~*~ The Essenes Of Mount Carmel ~*~

ESSENES OF MOUNT CARMEL

The purpose of this article is to provide evidence that YAHSHUA~YESHUA (JESUS CHRIST) WAS PRIMARILY ASSOCIATED WITH THE ESSENES OF MOUNT CARMEL IN NORTHERN ISRAEL, not the Essenes of Qumran in Southern Israel. Certainly, Yahshua and the Northern Essenes had ongoing contact with their brethren in the South, but he was not "raised and trained at Qumran" like many in the modern Essene movement believe. This article will clear up that misconception. In the course of doing so, we will touch on various related items, some of them quite fascinating: We will learn of the lifestyle and traditions of the mystical Essenes of Mount Carmel; we will uncover the truth about "Nazareth" and how that word relates to the term "Nazarene"; we will name the likely location where baby Yahshua was taken for protection from Herod; and we will learn esoteric details about the baptism of Yahshua by John. All of the above is related to, and will help support, our central thesis: YAHSHUA (JESUS) WAS RAISED AND TRAINED BY THE ESSENES OF MOUNT CARMEL IN NORTHERN ISRAEL, not the Essenes of Qumran in Southern Israel. But perhaps the very best supporting evidence for our thesis is the map which accompanies this article: I URGE THE READER TO CAREFULLY CONSULT THE MAP WHENEVER IT IS REFERRED TO IN THE COURSE OF THIS ARTICLE.

In both the orthodox New Testament and the Essene New Testament we are offered the following information in regard to the whereabouts of Joseph, Mary and Yahshua:

1. Prior to the birth of Yahshua, Mary and Joseph are said to live in Nazareth, a village in Northern Israel.
   
   
2. At the end of a long journey from Nazareth, in Northern Israel, to Bethlehem, in Southern Israel, (to pay taxes) Mary gave birth to Yahshua in Bethlehem.
   
   
3. Being warned that Herod was going to kill baby Yahshua, Mary and Joseph fled to Egypt.
   
   
4. After the death of Herod, the holy family returned to Nazareth.
   
   
5. Yahshua grew up in Nazareth.
   
   
6. Yahshua launched his public ministry in cities near Nazareth.
   
   
7. As a grown man, for the first time since his youth, Yahshua journeyed to Southern Israel where he was baptized by John the Baptist near Qumran.
   
   
8. After a short stay in Southern Israel after his baptism by John, Yahshua returned to Northern Israel. There, in the vicinity of Lake Galilee (which is near Nazareth and Mount Carmel) Yahshua conducted his ministry.
   
   
9. When Yahshua knew that the climactic moment had come for him to confront the authorities in Jerusalem and die on the cross, he again journeyed to Southern Israel.
   

Again, the above nine facts appear not only in the orthodox New Testament but also in our Essene New Testament (The Gospel of the Holy Twelve). Now, please look at the map which accompanies this article. Find Nazareth on the map. Notice that it is near Mount Carmel and Lake Galilee in Northern Israel. Next, locate Bethlehem, Jerusalem and Qumran on the map; they are in Southern Israel. As you examine the map, notice that it is a very long journey from Lake Galilee to the Dead Sea, nearly the entire length of the nation of Israel. Consider carefully the fact that they had no cars in those days, neither were the roads paved. Consider how hot the climate is. All things considered, you can see that a journey from Northern Israel to Southern Israel was no easy thing two thousand years ago! Thus, the fact that nearly every major event associated with the life of Yahshua -- every event except for his birth in Bethlehem, his baptism by John and his final journey to Jerusalem -- occurred in Northern Israel, is strong evidence that Yahshua lived most of his life in Northern Israel. (We do not deny that Yahshua occasionally made the long, hard journey from Northern Israel to Southern Israel; nor do we deny that he made several other long journeys -- including India. But the fact that nearly all the events associated with his life occurred in Northern Israel near Mount Carmel and Lake Galilee is powerful evidence that he primarily lived there, not in Southern Israel.)

SOME OF THE MAJOR EVENTS OF YAHSHUA'S MINISTRY WHICH OCCURRED IN NORTHERN ISRAEL ARE AS FOLLOWS (I have also marked the location of several of these events on the map): The miraculous feeding of 5,000 people; the Sermon on the Mount; the wedding at Cana where he turned water into wine; the anointing with oil by Mary Magdalene; the calling of Andrew and Peter; the healing of the leper; the healing of the man with palsy; the calling of Matthew; the calling of Phillip; the calling of Nathaniel; the sending forth of the twelve disciples; the sending of the Seventy-two disciples; the giving of 'The Lord's Prayer'; the healing of Jairus' daughter; the dialogue with the Samaritan woman at the well; the miraculous walk on the water; the time he commanded the storm to be calm and it obeyed him; the vast majority of the verbal teachings he gave during his life; etc.

Thus far we have considered much evidence that supports our assertion that Yahshua lived most his life in Northern Israel. We know that he made a couple of important trips to Southern Israel, but spent most his time in the North. But we have not yet specifically linked him with the Essenes of Mount Carmel. We will soon do that. But first we will consider one more important piece of evidence that Yahshua was not a Qumran Essene: THE FACT THAT JOHN THE BAPTIST DID NOT RECOGNIZE HIM. There is near unanimity amongst scholars that John the Baptist was an Essene from Qumran. On the map which accompanies this article, find Qumran. Then notice that the location on the Jordan river where tradition tells us John performed his baptisms is right where the Jordan river connects with the Dead Sea near Qumran! Add to that the fact that John was said to live in the desert southwest of the Jordan -- exactly where Qumran is located -- and that his dress, diet (John was a vegetarian; the 'locust' he ate is a fruit similar to carob, not an insect!) method of baptism (the Qumran Essenes practiced baptism and were often call 'Baptists') and prophetic theology match up exactly with what we know of the Qumran Essenes, and you can understand why THERE IS SOLID CONSENSUS AMONGST SCHOLARS THAT JOHN WAS FROM QUMRAN. The scholars point out that the Qumran Essenes often took in orphans and that the New Testament informs us that after Herod murdered Zachariah, baby John's father, baby John "went to live in the desert." Obviously, a baby could not survive alone in the desert! JOHN WAS RAISED BY THE ESSENES AT QUMRAN! That conclusion becomes even more certain when one considers the following piece of evidence from the Dead Sea Scrolls.

In the 'Community Rule' of the Dead Sea Scrolls the purpose of the Qumran community is described as: "To prepare the way for the Messiah in the desert wilderness... to prepare a people to meet the Lord"

Likewise, in the New Testament, John the Baptist declares: "I am a voice crying out in the desert wilderness, prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah, prepare to meet the Lord."

According to the prophecies of Isaiah (Isaiah lived hundreds of years before John and Yahshua) before the Messiah of Peace would manifest himself to Israel, two things must occur:

1. A group of people must:
   
   

   "prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah; make a straight path for the Lord in the wilderness: prepare a people to meet the Lord."

   
   
2. Elijah (Elijah lived hundreds of years before Yahshua and John) must return to earth to prepare the way and announce the coming of the Messiah.
   

The astute reader is aware of the fact that in both the orthodox New Testament and our Essene New Testament, YAHSHUA (JESUS) DECLARES THAT JOHN THE BAPTIST IS THE RETURNED ELIJAH! But even the astute reader is probably not aware of the following fascinating fact: the exact spot on the bank of the Jordan River where John performed his baptisms is the same spot where Elijah had ascended into heaven in a 'chariot of fire'! In The Armageddon Script, a remarkable book by Peter Lemesurier, we read:

"The details of John's mission had, we may be sure, already been spelt out for the Teacher of Righteousness. At the appropriate time John must identify himself as Elijah by adopting Elijah's outlandish garb (Elijah wore a camel hair robe as did John). Longhaired and unshaven, he must proceed to the spot on the east bank of the Jordan... where the river emptied into the Dead Sea. (to perform baptisms) This, after all, had been the site of Elijah's dramatic and legendary disappearance in a 'chariot of fire' some eight centuries before. Thus doubly identified as 'Elijah returned', he must then proclaim the imminent appearance of the Messiah himself."

