The Essenes: an ancient mystical movement originating around 200-300 BCE

The community of Essenes supported and enacted the Christ drama in what is termed the Holy Land.

Names

• The Essenes
• The Asenean (Essenean, or Es’eans) – OAHSPE Bible
• Essæans
• Derived from the root words ‘esse’ (being) and ‘ene’ (source), Essene means ‘Source of Being’ or ‘Holy One’. – Anna, Grandmother of Jesus
• The Faithful, the Chosen, or the Elect – Anna, Grandmother of Jesus
• A common name for the Essenes at that time was hasha’im, a Hebrew word meaning “silent ones” – The Essenes: Children of the Light

“It had long been a matter of interest to me to learn all I could of this band of Nature students, Incalenes, as they were sometimes called, from Incal, God, and “ene,” to study. Thousands of years later, in the time of Jesus of Nazareth, these were called “Essenes.”

Frederick Oliver

Locations

• Nazarite Essenes
  • Mount Carmel Essenes
• Qumran Essenes
• Great Britain
• Monastery of Mount Bugarach, Gaul (France)
• South of Alexandria within an Essene community on the shore of Lake Mareotis
• Damascus (100BCE) (The Essenes – children of the light)

As they drew closer I recognized by their manner and clothing, that they were Nazarite Essenes, most likely from the Mount Carmel monastery. They wore plain, unadorned robes of unbleached linen. Their long hair which they all wore in a similar fashion, and their exceedingly calm, mindful bearing and movement, set them apart from the native lay-people of Galilee and Samaria. And of course they could not be mistaken for the Romans who occupied our lands.

Anna, voice of the Magdalenes

I took refuge from time to time with the Essenes at Qumran. There, I enjoyed the companionship of John, who later became known as The Baptist, and Judas, later known as Judas Iscariot.

Anna, voice of the Magdalenes

You will not find much evidence of our having lived in Carmel or here in Bugarach because we primarily live in heavy woven tents. We also have structures made of mud and wattle with thatched roofs. As necessary, we use field stone and post and lintel construction. We live simply, own nothing and share all that we have. We give freely to all in need.

Anna, voice of the Magdalenes

There were a few men and women who were unmarried; but, unlike Qumran with its many celibates, there were more married couples at Carmel. … I think that is why marriage is encouraged at Carmel. Marriage is also encouraged here at Bugarach among the consecrated initiates.

Some, like the Qumran Essene community, which is more patriarchal, prefer celibacy. There are far more men than women there and they only marry and have intercourse to ensure progeny to carry on the work. But, from my limited experience, I will say that our Carmel Essene fellowship, which embraces the alchemical Magdalene practices of Isis and Osiris, encourages marriage and we have a more liberal attitude to sexuality.

Anna, voice of the Magdalenes

But, I suppose it was because I spent a good deal of time at Qumran, which was made up almost exclusively of celibates, that I turned increasingly to holding my seed as my path of choice. I was taught within the brotherhood, and also by John (the Baptist), how to hold my fire within my loins and not spill my seed, as my path to God. I still find abstinence challenging, but I also find there are fewer distractions.

Anna, voice of the Magdalenes

So to the south and west of Qumran there was a triangle formed by communities at Ein Gedi and Arad, and my own community at Hebron.

The Essenes: The Children of the Light

The main stem communities: 1. Alexandria (at Lake Mareotis) 2. Qumran 3. Damascus
The southern group: 4. Ein Gedi 5. Arad 6. Hebron
The northern group: 7. Rama 8. Jenin 9. Mount Carmel

High Initiates

• Yeshua
• Mary Magdalene
• John The Baptist

Essenes origins were of the stars

As Essenes we knew that our origins were of the stars, and that at the beginning of things we were star people. Our wisdom was star wisdom, for it saw far out into the cosmos. We were star people, but also Earth people as human beings. We lived in Earth reality and in star aspiration, and in that balance we found the key to many things.

Introduction

The Essenes were an ancient mystical movement originating around 200-300 BCE. The Essenes, influenced by various spiritual traditions from Alexandria, Egypt, and other regions, emphasized ascension practices and spiritual transformation.

The Aseneans (Essenes) appeared among the scattered Faithists. They preserved prophecy and purity. 

≈146 BCE – ≈1406 years after Exodus – The basis of the Ezra Bible

The Essenes’ teachings were rediscovered in the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947, revealing their focus on attaining a state of perfect light humans through spiritual practices.

They believed that remembering and transforming into their original divine state would lead to a new era of light and righteousness on Earth.

Despite their destruction by the Romans, their mystical knowledge persisted, influencing various spiritual traditions.

We oppose the sons of darkness by letting our Light shine, not by taking up the sword.

The Essenes: Children of The Light

They are eminent for fidelity and are the ministers of peace…They also take great pains in studying the writings of the ancients and choose out of them what is most for the advantage of their soul and body.

Josephus

The coming of the Great Teacher

The whole Essene effort was centered upon the coming of a great Teacher, a Teacher of Righteousness. At first we did not know his name, we only knew that a great Teacher would come, and he would lead us to the Light. The Spirit would be strong within him, and many would follow him and listen to his teachings. So it was to be a supportive framework for him, and all would be ready for him when he came.

The Essenes: Children of The Light

But we feared that if all the knowledge was destroyed then the Light would never shine in the hearts of the people, and at the end of the cycle it would be a great disaster, and only a handful of shining ones would ascend, and the rest of humanity would be doomed to living yet another cycle on some other world. And then planet Earth would be regarded as a failure.

The Essenes: Children of The Light

Claire Heartsong

From Anna, Grandmother of Jesus by Claire Heartsong:

The only commentaries the early western world had about the existence of the Essenes came from classical writers such as Josephus, Philo, and Pliny the Elder.

Unfortunately, although their comments are interesting, I believe these authors were describing a different Essene settlement at Qumran, not Anna’s community in Mount Carmel.

Although the Essenes had their common characteristics of living as a disciplined spiritual, agricultural community of ascetic, reclusive, pacifist individuals, divorced from the mainstream of social, political, and Judaic religious practice, there were major differences as well as commonalities.

