Some Notes From the Center of Europe

 

The following excerpt is from the aggadic Chapters of Rabbi Eliezer the Great, "The Revelation on Sinai:

"Rabbi Chanina said: In the third month the day is double the night, and the Israelites slept until two hours of the day, for sleep on the day of the feast of Azereth (Pentecost) is pleasant, the night being short. And Moses went forth and came to the camp of the Israelites, and he aroused them from their sleep, for behold, your God desires to give the Torah to you. Already the bridegroom wished to lead the bride and enter the bridal chamber. The hour has come for giving you the Torah, as it is said, "And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet God.' (Exodus 19:17)."

The translator of this work into English says: "This is one of the most interesting expressions in the whole of our book. The longest day is twice as long as the shortest at latitude 49-degrees in northern Asia...Can we locate the place where this fact applies in connection with these chapters? Or is it merely a further instance of dependence of these Chapters on the Pseudepigrapha?" (p.322). Forty nine degrees, North latitude? It runs almost directly through Vienna, Austria. (Again, we must recall that this Rabbi Eliezer was excommunicated in his time from the Rabbinic circle, for going over to the Jewish Essenes, for helping them, as it were, to transmit their mysteries and to turn the world upside down. Acts 17:6).

The point to be made here is that the Hebrew mysteries comprehend the whole Earth (and that the Universal Hebrew race is comprised of all the peoples of the earth who can find their way back to the Center of the Greater Mystery through the structure and the dimensions of their own religious traditions), It is also true that all any of us have understood of these mysteries up to now has either been revealed to us, or concealed from us, by the Divine Mother who is Holy Wisdom Herself. She has wrapped Herself in many different garments, among them were those of Venus, the Goddess of Beauty, who is also (according to all the hidden precepts of the Tree of Life) Jerusalem Herself--the Morning and the Evening Star. Or we could reason that She was wrapped in the garments of Venus by others, and even kidnapped or spirited away by the lower reasonings of the Gentile mind. (We rather think that she went purposefully, and mysteriously, hiding the reality of it all in what we have come to call "Greek myths." In all events we discover She is also one with Europa who was stolen away by Zeus and brought to the Island of Crete. We discover in these legends not only the story of Europa's abduction, but fittingly enough how the name of this Mt. Ida...IuDeA...Judaea...found its way to Crete also.

"Zeus, falling in love with Europa, sent Hermes to drive Agenor's cattle down to the seashore at Tyre where she and her companions used to walk. He himself joined the herd, disguised as a snow-white Bull... Europa was struck by his beauty, and, on finding him gentle as a lamb, mastered her fear and began to play with him...In the end she climbed upon his shoulders, and let him amble down with her to he edge of the sea. Suddenly he swam away, while she looked back in terror at the receding shore...

Wading ashore near Cretan Gortyna, Zeus became an eagle and ravished Europa in a willow thicket beside a spring; or some say under an evergreen plane-tree. She bore him three sons.

Zeus's rape of Europa recalls an early Hellenic occupation of Crete...Hella bore the title "Europa." Her Corinthian and Cretan name was Hellotis, which suggests Helice (willow), (Ezekiel 17:1-5). Helle and Helen are the same divine character. The Greek Myths, by Robert Graves, p.194.

The legend of Europa seems to have her being abducted from that Phoenician port named Tyre (or Tyrus) on the Eastern Mediterranean shore, but we will agree with those who placed the Phoenicians, thus the original Tyre, out on the Atlantic Ocean. Strabo, speaking of those who he says "confound myth with history," says:

"And like them are the writers who tell of the Sidonians on the Persian Gulf, or somewhere else on Oceanus, and who place the wanderings of Menelaus, and likewise the Phoenicians out on Oceanus. And not the least reason for not believing them is the fact that they contradict one another. For some say even the Sidonians who are our neighbors are colonists from the Sidonians out on Oceanus...but some hold that the Sidonians out on Oceanus are colonists from our Phoenicia." Strabo's Geography I.2.35.

And agreeing, we say that these mysteries found their way to Crete by way of ancient Britain (the island home of the earliest Phoenicians, who were not only intricate to the creation of the Hebrew mysteries to begin with [see 2 Chronicles, chapter 2], but which was also the original Tyre of the Prophets...Ezekiel 26 to 28). And that they were carried there by that merchant culture that had not only colonized the Mediterranean Sea, but who--because of the great judgments, internecine warfare, and disbursals that were befalling the inhabitants of Central Europe--somehow imagined themselves to be the sole keepers of the Oracles of history (as modern day Britain and America do today); thus creating in their wanderings in the literal sea (on the Island of Crete) their own sense of the higher mysteries that were being concealed directly above in the center of the figurative Sea, where the Great Dragon lay hidden in the Center of Europe. Jill Purce, in her work entitled The Mystic Spiral, says:

"The earliest known labyrinth is that dating from the 19th century B.C. in Egypt; the most famous was in Minoan Crete. These, and some of the earliest spiral rock engravings from Paleolithic times, are reminders of man's increasing preoccupation with the spiral order and his own spiral development.

As the labyrinth creates and dissolves, expands and contracts, so it reveals and conceals, It is cosmos to those who know the way, and chaos to those who lose it. It is Ariadne's thread, whose windings create the world and yet enables us to unravel it...

I give unto you the end of the Golden String, Only wind it in a ball,

It will lead you in at Heaven's Gate, Built in Jerusalem's Wall. William Blake, Jerusalem.

The point or centre, in those labyrinths depicted in the pavement floors of many medieval cathedrals, is sometimes a depiction of Theseus and the Minotaur. The symbolism is that of the original Cretan --an initiatory hero test, the overcoming of death at the center, and a subsequent return or rebirth into life. For, as it is necessary to be born from the womb to see this world, only he who is born from himself sees the other world. "He who is not twice born will not ascend to the Kingdom of Heaven." Other cathedral labyrinths depict the architect at the center, sometimes symbolized in the person of Daedalus, the builder of the Cretan maze. Since treading the maze was a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in miniature, Daedalus also represents the Divine Architect. The Mystic Spiral, p.29.

Tifereth, the Number 6, at the Center.

"Since we are now going to relate the final period of this famous city (Jerusalem) it seems proper to give an account of its original. The tradition is, that the Jews ran away from the Island of Crete, and settled themselves on the coast of Libya (Africa/Egypt) and this at the time when Saturn was driven out of his kingdom by the power of Jupiter (Zeus); and arguement for it is fetched from their name. The mountain Ida is famous in Crete; and the neighboring inhabitants are named Idaei, which with a barbarous argument, becomes the name of Judaei (Jews).

Others pretend their origin to be more immanent, and that the Solymi, a people celebrated in Homer's poems were the founders of this nation, and gave their own name Hierosolyma to the city which they built there." Tacitus, History of the Jews, Book V.2.

Thus the Roman historian, Tacitus, has it correct--but greatly confused--when he reports that the Jews originated from Crete, and that Judaea lends its name to Mount Ida, a report which he does not believe. He cannot realize, of course, that the story began in Central Europe, nor could he have realized how the Jews (the Danaans) came up into this land in the first place, from Egypt, or how they fell back out of it again centuries later...

Mount Ida was not only a locality on the Island of Crete, it is also a mountain in the range of the same name in Phrygia and Mysia in Asia Minor. At the base of it was the Troad, whose capital was Troy. The mountain described as "Many Fountained" (see John 4:9-14; 7:38), was the seat of Zeus, and had a Grove of Trees sacred to him. It was from here, it is said, that Zeus directed the Trojan War. What can the Iliad (and the Odyssey) be, however, but another different attempt to interpret the Western World-mystery by encompassing in poetic and mostly allegorical form the present and the future in one epic narrative? It begins with the abduction of Helen (whom we have associated with Europa). Who is she but Beauty (thus Wisdom), taken out of Europe, but in this case to the East. A war ensues to get her back. It is still raging. What could all of this be but the same events described in the Chronicles and the Books of the Kings of Israel and Judah, when the mysteries of Israel departed from Judah, leaving the City of David nearly forsaken and rejected? By this time Israel is almost so inextricably entangled in the affairs of the nations and peoples around it that we can no longer distinguish the Hebrew mysteries from the Greek, or the children of Israel from the Trojans and Acheans--except, as we have seen in the chapter devoted to Her, the children of Israel did not depart alone...

Mount Ida also had a seat upon it dedicated to the worship of "Cybele," the Idean Mother, or Mater Idea. She was the wife of Chronus (Time) and mother of the Olympian gods. She was also called the Great Mother. Paul leaves a clear allusion to his understanding of these things, and to the fact that the world was divided between the higher and the lesser mysteries in those times, when he speaks of the city of Jerusalem in Palestine and compares it to the City Above which is in exile with Her children:

Which things are an allegory: for these are two covenants; the one from mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Hagar.

For this Hagar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.

But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the Mother of us all...(Galatians 4:24-26).

In other words, those who believe that that city in Palestine is the Jerusalem of the Prophets (Isaiah 29), also believe that the Mount Sinai, or Horeb, of Exodus, chapter 19, is also situated somewhere in that part of the world between the land of Egypt and the land of Israel. Those who can see how the City Above is situated in the center of the Oracle, in Europe, can also realize how the words in Exodus 19 are being fulfilled in the events of the 20th century, and how the ability to see it does indeed separate the mind of Egypt from the State of Mind (the Pure Land) promised to Israel in the fulness of time. Those who can see it are set free from the events that are preparing to fall now everywhere upon the Western world.

