25

Cosmic time

The moment Jesus emerged on the world stage, was not just any old time, a new astrological age – due to the precession of the equinoxes – was looming; the Age of Pisces, the fishes.  

As Giorgio de Santillana and Hertha von Dechend write in ’Hamlet’s Mill’ ‘. . . our ancestors were astronomers and astrologers. They believed that the sliding of the sun along the equinoctial point affected the frame of the cosmos and determined a succession of world-ages under a different zodiacal sign. They found a large peg on which to hang their thoughts on cosmic time, which brought all things in cosmic order. today, that order has lapsed, like the idea of the cosmos itself. There is only history, which had been felicitously defined as ‘one damn thing after another’. . .the coming of Pisces was long looked forward to, heralded as a blessed age. It was introduced by the thrice-repeated Great Conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in Pisces in the year 6 BC, the star of Bethlehem.’ 56

Virgil finished his Eclogues in 37 BC, before this particular ‘star’ shone in the heavens. Although even he could feel the New Age looming, and in Eclogue IV wrote of a very special boy who would be born, at this turning of the celestial clock:

‘Now the last age of Cumae’s prophecy has come;

The great succession of centuries is born afresh.

A new begetting now descends from heaven’s height,

. . . look with blessing on the boy  

Whose birth will end the iron race at last and raise

a golden through the world. . .

Look at the cosmos trembling in its massive round. . .

Look how they all are full of joy at the age to come!’ 57

Christians believed he referred to Christ, but modern commentators find this hard to take, and think up other possible candidates. The 1980 translator of the Eclogues, Guy Lee, believe it is the awaited child of Mark Anthony and the sister of the emperor Augustus; who was Virgil’s patron; others think it represented Augustus himself.

Cumae refers to Cumae in Italy, on the coast near Naples, where in a man-made grotto carved into the side of a hill, a Sibyl or Prophetess gave forth her oracles. It was obviously a prominent place for Virgil, he mentions it in his ’Aeneid’, which made the Cumae oracle famous. He asserted Daedalus, the creator of the labyrinth at Knossos, also designed, as I previously mentioned, the labyrinthine site at Cumae with its entrance into the Underworld. Had this prophecy of the birth of a special boy, coinciding with the advent of a New Age, been one of the Sibyl’s actual pronouncements; and not dreamed up in the mind of the poet? According to Robert Graves, the boy in question, was the Divine Child, awaited alike within Jewish apocalypticism (prophesying the complete destruction of the world) who would cleanse the world of sin, the sun of righteousness; and referred to in Isaiah’s prophecy of Immanuel, the name meaning ‘God is with us’ ‘Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.’ 7:14-15.   

In far off Judea, amidst an unforgiving landscape, a group of austere holy men who were astrologers and astronomers, the Essenes, believed they were living through an end time – doubtless linked to the advent of the new Piscean age – awaiting every day, the appearance of the Messiah – the promised deliverer of the Jewish nation; who they believed would come in their own lifetime.

There is no doubt they placed significant importance on the zodiac, beginning it in Taurus – which was said to be the sign when the world and Adam and Eve were created. This indicates an understanding of World Ages. They also created a divinatory tool in reference to it, and their model of the Jerusalem temple, for them the true temple, as they viewed the existing one to have been polluted, incorporated the zodiac in its make-up. At that moment it was a spiritual construct used in their meditations, and so it would remain, with Roman might eventually destroying its hope of realization.

The extent of their celestial knowledge is evident in two astronomical and calendrical works, found amongst the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947. They had been secreted in pottery storage jars in caves near Qumran, shortly before the failed revolt against Roman rule, in 66 -70 AD.   

In November 2005, building work on the site of a new prison wing at Megiddo northern Israel, revealed a mosaic floor with Greek inscriptions, one dedicated to ‘God Jesus Christ’, belonging to a place of Christian worship.  It is considered one of the oldest of such places in Israel, dating to the beginning of the third century AD.

The room for worship was connected to a Christian meeting place, there is evidence of cooking pots and jars, but then in early Christian worship, a communal meal was a form of celebrating the Lord’s supper. The place appears to be connected to the nearby Roman garrison of the Sixth Legion Ferrata, for when the legion was relocated, the building was dismantled; and the mosaic floor covered by the building debris, perhaps in an attempt to preserve it.