The Mount Carmel Essenes were said to maintain a strict, ritual purity, to share their possessions in common, to work hard and keep no slaves. They did not seek pleasure and wealth and they elected their own leaders from among themselves. Because they had strict dietary and health habits, refused to offer animal sacrifices as other Jews did, and used a solar not a lunar calendar, they were considered very odd by their contemporaries.

It was reputed that some of the Essenes could even foretell the future. What these early writers failed to realize was that there were several Essene communities and it was the members of a small mystical group at Mount Carmel who were intensely devoted and involved in bringing a Messiah to planet Earth.

None of the writers apparently understood that the wisdom Anna shared with her daughter, Mary, and later with her grandson, Jesus, were profound spiritual teachings and initiations whose influence would help formulate later Christian belief.

Within the pages of this book, you will come to know Anna in her role as headmistress of the Essene spiritual community at Mount Carmel, the secret enclave of the School of the Prophets, which allowed her to share her celestial knowledge with all those entrusted to her tutelage.

An extraordinary woman, able to extend her physical life for over six hundred years, Anna reveals the intimacy of the Essene community and their personal relationships against the backdrop of the Roman occupation of the holy lands.

You will discover her unusual abilities and responsibilities, including the light conception and birth of Mary, and Mary’s own light conception, birth and upbringing of Jesus. This panorama explaining what the Essenes had to do for Jesus, Mary Magdalene and a host of other well-known disciples and helpmates of the Christ drama, emphasizes their essential role in assisting Jesus fulfil his part as the Messiah.

We see how Jesus’ resurrection allowed the formation of a church that deified Jesus as a saviour – not as an Essene teacher and healer who taught each person to express their own inner Christ. Thus the growth of Christianity as both a theology and an organizational entity began and Essenism was set aside. It is interesting that until 1928 there was little information describing the Essene teachings for the contemporary public to read.

Many years before I met him, John had joined a sect of Judaism called the Essenes. These, the most enlightened and uncorrupted of Judaic Hebrews, traced their origins back to the ancient mystery schools of Moses and Akhenaten and beyond.

Derived from the root words ‘esse’ (being) and ‘ene’ (source), Essene means ‘Source of Being’ or ‘Holy One’. We addressed one another as Son or Daughter of the sun, as those who kept the way of healing we were also known.

Every Sabbath and high day, members of the Essene Brotherhood would come to John’s household to pray, read, and discuss matters of spirit.

Our communions were rich and full, providing me with a family in the outer world who took on the luminescence that I witnessed in the inner planes. Of this community, my two women friends, Mariamne and Ruth, were also faithful disciples. So began my walk with the Faithful, the Chosen, or the Elect as some called themselves within the Essene Brother–Sisterhood.

I continued in the fellowship of the Essenes throughout the remainder of my long days. James, Aurianna’s husband, was one of these brothers who hailed from Mount Carmel.

The stories he told about Carmel quickened my spirit, and I felt called to go to the mount where Samuel and Elijah had taught – there to establish myself as a full initiate within the ancient Essene mysteries. So it was that, with Aurianna, James, and five of my eight grandchildren, I left Jerusalem in 559 BC to begin a new life. Later, Mariamne and Ruth also joined the Mount Carmel community. My soul was at peace, and I looked to the future with a glad heart.

Edmond Bordeaux Szekely

Then a dedicated linguist and researcher named Edmond Bordeaux Szekely, PhD, was able to find and translate a startling third century Aramaic manuscript and Old Slavonic text. This material contained extensive information about an unusual spiritual group called the Essenes, focusing on their profound dedication to the health and healing practices as epitomized by Jesus. For 50 years Dr Szekely continued his life work of translating and publishing these actual Essene writings, in 26 different languages, mostly in small inexpensive booklets.

His work brought the Essene beliefs to greater world attention and he was able to cofound an international Essene organization with 20th Century mystic and Nobel Prize winner, Romain Rolland.

Edgar Cayce

Edgar Cayce discussed both Anna and the Essenes among his 14,000 ‘readings’. He described the Essenes as members of a small spiritual Jewish sect that began a hundred years before Jesus’ birth in the 2nd Century BC and continued some 68 years after the crucifixion of Jesus and the destruction of the Jewish temple. Cayce’s readings about the Essenes confirmed there was a definite connection between Jesus’ family and friends and the Essene communities.

Cayce reported that these designated Essenes were an outgrowth of the teachings of Melchizedek, as propagated by Elijah, Elisha, and Samuel, and that they consequently offered themselves as channels to receive spiritual information of divine origin. They joined together in a community of love and devotion, living a holy life of performing good deeds, honouring women equal with men.

Above all, the Essenes believed in a divine plan for human evolution and deliberately prepared themselves to be worthy of hosting a Messiah in the world.

Bashar

Connection Between Thoth and Jesus

Can you tell me about the connection between Thoth and Jesus?

Jesus understood what Thoth was. He understood many different levels that we haven’t discussed. He was also of a lineage that he belonged to — something different from the Essenes, although they’re part of it — something more ancient.

Is that something the Masons are connected to?
That is a much later and much more piecemeal idea. It has a piece of this and a piece of that. Anything that you’re aware of as a society will not be the one we’re referring to that’s more ancient.

Except maybe the lineage of the serpent in general?
You could say that, but even that is not the whole picture.

source

Dolores Cannon

From Jesus and the Essenes by Dolores Cannon through past life regression

D : I have heard the Essenes are like a secret organization. Would that be correct?

S: They are greatly feared by those who are in power, because we have studied into the mysteries that others have only hinted at. And they fear that if we gain too much power and knowledge that they will lose their place.

H : How do they differ from the regular Jewish community?

S: There is more strict adherence to the laws. More adherence, to the average Jew means: upon the end of Sabbath he leaves the synagogue and he does not remember it again until the beginning of the next Sabbath. To us, the law and the Torah are all. We must not forget that this is why that we live. Much time is spent upon the defining of the prophecies given. And knowing that this is the time that they shall be culminated. And it is our duty to prepare others for this time, and to prepare the way.

Jesus and the Essenes

Suddi confirmed this, “In most synagogues, women are not even allowed inside. They have the women’s terrace.” I wondered why women were allotted this honor with the Essenes.