The Iliad itself reveals how the original Mount IDA was situated at a place deeper set than Asia Minor where it says:

"Now when Morning, clad in her robe of saffron, had begun to diffuse light over the earth Jove called the gods in council on the topmost crest of serrated Olympus...If I see anyone acting apart and helping either Trojans or Danaans, he shall be beaten inordinately ere he come back again to Olympus. Or I will hurl him down into dark Tartarus far under the deepest pit in the earth (which means into the dark, without understanding... Isaiah 24:15-21), where the gates are iron and the floors bronze, as far beneath Hades as heaven is high above the earth, that you may learn how much mightier I am than you...

With this he yoked his fleet horses, with hoofs of bronze and manes of glittering gold. He girded himself also with gold (the color of the Sun) about the body, seized his whip and took his seat in his chariot. Thereon he lashed his horses and they flew nothing loth MIDWAY twixt earth and starry heaven. After a while HE REACHED MANY FOUNTAINED IDA, mother of wild beasts, and Gargarus, where are his grove and fragrant altar. There the father of the gods and men stayed his horses, took them from the chariot, AND HID THEM IN A THICK CLOUD (see 2 Chronicles 1:14-17) and he took his seat all glorious upon the Topmost crests, looking down upon the city of Troy and the ships of the Acheans." The Iliad, Book VIII. 1-52.

THE SOLYMI...(Jerusalem). "But when king Neptune, who was returning from the Ethiopians (remember, Homer has placed the Ethiopians out on Oceanus. see chapter 2), caught sight of Ulysses a long way off, from the mountains of the Solymi he could see him sailing on the sea." The Odyssey, Book V.282.

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"But when rosey-fingered morning appeared on the Tenth day, he questioned him and desired to see the letter from his son-in-law Proetus. When he received the wicked letter he first commanded Bellerophon to kill the savage monster, the chimaera...He next fought the Far-famed Solymi, and he said this was the hardest of battles." The Iliad, Book VI. 172-211.

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"It was David, therefore, who first cast out the Jebusites out of Jerusalem, and called it by his own name, the City of David (Isaiah 29); for under our forefather Abraham it was called (Salem) or Solyma; but after that time, some say that Homer mentions it by that name of Solyma. For he named the temple Solyma, according to the Hebrew language which denotes Security.

Now for the whole time the warfare under Joshua our general against the Canaanites..." Antiquities, Book VII. III.

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"Pseudo-Eupolemus' departure from the biblical text to interpret 'Argarizim' as the Mountain of the Most High makes sense if as a Samaritan he was trying to counter the claim that the name Hierosolyma gave that city a special position as the site of the famous temple. For the Samaritan shrine at Mt. Gerizim was not inferior since its name denotes in Greek the Most High.

Of primary significance for the ancients, however, was the alleged allusions to Hierosolyma in Homer. The Iliad records a certain people named Solymi who were said to be the enemies of the Lycians. Speculations as to the identity of the Solymi gave rise to many intriguing answers...Choerilus of Samos listed among the armies of Xerxes that marched against Greece, the inhabitants of the Solymian hills, who he said spoke a language related to Phoenician...Josephus following no doubt a Hellenistic Jewish tradition, takes it for granted that Choerilus was alluding to the fact that Homer referred to the Jews of Hierosolyma. This belief was not limited to Jewish syncristic apologists. Lysimachus, an anti-Semitic writer of Alexandria who flourished at the end of the first century B.C., was bothered by the supposed link between Homer and Hierosolyma. He suggested that the original name of Jerusalem was not Hierosolyma, but Hierosyla (a temple of robbers). Nonetheless, the link between Homer and Hierosolyma was widely accepted in antiquity, and is attested in Tacitus, a writer not specifically friendly to the Jews.

Josephus argues, hierosolla does not mean the same in the Jewish tongue as it does in the Greek. This irrefutable argument loses its acuteness, however, by the fact that in his earlier works Josephus used similar etymologies to glorify the name of the holy city. In his first allusion to this issue, The Jewish War, V.438, records that after Melchizedek, because he 'was the first who officiated as Priest of God and the first to build a temple (hieron), the city previously called Solyma became Hierosolyma.' In this passage Josephus does not explain the etymology of Solyma, presumably because he took it for granted that the knowledgeable reader would link it with the Homeric Solyma." Ben Zion Wacholder, on Eupolemus.

The fact of the controversy itself, along with Homer's statement that Neptune could see Ulysses from the mountains of the Solymi "while returning from the Ethiopians"--which Josephus knows is a reference to the Garden of Eden in the West--all serve to support our position of Jerusalem's whereabouts in the North. And then the fact that the children of Israel, or rather the central doctrines of Israel, have fallen back down out of Europe into the East, and are embroiled in the (mostly allegorical) affairs of the Trojan War, is supported by Strabo who puts the Solymi in Asia Minor. (The authors of the Book of Acts will allude to this same location when they are referring in their narratives to the lower Jerusalem):

"And I think that since the Solymi occupied the loftiest peaks of the Taurus Range, I mean the peaks about Lycia as far as Pisidia, and since their country presented to people who lived north of the Taurus Range, and particularly to those who lived about the Pontus, the most conspicuous altitudes on the south--for this reason, on the strength of a certain similarity of position, these people too were transferred to the position out by Oceanus." Strabo's Geography Book I.2.10.

Who were these European Jews? We do not want to tie them so tightly to the Druid culture of the North so that we cannot distinguish the important differences that existed between--the Druid cult of Caesar's time, for instance, and the other classes of Jews that lived from one side of the empire to the other. The differences were not unlike those that exist today between the Orthodox of every Jewish and Christian persuasion on the one hand, and the Liberal, Reformed, and Reconstructionist branches of Judaeo-Christianity on the other. (Everything is happening again, just as it happened then). Caesar's Druids are the result of 1,000 years of apostasy from the time the priest-kings of D.V.D. ruled in Central Europe. And they are over 1,300 years removed from the time Jethro, the arch-Druid ruled in MIDIAN (the MIDDLE region of the world). And over 2,000 years removed from the time that the great Priestly archetype, Melchizedek, ruled the thinking of the entire Hebrew universe. (See Hebrews 5 to 7). Nor do we want to disassociate them to the point that we cannot see they were originally the same:

"Such are the principle features of the ancient Israelitish worship, and in every point they agree with the Druidical. The same rites, the same ceremonies, the same feasts, the same God, and in fine, the same religion. If the comparison were carried still further, the identity would be even more striking...

It is not, however, in the more modern times of Greece, when under the jurisdiction of the Roman governors, that we are expected to find traces of Druidical or Israelitish worship, but in the time of her Homers and Hesiods: then we discover the same religion and the same rites were in use among the Greeks as among the Egyptians, Persians, Arabians, Babylonians, Chaldeans, Gauls, Estruscans, Hindus, Israelites, and Druids." Identity of the Religions Called Druidical and Hebrew, London, 1829.

The Jews of Europe were not strictly speaking comprised of Celtic tribes (the original Canaanites), because the Celtic was a thoroughly mixed up culture (and because then, as now, Judaism, or Israel, is not a bloodline, or a distinct racial or cultural group, but rather a philosophy and a way of life that has been adopted by peoples everywhere throughout the earth). Nevertheless, among the tribes of Europe the Getae most reveal themselves to be "Jews." Their lives, however, were not being ordered according to the "letter" of the Law, or history would have recognized them long ago, but according to certain "oral" precepts, which caused them to more resemble pre-Christians instead of Jews. Many of them were no doubt among those who returned to Eastern and Central Europe in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, and were there when it is said that Ezra opened the books...

And caused the people to understand the law...So they read in the book of the Law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading...

Then he said unto them, Go your way, EAT THE FAT...(a clear violation of the written Law...Ex.29:11-13; Lev.7:22-25...proving that Ezra was instructing them in the liberating and fulfilling measures of the Law, meanings that would be fulfilled later in the mystery of Christ)...

And all the people went their way to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great mirth, because they understood the words that were declared to them...(Nehemiah 8:1, 5-12).

In fact it is surprising to read where Origen takes Celsus to task on this point. Having a seemingly keen mind concerning the hidden structure of the Scriptures (perhaps he could not perceive the hidden structure of history as well) it seems he could have yielded in some subtle way. Perhaps he did and it did not come through in the translation. Perhaps he is not merely saying that Celsus does not understand, but that he "really" does not understand:

"I must express my surprise that Celsus should class the Odrysians, the Samothracians, and the Eleusinians, and Hyperboreans among the most ancient and learned nations, and should not deem the Jews worthy of a place among such, either for their learning or their antiquity, although there are many treatises in circulation among the Egyptians, the Phoenicians, and the Greeks which testify to their existence as an ancient people, but which I have considered it unnecessary to quote. For anyone who chooses may read what Flavius Josephus has recorded in his two books...where he brings together a great collection of writers, who bear witness to the antiquity of the Jewish people...

