Hidden Circles
On the megalithic connections between Britain and Ancient Israel
In the modern-day Israel area (or Judea and Palestine) there still exist many ancient megalithic sites that pre-date the arrival of Moses and his monotheistic religion. The Old Testament still mentions these sites in passing. More exact details can still be found.
Honi The Rain Maker
In the Mishnah Taanit 3:8
Once they said to Honi the Circle-Drawer, "Pray that rain may fall.". He answered, "Go out and bring in the Passover ovens [made of clay] that they be not softened." He prayed, but the rain did not fall. What did he do? He drew a circle and stood within it and said before God, "O Lord of the world, your children have turned their faces to me, for I am like a son of the house before you. I swear by your great name that I will not stir from here until you have pity on your children." Rain began falling drop by drop. He said, "Not for such rain have I prayed, but for rain that will fill the cisterns, pits, and caverns." It began to rain with violence. He said, "Not for such rain have I prayed, but for rain of goodwill, blessing, and graciousness." Then it rained in moderation, until the Israelites had to go up from Jerusalem to the Temple Mount because of the rain. They went to him and said, "Just as you prayed for the rain to come, so pray that it may go away!" He replied, "Go and see if the Stone of the Strayers has disappeared." Simeon ben Shetah sent to him, saying, "Had you not been Honi I would have pronounced a ban against you! But what shall I do to you? You importune God and he performs your will, like a son that importunes his father he performs his will. Of you the Scripture says, 'Let your father and your mother be glad, and let her that bore you rejoice.' "
Ref : Honi the Circle-Drawer
Literally-minded or fundamentalist people like those at Beginning and End say that Honi is heretical witchcraft, and can't possibly be accepted, because he's mentioned in the Talmud but not in the Bible. I think they specifically mean the New Testament Bible as we know it, after much editing.
There is a very good reason for that. The Paulian Christianity, as passed to us via Flavius Josephus, had eliminated Paganism and competing religions. Roman Christianity eventually became the official state religion of all the inhabitants of the Roman Empire. Peoples from the Enochian traditions were definitely on the Pagan side of the fence. As was, by that time, some of the things associated with King Solomon.
God got divorced
In the rush to adopt a monotheistic religion, all mentions of any other Gods was declared heretical. That included his wife, Asherah. Another person that's very much been cut-out of the picture and thrown on the cutting room floor.
God, also known as Yahweh, had a wife named Asherah, according to a British theologian. God had a wife, Asherah, whom the Book of Kings suggests was worshipped alongside Yahweh in his temple in Israel, according to an Oxford scholar.
In 1967, Raphael Patai was the first modern historian to mention that the ancient Israelites worshiped both Yahweh and Asherah. The theory has gained new prominence due to the research of Francesca Stavrakopoulou, who began her work at Oxford and is now a senior lecturer in the department of Theology and Religion at the University of Exeter. Stavrakopoulou bases her theory on ancient texts, amulets and figurines unearthed primarily in the ancient Canaanite coastal city called Ugarit, now modern-day Syria. All of these artifacts reveal that Asherah was a powerful fertility goddess.
Asherah's connection to Yahweh, according to Stavrakopoulou, is spelled out in both the Bible and an 8th century B.C. inscription on pottery found in the Sinai desert at a site called Kuntillet Ajrud. "The inscription is a petition for a blessing," she shares. "Crucially, the inscription asks for a blessing from 'Yahweh and his Asherah.' Here was evidence that presented Yahweh and Asherah as a divine pair. And now a handful of similar inscriptions have since been found, all of which help to strengthen the case that the God of the Bible once had a wife."
Also significant, Stavrakopoulou believes, "is the Bible's admission that the goddess Asherah was worshiped in Yahweh's Temple in Jerusalem. In the Book of Kings, we're told that a statue of Asherah was housed in the temple and that female temple personnel wove ritual textiles for her."
Ref : Yahweh and Asherah
This is, of course, a scholarly bun-fight, as the orthodozy stick to their orthodox position:
According to 1 Kings 11:4 Solomon's "wives turned his heart after other gods", their own national deities, to whom Solomon built temples, thus incurring divine anger and retribution in the form of the division of the kingdom after Solomon's death (1 Kings 11:9–13). 1 Kings 11 describes Solomon's descent into idolatry, particularly his turning after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians
Ref : Solomon's sins and punishment
Even so, Asherah is still recognised (even by devout Christians) as the original Eostre / Easter, and the source of all our Easter Eggs.