I have introduced all the above information on John the Baptist for the following reason. If, indeed, John the Baptist was a Qumran Essene -- which is obvious -- he would certainly have recognized Yahshua IF HE ALSO LIVED AT QUMRAN. Qumran was a small monastic commune; about 250 Essene monks lived there and they all knew each other very well, eating all their meals together according to the 'Community Rule'. And yet John the Baptist -- said to be a cousin of Yahshua -- did not recognize Yahshua when they met for the baptism. The story of their meeting is familiar to most readers; but in the following account from the book Mystic Christianity, by Yogi Ramacharaka, we are treated to certain esoteric details that are left out of most accounts:

"John emerged from the wilderness... and began his ministry work.... One of his principal requisites was that of Baptism, the Essenic rite.... His meetings were events of great importance to thousands who gathered to see and hear the prophet of the wilderness, the Essene who had emerged from his desert seclusion.... But one day there was a meeting destined to gain worldwide fame. This was the day when there came to John the Baptist the MASTER of whose coming John had frequently foretold.... " "Jesus came unannounced to, and unrecognized by John.... Although the two were cousins, they had not met since childhood, and John did not at first recognize Jesus. The traditions of the Mystic Orders further state that Jesus then gave to John the various signs of the Mystery Schools to which they both belonged. Working from the common signs up until Jesus passed on to degrees to which John had not attained, although he was an eminent high-degree Essene. Whereupon John saw that the man before him was no common applicant for Baptism, but was, instead, a highest-degree Mystic Adept, his superior in rank and unfoldment."

While the New Testament does not include all of the esoteric information above, it does declare that John -- the Qumran Baptist -- DID NOT RECOGNIZE HIS COUSIN JESUS. I believe I have proven this part of my thesis: JESUS WAS NOT A QUMRAN ESSENE. But I still must link him with the Northern Essenes of Mount Carmel.

The fact that Yahshua was not from Qumran DOES NOT MEAN HE WAS NOT AN ESSENE. Often, when orthodox Christian scholars are attempting to prove that Yahshua was not an Essene, they point out certain differences between the teachings of Yahshua and the Dead Sea Scrolls. (They often point out that Yahshua's doctrine is less strict in some matters than the 'Community Rule' of the Qumran Dead Sea Scrolls; by doing so, they think they are proving that Yahshua was not an Essene.) But they are missing the point: QUMRAN WAS ONLY ONE OF MANY DIVERSE ESSENE COMMUNITIES. Whereas Qumran was a strict monastic commune for celibate men, some other Essene communities -- such as Mount Carmel and the related Nazarene stronghold of Nazareth -- were for entire families and naturally had more relaxed rules. The teachings of Yahshua were more a product of the Northern Essene environment of Mount Carmel than Qumran. Again I quote from Peter Lemesurier's The Armageddon Script:

"Admittedly, Yahshua was often considerably' more forthcoming (less secretive) than the typical Qumran Essene, but then it should be remembered that he was not a Qumran Essene. Not only was he a 'Carmelite' or 'Nazarene', a product of the Essene movement's necessarily 'ecumenical' headquarters-group, but he was the intended messianic Priest-King, the ultimate 'Interpreter of the Law'.... As such, his rank was superior by far to the rest of the Essene leadership, even to the original Teacher of Righteousness. Consequently he was free to interpret the Law and the Prophets in his own way and to whom he pleased as the spirit guided him."

Thus, the differences between the teachings of Yahshua and the Qumran Essenes are due to:

1. Yahshua was raised at the more ecumenical, profoundly mystical, celibate ascetic Essene community at Mount Carmel; nearby were Essene families dedicated to holiness and purity and the marital act was only for procreating an angelic child for God's service; and
   
   
2. The Dead Sea Scrolls, wonderful as they are, were written by Essenes who were prayerfully preparing for the coming of the Universal Messiah, the Prince of Peace. Obviously, once the Messiah of the Universe came to earth, the words that came out of his mouth were far transcendent of even the best of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
   

Before turning our attention to Nazareth and the Essene community at Mount Carmel, let us identify a third Essene community which was the probable sanctuary of the holy family when they fled to Egypt: THE ESSENE COMMUNITY OF THEREPUTAE AT LAKE MAREOTIS. You will recall that Mary and Joseph took baby Yahshua to Egypt to escape Herod. And we know from the writings of Philo, a Jewish philosopher who lived about 2,000 years ago, that there was indeed an Essene community of "theraputae" or "healers" at Lake Mareotis, in Egypt. Almost certainly, that Essene community was the place of sanctuary enjoyed by the Essene holy family.

When the holy family returned from Egypt after Herod's death (this Herod was succeeded by his son, also called Herod, who was later to behead John the Baptist and assist in the crucifixion of Yahshua), we are told they settled in Nazareth. As you can see on the map, Nazareth is very near Mount Carmel, the headquarters of the entire Essene movement. However, in those days, there was no town called "Nazareth"; rather, it was simply a cooperative village of Essene "Nazarenes". We read in The Armageddon Script:

"... historical evidence that it (Nazareth) existed at the time is entirely lacking. The tradition almost certainly goes back to the fact that the family were members of the Nazarene sect of the Essenes. This group seems to have become the dominant one on Carmel, to the point where the word 'Nazarene' came to be applied to the Northern Essenes in general. It is possible, of course, that the Essenes had a camp in the vicinity of the modern Nazareth."

Thus, the term "Jesus of Nazareth" was originally "Yahshua the Nazarene", and a "Nazarene" is a "Northern Essene" associated with Mount Carmel. Which is why in the New Testament Book of Acts, the early Christians' are referred to as "the sect of the Nazarenes." The sect of the Nazarenes was considered a dangerous cult by the governmental authorities; and the orthodox Jews agreed, declaring in the New Testament: "Nothing good can come from Nazareth" [the Nazarenes]. (To avoid confusion it should be noted that the New Testament reference to Yahshua being booted out of a synagogue in his "home town" of "Nazareth" is NOT a reference to the Nazarene commune; rather, the synagogue in question was the ORTHODOX Jewish Synagogue located in the same territory as the Nazarene commune. When Yahshua of the despised "Nazarene cult" entered that orthodox synagogue, picked up the Isaiah Scroll and read a Messianic prophecy -- AND THEN DECLARED HIMSELF TO BE THE FULFILLMENT OF THAT PROPHECY -- the orthodox Jews were outraged and wanted to kill him on the spot.)

Epiphanius, the Catholic Bishop of Constantia in the fourth century, wrote a book called Panarion in which he described and denounced various non-Catholic Christian groups. In that book he admits that in his own day -- the fourth century -- there still existed "Jewish Christians" called "Nazarenes" related to the ancient order of Essenes. Epiphanius admits also that the original followers of Yahshua were "known as Nazarenes" and that "the sect of the Nazarenes existed prior to the birth of Jesus". But rather than admit the obvious -- THAT THE NAZARENE SECT OF HIS DAY WAS THE DIRECT DESCENDANT OF ORIGINAL CHRISTIANITY AND THE TRUE CUSTODIAN OF THE TEACHINGS OF YAHSHUA -- Epiphanius denounced them as heretics because their teachings were not in line with Catholic dogma! What were the Nazarene-Christian doctrines that Catholic Bishop Epiphanius found so heretical? They were:

1. The Essene Nazarenes -- both the ancient Judaic Nazarenes and the later Essene Christian Nazarenes -- WERE STRICT VEGETARIANS;
   
   
2. The Nazarenes believed that the Old Testament books of Moses had been falsified by the fallen orthodox Jewish priesthood and corrupt kings; they believed that Moses indeed gave the true Law, but that the true Law had been removed from the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament attributed to Moses) and was preserved only in their own Nazarene scriptures;
   
   
3. The Nazarene-Christians claimed that they possessed the original New Testament of Yahshua, written in Aramaic, and it differed from the Catholic New Testament.
   