It seems then, to be not from a love of the truth, but from a spirit of hatred, that Celsus makes these statements, his objection being to asperse the origin of Christianity, which is connected with Judaism. Nay he styles the Galactophagi of Homer, the Druids of Gaul, AND THE GETAE, most learned and ancient tribes, ON ACCOUNT OF THE RESEMBLANCE BETWEEN THEIR TRADITIONS AND THE JEWS, although I do not know whether any of their histories survive; but the Hebrews alone, as far as in him lies, he deprives of the honour both of antiquity and learning." Origin Against Celsus, chapter XVI.

Whether Origin knows the true history of Europe or not, of importance here is that the Getae and the Jews share the same traditions. We are suggesting, of course, that these Getae were not only among the Jews who were led away to Babylon by the marauding Scythians in the time of Jeremiah, and that their priests were not only the same who opposed the early Church at "Jerusalem" (Acts 7), but that they were among the same who inhabited the whole world at that time, from Western Europe to the East:

"(So and so) thinks that those writers are most plausible who place the ARIMI (the Arimaeans) in the Catacecaumene country in MYSIA...

But some understand that the Syrians are ARIMI who are now called Arimaeans." Strabo, Book 13.4.5-7.

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"Now the Greeks used to suppose that the Getae were Thracians; and the Getae lived on either side of the Ister (the DANube), as did also the MYSI, these also being Thracians and identical with the people who are now called Moesi; from these Mysians also sprang the MYSI who now live between the Lydians and the Phrygians and the Trojans. THESE PEOPLE TO BE SURE HAVE ALL UTTERLY QUITTED EUROPE, but some of the MYSI have remained there.

And Poseidonius seems to be correct in his conjecture that Homer designates the Mysi in Europe--I mean those in Thrace-when he says: 'But back he turned his shining eyes, and looked far toward the land of the horse-tending Thracians, and of the Mysi, hand-to-hand fighters,' for surely, if one were to take Homer to mean the Mysi in Asia, the statement would not hang together.

The language of the Daci is the same as that of the Getae. (Gaelic-Hebrew). Among the Greeks, however, the Getae are better known because of the migrations they make to either side of the Ister...and because they are mingled among the Thracians and the Mysians...

The Getae and the Daci once attained to very great power, so that they could actually send forth an expedition of two hundred thousand men...they now find themselves close to the point of yielding obedience to the Romans. (see Antiquities XII.XI.6)." Strabo's Geography Book 7.3.2-13.

Do not fail to discover Josephus's description of these "fighting men." When he says of these Jews that they "fight naked" (Antiquities XII.VII.4), he is describing a purely Thracian or Celtic trait.

We do not want to get too bogged down here by trying to go too deep into the origin of names, we will leave it to others who are more qualified; but we want to see how those who were writing Jewish history, from their own peculiar perspective, using Jewish words and Hebrew names, were describing the same things that other historians were describing from their own perspectives, using other names. But sometimes these connections come through on both sides, as where Strabo links the Syrians to Arimaeans, who are linked to the Jews, who are in turn linked to Europe. The Sibylline Oracle likewise puts name Syria in the West when in an obscure prophecy she says:

Among the Britains and the wealthy Gauls

The ocean will be resounding, filled with much blood,

For they also did evil to the children of God

When the purple king led A GREAT GALLIC HOST FROM SYRIA

Against the Sidonians. He will also kill you, Ravenna,

And lead you to slaughter. Book V.200-205.

Yair Davidiy (the Orthodox voice of of Brit-Am Now--a religious Zionist himself, as well as a proponant of the Two-House Anglo-Israel doctrine), thus foresaking the higher, spiritutal implications of the Law and the Prophets and erroneously confusing the British and American nations, and the other nations of Europe, with the true Holy Nation of Israel as he does), nevertheless comes near to the mystery when he has the Holy (Solar/Lunar) Nation (the Higher Israel) passing out of the East and across Europe to the West. (But herein lies the danger to men's souls, when they come close to the mystery but fail to attain it, or to wait on it, confusing themselves and many others along the way):

TRIBAL IDENTIFICATIONS
(Adapted from "The Tribes" by Yair Davidiy)

THE ISRAELITE NATIONS
COME TO EUROPE

MAJOR MIGRATORY MOVEMENTS

A brief summary of ethnic migrations pertinent to our study may help simplify the overall picture©:

1. Movement by Sea

Most of the Israelites were exiled to the north. A portion however were transported overseas in Phoenician and Philistine ships working for the Assyrians. The transported Hebrews were taken to Spain, Gaul, and Britain. Proof for the transportation of Israelites by Sea is obtainable from the Hebrew Bible, Biblical commentaries, traditions, legends, archaeology, and historical writings. Those taken to Spain moved northward into Gaul or crossed over to Britain and Ireland.

2. Movement by Land Northward

Ca.740-720 BCE: The Assyrians moved masses of Northern Israelites (and other Syrians and Phoenicians) to Northern Mesopotamia and to Hara in eastern Iran where they became identified with Cimmerians, Scyths, and Goths.

3. Cimmerians to Europe and Galatian-Gaul

Ca. 640 BCE: The first waves of Cimmerians via Turkey and the Anatolian Bosporos were driven into the Europe whence they made their way west to Gaul and Britain becoming identified as Celts and Galatians. The
Galatians were identifiable in Europe with both part of the Celts and Belgae and with early groups in Germany. Even though the Cimmerian-descended Galatians had migrated to Western Europe at an early date, Galatian expeditions back from the west towards the east, resulted in Galatians being present also in several eastern regions including parts of Scythia and the Galatian region of Turkey. At the same time the Galatian center remained in Western Europe. The Galatians were descended from Israelite Tribes (Reuben, half-Menasseh, and Gad) that had once been located in the Land of Israel east of the Jordan River. This area had been known as "Gilead" and "Bashan". The name of the Galatians was sometimes rendered as "Galadi" and is derived from the Hebrew form of Gilead. Gilead is also the name of a son of Machir from the Israelite Tribe of Menasseh whose descendants formed part of the Galatians and related peoples.

¨ The Galatians had a tendency to merge with, or join in alliance to, the Goths. The Goths came from Gad which Tribe had adjoined and confederated with Machir from Menasseh in the Land of Israel.

4. First Scythian Movements to Europe

Ca. 550 BCE: The movement of Scythians from the Middle East to north of the Caucasus began in earnest with the penetration of Scythia. Offshoots from this movement reached into Western Europe and Gaul but the only significant presence established at this early stage was the one within the area of Poland whence Scandinavia and the West were to be reached. Scythians west of the Caspian Sea were dominated by the Royal Scythians. Those east of the Caspian Sea became culturally differentiated from those to the west and so for convenience sake are referred to as "Sacae" even though technically the term "Sacae" could originally have referred to all Scythians.

5. Royal Scythians Move Westward

Climate changes in Scythia caused "Sarmatian" groups to push the Royal Scyths westward in the period 300-100 BCE. The Royal Scyths re-settled at first in the area of Bulgaria, then after renewed pressure continued north, ultimately to reach Scandinavia which was named "Scatanavia" (Land of the Scyths) and "Basilia" (Pliny N.H. 27:35). The Royal Scythians had been named "Basiloi". This name came to mean "monarchs" or "royals" in Greek but it was not originally a Greek word. The area of Israel east of the Jordan known as "Bashan" had also been called "Basil".

6. Royal Scythians To Scandinavia

The Huns emerging from Mongolia or further east from 200-160 BCE attacked the Aseir (Wusun), Goths, and Sacae and caused these peoples to war amongst themselves. These events were followed by a climate change which, after 120 BCE, caused the desolation of Chorasmia (east of the Caspian Sea) which previously had been heavily populated. Goths and Sacae began to move westward and Scandinavia was re-populated in the period 100 BCE 100 CE These movements caused a chain reaction and immigrations into Scandinavia included Royal Scythians moving northward from the Balkan area. The Baltic coast was also heavily settled in this time, and from there more tribes were to move westward.

7. The Belgae

After 200 BCE the Belgae from the East began occupying northern Gaul. They were associated with, or accompanied by, a group ultimately hailing from the Middle East and Syria and known linguistically as "The Northwest Block."©. They arrived in Europe via Anatolia and the Crimean region of southwest Scythia. Culturally these peoples were Galatian and Celtic. Groups of Belgae also occupied parts of Britain and Ireland.

8. Eastern Scythians Move West

Later, from eastern Scythia, in the decades 70-50 BCE, the Western Sienbi and the Northern Hun group of Hugie, Dingling, and Gienkun moved westward. The Northern Hun group in Scythia had encompassed several smaller tribes at least some of whom were of Israelite origin. They began to re-appear from 50 BCE in the Rhine area of Western Europe and within a hundred years had taken over the region. Archaeological evidence shows that in the time of Caesar the area of "Germany" east of the Rhine had had a type of culture (termed the "La-Tene" culture) similar to the Celtic type in northern Gaul of the Belgae and Treveri. Within a hundred years (i.e. by 50 CE) this culture had been completely destroyed and the region resettled by peoples bearing previously unknown names such as the Chatti, Chasuarri, Angrivarri, Ampsivarri, etc. The following examples of peoples who migrated from Scythia to Europe have the name by which they were known in the west followed in brackets by that which they had previously been called in Scythia: The Chauki (in Scythia "Cachage Scythae"), the Tubantes (Tabiene), Bructeri (Bactria), Chatti (Chatae Scythae), and the associated groups of Varni (Varini), Tigorini (Taguri), Angiloi (Augali-Aegeli,), Jutes (Iatii), Sasons (Sasones) and Scoti, Esci (Ascotacae), as well as Alans (Alans), Tectosaces (Tectosace Scythae), As (Asi), and quite a few others listed in the following pages. The area of Germany, like Scandinavia, received Tribes coming from Scythia and about to continue westward into Gaul and Britain. ["Gaul" is a term generally inclusive of modern France, Belgium, Switzerland, and Holland.].