S: It is said that one away from the other is not complete. So all knowledge must be shared, so that it can never be lost. I have known women who have more brains than the average rabbi.

Jesus and the Essenes

D : Is there any dissension between the Essene teachers and the Jewish teachers in the area?

S: Yes, they call us crazy, because we believe that the time is at hand. They have given up hope for the coming of the Messiah. (He was frowning deeply and seemed uneasy.) I am curious to know why you wish this knowledge? I would prefer to not answer any more. There are many who would find out about our community and see it destroyed.

Jesus and the Essenes

If there were ever an attempt to wipe an entire group of people off the face of the map, that was what happened with the Essenes. There is no mention of them in the Bible. It has been inferred that all references of them have been deliberately deleted, because of the similarity between their doctrine and Christianity.

Jesus and the Essenes

Essenes were considered communistic in the purist sense of the word. They lived together in a community, sharing everything and needing no money.

Jesus and the Essenes

Core group

There was always a core group in the Essene Brotherhood, ever since the Kaloo first established the communities. During my lifetime the core group included my friend Joseph, Mary his sister, Joseph her husband, their son James, Mary Magdalene and John. After the death of Mary’s husband, an elder from Qumran held the focus, to be replaced later by Thomas, who became a disciple.

The Essenes: The Children of the Light

Druid-Essenes

Sound, Light and Colour are the technologies we use as Druid–Essene Magdalenes.

Anna, the voice of the Magdalenes

So the Druids had some links with the Essenes? Joseph: Yes, they also traced their history back to the Kaloo, so there were meeting points, there was some similarity. The priests among the Druids knew much, and they recognized the Essenes as another branch of a wider family.

The Essenes: The Children of the Light

Joanna: Did the Druids store some of their knowledge in crystals?

Daniel: Yes, they had great faith in crystals as record keepers. We mainly used scrolls for this purpose. We believed that only the most important and secret knowledge should be stored in crystals. Again, we saw that as a strength and as a weakness. If the skill in reading the crystal is lost, then the knowledge is lost also, at least for a time.

Joanna: So both the Essenes and the Druids were taught by the Kaloo?

Daniel: Yes, but the two streams developed in different ways.

The Essenes: The Children of the Light

The Druids also had a tradition of great Teachers. They believed in a Teacher who would come to reform the hearts of human beings, yes. They considered it possible that the Teacher might come from another branch that had been founded by the Kaloo.

Joanna: Did the Druids ever talk about connecting with the star people?

Daniel: Oh yes, for these would be like our Watchers. In the case of the Watchers they seemed to communicate mainly with the Kaloo, but the Druids seemed to have more direct contact with them. Perhaps they put more emphasis on star beings in their knowledge, and this drew them into contact more.

The Essenes: The Children of the Light

Overall Picture That Emerges

• Watchers = the Star People (non-human, otherworldly).
• Kaloo = an ancient advanced earthly lineage/group that served as the main interface or “chosen contacts” for the Watchers’ communications and knowledge transfer.
• Knowledge then flowed from Watchers → Kaloo → Essenes (and others).
• The Druids appear to have had a somewhat more direct/”plugged in” relationship with the Watchers due to their particular spiritual focus.

Joanna: And how did you see the knowledge of the Druids developing over time?

Daniel: Because the Druids had a long and continuous line of teaching they were able to attract teachers from other lands to come and share their knowledge. By doing this they were able to extend the original narrow base of their studies until it embraced mathematics (including the sacred application of numbers), geometry (including sacred geometry on which the Pythagoreans had much to say), and astronomy (including cosmology and astrology). They also studied many other things, including the practical knowledge of the natural world and the subtler gifts of prophecy and seership. They tried to find sacred aspects to most of their knowledge, bringing the sacred into everyday life so that it became a vital part of that experience, and this was one of their great strengths.

The Essenes: The Children of the Light

Celtic-Christian

Brother Geoffrey is a descendant of Anna and an initiate of the Druid–Essenes, who lives in the growing Celtic-Christian monastery in Glastonbury. Just over one hundred years have passed since Anna’s conscious death in ad82.

Anna, the voice of the Magdalenes

Celtic-Essenes

Myriam’s children, Johannes and Miriam, are establishing a new Celtic–Essene community in Fortingall. It will be an expansion upon a much earlier initiatory centre created by our earlier Celtic/Hebraic ancestors.

Anna, the voice of the Magdalenes

Essene-Therapeutae

Pa’pa (Yeshua) was frequently with us during our hermitage retreats. During that time we also visited and participated in the healing work being done at various Essene–Therapeutae hospitals, hospices and monasteries scattered through these regions. We were glad to experience the Romans basically supporting our humanitarian efforts as long as our doors were open to Roman citizens and soldiers requiring our aid. [Sar’h – Ibiza, Iberia (Spain), AD63]

We are building over ancient Phoenician and Greek ruins. This site commands a beautiful view looking out over the expansive blue waters of the sea.

Anna, the voice of the Magdalenes

Essenes and Therapeutae were ancient Jewish (or Jewish-influenced) ascetic sects active roughly from the 2nd century BCE to the 1st century CE. They are known primarily through ancient writers: Philo of Alexandria, Josephus, and Pliny the Elder for the Essenes, and almost exclusively Philo for the Therapeutae.

Philo contrasts them deliberately:

• Essenes exemplify the active philosophical/religious life (practical, communal, in Judea/Palestine, often linked to Qumran).
• Therapeutae (or Therapeutrides for women) represent the contemplative life, centered near Alexandria, Egypt, especially on a hill by Lake Mareotis (Mariout).

Many scholars view the Therapeutae as a contemplative or Egyptian branch of the broader Essene movement, though their exact relationship and even their strict Jewish identity remain debated. Some see possible syncretic influences (Egyptian, Greek, or even distant parallels to early Buddhist monastic structures).

Jews vs Essenes

Joanna: What about the Jews who are not Essenes. Do you feel you have much in common with them? Daniel: We have a little in common with them, yes, but we feel like Essenes first and Jews second. We don’t feel much sympathy for most of the Jews outside our Brotherhood. They have chosen what we consider to be a wrong path. We see them as sons of darkness, whereas the Essenes are Sons of Light.