Holy Stones
King Solomon is said to have built his famous temple in Jerusalem on a site that was already a Canaanite sacred sanctuary, which involved the Melchizedek priesthood. In the bible, we are told that Solomon adopted many Canaanite customs (and got into trouble for it with the orthodox Jews). These included sacred springs, mountain top and cave sanctuaries, and megalithic stone circles called Gilgal. While that term applied to any stone circle on Canaan, the Hebrews used it for one specific town that had the most important circle of them all, said to be about two kilometres north of Jericho, where Saul was crowned as the first King of the Jews.
Ref : https://occult101.files.wordpress.com
“The stone heap of the wild cate” later known as Gilgal Refaim “wheel of giants”. Which is even more Pagan.
In Kings 18:30-35, we can read how the prophet Elijah repaired a stone circle:
“..Elijah took twelve stones..and built an altar … and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed, … and he filled the trench with water.”
That sounds like a Henge to me. It’s another curious coincidence that this stone circle tradition in ancient Israel so closely matches the same tradition in north western Europe.
Saul was crowned in a stone circle, because the Jewish traditional ritual of king-making included holy stones. As did the Druids, and as did the Welsh and Scots. That was, at least, until 1296 when Edward the First of England “acquired” the Stone of Scone from Moot Hill and took it to Westminster Abbey. In slightly dubious circumstances, and there seems to be a good chance the Scots had enough forewarning to fob Edward off with a substitute.
In Westminster Abbey, the (or a) stone became an essential part of the coronation of English Kings and Queens to this day; they have to be crowned while sitting above the Stone of Scone. The origin of this custom in Britain is said to be the “Stone of Israel”, and the “pillow of Jacob”. According to tradition,
“Jacob’s descendants kept the stone as a sacred national treasure until, when the Israel nation fell, its guardians fled with it to Ireland. There for nearly a thousand years the Kings of Ireland were crowned while seated on it. It was then taken to Scotland and used for the same purpose until Edward I took it to Westminster.”
A fantastic fairy story? Perhaps, but our current Royal Family still believes a Jewish tradition is an essential part of what gives them authority.
Perhaps that's why Prince Charles (and a few generations that came before him) had been circumcised by a Jewish Mohel (the licensed remover of foreskins), but that might all be idle gossip
Zadokite “Sons of Light”
Zadok was the first priest of Solomon’s First Temple in Jerusalem, from a royal lineage (descending from Eleazar, son of Aaron, who was Smenkhkarein Egypt)
Similarly, the Tuatha de Danaan were known as the “Lords of Light”.
The Zadokite dynasty continued to at least Roman times, when a Rabbi Zadok is mentioned in connection with Vespasian, the same Vespasian that had the Camp named after him, two miles from Stonehenge.
While the Zadokite dynasty was the official ruling priest dynasty, it was not the only one. It says here - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zadok - that "The prophet Ezekiel extols the sons of Zadok as staunch opponents of paganism "
Who were the pagan opponents?
Was this the ancient patriarchs?
Or the Melchizedek priesthood?
Or the Enochian tradition?
Or all the priest dynasties that weren't Zadokite but ran in parallel?
Until the Romans decided it was time to terminate with extreme prejudice?
From Elijah, through to Enoch, and then on to the Essenes and Jesus, there was another powerful priestly dynasty. In the time of Jesus, thanks to the Dead Sea Scrolls, the group we know the most about was the Qumran community.
The Qumran community
The Qumran founders were probably a priestly group leaving Jerusalem due to the combining of the Priesthood and Kingship under Simon, the Maccabee. They adopted from Zechariah the idea of a dual Messiah with the Priest Messiah as the superior partner.
The commentaries of Habakkuk in the Dead Sea Scrolls is the largest of the commentaries. It refers to a `Teacher of Righteousness’ 5 and a Wicked Priest’. The former is thought to the founder of the movement, perhaps a Zadokite priest and the latter Simon, the Hasmoneum king/priest or one of his successors, who are said to have defiled Jerusalem and attempted to kill the former. It also seems likely to be the beginning of the idea of the Anti-Christ which paradoxically meant anti-Messiah. In the Zadokite Document (found first in the Geniza archives and then in the DSS) the Teacher of Righteousness is to return or be resurrected and become the Messiah(?). It refers to two Messiahs; the Messiah of Aaron and the Messiah of Israel. The latter is the Messiah ben David and is subordinate to the Messiah of Aaron. The wars of Gog of Magog are described in the `War of the Sons of Light against the Sons of Darkness’.