8. Suebi and Saxons Move Westward

From 150-350 CE continuous warfare instigated by the Huns in East Scythia caused many more peoples to move westward amongst whom were the eastern branch of Sienbi in ca. 170 CE [The western branch of Sienbi had previously gone to Europe in about 60 BCE]. In Europe the Sienbi were generally referred to as Suebi. This movement out of Scythia to the West caused the existing peoples in Germany in the period 200-300 CE4 (and in some cases somewhat before that time) to be replaced by bigger groups who absorbed them. The larger groups included the Saxons, Franks, Alemani, and so on and the Suebi. The Suebi appear to be the only major body remaining as an independent entity. They had acted as precursors to the newer arrivals. They were to be closely associated with the Saxons and Alamans who settled Alsace and Switzerland. Many of the peoples arriving in the west came via Scandinavia or had had components in the Scandinavian region. This explains why traditions attribute a Scandinavian origin to some of these groups. The Scandinavians themselves believed that they came from (or via) Scythia. The movements were of peoples coming from Scythia via Scandinavia and the Baltic Coast, and in the south via the Balkans. These migrations could be gradual. For instance, wooden chamber graves are noticeable in southern Poland from before 200 BCE. These graves it has been suggested (by W.E. Filmer) were modifications of former "Royal-Scythian" type and they are connected with the movement of the Scythians to the north and west. After 100 BCE the same type of grave is evident on the north Baltic coast and a hundred years later re-appears in Jutland (Denmark) where it continued for several centuries. From Jutland emerged many of the invaders of England. The movement westward could also be quite sudden. Events on the borders of China or even deep within China sometimes had direct connection to movements in the west. Peoples of nomadic disposition would traverse the distance. Chain reactions of one group pushing forward another would also occur. It should also be noted that by about 200 BCE several Scythian nations were already dispersed with parts deep in Asia and other sections penetrating Europe. Suebi, Goths, and Saxon groups were widely spread, as were others. Pockets of Alans6, for instance, are discernible from the borders of China to the European Carpathians and were eventually to be found in Brittany of Gaul on the Atlantic Coast.

9. The Huns Push Saxons, Franks, and Others Westward In the years

350-450 CE the Huns moved en-masse out of "Scythia" (Eurasia) into Europe forcing most of the peoples in Scythia to accompany them or else to flee for their lives. As a result of the Hun invasions the Saxons, Franks, and Alamans received a large augmentation of manpower with the addition of new clans which (in the case of the Saxons) included those identified as Huns proper. In response to Hun pressure these greatly increased bodies overran the Western Roman Empire and settled Gaul and Britain. Goths, Vandals, Visigoths, and others also conquered formerly Roman countries. In most cases however, the conquerors were numerically insignificant when compared to the native populations. The whole process of movement, on the whole, was to continue till about 500 CE with an invasion by the "Vikings" some time later. In this period the white peoples of the East, described by the Chinese, were to disappear almost entirely and re-appear in Europe. Examination of events in the east enhances understanding of the "Great Migrations" period. It also adds an additional confirmatory dimension to the body of evidence connecting the migrating peoples and their modern "European" descendants with The Lost Tribes of Israel.

10. The Danites and Nephtalites Move to Scandinavia

In the very far east of Scythia in what is now eastern Siberia and western China a good portion of the Naphtalite horde had remained. In the 450-500 CE period the Naphtalites began to move west eventually entering Scandinavia in the 500's and 600's CE. The Naphtalite horde included the Danes who re-settled Denmark possibly via Sweden. The Naphtalites themselves settled mainly in Norway. Sweden was populated by Goths and by Suiones descendants of Shuni (pronounceable as "Su-oni") son of Gad (Genesis 46;16).

11. The Viking Invasions

The continued migrations to Scandinavia resulted in over-population, the pushing outwards of coastal populations, and subsequent overseas colonization. The Scandinavians overseas were known as the Vikings.

12. The Normans

The Vikings settled in England, Ireland, Normandy (France), and elsewhere. In Normandy the Vikings accepted French Culture and were called Normans. From Normandy they invaded England in 1066.

13. The Getae and Daci

A portion of the Cimmerian-host in its trip westward had remained in the Balkans and became known as the Getae and Dacii. The Getae were a Gothic people who had been culturally influenced by the neighboring Thracians. The Getae and Dacae had an aversion to images, certain similarities to the Celtic druids, and were Monotheists as well as
believing in an after-life. Most of the Getae and Daci in the period 100 BCE-100 CE moved to the north toward the Baltic and Scandinavia and eventually participated in the Anglo-Saxon invasions of Britain. The Roman Imperialists exterminated those who remained behind in "Dacia" of the Balkans. The Getae had been linked with the Agathyrsi from whom emerged the Khazars and Picts.

14. The Picts and Khazars

Some groups of Sacae-related Israelites including bands of Goths and Naphtali remained in the Caucasus region and adjoining areas of Scythia. These were eventually to amalgamate with the Agathyrsi and form the KHAZAR nation which converted to Judaism. Some of their descendants are to be found today amongst the modern Jews. The real core of the Khazar nation federation was centered on the Akatziri or "Agathyrsy" as the Greeks called them. The Agathyrsi had had at one stage a section on the Baltic coast and another in Pontus by the Caucasus. At some time between 50 BCE-300 CE (more likely closer to the latter date) the Agathyrsi sent a contingent across the sea to Scotland where it became identified with the PICTS (Servius on Aenid 4.v.146). The Picts were to act more as accomplices than as opponents to the Anglo-Saxon invasion. The Picts were formidable warriors and seriously perturbed all who stood against them. The Agathyrsi-Picts intermixed with peoples in Scotland who had been there before them and are therefore mistakenly identified with them. The Agathyrsi (Akatziri) in Europe were described by Jordanes (the Gothic historian) as being an extremely brave people. The Khazars, who came from the Agathyrsi, were to convert to Judaism and had their own belief in having once been part of the Israelite
nation.

The Khazars were centered in Southern Russia but a small colony also existed in Sweden. The Khazars in Sweden had connections to the Anglo-Saxon colony of Hedeby in North Germany before the Angles and Saxons moved to Britain12. The Khazars and the Goths in early Medieval times were identified by Medieval Chroniclers with the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel. Similarly, the Historian Gildas in Britain (500s CE) appears to have identified the Celtic inhabitants of Britain as Israelites. The Anglo-Saxon Bede identified the English physically with the people of Israel. The Franks and Visigoths in the 7th century had similar notions13. Historically many of the peoples who came westward were considered Gothic though the Goths-proper settled in Sweden. There exist traditions placing Israelite Tribes in areas of Sacae and Gothic habitation and their Tribal names correspond with those of Israelite entities. The parallelism between the Scyths and Israel has also been shown. The Scyths, Goths, Cimmerians and related groups of Scythia were all one people, from one original stock, which was Israelite. From these nations emerged those of Western Europe. The "Barbarian" nations who invaded Northwest Europe derived from forces of the Scyths and Goths, who in turn had once been together with the Cimmerians. The Cimmerians had previously gone west and become part of the "Celtic" peoples whom the "Barbarians" were now conquering. The above list traces all the invaders of West Europe back to the Cimmerians, Goths, and Scythian Sacae. The Scythian origin of the "Barbarian" invaders of northwest Europe strengthens the case for the nations in question having significantly large Hebraic elements in their ancestral stock.

SCANDINAVIA

Scandinavia was destined to serve as a place of settlement for many of the Scythian peoples and as an area of transit for others on their way west. A clarification of Scandinavia's history facilitates the explanation of Scandinavia's role. Several distinct periods are observable:¨

1. The Bronze Age, which ended about 500 BCE and culminated with the almost-complete depopulation of Scandinavia. The founders of this civilization had come from the Middle East, from Israel, and in part moved to Ireland and Britain. They are recorded in Irish tradition as the People of Dana.

2. The era between 100 BCE and 100 CE in which Scandinavia was re-populated, especially by Royal Scyths and Goths.

3. A century of disturbance (300's- 400's CE) in which Scandinavia was apparently conquered and in which many Tribes left and headed further west.

4. The arrival of new peoples from east Scythia in the 500's and 600's CE culminated in the 700's experiencing overpopulation and unsettlement which led to the Viking oversea expeditions.¨ Later arrivals in Scandinavia provide plentiful evidence of having arrived from the "Sacae" areas in east Scythia. This evidence consists of legends, art, customs, archaeological findings, and demographic factors.