The Essenes: The Children of the Light

The Kaloo

The Kaloo had given us many abilities, many skills.

The Essenes: The Children of the Light

See: Kaloo

The Essene Diet

A variety of things: fish, the meat allowed by Jewish Law, fruit and food from other plant sources. As for myself, I chose to eat nuts, fruit, honey, grains and other plant foods, but no meat or fish. I did not see why any of God’s creatures should have to die so that I might live. Animals are our younger brothers in terms of spiritual development. I do not believe that a loving God would create a universe in which a man must eat his brother in order to survive.

The Essenes: The Children of the Light

Yeshua said we should eat the fruits of trees, the plants of the field, honey and milk. All the good food spread out before us on the table of the Earthly Mother. Honey he praised highly, for it is made by the bees with such ritual care, each of their hives being like a temple in miniature, and their lives being ordered with perfect ceremony. Judging by what he said I believe honey is the most spiritual food one can eat upon the Earth. Every community kept hives, and we treated the bees with the greatest respect.

The Essenes: The Children of the Light

What we take into our mouths and especially what comes out of our mouths determines our happiness.

When we eat living foods pulsing with the light of Brother Sun, who pours out his love upon all without condition, we, too, can be more generous with our abundance. In turn, we may add many more years to our lives in which to grow in wisdom. Then there are many more opportunities to give service to others in ways that benefit all.

Anna, the voice of the Magdalenes

I am thankful for our Essene practices of cleanliness and eating only vegetables, fruits, nuts and grains. I try to continue eating only raw food but that is not always easy in this cold, dark climate. Before long, as the light increases, it will be time to fast and cleanse. There will be ample fresh produce from the gardens and orchards. I am glad that the coming days will help us all feel lighter in our bodies and minds.

Anna, the voice of the Magdalenes

Meat

Different types of meat were eaten: lamb and goat, occasionally an ox or a young bullock and different types of birds. I remembered the food laws in the Old Testament and asked about any restrictions.

He said, “You may not partake of swine or anything that the hoof has been uncloven . The swine, it eats anything. It would eat dung if this is what it is fed , it would not matter. Therefore it is considered unclean. You may eat only those with the cloven hoof that chew the cud. The camel chews the cud but we do not eat the camel.”

It was his personal choice. “It is not good to kill something for your own.. just.. for enjoyment. This is God’s creature you are destroying. To eat meat is to tie one here, to tie one’s soul to the earth.”

Jesus and the Essenes

Fasting

Fasting helps in keeping the body balanced.

Jesus and the Essenes

The Essene daily life

“Usually I would awaken with the sun, go and bathe, and then I would break my fast. Study for a period of time and then begin lessons or go about the day’s teaching. And break off again and eat midday meal. Then usually I would study. There is much I am in ignorance of. Then I have the evening meal and spend my evenings in contemplation.”

Jesus and the Essenes

God is in charge of the timing aspect of our lives

We realize that there is a right time for everything and that God knows this time and will present the gift, whatever it may be – the skill, the talent, the wisdom – at the most fitting time for us to receive it. So this gives us patience because we know that God is in charge of the timing aspect of our lives, and all we have to do is to trust and go forward, a day at a time. And if our hearts are open and we go forward in love, then the time is always right for us.

The heart holds the essence of things, and as Essenes we are concerned with the essence rather than the outer husk. We have found that what really moves people forward is energy experienced in the heart, not words and ideas circulating in the mind. The mind might try to persuade you that ideas are all that really matter, but that is a lie.

The Essenes: The Children of the Light

Dancing

Yes, there was simplicity in our lives, but we did not strive for it. It arose naturally from our lives as the perfume arises from the flower. We strove for good things: peace, harmony, love,

The Essenes: The Children of the Light

Sleep

“The head is not elevated. The ideal way of sleeping is to have the feet higher than the head, to aid in circulation. To elevate the head , then you would have problems with your feet swelling. You do not? To elevate the head would be to bring about headaches and many other problems. To elevate the feet would aid in the circulation of the body and stop its settling down.”

Jesus and the Essenes

Religion

The Essenes teaching come from:

Source	Location	Key Concepts	Savior-Hero
Egyptian	Egypt	The Sun, ascension	Osiris
Judaic	Israel	Light, Yahweh	The Messiah
Zoroastrian	Persia	Duality of Light and darkness	The three savior-sons of Zarathustra
Pythagorean	Greece	Enlightenment, self-perfection	The individual initiate

Harmony, truth, peace and love

Harmony, truth, peace and love are the four pillars on which we build our house, and without any of those four pillars the house would not stand.

The Essenes: The Children of the Light

Free to choose their own perception of the Divine

We enforce no common belief, no orthodoxy, and each one is free to choose their own perception of the Divine.

The Essenes: The Children of the Light

It was the Kaloo who insisted that our priesthood must be unchanged and unchanging, like fixed stars in all the whirling movement of the heavens.

The Essenes: The Children of the Light

Elohim

All Essenes shared a great reverence for angels, and especially for the Elohim, very high angelic beings who stand above the level of archangel. The Elohim we saw as filling their places by reason of merit and not through being created great. We saw them as rising upwards from lesser angels or from the equivalent of human beings, through great ages of cosmic development until they reached that high level.

The Essenes: The Children of the Light

Human beings as Children of the Light, sons and daughters of God

I see all human beings as Children of the Light, sons and daughters of God. Some have chosen to move away from the Light, and become sons of darkness, but this is only for a moment or two in the eternity of God. When these sons of darkness turn again to the Light they will fulfill their destiny as Children of the Light, and love and peace will embrace them as surely as it embraces each and every one of us. God never turns away and rejects us, even if we choose to turn our faces from the Light. And when we return to the Light there is great rejoicing amongst the angels.

The Essenes: The Children of the Light

Foundation prayer

Divine Presence within, living in wholeness, moving in joy and love, I surrender to your Will. Bring the radiance of your Light into my heart and mind, and merge with me to manifest your Will upon the Earth.

The Essenes: The Children of the Light

Statues

“We do not have statues! There are not statues made. We would occasionally have a painting. But there are no statues allowed in the community. It is to copy what God has made. It is not allowed in the Commandments to make of a graven image.”

