it from God. Our Lord never does anything whereby anyone may be separated from Him, and the devil does nothing whereby any one may be made to draw near unto God. All the visions and the other operations in the soul of this person draw her nearer unto God, and make her more humble and obedient.

"2. It is the teaching of St. Thomas that an angel of light may be recognised by the peace and quietness he leaves in the soul. She is never visited in this way, but she afterwards abides in peace and joy; so much so, that all the pleasures of earth together are not comparable to one of these visitations.

"3. She never commits a fault, nor falls into an imperfection, without being instantly rebuked by Him who speaks interiorly to her.

"4. She has never prayed for nor wished for them: all she wishes for is to do the will of God our Lord in all things.

"5. Everything herein is consistent with the Scriptures and the teaching of the Church, and most true, according to the most rigorous principles of scholastic theology.

"6. This soul is most pure and sincere, with the most fervent desires of being pleasing unto God, and of trampling on every earthly thing.

"7. She has been told that whatever she shall ask of God, being good, she shall have. She has asked much, and things not convenient to put on paper lest it should be wearisome; all of which our Lord has granted.

"8. When these operations are from God, they are always directed to the good of the recipient, to that of the community, or of some other. That she has profited by them she knows by experience, and she knows it, too, of other persons also.

"9. No one converses with her, if he be not in evil dispositions, who is not moved thereby to devotion, even though she says nothing about it.

"10. She is growing daily in the perfection of virtues, and learns by these things the way of a higher perfection. And thus, during the whole time in which she had visions, she was making progress, according to the doctrine of St. Thomas.

"11. The spirit that speaks to her soul never tells her anything in the way of news, or what is unbecoming, but only that which tends to edification.

"12. She has been told of some persons that they were full of devils: but this was for the purpose of enabling her to understand the state of a soul which has sinned mortally against our Lord.

"13. The devil's method is, when he attempts to deceive a soul, to advise that soul never to speak of what he says to it; but the spirit that speaks to this soul warns her to be open with learned men, servants of our Lord, and that the devil may deceive her if she should conceal anything through shame.

"14. So great is the progress of her soul in this way, and the edification she ministers in the good example given, that more than forty nuns in her monastery practise great recollection.

"15. These supernatural things occur after long praying, when she is absorbed in God, on fire with His love, or at Communion.

"16. They kindle in her a most earnest desire to be on the right road, and to escape the delusions of Satan.

"17. They are in her the cause of the deepest humility; she understands that what she receives comes to her from the hand of our Lord, and how little worth she is herself.

"18. When they are withheld, anything that occurs is wont to pain and distress her; but when she is in this state, she remembers nothing; all she is conscious of is a great longing for suffering, and so great is it that she is amazed at it.

"19. They are to her sources of joy and consolation in her troubles, when people speak ill of her, and in her infirmities--and she has fearful pains about the heart, sicknesses, and many other afflictions, all of which leave her when she has these visions.

"20. With all this, she undergoes great penances, fasting, the discipline, and mortifications.

"21. All that on earth may give her any pleasure, and her trials, which are many, she bears with equal tranquillity of mind, without losing the peace and quiet of her soul.

"22. Her resolution never to offend our Lord is so earnest that she has made a vow never to leave undone what she knows herself, or is told by those who understand the matter better, to be the more perfect. And though she holds the members of the Society to be saints, and believes that our Lord made use of them to bestow on her graces so great, she told me that, if she knew it would be more perfect to have nothing more to do with them, she would never speak to them again, nor see them, notwithstanding the fact that it was through them that her mind had been quieted and directed in these things.

"23. The sweetnesses she commonly receives, her sense of God, her languishing with love, are certainly marvellous, and through these she is wont to be enraptured the whole day long.

"24. She frequently falls into a trance when she hears God spoken of with devotion and earnestness, and cannot resist the rapture, do what she can; and in that state her appearance is such that she excites very great devotion.

"25. She cannot bear to be directed by any one who will not tell her of her faults, and rebuke her; all that she accepts with great humility.

"26. Moreover, she cannot endure people who are in a state of perfection, if they do not labour to become perfect, according to the spirit of their rule.

"27. She is most detached from her kindred, has no desire to converse with people, and loves solitude. She has a great devotion to the saints, and on their feasts, and on the days on which the Church celebrates the mysteries of the faith, is filled with most fervent affections for our Lord.

"28. If all the members of the Society, and all the servants of God upon earth, tell her that her state is an effect of the operations of Satan, or were to say so, she is in fear and trembling before the visions occur; but as soon as she is in prayer, and recollected, she cannot be persuaded, were they to tear her into a thousand pieces, that it is any other than God who is working in her and speaking to her.

"29. God has given her a most wonderfully strong and valiant spirit: she was once timid; now she tramples on all the evil spirits. She has put far away from herself all the littleness and silliness of women; she is singularly free from scruples, and most sincere.

"30. Besides, our Lord has given her the gift of most sweet tears, great compassion for her neighbours, the knowledge of her own faults, a great reverence for good people, and self-abasement; and I am certain that she has done good to many, of whom I am one.

"31. She is continually reminding herself of God, and has a sense of His presence. All the locutions have been verified, and every one of them accomplished; and this is a very great test.

"32. Her visions are a source of great clearness in her understanding, and an admirable illumination in the things of God.

"33. It was said to her that she should lead those who were trying her spirit to look into the Scriptures, and that they would not find that any soul desirous of pleasing God had been so long deceived."

2. See Life, ch. xxix. §§ 9-13.

3. De la Fuente thinks she means the religious state.

4. See Life, ch. xxiv. § 8, and ch. xxxi. § 22.

5. See Life, ch. xxiii. § 19.

6. See Life, ch. xxxv. § 2.

7. See Life, ch. ix. § 6, and ch. xiv. § 7.

8. See § 3, above.

9. St. Matt. vi. 31: "Nolite ergo solliciti esse, dicentes: Quid manducabimus. . . . aut quo operiemur?"

10. See Life, ch. vii. § 2.

11. See Life, ch. ii. § 2.

12. § 2, above.

13. See Life, ch. xx. § 29.

14. See Life, ch. xxxi. § 17.

15. See Life, ch. xxv. § 20.

16. See Life, ch. xxv. §§ 18, 22.


LIFE OF ST. TERESA Chapter XL. Visions, Revelations, and Locutions. 1. One day, in prayer, the sweetness of which was so great that, knowing how unworthy I was of so great a... ~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~ ~~ Ambrosial Blessings In Christ! ~~ ~~ Reverend Celestial ~~ ~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

~~ The Essene Gospel Of Peace ~ Book Four ~~

The ESSENE GOSPEL OF PEACE

The Teachings of the Elect

Book Four

The Original Hebrew and Aramaic Texts
Translated and edited by
EDMOND BORDEAUX SZEKELY
MCMLXXXI
INTERNATIONAL BIOGENIC SOCIETY
Book Design by Golondrina Graohics
Copyright @ 1981, by the International Biogenic Society
Printed In the United States of America-All Rights Reserved

PREFACE

It was in 1928 that Edmond Bordeaux Szekely first published his translation of Book One of The Essene Gospel of Peace, an ancient manuscript he had found in the Secret Archives of the Vatican as the result of limitless patience, faultless scholarship, and unerring intuition, a story told in his book, The Discovery of the Essene Gospel of Peace. The English version of this ancient manuscript appeared in 1937, and ever since, the little volume has traveled all over the world, appearing in different languages, and gaining every year more and more readers, until now, still with no commercial advertisement, over a million copies have been sold in the United States alone. It was not until almost fifty years after the first French translation that Book Two and Book Three appeared, and these also have now become classics of the Essene literature.

Book Four, The Teachings of the Elect, will come as a surprise to those readers who are aware of Dr. Szekely's death in 1979. if I were also a philologist, or scholar, or archeologist, I might be able to provide some explanation. But I am only his faithful famulus amanuensis, and the instructions he left me were clear and explicit: "Two years after my death, you shall publish Book Four of The Essene Gospel of Peace. " That was all, and I am now carrying out his wish.

This Book Four, The Teachings of the Elect, represents yet another fragment of the complete manuscript which exists in Aramaic in the Secret Archives of the Vatican and in old Slavonic in the Royal Library of the Habsburgs (now the property of the Austrian government). As to the reason for the delay in its publication, I can only surmise that Dr. Szekely wanted the vivid reality of these ageless truths to stand alone, unobscured even by the presence of the translator. He did say in his Preface to the first London edition of Book One in 1937 that "we have issued this part before the rest, because it is the part of which suffering humanity has most need today." Perhaps, in the same way, the troubled world of forty-four years later needs this fourth volume of The Essene Gospel of Peace.

Again the words of Dr. Szekely: "We have nothing to add to this text. It speaks for itself. The reader who studies the pages that follow with concentration, will feel the eternal vitality and powerful evidence of these profound truths which mankind needs today more urgently than ever before."

"And the truth shall bear witness of itself."

THE ESSENE COMMUNIONS

And it came to pass that Jesus gathered the Sons of Light by the shore of the river, to reveal to them that which had been hidden; for the space of seven years had passed, and each one was ripe for truth, as the flower opens from the bud when the angels of sun and water bring it to its time of blossoming.

And all of them were unlike one to the other, for some were of age, and some had still the dew of youth on their cheeks, and some had been raised according to the traditions of their fathers, and others knew not who their father and mother had been. But all shared in a clearness of eye and a suppleness of body, for these were signs that for seven years they had walked with the angels of the Earthly Mother and obeyed her laws. And for seven years the unknown angels of the Heavenly Father had taught them through their sleeping hours. And now was the day come when they would enter the Brotherhood of the Elect and learn the hidden teachings of the Elders, even those of Enoch and before.

And Jesus led the Sons of Light to an ancient tree by the side of the river, and there he knelt at the place where the roots, gnarled and hoary with age, spread over the river edge. And the Sons of Light knelt also, and they did touch with reverence the trunk of the ancient tree, for it was taught to them that the trees are the Brothers of all Children of God. For their mother is the same, the Earthly Mother, whose blood runs in the sap of the tree and in the body of the Son of Man. And their father is the same, the Heavenly Father, whose laws are written in the branches of the Tree, and whose laws are engraved in the forehead of the All Creatures, All Beings, All Life, All Nature.

And Jesus reached out his hands to the tree, and said: "Behold, the Tree of Life, which stands in the middle of the Eternal Sea. Look not only with the eyes of the body, but see with the eyes of the spirit the Tree of Life at a source of running streams; at a living spring in a land of drought. See the eternal garden of wonders, and at its center the Tree of Life, mystery of mysteries, growing everlasting branches for eternal planting, to sink their roots into the stream of life from an eternal source. See with the eyes of the spirit the angels of day and the angels of night which protect the fruits with flames of Eternal Light burning every way.

"See, oh Sons of Light, the branches of the Tree of Life reaching toward the kingdom of the Heavenly Father. And see the roots of the Tree of Life descending into the bosom of the Earthly Mother. And the Son of Man is raised to an eternal height and walks in the wonders of the plain; for only the Son of Man carries in his body the roots of the Tree of Life; the same roots that suckle from the bosom of the Earthly Mother; and only the Son of Man carries in his spirit the branches of the Tree of Life; the same branches that reach to the sky, even so to the kingdom of the Heavenly Father.

"And for seven years have you labored throughout the day with the angels of the Earthly Mother; and for seven years you have slept in the arms of the Heavenly Father. And now your reward shall be great, for it shall be given unto you the gift of tongues, that you may draw to you the full power of your Earthly Mother, and have command over her angels and dominion over all her kingdom; and that you may draw to you the blinding glory of your Heavenly Father, that you may command his angels and enter into life everlasting in the heavenly kingdoms.

"And for seven years these words were not given unto you, for he who uses the gift of tongues to seek after riches, or to hold sway over his enemies, he shall no longer be a Son of Light, but a whelp of the devil and a creature of darkness.

For only the pure water can mirror forth the light of the Sun; and that water which has become dank with filth and murk can reflect nothing. And when the body and the Spirit of the Son Children of God have walked with the Angels of the Earthly Mother and the Heavenly Father for seven years, then is he like the running river under the noonday sun, mirroring forth dazzling lights of brilliant jewels.

"Hear Me, Children of Light, for I will impart to you the gift of tongues, that by speaking to your Earthly Mother in the morning, and to your Heavenly Father in the evening, you may go closer and closer to Oneness with the kingdoms of Earth and Heaven, that oneness for which the Children of God, All Creatures, All Life, are destined from the beginning of the times.

"I will make known unto you deep and mysterious things. For I tell you truly, all things exist by God and there is none beside him. Direct your hearts, therefore, that you may walk on the right paths, where his presence is.

"When you open your eyes in the morning, even then before your body has been called by the Angel of Sun, say to yourselves these words, letting them echo in your spirit; for words are like dead leaves when there is no life in them of the spirit. Say, then, these words: 'I enter the eternal and infinite garden of mystery, my Spirit in Oneness with the Heavenly Father, my body in oneness with the Earthly Mother, my heart in harmony with my Brothers, the Sons of Men, dedicating my spirit, my body, and my heart to the holy, pure and saving Teaching, even that Teaching which of old was known to such as Enoch.'

"And after these words have entered into your Spirit, on the first morning after Sabbath, say these words: 'The Earthly Mother and I are One. Her breath is my breath; her blood is my blood; her bone, her flesh, her bowels, her eyes and ears, are my bone, my flesh, my bowels, my eyes and ears. Never will I desert her, and always will she nourish and sustain my body.' And you will feel the power of the Earthly Mother flowing through your body like the river when it is swollen with rains and courses mightily with a great noise.

"And on the second morning after Sabbath, say these words: 'Angel of Earth, make fruitful my seeds, and with your power give life to my body.' Even as your seed creates new life, so courses through the earth the seed of the angel of Earth: in the grass, in the soil, in all living things that grow from the soil. Know, oh Sons of Light, that the same angel of Earth that makes your seed into sons also makes the tiny acorn into this mighty oak, and makes the seed-bearing wheat to grow for bread for the Son of Man. And the seed of your body need not enter the body of woman to create life; for the power of the angel of Earth can create the life of the Spirit within, as well as the life of the body without.

"And on the third morning after Sabbath, say these words: 'Angel of Life, enter with strength the limbs of my body.' And with these words embrace the Tree of Life, even as I embrace this brother oak, and you will feel the power of the Angel of Life flow to your arms, and to your legs, and to all the parts of your body, as the sap flows in the Tree in the spring, even as it runs out of the trunk, so will the angel of Life flood your body with the power of the Earthly Mother.

"And on the fourth morning after Sabbath, say these words: 'Angel of Joy, descend upon Earth, pouring forth beauty and delight to all the children of the Earthly Mother and the, Heavenly Father.' And you will go forth into the fields of flowers after rain and give thanks to your Earthly Mother for the sweet odor of blossoms; for I tell you truly, a flower has no other purpose than to bring Joy to the heart. And you will listen with new ears to the song of the birds, and see with new eyes the colors of the Sun in its rising and its setting; and all these gifts of the Earthly Mother will cause joy to well forth within you, as a spring wells forth of a sudden in a barren place. And you shall know that no one comes before the Heavenly Father that the angel of joy lets not pass; for in joy was the earth created, and in joy does the Earthly Mother and the Heavenly Father give birth to All this.

"And on the fifth morning after Sabbath, say these words: 'Angel of Sun, enter my body and let me bathe in the fire of life.' And you will feel the rays of the rising sun enter into the center point of your body, there in the center where the angels of day and of night mingle, and the power of the sun shall be yours to direct to any part of your body, for the angels dwell therein.

"And on the sixth morning after Sabbath, say these words: 'Angel of Water, enter my blood and give the Water of Life to my body.' And you will feel, like the rushing current of the river, the power of the angel of Water enter your blood, and like the rivulets of a stream, send the power of the Earthly Mother through your blood to all the parts of your body. And it shall be for healing, for the power of the angel of Water is very great, and when you speak to her, she will send her power wherever you command, for when the Angels of God dwell within all the Children of God, are all things possible. The Children of God are All Creatures, Beings, Angels, Living Things and Life
that is created by God. All are called to Live as Children of God.

"And on the seventh morning after Sabbath, say these words: 'Angel of Air, enter with my breath and give the Air of Life to my body.' Know, oh Sons of Light, that the Angel of Air is the messenger of the Heavenly Father, and no one comes before the face of God that the angel of Air lets not pass. For we do not think of the angel of Air when we breathe, for we breathe without thought, as the sons of darkness live their lives without thought. But when the power of life enters into your words and into your breathing, then for every time you invoke the Angel of Air, so do you also invoke the unknown angels of the Heavenly Father; and you will go closer and closer to the heavenly kingdoms.

"And on the Sabbath evening, say these words: 'The Heavenly Father and I are One.' And close your eyes, Sons of Light, and in sleep enter into the unknown realms of the Heavenly Father. And you will bathe in the light of the stars, and the Heavenly Father will hold you in his hand and cause a spring of knowledge to well up within you; a fountain of power, pouring forth living waters, a flood of love and of all-embracing wisdom, like the splendor of Eternal Light. And one day the eyes of your Spirit shall open, and you shall know All Things.

"And on the first evening after Sabbath, say these words: 'Angel of Eternal Life, descend upon me and give eternal life to my spirit.' And close your eyes, Children of Light, and in sleep contemplate the oneness of all life everywhere. For I tell you truly, in the daylight hours are our feet on the ground and we have no wings with which to fly. But our spirits are not tied to the earth., and with the coming of night we overcome our attachment to the earth and join with that which is eternal. For the Son of Man is not all that he seems, and only with the eyes of the spirit can we see those golden threads which link us with All Life everywhere.

"And on the second evening after Sabbath, say these words: 'Angel of Creative Work, descend upon Earth and give abundance to all the Children of God.' For this most powerful of the Angels of the Heavenly Father is the cause of movement, and only in movement is life. Work, Sons of Light, in the garden of the Brotherhood to create the kingdom of the Heavens upon Earth. And as you work, so will the angel of Creative Work nurture and ripen the seed of your spirit, that you may see God.

"And on the third evening after Sabbath, say these words: 'Peace, peace, peace, Angel of Peace, be always everywhere.' Seek the angel of Peace in all that lives, in all you do, in every word you speak. For peace is the key to all knowledge, to all mystery, to all life. Where there is no peace, there does Satan reign. And the sons of darkness covet most of all to steal from the Sons of Light their peace. Go, therefore, on this night to the golden stream of light that is the garment of the angel of Peace. And bring back to the morning the peace of God that surpasses understanding, that with this perfect peace you may comfort the hearts of the Children of God.

"And on the fourth evening after Sabbath, say these words: 'Angel of Power, descend on me and fill with power all my deeds.' I tell you truly, just as there is no life on earth without the sun, so there is no life of the spirit without the Angel of Power. What you think and what you feel, these are like the dead scriptures, which are only words on a page, or the dead speech of dead men. But the Sons of Light will not only think, will not only feel, but will also do, and their acts will fulfill their thoughts and feelings, as the golden fruit of summer gives meaning to the green leaves of spring.

'And on the fifth evening after Sabbath, say these words: 'Angel of Love, descend on me and fill with love all my feelings.' For it is by love that the Heavenly Father and the Earthly Mother and the Son of Man become one. Love is eternal. Love is stronger than death. And every night should the Sons of Light bathe in the holy water of the angel of Love, that with the morning he may baptize the Sons of Men with kind deeds and gentle words. For when the heart of the Son of Light is bathed in love, only kind and gentle words speak forth.

"And on the sixth evening after Sabbath, say these words: 'Angel of Wisdom, descend on me and fill with wisdom all my thoughts.' Know, Sons of Light, that your thoughts are as powerful as the bolt of lightning that stabs through th6 storm and splits asunder the mighty tree. It was for this that you have waited seven years to learn how to speak with the angels, for you know not the power of your thoughts. Use, then, wisdom in all you think and say and do. For I tell you truly, that which is done without wisdom is as a rider less horse, mouth foaming and eyes wild, running crazed into a yawning chasm. But when the angel of Wisdom governs your deeds, then is the path to the unknown realms established, and order and harmony govern your Lives.

"And these are the communions with the Angels which are given to the Sons of Light, that with bodies purified by the Earthly Mother and Spirits purified by the Heavenly Father, they may command and serve the angels, continually, from period to period, in the circuits of the day, and in its fixed order; with the coming of light from its source and at the turn of evening and the outgoing of light, at the outgoing of darkness and the coming in of day, continually, in all the generations of time.

"The truth is born out of the spring of Light, falsehood from the well of darkness. The dominion of all the children of Truth is in the hands of the Angels of Light so that they may walk in the ways of Light.

"Blessings on all the Sons of Light who have cast their lot with the Law, that walk truthfully in all their ways. May the Law bless you with all good and keep you from all evil, and Illumine your hearts with insight into the things of Life and Grace you with Knowledge of things Eternal."

And the crescent moon of peace rose over the mountain and slivers of light shone in the waters of the river. And the Sons of Light as one man knelt in reverence and thanksgiving for the words of Jesus, as he taught them in the ancient ways of their fathers, even as Enoch was taught of old.

And Jesus said: "The Law was planted to reward the Children of Light with healing and abundant Peace, with long life, with fruitful seed of everlasting blessings, with eternal joy in immortality of Eternal Light.

"With the coming of day I embrace my Mother, with the coming of night I join my Father, and with the outgoing of evening and morning I will breathe their Law, and I will not interrupt these Communions until the end of time."

THE GIFT OF LIFE IN THE HUMBLE GRASS

It was in the month of Thebt, when the Earth was covered with shoots of young grass after the rains, and the covering of emerald green was tender as the fine down of a baby chick. And it was on a bright Sun filled morning that Jesus gathered the new Ones of the Elect round about him, that they might hear with their ears and understand with their hearts the teachings of their seers, even as it was taught to Enoch of old.