EVIDENCE OF SCYTHIAN ORIGINS

It may be shown that the "Barbarian" newcomers emerged from Scythia from several viewpoints: Demographically, Germany at that time could not have supported the millions of people in the Barbarian forces. The archaeological and historical evidence indicates that most of Germany was relatively unpopulated, uncultivated, and not amenable to large groups of settled (non-nomadic) peoples. The same applied for the rest of northern Europe. In east Scythia there had existed settlements of numerous civilized peoples of so-called "Nordic" appearance who disappeared shortly before the Barbarians were first recorded in Western Europe The "Barbarians" who suddenly appeared in Western Europe had traditions that they came from Scythia and their artistic styles are actually identical to those known from the Scythian areas. They had similar "Shamanistic" Scythian religious beliefs and customs, they wore the same armour, and fought with the same tactics. The Scythian peoples were destined to disappear from Scythia in the period between 300 BCE to ca. 600 CE. Just as the Scythians were leaving Scythia, they began to appear in the west as "Barbarians" largely after passing through Scandinavia, Pannonia (Hungary), and Germany. The similarities between the Scythians and the "Barbarians" who invaded the West are acknowledged and discussed by modern scholars. They however tend to assume that the "Barbarians" came from Scandinavia and Germany and simply absorbed "Scythian" influences through a process of cultural osmosis and also that some Scythian or Sarmatian bodies had been confederated into the essentially "European" Barbarian hosts.

In 700 BCE Germany had beenpractically uninhabited. Later, a few isolated peoples did settle in Germany but these are archaeologically and linguistically indistinguishable from their Celtic, Thracian, or Illyrian neighbours20. Scandinavia at one stage had supported a rich and advanced Bronze Age civilization which, due to invasions and climatic change, virtually disappeared leaving the region almost deserted until about 100 BCE21 when it was repopulated as described by peoples emerging from Scythia. Neither Scandinavia nor Germany of that time could have supported the masses of peoples who came to the west after ca.200 BCE Neither are there any intermediate stages of significance, which show any cultural osmosis from Scythia taking place. The Barbarian nations (such as the Franks, Anglo-Saxons, Danes, Vandals, Goths, Alemans, Alans, Vikings, etc.) already possessed their "Scythian" characteristics when they first appeared. The Romans who encountered the "Barbarians" on their borders, fought against them whilst at the same time enlisting them in their armies, and wrote about them, had essentially correct information concerning their origins. They considered the Goths to be Scyths and the Scyths of Scythia to have become, under different names, the Barbarian nations22 of the west who were pushing against the Roman frontiers which they often reached via Germany.

Scandinavian and German archaeological findings show that in the period of the Great Migrations described above especially that after 400 CE groups of settlers and military elites from the Scythian area were to be found in Scandinavia and throughout those areas of Germany23 that gave to the hosts participating in the Anglo-Saxon invasions of Britain.

It is now generally agreed that the Barbarians did not originally speak an Indo-European language though at some stage they came to learn one "badly" in a linguistic sense. In Germany, they conquered and/or adjoined Indo European "natives" with whom they forbade intermarriage24 though they interacted linguistically and culturally. After the Scythian Barbarians left "Germany", going to France, Holland, Britain, Switzerland, and elsewhere, the native "Germans" re-asserted themselves. Meanwhile hordes of Slavonic and other peoples swept into Germany in the 500's CE to fill the vacuum left by the evacuating Scythian Israelites. These peoples were "Germanized" through colonies of German natives settling amongst them, pressures by German Rulers, and the policies of the Catholic Church. The process of Germanizing the Slavonic peoples in Germany, including those of Bavaria, continued into the twentieth century. The invaders of Britain after 400 CE were headed by the Angles, Jutes, and Saxons. Parallelisms exist between Anglo-Saxon culture and that of Scythia. Recent archaeological and related reappraisals of the invaders of Britain in the period of Anglo-Saxon invasions reveal very little connections with German culture which has led some modern authorities to begin to doubt that they even came from Germany©! The correct solution, seems to be that they emerged mainly from Scythia and passed through Scandinavia and/or Germany without sojourning for an appreciable time. It is doubtful if they had serious contact with the "native" peoples before their continuing on into Britain.

Language

The Scythian-Gothic nations had emerged from Scythia. In east Scythia, -at least in the area east of the Caspian Sea whence the Sacae (Anglo-Saxons) were once centered, Aramaic was spoken. Aramaic is closely related to Hebrew. Some of the Israelite Tribes had spoken Aramaic while others used a type of Hebrew influenced by Aramaic, or Aramaic influenced by Hebrew. Aramaic was one of the official languages of the Assyrian Empire. The Old Anglo-Saxon English language is a composite dialect and contains many Hebrew words. Linguistically, the west Barbarians may originally have spoken Hebrew or a related Semitic dialect. There is nothing to obviate such a possibility since new languages were sometimes learnt and old ones forgotten in historical experience. The Normans, for instance, came from Scandinavia and settled en-masse in Normandy, France, but within two generations they had forgotten their parent language and knew only French! Terry Marvin BLODGETT in 1981 published a Ph.D. Thesis ("Phonological Similarities in Germanic and Hebrew", The University of Utah, 1981) in which he proved that the original tongue of the northern "Barbarians" was Hebrew. Blodgett, now Professor of Languages, Southern Utah University, Cedar City, Utah, USA, showed how it is agreed that approximately one-third of all Germanic vocabulary is of an unknown (non-Indo-European) origin. "Also the Germanic sound shifts and gemination are not to be explained on the basis of Indo-European linguistics". These foreign non-Indo-European elements can be attributed (says Blodgett) to Hebrew incursions recognizable in the areas of phonology, morphology, and lexicology. "English, Frisian, Dutch, Flemish, High and Low German, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, and Icelandic, as well as the extinct languages of Gothic, Old Norse, Old Saxon, and others comprise one of the Indo-European groups of language commonly called Germanic. On a broader scale, the Germanic branch of languages shares many features in common with the Italic, Greek, Celtic, Slavonic, Indo-Iranian and other Indo-European groups". Even so, the Germanic branch of these languages has a non-"Indo-European" component comprising approximately one-third of the total: It is this element that Blodgett identified as HEBREW!!! Blodgett proved his case using terminology and a great many examples of a technical nature. A crude but reliable enough explanation of the overall tendency of Blodgett's work is as follows:

At some early stage, there occurred a series of sound shifts in the Germanic language or languages, the Indo European "bhrator" became "brother", "peter" became "father", etc., e.g. "p" became pronounced as "f", "t" became "th", "k" became "ch", b, d, and g also changed. Opinions concerning the date of this Germanic Sound Shift give dates varying from 2000 BCE to 9 CE. On the one side, John T. Waterman ("A History of the German Language", 1966) says "the general consensus of scholars is that the Germanic Sound Shift began probably not much before the fifth century B.C., and that it was essentially completed by the last pre-Christian century", i.e. from ca. 400 BCE to 100 BCE. Waterman bases his case on the fact that words in Germanic borrowed from Greek in the 400s BCE also underwent the shift whereas words taken from Latin in the first century BCE did not. On the other hand, Heinz F. Wendt ("Sprachen", 1977) believed that the shift had been essentially completed by 500 B.C. Overall it seems to be accepted that the shift occurred around 500 BCE give or take a century or two. All Germanic dialects took part in the shift so it is assumed that the change took place whilst the parent groups were still in the north, - in Scandinavia and Northern Germany. The period of 500 BCE (for the said "Sound Change") is the one most authoritative opinion seems to converge on. Whether it occurred before 500 BCE or in the following era the most important point for us is recognition of the fact that it did occur. A lot of reasons have been proposed to explain this shift but the bottom line is that the Cause is generally ascribed to ethnic factors implying racial mixture. "S. Feist thinks that the northern peoples were originally non-Indo-European, who learnt their Indo-European from the broad-headed Alpine race." Waterman and others basically held similar opinions. It is the northern areas of Scandinavia and Germany at that time that were linguistically less Indo-European. We have shown above that in the period under consideration newcomers from Scythia were in the area and that In East Scythia Aramaic was used as the major language. The Scythians in East Scythia must have used Hebrew as well as Aramaic. New works by Scandinavian scholars such as Dr. Kjell Aartun and Orjan Svensson (of Blekinge in Sweden) have proven that the first Runic inscriptions in Scandinavia were written in dialects derived from Hebrew and Aramaic!! Early Nordic dialects as well as early English ones still retained a large number of Hebrew and Aramaic words and Hebrew characteristics. Remnants of these are still to be found in the English language.

The Germanic Sound Shift can best be explained by the mass presence of former Hebrew-speakers. The same changes that occurred in Germanic occur in Hebrew according to fixed Grammatical and phonetic rules. Blodgett points out that people who from birth made the said changes would naturally have tended to speak as if the changes also held in a foreign language that they may have been forced to use at short notice. Even sophisticated technical details concerning rules of the Sound Shift in Hebrew were continued into Germanic. Additional linguistic evidence confirms the presence of Hebrew speakers amongst the early Northern Peoples. "The Origin of Modern Culture Languages and their Derivation from the Hebraica," by Professor Karl Rodosi, 1891, also adequately proves that the so-called Germanic tongues must have been formed by peoples who originally spoke Hebrew. The implications of these studies are applicable to West Europeans but do not encompass most of the modern Germans. The case is similar to that of the present inhabitants of Jamaica who now speak English though only a portion of their ancestors came from Britain. An idea of the affinity between English and Hebrew may be also obtained from Isaac Mozeson, "The Word," NY, 1989. Mozeson says (p.1), Hebrew vocabulary has as much affinity with English as it has with Arabic. More English words can be clearly linked to Biblical Hebrew than to Latin, Greek, or French¨.