In reference to number one above, not only does Epiphanius admit that the Nazarenes "eat no meat", but modern scholars concur; Hugh Shonfield, in The Passover Plot:

"There has been emerging ever clearer evidence that in the Galilean region an ancient Israelitish type of religion persisted in the time of Jesus, defying Judean efforts to obliterate it.... The name he bears, Jesus the Nazorean, has northern sectarian implications.... The name borne by the earliest followers of Jesus was not Christians: they were called Nazoreans (Nazarenes).... They were vegetarians and rejected animal sacrifices."

In regard to Schonfield's reference to the Nazarenes as "an ancient Israelitish type of religion... defying Judean efforts to obliterate it", it is important to note that the term "Judean" refers to southern Israel and especially the orthodox Jewish temple at Jerusalem. Like Schonfield, H.P. Blavatsky demonstrates that the northern Nazarene-Essene religion was much more ancient and authentic than the orthodox Judaism that held power in Yahshua's day, pre-dating even the authentic versions of the several books of Moses (Moses was attempting to reestablish the Essene Nazarene religion after the captivity) and certainly pre-dating the falsified versions; in her Isis Unveiled:

"The Nazireate [her spelling] sect existed long before the laws of Moses, and originated among... the people of Galilee... where was built Nazara, the present Nazareth. It is in Nazara that the ancient Nazoria or Nazireates held their "Mysteries of Life...."

In reference to Epiphanius charge in number two above -- that the Nazarenes believed the books of Moses had been falsified -- modern scholarship again concurs; Schonfield writes:

"The old Nazareans ("Nazarenes"), like the Samaritans, were opposed to the Judean traditions, holding that the southerners had falsified the Law of Moses."

In regard to number three above -- the "differences" in the New Testament used by the "heretical" Nazarenes -- we know that Epiphanius was especially disturbed by the Christology of the "Judaic Christians" (he uses the term "Judaic Christian" as a put-down; he seems to have forgotten that Yahshua and all the Apostles were exactly that: Judaic Christians!). Whereas Catholic dogma had decreed that Yahshua was part of the Godhead itself; "one with the Father, very God of very God", THE NAZARENE CHRISTOLOGY HELD THAT JESUS WAS, TO QUOTE FROM EPIPHANIUS' PANARION: "CREATED SIMILAR TO, BUT HIGHER THAN, THE ARCHANGELS...THAT HE RULES BOTH THE ANGELS AND ALL THOSE THINGS CREATED BY THE ALMIGHTY."

Believe it or not, the rather exalted status given to Yahshua by Nazarene Christology -- that he was "created similar to, but higher than, the archangels", -- DID NOT GO FAR ENOUGH FOR CATHOLIC BISHOP EPlPHANIUS! Because the Nazarenes believed Yahshua was "CREATED" by God, they were considered in violation of the Catholic dogma that Yahshua, being part of the uncreated Godhead, had never been "created". And we all know what the punishment for that type of heresy is: DEATH! Which was exactly the eventual fate of the Nazarene remnant that still existed in Epiphanius' time:

THEY WERE EXTERMINATED BY THE CATHOLIC ARMY!

My reason for providing the above several paragraphs is to support my contention that YAHSHUA WAS A MEMBER OF AN ESSENE SECT CALLED "NAZARENES" AND THAT THE TERM "JESUS THE NAZARENE" REFERS TO THAT AFFILIATION AND NOT SIMPLY THAT HE LIVED IN A TOWN CALLED "NAZARETH". When we link that information to the previously quoted material from The Armageddon Script -- that the Nazarenes were the Essenes of Mount Carmel -- we are face to face with the main thesis of this article: THAT YAHSHUA WAS PRIMARILY ASSOCIATED WITH THE ESSENES OF MOUNT CARMEL IN NORTHERN ISRAEL.

Let us now consider some interesting information about Mount Carmel. Even by its very name, it is clear that Mount Carmel has long been considered both a natural paradise and a sacred mountain: for the literal Hebrew meaning of "Carmel" is "garden paradise" and the spiritual meaning of the word is defined in the Metaphysical Bible Dictionary as:

"A place in consciousness where we realize the fullness of our possibilities under the divine law. It is the garden of God; Yahshua called it 'paradise', freedom from sense. Mount Carmel stands for the center of spirituality, which is located in man's body consciousness at the top of the head."

In fact, Mount Carmel was considered so holy that there were strict taboos against spilling any blood there, not only of people but also animals, AND IT WAS EVEN FORBIDDEN TO HARM A TREE OR DISTURB ANY OF THE NATURAL LIFE. These rules applied not only to the Essenes but also to anyone who climbed the holy mountain. Vulgar people were not permitted access to Mount Carmel. In The Religion of the Semites, by W. Robertson Smith, we learn:

"Yet some... of the old sanctity of whole regions survived... to a late date. Ianblichus, in the last days of heathenism, still speaks of Mount Carmel as 'sacred above all mountains and forbidden of access to the vulgar'.... The Taboos or restrictions applicable within these sacred tracts have already been touched upon. The most universal of them was that men were not allowed to interfere with the natural life of the spot. No blood might be shed and no tree cut down...."

Evidently, gardening was permitted as long as it was done in an environmentally sound manner, since Mount Carmel was famous for its vegetable gardens and fruit orchards as well as its lush, natural forest. However, permanent dwellings were not permitted on holy Mount Carmel -- they were considered too obtrusive to the natural environment -- AND SO THE ESSENE NAZARENE RESIDENTS OF THE MOUNTAIN ARE SAID TO HAVE LIVED IN TENTS (the tents were actually a type of yurt which is much sturdier and "home-like" than the typical American "tent", having a wooden frame and often more than one room).

It is precisely because the Essenes of Mount Carmel did not build permanent structures on the holy mountain that no -- or very little -- physical trace of their presence remains for archaeologists to study. In The Armageddon Script, Lemesurier reports:

"To date, while there is certainly some... evidence of the Essenes' sojourn on Carmel, specific archaeological evidence... is lacking.... This is entirely to be expected, however, since one of the conditions... was that the people must live only in temporary shelters or arbours.... Even the Divine Sanctuary was to be no more than a 'Tent of the Presence' within its sacred enclosure."

While "vulgar" people were not permitted access to Mount Carmel, it was a haven for holy pilgrims from various countries. In The Life of Pythagoras written in the 2nd century by Jamblichus, we learn that the great sage Pythagoras, as a young seeker, visited the Essene sanctuary atop Mount Carmel:

"In Phoenicia he [Pythagoras] conversed with the prophets who were descendants of Moses.... After gaining all he could from the Phoenician mysteries, he found that they had originated from the sacred rites of Egypt. This led him to... Egypt. Following the advice of his teacher Thales, he left... through the agency of some Egyptian sailors, and landed on the coast under Mount Carmel."

Pythagoras then climbed Mount Carmel where he evidently received powerful teachings from the Essene Nazarenes; for when he returned to the ship, the sailors, who had hatched a secret plan to sell young Pythagoras into slavery, were mesmerized by his spiritual luminosity and unable to harm him. Whatever teachings Pythagoras had studied and practiced during his stay with the Essenes atop Carmel, they had obviously served to transform him!