And Jesus sat beneath a gnarled and ancient tree, holding in his hands a small earthen pot; and in the pot was growing tender grass of wheat, the most perfect among all seed bearing herbs. And the tender grass within the pot was radiant with life, even as the grass and plants which covered the hills far into the distant fields and beyond. And Jesus stroked the grass in the pot with the hands, even as gently as he would touch the head of a little child.

And Jesus said: "Happy are you, Sons of Light, for you have entered into the deathless way and you walk in the path of Truth, even as did your fathers of old, who were taught by the Great Ones. With the eyes and ears of the spirit do you see and hear the sights and sounds of the kingdom of the Earthly Mother: the blue sky where dwells the angel of Air, the foaming river where flows the angel of Water, the golden light which streams from the angel of Sun. And I tell you truly, all these are within you as well as without; for your breath, your blood, the fire of life within you, all are One with the Earthly Mother.

But of all these, and more, that most precious gift of your Earthly Mother is the grass beneath your feet, even that grass which you tread upon without thought. Humble and meek is the angel of Earth, for she has no wings to fly, nor golden rays of light to pierce the mist. But great is her strength and vast is her domain, for she covers the earth with her power, and without her the Sons of Men would be no more, for no Life can live without the grass, the trees and the plants of the Earthly Mother. And these are the gifts of the Angel of Earth to the Children of God.

"But now I will speak to you of mysterious things, for I tell you truly, the humble grass is more than food for humans and creatures. It hides its glory beneath a lowly aspect, as it was told of a ruler of old that he visited the villages of his subjects disguised as a beggar, knowing they would tell many things to such a one, but would fall down in fear before their King. So does the humble grass hide its glory under its coat of humble green, and the Sons of Men walk on it, plough it, feed it to their beasts, but know not what secrets are hidden within it, even those secrets of everlasting life in the heavenly kingdoms.

"But the Sons of Light will know what lies hidden in the grass, for it is given to them to bring comfort to the Chilldren of Men. Even so are we taught by the Earthly Mother with this -little handful of wheat in a simple pot, even the same earthen pot you use to drink milk and gather the honey of bees. Now the pot is filled with black soil rich with old leaves and moist with the dew of morning, even that most precious gift of the Angel of Earth.

"And I did moisten a handful of wheat, that the angel of Water entered into it. The angel of Air did also embrace it, and the angel of Sun, and the power of the three angels awakened also the angel of Life within the wheat, and sprout and root were born in each grain.

"Then I put the awakened wheat into the soil of the Angel of Earth, and the power of the Earthly Mother and all her angels entered into the wheat, and when the Sun had risen four times the grains had become grass. I tell you truly, there is no greater miracle than this."

And the Brothers looked with reverence at the tender blades of grass in the hands of Jesus, and one asked him: "Master, what is the secret of the grass you hold in your hands? Why is it different from that grass that covers the hills and the mountains?"

And Jesus answered "It is not different, Son of Light. All grass, all trees, all plants, in every part of the world, all are part of the kingdom of the Earthly Mother. But I have separated in this pot a small portion of your Mother's kingdom, that you may touch her with the hands of the Spirit, and that her power may enter into your body.

"For I tell you truly, there is a Holy Stream of Life which gave birth to the Earthly Mother and all her angels. Invisible is this Stream of Life to the eyes of the Children of Men, for they walk in darkness and see not the Angels of the day and of the night that surround them and hover over them. But the Sons of Light have walked for seven years with the angels of the day and of the night, and now they are given the secrets of communion with the Angels. And the eyes of your spirit shall be opened, and you will see and hear and touch the Stream of Life that gave birth to the Earthly Mother. And you will enter the Holy Stream of Life, and it will carry you with infinite tenderness to everlasting life in the kingdom of your Heavenly Father."

"How shall we do this, Master?" some asked in amazement. "What secrets must we know to see and hear and touch this Holy Stream of Life?".

And Jesus did not answer. But he placed his two hands around the growing blades of grass in the pot, gently, as if it were the forehead of a little child. And he closed his eyes, and around him were waves of light, shimmering in the sun, as the summer heat makes the light to tremble under a cloudless sky. And the Brothers and Sisters knelt and bowed their heads in reverence before the power of the angels which poured forth from the sitting figure of Yeshua Jesus Christ; and still he sat in silence, with his hands closed as if in prayer around the blades of grass.

And no one knew if an hour had passed, or a year, for time stood still and it was as if all creation held its breath. And Jesus opened his eyes, and the scent of blossoms filled the air as Jesus spoke: "Here is the secret, Sons of Light; here in the humble grass. Here is the meeting place of the Earthly Mother and the Heavenly Father; here is the Stream of Life which gave birth to all creation; I tell you truly, only to the awakened Holy Creatures and Beings of God is it given to see and hear and touch the Stream of Life which flows between the Earthly and Heavenly Kingdoms. Place your hands around the tender grass of the angel of Earth, and you will see and hear and touch the power of all the Angels."

And one by one, each of the Brothers and Sisters sat in reverence before the power of the Angels, holding in his hands the tender grass. And each one felt the Stream of Life enter his body with the force of a rushing stream after a spring storm. And the power of the angels flowed into their hands, up into their arms, and shook them mightily, even as the wind of the north shakes the branches of trees. And all of them wondered at the power in the humble grass, that it could contain all the angels, and the kingdoms of the Earthly Mother and the Heavenly Father. And they sat before Jesus, and were taught by him.

Andjesus said: "Behold, Children of Light, the lowly grass. See wherein are contained all the Angels of the Earthly Mother and the Heavenly Father. For now have you stepped into the Stream of Life, and its currents will carry you in time to everlasting life in the kingdom of your Heavenly Father.

"For in the grass are all the angels. Here is the Angel of Sun, here in the brightness of the green color of the blades of wheat. For no one can look upon the sun when it is high in the heavens, for the eyes of the Son of Man are blinded by its radiant light. And it is for this that the angel of Sun turns to green all that to which she gives life, that the Son of Man may look upon the many and various shades of green and find strength and comfort therein. I tell you truly, all that is green and with life has the power of the angel of Sun within it, even these tender blades of young wheat.

"And so does the angel of Water bless the grass, for I tell you truly, there is more of the angel of Water within the grass than any of the other angels of the Earthly Mother. For if you crush within your hands the grass, you will feel the water of life, which is the blood of the Earthly Mother. And all through the days when you touch the grass and enter into the Stream of Life, do you give to the soil a few drops of water, that the grass may be renewed by the power of the Angel of Water.

"Know, also, that the angel of Air is within the grass, for all that is living and green is the home of the angel of Air. Put your face close to the grass, breathe deeply, and let the angel of Air enter deep within your body. For she abides in the grass, as the oak abides in the acorn, and as the fish abides in the Sea.

"The angel of Earth is she who gives birth to the grass, even as the babe in the womb lives from the nourishment of his mother, so does the earth give of itself to the grain of wheat, causing it to shoot forth to embrace the angel of Air. I tell you truly, each grain of wheat that bursts forth upward to the sky is a victory over death, where Satan reigns. For Life always begins again.

"It is the angel of Life that flows through the blades of grass into the body of the Son of Light, shaking him with her power. For the grass is Life and the Son of Light is Life, and Life flows between the Son of Light and the blades of grass, making a bridge to the Holy Stream of Light which gave birth to all creation.

"And when the Son of Light holds between his hands the blades of grass, it is the angel of joy which fills his body with music. To enter into the Stream of Life is to be one with the song of the bird, the colors of the wild flowers, the scent of the sheaves of grain, newly turned over in the fields. I tell you truly, when the Son of God feels not joy in his heart, he labors for Satan and brings hope to the sons of darkness. There is no sadness in the kingdom of Light, only the angel of Joy. Learn, then, from the tender blades of grass the song of the angel of joy, that the Sons of Light may walk with her always and so comfort the hearts of the Children of God.

"The Earthly Mother is she who provides for our bodies, for we are born of her, and have our life in her. So does she provide for us food in the very blades of grass we touch with our hands. For I tell you truly, it is not only as bread that wheat may nourish us. We may eat also of the tender blades of grass, that the strength of the Earthly Mother may enter into us. But chew well the blades, for the Son of Man has teeth unlike those of the beasts, and only when we chew well the blades of grass can the angel of Water enter our blood and give us strength. Eat, then, Children of Light, of this most perfect herb from the table of our Earthly Mother, that your days may be long upon the Earth, for such finds favor in the eyes of God.

"I tell you truly, the angel of Power enters into you when you touch the Stream of Life through the blades of grass. For the angel of Power is as a shining light that surrounds every living thing, just as the full moon is encircled by rings of radiance, and as the mist rises up from the fields when the sun climbs in the sky. And the angel of Power enters into the Son of Light when his heart is pure and his desire is only to comfort and teach the Children of God. Touch, then, the blades of grass, and feel the angel of Power enter the tips of your fingers, flow upwards through your body, and shake you till you tremble with wonder and awe.

"Know, also, that the angel of Love is present in the blades of grass, for love is in the giving, and great is the love given to the Sons of Light by the tender blades of grass. For I tell you truly, the Stream of Life runs through every living thing, and all that lives, bathes in the Holy Stream of Life. And when the Son of Light touches with love the blades of grass, so do the blades of grass return his love, and lead him to the Stream of Life where he may find life everlasting. And this love never exhausts itself, for its source is in the Stream of Life which flows into the Eternal Sea, and no matter how far does the Son of Man stray from his Earthly Mother and his Heavenly Father, the touch of the blades of grass will always bring a message from the angel of Love; and his feet shall bathe again in the Holy Stream of Life.

"Lo, it is the angel of Wisdom that governs the movement of the planets, the circle of the seasons, and the orderly growth of all living things. So does the angel of Wisdom ordain the communion of the Sons of Light with the Stream of Life, through the tender blades of grass. For I tell you truly, your body is holy, because it bathes in the Stream of Life, which is Eternal Order.

"Touch the blades of grass, Sons of Light, and touch the angel of Eternal Life. For if you look with the eyes of the spirit, you will truly see that the grass is eternal. Now it is young and tender, with the brightness of the newborn babe. Soon it will be tall and gracious, as the sapling tree with its first fruits. Then it will yellow with age, and bow its head in patience, as lies the field after the harvest. Finally, it will wither, for the small earthen pot cannot contain the full lifespan of the wheat. But it does not die, for the brown leaves return to the angel of Earth, and she holds the plant in her arms and bids it sleep, and all the angels work within the faded leaves and lo, they are changed and do not die but rise again in another guise. And so do the Sons of Light never see death, but find themselves changed and risen to everlasting Life.

"And so does the angel of Work never sleep, but sends the roots of the wheat deep into the angel of Earth, that the shoots of tender green may overcome death and the reign of Satan. For life is movement, and the angel of Work is never still, even does he labor without ceasing in the vineyard of the Lord. Close your eyes when you touch the grass, Sons of Light, but fall not asleep, for to touch the Stream of Life is to touch the eternal rhythm of the everlasting kingdoms, and to bathe in the Stream of Life is to feel more and more the power of the angel of Work within you, creating on earth the kingdom of Heaven.

"Peace is -the gift of the Stream of Life to the Children of Light. Wherefore do we always greet each other, 'Peace be with you. Even so does the grass greet your body with the kiss of Peace. I tell you truly, Peace is not just the absence of war, for very quickly can the peaceful river turn into a raging torrent, and the same waves that lull the boat can quickly break it to pieces against the rocks. So does violence lie in wait for the Sons of Man, when they keep not the vigil of Peace. Touch the blades of grass, and thereby touch the Stream of Life. Therein you will find Peace, the Peace built with the power of all the angels. Even so with that Peace will the rays of Holy Light cast out all darkness.

"When the Clildren of Light are one with the Stream of Life, then will the power of the blades of grass guide them to the everlasting kingdom of the Heavenly Father. And you shall know more of those mysteries which is not yet time for you to hear. For there are other Holy Streams in the everlasting kingdoms; I tell you truly, the heavenly kingdoms are crossed and crossed again by streams of golden light, arching far beyond the dome of the sky and having no end. And the Sons of Light shall travel by these streams for ever, knowing not death, guided by the eternal love of the Heavenly Father. And I tell you truly, all these mysteries are contained in the humble grass, when you touch it with tenderness and open your heart to the angel of Life within.

"Gather, then, the grains of wheat and plant them in small earthen pots; and every day with glad heart commune with the angels, that they may guide you to the Holy Stream of Life, and you may bring back from its eternal source comfort and strength for the Children of God. For I tell you truly, all that you learn, all that your eyes of the spirit see, all that your cars of the spirit hear, all this is as a hollow reed in the wind if you do not send forth a message of truth and light to the Sons of Men. For by the fruit do we know the worth of the tree. And to love is to teach without end, without ceasing. For so were your fathers taught of old, even our Father Enoch. Go now, and Peace be with you."

And Jesus held forth the little pot with the blades of young grass, as if in blessing, and walked toward the sun-filled hills, along the shore of the river, as was the custom of all the Brothers. And the others followed, each holding to him the words of Jesus, as it were a precious jewel within his breast.

THE SEVENFOLD PEACE

"Peace be with you," spoke the Elder in greeting to the Brothers who had gathered for the teachings

"Peace be with you," they answered; and they walked together along the bank of the river, for so was their custom when an Elder taught the Brothers, that they might share the teachings with the angels of the Earthly Mother: of air, of sun, of water, of earth, of life, and of joy.

And the Elder said to the Brothers: "I would speak to you of peace, for of all the angels of the Heavenly Father, peace is that for which the world most yearns, as a tired babe longs to put his head on his mother's breast. It is the lack of peace that troubles the kingdoms, even when they are not at war. For violence and warfare may reign in a kingdom even when the sounds of clashing swords are not heard. Though no armies march one against the other, still there is no peace when the Sons of Men walk not with the angels of God. I tell you truly, many are those who do not know peace; for they are at war with their own body; they are at war with their thoughts; they have no peace with their fathers, their mothers, their children; they have no peace with their friends and neighbors; they know not the beauty of the Holy Scrolls; they labor not through the day in the kingdom of their Earthly Mother; nor do they sleep at night in the arms of their Heavenly Father. Peace reigns not within them, for ever do they thirst for that which in the end brings only misery and pain, even those trappings of riches and fame which Satan uses to tempt the Sons of Men; and they live in ignorance of the Law, even that Holy Law by which we live: the path of the angels of the Earthly Mother and the Heavenly Father."

"How, then, may we bring peace to our brothers, Master?" asked some of the Elder, "for we would that all the Sons of Men share in the blessings of the angel of Peace."

And he answered: "Truly, only he who is at peace with all the angels can shed the light of peace on others. Therefore, first be at peace with all the angels of the Earthly Mother and the Heavenly Father. For the winds of a storm stir and trouble the waters of the river, and only the stillness that follows can calm them once again. Take care when your brother asks you for bread, that you give him not stones. Live first in peace with all the angels, for then your peace will be as a fountain that does replenish itself with the giving, and the more you give, so the more you will be given, for such is the Law.

"Three are the dwellings of the Son of Man, and no one may come before the face of God who knows not the angel of Peace in each of the three. These are his body, his thoughts, and his feelings. When the angel of Wisdom guides his thoughts, when the angel of Love purifies his feelings, and when the deeds of his body reflect both love and wisdom, then does the angel of Peace guide him unfailingly to the throne of his Heavenly Father. And he should pray without ceasing that the power of Satan with all his diseases and uncleannesses may be cast out of all of his three dwellings; that Power and Wisdom and Love may reign in his body, his thoughts, and his feelings.

"First shall the Son of Man seek peace with his own body; for his body is as a mountain pond that reflects the sun when it is still and clear; but when it is full of mud and stones, it reflects nothing. First must Satan be cast out of the body, that the angels of God may enter again and dwell therein. Truly, no peace can reign in the body unless it is as a temple of the Holy Law. Therefore, when he who suffers with pains and grievous plagues asks for your help, tell him to renew himself with fasting and with prayer. Tell him to invoke the angel of sun, the angel of water, and the angel of air, that they may enter his body and cast out of it the power of Satan. Show him the baptism within, and the baptism without. Tell him always to eat of the table of our Earthly Mother, spread with her gifts: the fruits of the trees, the grasses of the fields, a bit of the milk of dearly loved animals good, and the honey of bees which overflows and drips outside of the beehive. He shall not invoke the power of Satan by eating the flesh of beasts, for he who kills, kills his brother, and whoso eats the flesh of slain beasts, eats the body of death. Tell him to prepare his food with the fire of life, not the fire of death, for the living angels of the living God serve only truly living Beings and living Nature.

"And though he sees them not, and hears them not, and touches them not, still is he every moment surrounded by the power of God's angels. While his eyes and ears are closed by ignorance of the Law and thirst for the pleasures of Satan, he will not see them, nor hear them, nor touch them. But when he fasts and prays to the living God to cast out all the diseases and uncleannesses of Satan, then will his eyes and ears be opened, and he will find peace.

"For not only he suffers who harbors the diseases of Satan within him, but his mother, his father, his wife, his children, his companions, these suffer also, for no man is an island unto himself, and the powers that flow through him, whether they be of the Angels or of Satan, truly these powers do unto others for good or for evil.

"After this manner, therefore, pray to your Heavenly Father, when the sun is high at midday: 'Our Father who art in heaven, send to all the Sons of Men your angel of Peace; and send to our body the angel of Life to dwell therein forever.'

"Then shall the Son of Man seek Peace with his own thoughts; that the Angel of Wisdom may guide him. For I tell you truly, there is no greater Power in Heaven and Earth than the thoughts of the Son of God Jesus Christ - Yeshua. Though unseen by the eyes of the body, yet each thought has mighty strength, even such strength as can shake the Heavens, and every Being's thoughts are extremely Powerful.

"For to no other creature in the kingdom of the Earthly Mother is it given the power of thought, for all beasts that crawl and birds that fly, live not of their own thinking but of the one Law that governs all. To All Beings is it given the power of thought, even that thought that can break the bonds of death. Do not think because it cannot be seen, that thought has no power. I tell you truly, the lightning that cleaves the mighty oak, or the quaking that opens up cracks in the earth, these are as the play of children compared with the power of thought. Truly each thought of darkness, whether it be of malice, or anger, or vengeance, these wreak destruction like that of fire sweeping through dry kindling under a windless sky. But man does not see the carnage, nor does he hear the piteous cries of his victims, for he is blind to the world of the Spirit.

"But when this power is guided by holy Wisdom, then the thoughts of the Son of God lead him to the heavenly kingdoms and thus is paradise built on earth; then it is that your thoughts uplift the souls of men, as the cold waters of a rushing stream revive your body in the summer heat.

"When first a fledgling bird tries to fly, his wings cannot support him, and he falls again and again to earth. But he tries again and one day he soars aloft, leaving Earth and his nest far behind. So is it with the thoughts of the Sons of Men. The longer he walks with the angels and keeps their Law, so do the stronger his thoughts become in holy Wisdom. And I tell you truly, that day will come when his thoughts will overcome even the kingdom of death and soar to everlasting life in the heavenly kingdoms; for with their thoughts guided by holy Wisdom do all Beings build a bridge of Light thereby to reach God.

"After this manner, therefore, pray to your Heavenly Father, when the sun is high at midday: 'Our Father who art in heaven, send to all the Beings your Angel of Peace; and send to our thoughts the Angel of Divine Power, that we may break the bonds of death.

"Then shall the Son of Man seek peace with his own feelings; that his family may delight in his loving kindness, even his father, his mother, his wife, his children, and his children's children. For the Heavenly Father is a hundred times greater than all fathers by seed and by blood, and the Earthly Mother is a hundred times greater than all mothers by the body, and your true brothers are all those who do the will of your Heavenly Father and of your Earthly Mother, and not your brothers by blood. Even so, shall you see the Heavenly Father in your father by seed, and your Earthly Mother in your mother by the body, for are not these also children of the Heavenly Father and the Earthly Mother? Even so shall you love your brothers by blood as you love all your true ones who walk with the Angels, for are not these also children of the Heavenly Father and the Earthly Mother? I tell you truly, it is easier to love those newly met, than those of our own house, who have known our weaknesses, and heard our words of anger, and seen us in our nakedness, for they know us as we know ourselves, and we are ashamed. Then shall we call on the angel of Love to enter into our feelings, that they be purifiers And all that was before impatience and discord, will turn to harmony and peace, as the parched ground drinks in the gentle rain and becomes green and soft, tender with new Life.

"For many and grievous are the sufferings of the Sons of Men when they cleave not to the angel of Love. Truly, a man without love casts a dark shadow on everyone he meets, most of all those with whom he lives; his harsh and angry words fall on his brothers like fetid air rising from a stagnant pool. And he suffers most who speaks them, for the darkness that encloses him invites Satan and his devas.

"But when he calls on the angel of Love, then is the darkness dispersed, and the light of sunshine streams from him, and the colors of the rainbow swirl about his head, and gentle rain falls from his fingers, and he brings peace and strength to all those who draw near to him.

"After this manner, therefore, pray to your Heavenly Father, when the sun is high at midday: 'Our Father who art in heaven, send to all the Beings your angel of Peace; and send to those of our seed and of our blood the angel of Love, that peace and harmony may dwell in our house for ever.'

"Then shall the Son of Man seek Peace with all other Beings, even with the deluded Pharisees and priests, even with beggars and the homeless, even with kings and governors. For all are Sons of Men, whatever be their station, whatever be their calling, whether their eyes have been opened to see the heavenly kingdoms, or whether they yet walk in darkness and ignorance.

"For the justice of men may reward the undeserving and punish the innocent, but Holy Law is the same for all Creatures, and whether beggar or king, whether shepherd or priest.

"Seek Peace with all the Beings, and let it be known of the Brothers of Light, that we have lived according to the Holy Law since the time of Enoch of old, and before. For we are not rich, neither are we poor. And we do share all things, even our garments and the tools we use to till the soil. And together we work in the fields with all the Angels, bringing forth the gifts of the Earthly Mother for all to eat.