Jesus and the Essenes

Temple within

“Our temple starts from within. If there is a wholeness from within, it spreads without. You need no house or chamber to hold it.” I have always thought that the temple and the synagogue were the same place with different names. I remembered the story of Jesus in the Bible when he was found in the temple teaching the doctors.

A temple is only for the worship of Elorhim , but the synagogue is also a place of teaching. The temple, it has the holy of holies, where in the synagogue, perhaps, they only have the sanctum for the Torah. The temple is to God; the synagogue is for the worship in the manner of the Jewish faith.

D : So any person practicing another religion could come into the temple, but not into the synagogue? S: Yes. In the synagogue there is a place for the Gentiles or also a women’s court. And in the temple all are allowed who worship God.

…

D : Do you think people need a temple or synagogue?

S: Not all. There are those who do, because their faith is not strong enough.

…

Buildings can have a strength that the person can draw upon. Sometimes it has to do with the place where the building is placed. If it is a point where there is great earth energy, it can help open oneself up . Though it can also be dangerous to those who are too sensitive, too open. Then you must block against this.

Jesus and the Essenes

Cup of life

It is the cup of life blood. It is the sharing of life between all. The wine represents the blood of all and the sharing together.

Whereas the passing of the cup was strictly a rite of the Essenes, other religions did use the incense, even the Romans.

Jesus and the Essenes

Suffering

A universe full of random events where people suffer for no reason would be a most cruel place. Would a loving God create a universe where people suffered for no reason? We do not believe so.

The Essenes: Children of The Light

Blood sacrifice

S: I do not sacrifice blood! Why would it be pleasing to Yahweh to kill something that He had created? This does not sound very logical.

D : But the Jews follow this practice of sacrifice, don’t they?

S: Yes. From my understanding of this, these practices were borrowed from other ‘religions’, as you would call them . They were not something that were in the original teachings.

Jesus and the Essenes

Even though blood sacrifice has been practiced by almost every culture across the aeons, it is a grievous error and a stumbling block. I also see that it is time for the misplaced worship of saints to cease. Often one is not called a saint unless he or she is martyred. A saint is often seen as the necessary sacrificial lamb. Somehow being murdered makes us worthy of adoration and makes us more capable of mediating between a soul and its Creator. But I say it was how we lived our lives, not how we died, that matters.

Anna, voice of the Magdalenes

The universe

We know that the universe is a web of consciousness founded upon harmony and sustained by love. It is like a great rocking stone which pivots on a single point: if you push the stone in any direction it moves back towards the center again to restore the balance, to restore the harmony. That is the process of it, consciousness is the intelligence of it, and the energy of it is love. The universe is sustained by love, by a great ocean of cosmic love, unconditional love.

The Essenes: The Children of the Light

Holy days

D : A holiday is a special day that is different.

S: You speak of holy days. Of course there is the Passover. Also the Days of Atonement and Rosh Shofar. It is the festival of the new year, new seasons.

Jesus and the Essenes

Kabbalah

Did the Kabbalah influence your teachings?

Of course. But that is a whole life’s study in itself, I think. The Tree of Knowledge certainly helped me to see how high the Elohim were – even archangels are called Beni Elohim – Sons of the Elohim. The Tree of Knowledge reminded us that everything in Creation is balanced. There are resonances connecting every level, and there is always an inner and an outer. And of course we interpreted the whole of the Essene Way as a Tree of Wisdom.

The Essenes: The Children of the Light

Charts & Planets

S: It is necessary for certain reasons of day-to -day living, of perhaps knowing a little of our destiny but not too much. Also there are other reasons for studying the stars in the skies and those of our system . Because they are fixed in many ways. It is said that when that the planets are placed a certain way . . . when you are born they are this set pattern, and that this has great meaning with what you will do with your life. I do not know how to read this.

Jesus and the Essenes

I received another surprise when I asked how many planets were represented by the spheres. He answered in a matter-of fact manner that there were ten.

S: I will give them their Roman names which you probably are very familiar with . They are known by many names, but these are possibly the most familiar. (He spoke slowly as though thinking.) To the inside is Mercury and Venus or Mathusias (phonetic) and Terra and Mars and Jupiter and Saturn… Let’s see, after Saturn comes Urana and Neptune and Pluto. And out past Pluto there is one called – let’s see, I believe they gave it the name of Juna. Whose idea it was to name them after these, I have no idea. I think that is all of them . I know there are ten. Juna, the one out past the farthest, they say that it has a very erratic orbit. It is not elipt, but swings in and out, and does a kind of a loop around Pluto. It takes a great deal of time to complete its orbit.

Jesus and the Essenes

D : Are the people in your community allowed to marry and have families?

S: Yes. But for the most part the husband and wife are chosen for each other by the elders. It is said that a chart is cast when a person is born and they are matched in this. I do not know it.

..

S: Then it is a shame for them . God created two forms, both male and female, to complement each other, not to be above or below one another.

…

D : Doesn’t the Hebrew Law say that if a man … if one of his brothers dies, then the brother…

S: (Interrupted) Then he would take her as wife. And the children, if there were any from that union, would belong to the eldest son. This is the Hebrew Law , yes. This is not of the Torah. It is, in a great many cases, not at all useful, due to the fact that It is, in a great many cases, not at all useful, due to the fact that … just because a man and a woman would wish to marry and would perhaps be very happy, she would not necessarily be one with his brother, or the next surviving male, which ever the case may be, if she were to become a widow.

D : I thought if your people married, they married for life.

S: No. There are cases of mistakes, where the person or soul decided to change their mind. That another lesson had to be learned instead.

Jesus and the Essenes

Children

Children become much stronger and more anchored in themselves at one point, but for the first seven years the soul is still descending and integrating with the new self. By the age of seven the soul should be securely anchored within the new self, but any great shock within the first seven years will impede integration and set the whole process back. The complete integration of soul and self is what we aim for, but it is hard to achieve. Life upon Earth is full of shocks of one sort or another.

Adultry

D : But they would not frown upon the idea of having many mates to produce many children?

S: No, it is only after the idea of shame and guilt were brought into the world that this was frowned upon.

D : Doesn’t it say in the Commandments that ‘thou shalt not commit adultery’?