HE HAD CLIMBED THE MOUNTAIN AS AN ADVANCED SEEKER; HE DESCENDED THE MOUNTAIN A MASTER. The sailors, reports Jamblichus, believed Pythagoras had become "supernatural". We know that Pythagoras went on to become a chief exponent of vegetarianism, reincarnation, fasting and sacred geometry -- all Essene teachings -- and that he and his followers wore only white linen garments, in the fashion of the Essenes of Mount Carmel.

We have seen above that no killing -- not ever animals -- was permitted on Mount Carmel, and that ALL of Judaism was bound by that law, not only the Essenes. That made Mount Carmel the perfect place for the Essenes to create their international headquarters. In Spiritual Vegetarianism, Abbot George Burke supports that assessment:

"The aspect of their non-killing that most offended other Jews was the refusal of the Essenes to offer animal sacrifices in the Temple... so adamant were the Essenes on this point they established for themselves a Temple on Mount Carmel...."

A second reason that the Essenes chose Mount Carmel as their headquarters was its connection with one of their own forefathers, the great Essene prophet Elijah (Elijah and other Essene prophets had long used Carmel as their chief spiritual retreat but it was not until several hundred years later that the Essenes made it their international headquarters). Lemesurier writes:

"And now it was the turn of the Essenes to repeat the process yet again, and re-establish what they saw as the true worship of the New Covenant on their own sacred mountain.... Here at last the Teacher (of Righteousness) could start to give full rein to his gifts of prophetic intuition.... The northern mountains... were to be the general assembly area for the body of Essene refugees.... But out of their various groupings and ideologies a kind of 'core-group' must be formed to spearhead the movement.... Yet this core-group had to remain doctrinally broad-based enough to permit... members of all the various Essenic sub-groups to give it their allegiance. And there, almost miraculously, the answer suddenly swam into view: Mount Carmel.... It had been widely regarded as by far the most sacred mountain in the region since early Egyptian times. Far more than that, however, it had become the headquarters of the great prophet Elijah, whose cave on Carmel can still be visited today.... Like Elijah, as the sole true remnant of Israel, they too must now make their way to Mount Carmel.... And just as Elijah had rebuilt the 'altar'... on Mount Carmel with twelve stones - one for each tribe of Israel - so these Essenes likewise could hope to restore the true worship there.... There could no longer be any doubt among the Essene predestinarians that Carmel was their prophesied objective, marked out for them from even before time began."

Since, as we have seen, it was taboo to build permanent structures on holy Carmel, the Essene Nazarenes created a yurt village with a "Tent of the Presence" as Temple. Again, this "tent Temple" was no small American pup-tent; it was a large, many-roomed Yurt. BESIDES THE IMPERMANENT STRUCTURES ON MOUNT CARMEL ITSELF, A COUPLE OF MILES FROM THE SOUTHWESTERN EDGE OF CARMEL THE ESSENE NAZARENES BUILT A LARGE VILLAGE OF PERMANENT STRUCTURES: "Nazareth." Here, at Nazareth, many Essene-Nazarene families lived next to the spiritual center atop Carmel, visiting it regularly. The priests and more hardy families -- those capable of "roughing it" -- lived in the yurt village atop Carmel.

With Mount Carmel as their base of operations, the Essenes began to prepare themselves for a spectacular event: THE COMING OF THE MESSIAH. In Spiritual Vegetarianism, Abbott George Burkes writes:

"Jesus of Nazareth was an Essene. Joachim and Anna, the parents of the virgin Mary, were both from renowned Essene families.... It was a long-standing tradition among the Essenes that the Messiah would be born into an Essene family."

Hundreds of years before the birth of Yahshua, the head priest of the Essenes, known as the "Teacher of Righteousness", had a vision: An angel told him that a great Avatar, the Christ Messiah, would come to Earth through the Essenes. But for this to occur, according to the angel, the Essenes must follow certain practices in order to create a physical body capable of withstanding the powerful vibrations of the Christ Spirit, as well as a group energy powerful enough to open an "energy vortex" or "doorway" into this space-time dimension. Rev Michael Robinson, in the Winter issue of "The Essene Path", provides related information:

"Essene prophets who were attuned to the will of the Almighty, by virtue of their Holy meditations and their lifestyle of Righteousness, prepared for generations for the arrival of the Messiah of Peace. Genealogies were consulted and candidates were chosen and raised to a holy life. Pure diet, free of the taint of death and blood as well as training in the Essene mysteries, brought forth children of a Holy nature, from which new candidates were chosen."

In this article I have cited the work of many respected scholars. Having demonstrated that my thesis is supported by mainstream scholarship, I now feel free to cite a more unusual -- certainly not mainstream -- source: the modern "seer", Edgar Cayce. Unlike many "new age" seers, the predictions and revelations of Cayce have proven remarkably accurate. He even predicted the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls (Cayce died in 1945 and the scrolls were discovered in 1947). The "readings" of Cayce (he would go into a trance and provide information verbally that his assistant would write down) contain much information about Yahshua and his connection to the Essenes of Mount Carmel. In the book, Edger Cayce's Story of Jesus, edited by Jeffrey Furst, we read:

"... the Essenes... dedicated their lives, their minds, their bodies to a purpose, to a seeking for that which had been to them a promise of old.... Hence, there was the continued preparation and dedication of those who might be the channels through which this chosen vessel might enter through choice into this material realm. Thus in Carmel -- where there were the chief priests and leaders of this faith -- there were the maidens chosen who were dedicated to this purpose.... Among them was Mary, the beloved, the chosen one."

Again from Cayce:

"The Essenes were dedicated to their purpose and made holy Mount Carmel their headquarters. This was the original place where the school of prophets was established during Elijah's time...." "Here, the Essenes prepared themselves for several generations to open as it were a door into this realm for the Messiah.... And he became known as Jesus the Nazarene, for he was of the Essenian sect of Nazarenes in the region of Carmel."

Even the Catholic monastic order of "White Friars" (they are vegetarian and wear white robes) currently established on Mount Carmel (they moved there in the twelfth century) assert that Yahshua was an Essene and was raised on Mount Carmel. These Catholic "Carmelites" learned these things from Essene monks that still survived on Carmel in the 12th century! It is from these Essene Monks that the Catholic Carmelites adopted vegetarianism and white robes. (The information in this paragraph is available from many sources including The Essene Christ by Upton Ewing, the Catholic Carmelites own history books, and the Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition, vol. 5, pg. 358.)

I am confident that the reader will agree that my thesis has been amply demonstrated: YAHSHUA WAS A NORTHERN ESSENE -- a Nazarene -- PRIMARILY ASSOCIATED WITH THE ESSENES OF MOUNT CARMEL; he was not "raised and trained at Qumran" as some in the modern Essene movement mistakenly assert.