"For the strongest of the angels of the Heavenly Father, the angel of Work, blesses each one who works in the way best for him, for then shall he know neither want nor excess. Truly is there abundance for all men in the kingdoms of the Earthly Mother and the Heavenly Father when each man works at his task; for when a one shirks his task, then another must take it up, for we are given all things in the kingdoms of Heaven and Earth at the price of labor.

"Always have the Brothers of Light lived where rejoice the Angels of the Earthly Mother: near rivers, near trees, near flowers, near the music of birds; where sun and rain may embrace the body, which is the temple of the spirit. Nor do we have ought to do with the edicts of rulers; neither do we uphold them, as our law is the Law of the Heavenly Father and the Earthly Mother; neither do we oppose them, for no one rules save by the will of God. Rather do we strive to live according to the Holy Law and strengthen always that which is good in all things; then will the kingdom of darkness be changed to the kingdom of light; for where there is light, how then can darkness remain?

"After this manner, therefore, pray to your Heavenly Father, when the sun is high at midday: 'Our Father who art in Heaven, send to all Beings your angel of Peace; and send to all humankind the angel of Work, that having a holy task we should not ask for any other blessing.'

"Then shall the Son of Man seek peace with the knowledge of the ages past; for I tell you truly, in the Holy Scrolls is a treasure a hundred times greater than any of jewels and gold in the richest of kingdoms, and more precious, for surely they contain all the wisdom revealed by God to the Sons of Light, even those traditions which came to us through Enoch of old, and before him on an endless path into the past, the teachings of the Great Ones. And these are our inheritance, even as the son inherits all the possessions of his father when he shows himself to be worthy of his father's blessing. Truly, by studying the teachings of ageless wisdom do we come to know God, for I tell you truly, the Great Ones saw God face to face; even so, when we read the Holy Scrolls do we touch the feet of God.

"And when once we see with the eyes of wisdom and hear with the cars of understanding the ageless truths of the Holy Scrolls, then must we go among the Sons of Men and teach them, for if we jealously hide the holy knowledge, pretending that it belongs only to us, then we are as one who finds a spring high in the mountains, and rather than let it flow into the valley to quench the thirst of man and beast, buries it under rocks and dirt, thereby robbing himself of water, as well. Go among the Sons of Men and tell them of the Holy Law, that they may thereby save themselves and enter the heavenly kingdoms. But tell them in words they may understand, in parables from nature that speak to the heart, for the deed must first live as desire in the awakened heart.

"After this manner, therefore, pray to your Heavenly Father, when the sun is high at midday: 'Our Father who art in heaven, send to all the Sons of Men your angel of Peace; and send to our knowledge the angel of Wisdom, that we may walk in the paths of the Great Ones who have seen the face of God.

"Then shall the Son of Man seek peace with the kingdom of his Earthly Mother, for none can live long, neither be happy, but he who honors his Earthly Mother and does her laws. For your breath is her breath; your blood her blood; your bone her bone; your flesh her flesh; your bowels her bowels; your eyes and your ears are her eyes and her ears.

"I tell you truly, you are one with the Earthly Mother; she is in you, and you in her. Of her were you born, in her do you live, and to her shall you return again. it is the blood of our Earthly Mother which falls from the clouds and flows in the rivers; it is the breath of our Earthly Mother which, whispers in the leaves of the forest and blows with a mighty wind from the mountains; sweet and firm is the flesh of our Earthly Mother in the fruits of the trees; strong and unflinching are the bones of our Earthly Mother in the giant rocks and stones which stand as sentinels of the lost times; truly, we are one with our Earthly Mother, and he who clings to the laws of his Mother, to him shall his Mother cling also.

"But there will come a day when the Son of Man will turn his face from his Earthly Mother and betray her, even denying his Mother and his birthright. Then shall he sell her into slavery, and her flesh shall be ravaged, her blood polluted, and her breath smothered; he will bring the fire of death into all the parts of her kingdom, and his hunger will devour all her gifts and leave in their place only a desert.

"All these things will he do out of ignorance of the Law, and as a man dying slowly cannot smell his own stench, so will the Son of Man be blind to the truth: that as he plunders and ravages and destroys his Earthly Mother, so does he plunder and ravage and destroy himself. For he was born of his Earthly Mother, and he is one with her, and all that he does to his Mother9 even so does he do to himself.

"Long ago, before the Great Flood, the Great Ones walked the earth, and the giant trees, even those which now are no more than legend, were their home and their kingdom. They lived many score of generations, for they ate from the table of the Earthly Mother, and slept in the arms of the Heavenly Father, and they knew not disease, old age, nor death. To the Sons of Men did they bequeath all the glory of their kingdoms, even the hidden knowledge of the Tree of Life which stands in the middle of the Eternal Sea. But the eyes of the Sons of Men were blinded by the visions of Satan, and by promises of power, even that power which conquers by might and by blood. And then did the Son of Man sever the golden threads that bound him to his Earthly Mother and his Heavenly Father; he stepped from the Holy Stream of Life where his body, his thoughts, and his feelings were one with the Law, and began to use only his own thoughts, his own feelings, and his own deeds, making hundreds of laws, where before there was only One.

"And so did the Sons of Men exile themselves from their home, and ever since have they huddled behind their stone walls, hearing not the sighing of the wind in the tall trees of the forests beyond their towns.

"I tell you truly, the Book of Nature is a Holy Scroll, and if you would have the Sons of Men save themselves and find everlasting life, teach them how once again to read from the living pages of the Earthly Mother. For in everything that is life is the law written. It is written in the grass, in the trees, in rivers, mountains, birds of the sky and fishes of the Sea; and most of all within the Son of Man. Only when he returns to the bosom of his Earthly Mother will he find everlasting life and the Stream of Life which leads to his Heavenly Father; only then may the dark vision of the future come not to pass.

"After this manner, therefore, pray to your Heavenly Father, when the sun is high at midday: 'Our Father who art in heaven, send to all the Beings your angel of Peace; and send to the kingdom of our Earthly Mother the Angel of joy, that our hearts may be full of singing and gladness as we nestle in the arms of our Mother.

4 'At last, shall the Son of Man seek Peace with the kingdom of his Heavenly Father; for truly, the Son of Man is only born of his father by seed and of his mother by the body, that he may find his true inheritance and know at last that he is the Son of the King.

"The Heavenly Father is the One Law, who fashioned the stars, the Sun, the light and the darkness, and the Holy Law within our souls. Everywhere is he, and there is nowhere he is not. All in our understanding, and all we know not, all is governed by the Law. The falling of leaves, the flow of rivers, the music of insects at night, all these are ruled by the Holy Law.

"In our Heavenly Father's realm there are many mansions, and many are the hidden things you cannot know of yet. I tell you truly, the kingdom of our Heavenly Father is vast, so vast that no man can know its limits, for there are none. Yet the whole of his kingdom may be found in the smallest drop of dew on a wild flower, or in the scent of newly-cut grass in the fields under the summer Sun. Truly, there are no words to describe the kingdom of the Heavenly Father.

"Glorious, indeed, is the inheritance of the Son of Man, for to hirn only is it given to enter the Stream of Life which leads him to the kingdom of his Heavenly Father. But first he must seek and find peace with his body, with his thoughts, with his feelings, with the Beings and Creatures of God, with holy knowledge, and with the kingdom of the Earthly Mother. For I tell you truly, this is the vessel which will carry the Son of Man on the Stream of Life to his Heavenly Father. He must have peace that is sevenfold before he can know the one peace which surpasses understanding, even that of his Heavenly Father.

"After this manner, therefore, pray to your Heavenly Father, when the sun is high at midday: 'Our Father who art in heaven, send to all the Sons of Men your angel of Peace; and send to your kingdom, our Heavenly Father, your angel of Eternal Life, that we may soar beyond the stars and live for ever."

And then the Elder was quiet, and a great stillness stole over the Brothers, and no one wished to speak. The shadows of late afternoon played on the river, still and silvery as glass, and in the darkening sky could faintly be seen the filigree crescent moon of peace. And the great peace of the Heavenly Father wrapt them all in deathless Love.

THE HOLY STREAMS

Into the innermost circle have you come, into the mystery of mysteries, that which was old when our father Enoch was young and walked the earth. Around and around have you come on your journey of many years, always following the path of righteousness, living according to the Holy Law and the sacred vows of our Brotherhood, and you have made of your body a holy temple wherein dwell the angels of God. Many years have you shared the daylight hours with the angels of the Earthly Mother; many years have you slept in the arms of the Heavenly Father, taught by his unknown angels. You have learned that the laws of the Son of Man are seven, of the angels three, and of God, one. Now you shall know of the three laws of the angels, the mystery of the three Holy Streams and the ancient way to traverse them; so shall you bathe in the light of heaven and at last behold the revelation of the mystery of mysteries: the law of God, which is One.

Now in the hour before the rising of the sun, just before the angels of the Earthly Mother breathe life into the still sleeping earth, then do you enter into the Holy Stream of Life. It is your Brother Tree who holds the mystery of this Holy Stream, and it is your Brother Tree that you will embrace in your thought, even as by clay you embrace him in greeting when you walk along the lake shore. And you shall be one with the tree, for in the beginning of the times so did we all share in the Holy Stream of Life that gave birth to all creation. And as you embrace your Brother Tree, the power of the Holy Stream of Life will fill your whole body, and you will tremble before its might. Then breathe deeply of the angel of air, and say the word "Life" with the outgiving of breath. Then you will become in truth the Tree of Life which sinks its roots deep into the Holy Stream of Life from an eternal source. And as the angel of sun warms the earth, and all the creatures of land and water and air rejoice in the new day, so will your body and spirit rejoice in the Holy Stream of life that flows to you through your Brother Tree.

And when the sun is high in the heavens, then shall you seek the Holy Stream of Sound. in the heat of noontide, all creatures are still and seek the shade; the angels of the Earthly Mother are silent for a space. Then it is that you shall let into your ears the Holy Stream of Sound; for it can only be heard in the silence. Think on the streams that are born in the desert after a sudden storm, and the roaring sound of the waters as they rush past. Truly, this is the voice of God, if you did but know it. For as it is written, in the beginning was the Sound, and the Sound was with God, and the Sound was God. I tell you truly, when we are born, we enter the world with the sound of God in our ears, even the singing of the vast chorus of the sky, and the holy chant of the stars in their fixed rounds; it is the Holy Stream of Sound that traverses the vault of stars and crosses the endless kingdom of the Heavenly Father. It is ever in our ears, so do we hear it not. Listen for it, then, in the silence of noontide; bathe in it, and let the rhythm of the music of God beat in your ears until you are one with the Holy Stream of Sound. It was this Sound which formed the earth and the world, and brought forth the mountains, and set the stars in their thrones of glory in the highest heavens.

And you shall bathe in the Stream of Sound, and the music of its waters shall flow over you; for in the beginning of the times so did we all share in the Holy Stream of Sound that gave birth to all creation. And the mighty roaring of the Stream of Sound will fill your whole body, and you will tremble before its might. Then breathe deeply of the angel of air, and become the sound itself, that the Holy Stream of Sound may carry you to the endless kingdom of the Heavenly Father, there where the rhythm of the world rises and falls.

And when darkness gently closes the eyes of the angels of the Earthly Mother, then shall you also sleep, that your spirit may join the unknown angels of the Heavenly Father. And in the moments before you sleep, then shall you think of the bright and glorious stars, the white, shining, far-seen and far-piercing stars. For your thoughts before sleep are as the music of the skillful heavenly Harp, that sends its melody where it wills. Let your thoughts before sleep be with the stars; for the stars are Light, and the Heavenly Father is Light, even that Light which is a thousand times brighter than the brightness of a thousand Suns. Enter the Holy Stream of Light, that the shackles of death may loose their hold for ever, and breaking free from the bonds of earth, ascend the Holy Stream of Light through the blazing radiance of the stars, into the endless kingdom of the Heavenly Father.

Unfold your wings of Light, and in the eye of your thought, soar with the stars into the farthest reaches of heaven, where untold suns blaze with light. For at the beginning of the times, the Holy Law said, let there be Light, and there was Light. And you shall be one with it, and the power of the Holy Light Stream will fill your whole body, and you will tremble before its might. Say the word "Light," as you breathe deeply of the angel of air, and you will become the Light itself; and the Holy Stream will carry you to the endless kingdom of the Heavenly Father, there losing itself in the eternal Sea of Light which gives birth to all creation. And you shall be one with the Holy Stream of Light, always before you sleep in the arms of the Heavenly Father.

I tell you truly, your body was made not only to breathe, and eat, and think, but it was also made to enter the Holy Stream of Life. And your ears were made not only to hear the words of humans, the song of birds, and the music of falling rain, but they were also made to hear the Holy Stream of Sound. And your eyes were made not only to see the rising and setting of the Sun, the ripple of sheaves of grain, and the words of the Holy Scrolls, but they were also made to see the Holy Stream of Light. One day your body will return to the Earthly Mother; even also your ears and your eyes. But the Holy Stream of Life, the Holy Stream of Sound, and the Holy Stream of Light, these were never born, and can never die. Enter the Holy Streams, even that Life, that Sound, and that Light which gave you birth; that you may reach the kingdom of the Heavenly Father and become one with him, even as the river empties into the far distant Sea.

More than this cannot be told, for the Holy Streams will take you to that place where words are no more, and even the Holy Scrolls cannot record the Mysteries therein.

~~ The Essene Book Of Peace ~ Book Three ~~

The ESSENE GOSPEL OF PEACE

BOOK THREE

Lost Scrolls of the Essene Brotherhood

The Original Hebrew and Aramaic Texts
Translated and edited by
EDMOND BORDEAUX SZEKELY
MCMLXXXI
INTERNATIONAL BIOGENIC SOCIETY
Book Design by Golondrina Graphics
Copyright @ 1981, by the International Biogenic Society
Printed In the United States of America-All Rights Reserved

Now we have proudly separated ourselves from Nature, and the spirit of Pan is dead. Men's souls are scattered beyond the hope of unity, and the sword of formal creeds sharply separates them everywhere. To live in harmony with the Universe made life the performance of a majestic ceremony; to live against it was to creep aside into a cul de sac. Yet, even now, whispers of change are stealing over the face of the world once more. Like another vast dream beginning, man's consciousness is slowly spreading outwards once again. Some voice from the long ago is divinely trumpeting across our little globe. To that voice, I dedicate this book.
E.B.S.

PREFACE

This third book of the Essene Gospel of Peace is a collection of texts of great spiritual, literary, philosophical and poetical value, created by two powerful, interwoven streams of tradition.

Chronologically, the first is the stream of traditions to which the Hebrew people were exposed in the Babylonian prison, dating from the Gilgamesh Epics to the Zend Avesta of Zarathustra. The second is the stream of traditions flowing with poetical majesty through the Old and New Testaments, dating from the ageless Enoch and the other Patriarchs, through the Prophets and on to the mysterious Essene Brotherhood.

In the buried library of the Essene Brotherhood at the Dead Sea, where the greatest number of scrolls were found, the texts of these two streams of traditions were very much interwoven. They follow each other in a strange succession: the powerful cubistic simplicity of the first juxtaposed with the majestic, expressionist poetry of the second.

The original texts of this collection may be classified into three approximate groups: about seventy percent of them are completely different from the ancient Sacred Books of the Avestas and the Old and New Testaments; twenty percent are similar, and ten percent are identical.

My desire in presenting this collection was to abstain from dry philological and exegetical interpretations, and instead to concentrate on their spiritual and poetical values, more attractive to twentieth century man. I tried to follow the style of my French translation of the first book of the Essene Gospel of Peace, which has now been published in seventeen languages, and has been distributed in over 200,000 copies.*

I hope this Book Three will be as successful as Book One, and thus continue to bring these ageless inspirations to our disoriented century, guiding us, per secula seculorum, toward greater and greater light.

EDMOND BORDEAUX SZEKELY

*As of this printing in 1986, Book One of The Essene Gospel of Peace has been published in twenty-five languages, and distributed in over one million copies.

INTRODUCTION

From the remote ages of antiquity a remarkable teaching has existed which is universal in its application and ageless in its wisdom. Fragments of it are found in Sumerian hieroglyphs and on tiles and stones dating back some eight or ten thousand years. Some of the symbols, such as for the sun, moon, air, water and other natural forces, are from an even earlier age preceding the cataclysm that ended the Pleistocene period. How many thousands of years previous to that the teaching existed is unknown.

To study and practice this teaching is to reawaken within the heart of every man an intuitive knowledge that can solve his individual problems and the problems of the world.

Traces of the teaching have appeared in almost every country and religion. Its fundamental principles were taught in ancient Persia, Egypt, India, Tibet, China, Palestine, Greece and many other countries. But it has been transmitted in its most pure form by the Essenes, that mysterious brotherhood which lived during the last two or three centuries B.C. and the first century of the Christian era at the Dead Sea in Palestine and at Lake Mareotis in Egypt. In Palestine and Syria the members of the brotherhood were known as Essenes and in Egypt as Therapeutae, or healers.

The esoteric part of their teaching is given in the Tree of Life, the Essene Communions with the Angels, and the Sevenfold Peace, among others. The exoteric or outer teaching appears in Book One of "The Essene Gospel of Peace" and the recently discovered Dead Sea Scrolls.

The origin of the brotherhood is said to be unknown, and the derivation of the name is uncertain. Some believe it comes from Esnoch, or Enoch, and claim him to be their founder, their Communions with the angelic world having first been given to him.

Others consider the name comes from Esrael, the elects of the people to whom Moses brought forth the Communions at Mount Sinai where they were revealed to him by the angelic world.

But whatever their origin, it is certain that the Essenes existed for a very long time as a brotherhood, perhaps under other names in other lands.The teaching appears in the Zend Avesta of Zarathustra, who translated it into a way of life that was followed for thousands of years. it contains the fundamental concepts of Brahmanism, the Vedas and the Upanishads; and the Yoga systems of India sprang from the same source. Buddha later gave forth essentially the same basic ideas and his sacred Bodhi tree is correlated with the Essene Tree of Life. In Tibet the teaching once more found expression in the Tibetan Wheel of Life.

The Pythagoreans and Stoics in ancient Greece also followed the Essene principles and much of their way of life. The same teaching was an element of the Adonic culture of the Phoenicians, of the Alexandrian School of Philosophy in Egypt, and contributed greatly to many branches of Western culture, Freemasonry, Gnosticism, the Kabala and Christianity. Jesus interpreted it in its most sublime and beautiful form in the seven Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount.

The Essenes lived on the shores of lakes and rivers, away from cities and towns, and practiced a communal way of life, sharing equally in everything. They were mainly agriculturists and arboriculturists, having a vast knowledge of crops, soil and climatic conditions which enabled them to grow a remarkable variety of fruits and vegetables in comparatively desert areas and with a minimum of labor.

They had no servants or slaves and were said to have been the first people to condemn slavery both in theory and practice. There were no rich and no poor amongst them, both conditions being considered by them as deviations from the Law. They established their own economic system, based wholly on the Law, and showed that all man's food and material needs can be attained without struggle, through knowledge of the Law.

They spent much time in study both of ancient writings and special branches of learning, such as education, healing and astronomy. They were said to be the heirs of Chaldean and Persian astronomy and the Egyptian arts of healing. They were adept in prophecy for which they prepared by prolonged fasting. in the use of plants and herbs for healing man and beast they were likewise proficient.

They lived a simple regular life, rising each day before sunrise to study and commune with the forces of nature, bathing in cold water as a ritual and donning white garments. After their daily labor in the fields and vineyards they partook of their meals in silence, preceding and ending them with prayer. In their profound respect for all living things they never touched flesh foods, nor did they drink fermented liquids. Their evenings were devoted to study and communion with the heavenly forces.

Evening was the beginning of their day, and their Sabbath, or holy day, began on Friday evening, the first day of their week. This day was given to study, discussion, the entertaining of visitors and the playing of certain musical instruments, relics of which have been discovered.

Their way of life enabled them to live to advanced ages of 120 years or more and they were said to have marvelous strength and endurance. In all their activities they expressed creative love.

They sent out healers and teachers from the brotherhoods, amongst whom were Elijah, John the Baptist, John the Beloved, and the Son of God the great Essene Master Jesus Christ - Yeshua.

Membership in the brotherhood was attainable only after a probationary period of a year and three years of initiatory work, followed by seven more years before being admitted to the full inner teaching.

Records of the Essene way of life have come down to us from the writings of their contemporaries. Pliny the Roman naturalist, Philo the Alexandrian philosopher, Josephus the Roman historian, Solanius and others, spoke of them variously as "a race by themselves, more remarkable than any other in the world," "the oldest of the initiates, receiving their teaching from Central Asia," "teaching perpetuated through an immense space of ages," "constant and unalterable holiness."

Some of the outer teaching is preserved in Aramaic text in the Vatican in Rome. Some in Slavic text was found in the possession of the Habsburgs in Austria and said to have been brought out of Asia in the thirteenth century by Nestorian priests fleeing the hordes of Genghis Khan.

Echoes of the teaching exist today in many forms, in certain rituals of the Masonic order, in the symbol of the seven-branched candlestick, in the greeting "Peace be with you," used from the time of Moses, and even in the seven days of the week, which have long since lost their original spiritual meaning.

From its antiquity, its persistence through the ages, it is evident the teaching could not have been the concept of any individual or any people, but is the interpretation, by a succession of great Teachers, of the Law of the universe, the basic Law, eternal and unchanging as the stars in their courses, the same now as two or ten thousand years ago, and as applicable today as then.

The teaching explains the Law, shows how man's deviations from it are the cause of all his troubles, and gives the method by which he can find his way out of his dilemma.

THE SEVENFOLD VOW

I want to and will do my Best

To live like the Tree of Life,

Planted by the Great Masters Of our Brotherhood.

With my Heavenly Father,

Who planted the Eternal Garden of the Universe

And gave me my Spirit;

With my Earthly Mother

Who planted the Great Garden of the Earth

And gave me my body;

With my brothers and sisters

Who are working in the Garden of our Brotherhood.