The Essenes believed in dual Messiahs, one the anointed of Israel, and ben Aaron, a priestly Messiah. Jesus is called a High Priest Messiah in Hebrews (Heb. 9:25). They were following the concept of Zechariah and Haggai in which the return from Babylon included a dual Messiah; Zerubbabel, a descendant of David and Joshua, the High Priest. According to Zechariah they shared power between the monarchy and the priesthood. In this shared power structure the power of the High Priest increased with the disappearance of Zerubbabel. Interestingly the redeemer is never called a ben David. Perhaps because they (and who else is unknown) thought of the Davidic Messiah as a restorer Messiah and they were already suffering from a restorative Israel. They were only interested in a redemptive Messiah. Or perhaps they thought of the Messiah of Israel as ben Joseph. In Moses’ blessing to the tribes just before his death each tribe gets a blessing with one or two verses; except Levi who get four verses and Joseph who gets five verses and two separate blessings, one as the Sun and Moon and as the first born Bull (Deut. Chapter 33). The priestly Messiah is clearly for the Essenes superior based on the order of seating as well as the order of blessing at the Messianic banquet. The Essenes believed that would be the case in the Messianic age.
The Essenes believed the High Priests in Jerusalem were usurpers and were only concerned with wealth and power. They called them `prostitutes and fornicators'. Jesus also had trouble with the sanctity of the Temple. He tried to cleanse it of money changers an act which is related to his execution. He claims he would destroy it and rebuilt it in three days. Both Jesus and the Essenes believed that prayer and inner holiness were more important that sacrifice.
Ref : Essenes and Dead Sea scrolls
The Essenes' believe in dual Messiahs is echoed in the roles of John and Jesus.
The Qumran founders, as part of being “hasadim” (pious ones) and “anavin” (humble ones). The Essenes believed in the Holiness of poverty. They were known for their “strange idea of all property being held in common.“. The Essene Temple had a format that is familiar to that portrayed in Royal Arch Masonry.
Temple Scroll
The community lasted for over 200 years being destroyed by the Romans in 70-72 CE, led by Vespasian. This is the same Vespasian mentioned by Josephus;
"he describes an exorcism he had seen by the Essenes in the presence of Vespasian Chief of Staff and later Emperor of the Roman Empire and his soldiers. “
Ref : The Dead Sea Scrolls
This is also the same Vespasian that had visited Britain as a Roman Army General. After he became Emperor he sent Agricola to Britain. It was Agricola that led the second campaign north to Anglesey, to finish the destruction of the Druids, also Priests that had been encouraging resistance to the Romans.
Ref : The Roman Invasion of Anglesey
Vespasian – crusade against Druids as well as Essenes?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vespasian
Agricola sent by Vespasian to Britain
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnaeus_Julius_Agricola
The High Priests in Jerusalem
The Roman domination of Judea suffered from a series of revolts:
“the last of which, in AD 66, was fatal for the Jewish nation and for the priestly family. With the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus Flavius in AD 70, the Temple … was razed to the ground, never to be rebuilt, and the priests were killed by the thousands.”
A few priests did survive, notably the ones that had sided with the Romans,
“in particular a group of 15 high priests, who had sided with the Romans, surrendering to Titus the treasure of the Temple, and for that reason they had been kept in their properties and were given Roman citizenship. They then followed Titus to Rome, where they apparently disappeared from the stage of history, never again to play a visible role – apart from the one who undoubtedly was the leader of that group, Josephus Flavius.”
“Sent by the Jerusalem Sanhedrin to be governor of Galilee, he had been the first to fight against the legions of the Roman general Titus Flavius Vespasianus, who had been ordered by Nero to quell the revolt. Barricaded inside the fortress of Jotapata, he bravely withstood the Roman troops’ siege. When the city finally capitulated, he surrendered, asking to be granted a personal audience with Vespasian (The Jewish War, III, 8, 9). Their meeting led to an upturn in the fortunes of Vespasian, as well as in those of Josephus: the former was shortly to become emperor in Rome, while the latter not only had his life spared, but not long afterward, was “adopted” into the emperor’s family and assumed the name Flavius. He then received Roman citizenship, a patrician villa in Rome, a life income and an enormous estate. The prize of his treason.”
Ref : Q-Mag Mithras
War of the Sons of Light against the Sons of Darkness
The War of the Sons of Light against the Sons of Darkness, also known as "War Rule", "Rule of War" and the "War Scroll", is a manual for military organization and strategy that was discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls. The manuscript was among the scrolls found in Qumran Cave 1. This may have been the inspiration for the “Sons of Light”, a US bikers group (c.f. The Widow’s Sons, biker group in UK)