The Modern Order of Essenes: Intro

[ecosophia]

Having caught my breath after posting the material for the Fellowship of the Hermetic Rose, it's time to go on and start posting material from the next of the traditions I received from John Gilbert:  The Modern Order of Essenes. 

Three notes before  we start: 

1) The original Essenes (pronounced ESS-scenes) were a Jewish sect active around the time of Jesus of Nazareth. We know a certain amount about them, first from Greek and Romen authors who commented about them, and second from the Dead Sea Scrolls, which came from the library of one of their communities and were stashed away in a cave for safety during one of the wars between the Romans and the Jews. That nobody ever came back for them has certain grim implications we don't have to get into here. Other Essene communities may have survived longer but there's no evidence that any of them lasted beyond the fall of the ancient world. 

2) There are many Essene orders, churches, and traditions in the modern world. (The logo above is from one of the others, which flourished a century ago.) No two of them agree on much of anything. The material taught by the Modern Order of Essenes is as far as I know not found in any of the others, though it should be compatible with any of them. It's also compatible with a lot of other things! 

3) The text below discusses a set of three attunements. I have received all the necessary training and knowledge to confer these in person or at a distance, and once we reach the point where those can be conferred, I will make arrangements to confer them. There will be no charge for the attunements. I want this material to get into circulation so that it has a chance of survival. 

With that in mind, let's proceed to the introductory papers. 

The Modern Order of Essenes

The Modern Order of Essenes was founded in 1948 by the Rev. Matthew William Shaw, a Universalist minister who at that time lived and taught in Pennsylvania. His studies of mysticism, spiritual healing, and Christian origins led him to the conviction that his church needed something like the ancient Essene order for those members who wanted to learn and practice spiritual healing. When he and two other ministers left the Universalist Church in 1952 to found a new church, the Universal Gnostic Church (UGC), the Modern Order of Essenes went with him and became the spiritual healing activity of the UGC. One of Rev. Shaw’s students was John Gilbert, who introduced me to the Essene teachings and conferred the attunements upon me in 2004-2008.

The Essene teachings include practices of relaxation, breathing, meditation, and blessing, as well as two methods of spiritual healing. The first and most important method of healing taught by the Order is referred to in the teachings simply as “Essene healing.” It is similar in some ways to Reiki, though it has its own very distinctive way of working; it directs a particular mode of spiritual healing energy through centers in the palms to bless, cleanse, and heal oneself or another person.  I have not been able to find any version of this system dating from before the founding of the Modern Order of Essenes, and it seems likely that it was created by or revealed to Rev. Shaw.  The three Essene attunements, which are described below, focus on this aspect of the Essene healing work.

The second method of spiritual healing is reflexology, also known as zone therapy. This is a system of gentle hand and foot massage that has healing benefits.  It has been practiced since ancient times in Egypt, China, Japan, and India, but was introduced in a Western form in 1913 by two physicians, Dr. William Fitzgerald and Dr. Edwin Bowers. The reflexology teachings included in the Essene system are not intended to make you a professional reflexologist—that requires extensive training under a competent teacher, and includes a great deal of information not covered in this series of papers.  The Essene reflexology methods are much simpler to learn and use than the techniques that are practiced by professional reflexologists.  They are designed for the Essene healer to use on himself or herself, and to teach to others to use on themselves.  Beyond their beneficial effects on health, they help to clear and balance the channels of spiritual energy through which Essene healing works.

These two methods, as well as the other practices discussed above, are taught through written lessons and personal practice. I also have audio files of John Gilbert offering instruction in the basic levels of training, and these will be made available to students for listening or download. The Essene healing practices can be performed by anyone, whether or not they receive the attunements, but receiving the attunements greatly accelerates the process of developing the ability to practice spiritual healing.

There are three attunements that are conferred on the student—the Essene Apprentice, Essene Healer, and Essene Master attunements. These attunements can be conferred in person or at a distance, just as the Essene healing method can be used both in the presence of the person to be healed or at a distance. All three attunements require specific preparatory work on the part of the person being attuned, and further work  is necessary once the attunement has been received to stabilize and develop the effects of the attunement.

A student of the Essene work who has received all three attunements and has practiced the spiritual healing methods regularly is eligible to become an Essene Master Teacher and receive full instructions on how to confer the attunements on students of his or her own. To become an Essene Master Teacher it is also necessary to complete the Gnostic Lessons, which confer the minor orders of the Universal Gnostic Church.  It may be worth mentioning here that the UGC does not dictate which deity or deities a member, or indeed a clergyperson, must revere; central to UGC theology is the teaching that the Divine reveals itself to different people in different ways. John Gilbert was himself an esoteric Christian, but he welcomed into the UGC and the Modern Order of Essenes Druids, Heathens, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, and followers of several Native American religious traditions, among others.

From its founding by Matthew Shaw until John Gilbert took it into dormancy in 2012, the Modern Order of Essenes was an organization with a chief official, whose title was Abbot. I have decided, however, to revive the Order as a tradition rather than an organization. In the future, each Essene Master Teacher will be free to teach and perform attunements as he or she wishes, in much the same way that Reiki teachers currently do.

The following lecture was used to introduce the Essene teachings to beginning students in John Gilbert’s day. Though it was unsigned it is probably John’s work.

 

Introductory Lecture

The Modern Order of Essenes is a healing and teaching order dedicated to teaching the ancient Essene healing techniques.  We believe that these are approximately five thousand years old. We also believe that these were the healing techniques used by the Masters Jesus and Mary Magdalene, whom we believe were Essenes.