I want to and will do my Best

To hold every morning my Communions

With the Angels of the Earthly Mother,

And every evening

With the Angels of the Heavenly Father,

As established by

The Great Masters Of our Brotherhood.

I want to and will do my Best

To follow the Path of the Sevenfold Peace.

I want to and will do my Best

To perfect my body which acts,

My body which feels,

And my body which thinks,

According to the Teachings

Of the Great Masters of our Brotherhood.

I will always and everywhere obey with Reverence

My Master,

Who gives me the Light

Of the Great Masters of All Times.

I will submit to my Master

And accept his decision or complaints I may have on whatever differences

Against any of my brothers working in the Garden of the Brotherhood;

And I shall never take any complaint against a brother

To the outside world.

I will always and everywhere keep Secret

All the traditions of our Brotherhood

Which my Master will tell me;

I never reveal to anyone these Secrets

Without the permission of my Master.

I will never claim as my own my own

The knowledge received from my Master

And I will always give credit to God

For all this Knowledge.

I will never use the Holy Knowledge and Divine Power I have gained

Through initiation from my Master

For material or selfish purposes.

I enter the Eternal and Infinite Garden

with reverence to the Heavenly Father,

To the Earthly mother,

And to the Great Masters,

Reverence to the Holy,

Pure and Saving Teaching,

Reverence to the Brotherhood of the Elect.

THE ESSENE WORSHIP

PROLOGUE

When God saw that his people would perish

Because they did not see the Light of Life,

He chose the Holy Ones,

So that they might make the Light of Life

To shine before the children of God of all species,

And those chosen were called Essenes,

Because they taught the ignorant

And healed the sick,

And they gathered on the eve of every day

To rejoice with the Angels.

WORSHIP

ELDER: Earthly Mother, give us the Food of Life!

BROTHERS: We will eat the Food of Life!

ELDER: Angel of Sun, give us the Fire of Life!

BROTHERS: We will perpetuate the Fire of Life!

ELDER: Angel of Water, give us the Water of Life!

BROTHERS: We will bathe in the Water of Life!

ELDER: Angel of Air give us the Breath of Life!

BROTHERS: We will breathe the Air of Life!

ELDER: Heavenly Father, Give us thy Power!

BROTHERS: We will build the Kingdom of God with the Power of the Heavenly Father!

ELDER: Heavenly Father, Give us Thy Love!

BROTHERS: We will fill our hearts with the Love of the Heavenly Father!

ELDER: Heavenly Father, give us thy Wisdom!

BROTHERS: We will follow the Wisdom of the Heavenly Father!

ELDER: Heavenly Father, give us Eternal Life!

BROTHERS: We will live like the Tree of Eternal Life!

ELDER: Peace be with thee!

BROTHERS: Peace be with thee!

THE ANGEL OF SUN

Up! Rise up and roll along! Thou Immortal, Shining Sun,

Swift-steeded Angel of Sun!

Above the Mountains!

Produce Light for the World!

Angel of Sun, thou art the Fountain of Light:

Thou dost Pierce the darkness.

Open thou the gate of the Horizon!

The Angel of Sun doth dwell far above the Earth,

Yet do her Rays fill our days with Life and warmth.

The chariot of the morning doth bring the Light

Of the rising Sun

And maketh glad the hearts of All Life.

The Angel of Sun doth Illumine our Spirit and our Path

With Rays of Splendor.

Angel of Sun!

Dart forth thy Rays upon me!

Let them touch me; let them permeate me!

I give myself to thee and thy Divine Embrace,

Blessed with the fire of Life!

A molten flood of holy Joy

Flows toward me from thee!

Onward to thee, Angel of Sun!

As no one can look upon the Sun long with naked eyes,

Lest his eyes be consumed by the Flames

Which guard the Tree of Life.

Study, then, the Holy Law:

For the face of the Sun and the face of God

Can be seen only by the one who hath within him

The Revelation of the Holy Law.

Thinkest thou that death is an end?

Thy thoughts are foolish as those of a baby

Who sees dark sky and falling rain

And cries that there is no Sun.

Wouldst thou grow strong in the Holy Law?

Be, then, as the Sun at noonday,

Which shineth with light and warmth on all Life,

And giveth freely and abundantly of her Golden Glory.

Then shall the Fountain of Light flow back to thee,

As the Sun is never without Light,

For it floweth freely, without restraint.

And when the Sun riseth,Then the Earth, made by the Creator,

Becometh clean,The running waters become pure,

The waters of the wells become pure,

The waters of the Sea become pure,

The standing waters become pure,

All the Holy Creatures become pure.

It is through Brightness and Glory

That one is Spirit Born who listens well

To the Holy Words of the Law,

Whom Wisdom holds dear.Through their brightness and gloryDoth the Sun go his way,

Through their Brightneess and Glory doth the Moon go her way. Through their brightness and Glory

Do the Stars go their way unto the immortal, shining, swift-steeded Sun,

Let there be invocation with offering yourself and prayer.

When the Light of the Sun waxeth brighter,

When the brightness of the Sun waxeth warmer,

Then do the heavenly forces arise.

They pour their Glory upon the Earth,

Made by the Heavenly Father,For the increase of the Children of Light,

For the increase of the immortal, Shining, swift-steeded Sun. He who offers up themself
unto the immortal, shining, swift-steeded Sun,

To withstand darkness, To withstand death that creeps in unseen,

offereth it up unto the Heavenly Father,

offereth it up unto the Angels,

Offereth it up unto his own Soul. He rejoiceth all the Heavenly
and Earthly forces Who offereth up oneself as an Oblation

Unto the immortal, shining, swift-steeded Sun.

I will offer myself unto that friendship,

The best of all Friendships,

That reign between the Angel of Sun

And the sons of the Earthly Mother.

I bless the Glory and Light,

The Strength and the Vigor,

Of the immortal, shining, swift-steeded Angel of Sun.

THE ANGEL OF WATER

From the Heavenly Sea

the Waters run and flow forward

from the never-failing Springs.

To the dry and barren desert have the Brothers brought the Angel of Water
That she might bring forth a Garden and a Green Place,

Tree-filled and fragrant with flowers.Cast thyself into the enfolding arms Of the Angel of Water:
For: she shall cast out from thee All that is unclean and evil. Let my love flow toward thee,
Heavenly Father and Mother,

As the river flows to the Sea. And let thy Love flow to me, Heavenly Father,
As the gentle rain doth kiss the Earth. As a river through the forest Is the Holy Law. All Life -
All Creatures depend on it. And it denieth nothing to any Being. The Holy Law is for All.

What a great river is to streams and brooks.

As rivers Of water in a dry place

Are the Brothers who bringeth the Holy Law

To the world of men - in water mayest thou drown - in water mayest thou quench thy thirst
Thus is the Holy Law a two-edged sword:

By the Law mayest thou destroy thyself,

And by the Law mayest thou see God.

Heavenly Father and Mother!

From thy Heavenly Sea flow all the Waters

That spread over all the seven Kingdoms.

This Heavenly Sea of thine aloneGoeth on bringing Waters

Both in summer and winter and in all Seasons.

This Sea of thine purifieth the seed in males, This Sea purifieth

The womb in females, The milk in female's breasts.Thy Heavenly Sea floweth down unrestrained

Unto the big-seeded corn fields, Unto the small-seeded pasture fields,

And unto the whole of the Earthly World.

A thousand pure Springs run toward the pastures

That give food to the Children of Light.

If any one shall offer themselves unto thee,

O thou holy Angel of Water! To that one dost thou give both splendor and Glory,

With health and with vigor of the body.

To him dost thou give a long enduring Life,

And the Heavenly Sea, thereafter.

We worship all the Holy waters

Which do quench the thirst of the Earth,

All the Holy waters that the Creator hath made,

And all the plants which the Creator hath made,

All of which are Holy.

We do worship the Water of Life,

And all waters upon the Earth,

Whether standing, or running, or waters of the well,

Or spring-waters which perennially flow,

Or the blessed drippings of the rains,

We do sacrifice unto the Good and Holy waters

Which the Holy Law hath created.

Let the Sea roar, and all the waters,

The world, and they that dwell therein.

Let the floods clap their hands,

Let the hills be joyful together.

The voice of the Lord is upon the waters:

The God of Glory thundereth.

Heavenly Father! and thou, Angel of Water!

We are thankful to thee, and we bless thy Name.

A flood of Love welleth up

From the hidden places beneath the Earth:

The Brotherhood is Blessed Forever

In the Holy Water of Life.

THE ANGEL OF AIR

We worship the Holy Breath.

And we Worship

The most true Wisdom.

In the midst of the fresh air of the forest and fields,

There shalt thou find the Angel of Air.

Patiently she waits for thee

To quit the dank and crowded holes of the city.

Seek her, then, and quaff deeply

Of the healing draught which she doth offer thee.

Breathe long and deeply,

That the Angel of Air may be brought within you.

For the rhythm of thy breath is the Key of Knowledge

Which doth reveal the Holy Law.

The Angel of Air

Doth soar on invisible Wings:

Yet thou must walk her unseen path

If thou wouldst see the face of God.

Sweeter than the finest Nectar

Of honeyed pomegranate

Is the fragrance of the wind

In the grove of cypress.

Sweeter still the scent of the Godly,

Who do revere and teach the Holy Law.

Holy is the Angel of Air,

Who doth cleanse all that is unclean

And giveth to all evil-smelling things a sweet odor.

Come on, come on, O clouds!

From above down on to the Earth,

By thousands of drops,

Through their brightness and glory the winds blow,

Driving down the clouds

Toward the never-failing springs.

Vapors rise up from the vales of the mountains,

Nursed by the wind along the trail of the Holy Law

Which increaseth the kingdom of Light.

The Heavenly Father and Mother hath made the Earth by Divine Power,

He hath established the world by his Wisdom,

And hath stretched out the heavens by his Will.

When he uttereth his voice,

There is a multitude of waters in the Heavens,

And he causeth the vapors to ascend

From the ends of the Earth;

He maketh lightnings with rain,

And bringeth forth the wind out of his breath.

As the sea is the gathering place of the waters,

Rising up and going down,

Up the aerial way and down on to the Earth,

And up again the aerial Way:

Thus rise, up and roll along! –

And for whose rising and growing

hle Heavenly Father

Hath made the eternal and sovereign luminous Space.

No man may come before the Face of God

Whom the Angel of Air letteth not pass.

Thy body must breathe the air of the Earthly Mother,

As thy Spirit must breathe the Holy Law

Of the Heavenly Father and Mother.

The Angel Of Earth

We invoke the Abundant Earth!

That possesseth Health and Happiness

And is Powerful

Loving All Creatures.

This wide Earth do we praise,

Expanded far with paths,

The productive, the full-bearing,

Thy mother, holy plant!

We praise the lands where thou dost grow,

Sweet scented, swiftly spreading,

The good growth of the Earthly Mother.

We praise the good, the strong, the beneficent

Angel of Earth,

Who doth rejoice in the dew of heaven,

The fatness of the Earth,

And the abundant harvest Of corn and grapes.

We praise the high mountains,

Rich in pastures and in waters,

Upon which run the many streams and rivers.

We praise the holy plants of the Angel of Earth,

Which grow up from the ground,

To nourish All Animals and All Beings and All Life,

To nourish the Children of Light.

The earth is the strong Preserver,

The holy Preserver, the Maintainer!

We praise the strength and vigor

Of the powerful Preserver, the Earth,

Created by the Heavenly Father!

We praise the healers of the Earth,

They who know the secrets of the herbs and plants;

To the healers hath the Angel of Earth

Revealed her Ancient Knowledge.

The Lord hath created medicines out of the Earth,

And he that is wise shall use them.

Was not the water made sweet with wood,

That the Holy Virtue thereof might be known?

And to certain of the brothers he hath given skill,

That the Law might be honored and fulfilled.

With such do they heal men,

And taketh away their pains,

And of their works there is no end;

And from them is Peace over all the Earth.

Then give place to the healers, and honor them,

For the Heavenly Father hath created them:

Let them not go from thee, for thou hast need of them.

We praise the tillers of the soil,

Who work together in the Garden of the Holy Brotherhood,

In the fields which the Lord hath Blessed:

He who would till the Earth,

With the left arm and with the right,

Unto him will she bring forth plenty of fruit,

And wholesome green plants and golden grain.

Sweetness and fatness will flow out from that land

And from those fields,

Along with health and healing,

With fullness and increase and plenty.

He who sows corn, grass and fruit

Soweth the Holy Law:

He maketh the Law of the Creator to progress.

When all the Earth shall be a Garden,

Then shall all the bodily world become free

From old age and death, from corruption and rot,

Forever and Forever.

Mercy and Truth shall be met together,

Righteousness and Peace shall kiss each other,

Truth shall spring out of the Earth,

And Glory shall dwell in our land.

THE ANGEL OF LIFE

Be not ungrateful to thy Creator,

for he hath given thee Life.

Seek not the law in thy scriptures, for the law is Life,

Whereas the scriptures are only words.

I tell thee truly,

Moses received not his laws from God in writing,

But through the living Word.

The Holy Law is living Word of living God

To living prophets for living Beings.

In everything that is Life is the law written.

It is found in the grass, in the Trees,

In the river, in the mountains, in the Birds of Heaven,

In the forest creatures and the fishes of the Sea;

But it is found chiefly in thyselves.

All living things are nearer to God

Than the scriptures which are without Life.

God so made Life and all living things

That they might by the everliving Word

Teach the laws of the Heavenly Father

And the Earthly Mother

To the sons of men.

God wrote not the laws in the pages of books,

But in thy heart and in thy Spirit.

They are in thy breath, thy blood, thy bone;

In thy flesh, thine eyes, thine ears,

And in every little part of thy body.

They are present in the air, in the water,

In the Earth, in the plants, in the sunbeams,

In the depths and in the heights.

They All speak to thee

That thou mayest Understand the tongue and the will

of the living God.,

And scriptures are the works of man

But life and all its hosts are the work of God.

First, O Great Creator!

Thou didst create the Heavenly Powers

And thou didst reveal the Heavenly Laws!

Thou gavest unto us Understanding

From thine own mind

And thou madest our bodily life.

We are grateful, Heavenly Father,

For all thy manifold Gifts of Life:

For the precious things of Heaven,

For the precious fruits brought forth by the Sun,

For the precious things put forth by the Moon,

For the great things of the ancient mountains

For the precious things of the lasting hills,

And for the precious things of the Earth.

We are grateful, Heavenly Father,

For the vigor of health, health of the body,

Wise, bright and clear-eyed, with swiftness of foot,

Quick hearing of the ears, strength of the arms

And eye-sight of the Eagle.

For all the manifold gifts of Life,

We do worship the Fire of Life,

And the Holy Light of the Heavenly Order.

We do worship the Fire,

The good and the friendly,

The Fire of Life!

The most beneficial and the most helpful,

The Fire of Life!

The most supporting, the most Bountiful,

That Fire which is the House of the Lord!

Behold now the Child of Light

Who doth commune with the Angel of Life:

Lo now, his strength is in his loins,

And his force is in the muscles of his chest.

He moveth his legs like a cedar:

7he sinews of his thighs are knit together.

His bones are as tubes of brass,

His limbs are like bars of iron.

He doth eat of the table of the Earthly Mother,

The grass of the field and the waters of the stream

Do nourish him;

Surely the Mountains bring him forth food.

Blessed is his Strength and Beauty,

For he do th serve the Law.

A Sanctuary of the Holy Spirit

Is the body in which the Fire of Life

Doth bum with eternal Light.

We thank thee, Heavenly Father,

For thou hast put us at a source of running streams

At a living spring in a land of drought,

Watering an eternal Garden of Wonders,

The Tree of Life, Mystery of Mysteries,

Growing everlasting branches for Eternal planting

To sink their Roots into the Stream of Life

From an Eternal Source.

THE ANGEL OF JOY

The Heavens Smile, the Earth Celebrates,

the Morning Stars sing together,

and all the Children of Light shout for Joy.

O sing unto the Heavenly Father a new song:

Sing unto the Earthly Mother, All the Earth.

Let the Heavens Rejoice, and let the Earth be Glad,

Let the sea roar, and the fullness of Eternal Life.

Let the field be Joyful, and all that is therein:

Then shall all the Trees of the woodlands

Rejoice before the Holy Law.

Sing unto the Heavenly Father,

All ye heavens of Heavens,

And ye waters that be above the Heavens,

All mountains and all hills,

Stormy wind fulfilling his word,

Fruitful Trees and all cedars,

All Animals and All Cows,

Creeping Creatures and flying Birds,

Kings of the earth and all people,

Princes and all judges of the Earth:

Young men and maidens, old men and children,

Let them sing unto the Heavenly Father with Joy.

Sing unto the Lord with the harp, and voice of a psalm.

With trumpets and sound of pipes

Make a joyful noise before the Angels.

Let the floods clap their hands:

Let the hills be joyful together before the Lord.

Make a Joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.

Serve the Heavenly Father and the Earthly Mother

With gladness and Joy:

Come before their presence with singing.

The spirit of the Holy Law is upon me,

Because the Elders have anointed me

To preach good tidings unto the meek.

They have sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

To proclaim liberty to the captives,

And the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

To comfort all that mourn,

To send unto them the Holy Angel of Joy,

To give unto them Beauty for ashes,

The oil of Joy for mourning,

The garment of Light for the spirit of heaviness,

For weeping may endure for a night,

But Joy cometh in the morning.

The people that walked in darkness

Shall see a great Light,

And they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death,

Upon them shall shine the Light of the Holy Law.

Drop down, ye Heavens, from Above,

And let the Skies pour down Happiness.

Let the people of sadness go out with Joy,

And be led forth with Peace:

Let the mountains and the hills

Break forth before them into singing,

That they might partake of the Holy Celebration,

And eat of the Fruit of the Tree of Life,

Which standeth in the Eternal Sea

The Sun shall be no more their Light by day,

Neither for Brightness

Shall the moon give light unto them:

But the Law shall be unto them an everlasting Light,

And the Heavenly Father and the Earthly Mother

Shall be their eternal Glory.

Their Sun shall no more go down,

Neither shall their Moon withdraw itself..

For the Law shall be their everlasting Light,

And the days of their mourning shall be ended.

I will greatly rejoice in the Holy Law,

My Soul shall be Joyful in the Angels;

For they have clothed me in garments of Light,

They have covered me with robes of Joy.

As the Earth bringeth forth her bud,

And as the Garden causeth its Seeds to spring forth,

So the Heavenly Father will cause the Holy Law

To spring forth with Gladness and Joy

Before all the Children of Light.

In the Garden of the All Brotherhood,

All the Earth shines with holiness and abundant Joy,

For there are the seeds of the Holy Law sown.

The Holy Law is the best of All Good

For the Children of Light:

It giveth unto them brightness and Glory,

Health and strength of the body,

Long life in Communion with the Angels,

And eternal and unending Joy.

We will sing unto the Heavenly Father,

And unto the Earthly Mother,

And unto all the Angels,

As long as we live in the Garden of the Brotherhood:

We will sing praise unto the Holy Law

Forever and Forever.

THE EARTHLY MOTHER

Honor thy Earthly Mother,

that thy days may be long upon the land.

The Earthly Mother is in thee, and thou in her.

She bore thee; she giveth thee Life.

It was she who gaveth thee thy body,

And to her shalt thou one day give it back again.

Happy art thou when thou comest to know her

And Her Kingdom.

If thou receivest thy Mother's Angels

And if thou doest her Holy Laws,

Who doeth these things shall never see disease.

For the power of our Mother is above all.

She hath rule and dwelling in all the bodies of beings

And and Nature and all living things.

The blood which runs in us

Is born of the blood of our Earthly Mother.

Her blood falls from the clouds,

Leaps up from the womb of the Earth,

Babbles in the brooks of the mountains,

Flows wide in the rivers of the plains,

Sleeps in the lakes,

Rages mightily in the tempestuous Seas.

The Air which we breathe

Is born of the Spiritual breath of our Earthly Mother.

Her Breath is azure in the heights of the Heavens,

Soughs in the tops of the mountains,

Whispers in the leaves of the forest,

Billows over the cornfields,

Slumbers in the deep valleys,

Burns hot in the desert.

The hardness of our bones

Is born of the bones of our Earthly Mother,

of the rocks and of the stones.

They stand naked to the Heavens

in the tops of the Mountains,

They are as giants that lie sleeping on the sides of the Mountains,

As idols set in the desert,

And are hidden in the deepness of the Earth.

The tenderness of our flesh

Is born of the flesh of our Earthly Mother,

Whose flesh waxeth yellow and red in the Fruits of the Trees,

And nurtures us in the furrows of the fields.

The light of our eyes,

The hearing of our ears,

Both are born of the colors and sounds

Of our Earthly Mother;

Which enclose us about

As the waves of the sea a Fish,

As the eddying air a Bird.

Man is the Son of the Earthly Mother,

And from her did the Son of Man

Receive his whole body,

Even as the body of the newborn babe

Is born of the womb of his mother.

Thou art one with the Earthly Mother;

She is in thee, and thou in her.

Of her wert thou born, in her dost thou live,

And to her shalt thou return again.

Keep, therefore, her Holy Laws,

For none can live long, neither be happy,

But he who honors his Earthly Mother

And doeth her Holy Laws.

For thy breath is her breath, Thy blood her blood,

Thy bone her bone,

Thy flesh her flesh,

Thy eyes and thy ears,

Are her eyes and her ears.

our Earthly Mother!

Always are we Divinely Embraced by her,

Always are w surrounded by her Beauty.

Never can we part from her;

Never can we know her depths.

Ever doth she create new forms:

That which now existeth never was before.

That which did exist returneth not again.

In Her Divine Kingdom all is ever new, and always old.

In her midst do we live, yet we know her not.

Continually doth she speak to us,

Yet never doth betray to us her secrets.

Ever do we till her soil and harvest her crops,

Yet we have no power over her.