Thus, the Israelites became the Cimmerians, Scyths, and Goths, and these became the Barbarian invaders of Western Europe. Other proofs exist confirming these conclusions. This evidence includes the retention of Israelite Tribal and Clan names by the migrating bodies. It also involves the continued, or renewed, employment of traditional Israelite Tribal symbols by modern nations amongst whom there exists a definite presence of that very same tribe to whom the traditional symbol belongs. In nearly every case the National symbols correspond with the Israelite Tribal emblem of whatever Tribe became dominant within the nation concerned! Nations in whom a specific Israelite Tribe settled developed national characteristics that derived from the tribe.


BRIT-AM MESSAGE [Please spread wherever possible]

Your True Identity

Originally there were twelve tribes of Israel. Ten of these Tribes disappeared. The Jews of today are mainly descended from the Tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Levi. The other Ten Tribes according to the Bible in the last days were to be found mainly amongst peoples of West European descent especially those in North America, Britain, and of British origin. This is what the Bible says in accordance with the original Hebrew text and Rabbinical explanations.

The Bible says that in the Last days the Lost Ten Tribes will be at situated at the ends of Continents. They compared to a bald-headed eagle (symbol of the USA) and by a lion and unicorn which are the symbols of Britain. They were to be in Isles of the Sea, in the best parts of the earth, mainly to the north and west of the Land of Israel but also in Australia and similar regions. They were to be associated with the Atlantic Ocean, to be seafarers, the mightiest, most powerful, and richest nations in the world. They were to be a civilizing influence in the world, and extremely numerous. They were also to be largely unaware of their Israelite identity and to practice a non-Jewish religion. Judah at first would not
know who they were. Scripture gives numerous other identifying characteristics that taken as a whole can only fit one group of peoples.

Historically: The peoples of Western Europe are largely derived from groups whose ancestors can be traced to the Middle East and ultimately to Israel. Linguistically: The languages spoken by these peoples are classified as Indo-European though they contain major linguistic elements that do not fit in with such a definition and can best be explained by a Hebraic component.

These peoples should realize who they are and act together. We have the information that can confirm this identity, and more is available as revealed by ongoing researches we are conducting. The Hebrew [Tenach] Bible is true - The Bible shows that: The existence of Israel fulfills the purpose of creation. The good of Israel is the good of the world. There are two halves of Israel represented by "Judah" and "Joseph". Both halves have their own uniqueness and their own role. Ultimately Judah and Joseph must re-unite with each other. Each side is incomplete without the other and cannot fulfill their task without the other.

"Joseph" (The Lost Ten Tribes) must be made aware of who he is. Judah should be told about Joseph. Judah and Joseph should draw together. Even before the two sides once more joining together, the more they recognize each other, help each other, and work with each other, so much the better.

Brit-Am works for these goals. Details may be obtained from the free Brit-Am e-mail discussion groups, the web sites, and Brit-Am publications and tapes. By learning about Brit-Am, spreading this information, and helping Brit-Am,
you will be on the side of the good and good will come unto you.

ZEBULON

"And the sons of Zebulon; Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel" (Genesis 46;14). Some Main Points: We identify Zebulon as primarily the people of Holland. In general Israelites settled in that area: A people named Sebulingoi were recorded as being there and this name means "People of Zebulon" and other names confirm that. It was prophesied that Zebulon would dwell on the shores of the sea:

One third of Holland is below sea-level and another third would be subject to periodic flooding by the sea if it was not for protection by the dykes. Most of the country is therefore on the seashores and it is the only country in the world about which this can be said. The symbol of Zebulon was a ship and this was the traditional symbol of Holland. for more points read on:

Moses (Deuteronomy 33;18) grouped the two brothers Issachar and Zebulon together, saying, "Rejoice, Zebulun in thy going out; and Issachar in thy tents". From this verse it was understood that Issachar and Zebulon had a symbiotic relationship, Issachar being involved in Religious and scientific intellectual pursuits and Zebulon setting forth in ships to trade and, with his earnings, contributing to the support of Issachar. Other Rabbinical opinions say that it merely implies that Issachar was more inclined towards working the land and less given to venture out. Groups of Zebulonite origin are often found in association
with groups from Issachar. Zebulon is identifiable with Holland.

The people of Alsace and Lorraine (in France) come from both Issachar and Zebulon and their region forms a bridge from Switzerland to Belgium and Holland. The symbol of Holland was a ship in popular tradition and a ship was the symbol of the former Dutch Republic. Many of the Boer (Afrikaans) population of the Republic of South Africa are of Dutch descent. A ship was also the symbol of Zebulon. Zebulon, in Talmudic Literature, was pictured as a merchant seafarer, which description fits the Dutch. Rotterdam in Holland is the world's busiest port. Moses blessed Zebulon (Deuteronomy 33; 19): that he should "Suck of the abundance of the seas and of treasures hid in the sands".

Today both South Africa and Holland are on the seashores and a good portion of the earlier diamond wealth of South Africa was found in the "sands". Another important element in the population of both Holland and South Africa is a portion of Naphtali of whom it was said, (Deuteronomy 33; 23): "Possess thou the west and the south"; - being the west of England (settled by Vikings from Norway) as well as both Holland and Norway. The South meant both South Africa and New Zealand. South Africa was settled by British and Dutch, and New Zealand by British of a particular type. Shillem, son of Naphtali, has been traced by archaeological similarities (supported by linguistics) to the Vandals of Silesia [Germany-Poland] (Silingi-Silem, -Silen) and to Vendsyssel of Jutland (Denmark) in the first century b.c.e. Previous to that time, the cultural contacts of Vendsyssel were more to Zeeland in southern Holland.

The Huns of Nephtali (in addition to settling in Norway) re-appeared as recognizable groups among the Frisians who invaded England. The Frisians of Holland in their character fit Zebulon though to some degree they are also traceable to Menasseh (Peres) and Judah (Peretz) and the Nephtalite element amongst them may have been important in early South African colonization. Similarly, Zebulon, though dominant in Holland, is also represented by "Halland" of the southwest coast of Sweden, and by Hallin in Norway which names come from that of Elon, son of Zebulon, as does the name for Holland itself.

Only The Dutch dwell "on the shores of the Sea" since the Dutch descend from Zebulon!! Jacob prophesied (Genesis 49;13): "Zebulon shall dwell at the haven of the sea and he shall be for an haven of ships; and his border shall be unto Zidon". Zidon, at one stage, was conquered by the Sakkara who were named after the Tribe of Issachar but whose forces in this case probably comprised or at least included Zebulonites [1]. A Prophecies concerning the tribes were applicable both within the Land of Israel and outside of it. In both cases, some degree of literal significance is to be expected. The expression concerning Zebulon, "His border unto Zidon" could be fulfilled in a number of ways [2]. In the verse,

"Zebulon shall dwell at the haven of the sea and he shall be for an haven of ships... " (Genesis 49; 13): The expression, "dwell at the haven of the sea" according to the HEBREW original (Hof-yamim) may be preferably translated as "dwell on the SHORES of the Sea". The only nation in the world whose population is known for dwelling extensively on reclaimed sea-land, literally, "On the shores of the sea", is Holland. The SABALINGOI went to Holland and their name means "People of -ZEBULON"!!! Zebulon through the Alans and Alamans of Elon, son of Zebulon, merged with the Suebi from Jashub (pronounceable as Ja-sueb, Num. 26;24) of Issachar in Alsace and in Switzerland i.e. they bordered "Sidon", as Switzerland was referred to.

In early Scythian times the name Zebulon was recalled in ZABULISTAN which was to the south and south-east of Hara in the Iranian area. The name of ZEBULON is also found in the Sabalingoi recalled by Ptolemy in south Jutland and northern Frisia in Holland. The name SABALINGOI in Hebrew means "People (Goi) - of - ZEBULON" since in Northern dialects "Sabalin" and Zebulon would have been alternate pronunciations of the same name: The "Z" was replaced by "S"; and "goi" means people in Hebrew. The Sabalingoi were to the north of the Sigulones (whose name in Hebrew means "Chosen Ones") and of the Saxons and in turn, to the north of the Sabalingoi were the Chali sons of Jahleel [Yachlayl in Hebrew, and the Ya would have been dropped] (Genesis 46; 14). Sered was a son of Zebulon as was Jahleel and also Elon. The Suardinoi (from Sered) were identified (by Kaspar Zeuss , "Die Deutschen und Die Nachbarstamme," Germany 1835) as inhabitants of Holland. From Jutland and Scandinavia there were several waves of migration into the area of nearby Holland especially into Frisia so the Sabalingoi and Chali moved to the Netherlands' region. Ptolemy may in fact be interpreted as placing the Sabalingoi in northern Frisia and thus in Holland .