~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~


~*~ Bountiful Ambrosial Blessings In Christ Jesus! ~*~

~*~ Reverend Celestial ~*~

~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~

~*~ Christ Essene Scriptures * The Third Pillar ~*~

THE ESSENE SCRIPTURES

The Third Pillar Of The Saving Halakoth

"The Three Pillars" of the saving Halakoth of Yahshua (Jesus):

1. BAPTISM TO REPLACE ANIMAL SACRIFICE;
   
   
2. THE TABLE OF THE LORD (vegetarian foods) TO REPLACE THE TABLE OF THE DEMONS (flesh foods);
   
   
3. RECEPTION OF THE AUTHENTIC SCRIPTURES AND REJECTION OF THE FALSE PERICOPES.

Pillar three: RECEPTION OF THE AUTHENTIC SCRIPTURES AND REJECTION OF THE FALSE PERICOPES. The term "pericope" means "section of scripture." Thus a "false pericope" is a section of scripture considered by Jesus and his disciples to be "falsified, untrue, not from God." Jesus taught his disciples that some holy scriptures were from God -- or at least from holy men who were attuned to the will of God -- BUT SOME SECTIONS OF SCRIPTURE WERE INSERTED BY VARIOUS KINGS AND FALSE SCRIBES WHO WERE NOT AT ALL ATTUNED TO THE TRUE WILL OF GOD. As we shall see in upcoming paragraphs of this article, Jesus instructed his disciples in regard to which sections of their scriptures (the existing Jewish scriptures) were true and which were false pericopes. He also gave them a MAGIC KEY by which to test all scriptures. Most importantly, JESUS HIMSELF APPOINTED CERTAIN OF THE DISCIPLES TO WRITE DOWN HIS TEACHINGS AND ACTIONS IN GOSPEL FORMAT TO SERVE AS THE PRIMARY SCRIPTURES OF HIS NEW CHURCH. As we will see in later paragraphs, the authentic scriptures of Jesus are today available -- after a period of suppression by worldly powers -- in such texts as The Essene Gospel of Peace (a four book set) and The Gospel of the Holy Twelve. But before we examine the above, we must set the stage. Before we can understand the relationship of Jesus to the Jewish scriptures -- and Jewish religion -- of his day, we must examine the very origin of the Essene movement. We will consider the opinions of various scholars --both ancient and modern -- on Essene origins. And, perhaps most important, we will consider the account on the origin of the Essenes given in one of their own texts: The Essene Book of Moses.

We will begin with the ancient scholars, then consult the modern. By "ancient" I mean those scholars who were contemporaries of the Essenes, living and writing while the Essenes were still in existence in Israel. Two such first century scholars are the famous Jewish historian, Josephus, and Philo of Alexandria, a noted Jewish philosopher. In regard to the origin of the Essenes, neither Josephus nor Philo can give a specific date, but both make clear that the Essenian roots are incredibly ancient. Josephus declares that the Essenes have existed "from time immemorial" and "countless generations". Philo agrees, calling the Essenes "the most ancient of all the initiates" with a "teaching perpetuated through an immense space of ages." Josephus and Philo -- as well as several other ancient writers including Pliny the Elder -- are in consensus on two points in regard to the origin of the Essenes:

1. Their origin is lost in pre-history with certain ancient legends linking them with Enoch;
   
   
2. There was a major remanifestation of the Essenes by Moses at Mount Sinai.



3. For the purpose of this article, the above reference linking Moses to a major remanifestation of the Essenes is very important, especially that it occurred at Mount Sinai. Let us now turn to several modern scholars to see if they agree with the ancients. In his excellent book From Enoch to the Dead Sea Scrolls, Edmond Szekely writes:
   

"The origin of the brotherhood is said to be unknown.... Some believe it comes from Enoch, and claim him to be their founder.... Others consider the name comes from Esrael, the elect of the people to whom Moses brought forth the Communions at Mount Sinai...."

Again, like the ancient writers, Dr. Szekely touches both upon the ancient legend linking the original founding of the Essenes with Enoch (Enoch lived hundreds of years before the time of Moses), and also a major remanifestation of the Essenes by Moses at Mount Sinai. The importance of the reference to Mount Sinai will be understood when we consider The Essene Book of Moses. But first let us consider two other modern scholars on Essene origins. In his brilliant book The Prophet of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Upton Ewing writes of the Essenes:

"They believed themselves to be the last of a remnant which had survived since the time of Moses. Into their keeping was given the true interpretation of the Law as it was first inscribed on the tablets of old."

Above, we again see that Essenian link with Moses at Mount Sinai; for it was at Mount Sinai that Moses received the tablets of the Law referred to above. The link with Moses is also made by a Jewish scholar, Rabbi Harvey Falk, in his book A New Look at the Jewishness of Jesus: "Moses... trained thousands of disciples as Essenes."

Having established that both ancient and modern scholars have pointed to a major remanifestation of the Essenes by Moses at Mount Sinai, we will consider the specific details of that event as described by the Essenes themselves in one of their most important texts: The Essene Book of Moses. In that text, God, at Mount Sinai, gave Moses the Essene Communions on a stone tablet. It was hoped that all the Jewish people would follow the way of life described on that tablet. But when Moses descended Mount Sinai and met with the people, it was clear that the majority were not ready to follow the esoteric Essene teachings engraved on that tablet. Heavy of heart, Moses again climbed Mount Sinai and asked God for an exoteric, easier set of teachings for the masses who were not ready to receive the esoteric Essene teachings. ("esoteric" means "inner circle"; "exoteric" means "outer circle".) God responded by giving the famous Ten Commandments on a second stone tablet; those commandments would be for the masses. Moses was to keep the esoteric Essene Communions for "the Children of Light," for only they could understand them. We read:

"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 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.... I am the invisible law, without beginning and without end.... If thou forsake me, thou shalt be visited by disasters for generation upon generation. If thou keepest my commandments, thou shalt enter the Infinite Garden where stands the Tree of Life in the midst of the Eternal Sea.'"

At that point, God then gave Moses the Essene Communions on the first tablet. Besides the Communions, that tablet included a synopsis of the main Essene teachings, including vegetarianism: "Thou shalt not take the life of any living thing." Our text then continues:

"And the people knew not what became of Moses, and they gathered themselves... 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... and they abandoned themselves to corruption and evil before the Lord."

The reference above to "burnt offerings" is a reference to "animal sacrifice". When Moses returned he found the people offering bloody animal sacrifices to their golden idol. Although he knew that these people had not "the ears to hear" the esoteric Essene tablet, -- they were given the exoteric Ten Commandments instead -- Moses preserved the Essene teachings for the Children of Light (the Essenes became known as the "Children of Light"); we read:

"And Moses hid the invisible Law within his breast, and kept it for a sign for the Children of Light."

It was at this time, according to both the ancient scholar Philo and the modern scholar Falk, that Moses trained 2,000 of the spiritual "elect" -- those Jews who had remained vegetarian and refused to participate in animal sacrifice and idol worship -- to be Essenes. AND FROM THIS TIME ON THE ESSENES ALWAYS EXISTED AS AN ESOTERIC MINORITY SECT WITHIN JUDAISM. (Note: When modern scholars assert that the Essenes of Qumran were founded about 200 years before the time of Jesus, they are correct in regard to that one Essene group at Qumran; but the overall Essene movement is far more ancient.)

God had warned the people that if they did not embrace the Essene teachings on the first tablet, they would "be visited by disasters for generation upon generation." That was not a threat; it was a simple statement of fact. The Essene teachings are about being in harmony with the physical and spiritual laws of life. To be out of harmony with the laws of life is a sure invitation to disaster. And so the warning of God indeed came to pass: the people of Israel suffered disaster upon disaster. They were involved in almost constant warfare. They came to be ruled by corrupt, violent kings. Their priesthood became progressively more corrupt. Their religion became centered on animal sacrifice. Their temple became a bloody butcher shop. And their corrupt priests united with their corrupt kings to alter their ancient scriptures and compose false pericopes. For example, the animal sacrifice cult that controlled the Jewish temple composed the following "sacred verses" and inserted them into the Bible; you can read these verses today in the Old Testament book of Leviticus:

"He shall lay his hand on the head of the victim and it will be accepted on his behalf to make expiation for him. He shall slaughter the bull before God, and the Aaronite priests shall present the blood and fling it against the altar all around the entrance.... He shall then flay the victim and cut it up.... The Aaronite priests shall arrange the pieces, including the head and the suet, on the wood on the altar fire, the entrails and shins... and the priest shall burn it all on the altar... a soothing odor to God."