Ever doth she build, ever doth she destroy,

and her work lace is hidden from the eyes of men.

For none can live long, neither be happy,

But he who honors his Earthly Mother

And doeth her Holy Laws,

For thy breath is her breath,

Thy blood her blood,

Thy bone her bone,

Thy flesh her flesh,

Thy eyes and thy ears,

Are her eyes and her ears.

our Earthly Mother!

Always are we Holy Embraced by her,

Always are we surrounded by her Beauty.

Never can we part from her;

Never can we know her depths.

Ever doth she create new forms:

That which now existeth never was before.

That which did exist returneth not again.

In her kingdom all is ever new, and always old.

In her -midst do we live, yet we know her not.

Continually doth she speak to us,

Yet never doth betray to us her secrets.

Ever do we till her soil and harvest her crops,

Yet we have no power over her.

Ever doth she build, ever doth she destroy,

And her workplace is hidden from the eyes of men.

THE ANGEL OF POWER

Thine, O Heavenly Father!

was the Power, when thou didst order

a Path for each of us and all.

What is the Deed well done?

It is that done by the Children of Light

Who regard the Law as before all other things.

The best of all gifts, therefore,

Do I beseech of thee, O thou best of Beings,

Heavenly Father!

That the Holy Law shall rule within us

Through thy Angel of Power!

I do approach thee with my invocations,

That thy great gifts of Holy Power

Will protect thy Heavenly Order,

And thy creative mind within us, Forever.

We will extol thee, Heavenly Father,

O Almighty King!

And we will bless thy power Forever and Ever.

So long as we be able and may have the Power,

So long will we teach the people

Concerning these Deeds to be done by them

With faith toward the Heavenly Father,

The Earthly Mother, the Holy Angels,

And all the Children of Light

Who till the soil of the Garden of the Brotherhood,

And in the desire for the coming of the Heavenly One

Into their Souls and their bodies.

Thine, O Heavenly Father! was the Power,

Yea, thine, O Creator of Love!

Was the understanding and the Spirit,

When thou didst order a path for each of us and all.

Through thy Power shall we go unto the people,

And teach them, saying, Trust in the Holy Law,

And walk in the ways of the holy Angels,

So shalt thou dwell in the Land of Paradise,

And verily thou shalt be fed from the feast table of the Earthly Mother.

Delight thyself also in the Power of the Heavenly Father,

And he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

Let not arrogancy come out of thy mouth:

For the Heavenly Father doth rule by the Holy Law,

And by him actions are weighed.

He bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up.

The Power of the Law maketh poor, and maketh rich:

His Power bringeth low, and lifteth up.

He raiseth up the poor out of the dust,

And lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill,

And maketh them inherit the throne of Glory.

out of heaven shall he thunder

Upon the children of darkness:

The Lord shall judge with Power the ends of the Earth.

Hear the voices of the Brothers

Who cry out in the wilderness and barren desert:

Prepare ye the way of the Holy Law,

Make straight the paths of the Heavenly Father,

And the Earthly Mother,

And all the Holy Angels of the day and of the night.

Every valley shall be Filled,

And every mountain and hill shall be brought low;

And the crooked shall be made straight,

And the rough ways shall be made smooth,

And all flesh shall see the Power of the Holy Law.

We extol thee, Heavenly Father,

For thou hast lifted us up.

O Lord, our Almighty Powerful Father,

We cried unto thee, and thou hast healed us.

From the grave thou hast brought up

The souls of the people;

Thou hast kept them alive,

That they should not go down to the pit.

O Heavenly Father, thou art the Holy Law;

Early and late will we seek thy Angels:

Our Souls thirsteth for the Houl Law,

Our flesh longeth for the Holy Law.

A river of Divine Power is the Holy Law

In a dry and thirsty land, where no water is.

Our lips shall praise thy Power while we live,

We will lift up our hands in thy Name.

We will preserve, we will nurture thy Heavenly Order

Through the fulfillment of Deeds.

We will invoke and pronounce by day and by night

Thy Holy Power,

And that Power shall come to help us;

It will be as if there were a thousand Angels

Watching over one man.

Unto thee, Heavenly Father, belongeth all Power,

And also unto thee belongeth Mercy:

For the holy Law doth render to every Being

According to its works.

THE ANGEL OF LOVE

Love is stronger

than the currents of deep waters.

Love is stronger than death.

Beloved, let us love one another:

For love is of the Heavenly Father:

And every one that loveth is born

Of the Heavenly Father and the Earthly Mother,

And knoweth the Angels.

Ye shall Love one another,

As the Heavenly Father hath loved you.

For the Heavenly Father is love:And he that dwelleth in loveDwelleth in the Heavenly Father,
And, the Heavenly Father in him. Let him that Love him be as the Radiant Sun.

When he goeth forth in his might.

Brothers, be ye all of One mind and Spirit,

Having endless love and compassion one for another.

Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge

Against the children of thy people, But thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself if a man say,

I love the Heavenly Father, but hate my brother,

He is a liar: For he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, How can he love the
Heavenly Father whom he hath not truly yet seen? He who loveth the Heavenly Father

Loveth also his brother. Love ye also the stranger:

For ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

Loving words are as an Honeycomb, Sweet to the Soul, and health to the bones.

The words of ones mouth are as deep waters,

And the wellspring of Love as a flowing brook.

What doth the Holy Law require of thee,

But to do justly, and to love Mercy,

And to walk humbly with the Angels.

By this do we know that the Angel of Love

Doth dwell in us,

When we love the Heavenly Father and Mother,

And keep his Law. Gracious Love, Creator of Love! Reveal the best words Through thy divine
mind living within us. Say to the Children of Light Who till the soil in the Garden of the Brotherhood:
Honor All Beings and All Life.

Love the Brotherhood.

Obey the Holy Law.

THE ANGEL OF WISDOM

To follow the Lord

Is the beginning of Wisdom:

And the Knowledge

Of the Holy One

Is Understanding.

For by him

Thy days shall be multiplied,

And the years of thy Life

Shall be increased.

All Wisdom cometh from the Heavenly Father and Mother,

And is with him forever. Through the holy Law doth the Angel of Wisdom

Guide the Children of Light. Who can number the sand of the Sea, And the drops of rain,
And the days of eternity? Who can find out the height of Heaven,

And the breadth of the Earth,

And the deep, and Wisdom?

Wisdom hath been created before All things.

One may heal with Goodness,

One may heal with Justice,

One may heal with Herbs,

One may heal with the Wise Word.

Amongst all the remedies,

This One is the Healing One

That heals with the Wise Word. And one it is that will best drive away sickness

From the bodies of the Faithful, For Wisdom is the best healing of all remedies.
To follow the Holy Law is the crown of Wisdom,

Making peace and perfect health to flourish,

Both which are the gifts of the Angels. We would draw near unto thee,

O Heavenly Father!

With the help of thy Angel of Wisdom, Who guides us by means of thy Heavenly Order,

And with the actions and the words inspired by thy holy Wisdom!

Come to us, Heavenly Father, with thy creative mind,

And do thou, who bestoweth gifts Through thy Heavenly Order
Bestow alike the long lasting Gift of Wisdom

Upon the Children of Light, That this life might be spent in holy service in the

Garden of the All Brotherhood.

In the realm of thy good mind, Incarnate in our minds, he path of Wisdom doth flow From the
Heavenly Order, Wherein doth dwell the sacred Tree of Life. In what fashion is manifest thy Law,
O Heavenly Father and Mother!

The Heavenly Father makes answer:

By good thought

In perfect unity with Wisdom, O Child of Light!

What is the word well spoken?

It is the blessing-bestowing word of Wisdom.

What is the thought well thought?

It is that which the Child of Light thinketh,

The one who holdeth the Holy Thought

To be the most of value of all things else.

So shall the Child of Light grow

In concentration and Communion, And he may develop Wisdom,
And thus shall he continue Until all the Mysteries of the Infinite Garden

Where standeth the Tree of Life

Shall be revealed to him.

Then shall he say these victorious words:

O Heavenly Father and Mother!

Give unto me my task

For the building of thy Kingdom on Earth,

Through good thoughts, good words, good deeds,

Which shall be for the child of Light

His most precious gift.

O thou Heavenly Order!

And thou Universal Mind!

I will worship thee and the Heavenly Father and Mother,

Because of whom the creative mind within us

Is causing the Imperishable Kingdom to progress!

Holy Wisdom maketh All Beings free from fear,

Wide of heart, and easy of conscience.

Holy Wisdom, the understanding that unfolds Forever,

Continually, without end,

And is not acquired through the holy scrolls.

It is ignorance that ruineth most people,

Both amongst those who have died,

And those who shall die.

When ignorance will be replaced by Holy Wisdom,

Then will sweetness and fatness come back again

To our land and to our fields,

With health and Healing,

With fullness and increase, and growth,

And abundance of corn and of grass,

And rivers of Peace shall flow through the desert.

THE ANGEL OF ETERNAL LIFE

And Enoch walked with God;

and he was not; for God took him.

Upon the Earth then was no man like Enoch,

For he was taken up from the Earth.

He was as the Morning Star in the midst of a Cloud,

And as the moon at the full: As the sun shining upon the Temple of the most High, And as the
Rainbow giving Light in the bright clouds, And as the Flower of Roses in the Spring of the year,

As lilies by the rivers Of waters,

And as the branches of the frankincense tree

In the time of summer, as a fair olive tree budding forth fruit,
And as a cypress Tree which groweth up to the clouds.

The first follower of the Law was Enoch,

The first of the healers, of the wise,

The happy, the glorious, the strong,

Who drove back sickness and drove back death.

He did obtain a source of remedies To withstand sickness and to withstand death;
To withstand pain and to withstand fever; To withstand the evil and infection

Which ignorance of the Holy Law

Had created against the bodies of mortals.

We invoke Enoch,

The master of Life,

The Founder of our Brotherhood,

The One of the Holy Law, The Wisest of All Beings, The best ruling of All Beings,

The Brightest of All Beings,

The most Glorious of All Beings,

The most worthy of invocations amongst All Beings,

The most worthy of glorification amongst All Beings,

Who first thought what is good, Who first spoke what is good, Who first did what is Good.

Who was the first Priest,

The first Plougher of the Ground,

Who first knew and first taught the Word,

And the obedience to the Holy Law.

To all the Children of Light He gave all the Good things of Life:

He was the first bearer of the Divine Law.

It is written, the words of Father Enoch,

We sacrifice unto the Creator, The Heavenly Father, The bright and glorious Angels. We offer ourselves unto the shining heavens, We offer ourselves unto the Bright, All Happy,

Blissful Wisdom of the Holy Angels of Eternity.

Grant to us, Heavenly Father!

The desire and the Knowledge of the straightest path,

The straightest because of the Heavenly Order of Life,

The Best Life of the Angels, Shining, All Glorious. As health is excellent, so also is Eternal Life,

Both flowing from the Heavenly order,

The Creator of Goodness of the mind, And of actions of Life performed for Devotion

To the Creator of Eternal Life.We offer ourselves unto the sovereign sky,We offer ourselves unto the boundless Time,We offer ourselves unto the endless Sea of Eternal Life.

We do invoke the most glorious Law.We invoke the Kingdom of Heaven. The boundless Time, and the Angels.We invoke the Eternal, Holy Law. We follow the paths of the Stars, the Moon, the Sun and the endless Light, Moving around in their revolving circle Forever.

And truthfulness in Thought, Word and Deed

Will place the Soul and Spirit of the Faithful Beings

In the Endless Light of Eternal Life.

The Heavenly Father possessed Me

In the beginning of his way, before his works of old.

I was set up from Everlasting, from the Beginning,

Or ever the Earth was.

When there were no depths, I was brought forth:

While as yet he had not made the Earth, nor the fields,

Nor the beginning of the dust of the world.

When he established the Heavens, I was there:

When he set a circle upon the face of the deep:

When he made firm the skies above:

When the Fountain of the deep became strong:

When he gave to the Sea its bound, That the waters should not transgress his Law:

When he marked out the foundations of the Earth:

Then I was by him, as a master workman: And I was daily his Delight,
Rejoicing always before him, Rejoicing in his Ambrosial Paradise Earth,

My Delight was within the Sons and Daughters and Creatures and All Holy Nature.
For eternity the Heavenly Father reigneth,
He is clothed with Majesty and Strength.

He is from Everlasting!

The floods have lifted up, O Lord,

The floods have lifted up their voice,

The floods lift up their waves.

The Heavenly Father on High

Is mightier than the noise of many waters,

Yea , than the mighty waves of the Sea.

His name shall endure Forever,

His name shall be continued as long as Eternity,

And all the Children of Light shall be blessed in him,

And all men shall call him Blessed.

Let the whole earth be Filled

With the glory of the Heavenly Father,

The Earthly Mother,

And all the holy Angels.

I have reached the Inner Vision

And through thy Spirit in me

I have heard thy wondrous secret.

Through thy Mystic Insight

Thou hast caused a spring of Knowledge

To well up within me,

A fountain of power, pouring forth living waters,

A flood of love and of all-embracing Wisdom

Like the splendor of Eternal Light.

THE ANGEL OF WORK

Who hath measured the waters

In the hollow of his hand,

And meted out heaven with a span,

And comprehended the dust of the Earth In a measure,

And weighed the mountains in scales, And the hills in a balance?

The Sun ariseth, and the Brothers gather together,

They go forth unto their work in the fields;

With strong backs and cheerful hearts they go forth

To labor together in the Garden of the Brotherhood.

They are the Workers of Good,

Because they work the Good of the Heavenly Father.

They are the Cpirit, Conscience and Soul of those

Who teach the Divine Law and who struggle for the Holy Law.

With the right arm and the left, they till the soil,

And the desert bursts forth in colors of green and gold.

With the right arm and the left, they lay the stones

Which shall build on Earth the Kingdom of Heaven.

They are the messengers of the Angel of Work:

In them is revealed the Holy Law.

O Heavenly Father! How manifold are thy works!

In Wisdom hast thou made them all;

The Earth is full of thy riches.

Thou sendest the springs into the valleys,

Which run among the hills.Thou givest drink to every Holy Creature of the field,

And causeth the grass to grow for the Holy sweet Cows.

Thou settest the mighty Trees in their places, That the Birds of heaven may have their habitation,

And sing sweetly among the branches. Thou givest herbs for the service of all Beings,
That he may bring forth food out of the Earth.

In the hands of the Brothers all thy gifts bear Fruit,

For they are building on earth the Kingdom of Heaven.

Thou openest thine hand, they are filled with Good.

Thou sendest forth thy Spirit, they are created,

And together with thy holy Angels,

They shall renew the face of the Earth.

O thou Heavenly Father, Thou who art one alone! Reveal unto the Children of
Light: Which is the foremost place Wherein the earth feeleth the greatest Joy?

The Heavenly Father answering, said:

It is the place whereupon one of the Brothers

Who follow the holy Law, steppeth forth:

With his good thoughts, good words and good deeds

Whose back is strong in service,

Whose hands are not idle,

Who lifteth up his voice in full accord with the Holy Law.

That place is Holy whereon one of the Brothers

Soweth the most Of corn, of grass, of fruit:

Where he watereth that ground which is dry,

Or draineth the too wet soil

For the earth hath been given unto the keeping

Of the Children of Light,

That they treasure and care for it,

And bring from its depths only that

Which is for the nourishment of the body.

Blessed are the Children of Light

Whose joy is in the work of the Law,

Who labor in the Garden of the Brotherhood by day,

And join the Angels of the Heavenly Father by night.

From their lips is the story told, Which doth serve as a teaching for the sons of men: It is said that the trees went forth on a time To anoint a king over them; And they said unto the olive tree, "Reign thou over us."

But the olive Tree said unto them,

"Should I leave my fatness,

Wherewith by me they honor God and all Beings,

And go to be promoted over the Trees?"

And the trees said to the fig Tree,

"Come thou, and reign over us.

But the fig Tree said unto them,

"Should I forsake my sweetness, and my good Fruit,

And go to be promoted over the Trees?"

Then said the trees unto the Vine,

"Come thou, and reign over us.

And the Vine said unto them,

"Should I leave my wine,

Which cheereth God and all Beings,

And go to be promoted over the Trees?"

The beings of the Holy Law who fulfills his tasks

Does not need further Blessings.

THE ANGEL OF PEACE

For the earth shall be filled

with the Peace of the Heavenly Father And Mother,

as the waters cover the Sea.

I will invoke the Angel of Peace,

Whose breath is friendly,

Whose hand is clothed in power.

In the reign of Peace, there is neither hunger nor thirst,

Neither cold wind nor hot wind,

Neither old age nor death.

In the reign of Peace,

Both animals and humans shall be undying,

Waters and plants shall be undrying,

And the food of Life shall be never-failing.

It is said that the mountains

Shall bring Peace to the people,

And the little hills, Righteousness.

There shall be Peace

As long as the Sun and Moon endure,

Throughout all generations.

Peace shall come down like rain upon mown grass,

As showers that water the Earth.

In the reign of Peace shall the Law grow strong,

And the Children of Light shall have dominion

From sea to sea, unto the ends of the Earth.

The reign of Peace hath its Source

In the Heavenly Father And Mother;

By his strength he setteth fast the mountains,

He maketh the outgoings of morning and evening

To rejoice in the Light,

He bringeth to Earth the river of the Holy Law,

To water and enrich it,

He maketh soft the Earth with showers;

They drop upon the pastures of the wilderness,

And the little hills rejoice on every side.

The pastures are clothed with flocks;

The valleys also are covered over with corn;

They shout for joy, they also sing. O Heavenly Father!

Bring unto thy earth the reign of Peace!

Then shall we remember the words of him who taught of old the Children of Light:

I give the peace of thy Earthly Mother

To thy body,

And the peace of thy Heavenly Father To thy Spirit.

And let the peace of both

Reign among Heavenly Father And Mothers children.

Come to me all that are weary,

And that suffer in strife and affliction!

For my peace will strengthen thee and comfort thee.

For my peace is exceeding full of Joy.

Wherefore do I always greet thee after this manner:

Peace be with thee!

Do thou always, therefore, so greet one another,

That upon thy body may descend

The Peace of thy Earthly Mother,

And upon thy Spirit

The Peace of thy Heavenly Father.

And then wilt thou find peace also among thyselves,

For the Kingdom of the Law is within thee.

And return to thy Brothers

give thy peace to them also,

For happy are they that strive for peace,

For they will find the peace of the Heavenly Father.

And give to every one thy peace,

Even as I have given my peace unto thee.

For my peace is of God.

Peace be with thee

THE HEAVENLY FATHER

In the Heavenly Kingdom

There are Strange and Wondrous works,

For by His Spirit Himself and His Word All Things Consist.

There are yet hid greater things than these be,

For we have seen but a few of his works:

The Heavenly Father hath made all things.

The Spirit Beauty of Heaven, the Glory of the Stars,

Give Light in the highest places of the Heavenly Sea.

Sentinels of the most High, they stand in their order,

And never faint in their watches.

Look upon the rainbow, and praise him that made it;

Very beautiful it is in the brightness thereof

It compasseth the heaven about with a glorious circle,

And the hands of the most High have bended it.

By his Law he maketh the snow to fall apace,

And sendeth swiftly the lightnings of his Judgment.

Through this the treasures are opened,

And clouds fly forth as Birds.

By his great power he maketh the clouds firm,

And the hailstones are broken small.

At his sight the mountains are shaken,

And at his will the south wind bloweth.

The noise of the thunder maketh the earth to tremble:

So doth the northern storm and the whirlwind:

As Birds flying he scattereth the snow,

And the eye marvelleth

At the beauty of the whiteness thereof,

And the heart is astonished at the raining of it.

So do the heavens declare the glory of God,

And the firmament showeth his Handiwork.

Who hath made the waters,

And who maketh the plants?

Who to the wind hath yoked the storm-clouds,

The swift and even the fleetest?

Who, O Heavenly Father And Mother,

Is the creator of the Holy Law within our Souls?

Who hath made the Light and the darkness?

Who hath made sleep and the zest of the waking hours?

Who gave the recurring sun and Stars

Their undeviating way?

Who established that whereby the Moon doth wax

And whereby she waneth?

Who, save thee, Heavenly Father And Mother,

Hath done these glorious things!

Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place

In all generations.

Before the mountains were brought forth,

Or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world,

Even from Everlasting to Everlasting, Thou Art the Holy Law.

Thy name is Understanding,

Thy name is Wisdom,

Thy name is the Most Beneficent,

Thy name is the Unconquerable One,

Thy name is He Who maketh the true account,

Thy name is the All-seeing One,

Thy name is the Healing One,

Thy name is the Creator.

Thou art the Keeper,

Thou art the Creator and the Maintainer;

Thou art the Discerner and the Spirit.

Thou art the Holy Law.

These names were pronounced

Before the Creation of this Heaven,

Be-fore the making of the waters and of the plants,

Before the birth of our holy Father Enoch.

Before the beginning of Time,

The Heavenly Father planted the holy Tree of Life,

Which standeth forever in the midst of the Eternal Sea

High in its branches sings a Bird,

And only those who have journeyed there,

And have heard the mysterious song of the Bird,

Only those shall see the Heavenly Father.

They shall ask of him his Name,

And he shall answer, I Am That I Am,

Being ever the same as the Eternal I Am.

O thou Heavenly Father And Mother!

How excellent is thy name in all the Earth!

Thou hast set thy glory above the Heavens.

When we consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers,

The moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained,

What is man, that thou art mindful of him?

Yet thou hast made a Covenant

With the Children of Light,

And they walk with thy holy Angels;

Thou hast crowned them with glory and honor,

Thou madest them to be Ministering Spirits

Over the works of thy hands,

And gavest unto them

The task of Nourishing and Protecting

All that lives and grows on thy Green Earth.

O Heavenly Father!

How excellent is thy name in all the Earth!

Hear the voice Of one who cries out to thee:

Whither shall I go from thy Spirit?