S: But this was, again, delivered much later, after Adam and Eve. The Commandments were given to Moses.

..

The whole idea of adultery was very strange. For did not Abraham have two wives? Therefore, if it was not accepted by Sarah that he have another wife, would he not also be an adulterer?

S: To hide this, to seek to make a fool out of the other party. Adultery is, in the case where everyone knows but the one who is being hurt the most. If it is discussed and openly agreed upon, this cannot be adultery. This is just a different type of sharing. It has been misrepresented for many, many years.

Jesus and the Essenes

Sin of Pride

Sometimes it is a student who is doing this penance. There are different reasons for doing this, yes. A person sees something in himself that he perhaps does not like. And to cure it, he would serve another because he was too proud and had great pride. He would make himself lowly so that he would humble him self, to help overcome the sin of pride.

Jesus and the Essenes

Money

I asked if the community used money and he didn’t understand what I meant. I did a poor job of trying to explain about people owning things. In a communistic society such a concept would be alien. He could not understand the idea of buying anything either.

Jesus and the Essenes

Burial customs

I was curious about the burial customs because it says in the Bible that Jesus was buried in the sepulcher. I asked about putting bodies in eaves, and whether he knew the word “sepulcher”.

S: This is done by the others, yes. A sepulcher means a tomb. It is a larger area that has perhaps been hollowed out and prepared. It is something that was brought over from the Egyptians. They believed that we must have many things to go with you on the journey.

S: It is very rare for any of us to entomb the bodies of others. The body has no use after it no longer houses a soul. Therefore, why not completely start from no thing and turn it back to the dust from whence it came?

Jesus and the Essenes

Regenerative practices

Is he learning more of your ways with the mysteries of cellular regeneration? ANNA: Yes, on a basic level, we are exploring some regenerative practices – those that are a routine part of the Essene way of life. Our sexual lovemaking, though somewhat infrequent, seems to be the most effective gateway for him to ignite his erectile life-force energy. This motivates him to be disciplined in channelling this heightened energy in meditation and energy practices. Consistent practice of the basics is required, not only for enlightenment of consciousness, but to facilitate the rejuvenation of the body.

Anna, the voice of the Magdalenes

Only a pure desire to be harmless and of loving service can motivate the practitioner of cellular regeneration to invest the degree of discipline that is required to undertake this very arduous, alchemical process. It is important for the uninitiated to be aware of the effects of having most of your consciousness removed from the body for an extended time. While the body is comatose and passing through profound transmutation, the consciousness or Soul Awareness is awake and highly alert. Depending on the intention and length of time involved, the physical body often goes through profound biological changes, such as a minimal to total loss of skin, teeth and hair. All the body’s organs and its entire nervous and circulatory system are affected. Then there is the critical time of new cellular growth. This can take many months and then there is a lengthy time of recuperation and rehabilitation.

Anna, the voice of the Magdalenes

Energy practises

The energy practices often take the form of games such as ‘hide and seek’, lifting and moving objects with their minds, cultivating energy in their hands and watching the rainbow colours streaming from hand to hand, astral journeys, levitating their bodies and observing auras fluctuating in colour and brightness according to what the volunteer is thinking or feeling. Sometimes a playmate or grown-up in the community is sick. The children send healing energy from a distance. They are so happy to find their friend or elder feeling better.

Anna, the voice of the Magdalenes

Rome

In each nation there are good men, but Rome tends to destroy the ones who speak the truth. Therefore, this is not good.

Jesus and the Essenes

Chrystal

There is a great crystal that is… how do I say.. shaped with four sides that come to a point, and the fifth side on the bottom (a pyramid). It is an … energy increaser, if I shall use the right terms. When the energy is placed into this, the output is far greater than what was placed there. It is used in different things.

Jesus and the Essenes

Twelve commandments

S: I know not of others, but in where we live we start at about six or seven. There are those of us here who are of Hebrew descent. There are those of us who are Syrian. And there are those who are Egyptian. There are many here. We are all different people, but we are all of one thought and one belief. We are who believe in God Abba and are gathering here to bring forth light into the world where there is nothing but darkness.

S: It is part of the Commandments of Moses. It speaks of… it says… the Lord thy God… thou shall have no gods other than me. We are to not make images of stone… of other gods to worship. And we should… honor thy father and mother. And… thou shall not kill or steal or…. commit adultery. There are many of them. Moses was a great giver of law . These are just some of the first ones. He went on and on about them.

S: The first is: I am the Lord thy God and thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make graven images. (Big sigh.) Honor thy father and mother. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not covet… ah, another’s property. Ah… I remember slowly. This is seven? Thou shall not follow the ways of the path of Baal.

I had to try to get his mind off me, so I directed him back to the twelve commandments. He sighed and went back over them again while counting on his fingers. This time he included another, “Thou shalt do only unto others as they would do unto you.” This is the Golden Rule and is not normally included with Ten Commandments. I asked about that one.

S: It has to do with having memory of if you treat others as you would wish to be treated. For this is what you shall carry forward with you. (Was he relating it to karma?)

D : It makes sense, but we never placed it with the other ones.

Jesus and the Essenes

S: How not? I have heard that the one of the worshiping, not only the graven image, but the one of Baal, that it was tried to he struck at the time of Moses because of the calf. But I have not heard that anyone would try to take this “Do unto others.” I have not heard of this. This would be very wrong.

Religious group

S: We are a religious group in that we believe in God. But to say our way is a religion is something different. Because that seems to be so inhibiting. It is not the same. There is so much more, because we are protecting and keeping knowledge alive and helping bring knowledge and light to the world.

Jesus and the Essenes

But through the Kaloo’s travels in Persia we came into contact with Zoroastrian ideas, including the duality of Light and darkness, and purification rituals with running water which influenced us greatly.

Over the course of our history these four major strands came together to create the Essene Way: Egyptian, Zoroastrian, and Pythagorean ideas, and the Jewish Law. The merging of these four sources took place over the century before I was born, and was the result of constant flux and development over this period. Some Essenes preferred one strand to another – for example, many of the priests clung to the Torah. And for most of this time there was no general consensus which the majority of Essenes would accept. Yet by the time I reached maturity these four elements had fused and combined to create a powerful and flexible system, which – though diverse – had gained its own stability and balance.