In The Vegetarianism of Jesus Christ, Charles Vaclavik writes:

"The altar of the ancient Judaic Temple was a slaughter house, butcher shop, and barbecue pit...."

Again, from the Old Testament book of Leviticus:

"This is the law of the guilt-offering: it is most sacred. The guilt-offering shall be slaughtered... and its blood shall be flung against the altar. The priest shall cut out the entrails, the two kidneys, the haunches and the long lobe of the liver. The priest shall burn these pieces on the altar as a offering to God."

The Essenes believed the above to be an act of demon worship, not worship of God. They considered such scriptures to be false pericopes composed by the fallen priesthood. And the Essenes considered themselves to be the custodians of the authentic scriptures. In The Prophet of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Ewing writes:

"Into their keeping was given the true interpretation of the Law as it was first inscribed on the tablets of old. They held that the Law, as it was practiced by the Pharisees and Sadducees, had been successively garbled by false scribes and lying priests, and that it was their sacred duty to lift it out of the realms of darkness into which it had been submerged."

In the Essene Odyssey, Hugh Schonfield points to one of the several historical moments when large scale alterations were made in the Hebrew scriptures:

"During the persecution under Antiochus Epiphanies there was wholesale destruction of the sacred books.... Much work of restoration must have been necessitated, giving opportunity for the insertion of certain sections...."

But the largest scale remaking of the Hebrew scriptures -- the Jewish version of the Christian Nicene Council -- was carried out in the year 450 B.C. by Ezra; we read of that incident in Martin Larson's The Story of Christian Origins:

"It was not until well after the return from the captivity and the rebuilding of the Temple that the Hebrew scriptures assumed their definitive form around 450 B.C. We are told that Ezra was sent from Babylon to be governor of Jerusalem; much of the work of writing, assembling, and editing the sacred writings must be attributed to him.... And something else also happened.... The new priesthood, with their... scrolls, their special costumes, their goodly incomes, their authority and power, their altars and their Temple, made short shrift of independent prophets claiming divine inspiration.... Prophecy was no longer to be tolerated: 'When any shall yet prophesy, then his father and mother shall say unto him: Thou shall not live... and his father and mother shall thrust him through when he prophesy.'"

In other words, in the same manner that the orthodox Christian Bible was compiled and made "official" at the Nicene Council (the Nicene council decided which books would be part of the New Testament and which would be left out or altered), so the Hebrew Canon ("canon" means "official list of books") was put together under the auspices of Ezra. Having heavily altered the original Hebrew scriptures, the forces of Ezra then not only outlawed prophecy, THEY MADE IT A LAW THAT MOTHERS AND FATHERS MUST KILL ANY OF THEIR OWN CHILDREN WHO ATTEMPTED TO SPEAK A PROPHECY!

The Torah, through Ezra, became a very bloody book. If one doubts the Essene assertion that the Torah (Old Testament) has been altered and "SUBMERGED IN DARKNESS" one has either never read it or is relatively unconscious! ("Unconscious" in the sense that they are not able to differentiate between light and darkness, truth and falsehood, right and wrong.) Thus far we have quoted passages from the Torah advocating bloody animal sacrifice; but the Essenes not only opposed the animal sacrifice of the Torah, they also opposed -- AND LABELED AS FALSE PERICOPES -- the sections of scripture which advocated such things as holy wars, stoning to death children for speaking in a foul manner to their parents, stoning to death various other persons including astrologers and homosexuals, slavery and the smashing to death of the babies of enemies. In regard to that last item about babies, yes, you will find the following words in Psalm 137 verse 9 of the "Holy" Bible on your book shelf: "Happy shall he be who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks."

Sorry folks, I'm with the ancient Essenes: THAT AIN'T GOD TALKING! Pardon my English!

None of the above should be considered anti-Jewish propaganda. Jesus and the Essenes were themselves Jews. The original Jewish religion was wonderful AND WAS PRESERVED BY JESUS AND THE ESSENES. And, as will be made clear in subsequent paragraphs, neither Jesus nor the Essenes nor the first Essene-Ebionite Christians -- nor even Brother Nazariah for that matter -- have advocated throwing out the entire Torah (Old Testament). That would be like throwing out the baby with the bath water! Rather, the ancient and modern Essenes have advocated using the authentic portions of the Torah (along with our other scriptures), discarding only the false pericopes. In fact, besides bringing us new gospels and revealing lost ancient esoteric gospels, JESUS ALSO PROVIDED US WITH A MAGIC KEY BY WHICH TO TEST ALL SCRIPTURES FOR FALSE PERICOPES. That key is explained by Peter in The Clementine Homilies and Recognitions. After pointing out various passages in the Torah that are false pericopes, Peter declares:

"For the scriptures have had added to them many falsehoods against God. The prophet Moses having by the order of God delivered the true law... it was not long before the written law had added to it certain falsehoods contrary to the law of God.... If, therefore, some of the scriptures are true and some false, for good reason our Master revealed to us the mystery of his saying 'Be ye wise money changers', inasmuch as in the scriptures there are some true sayings and some spurious."

Peter explains that "Be ye wise money changers" was a KEY ALLEGORICAL MYSTERY SAYING OF JESUS; and with that key, Jesus revealed to his disciples the way to unlock the scriptures: In the same way that the money changer (a person in the ancient marketplace in charge of exchanging one form of currency for another) must recognize the relative worth and authenticity of various types of money -- throwing out the counterfeit -- the student of spirituality must recognize the relative worth and authenticity of various portions of scripture. Jesus pointed out various false pericopes (sections of scripture) but he also left behind a GENERAL RULE by which to test any scripture: ANY SCRIPTURE WHICH ADVOCATES VIOLENCE OR CRUELTY TOWARD ANY FORM OF LIFE IS "COUNTERFEIT," NOT FROM GOD. Peter concludes:

"Wherefore, Clement, my spiritual son, beware of those scriptures which portray God as... fond of burnt animal fat, bloody animal sacrifice and war.... For if God is portrayed as loving war, what sort of 'God' is that?"

Besides lifting the Hebrew scriptures out of the darkness in which they had been submerged, JESUS HIMSELF APPOINTED CERTAIN OF THE DISCIPLES TO WRITE DOWN HIS TEACHINGS AND ACTIONS IN GOSPEL FORMAT TO SERVE AS THE PRIMARY SCRIPTURES OF HIS NEW CHURCH. Several references to his intentional selection of certain disciples to act as scribes appear in an important Essene-Gnostic text discovered two centuries ago in Egypt: THE PISTIS SOPHIA. (The original, ancient title of that manuscript was, A PORTION OF THE BOOKS OF THE SAVIOR; the first English translator titled it PISTIS SOPHIA because "Sophia", the "Spirit of Wisdom", is one of the main topics of the text.) In the PISTIS SOPHIA, we read:

"And when Jesus had finished saying these words, Phillip laid down the book in his hand -- for he was the scribe chosen by Jesus to record the discourse -- and said unto Jesus: 'My Lord, surely then it is not only me that thou hast chosen to take care for the world and write down all the discourses; for I am thus constrained and cannot take my turn to speak the answers to the questions you ask."

At that point, to take some of the burden from Phillip, -- who wanted a break so that he could join in the conversation -- Jesus assigned Thomas and Matthew to take turns writing down the dialogues as well. We can safely assume that at other times he appointed other disciples to take turns also. The main point here is that THE PISTIS SOPHIA -- which pre-dates the Nicene Council -- provides evidence that Jesus consciously directed the recording of his words and deeds by his disciples, that he INTENTIONALLY BROUGHT INTO BEING THE BOOKS OF HIS NEW COVENANT! While his instruction on how to separate the true from the false pericopes in the Torah is certainly important, Jesus' giving of entire new gospels is far more important. It is in those new gospels -- the Essene Christian gospels -- that we receive the SAVING HALAKATH of Yahshua ha Mashiakh (Jesus the Christ).