Or whither shall I flee from thy Presence?

If I ascend up into Heaven, thou art there;

If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.

If I take the Wings of the morning,

And dwell in the uttermost parts of the Sea,

Even there shall thy hand lead me,

And thy right hand shall hold me.

If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me,

Even the night shall be light about me;

Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee

But the night shineth as the day:

The darkness and the light are both alike to thee,

For thou hast possessed my reins.

As the hart panteth after the water brooks,

So panteth my soul after thee, O God.

My soul thirsteth for the living Heavenly Father.

The Law is my Light and Salvation;

Whom shall I fear?

7he Law is the rock and the strength of my life;

Of whom shall I be afraid?

One thing have I desired of the Holy Law,

That I will seek after:

That I may dwell in the house of the Law

All the days of my Life,

To behold the beauty of the Heavenly Father.

Those who dwell in the secret place of the most High

Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

We will say of the Law,

"Thou art our refuge and our fortress;

We will trust in the Holy Law.

And the Heavenly Father

Shall cover us with his feathers,

And under his wings shall we trust;

His truth shall be our shield and buckler.

We shall not be afraid for the terror by night,

Nor for the arrow that flieth by day,

Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness,

No rfor the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

For by day we shall walk

With the Angels of the Earthly Mother,

By night we shall commune

With the Angels of the Heavenly Father,

And when the sun reacheth its zenith at noontide,

We shall stand silent before the Sevenfold Peace:

And no evil shall befall us,

Neither shall any plague come nigh our dwelling,

For he hath given his Angels charge over us,

To keep us in all their ways.

The Heavenly Father is our refuge and strength.

Therefore will not we fear,

Though the Earth be removed,

And though the Mountains be carried

Into the midst of the Sea,

Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled,

Though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof

There is a river, which floweth to the Eternal Sea.

Beside the river stands the holy Tree of Life.

There doth my Father dwell, and my home is in him.

The Heavenly Father and I are One.

THE HOLY LAW

Thou, O Holy Divine Law,

The Tree of Life

That standeth in the middle of the Eternal Sea,

That is called,

The Tree of Healing.

The Tree of powerful Healing,

The Tree of all Healing,

And upon which rests the seeds

Of all we invoke.

Have ye-not known?

Have ye not heard?

Hath it not been told thee from the beginning?

Lift up thine eyes on high, and behold the Holy Law,

Which was established before the Eternal,

Sovereign and Luminous space,

Which hath created the foundations of the Earth,

Which is the first and the last,

Which liveth in the hearts of the Children of Light.

For the Divine And Holy Law is Great,

As the Heavenly Father is great above his Angels:

He it is who giveth us the Divine Law, and He is the Holy Law:

In his hand are the deep places of the Earth;

The strength of the hills is his also.

The Sea is his, and he made it,

And his hands formed the dry land

Come, let us worship and bow down,

Let us kneel before the Heavenly Father And Mother,

For he is the Holy Law,

And we are the people of his pasture,

And the sheep of his hand

With songs of gladness the children of Light

Invoke the Holy Law:

Sickness flies away before it,

Death flies away,

Ignorance flies away.

Pride, scorn and hot fever,

Slander, discord and evil,

All anger and violence,

And lying words of falsehood,

All fly away before the power of the Holy Law.

Here is the Divine Law

Which will smite all sickness, which will smite all death,

Which will smite the oppressors of men,

Which will smite pride,

Which will smite scorn,

Which will smite hot fevers, which will smite all slanders,

Which will smite all discords, which will smite the worst of evil,

Which will banish ignorance from the Earth.

We bless the invocation and prayer,

The strength and vigor of the Holy Law.

We invoke the spirit, conscience and soul of the

Children of Light who teach the Holy Law,

Who struggle in the kingdom of darkness

To bring the light of the Law to the sons of men.

We bless that victory

Of good thoughts, good words, and good deeds,

Which make strong the foundations of the Kingdom of Light.

Let the sons of men who think, speak and do

All good thoughts, words and deeds

Inhabit heaven as their home.

And let those who think, speak and do

Evil thoughts, words and deeds

Abide in chaos.

Purity is for All Beings, along with Divine Life,

The greatest of good:

That purity is in the Holy Law,

Which maketh grass to grow upon the mountains,

And maketh clean the hearts Of men.

With good thoughts, good words, and good deeds

Clean shall be the Air and Fire,

Clean the Water,

Clean the Earth,

Clean the Stars, the Moon and the Sun,

Clean the faithful man and the faithful woman,

Clean the boundless, eternal Light,

Clean the Kingdom of the Earthly Mother

And the Kingdom of the Heavenly Father,

Clean the good things made by the Divine Law,

Whose offspring is the Holy Creation.

To obtain the treasures of the material world, O sons of men,

Forego not the world of the Divine Law.

For he who, to obtain the treasures

Of the material world,

Destroyeth in him the world of the Holy Law,

Such an one shall possess neither force of Life

Nor the Law,

Neither the Celestial Light.

But he who walks with the Angels,

And who followeth the Holy Law,

He shall obtain everything good:

He shall enter the Eternal Sea

Where standeth the Tree of Life.

T'he Communions of the Law are perfect,

Converting the soul from darkness to light;

The testimony of the Divine Law is sure,

Making wise the simple.

T'he statutes of the Law are right, rejoicing the heart;

The commandment of the Law is pure,

Enlightening the eyes.

The truth of the Law is clean, enduring forever.

Let the Children of Light triumph everywhere

Between the Heavens and the Earth!

Let us breathe the Holy Law in our prayer:

How beautiful are thy tabernacles,

O Heavenly Father!

My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth

For the Tree of Life

That standeth in the middle of the Eternal Sea.

My heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.

Yea, the sparrow hath found a house,

And the swallow a nest for herself,

Where she may lay her young.

The Children of Light

Who labor in the Garden of the Brotherhood

Abide in the Holy Law:

Blessed are they who dwell therein

THE ANGELS

The Heavenly Father

Gave his Angels charge

Concerning thee:

And in their hands

They shall bear thee up,

Even unto the Tree of Life

That standeth in the midst

Of the Eternal Sea...

For the wisdom of the Law,

For the unconquerable power of the Law,

And for the vigor of health,

For the Glory of the Heavenly Father

And the Earthly Mother,

And for all the boons and remedies

Of the Sevenfold Peace,

Do we worship the Holy Angels,

Our efforts for whom

And Communions to whom

Make us good in the eyes of Heavenly Father.

The Law is fulfilled according to the Angels,

The Bright and Holy Ones,

Whose looks perform their wish,

Strong, lordly,

Who are undecaying and holy,

Who are seven and seven all of one Thought,

Who are seven and seven all of one Speech,

Who are seven and seven all of one Deed.

Whose Thought is the same,

Whose Speech is the same,

Whose Deed is the same,

Whose Father is the same,

Namely, the Heavenly Father!

The Angels who see one another's souls,

Who bring the Kingdom of the Earthly Mother

And the Kingdom of the Heavenly Father

To the Children of Light

Who labor in the Garden of the Brotherhood.

The Angels who are the makers and Governors,

The Shapers and Overseers,

The Keepers and Preservers of the abundant Earth!

And of all Creations of the Heavenly Father.

We invoke the good, the strong, the Beneficent

Angels of the Heavenly Father and the Earthly Mother!

That of the Light!

That of the Sky!

That of the Waters!

That of the Earth!

That of the Plants!

That of the Children of Light!

That of the Eternal Holy Creation!

We worship the Angels

Who first listened unto the thought and teaching

Of the Heavenly Father,

Of whom the Angels formed the seed of the nations.

We worship the Angels

Who first touched the brow of our Father Enoch,

And guided the Children of Light

Through the seven and seven Paths

Which lead to the Tree of Life

That standeth forever in the midst of the Eternal Sea.

We worship all the Angels,

The good, heroic and bounteous Angels,

Of the bodily world of the Earthly Mother,

And those of the Invisible Realms,

Those in the Celestial Worlds of the Heavenly Father.

We worship the ever blessing immortal Angels,

The brilliant ones of splendorous countenance,

The lofty and All devoted Creatures of the Heavenly Father,

They who are imperishable and Holy.

We worship the resplendent, the glorious,

The bountiful Holy Angels,

Who rule aright, and who adjust all things rightly.

Hear the glad voices of the Children of Light,

Who sing the praise of the Holy Angels

As they labor in the Garden of the Brotherhood:

We sing with gladness to the waters, land and plants,

To this earth and to the heavens,

To the holy wind, and the holy sun and moon,

To the eternal stars without beginning,

And to all the holy creatures of the Heavenly Father.

We sing with gladness unto the Holy Law,

Which is the Heavenly Order,

To the days and to the nights,

To the years and to the seasons

Which are the pillars of the Heavenly Order.

We worship the Angels of the Day,

And the Angels of the Month,

Aose of the Years, and those of the Seasons,

All the good, the heroic,

The ever blessing immortal Angels

Who maintain and preserve the Heavenly order.

We desire to approach the mighty Angels,

All the Angels of the Heavenly Order,

Because of the Holy Law,

Which is the best of all Good.

We do present these thoughts well thought,

These words well spoken,

These deeds well done,

To the bountiful, immortal Angels,

Those who exercise their right rule.

We do present these offerings

To the Angels of the Day,

And the Angels of the Night,

Ile ever-living, the ever-helpful,

Who dwell eternally with the Divine Mind.

May the good and heroic and bountiful

Angels of the Heavenly Father

And the Earthly Mother

Walk with their holy feet

In the Garden of the Brotherhood,

And may they go hand in hand with us

With the healing virtues of their blessed gifts,

As wide-spread as the Earth,

As far-spread as the Rivers,

As high-reaching as the Sun,

For the furtherance of the betterment of man,

And for abundant growth.

It is they, the Holy Angels,

Who shall restore the World!

Which will thenceforth never grow old and never die!

Never decaying, ever living and ever increasing.

T'hen Life and Immortality will come

And the World will be restored!

Creation will grow deathless,

The Kingdom of the Heavenly Father will prosper,

And evil shall have perished!

THE BROTHERHOOD

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For the Children of Light

To dwell together in unity!

For the Brotherhood

The Heavenly Father

Hath commanded the Law.

Even life for evermore.

The Law was planted in the Garden of the Brotherhood

To illumine the hearts of the Children of Light,

To make straight before them

The seven and seven paths leading to the Tree of Life

Which standeth in the midst of the Eternal Sea;

T'he Law was planted in the Garden of the Brotherhood,

That they might recognize

The spirits of truth and falsehood,

Truth born out of the spring of Light,

Falsehood from the well of darkness.

The dominion of all the Children of Truth

Is in the hands of the mighty angels of Light,

So that they walk in the ways of Light.

T'he Children of Light are the servants of the Law,

And the Heavenly Father shall not forget them.

He hath blotted out their sins as a thick cloud;

He hath lit the candle of Truth within their hearts.

Sing, O ye heavens,

Shout, ye lower parts of the earth,

Break forth into singing, ye mountains,

O forest, and every tree therein:

For the Heavenly Father hath kindled his flame

In the hearts of the Children of Light,

And glorified himself in them.

The Holy Law of the Creator

Purifieth the followers of the Light

From every evil thought, word and deed,

As a swift-rushing mighty wind

Doth cleanse the plain.

Let the child of Light who so desireth

Be taught the Holy Word,

During the first watch of the day and the last,

During the first watch of the night and the last,

That his mind may be increased in intelligence

And his soul wax strong in the Holy Law.

At the hour of dawn

He shall gaze upon the rising sun

And greet with joy his Earthly Mother.

At the hour of dawn

He shall wash his body in the cool water

And greet with joy his Earthly Mother.

At the hour of dawn

He shall breathe the fragrant air

And greet with joy his Earthly Mother.

And through the day

He shall labor with his brethren

In the Garden of the Brotherhood.

In the hour of twilight

He shall gather with his brothers,

And together they shall study the holy words

Of our fathers, and their fathers' fathers,

Even unto the words of our Father Enoch.

And when the stars are high in the heavens

He shall commune

With the holy Angels of the Heavenly Father.

And his voice shall be raised with gladness

Unto the most High, saying,

We worship the Creator,

T'he maker of all good things:

And Good Mind,

And of the Law,

Immortality,

And the Holy Fire of Life.

We do offer to the Law

The Wisdom of the Tongue,

Holy Speech, Deeds, and rightly-spoken Words.

Grant us, Heavenly Father,

That we may bring down abundance

To the world thou hast created,

That we may take away both hunger and thirst

From the world thou hast created,

That we may take away both old age and death

From the world thou hast created.

O good, most beneficent Heavenly Father!

Grant us that we may think

According to the Law,

That we may speak

According to the Law,

Ilat we may do

According to the Law.

O Heavenly Father,

What is the invocation most worthy

In greatness and goodness?

It is that one, O Children of Light,

That one delivers

When waking up and rising from sleep,

At the same time professing

Good thoughts, good words and good deeds,

And rejecting evil thoughts, evil words and evil deeds.

The first step

That the soul of the Child of Light did make,

Placed him in the Good Thought Paradise,

The Holy Realm of Wisdom. The second step

That the soul of the Child of Light did make,

Placed him in the Good Word Paradise,

The Holy Realm of Love.

The third step

That the soul of the Child of Light did make,

Placed him in the Good Deed Paradise,

The Holy Realm of Power.

The fourth step

Ilat the soul of the Child of Light did make,

Placed him in the Endless Light.

The Heavenly Father knoweth the hearts

Of the Children of Light,

And their inheritance shall be for ever.

They shall not be afraid in the evil time:

And in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.

For with them is the Fountain of Life,

And the Heavenly Father forsaketh not his children.

Their souls shall breathe forever and ever,

And their forms shall be endowed with Eternal Life.

Blessings on the Children of Light

Who have cast their lot with the Law,

That walk truthfully in all their ways.

May the Law bless them with all good

And keep them from all evil,

And illumine their hearts

With insight into the things of life

And grace them with knowledge of things eternal.

TREES

Go towards the high growing Trees,

And before one of them

Which is beautiful, high growing and mighty,

Say thou these words:

Hail be unto Thee!

O good living Tree,

Made by the Creator.

In the days of old, when the Creation was young,

The earth was filled with giant Trees,

Whose branches soared above the clouds,

And in them dwelled our Ancient Fathers,

They who walked with the Angels,

And who lived by the Holy Law.

In the shadow of their branches all men lived in Peace,

And wisdom and knowledge was theirs,

And the revelation of the Endless Light.

Through their forests flowed the Eternal River,

And in the center stood the Tree of Life,

And it was not hidden from them.

They ate from the table of the Earthly Mother,

And slept in the arms of the Heavenly Father,

And their covenant was for eternity with the Holy Law.

In that time the Trees were the brothers of men,

And their span on the earth was very long,

As long as the Eternal River,

Which-flowed without ceasing

From the Unknown Spring.

Now the desert sweeps the earth with burning sand,

The giant trees are dust and ashes,

And the wide river is a pool of mud.

For the sacred covenant with the Creator

Was broken by the sons of men,

And they were banished from their home of trees.

Now the path leading to the Tree of Life

Is hidden from the eyes of men,

And sorrow fills the empty sky

Where once the lofty branches soared.

Now into the burning desert

Come the Children of Light,

To labor in the Garden of the Brotherhood.

The seed they plant in the barren soil

Will become a mighty forest,

And trees shall multiply

And spread their wings of green

Until the whole earth be covered once again.

The whole earth shall be a garden,

And the tall trees shall cover the land

In that day shall sing the Children of Light a new song:

My brother, Tree!

Let me not hide myselffrom thee,

But let us share the breath of life

Which our Earthly Mother hath given to us.

More beautiful than the finest jewel

Of the rugmaker's art,

Is the carpet of green leaves under my bare feet;

More majestic than the silken canopy of the rich merchant,

Is the tent of branches above my head,

Through which the bright stars give light.

The wind among the leaves of the cypress

Maketh a sound like unto a chorus of angels.

Through the rugged oak and royal cedar

The Earthly Mother hath sent a message of Eternal Life

To the Heavenly Father.

My prayer goeth forth unto the tall Trees:

And their branches reaching skyward

Shall carry my voice to the Heavenly Father.

For each child thou shalt plant a tree,

Tthat the womb of thy Earthly Mother

Shall bring forth life,

As the womb of woman doth bring forth life.

He who doth destroy a Tree

Hath cut off his own limbs.

Thus shall sing the Children of Light,

When the earth again shall be a garden:

Holy Tree, divine gift of the Law!

Thy majesty reunites all those

Who have strayed from their true home,

Which is the Garden of the Brotherhood.

All men will become brothers once again

Under thy spreading branches.

As the Heavenly Father hath loved all his children,

So shall we love and care for the Trees

That grow in our land,

So shall we keep and protect them,

That they may grow tall and strong,

And fill the earth again with their beauty.

For the Trees are our brothers,

And as brothers,

We shall guard and love one another.

STARS

The white, shining,

Far seen Stars!

The piercing, health-bringing, Far piercing Stars!

Their shining rays,

Their brightness and glory

Are all, through thy Holy Law,

The Speakers of thy praise,

O Heavenly Father!

Over the face of heaven

Did the Heavenly Father hurl his might:

And lo! He did leave a River of Stars in his wake!

We invoke the bright and glorious Stars

That wash away all things of fear

And bring health and life unto all Creations.

We invoke the bright and glorious Stars

To which the Heavenly Father

Hath given a thousand senses,

The glorious Stars that have within themselves

The Seed of Life and of Water.

Unto the bright and glorious Stars

Do we offer up an Invocation:

With wisdom, power and love,

With speech, deeds and rightly-spoken words,

Do we sacrifice unto the bright and glorious Stars

That fly towards the Heavenly Sea

As swiftly as the arrow

Darteth through heavenly Space.

We invoke the bright and glorious Stars,

T'hat stand out beautiful,

Spreading comfort and Joy

As they commune within themselves.

The Holy Works,

The Stars, the Suns, and the many-colored Dawn

Which bringeth on the Light of Days,

Are all, through their Heavenly Order,

The Speakers of thy Praise,

O thou great giver, the Holy Law!

We invoke the Lord of the Stars,

The Angel of Light,

The Ever-Awake!

Who taketh possession

of the beautiful, wide-expanding Law,

Greatly and powerfully,

And whose face looketh over

All the seven and seven Kingdoms of the Earth;

Who is swift amongst the swift,

Bountiful amongst the bounteous,

Strong amongst the strong,

The Giver of Increase,

The Giver of Sovereignty,

The Giver of Cheerfulness and Bliss.

We invoke the Lord of the Stars, The Angel of Light,

Who is truth-speaking,

With a thousand ears and ten thousand eyes,

With full knowledge, strong and ever-awake.

The Heavenly Order pervades all things pure,

Whose are the Stars,

In whose Light the glorious Angels are clothed.

Great is our Heavenly Father, and of great power:

His understanding is infinite.

He telleth the number of the stars;

He calleth them all by their names.

Behold the height of the stars!

How high they are!

Yet the Heavenly Father doth hold them in his palms,

As we do sift the sand in ours.

He who knoweth not the Holy Law

Is as a wandering star

In the darkness of an unknown sky.

Thinkest thou there is but one way

To see the firmament?

Suppose ye the stars were but broken places in the sky

Through which the glory of heaven is revealed

In fragments of blazing light!

In the purple night

Traversed by the continual Stars

Shall the souls of the Children of Light

Take wing and join the Angels of the Heavenly Father.

Then shall the Eternal Sea

Reflect the shining glory of the heavens,

And the branches of the Tree of Life reach to the Stars.

Then shall the Kingdom of Heaven

Fill all the earth with Glory,

And the shining Stars of the most High

Shall blaze within the hearts of the Children of Light

And warm and comfort the seeking sons of men.

THE MOON

Unto the luminous Moon

Which keepeth within itself

The seed of many species,

Let there be invocation

With sacrifice and prayer...

When the Light of the Moon waxeth warmer,

Golden hued plants grow up from the earth

During the season of Spring.

We sacrifice unto the New Moons

And unto the Full Moons;

The crescent of the New Moon is full of holy Peace

We sacrifice unto the Angel of Peace.

The radiant and luminous Moon

Keepeth within itself the seed:

The bright, the glorious,

The water-giving,

The warmth-giving,

The wisdom-giving,

The thoughtfulness-giving,

The freshness-giving,

The healing one, the Moon of Peace!

With silent and peace-giving light

The Moon doth shine

Upon the pastures, the abodes,

The waters, the lands and the plants

Of our earthly garden.

The Moon and the Sun,

The holy Wind and the Stars without beginning,

Self-determined and self-moved,

All are regulators of the Holy order,

of the days and nights, of the months and years.

The face of the Moon doth change its aspect,

Yet is ever the same:

As the Holy Law doth reveal a different face

To each of the Children of Light,

Yet is unchanged in its Essence.

We invoke the New Moon and the Moon that is waning,

And the Full Moon that scattereth the Night,

And the yearly festivals and the seasons of the Heavenly Father.

For it was he who gavest the moon

Her increase and her decrease,

T'hat through her we might know the movements

Of the day and of the night.

Thou silver and luminous moon!

We are grateful that we may look on thee,

And see in thy reflection

The blessed face of our Earthly Mother.

Among the world of the sons of men,

The Brothers of Light are flames of radiance,

As the stars pale in the presence of the bright and shining moon.

The moon walketh in brightness across the sky,

And delight in the Holy Law doth fill our hearts.

Peace, Peace, Peace,

Holy Angel of Peace,

Illumine the silver moon with thy holiness,

That all may look upon its beauty

And feel thy eternal Peace.

The desert sky is blue with night,

And we see the first ray of the New Moon

Chaste and beautiful.

Then do the Brothers greet one another,

Saying, "Peace be with thee!

Peace be with thee!"

PSALMS OF PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING

I am grateful, Heavenly Father,

For thou hast raised me to an eternal height,

And I walk in the wonders of the plain.

Thou gavest me guidance

To reach thine eternal company

From the depths of the earth.

