Essene Secret Knowledge
Origins of the Word “Essene:The word truly comes from the Egyptian word kashai, which means “secret.” And there is a Jewish word of similar sound, chsahi, meaning “secret” or “silent”; and this word would naturally be translated into essaios or “Essene,” denoting “secret” or “mystic.” Even Josephus found that the Egyptian symbols of light and truth are represented by the word choshen, which transliterates into the Greek as essen. Historical references have been found also wherein the priests of the ancient temples of Ephesus bore the name of Essene. A branch of the organization established by the Greeks translated the word Essene as being derived from the Syrian word asaya, meaning “physician,” into the Greek word therapeutes, having the same meaning.
At the time of the birth of Jesus, the Essenes constituted a large community in Galilee, and that they had hospices and refuge houses in various parts of Palestine for the care of the poor and needy. Joseph was not only a devout Essene, and a carpenter by trade, in keeping with the rules of the Essenes, but Mary, his wife, was also a member from the day she was born.
So Jesus was born in the family of two devout Essenes and in a community of Essenes. This in itself was sufficient to guarantee the young child received the very highest education obtainable at that time. Not only were the preparatory schools conducted by the Essenes sufficient to give every child an excellent education at the hands of teachers and masters who had been trained in many lands and raised to the highest degree of ethical and literary attainments, but the associations and connections which the Essenes maintained with their other branches in foreign lands guaranteed a very liberal education to this special Son of God and this special charge of the Essenian community
Philo, Pliny the Elder and Josephus are ancient historians who commented on the Essenes. Josephus spent a brief time as a youth in their company.
Philo describes them having no property of their own and owning no slaves. "They either pursue agriculture or tend to their sheep, cattle or beehives, or practice some handicraft. Their earnings are in the care of an elected steward who buys the food for their meals and whatever is necessary for their life. Every day they eat their meals together; they are contented with the same food because they love frugality and despise extravagance as a disease of body and soul. They also have their dress in common, a thick cloak in winter and a light mantle in summer."
Josephus tells us that they kept apart from the rest of society and describes their communal lifestyle: "Riches they despise, and their community of goods is truly admirable; you will not find one among them distinguished by greater opulence than another. They have a law that new members on admission to the sect shall confiscate their property to the order, with the result that you will nowhere see either abject poverty or inordinate wealth; the individual’s possessions join the common stock.
When going upon missions of mercy, they provided neither silver nor gold, but depended entirely upon the hospitality of other members of their sect. They put the greatest stress upon being meek and lowly in heart, and commended the poor in spirit, those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, and the peacemaker. They did not offer animal sacrifices, but strove topresent their bodies " a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God."
For several centuries before the dawn of the Christian era, the Essenes, as an active band of workers, maintained two principal centers. One was in Egypt on the banks of Lake Moeris, where the great Master Moria-El the Illustrious was born in his first known incarnation, educated, prepared for his great mission, and established the principle and law of baptism as a spiritual step in the process of initiation. The other principal Essenian center was first established in Palestine, at Engaddi, near the Dead Sea.
The branch in Palestine had to contend with the despotism of the rulers of that country and the jealousy of the priesthood. These conditions forced the Essenes in Palestine to hold themselves in greater silence and solitude than they had been accustomed to in Egypt. Before they moved from their small buildings and sacred enclosure at Engaddi, to the ancient buildings on Mount Carmel, their principal activity seemed to be the translation of ancient manuscripts and the preservation of such traditions and records as constituted the foundation of their teachings. It is recorded that when the time came for them to move from Engaddi to Mount Carmel, their greatest problem was the secret movement of these manuscripts and records.
Fortunately for us, they succeeded in preserving the rarest of the manuscripts that came out of Egypt, and in other ways preserved the ancient, traditional stories and teachings. It is from these that we derive most of our knowledge regarding the Essenes, thus giving us a picture of how they lived along with what they believed and taught.
I must point out now one special fact that has been held in secrecy for many centuries, and that will probably explain many strange references in the sacred literature of the Christians and other sects. The Nazarenes, the Nazarites, and the Essenes had united their interests in regard to one essential work—a work that is referred to by many authorities in religious and sacred histories and encyclopedias as being one of the common interests which bound the Nazarenes, the Nazarites, and the Essenes. This work was the maintenance of a great school, college, and monastery on Mount Carmel.
The earliest historical incidents of a religious nature connected with Mount Carmel are those associated with the lives of Elijah and his son. The ancient Jewish documents, as well as many of the writings preserved by the Roman Catholic Church, which in later years became greatly interested in the Mount of Carmel, show that from the earliest known period of the history of this mount, a tabernacle, monastery, or temple of some kind was located there, and that when Elijah went to this mountain to carry out the many marvelous things recorded of him, he found a temple and an altar there. Elijah was a Nazarite and an Essene, and that both the Jewish and Roman Catholic records refer to him as such.
According to the ancient records, we find that in the sixth year of his life, the youthful Jesus was placed in the school at Carmel and began his preparation and training as a Son of God.
Eusebius, Bishop of Cssarea, the celebrated ecclesiastical historian, considered the Essenes to be early Christians. He says : "It is very likely that the commentaries [Scriptures] which were among them [the Essenes] were the Gospels, and the works of the apostles, and certain expositions of the ancient prophets, such as partly
that Epistle unto the Hebrews and also the other Epistles of Paul do contain."
He says that Philo called them "worshippers," and concludes by saying: "But whether be himself gave them this name, or whether at the beginning they were so called,
when as yet the name of Christians was not every-where published, I think it not needful curiosity to sift out."'
Epiphanius, a Christian bishop and writer of the fourth century, in speaking of the Essenes, says:" They who believed in Christ were called Jeasaei [or Essenes] before they were called Christians. They derived their constitution from the signification of the name 'Jesus,' which in Hebrew signifies the same as Therapeutes, that is, a savior or physician."
Every Jew was obliged to be a member of one of the three Jewish sects, and it is but natural to suppose that Jesus would have been more in sympathy with the Essence than with the other two Jewish sects. It is a significant fact that he frequently rebuked the Sadducees and Pharisees but never denounced the Essenes.