The authentic scriptures of Jesus are today available --after a period of suppression by worldly powers -- in several texts, the two most important of which are The Gospel of the Holy Twelve and The Essene Gospel of Peace. In the paragraphs that follow, I will only briefly describe each. But in a forthcoming series of "Essene Path" articles, we will delve deeply into the various elements of the halakoth of Jesus found on the pages of those two manuscripts. Now, we simply set the stage.

Certain persons have been chosen by Christ to bring to light various long-lost manuscripts. Rev. Gideon Jasper Ouseley, a SPIRITUAL SAINT, who happened also to be a GREAT SCHOLAR, was chosen to bring to light THE GOSPEL OF THE HOLY TWELVE (also called The Essene New Testament). I will briefly describe that manuscript, then share a few words about Rev. Ouseley.

When the soldiers of the Roman Emperor "Constantine the Great" were sent to confiscate all copies of the original Essene-Christian New Testament (Constantine had taken control of the meat-eating branches of the Christian Church -- those originally started by his hero Paul -- altered the New Testament in favor of Paul, and created a State-run religion known as "The Catholic Church"), some brave Essene-Christian monks went to India and deposited a copy of the authentic Essene-Christian New Testament in the Mystery School Library of a Buddhist monastery. (Several centuries later that manuscript was moved from the Indian Buddhist Monastery to a Buddhist monastery in Tibet.) It was that manuscript -- THE GOSPEL OF THE HOLY TWELVE -- which was translated by Rev. Ouseley in the 1880's. (Even before Ouseley, several excerpts from this manuscript were known, having been quoted in various books written by early Church Fathers; but no complete "Holy Twelve" manuscript was available prior to the Ouseley translation.

With assistance from a sort of "underground" spiritual fellowship, Ouseley gained access to the manuscript preserved in the Tibetan monastery and translated it from Aramaic into English. He claimed that Christ and holy angels helped him -- in fact, led him -- through the entire process. However, mainline Christianity was not pleased: He was forced to leave the Church of England -- in which he was an ordained Priest -- immediately after releasing his translation of "Holy Twelve." Several attempts were made to assassinate him. His house was twice set on fire. At that point he formed an underground church called the Essene Order of At-Onement. The main purpose of that church was to acquire and preserve ancient Essene books for future publication.

Dr. Edmond Bordeaux Szekely was chosen by Christ to bring to light another ancient Essene manuscript: THE ESSENE GOSPEL OF PEACE. Like Ouseley, Szekely was a dynamic balance of HEAD and HEART: a great scholar who was deeply spiritual. In the early 1920's, while doing research in the secret archives of the Vatican, Dr. Szekely discovered ancient Essene manuscripts. Much to the dismay of the Vatican (the Vatican is the seat of authority of the Catholic Church), Dr. Szekely refused to keep quiet: He published the Essene manuscripts in a four-book set titled, The Essene Gospel of Peace. When Dr. Szekely published the Essene manuscripts he had discovered, HE WAS BANISHED BY THE VATICAN AND ALL OTHER ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN AUTHORITIES. Why? Because they don't want their comfortable boats rocked by the radical waves of the Essene Jesus! Can you imagine the orthodox authorities trying to explain to their congregations that Jesus was a vegetarian and taught reincarnation?

As promised, in a forthcoming series of "Essene Path" articles we will delve deeply into the actual contents of both The Gospel of the Holy Twelve and The Essene Gospel of Peace. For it is on those pages that we discover the various elements -- beyond the first three pillars -- of the SAVING HALAKOTH OF YAHSHUA. Yes, the orthodox authorities in their comfortable boats are right about one thing: the words of Yahshua do indeed produce mighty waves! BUT IT IS WISDOM TO FLOW WITH THE WAVES AND FOLLY TO RESIST THEM; for to resist them, is to resist the very laws of life.

~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~

~*~ Bountiful Ambrosial Blessings In Christ Jesus! ~*~

~*~ Reverend Celestial ~*~

~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~

~*~ Angels~Devas And Satan~Lucifer ~*~

Angels and Satan

Q ~ Are angels and archangels real individual consciousnesses, or are they some kind of energy constructs?

A ~ In Oriental cosmological view–including that of Christianity which is an Eastern religion–the individual consciousness evolves from the simplest form of manifested existence, the atom of hydrogen, to the most complex–including angels and archangels. (In India they are known as various kinds of devas–“gods”–gandharvas, asparas, etc.) They are all stages along the way to Infinity. Thus, archangels are “graduated” angels, who are themselves “graduated” human beings.

In truth, there are no human, angelic, archangelic, etc., beings as entities in themselves. Rather, there are spirits (atmas) who are presently evolving through those forms. More simply: there are no beings known as hats, coats, shoes, dresses, and trousers–those are just the clothing assumed by us humans. In the same way there are only individualized consciousnesses that are clothing themselves in various states of embodiment for the purpose of evolution. The angelic/archangelic condition is just that: a condition or state of being which is experienced by the evolving spirit in its upward passage to divinity.

Q ~ It has been my understanding for years that angels are in a completely different evolutionary stream from that of human beings–that they have not passed through the evolutionary forms that lead up to the human form. I have been taught that angels are of a completely different mode of being than us, and that their evolutionary paths are irrevocably separate. Could you comment on this?

A ~ There are throughout the universe–and including our own planet–numberless types of psychic entities that are evolving along lines of their very own–beings that shall indeed never be in the human evolutionary stream. (I use the term “psychic entities” to designate beings that have bodies formed of astral–psychic–energies, rather than material energies. The term “spirit” is properly applied only to the divine spark within all beings, rather than to their relative conditions.) These range from the type of entities we call “elementals” to the guides and guardians of plant and animal life, even up to great entities who look after the welfare of solar systems. Each of these entities may be given a proper name of their own, such as sylphs, undines, pixies, kelpies, devas, gandharvas, kinnaras, etc. Chistians tend to lump them all together under the term “angels.” This certainly does no harm, but is not very accurate.

Although there are indeed many “species” of non-physical entities which dwell within, upon, and above the earth, mostly affecting its mineral, plant, and non-human life, they are not properly called angels. Perhaps to use the Sanskrit term devas, as do the residents of Findhorn, is more appropriate even if not exact. Further, it is true that these residents, though evolving, will never enter into that particular evolutionary current which produces humans and angels. They are nevertheless the moral and spiritual equals of the beings within that current–as are those within all the various evolutionary streams within creation.

Q ~ Who or what is “Satan”? And “Lucifer?”

A ~ Satan is the force of cosmic delusion. But since it is to a great extent the collective energies projected by deluded intelligences (souls), it is also a kind of energy being that has a form of independent (though reflected) consciousness. Those who talk about how “if God did not exist, man would invent him” have intuited a fact. Humans can create thoughtform entities that become energy robots with a dim life and consciousness of their own. Many of the “gods” that have been worshipped throughout history were such creations of human will and consciousness. It is fashionable to sneer at the declaration by Judaism and Christianity that many of the “old” gods were demons, nevertheless–they were.

Satan is much more powerful than the thoughtform gods, being drawn from countless beings over a vast span of time. Satan can be thought of as an immense blind shark that swims around and intuits who can be engulfed or eaten and perhaps even assimilated in time. In this way it perpetually increases in power and effect. As Frankenstein’s monster was composed of parts taken from many bodies, so Satan is also a composite of energies or intelligent beings that are yet somewhat individual though submerged in a collective darkness of consciousness. So Satan is not an individual but a collection of both negative forces–and negative trapped souls. This is far more hideous than anything most of us can imagine. This awful conglomerate moves through the universe, both material and psychic, indeed seeking whom it may devour1 or debase. It both knows what it is doing and does not know, since much of its function is subliminal.