Thou hast purified my body

To join the army of the angels of the earth

And my spirit to reach

The congregation of the heavenly angels.

Thou gavest man eternity

To praise at dawn and dusk

Thy works and wonders in joyful song.

O all ye works of the Heavenly Order,

Bless ye the Law:

Praise and exalt the Law above all for ever.

O ye heavens, bless ye the Law:

Praise and exalt the Law above all for ever.

O ye Angels of the Heavenly Father,

And ye Angels of the Earthly Mother,

Bless ye the Law:

Praise and exalt the Law above all for ever.

O all ye waters that be above the heavens,

Bless ye the Law.

All ye powers of the Holy Angels,

bless ye the Law.

ye sun and moon, bless ye the Law.

ye stars of heaven, bless ye the Law.

every shower and dew, bless ye the Law.

all ye winds, bless ye the Law.

ye fire and heat, bless ye the Law.

ye winter and summer, bless ye the Law.

ye light and darkness, bless ye the Law.

ye dews and storms of snow, bless ye the Law.

ye nights and days, bless ye the Law.

ye lightnings and clouds, bless ye the Law.

ye mountains and little hills, bless ye the Law.

all ye things that grow on the earth, bless ye the Law.

ye fountains, bless ye the Law.

ye seas and rivers, bless ye the Law.

O ye whales, and all that move in the waters,

Bless ye the Law.

O all ye fowls of the air, bless ye the Law.

O all ye beasts and cattle, bless ye the Law.

O ye children of men, bless ye the Law.

O ye spirits and souls of the Children of Light,

Bless ye the Law.

ye holy and humble workers

In the Garden of the Brotherhood, bless ye the Law.

O let the whole earth bless the Law!

O give thanks unto the Heavenly Father,

And bless ye his Law.

O all ye that worship the Law,

Give praise unto the Heavenly Father

And the Earthly Mother,

And all the Holy Angels,

And give unto them thanks,

For the Law endureth for ever.

We worship the Law by day and by night.

Hail to the Heavenly Father!

Hail to the Earthly Mother!

Hail to the Holy Angels!

Hail to the Children of Light!

Hail to our holy Father Enoch!

Hail to the whole of Holy Creation that was, that is, or ever shall be!

We sacrifice unto the bright and glorious stars,

We sacrifice unto the sovereign sky,

We sacrifice unto boundless time,

We sacrifice unto the good Law

Of the worshipers of the Creator,

Of the Children of Light

Who labor in the Garden of the Brotherhood;

We sacrifice unto the way of the Holy Law.

We sacrifice unto all the Holy Angels

Of the world unseen;

We sacrifice unto all the Holy Angels Of the material world.

·give thanks unto the Heavenly Father, for he is good,

·give thanks unto the God of the Angels,

·give thanks unto the Lord of Light,

For his mercy endureth for ever.

To him who alone doeth great wonders,

To him that by wisdom made the heavens,

To him that stretched out the earth above the waters,

To him that made great lights in the heavens,

To him that made the sun to rule by day,

And the moon and stars to rule by night,

Give unending praise and thanksgiving,

For his mercy endureth for ever.

And we do worship the ancient and holy religion,

Which was instituted at the Creation,

Which was on the earth in the time of the Great Trees;

The holy religion of the Creator,

The resplendent and the glorious,

Revealed unto our Father Enoch.

We do worship the Creator,

And the Fire of Life,

And the good Waters which are Holy,

And the resplendent Sun and the Moon,

And the lustrous, glorious Stars;

And most of all we do worship the Holy Law,

Which the Creator, our Heavenly Father,

Hath given to us.

It is the Law which maketh holy our dwelling place,

Which is the wide green earth.

Praise ye the Law!

The Law healeth the broken in heart,

And bindeth up their wounds.

Great is the Law, and ofgreat power;

The understanding of the Law is infinite.

The Law lifteth up the meek,

And casteth the wicked down to the ground.

Sing unto the Law with thanksgiving,

Sing praise upon the harp unto the Law,

Which covereth the heaven with clouds,

Which prepareth rain for the earth,

Which maketh grass to grow upon the mountains.

We praise aloud the well-thought Thought,

The Word well-spoken,

And the Deed well-done.

We will come to thee, O ye bountiful immortals!

We will come to thee, extolling and invoking thee,

Angels of the Heavenly Father and the Earthly Mother!

We do worship the Holy Lord of the Heavenly Order,

The Creator of all good creatures of the earth.

And we do worship the utterances of our Father Enoch,

And his ancient, pure religion,

His faith and his lore, older than the beginning of time.

We will sing unto the Law as long as we live,

We will sing praise unto our Heavenly Father

While we have our being,

While the Garden of the Brotherhood doth endure.

Our Communions with the Angels shall be sweet;

We will be glad in the Law.

Bless thou the Law, O my soul.

Praise ye the Holy Law.

The Children of Light love the Law,

Because the Law heareth our voices

And our supplications.

An all-hearing ear hath the Law inclined unto us,

Therefore will we call upon the Law as long as we live.

The Law hath delivered our souls from death,

Our eyes from tears, and our feet from falling.

We will walk before the Law in the land of the living:

In the paths of the Infinite

Garden of the Brotherhood.

The days of the sons of men are as grass;

As flowers of the field, so they flourish.

For the wind passeth over them, and they are gone:

But the mercy of the Law is from everlasting

To everlasting upon them that follow it.

Bless the Heavenly Father, all ye his Angels;

Ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure.

Bless the Lord, all his works,

In all places of his dominion:

Bless the Lord, O my soul.

O Heavenly Father, thou art very great!

Thou art clothed with honor and majesty.

Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment,

Who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain,

Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters,

Who maketh the clouds his chariot,

Who walketh upon the wings of the wind,

Who maketh his Angels spirits,

His Children of Light a flaming fire

To kindle the Truth in the hearts of the sons of men,

Who laid the foundations of the earth.

Bless the Heavenly Father, O my soul!

LAMENTS

Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord.

Lord, hear my voice!

Hear my prayer, O Lord,

And let my cry come unto thee.

Hide not thy face from me

In the day when I am in trouble;

Incline thine ear unto me;

In the day when I call answer me speedily.

For my days are consumed like smoke,

And my bones are burned as a hearth.

My heart is smitten, and withered like grass;

So that I forget to eat my bread.

By reason of the voice of my groaning

My bones cleave to my skin.

I am like a pelican of the wilderness;

I am like an owl of the desert.

I watch, and am as a sparrow,

Alone upon the house top.

My days are like a shadow that declineth;

And I am withered like grass.

O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days:

The heavens are the work of thy hands.

They shall perish, but thou shalt endure.

The first step taken

By the soul of the wicked man,

Laid him in the evil thought hell.

The second step take

By the soul of the wicked man,

Laid him in the evil word hell.

The third step taken

By the soul of the wicked man,

Laid him in the evil deed hell.

The fourth step taken

By the soul of the wicked man,

Laid him in endless darkness.

I know that thou canst do all things,

And that no purpose of thine-can be restrained.

Now mine eye seeth thee,

Wherefore I abhor myself,

And repent in dust and ashes.

.For the wicked sons of men

Have sinned against themselves,

And their hell of evil thoughts, evil words and evil deeds

Is a hell of their own making.

But my anguish and my bitter tears

Are for our ancient fathers,

Who sinned against the Creator,

And were banished

From the Holy Kingdom of the Great Trees.

Wherefore I weep, and hide my face in sorrow,

For the beauty of the Lost Garden,

And the vanished sweetness of the song of the Bird,

Who sang in the branches of the Tree of Life.

Have mercy upon me, O God,

And cleanse me from my sin.

The joy of our hearts is ceased,

Our dance is turned into mourning.

The crown is fallen from our head:

Woe unto us, that we have sinned!

For this our heart is faint,

For these things our eyes are dim.

Thou, O Heavenly Father, remainest forever,

'Ay throne from generation to generation.

Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever,

And forsake us so long time?

Turn thou us unto thee, O Lord,

Renew our days as of old.

Where there is no righteousness or compassion,

There wild beasts of the desert shall lie;

And their houses shall be full of doleful creatures.

And owls shall dwell there,

And satyrs shall dance there.

And the wild beasts shall cry in their desolate houses.

Wash me, O Lord, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Make me to hear joy and gladness;

Hide thy face from my sins,

And blot out all mine iniquities.

Create in me a clean heart, O God,'

And renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from thy presence;

And take not thy holy spirit from me.

Restore unto me the joy of thy Infinite Garden,

And uphold me with thy Holy Angels.

Let me drive away all evil things

And all uncleanness,

From the fire, the water,

The earth, the trees,

From the faithful man and the faithful woman,

From the stars, the moon, the sun,

From the boundless Light,

And from all good things,

Made by thee, O Heavenly Father,

Whose offspring is the Holy Law.

By the rivers of Babylon,

7here we sat down, yea, we wept,

When we remembered Zion.

We hanged our harps upon the willows.

How shall we sing the Lord's song in a wicked land?

If I forget thee, O Jerusalem,

Let my right hand forget her cunning.

If I do not remember thee,

Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth;

For Babylon is the slavery in the world,

And Zion is the freedom in the Brotherhood.

O Lord, to thee will I cry!

For the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness,

And the flame hath burned All the trees of the field.

The beasts of the field cry also unto thee:

For the rivers Of waters are dried up,

And the fire hath devoured

The pastures of the wilderness.

Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble:

For the Day of the Lord cometh,

For it is nigh at hand;

A day of darkness and gloominess,

A day of clouds and of thick darkness,

A day when the earth shall quake,

And the heavens shall tremble.

The sun and the moon shall be dark,

And the stars shall withdraw their shining.

Out of the depths will we cry unto thee, O Lord!

Lord, hear thou our voices!

PROPHECIES

Hearken unto me, my people,

And give ear unto me!

Lift up thine eyes to the heavens,

And look upon the earth beneath:

For the heavens shall vanish away like smoke,

And the earth shall wax old like a garment,

And they that dwell therein

Shall die in like manner:

But my Kingdom shall be for ever,

And my Law shall not be abolished.

And in that day hell shall enlarge herself,

And open her mouth without measure:

And the glory, the pride and the pomp of the wicked

Shall descend into it.

And the mean man shall be brought down,

And the mighty man shall be humbled

As the fire devoureth the stubble,

And the flame consumeth the chaff;

So their root shall be as rottenness,

And their blossom shall go up as dust.

Because they have cast away

The Holy Law of the Heavenly Order,

And despised the word of the Children of Light.

And in that day, one will look unto the land

And behold only darkness and sorrow,

And the light in the heavens shall be darkened.

The leaders of the people shall cause them to err,

And they that are led of them shall be destroyed.

For every one is an hypocrite and an evil doer,

And every mouth speaketh folly.

Wickedness burneth as the fire:

It shall devour the briars and thorns.

It shall kindle in the thickets of the forest,

And shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke.

Through the wrath of the Law

Shall the land be darkened,

For this hath man wrought upon himself.

And the people shall be as the fuel of the fire:

No man shall spare his brother.

Woe unto them that have kept not the Holy Law!

Woe unto the crown of pride!

Woe unto those who lust after the things of the world,

And corrupt themselves with wrongdoing,

Who err in vision, and stumble in judgment:

For they are a rebellious people, a lying people,

People who will not hear the Law of the Lord:

Which say to the seers, see not,

And to the Prophets, prophesy not unto us right things,

But speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits.

Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees,

And that write grievousness which they have prescribed.

Woe unto them that join house to house,

that lay field to field,

Till there be no place that a man may be alone

In the midst of the earth!

Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning,

Not to commune with the Angels,

But to follow strong drink, and continue until night,

Till the fumes of the wine inflame them!

Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil,

That put darkness for light, and light for darkness.

Woe unto them

That turn aside the needy from judgment,

And take away the right from the poor,

That make of widows their prey, and rob the fatherless!

Wherefore it shall come to pass

That the hand of the Lord shall lop the bough

With the judgment of the Law,

And the high ones of stature shall be hewn down

And the haughty shall be humbled.

Howl ye, for the day of the Law is at hand;

It shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.

Therefore shall all hands be faint,

And every man's heart shall melt.

And they shall be afraid:

Pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them;

They shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth:

They shall be amazed one at another:

T'heir faces shall be as flames.

Behold, the day of the Lord cometh

Cruel both with wrath and fierce anger,

To lay the land desolate:

And he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.

It shall come to pass in that day,

That the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones,

And the kings of the earth upon the earth.

And they shall be gathered together,

As prisoners are gathered in the pit,

And shall be shut up in the prison.

And the Lord shall come forth out of his place,

And will come down,

And tread upon the high places of the earth.

And the mountains shall be molten under him,

And the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire,

As the waters pour down a steep place.

Then the moon shall vanish, and the sun be obscured.

And the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof

Shall not give their light:

The sun shall be darkened in its going forth,

And the moon shall not cause her light to shine.

And the Lord will shake the heavens,

And the earth shall remove out of her place,

In the day of the wrath of the Law,

In the day of the fierce anger of the Lord.

And the shining cities shall be laid waste,

And wild beasts of the desert shall lie there;

The hay shall wither away, the grass shall fail,

And in all the earth there shall be no green thing.

In that day shall the strong cities

Be as a forsaken bough,

And a tempest of hail

Shall sweep away the refuge of lies,

And the angry waters

Shall overflow the hiding place of the -wicked.

And there shall be upon every high mountain,

And upon every high hill,

Rivers and streams Of waters

In the day of the great slaughter,

When the towers fall.

in that day shall the light of the moon

Be as the light of the sun,

And the light of the sun shall be sevenfold.

Behold, the name of the Law cometh from far,

Burning with hot anger,

And the burden thereof is heavy:

The lips of the Lord are full of indignation,

And his tongue is as a devouring fire.

He shall show the strength of his arm,

With the flame of consuming fire,

With scattering, and tempest, and hailstones.

The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled,

For the sons of men have turned away from the Law.

The city of confusion is broken down:

Every house is shut up, that no man may come in.

There is a crying and wailing in the streets:

All joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone.

And it shall come to pass,

That he who fleeth from the noise of the fear

Shall fall into the pit;

And he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit

Shall be taken in the snare:

For the windows from on high are open,

And the foundations of the earth do shake.

The earth is utterly broken down,

The earth is clean dissolved, The earth is moved exceedingly.

Then the moon shall be confounded,

The sun shall be ashamed,

And the earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard,

And shall fall, and shall not rise again.

And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved,

And the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll:

And all their host shall fall down,

As the leaf falleth offfrom the vine,

And as a falling fig from the fig tree.

The waters shall fail from the sea,

And the rivers shall be wasted and dried up.

Streams Of water shall be turned into pitch,

And the dust thereof into brimstone,

And the land thereof shall become burning pitch.

And the smoke shall not be quenched by night or day,

And no man shall pass through it.

But the cormorant and the bittern

Shall possess the land;

The owl also and the raven shall dwell in it.

And there shall stretch out upon it

The line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness.

They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom,

But none shall be there,

And all her princes shall be nothing.

And thorns shall come up in her palaces,

Nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof.,

And it shall be an habitation of dragons,

And a court for owls.

The ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly,

And the highways shall lie waste.

The glory of the forests shall be consumed,

And the fruitful field;

Yea, the trees shall be so few,

That a child may count them.

Behold, the day shall come,

That all that is in the earth,

And all that which thy fathers have laid up in store,

Shall be carried up in smoke,

For ye have forgotten thy Heavenly Father

And thy Earthly Mother,

And ye have broken the Holy Law.

oh that thou wouldst rend the heavens,

That thou wouldst come down,

T'hat the mountains might flow down at thy prese

When thy hand showed forth the power of thy Law

Thou camest down in fury:

The mountains flowed down at thy presence,

And the melting fires bumed.

Behold thou art wroth, for we have sinned.

We are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest,

Whose waters cast up mire and dirt.

We trust in vanity, and speak lies;

Our feet run to evil,

Wasting and destruction are in our paths.

We grope for the wall like the blind,

We stumble at noon day as in the night,

We are in desolate places as dead men.

But now, O Heavenly Father, thou art our father:

We are the clay, and thou our potter,

And we are all thy people.

Thy holy cities are a wilderness,

Thy forests are consumed,

All thy earth is a desolation.

Our holy and beautiful house

Where our fathers praised thee,

Is burned up with fire.

Even the ancient lore of our Father Enoch

Is trampled in the dust and ashes.

And I beheld the earth, and, lo,

It was without form, and void;

And the heavens, and they had no light.

I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled,

And all the hills moved lightly.

I beheld, and, lo, there was no man,

And all the birds of the heavens

I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness,

And all the cities thereof were broken down

At the presence of the Lord, and by his fierce anger.

For thus hath the Lord said,

The whole land shall be desolate;

Yet will I not make a full end.

Behold, the hand of the Law is not shortened,

That it cannot save;

Neither is the ear of the Law heavy,

That it cannot hear:

From out of the desert shall I bring forth a seed,

And the seed shall be planted

In the Garden of the Brotherhood,

And it shall flourish,

And the Children of Light shall cover the barren land

With tall grass and trees bearing fruit.

And they shall build the old waste places:

They shall repair the waste cities

The desolations of many generations.

They shall be called the repairers of the breach,

And the restorers of paths to dwell in.

They shall be a crown of glory on the head of the Lord

And a royal diadem in the hand of the Law.

The wilderness and the solitary place

Shall be glad for them,

And the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.

It shall blossom abundantly,

And rejoice even with joy and singing.

The eyes of the blind shall be opened,

And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped

Then shall the lame man leap as an hart

And the tongue of the dumb shall sing

For in the wilderness shall waters break out,

And flowing streams in the desert.

And the parched ground shall become a pool,

And the thirsty land springs of water.

And an highway shall be there, and a way,

And it shall be called the Way of the Law:

The unclean shall not pass over it,

But it shall be for the Children of Light

To cross over the Eternal River unto the hidden place

Where standeth the Tree of Life.

And the children of men shall return to the earth,

And come unto the Infinite Garden

With songs and everlasting joy upon their heads:

They shall obtain joy and gladness,

And sorrow and sighing shall flee away,

And it shall come to pass in the last days,

That the mountain of the Lord's house

Shall be established in the top of the mountains,

And shall be exalted above the hills;

And all the sons of men of the earth shall flow unto it.

And many people shall go and say,

'Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,

To the tabernacle of the Holy Law,

And the Holy Angels will teach us

of the ways of the Heavenly Father

And the Earthly Mother,

And we will walk in the paths of the righteous:

For out of the Garden of the Brotherhood

Shall go forth the Law,

And the word of the Lord from the Children of Light.

And the Lord shall judge among the nations,

And shall rebuke many people:

And they shall beat their swords into plowshares,

And their spears into pruning shears:

Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,

Neither shall they learn war any more.

Hear the voices of the Brothers,

Which cry aloud in the wilderness:

Prepare ye the way of the Law!

Make straight in the desert a highway for our God!

Every valley shall be exalted,

And every mountain and hill shall be made low:

And the crooked shall be made straight,

And the rough places plain:

And the voice of the Heavenly Father shall be heard:

1, even I, am the Law; and beside me there is no other.

Yea, before the day was I am He:

And there is none that can deliver out of my hand.

Hearken unto me, O Children of Light!

I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.

Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth,

And my right hand hath spanned the heavens.

Hearken unto me, O Children of Light!

Ye that know righteousness,

My children in whose hearts is my Law:

Ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace:

The mountains and the hills

Shall break forth before you into singing,

And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

Arise, shine, O Children of Light!

For my Light is come upon thee,

And thou shalt make the Glory of the Law

To rise upon the new earth!

~~ The Essene Book Of Peace ~ Book Two ~~

The ESSENE GOSPEL OF PEACE

Book Two

THE UNKNOWN BOOKS
OF THE ESSENES

The Original Hebrew and Aramaic Texts
Translated and edited by
EDMOND BORDEAUX SZEKELY
MCMLXXXI
INTERNATIONAL BIOGENIC SOCIETY
Book Design by Golondrina Graohics
Copyright @ 1981, by the Internation,l Blogenic Society
Printed In the United States of America-All Rights Reserved

CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction

The Vision Of Enoch,
God speaks to man the most ancient revelation

From the Essene Book Of Moses
The Ten Commandments

The Communions

Communions with the Angels of the Earthly Mother

The Angel of Sun

The Angel of Water

The Angel of Air

The Angel of Earth

The Angel of Life

The Angel of Joy

The Earthly Mother

Communions with the Angels of the Heavenly Father

The Angel of Power

The Angel of Love

The Angel of Wisdom

The Angel of Eternal Life

The Angel of Work

The Angel of Peace

The Heavenly Father

From the Essene Book of Jesus

The Sevenfold Peace

Peace with the Body

Peace with the Mind

Peace with the Brotherhood

Peace with Mankind

Peace with the Wisdom of the Ages

Peace with the Kingdom of the Earthly Mother

Peace with the Kingdom of the Heavenly Father

PREFACE

Book Two of the Essene Gospel of Peace

I have to begin this preface with a great confession: this is not my first translation of Book Two of the Essene Gospel of Peace; it is my second. The first effort took many years to complete, and it was composed painstakingly and literally, with hundreds of cross references and abundant philological and exegetical footnotes. When it was finished, I was very proud of it, and in a glow of selfsatisfied accomplishment, I gave it to my friend, Aldous Huxley, to read. Two weeks later, I asked him what he thought of my monumental translation. "It is very, very bad, he answered. "It is even worse than the most boring treatises of the patristics and scholastics, which nobody reads today. it is so dry and uninteresting, in fact, that I have no desire to read Book Three." I was speechless, so he continued. "You should rewrite it, and give it some of the vitality of your other books-make it literary, readable and attractive for twentieth century readers. I'm sure the Essenes did not speak to each other in footnotes! In the form it is in now, the only readers you will have for it may be a few dogmatists in theological seminaries, who seem to take masochistic pleasure in reading this sort of thing. However," he added with a smile, "you might find some value in it as a cure for insomnia; each time I tried to read it I fell asleep in a few minutes. You might try to sell a few copies that way by advertising a new sleep remedy in the health magazines-no harmful chemicals, and all that."