Our healing techniques are available to all who seek this assistance in healing themselves and others.  The first healing technique we learn as Essenes is the Blessing Walk. Use this technique to help heal yourself and others.

The second technique we teach is the Essene Healing Breath. Daily practice with the Essene Healing Breath will help you heal yourself and others. More than that, it will help you find your spiritual path and commune with your spirit guides, teachers and the Divine.

There are a total of three attunements within our Order.  Everybody starts as a Candidate to become an Apprentice Essene Healer. As a candidate you will learn two ancient and powerful healing techniques to help heal yourself and others. The mysteries behind how these two techniques work so powerfully, to help people heal and transform themselves into the person they want to be, are very ancient, and easier to master than most people would believe.

The Essene healing energy is feminine in nature.  It’s called the Sophia Energy or the Magdalene Energy.  This energy heals in a feminine way by drawing the unconditional love of the Divine, which heals all things, into the person being healed.  The unconditional love of the Divine does heal all things. The Essene healing techniques teach us how to use that energy to help other people heal themselves.  The job of all Essene healers is to heal themselves and help other people to heal themselves.

The philosophy of the Modern Essenes is to focus on the good things in life and give thanks for them.  Focusing on the good things in life uplifts us.  Giving thanks for the good things in life also uplifts us.  The more we uplift ourselves, the more we help other people uplift themselves.  The Essene Blessing Walk teaches us how to become a center of positive influence in the world. Walk for your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual self. Walk for the benefit of all things.

Once you’ve learned the Essene Blessing Walk, it’s time to start learning what we consider to be our fundamental healing technique, the Essene Healing Breath. We use this technique to heal ourselves, find and follow our own unique spiritual path, open communications with our guardian angel, spirit guides and teachers, and to empower our healing abilities to help others.  By performing this meditation prior to taking an Essene Blessing Walk, you’ll notice an increase in the energy that flows through you.  You’ll also notice your third eye starting to open more and more as you continue using these two techniques together.

We believe everybody has the ability to heal themselves and help others heal themselves using the Essene healing techniques. We use these healing techniques today to help anyone who asks for help healing themselves.

There are a total of five Essene grades. 

0° Essene Candidate

1° Essene Apprentice

2° Essene Healer

3° Essene Master

4° Essene Master Teacher

The Essene Blessing Walk and the Essene Healing Breath are the techniques assigned to Candidates. Once you learn them and proceed to the grade of Apprentice, you will learn more.

*  *  *  *  *

The following paper is not by John, but it summarizes points he was always careful to make in his teaching.

On Spiritual Healing

The discussion of healing in this and later papers should always be interpreted in the light of the following strictly enforced rule:

The Modern Order of Essenes teaches spiritual healing as part of a religious practice. It does not teach any medical modality. No initiate of the Order, except one who has earned the legal right to do so in some other context, is authorized to diagnose, treat, or prescribe for any medical condition.

There are two reasons for this rule. The first is that the Essene training is in fact oriented toward spirituality rather than medicine. Learning how to diagnose diseases accurately and treat them effectively requires years of study under competent teachers.  It cannot be learned from a relatively brief course such as this one.  Spiritual healing is an entirely different matter, since it does not involve diagnosis or treatment of medical conditions; instead, it channels Divine healing energy toward a person in need, and the Divine, not the spiritual healer, directs that energy to benefit the person in question.

The second reason is that in many countries today, practicing medicine without a license is a criminal offense punishable by jail time, and any person who claims to be able to diagnose or treat medical conditions and does not have legally approved credentials can be arrested, tried, and sent to prison for doing this, whether or not it is done for pay. One may very reasonably object to such laws, but until and unless they are repealed they remain the law in many jurisdictions, and the Modern Order of Essenes does not and cannot recommend violating them.

The spiritual healing methods of the Modern Order of Essenes are designed to be used by lay practitioners without extensive medical training. They focus on directing the healing energy of the Divine to help individuals heal themselves. Their intention is to heal spiritual problems, not to provide medical treatment.

Can spiritual healing help bring about physical healing?  Of course. Thousands of double-blind, controlled studies have explored the harmful effects of stress, tension, anxiety, and negative emotional states on physical health. Spiritual healing can help individuals resolve their stress,  tension, anxiety, and negative emotional states, and thus foster physical healing. The placebo effect is also a potent source of healing; studies have shown that the placebo effect can yield better results in resolving some illnesses than treatment with pharmaceuticals. The science of psychoneuroimmunology, which explores the ways that mental and emotional states affect the immune system by altering hormone levels and influencing the autonomic nervous system, has also shown that spiritual practices can have significant effects on physical health.

None of this should ever be used in an attempt to claim that Essene healing, or anything else taught in this course, is a medical treatment. Nor does it ever permit you to claim that, as an Essene healer, you can diagnose, treat, prevent, or cure any medical condition. What you can do is provide spiritual support for a person in need, knowing that this support may assist them in overcoming physical illness in the ways mentioned above. In any situation that an ordinarily prudent person would tend on their own, without seeking professional medical care, you can provide spiritual care.  In any situation that would cause an ordinarily prudent person to seek professional medical care, it is your legal responsibility to advise the person affected to seek help from a licensed medical provider, though you can of course provide spiritual support to the person before, during, and after conventional treatment.

These points should be studied carefully and kept strictly in mind as you pursue your studies in the Modern Order of Essenes. Please be aware that if you violate the rule given above by claiming to diagnose, treat, or prescribe for a medical condition, and do not have the legally recognized right to do so by virtue of some other form of training or certification, your membership in the Order will not help you avoid legal prosecution.