Lucifer is an altogether different matter, being a highly evolved creative being–an archangel or prajapati–that has turned negative while maintaining his definition as an individual entity. Since he is in total harmony with the cosmic Satanic force and has for ages added to its power as its agent, he can also be called Satan–just as Jesus “turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.”2

Q ~ So what are “demons”?

A ~ Demons,3 or evil spirits, are fallen (i.e., negative-turned) angels and earthbound human souls–many of whom are under the thrall of other evil entities. There are swarms of these distorted souls that also move here and there seeking who they may devour–that is, dominate and eventually assimilate. They are like gangs of murderers that will to be what they are and yet are at the same time slaves of their commanding masters. We can think of them as divisions of a demonic army.

Just as moths and other insects are drawn to light, so Satan, Lucifer, and the evil spirits are drawn to those whose auras shine forth. And just as the moths smother the flames of lamps and candles, so these beings wish to extinguish the light of souls and seize them in the resulting darkness. Each commander of a demonic platoon wishes to be as God. And the first step is the collecting of souls to rule. Such beings often reveal themselves as gods to those susceptible to contact with them. They can even give benefits and answer the prayers of their devotees, but in time they devour them and possess them through long ages. Though in time their slaves escape–for none are “damned” forever–the experience is nonetheless monstrous and traumatic. Those who enter into the path of communication with them shall find it leading into a darkness and agony that is hardly escaped–and for most cannot be escaped at all until the end of the creation cycle. Why does God allow it? Because it is the consequence of free will. We might as well complain about God allowing people who put their hands into fire to be burned. There is no learning otherwise.

So we must learn that defence against such horrible wanderers is necessary for both inner and outer survival. The pretty-think people may not like the truth about these beings, and even deny it. But that only guarantees that they will not have any immunity to their onslaughts. I well remember assisting in the exorcism of a wholistic health center run by a positive-thinking metaphysical church. The entire place was infested with earthbound entities, including a particularly dangerous being that had gotten trapped there. Since the church denied the existence of such beings, how could they deal with them? Consequently this beautiful expensive facility was completely unusable. Within a short time of entering there anyone would leave in fear. As a result they had to call those of us who were too ignorant to know such things did not exist to come and get rid of the non-existent beings. As the little boy says in the folk story: “I was afraid of the ghosts that did not exist!”

Such things do exist, and we who strive for higher life must not naively think that we are thereby automatically protected. We must not make the mistake of the deer in Bambi (I am referring to the book, not the movie) who believes that humans are kind and friendly and is shot trying to get near them. Sincerity and good motivation have never shielded anyone from the consequences of folly. Even Jesus would not agree to risk psychic danger when Lucifer urged him to jump off the pinnacle of the Temple.4 The principle not to tempt God by foolhardy confidence is wisdom.

On a cosmic level these entities and forces need to be pushed into “the outer darkness” of chaos where they can harm no one and can in time be healed.

Being miniature universes, we, too, have inner Satan, inner Lucifer, and inner demons–all created by our own negative deeds and thoughts in this and previous lives. They, too, must be “thrust down”–back into the subconscious from which they arise–and be recycled into good forces. Just as in time Satan, Lucifer, and all demons shall be healed and restored to their original state of perfection, so we should be working even now to restore their inner counterparts within ourselves.

Q ~ Just how and why did Lucifer fall?

A ~ As far as the how and why of Lucifer’s dilemma: I have no idea about my own “fall,” so any speculation on my part about another’s fall would be worthless. It happened. I cannot say any more, except that being an Archangel is no big thing on the evolutionary ladder, and Lucifer’s situation only proves the statement of one great Master: “Until you are There, you are not There.” That is, the possibility of reversing the process of evolution is as open to us as is the path of progression. Evolution is really a two-way street. In the ultimate analysis, it is a matter of will, which, whether it is exclusively ours or is really God’s, is always free. Therefore the option of fall is essential to our freedom to rise.

Q ~ Then what about Lucifer–is he evolving, too?

A ~ Lucifer is still playing the fool, directing other similarly deluded beings in their mutual self-destruction, but in time he will truly come to himself and take the path of return–so the saints and masters have told us. But I do not plan to wait around for the event.

More Q & A Topics:
• God • God & Creation • Religion • Spiritual Life • More On Practical Spiritual Life • Life After Death • Christianity • Reincarnation & Karma • Vegetarianism • Channeling • Angels & Satan	• Yoga and Meditation • Samadhi • Image Worship • Animals • Astrology • Monastic Life • Miscellaneous • An Inquiry Regarding Om Yoga – A response to a reader's questions about modern attitudes towards meditation on Om and about initiation.

---

1) “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” (I Peter 5:8) [Go back]

2) Matthew 16:23 [Go back]

3) In ancient Greek, daimon simply meant a discarnate intelligence and could be either positive or negative. [Go back]

4) Matthew 4:5-7 [Go back]

~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~

~*~ Bountiful Ambrosial Blessings In Christ The Universal Mystic ~*~

~*~*~*~ Reverend Celestial ~*~*~*~

~*~ HaPpY Saint Patrick's Day! ~*~

~*~ HaPpY Saint Patrick's Day To ALL! ~*~ HaPpY Leprechaun's Green Day Unto ALL Beings! May You Find The True 'Pot O Gold' Of Omipresent Infinite Divinity Within And Without ~ Everywhere ~ And BEYOND! ~*~ Stroll In Awe Within Radiant Verdant Emerald Green Forest Fragrant Groves Of Shamrocks ~ LuCkY Four Leaf Clovers! ~*~ How About A Spot O Green Special Herbal Tea With Me? ~*~

~*~ Many Emerald Greening Ambrosial Divine Blessings! ~*~

~*~*~*~ Reverend Celestial ~*~*~*~

~*~ Greetings And Blessings! ~*~

~*~ This Venture Should Prove To Be Quite A Holy Sojourn Into The Omnipresent Divine Mystic Oneness Of Mother~Father God ~ The Essene Vegan Mystic Jesus Christ ~ The Holy Spirit ... Loving~Kindness And Divine Oneness ~ Reverence ALL Creatures And Mother Earth ~ Beings ~ Nature ~ Spirit ~ Realms ~ Manifestations ~ Seen And Unseen... And BEYOND ~ AS GOD ITSELF! ALL ONE DIVINE SPIRIT! ALL IS MADE OF DIVINITY! ~*~

I Am A Vegan Divine Mystic Woman Priest And Founder Of My Vegan Esoteric Interfaith Mystical Christian: "Universal Divine Life Church".
Devoted To Profound Meditation ~ Deep Contemplative Prayer ~ Spiritual Illumination In Oneness ~ Service And Loving~Kindness Towards ALL LIFE.

I Am Also Ordained In: ULC ~ The Church Of Interfaith Christians ~ The Order Of Perpetual Contemplation Of The Divine Effulgence. I Am A Life~Long Celibate Monastic And Vegan Divine Mystic... Devoted To Saving ALL Beloved Holy Animals And Creatures And Mother Earth ~ ALL LIFE ~ From The Cruel, Selfish, Insane, All~Destructive Humans. Shun ALL Things Toxic. Follow Organic Vegan
Wholistic Non~Materialistic Cruelty~Free Holy Lifestyle.

I Dwell In Northern California USA.
Are You Interested In Living These Ideals Or In
Universal Divine Life Church ?

Well... This Is My Brief Introduction... Now Lets Embark Further
On The Journey!

~*~ Reverend Celestial ~*~