The reason I have brought the narrative to Megiddo, and this early place of Christian worship, is what lies at the centre, of the main part of the floor mosaic. Within an octagonal border are the images of two fish, lying one above the other, in reversed direction. The position of these two fish, corresponds to how the Pisces sign was depicted in early times. It is thought, the dual form of this constellation recalls the additional month, which every six years the Babylonians inserted into their calendar. The Sumerians called the sign Nuni the Fishes.The Greeks named the fishes Kathie and Ikhthues.

The fish was, as I have already mentioned, an early symbol of Christianity, thought to be inspired by the Greek word for fish ichthus, seen as an acronym for ‘Jesus Christ God’s Son and Saviour’. But the evidence from the Megiddo place of worship, which appears to give prominence to the astrological sign Pisces, may represent another reason why, the symbol of a fish was adopted by the early Christians. Was it for them a majestic reference to his birth, intricately linked to the New Age?

‘Look at the cosmos trembling in its massive round. . .

Look how they all are full of joy at the age to come!’

Its central depiction in a place of worship, does indicate its importance, and may have been a main element of how Christ was regarded. Here was a cosmic saviour, cloaked in an aura of celestial majesty ushering in a new era on earth, of which they would help to realize. They were actually alive at this most auspicious time! How exciting it must have been to have eaten with them there, to share in this thinking, that placed them at the centre of the drama of the turning heavens. Something, as Giorgio de Santillana and Hertha von Drechend have pointed out, we have lost in a miasma of pointlessness.

In present mainstream thinking, the phenomenon of astrological ages is not taken seriously, they mean nothing. It’s just the earth wobbling on its axis, and producing the deception, that the sun is moving through the zodiac. Or that other celestial events, such as the rare conjunction of planets, could have meaning for life on earth. But this thinking should not be projected backwards in time, to an age wherein astrological and celestial events, held potent meaning for many of the people on Earth.

The second century AD Greek astronomer Ptolemy composed a study of the portents indicated by a comet. If it appeared against the Zodiac, the position of the head and the fiery tail, would indicate the nature of the misfortune. The Roman astrologer Marcus Manilius called them portents of doom. In 1456 Pope Calixtus III excommunicated a comet. In 1577 Queen Elizabeth I summoned the astrologer, alchemist and occultist John Dee to Windsor Castle, to discuss the portents of the comet that had appeared in the heavens. The conference lasted three days, an indication of the concern it created. John Dee himself thought the grand conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in the constellation of Aries in 1583, was an indication of the end of the world.

The so-called ‘Star of Bethlehem’ around 6 BC, based on a near perfect conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter, when they were nearly in opposition to the sun; would have been viewed as a portent indeed, magnified by the advent of the Piscean new Age. Who could think that these portents and foreknowledge of them, did not affect a group of fanatical holy men astrologers and astronomers, who believed they were living at the end of an age, awaiting their messiah.

26

Essene influences

However, one views Jesus, as the actual Son of God, an Egyptian magician, or a very wise man, it is important to understand him in the context of the prevailing world view of that time, and the influences upon him from those around him.

The Essenes, who referred to themselves as the ‘Elect of God’, were known by a number of names, such as the ‘Holy Ones’, ‘People of the Covenant’,’ The Poor’, ‘The Sons of Zadok’. They were a third force in Judaism, along with the Pharisees and the Saducces.

Between the second century Hasmonean era, until after 70 AD an Essene monastic group inhabited a complex at Qumran, situated on the western shore of the Dead Sea. But there were other non-monastic groups, living in towns and villages, employed in agriculture and handicrafts.

 The most probable origin for the Essenes, is their arising from a number of disaffected Zadokite temple priests – a priestly lineage descended from Zadok the high priest of David – who left Jerusalem, when Simon Maccabee combined the roles of high priest and king. Their founder was a Teacher of Righteousness, who according to Josephus was revered for his holy nature, his ability to foretell the future, and their holy books. The Teacher was persecuted by someone called the Wicked Priest – who may have been Simon Maccabee – this priest not only defiled Jerusalem, he apparently also murdered the Teacher of Righteousness.

The Essenes believed their founder would return, or be resurrected, as a coming messiah. Messiah means ‘anointed’, as does the Greek ‘Christ’, kings and priests were anointed in Judea; a sacrament that confirmed their roles. But they didn’t conceive of one person as the messiah, but two; one fulfilling the priestly role and the other a warrior king. The king, after a cosmic battle between the Sons of Light and the Sons of Darkness, would then lead an angelic army, defeat the Romans, enter Jerusalem and build the true Temple – establishing the Essenes, the elect, in their proper position.