The Essenes: Children of The Light

Ascension Rite of the Sun

A few lines will give you some idea of it: Father Sun, whose golden Disc is the symbol of the Inner Light, touch our hearts with your Sacred Fire at the dawning of this new day. As you ascend in the Heavens inspire us to follow you, so we may rise in Ascension and dwell always in the Realm of Light. Joanna: Daniel, this is a wonderful text. Thank you for sharing it with us. How old do you think it is? Daniel: I am not certain. The Kaloo brought it to Alexandria many years before my time. Some of the teachers there thought it was linked to the cult of Ra, but others spoke of a heretical king who broke away from both Ra and Amun and pursued his own path. I think Daniel is referring here to the Pharaoh Amenhotep IV, who took the name Akhenaten, and died in 1350 BCE. He set up the cult of the Sun-god Aten (or Aton) in opposition to the priesthood of Amon-Ra, and was certainly considered heretical by later Pharaohs.

The Essenes: Children of The Light

Wine

S: You are speaking of, perhaps when a person drinks too much wine. Those of our community do not indulge in excess. It is not said that they do not drink, for it is very acceptable to drink wine.

Jesus and the Essenes

Zadok

I asked if the name Zadok meant anything to him . One of the theories about the origin of the Essenes is that they descended from the Zealots who were led by this man. He corrected my pronunciation, putting the accent on the first syllable.

S: (Sigh ) He is a leader. Many follow him , saying that he teaches the Way of Life. He is a warmonger. He wishes to be rid of all oppressors now.

D : Is there any relation between them and your community?

S: They are not of us. The ones that we know of as Zadok are the Zealots that live in the hills. They are very wild. They say that most of them are touched by the moon. They also believe in the prophecies, but they believe that they prophesy war. And in order for the Messiah to come and be able to take his kingdom, that they must win it for him . And there is much bloodshed over this. If they would but look deeper into the prophecy, they would know that he shall not be king for an earthly kingdom . But you cannot tell them this, they would argue forever, to eternity.

Jesus and the Essenes

Essene groups

Do you know anything about an Essene group in Alexandria? S: (Long pause) My father says that they have recently spoken of some teachers who have gone, not to Alexandria, but to Egypt. But I do not know . (Did he ask his father?) There are many others. There are one that I know of in Egypt. There are several in the area surrounding Israel, Judaea, (name of another country unclear but it sounded like ‘Tode’, phonetically.) There are many. We at Qumran are perhaps one of the larger but not the only.

Doctrine and religion

The essential wisdom and empowerments we espouse and embody are never used for the purpose of creating a religious doctrine and church, such as Christianity – which, by the way is not a spiritual lineage.

Anna, voice of the Magdalenes

There have been some troubling experiences occurring in Rome and other places throughout Gaul among the other followers who call themselves disciples of Yeshua. That is, let us say, many of them are disciples in name only because what they say and what they do are very different. There are many factions. And more factions are arising at an alarming rate. There is increasing zealousness among those who have not been adequately trained to control their emotional and mental states. There is social unrest and injustice. The Emperor Caligula is looking for any excuse to meet out severe persecution. In fact, terrible suffering at his hand has already been reported.

Anna, voice of the Magdalenes (AD38)

Actual persecution has come upon the followers of my nephew, James (Yeshua’s brother), Peter, Andrew, my nephews John (Zebedee) and James (Zebedee) in Jerusalem. We hear that Paul of Tarsus has turned away from persecuting us to evangelizing his understanding of Yeshua’s teachings and making them easy for non-Jewish people to embrace.

Sadly, most of these brethren seem to be intent on organizing Yeshua’s teachings into a doctrine and religion. Even James’ (Yeshua’s brother) more conservative and orthodox leanings are creating division and this greatly grieves his mother (Mary Anna). But these self-appointed apostles, as they call themselves, are like wolves in sheep’s clothing. Those who follow them are easily turned by any buffeting wind and they are so laden with fear they cannot observe calm reason.

Anna, voice of the Magdalenes

I can see that over time there will be those who would take advantage of the simple hearts who want to believe that Yeshua is a god with the power to save them from themselves – to somehow miraculously remove the effects of their karmas. Those who seek power, in the years to come, will preach sayings that give me cause to grieve (Tears). I have heard these stories and now I see for myself that it is so.

Anna, voice of the Magdalenes

OAHSPE Bible

From the Faithist branch sprang the Asenean (Essenean, or Es’eans) Association, cultivating prophecy and purity of spirit. For further light, read of Pharaoh in the lower heavens, and the migration of the East Indian Gods westward, in another part of Oahspe.

The angels of Jehovih now dwelt with the Aseneans, who were the true Israelites in fact. Though many of the Jews also professed Jehovih under the name of God and Lord God.

In three hundred and fifty years after this Jehovih raised up from the Aseneans, one Joshu, an iesu, in Nazareth. Joshu re-established Jehovih, and restored many of the lost rites and ceremonies.

In the thirty-sixth year of Joshu’s age he was stoned to death in Jerusalem by the Jews that worshiped the heathen Gods.

Forty years after Joshu’s death, a false God, Looeamong, with millions of angel emissaries, obsessed the inhabitants of all those countries and plunged them into war and anarchy.

The Faithists were scattered to the four ends of the earth.

Jehovih said: Never more should My chosen have kings. I alone am King.

And so it is to this day.

Looeamong, the false God, now changed his name and falsely called himself Christ, which is the Ahamic word for knowledge. And he raised up tribes of mortal warriors, who called themselves Christians, who are warriors to this day.

The doctrine of these warriors was, that knowledge, which implie general education, was the best preventative against crime and misery. Neither understood any man in those days that the word Christ had any reference to a man or person. Now, from the time of Moses to Ezra, there was an interval of four hundred years, in which the Jews had no written record.

Fragments of a Faith Forgotten, by G.R.S. Mead, [1900]

BASING themselves on the Sayings preserved in the canonical Gospels and on the description of the communities given in the Acts, many have supposed that Jesus was a member of or intimately acquainted with the doctrines and discipline of the Essene communities. Who then were these Essenes or Healers?