Pytheas (ca. 325 b.c.e.) is reported as describing Holland as peopled by Skuthai (i.e. Scythians) meaning (probably) Frisians who, in the 300's and 200's b.c.e., are claimed to have begun absorbing the native Celts. There followed several centuries in which the population fluctuated greatly. In about 200 c.e. the Franks invaded. Angles, Saxons, and JUTES from Jutland overran the land in 450-500 c.e. Consequently, Frisians, together with others, participated in the Anglo-Saxon invasions. After ca.600 c.e. Frankish influence re-asserted itself. Roughly speaking, modern Holland has Frisians in the north, Saxons in the east, and Franks in the south. It also has important continents of French Huguenots, Sephardic and Ashkenazic Jews, Malays, and Eurasians of mixed blood. In other words, the population is of mixed origins like the populations of most countries. This does not contradict the fact that a good proportion of the people (if not most) are descended from Israel or that amongst the Israelites a certain tribe has the ascendancy. Enough has been shown to prove that often groups of divergent backgrounds converging on one spot, are revealed as having originally the same tribal identity.

The Dutch speak Germanic dialects but Professor Theo Vennemann of Munich and his school have shown that underlying these dialects in Holland there may be discerned a linguistic substratum similar to that found amongst the Insular Celts of Britain and ireland and which is Semitic in origin.

The FRISIANS are a people now concentrated in Northern Holland but once spread all along the coast from Scandinavia through Holland, Belgium, and into France. The Angles and Saxons before they, together with other northern peoples, invaded Britain in the 450s c.e. had sojourned (at least in part) for about 200 years in Holland especially in Frisia. Some of the Jutes had also been in Frisia. The Byzantine historian, Procopius (Gothic War vii; 20) said that the Frisians were an important element amongst the invaders of Britain.

The name of the Frisians is traceable to Peres son of Gilead of Menasseh but the actual inhabitants of present-day Frisia and Holland are identifiable on the whole more with Zebulon. In Biblical times, Tribes such as Zebulon, Issachar, and Asher were closely associated with Menasseh and it would seem that this linkage was repeated after their exile in areas of their re-settlement. At all events the identity of the Frisians must be closely linked with that of peoples who invaded and settled the British Isles.

In the land east of the Caspian archaeologists have found the ruins of an extensive civilization whose inhabitants spoke Aramaic. Some of the Israelite Tribes had spoken Aramaic even before their exile and the language was used as an official tongue in the Assyrian Empire and is believed to have been the most commonly-used one. Phillip Lozinski (1953) believed that from this region east of the Caspian came the "Barbarian" peoples whom he suggests may have been at least partly Semitic. They invaded Europe beginning from around the 200s c.e. (They invaded Central Europe in the time of Jeremiah the prophet). Additional evidence exists showing that the invaders must have come from Scythia and the region east of the Caspian. These invasions and migratory movements were often connected with activities of the Huns who themselves were a mixture of various peoples. The Huns from this vicinity caused other nations to flee westward. N.C. Lukman (Copenhagen, 1943) showed how in Nordic Mythology the name Adel (meaning "Noble") was often used as a euphemism for Attila the Hun and for the Huns in general. In the Frisian legends King Adel was the father of Friso, Bruno, and Saxo. Scientific Linguists have concluded that the Northern "Barbarians" who entered Europe had the later European aspects of their languages imposed upon them by an external force. They originally spoke both Hebrew and Aramaic.

The legends speak of these three brothers being descended from Shem and having been in Jerusalem at the time of its destruction by the Babylonians: "In the time of the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnessar (586 B.C.), 3 brothers - Friso, Bruno, and Saxo with [their] wives, children, and relatives fled out of the country, encouraged to do so by announcements of the Prophets concerning the fall of the town". In this legend Bruno represents the Angles who according to Ptolemy had at one stage been centered on the region of Brunswick in eastern Germany. They had also had a center in Angeln to the south of Denmark or else they moved to Angeln prior to the invasion of England. By placing Friso, Bruno, and Saxo in Jerusalem (which became representative of all Israel) before its capture the legend in effect infers that the Frisians, Saxons, and Brunswickian-Angles were therefore originally Israelites or Jews. (As we said, Davidiy does not see the whole picture yet).

F. Koeslag points out that "In legends...events of several eras may be concentrated around famous historical figures - as you see with Charlemagne". The legend may therefore be taken as reflecting a tradition that the three brothers were related to the Jews which is consistent with their belonging to the Lost Ten Tribes who had been exiled from their own lands in Israel at least 140 years before the actual fall of Jerusalem. The legend contains the recognition that the three brothers had left the Land of Israel (identified as "Jerusalem" or the Land of the Jews) before Nebuchadnessar of Babylon captured it. The northern Israelites had indeed been exiled prior to the Babylonian onslaught. The Lost Ten Tribes had been re-settled in Assyria and in lands ruled by Assyria.

Another Frisian legend says that Albione and 32 sisters went from Assyria by ship and landed in England which they called Albion. After they landed, Brutus drove them out of the country and re-named it Britain in his own honour. The Albioni crossed the Sea and landed in Frisia. This legend may also serve as an indicator of Israelite origins since the exiled Israelites had indeed been re-settled in "Assyria" (or in Assyrian-controlled areas) before asserting their independence and moving elsewhere.

The legends relate how while still in "India" Friso married Hilla daughter of Agathocles king of Thrace. They were driven out of "India" and sailed to Greece where Friso became a student of Plato (427-374 b.c.e) and then joined the Army of Alexander the Great. Alexander from Macedonia and Greece advanced into Asia Minor (modern Turkey) and from there continued into Persia, Bactria, the area east of the Caspian Sea and northwest India. In the east Alexander reformed his army and took into his Special Forces mainly peoples belonging to the Sacae-Scythian Tribes. From the Sacae descend the Anglo-Saxons and company. Le Petit also says that the brothers served under Alexander. A strong early tradition existed in Europe that the Saxons had been soldiers in Alexander's armies. This tradition was mentioned in the time of Charlemagne King of the Franks (768-814 c.e.).

Additional traditions and evidence connect the Anglo-Saxons with the ancient Sacae-Scythians some of whom really had been in Alexander's forces. The legends state that via Asia Minor the people of Friso, Bruno, and Saxo came on a very large ship called "di Mannigfuald" (i.e. "The Multitude") to the west. Friso in 313 b.c.e. landed in Friesland (i.e. in Frisia) and founded a settlement called "Stavoren"[6]A Bruno and Saxo (brothers of Frisso) went eastward though Saxo (according to Le Petit) then returned to the west. Bruno founded the city of Brunswick in which area of Germany Ptolemy placed the Angloi thus identifying them with the people of Bruno. The Angloi (Angles) also moved northward to the regions bordering Denmark and from there they went to Britain some of them sojourning (like the Saxons) in Frisia on the way.

[1]A Even so Issachar was also linkeable with Sidon: The Tribe of Issachar were destined to dominate Switzerland and a people named SEDUNI once dwelt in Celtic Switzerland (ca. Sion) which, together with all Switzerland in medieval times, was named "Sidon".

[2]G. "Sidon" (i.e. Zidon) could be represented in any one of a number of ways. There were the people of "Sidone", scattered groups of whom seem to have usually accompanied Vandals from the Tribe of Asher which tribe had encompassed the original Phoenician City of Sidon. Switzerland was called "SIDON" in medieval times. The coast of northern Gaul (France and Belgium) had been partly settled by groups of Phoenician culture and possibly SIDONIANS were amongst them since Sidon and Tyre were the major Phoenician cities also all Phoenecians were called "SIDONIANS".

[3]` This following section has been adapted from an article by Yair Davidy that was first published in the journal Tribesman.

[4] k Mr. Fred J. Koeslag of Gouda, Holland, sent me the following information that he obtained from a book ("Freische Mythen en Sagen" by J.P. Wiesma, 1973) about Old Frisian legends. This information supplements other sources such as that of Jean Francoise LE PETIT ("Le Grande Chronicle Ancienne et Moderne de Holland, Zeelande, Utrecht, Frise, Oversyseel; et
de Groenungham". Dordrecht, 1601). The book of Le Petit is written in a type of Old French and a copy is to be found in the Rare Books section of the National Library in Jerusalem. Le Petit relates the history of peoples who settled in the Netherlands.

So we want to look deeper into these historical narratives, and especially into the writings of Josephus (and the Gospels). They are a blend of History and initiation. To see inside of these accounts the initiate must pay close attention to the "tenor" of the narratives, to the catch-words and phrases, studying them for their double usage, or for their epic application. For instance, when Josephus is describing the wars that ensued after the death of Alexander, between his successors the Antiochans and the Ptolemies (Antiquities XI and onwards), dividing Israel and Judah between them, we immediately visualize events confined to that land that lies between Syria and Egypt. But a great part of these wars were fought in Europe. Antiochus Soter (Savior) did not only engage the Gauls but so did his successors advance into Europe on other occasions--to engage the forces of Egypt who, under their several Ptolemies, and who, "with their 15,000 ships," controlled not only Greece but the whole region around Thrace and Macedonia. It was not only from Palestine that Jews were removed into Egypt but from Europe as well. Josephus does not come right out and say it because as we said before he is both revealing and concealing these things at the same time...

In the same way he allows his accounts of the Maccabees to slip right out of Europe to the East via Samothrace (or Samaria as the prophets knew the entire region) without raising a hint. Which is why he is always saying tch, tch! to the other historians of his time. They simply did not know how to record sacred history. Which, of course, is also why other historians are always taking Josephus to task for not always having his facts straight. When Josephus calls the Hasmonean, Alexander, "a Thracian among the Jews" (Antiquities XIII.IV.2), Whiston does not realize that Josephus really means it. Whiston says: "This name Thracida which the Jews gave to Alexander must denote 'as barbarous as a Thracian, or somewhat like it.'" He cannot realize that Josephus has followed the course of these events, along with the movements of the Celto-Thracian-Jewish tribes themselves, as they moved through all of these upheavals out of Europe into Asia-Minor, and subsequently into Palestine. The entire East was speaking Greek, and it was all in motion.