The origins of a dual messiahship are found in the Book of Numbers 24:27

‘I shall see a star out of Jacob, And a spectre shall arise out of Israel’

Which was interpreted as meaning a dual messiahship. There was also evidence in a vision of the prophet Zechariah 6:12-13, that he is referring to two messiahs:

‘. . . he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory and shall sit and rule upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.’

 There is a marked Essene influence in the teachings of Jesus, so marked it cannot be ignored. The Essenes believed in the holiness of poverty a state Jesus linked with the road to perfection.  They believed in non-violence – although their coming messiah would wield earthly might – and returning good actions for evil ones, which is reflected in the words of Paul.

The Essenes referred on many occasions to the power of the Holy Spirit – God being spiritually active in temporal affairs. Paul wrote of this divine influence, how it bestows wisdom and faith. And at Pentecost, after the crucifixion of Christ, it descended upon his disciples. Empowering them and enabling them to speak, in such a manner, that regardless of the language of the listener, they were understood.

The Essenes partook of a sacred meal, at which they awaited the coming of the messiah. This has been linked to the Last Supper, another communal meal, during which Jesus introduced the sacrament – breaking the bread and saying it was his body, and then blessing the wine and saying it was his blood. This is the order in which the Essene sacred meal was performed, the priest termed the messiah, blessed the bread and then the wine.

The Essenes rejected temple animal sacrifices. Although they performed their own sacrifices, until the advent of the Teacher of Righteous in their midst, when it is thought they ceased. The impetus for their rejecting of temple sacrifice, must initially have been based, on their rejection of the temple as being defiled. Jesus also rejected temple animal sacrifices, but his reason was far more radical.

Near the Jewish Passover, celebrating the liberating of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery, Jesus went up to the temple in Jerusalem, and making a whip of small cords, he chased out, not only the money lenders from its precincts, but the sheep and oxen awaiting to be bought for sacrifice. ‘His removal of the sacrificial animals in the Temple, symbolized the new order of worship whose temple will have no sacrificial rite.’ 58 In John’s Gospel where the incident is recorded, Jesus likened this new temple to his body, when it would be risen from the dead. This is enlarged upon in 1 Peter 2: 4-5. ‘He is the living stone. . . Set yourself close to him so that you too may be living stones making a spiritual house as a holy priesthood to offer the spiritual sacrifices made acceptable to God through Jesus.’ This is powerful stuff, because it not only offers a more direct route to God in their worship, but it also freed them from attendance at the temple and the expense of buying sacrificial animals, which must have been a grievous burden for the poor. The temple priesthood, opposed to the idea on religious grounds, would also have viewed such a practice detrimental to themselves economically, for they were awarded parts of the sacrificial beast for their own use; another compelling reason for opposing this man and his message.

Although this Essene stamp is upon his thinking, Jesus clearly wasn’t an actual member of the sect, when he fulfilled his messiahship; because of certain of his actions.

For instance, the Essenes had extremely strict rules about remaining purified. At Qumran it even extended to where they defecated. It had to be out of sight of the settlement and in a north-westerly direction. After emptying their bowels. they had to bury their faeces, and then wash their anal area. Excavations made at Qumran have discovered, by the presence of intestinal parasites preserved in the soil, the site of the latrine they used.  This evidence revealed the state of ill-health, experienced by the Essene community. ‘Dead eggs from intestinal parasites, including roundworm. . . whipworm. . . tapeworm . . .and pinworm. . .‘If you look at a latrine from the past you will always find these parasites.’ comments Piers Mitchell, a medical practitioner and archaeologist at Imperial College London. . .’’59 But it was also conjectured, that ironically, this state of ill-health may have in part been caused, by their habit of washing their anal area in a nearby microbe invested stagnant pool, created by winter rains. This shows again, that life has a way of tripping you up, no matter how hallowed the intentions.  

In considering the Essene’s strict purity laws, the sojourn of Jesus in the leper village of Bethany before his entry into Jerusalem, would have been avoided by an Essene, because he then would no longer be pure.

 But this is not the only example, he further flaunted the purity laws: by touching the sick, healing a leper, touching one possessed by a demon, associating with Gentiles, women and sinners – all of which were considered impure. In Mark’s Gospel he was asked why his disciples didn’t obey the purity rules of their elders, and wash their hands before eating bread? Jesus answered that nothing that goes into the belly thus can defile a man, but it is the unclean thoughts that come out of the heart – adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, deceit, pride, foolishness among others – that are the true defilement.