For centuries before the Christian era Essene communities had dwelt on the shores of the Dead Sea. These Essenes or Essæans, in the days of Philo and Josephus, were imbued with the utmost reverence for Moses and the Law. They believed in God, the creator, in the immortality of the soul, and in a future state of retribution. Finding it impossible to carry out in ordinary life the minute regulations of the laws of purity, they had adopted the life of ascetic communism. Their chief characteristic was the doctrine of love–love to God, love of virtue, and love of mankind–and the practical way in which they carried out their precepts aroused the admiration of all.

Their strict observance of the purificatory discipline enacted by the Levitical institutions thus compelled them to become a self-supporting community; all worked at a trade, they cultivated their own fields, manufactured all the articles of food and dress which they used, and thus in every way avoided contact with those who did not observe the same rules. They also appear in their inner circles to have been strict celibates.

Their Manner of Life

Their manner of life was as follows: they rose before the sun, and no word was uttered until they had assembled together and, with faces turned towards the dawn, offered up prayers for the renewal of the light. Each then went to his appointed task under the supervision of the stewards or overseers (“bishops”) elected by universal suffrage. At eleven o’clock they again assembled and, putting off their working clothes, performed the daily rite of baptism in cold water; then clothing themselves in white linen robes, they proceeded to the common meal, which they regarded as a sacrament; the refectory was a “holy temple.” They ate in silence, and the food was of the plainest–bread and vegetables. Before the meal a blessing was invoked, and at the end thanks were rendered. The members took their seats according to seniority. They then went forth to work again until the evening, when they again assembled for the common meal. Certain hours of the day, however, were devoted to the study of the mysteries of nature and of revelation, as well as of the powers of the celestial hierarchies, the names of the angels, etc.; for they had an inner instruction, which was guarded with the utmost secrecy.

This was the rule for the week-days, while the Sabbath was kept with extreme rigour. They had, however, no priests, and any one who was “moved” to do so, took up the reading of the Law, and the exposition of the mysteries connected with the Tetragrammaton, or four-lettered mystery-name of the Creative Power, and the angelic worlds.

The Essenes, therefore, were evidently in contact with Chaldæan “kabalism” and the Zoroastrian tradition of the discipline of purity; logic and metaphysics, however, were eschewed as injurious to a devotional life.

There were four degrees in the community: (i.) novices; (ii.) approachers; (iii.) new full members, or associates; (iv.) old members, or elders.

(i.) After the first year the novice gave all his possessions to the common treasury, and received a copy of the regulations, a spade (for the purpose described in Moses’ camp-regulations), and a white robe, the symbol of purity; but the novice was still excluded from the lustral rites and common meal..

(ii.) After two years more, the novice shared in the lustral rites, but was still excluded from the common meal.

(iii.) The associates were bound by the most solemn assurances, and in case of any delinquency could only be judged by the “assembly,” consisting of one hundred members.

Essenism is said by some to have been an exaggerated form of Pharisaism; and it may be a The Degrees of Holiness.matter of surprise to those whose only knowledge of the Pharisees is derived front canonical documents, to learn that the highest aim of this enlightened school of Judaism was to attain to such a state of holiness as to be able to perform miraculous cures and to prophesy.

The “degrees of holiness” practised by the Pharisees are said to have been: (i.) the study of the Law and circumspection; (ii.) the noviciate, in which the apron was the symbol of purity; (iii.) external purity, by means of lustrations or baptisms; (iv.) celibacy; (v.) inward purity, purity of thought; (vi.) a higher stage still, which is not further defined; (vii.) meekness and holiness; (viii.) dread of every sin; (ix.) the highest stage of holiness; (x.) the stage which enabled the adept to heal the sick and raise the dead.

We should, however, remember that the Healers absolutely refused to have anything to do with the blood-sacrifices of the Temple-worship, and refused to believe in the resurrection of the physical body, which the rest of the Pharisees held as a cardinal doctrine.

In this brief sketch it is of course impossible to point out the striking similarities between the discipline of the Essenes and that of the Therapeutæ of Egypt and of the Orphic and Pythagorean schools. Every subject referred to in these essays requires a volume or several volumes for its proper treatment; we can only set up a few finger-posts, and leave the reader to make his own investigations.

But before leaving this most interesting theme, it will be necessary to point to the identity between many of the Essene regulations and the Gospel teachings and traditions.

Points of Contact with Christianity

Converts were required to sell their possessions and give to the poor, for the laying up of treasure was regarded as injurious to a spiritual life. Not only did the Essenes despise riches, but they lived a life of self-imposed poverty.

Love of the brotherhood and of one’s neighbour was the soul of Essene life, and the basis of all action; and this characteristic of their discipline called forth universal admiration. The members lived together as in a family, had all things in common, and appointed a steward to manage the common bag. When travelling they would lodge with brethren whom they had never seen before, as though with the oldest and most intimate friends; and thus they took nothing with them when they went on a journey. All members were set on the same level, and the authority of one over another was forbidden; nevertheless mutual service was strictly enjoined.

They were also great lovers of peace, and so refused to take arms or manufacture warlike weapons; moreover they proscribed slavery.

Finally, the end of the Essenes was to be meek and lowly in spirit, to mortify all sinful lusts, to be pure in heart, to hate evil but reclaim the evildoer, and to be merciful to all men. Moreover, their yea was to be yea, and their nay, nay. They were devoted to the curing of the sick, the healing of both body and soul, and regarded the power to perform miraculous cures and cast out evil spirits as the highest stage of discipline. In brief, they strove to be so pure as to become temples of the Holy Spirit, and thus seers and prophets.

To these inner communities were attached outer circles of pupils living in the world, and found in all the main centres of the Diaspora.

Philo distinguishes the Essenes from the Therapeuts by saying that the former were devoted to the “practical” life, while the latter proceeded to the higher stage of the “contemplative” life, and devoted themselves to still higher problems of religion and philosophy, and it is in this direction that we must look for the best in Gnosticism.

See also

Elijah

Yeshua Ben Joseph

Baal

Yahweh

Kaloo

Solomon, head of the Essene order

ETs that Moses encountered belong to the Anunnaki

The crucifixion initiation

The rite of the sepulchre