Foreign Thank you for joining Wars of the Roses and this is the Mystic Brotherhood the essenes by Maxime Quintel FRC an article taken from rosicrucian digest volume 45 number 11 November 1967. the Mystic Brotherhood the essenes by Maxime quintal FRC there was eager anticipation in the Years following the second world war
When the Scrolls from the Dead Sea were discovered it was a discovery which engendered a growing consciousness of a unique order shrouded in mystery for centuries who were the essenes who referred to themselves as the sons of zadok how did this mystical fraternity evolve and why the etymology of the word
Essen a moot topic is Egyptian truly it is derived from the word kashai which means secret also meaning secret and Silent is a Jewish word of similar sound sahih which is translated as seen the true origin of the essenes is in the Strange Land of Egypt Egypt where
Initiates of the ancient Mystery Schools enacted the Assyrian mysteries in their temples where a secret gnosis or superiority of knowledge was transmitted by Word of Mouth to neophytes who were tested and found worthy thus perpetuating an ancient tradition in strict secrecy and confidence the Kerry hebbs Masters imparted to The
Seekers after truth the esoteric wisdom which they received upon oath never to reveal to the profane masses nor to set down on papyri’s Scrolls from farlands students came to study philosophy at Thebes heliopolis and Alexandria where the mystery schools had established branches many profound thinkers journeyed to Egypt among them
Were Solomon Pythagoras thales Plato and Democritus from Egypt this gnosis or esoteric knowledge spread to other lands during the centuries anterior to the Christian era in Greece were found the orders of the therapeutic and the pythagoreans and in Palestine the Brotherhood of the essenes in the period between the Old and New
Testament the essenes of Palestine there was an essene organization at Alexandria had already established a branch north of engedi on the western shore of the Dead Sea flavius Josephus the Jewish historian states that his scenes were to be found in every city they were not a splinter sect of Judaism as scholarship
Presupposes and did not identify themselves with any definitive aspect of Jewish customs and beliefs rather they were Gentiles in 103 BC they like other Gentiles were forced by the Jewish King and high priest aristobulus the first to adopt the Mosaic law and circumcision they were not a religious sect as it is
Often said however the Pharisees and Sadducees would have regarded them as such since the Senate doctrines differed considerably from those of the former their spiritual head was referred to as the teacher of righteousness and the community looked upon him as a messiah messiah or anointed one as seen commentators in their exegesis
Interpreted the suffering servant passages of Isaiah to refer to their own teacher of righteousness the passage from the book of habakkuk 2 4 which reads the just shall live by his faith which the theologians interpret to mean Jesus is in the qumran manuscript interpreted as the just shall live by
Their faith in the teacher righteousness of these essene Saints the ancient historians Philo of Alexandria Pliny the Elder and Josephus wrote in their histories their writings reflect the Deep admiration and respect they felt for the associates of the Brotherhood indeed the essenes were a wonder of the
Ancient world and have been called the brethren in white clothing The Silent Ones the Puritans and the Physicians Community Living the essenes practiced a form of Community Living wherein their property was jointly owned by the community a system which was adopted by the early Church in this community there was a
Second chamber or a hierarchy which comprised 12 men and three priests their initiates were required to serve a probationary period of two years they were allowed to partake neither of the pure meal of the congregation until the completion of their first year nor of the drink of the congregation until
Completion of their second year the candidates accepted by the Council of the community would then enjoy the Privileges of the Brotherhood and their personal possessions would form part of the common pool their Community was self-sufficient they pursued agriculture though they were not exclusively vegetarians they kept no
Slaves and each member was required to do his share of menial work they offered no sacrifices they did not swear to any oath for their word was their bond the populace of the day knew this for even King Herod the Great 37 34 BC Exempted them from taking the oath of allegiance
To the crown nor did they participate in disputes concerning religion or Politics the essenes built hospices the Forerunner of modern hospitals in many districts to assist the poor and needy and for the shelter of tired Travelers this formed a part of their humanitarian activities Philo says that the Aged
Among them were regarded with reverence and honor the manual of discipline the community of the New Covenant had its statutes which maintained strict discipline among its members its code and precepts are published under the titles the manual of discipline and the Damascus document a copy of the Damascus document was found
In a denizer at Cairo early in this century and was published in 1910 by Solomon shechter under the title fragments of a zadakite work while the manual of discipline has also been published as the rule for all the congregation of Israel in the last days and the community rule in their communal
Life they were particularly severe on those members who lied deliberately in matters of personal possessions or bore a grudge against another or transgressed any of the mosaic laws or spoken anger against priest or companion in such cases the member would be excluded from the assembly for a period of time and
Due Penance in a few cases the member could be suspended but reinstated upon probation for consideration of his case by the many for slandering or murmuring against the community the penalty was excommunication for life during an assembly of the congregation they sat in ranks and they were to speak in
Accordance with the degree of their advancement they frowned upon foolish speech or foolish laughter talking out of turn or interrupting another while he spoke these transgressions met with due punishment as did sleeping or unnecessary exposure during a session for any of these offenses the member would do Penance and be temporarily
Excluded from the purity of the many though the essenes as a secret organization went about their work quietly from time to time certain members would go out and teach in public the famous essene menahem became popular for his prophecy that Herod would one day reign as king of the Jews another
Essene was John the Baptist who Jesus said was Elijah returned John heralded the news of the Advent of the expected savior he urged repentance and practiced the a Scenic Rite of baptism so close is the similarity between a cynic thought and the Theology of Jesus that modern
Scholars are saying Jesus was a member of the essene order the essenes not unlike the many Jewish sects that flourished in Palestine had anticipated that the Messiah would be born within their fold the mysterious disappearance of the essenes has often led to the belief that they merged into and became part of the
Christian Movement this seems unlikely for the essenes were not a missionary group their members constituted an esoteric school and membership was limited to the few sincere and worthy Seekers there can be no doubt however that they enthusiastically supported the early Christian Church indeed a Scenic influence upon Christianity has often
Brought about the statement that essinism is the mother of Christianity scriptures they were students of the Zend avesta scriptures also the books and prophetic writings of the Old Testament these included the Apocrypha and the pseudopographer in their qumran Library fragments of every book of the Old Testament except the Book of Esther have
Been found preserved in its entirety as a text of the book of Isaiah some of the books found in the qumrun caves at one time form part of the biblical Canon but were eventually discarded The Book of Enoch The Shepherd of hermas the Epistle of Barnabas the Psalms of Solomon and The
Testament of the twelve Patriarchs the Dead Sea Scrolls antidate the hitherto oldest extant manuscripts of the Old Testament the Hebrew masoretic text by almost a thousand years what happened to the essenes It is believed that they fled their Dead Sea Community during the first Jewish War
Ad6670 when the Roman 10th Legion was in the vicinity the essene somehow anticipated this for they carefully prepared themselves to depart a serious problem however had to do with the transportation of their manuscripts it is now known that they hid part of their library in the neighboring qumran
Caves then they trekked to Mount Carmel in Palestine where they established their headquarters as mystical students the essenes sought the samuran Burnham of existence the evolution of their spiritual being they pursued a study and quest for at one month with the god self and the illumination gained from their
Experiences was to enhance the moral fiber of their existence and their humanitarian services to the world they lived in Simplicity and humility in Temperance and equity and impurity and Truth Thank you for watching and please don’t forget to share like subscribe and comment and if you can please consider donating to Wars of the Roses links to PayPal and patreon are in the description thank you so very much
source