 This revolutionary aspect of his messiahship, is echoed forcibly in another incident recorded by Mark. Jesus and his disciples were walking through a field of wheat on the sabbath, and as they walked they broke off ears of wheat, eating the grain. This was seen by a group of Pharisees, who rebuke them for breaking the sabbath law – on that day no work was undertaken – and harvesting the grain. Jesus answers them that the sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath.

He preached a doctrine of love and comprise with Rome, which in no way embodied an Essene warrior king messiah. His message he pronounced for all, regardless of their condition, race or gender, and baptism was a means of salvation open to the most-humblest – this egalitarian streak of his, does sound pretty amazing. Whereas the Essenes regarded themselves as the elect of God, an elitist group who felt God’s favour rested on them, marked out from the rest of humanity.

So, one could assert Jesus was not an Essene when he walked the path of his messiahship, but because of the Essene influence on his teachings, there are strong reasons for thinking at one point in his life, he had been one.

27

Engineered Christ and Essene failure

I think it is feasible, that the community at Qumran, waiting breathlessly for the coming messiah, would actively seek for portents signalling the event. Perhaps through astrological computations, guided by the presence of the Holy Spirit, or messages received during their daily communing with the seven cosmic forces, which they termed angels. The Essenes, like their Teacher of Righteous, were renowned time wizards, accurately foretelling future events. Josephus wrote they seldom made mistakes with their prophecies.

Perhaps the portents they received (maybe reinforcing what they knew by other means) indicated where to search for the two women who would be future mothers of the dual messiah. According to the authority of the Hellenic Jewish scribe Ben Sirach or Sira fl. second century BC in his ‘Book of Sirach’ 45:25, the lineage of Davidic kings could only be transmitted from father to son. A male only heritage, that was not specified for the priestly descendants of Aaron.

 When the women were found, within the greater Essene community, their subsequent pregnancies were portrayed as divinely directed events; which the Essenes would have regarded as true. Elizabeth was a daughter of Aaron, married to a priest called Zacharias. In the biblical account the angel Gabriel visited Zacharias and told him that his wife would bear a son, filled with the Holy Ghost even before he was born. Zacharias, just like Abraham, doubted this, because he and his wife were aged. But of course, the prediction was proven true, and Elizabeth eventually gave birth to a son, who would become John the Baptist.

Shortly after Gabriel informed Elizabeth and Zacharias, he went to Mary who lived in Nazareth and was betrothed to Joseph, of the house of David. Gabriel told her that she would bear a son through the power of the Holy Ghost ‘. . . conceived in thy womb. . . He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most Highest (El Elyon); and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David. . .’ St Luke 1:31-32.

He then told her, her cousin Elizabeth despite her age had been pregnant for six months, stating that nothing was impossible with the Lord. Mary visited Elizabeth, and at the sound of her voice, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost and the future John the Baptist jumped in her womb.

 The Essenes at Qumran, were known for taking in young boys as novices, training them in the ways of the community. When the boys were mature, they could either join or leave. So, one could imagine Jesus and John when old enough – the chosen ones – joining the community in this way, being brought up in the ways of the elect.

This planning and overseeing I feel is highly likely, because John the Baptist, just like Jesus; has a marked Essene influence upon his lifestyle and teaching. His austerity, wearing apparel and diet was similar to theirs. They both interpreted the word ‘wilderness’ as a place for spiritual preparation. His similar employment of ‘end of an age’ apocalyptic language, when a divine judgement would descend on humanity. His use of baptism to wash away sins, mirrored the Essenes own ritual purifying bath, but transcended it as a means for the repentance of all Israel.

So, John mirrors Jesus, showing the Essene influence upon his life, but also acting in ways that means he was not one of them. On those grounds I tend to think of them both as a failed Essene endeavor, but definitely not a wrong one. Both men were clearly exceptional, the intellect and understanding of the twelve-year old Jesus, astonished the learned of the Temple. They were not wrong, they just never anticipated the magnitude of what Jesus would come to believe his mission was, at this most auspicious time. One can even think, when this passage in St Matthew 11:2 is considered, that there were times when he confounded John’s expectations about him too. ‘Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?’

I next want to consider the powerful tradition within early Christianity, of Christ being an Egyptian influenced magician.