It took me a long time to recuperate from his criticism-. I put aside the manuscript for years. Meanwhile, I continued to receive thousands of letters from many readers from all parts of the world of my translation of Book One of the Essene Gospel of Peace, asking for the second and third books promised in the preface. Finally, I got the courage to start again. The passing of the years had mellowed my attitude and I saw my friend's criticism in a new light. I rewrote the entire manuscript, treating it as literature and poetry, coming to grips with the great problems of life, both ancient and contemporary. it was not easy to be faithful to the original, and at the same time to present the eternal truths in a way that would appeal to twentieth century man. And yet, it was vitally important that I try; for the Essenes, above all others, strove to win the hearts of men through reason, and the powerful and vivid example of their li ves.

Sadly, Aldous is no longer here to read my second translation. I have a feeling he would have liked it (not a single footnote!), but I will have to leave the final judgment to my readers. If Books Two and Three will become as popular as Book One, my efforts of many, many years will be amply rewarded.

EDMOND BORDEAUX SZEKELY

San Diego, California
the first of November, 1974.

INTRODUCTION

There are three paths leading to Truth. The first is the path of the consciousness, the second that of nature, and the third is the accumulated experience of past generations, which we receive in the shape of the great masterpieces of all ages. From time immemorial, man and humanity have followed all three paths.

The first path to Truth, the path of the consciousness, is that followed by the great mystics. They consider that the consciousness is the most immediate reality for us and is the key to the universe. it is something which is in us, which is us. And throughout the ages the mystics have made the discovery that the laws of human consciousness contain an aspect not found in the laws governing the material universe.

A certain dynamic unity exists in our consciousness, where one is at the same time many. it is possible for us to have simultaneously different thoughts, ideas, associations, images, memories and intuitions occupying our consciousness within fragments of a minute or a second, yet all this multiplicity will still constitute only a single dynamic unity. Therefore the laws of mathematics, which are valid for the material universe and are a key to its understanding, will not be valid in the field of consciousness, a realm where two and two do not necessarily make four. The mystics also found that measurements of space, time and weight, universally valid in nature and throughout the material universe, are not applicable to the consciousness, where sometimes a few seconds seem like hours, or hours like a minute.

Our consciousness does not exist in space and therefore cannot be measured in spatial terms. It has its own time, which is very often timelessness, so temporal measurements cannot be applied to Truth reached by this path. The great mystics discovered that the human consciousness, besides being the most immediate and the inmost reality for us, is at the same time our closest source of energy, harmony and knowledge. The path to Truth leading to and through the consciousness produced the great teachings of humanity, the great intuitions and the great masterpieces throughout the ages. Such then is the first path to or source of Truth, as the Essene traditions understand and interpret it.

Unfortunately, the magnificent original intuitions of the great masters often lose their vitality as they pass down the generations. They are very often modified, distorted and turned into dogmas, and all too frequently their values become petrified in institutions and organized hierarchies. The pure intuitions are choked by the sands of time, and eventually have to be dug out by seekers of Truth able to penetrate into their essence.

Another danger is that persons following this path to Truth, the path of the consciousness-may fall into exaggerations. They come to think that this is the only path to Truth and disregard all others. Very often, too, they apply the specific laws of the human consciousness to the material universe where they lack validity, and ignore the laws proper to the latter sphere. The mystic often creates for himself an artificial universe, farther and farther removed from reality, till he ends by living in an ivory tower, having lost all contact with reality and life.

The second of the three paths is the path of nature. While the first path of the consciousness starts from within and penetrates thence into the totality of things, the second path takes the opposite way. Its starting point is the external world. it is the path of the scientist, and has been followed in all ages through experience and through experiment, through the use of inductive and deductive methods.

The scientist, working with exact quantitative measurements, measures everything in space and time, and makes all possible correlations.

With his telescope he penetrates into far-distant cosmic space, into the various solar and galactic systems; through spectrum analysis he measures the constituents of the different planets in cosmic space; and by mathematical calculation he establishes in advance the movements of celestial bodies. Applying the law of cause and effect, the scientist establishes a long chain of causes and effects which help him to explain and measure the universe, as well as life.

But the scientist, like the mystic, sometimes falls into exaggerations. While science has transformed the life of mankind and has created great values, for man in all ages, it has failed to give entire satisfaction in the solution of the final problems of existence, life and the universe. The scientist has the long chain of causes and effects secure in all its particles, but he has no idea what to do with the end of the chain. He has no solid point to which he may attach the end of the chain, and so by the path to Truth through nature and the material universe he is unable to answer the great and eternal questions concerning the beginning and end of all things.

The greatest scientists recognize that in the metaphysical field beyond the scientific chain there is something else - continuing from the end of that chain. However, there are also the dogmatic scientists who deny any other approach to Truth than their own, who refuse to attribute reality to the facts and phenomena which they cannot fit neatly into their own categories and classifications.

The path to Truth through nature is not that of the dogmatic scientist, just as the first path is not that of the one-sided mystic. Nature is a great open book in which everything can be found, if we learn to draw from it the inspiration which it has given to the great thinkers of all ages. if we learn her language, nature will reveal to us all the laws of life and the universe.

It is for this reason that all the great masters of humanity from time to time withdrew into nature: Zarathustra and Moses into the mountains, Buddha to the forest, Jesus and the Essenes to the desert and mountains, thus followed this second path as well as that of the consciousness. The two paths do not contradict one another, but harmoniously complete one another in full knowledge of the laws of both. It was thus that the great teachers reached wonderful and deeply profound truths which have given inspiration to millions through thousands of years.

The third path to Truth, is the wisdom, knowledge and experience acquired by the great thinkers of all ages and transmitted to us in the form of great teachings, the great sacred books or scriptures, and the great masterpieces of universal literature which together form what today we would call universal culture.

In brief, therefore, our approach to Truth is a threefold one: through consciousness, nature and culture.

In the following chapters we shall follow this threefold path leading to Truth and shall examine and translate some of the great sacred writings of the Essenes.

There are different ways of studying these great writings. One way-the way of all theologians and of the organized Churches-is to consider each text literally. This is the dogmatic way resulting from a long process of petrification, by which truths are inevitably transformed into dogmas.

When the theologian follows this most easy but one-sided path, he runs into endless contradictions and complications, and he reaches a conclusion as far removed from the truth as that of the scientific interpreter of these texts who rejects them as entirely valueless and without validity. The approaches of the dogmatic theologian and the exclusivist scientist represent two extremes.

A third error is to believe, as do certain symbolists, that these books have no more than a symbolic content and are nothing more than parables. With their own particular way of exaggeration these symbolists make thousands of different and quite contradictory interpretations of these great texts.

The spirit of the Essene traditions is opposed to all three of these ways of interpreting these ageless writings and follows an entirely different approach.

The Essene method of interpretation of these books is, on the one hand, to place them in harmonious correlation with the laws of the human consciousness and of nature, and, on the other, to consider the facts and circumstances of the age and environment in which they were written. This approach also takes into account the degree of evolution and understanding of the people to whom the particular master was addressing his message.

Since all the great masters had to adapt their teaching to the level of their audience, they found it necessary to formulate both an exoteric and esoteric teaching. The exoteric message was one comprehensible to the people at large and was expressed in terms of various rules, forms and rituals corresponding to the basic needs of the people and the age concerned. Parallel with this, the esoteric teachings have survived through the ages partly as written and partly as unwritten living traditions, free from forms, rituals, rules and dogmas, and in all periods have been kept alive and practiced by a small minority.

It is in this spirit of the interpretation of the Truth that the Essene Gospel of Peace will be translated in the following pages. Rejecting the dogmatic methods of literal and purely scientific interpretation as well as the exaggeration of the symbolists, we shall try to translate the Essene Gospel of Peace in the light of our consciousness and of nature, and in harmony with the great traditions of the Essenes, to whose brotherhood the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls themselves belonged.

THE VISION OF ENOCH

THE MOST ANCIENT REVELATION

God Speaks to Man

I speak to you.
Be still
Know
I am
God.

I spoke to you
When you were born.
Be still
Know
I am
God.

I spoke to you
At your first sight.
Be still
Know
I am
God.

I spoke to you
At your first word.
Be still
Know
I am
God.

I spoke to you
At your first thought.
Be still
Know
I am
God.

I spoke to you
At your first love.
Be still
Know
I am
God.

I spoke to you
At your first song.
Be still
Know I am
God.

I speak to you
Through the grass of the meadows.
Be still
Know
I am
God.

I speak to you
Through the trees of the forests.
Be still
Know
I am
God.

I speak to you
Through the valleys and the hills.
Be still
Know
I am
God.

I speak to you
Through the Holy Mountains.
Be still
Know
I am
God.

I speak to you
Through the rain and the snow.
Be still
Know
I am
God.

I speak to you
Through the waves of the sea.
Be still
Know
I am
God.

I speak to you
Through the dew of the morning.
Be still
Know
I am
God.

I speak to you
Through the peace of the evening.
Be still
Know
I am
God.

I speak to you
Through the splendor of the sun.
Be still
Know
I am
God.

I speak to you
Through the brilliant stars.
Be still
Know
I am
God.

I speak to you
Through the storm and the clouds.
Be still
Know
I am
God.

I speak to you
Through the thunder and lightning.
Be still
Know
I am
God

I speak to you
Through the mysterious rainbow.
Be still
Know
I am
God.

I will speak to you
When you are alone.
Be still
Know
I am
God

I will speak to you
Through the Wisdom of the Ancients.
Be still
Know
I am
God

I will speak to you
At the end of time.
Be still
Know
I am
God.

I will speak to you
When you have seen my Angels.
Be still
Know
I am
God.

I will speak to you
Throughout Eternity.
Be still
Know
I am
God

I speak to you.
Be still
Know
I am
God.

FROM THE ESSENE BOOK OF MOSES

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

And Mount Sinai was altogether in smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.

And the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the Lord called Moses up to the top of the mount: and Moses went up.

And the Lord called unto Moses out of the mountain, saying, Come unto me, for I would give thee the Law for thy people, which shall be a covenant for the Children of Light.

And Moses went up unto God. And God spake all these words, saying,

I am the Law, thy God, which hath brought thee out from the depths of the bondage of darkness.

Thou shalt have no other Laws before me.

Thou shalt not make unto thee any image of the Law in heaven above or in the earth beneath. I am the invisible Law, without beginning and without end.

Thou shalt not make unto thee false laws, for I am the Law, and the whole Law of all laws. If thou forsake me, thou shalt be visited by disasters for generation upon generation.

If thou keepest my commandments, thou shalt enter the Inftnite Garden where stands the Tree of Life in the midst of the Eternal Sea.

Thou shalt not violate the Law. The Law is thy God, who shall not hold thee guiltless.

Honor thy Earthly Mother, that thy days may be long upon the land, and honor thy Heavenly Father, that eternal life be thine in the heavens, for the earth and the heavens are given unto thee by the Law, which is thy God.

Thou shalt greet thy Earthly Mother on the morning of the Sabbath.

Thou shalt greet the Angel of Earth on the second morning.

Thou shalt greet the Angel of Life on the third morning.

Thou shalt greet the Angel of Joy on the fourth morning.

Thou shalt greet the Angel of Sun on the fifth morning.

Thou shalt greet the Angel of Water on the sixth morning,

Thou shalt greet the Angel of Air on the seventh morning-

All these Angels of the Earthly Mother shalt thou greet, and consecrate thyself to them, that thou mayest enter the Infinite Garden where stands the Tree of Life.

Thou shalt worship thy Heavenly Father on the evening of the Sabbath.

Thou shalt commune with the Angel of Eternal Life on the second evening.

Thou shalt commune with the Angel of Work on the third evening.

Thou shalt commune with the Angel of Peace on the fourth evening.

Thou shalt commune with the Angel of Power on the fifth evening,

Thou shalt commune with the Angel of Love on the sixth evening.

Thou shalt commune with the Angel of Wisdom on the seventh evening.

All these Angels of the Heavenly Father shalt thou commune with, that thy soul may bathe in the Fountain of Light, and enter into the Sea of Eternity.

The seventh day is the Sabbath: thou shalt remember it, keep it holy. The Sabbath is the day of the Light of the Law, thy God. In it thou shalt not do any work, but search the Light, the Kingdom of thy God, and all things shall be given unto thee.

For know ye that during six days thou shalt work with the Angels, but the seventh day shalt thou dwell in the Light of thy Lord, who is the holy Law.

Thou shalt not take the life from any living thing. Life comes only from God, who giveth it and taketh it away.

Thou shalt not debase Love. It is the sacred gift of thy Heavenly Father.

Thou Shalt not trade thy Soul, the priceless gift of the loving God, for the riches of the world, which are as seeds sown on stony ground, having no root in themselves, and so enduring but for a little while.

Thou shalt not be a false witness of the Law, to use it against thy brother: Only God knoweth the beginning and the ending of all things, for his eye is single, and he is the holy Law.

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's possessions. The Law giveth unto thee much greater gifts, even the earth and the heavens, if thou keep the Commandments of the Lord thy God.

And Moses heard the voice of the Lord, and sealed within him the covenant that was between the Lord and the Children of Light.

And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tablets of the Law were in his hand.

And the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tablets.

And the people knew not what became of Moses, and they gathered themselves together and brake off their golden earrings and made a molten calf. And they worshipped unto the idol, and offered to it burnt offerings.

And they ate and drank and danced before the golden calf, which they had made, and they abandoned themselves to corruption and evil before the Lord.

And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing, and the wickedness of the people: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tablets out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.

And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin, ye have denied thy Creator. I will go up unto the Lord and plead atonement for thy sin.

And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, Lord, thou hast seen the desecration of thy Holy Law. For thy children lost faith, and worshipped the darkness, and made for themselves a golden calf. Lord, forgive them, for they are blind to the light.

And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, at the beginning of time was a covenant made between God and man, and the holy flame of the Creator did enter unto him. And he was made the son of God, and it was given him to guard his inheritance of the firstborn, and to make fruitful the land of his Father and keep it holy. And he who casteth out the Creator from him doth spit upon his birthright, and no more grievous sin doth exist in the eyes of God.

And the Lord spoke, saying, Only the Children of Light can keep the Commandments of the Law. Hear me, for I say thus: the tablets which thou didst break, these shall nevermore be written in the words of men. As thou didst return them to the earth and fire, so shall they live, invisible, in the hearts of those who are able to follow their Law. To thy people of little faith, who did sin against the Creator, even whilst thou stood on holy ground before thy God, -I will give another Law. It shall be a stem law, yea, it shall bind them, for they know not yet the Kingdom of Light.

And Moses hid the invisible Law within his breast, and kept it for a sign to the Children of Light. And God gave unto Moses the written law for the people, and he went down unto them, and spake unto them with a heavy heart.

And Moses said unto the people, these are the laws which thy God hath given thee.

Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.

Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Honor thy father and thy mother.

Thou shalt not kill.

Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Thou shalt not steal.

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, nor thy neighbor's wife, nor anything that is thy neighbor's.

And there was a day of mourning and atonement for the great sin against the Creator, which did not end. And the broken tablets of the Invisible Law lived hidden in the breast of Moses, until it came to pass that the Children of Light appeared in the desert, and the angels walked the earth.

THE COMMUNIONS

And it was by the bed of a stream, that the weary and afflicted came again to seek out Jesus. And like children, they had forgotten the Law; and like children, they sought out their father to show them where they had erred, and to set their feet again upon the path. And when the sun rose over the earth's rim they saw Jesus coming toward them from the mountain, with the brightness of the rising sun about his head.

And he raised his hand and smiled upon them, saying, "Peace be with you."

But they were ashamed to return his greeting, for each in his own way had turned his back on the holy teachings, and the Angels of the Earthly Mother and the Heavenly Father were not with them. And one man looked up in anguish and spoke: "Master, we are in sore need of your wisdom. For we know that which is good, and yet we follow evil. We know that to enter the kingdom of heaven we must walk with the angels of the day and of the night, yet our feet walk in the ways of the wicked. The light of day shines only on our pursuit of pleasure, and the night falls on our heedless stupor. Tell us, Master, how may we talk with the angels, and stay within their holy circle, that the Law may burn in our hearts with a constant flame?"

And Jesus spoke to them:

"To lift your eyes to heaven

When all mens' eyes are on the ground,

Is not easy.

To worship at the feet of the angels

When all men worship only fame and riches,

Is not easy.

But the most difficult of all

Is to think the thoughts of the angels,

To speak the words of the angels,

And to do as angels do. "

And one man spoke: "But, Master, we are but men, we are not angels. How then can we hope to walk in their ways? Tell us what we must do."

And Jesus spoke:

"As the son inherits the land of his father,

So have we inherited a Holy Land

From our Fathers.

T'his land is not a field to be ploughed,

But a place within us

Where we may build our Holy Temple.

And even as a temple must be raised,

Stone by stone,

So will I give to you those stones

For the building of the Holy Temple;

That which we have inherited

From our Fathers,

And their Fathers' Fathers."

And all the men gathered around Jesus, and their faces shone with desire to hear the words which would come from his lips. And he lifted his face to the rising sun, and the radiance of its rays filled his eyes as he spoke:

"The Holy Temple can be built

Only with the ancient Communions,

Those which are spoken,

Those which are thought,

And those which are lived.

For if they are spoken only with the mouth,

They are as a dead hive

Which the bees have forsaken,

That gives no more honey.

Communions are a bridge

Between man and the angels,

And like a bridge,

Can be built only with patience,

Yea, even as the bridge over the river

Is fashioned stone by stone,

As they are found by the water's edge.

And the Communions are fourteen in number

As the Angels of the Heavenly Father

Number seven,

And the Angels of the Earthly Mother

Number seven.

And just as the roots of the tree

Sink into the earth and are nourished,

And the branches of the tree

Raise their arms to heaven,

So is man like the trunk of the tree,

With his roots deep

In the breast of his Earthly Mother,

And his soul ascending

To the bright stars of his Heavenly Father.

And the roots of the tree

Are the Angels of the Earthly Mother,

And the branches of the tree

Are the Angels of the Heavenly Father.

And this is the sacred Tree of Life

Which stands in the Sea of Eternity.

The first Communion is with the Angel of Sun

The Angel of Sun,

She who cometh each morning

As a bride from her chamber,

To shed her golden light on the world.

O thou immortal, shining, swift-steeded

Angel of the Sun!

There is no warmth without thee,

No fire without thee,

No life without thee.

As green leaves of the trees

Do worship thee,

And through thee is the tiny wheat kernel

Become a river of golden grass,

Moving with the wind.

Through thee is opened the flower

In the center of my body.

Tnerefore will I never hide myself

From thee.

Angel of Sun,

Holy messenger of the Earthly Mother,

Enter the holy temple within me

And give me the Fire of Life!

The Second Communion is with the Angel of Water

The Angel of Water,

She who makes the rain

To fall on the and plain,

Who fills the dry well to overflowing.

Yea, we do worship thee,

Water of Life-

From the heavenly sea

The waters run and flow forward

From the never-failing springs.

In my blood flow

A thousand pure springs,

And vapors, and clouds,

And all the waters

T'hat spread over all the seven Kingdoms.

All the waters

The Creator hath made Are holy.

The voice of the Lord

Is upon the waters:

The God of Glory thundereth;

The Lord is upon many waters.

Angel of Water,

Holy messenger of the Earthly Mother,

Enter the blood that flows through me,

Wash my body in the rain

That falls from heaven,

And give me the Water of Life.

The third Communion is with the Angel of Air

The Angel of Air,

~~ The Ambrosial ALL ONE SPIRIT Godhead Divine Light Of ALL ~~

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Monday, April 23, 2007

~~ Saint Teresa Of Avila ~ Holy Divine Mystic And Visionary ~~

Chapter XL.

The Relations.

Relation 1.

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

~~ The Essene Gospel Of Peace ~ Book Four ~~

The ESSENE GOSPEL OF PEACE

The Teachings of the Elect

Book Four

~~ The Essene Book Of Peace ~ Book Three ~~

The ESSENE GOSPEL OF PEACE

BOOK THREE

Lost Scrolls of the Essene Brotherhood

~~ The Essene Book Of Peace ~ Book Two ~~

The ESSENE GOSPEL OF PEACE

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THE UNKNOWN BOOKS
OF THE ESSENES

~*~ The Ambrosial ALL ONE SPIRIT Godhead Divine Light Of ALL ~*~

UniversalDivineLifeTemple at Yahoo! Groups

CeLeStiaLMySTiC's Sharebook

Jesus The Vegan ~ Evil Humans Who Harm Holy Animals Will Reap Their Hellish Horrors Bloody Karma

Monday, April 23, 2007

~*~ Saint Teresa Of Avila ~ Holy Divine Mystic And Visionary ~*~

Chapter XL.

The Relations.

Relation 1.

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

~*~ The Essene Gospel Of Peace ~ Book Four ~*~

The ESSENE GOSPEL OF PEACE

The Teachings of the Elect

Book Four

~*~ The Essene Book Of Peace ~ Book Three ~*~

The ESSENE GOSPEL OF PEACE

BOOK THREE

Lost Scrolls of the Essene Brotherhood

~*~ The Essene Book Of Peace ~ Book Two ~*~

The ESSENE GOSPEL OF PEACE

Book Two

THE UNKNOWN BOOKS OF THE ESSENES

~~ The Ambrosial ALL ONE SPIRIT Godhead Divine Light Of ALL ~~

~~ Saint Teresa Of Avila ~ Holy Divine Mystic And Visionary ~~

~~ The Essene Gospel Of Peace ~ Book Four ~~

~~ The Essene Book Of Peace ~ Book Three ~~

~~ The Essene Book Of Peace ~ Book Two ~~

THE UNKNOWN BOOKS
OF THE ESSENES