Likewise, we must see that Josephus has already made the connection between Jerusalem and Hierosolyma, the City Above. So he is free now everywhere in his narratives (as were the authors of the Books of the Maccabees and the Book of Acts) to refer to Jerusalem in its local sense; or in its regional sense--meaning that wherever the people are, and wherever the precepts of the Torah are being observed--there the City is. But also in its epic and universal sense as he does when he describes the judgment which fell upon this City--which did not only occur in those days at the hands of the Romans, but again in Europe in the events of the 20th century, and as it is about to in America to end the age itself. (Ezekiel 33):

"Now, anyone would justly lament the destruction of such a work as this was, since it was the most admirable of all the works which we have seen or heard of, both FOR ITS CURIOUS STRUCTURE and ITS MAGNITUDE, and also for the vast wealth bestowed upon it, as well as for the glorious reputation it had for holiness; yet might such a one comfort himself with this thought, that it was fate that decreed it to be so, which is inevitable, both as to living creatures and as to works and places also...

A false prophet was the occasion of these people's destruction, who had made a public proclamation in the city that very day, that God commanded them to get up upon the temple, and that there they should receive a miraculous sign of their deliverance. Now there was a great number of these false prophets suborned by the tyrants to impose upon the people (as there are today), who denounced this to them, that they should wait for deliverance from God; AND THIS WAS IN ORDER TO KEEP THEM FROM DESERTING (see Ex.1:10), and that they might be buoyed up above fear and care for such hopes. (See Ezekiel 13). Now a man that is in adversity does easily comply with such promises; for when such a seducer makes him believe that he shall be delivered from those miseries which oppress him, then it is that the patient is full of hopes of such a deliverance.

Thus were the miserable people persuaded by these deceivers, and such as belied God Himself; WHILE THEY DID NOT ATTEND, NOR GIVE CREDIT TO THE SIGNS THAT WERE SO EVIDENT, AND DID SO PLAINLY TELL THEIR FUTURE DESOLATION. But like men infatuated, without either eyes to see or minds to consider, did not regard the denunciation that God made to them. Thus THERE WAS A STAR RESEMBLING A SWORD (Haley's Comet), which stood over the city, and a comet that continued a whole year. Thus also, before the Jews rebelled, and before these commotions which preceded the war, when the people were come in great crowds to the feast of Unleavened Bread (see 1Corinth.5:17; Col.2:16-23; 3:1-6), SO GREAT A LIGHT SHONE ROUND ABOUT THE ALTAR AND THE HOLY HOUSE THAT IT APPEARED TO BE BRIGHT DAYTIME; which light lasted HALF AN HOUR (or half a circle, from East to West, see Revelation 8:1). This light seemed to be a good sign to the unskillful, but was so interpreted by the sacred scribes as to portend those events that followed immediately upon it. At the same time a Heifer, as she was led by the High Priest to be sacrificed, BROUGHT FORTH A LAMB IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TEMPLE.

The Central European mysteries of Hesus (Odin) suspended on the limbs of the Cosmic Tree.

Moreover, at the eastern gate of the INNER court, which was of brass, and vastly heavy, and had been with difficulty shut by 20 men, and rested upon a basis armed with iron, and had bolts fastened very deep into the firm floor, which was there made OF ONE ENTIRE STONE, was seen to be opened of its own accord ABOUT THE SIXTH HOUR of the ...This also appeared to the vulgar to be a very happy prodigy, as if God did thereby open the Gate of Happiness. But the mean of learning understood it, that the security of their Holy House was dissolved and that the gate was opened for the advantage of their enemy...

Besides these...a certain prodigious and incredible phenomenon appeared; I suppose the accounts of it would seem to be a fable, were it not related by those who saw it, and were not the events that followed it of so considerable a nature to deserve such signals; FOR BEFORE THE SETTING OF THE SUN (in the West, see John 1:51), CHARIOTS AND TROOPS OF SOLDIERS WERE SEEN RUNNING ABOUT AMONG THE CLOUDS, and surrounding cities. Moreover at the feast which we call Pentecost, AS THE PRIESTS WERE GOING BY NIGHT INTO THE INNER COURT OF THE TEMPLE, as their custom was, to perform their sacred ministrations, they said that in the first place, they felt a quaking and heard a great noise (like the Noise of the entire 20th century) and after that they heard the sound as of a great multitude, saying, "LET US REMOVE HENCE."

But what is still more terrible, there was one Jesus, the son of Ananus, who, for four years before the war began, and at a time when the city was in great peace and prosperity, came to the feast whereon it is our custom to make TABERNACLES to God in the temple (please notice that Josephus has taken his narrative from Passover in the East, to Pentecost above, to Tabernacles in the West), and began on a sudden to cry aloud:

A voice from the East, a voice from the West, a voice from the Four Winds, a voice against Jerusalem and the holy house, a voice against the bridegrooms and the brides, and a voice against this whole people.

Thus was his cry, as he went about day and night in all the lanes of the city. However, certain of the most eminent of the populace had great indignation at this dire cry of his, and took up the man and gave him a great number of severe stripes yet he did not make any supplication for himself, nor shed any tears, but turning his voice to the most lamentable tone possible, at the very stroke of the whip his answer was 'Woe to Jerusalem.'

Now if anyone consider these things, he will find that God takes care of mankind and by all ways possible foreshows to our race what is for their preservation; but that men perish by those miseries which they madly and voluntarily bring upon themselves; for the Jews, by demolishing the tower of Antonia, had made their temple Foursquare, while at the same time they had it written in their sacred oracles 'THAT THEN SHOULD THEIR CITY BE TAKEN, AS WELL AS THEIR HOLY HOUSE, WHEN ONCE THEIR TEMPLE SHOULD BECOME FOURSQUARE.' (see Matthew, chapter 24)." The Wars of the Jews, Book VI.4.8.

The name "Maccabee" is said to derive from the term "Mi Kamoka Be Elim, O YHVH," "Who is like unto Thee among the gods, O YHVH." It was a name given to one of the FIVE sons of Mattathias, Juda, as an indication of the author's awareness that they were living in the general time of the FIFTH sefiroth on the Tree of Life, as it is written: "Who is like unto Thee among the gods, O YHVH." (Exodus 15:11). (Please see the chapter on the Holy Name). When we allow the wars of the Maccabees to be wholly literal events we must also see that Mattathias and his sons--though they were zealous for God, and valiant in battle--were apostates from the highest precepts of spiritual Judaism. They fought the literal war, and they died, as did all who followed them. Only when we study between the lines and inside the narratives, and only when we can view these wars in figurative and allegorical terms (even though the narratives are couched in events, and in the backdrop of battles that are actually taking place), do we find the fellowship of the true mystic warriors--the early Church--resisting in the most personally heroic ways the darkness, the idolatry, and the violence of that age.

"Then Vyasi told Draupadi's story, that she was the reincarnation of a pious woman who once prayed unto the god Shiva for a husband: Five times she prayed, and the god rewarded her with the promise of Five husbands in her next existence, Vyasi also revealed that the Pandava brethren were Five incarnations of Indra (the Dragon slayer) and this were but one." India, by Donald A. Mackenzie, p.222.

These sons and daughters of Light were engaged in a battle against the very (literal) idea of war itself. It was these who rededicated the temple, and lit the Lamp. (1 Maccabees 4:36-58). The celebrated Eight Days and the miracle of the Lasting Oil are just enough to carry the mind of the Nation-church out of those times to the present, from the Fifth sefiroth on the Tree of Life to the Eighth. King Messiah(s) shall rededicate the Temple and relight the Lights.

Josephus, again, revealing what he hides, follows an account of a Roman excursion against the Scythes over the Danube into Mysia, in Europe, with a casual description of the mythical SABBATH RIVER:

"Now Titus tarried some time at Berytus (having just come down out of Mysia) as we told you before. He thence removed, and exhibited magnificent shows in all those cities in Syria through which he went...

THEN HE SAW A RIVER AS HE WENT ALONG, OF SUCH A NATURE AS DESERVES TO BE RECORDED IN HISTORY...For when it runs its current is strong, and has plenty of water; after which its springs fail for six days together, and leaves its channels dry, as one may see; AFTER WHICH IT RUNS ON THE SEVENTH AS IT DID BEFORE...

Whence it is that they call it the Sabbatic River, the name being taken from the Sacred Seventh Day among the Jews." Wars of the Jews, Book VII.IV.3 to V.1.

_____

Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a Sabbath Day's journey...(Acts 1:12).

_____

SAMBATYON, The Sabbath River..."OF all the beliefs and legends that arose regarding the Sabbath none has played a greater role as the legend of the Sabbath River, Sabbation, which later became Sambatyon.

In the time of the destruction of the Second Temple a tale was told, in various versions, about a wonderful stream that flows not regularly but periodically. According to one version the stream was dry for six days, and flowed on the Seventh. According to another version it flowed for six days and was dry on the Seventh.

During the time when the Jewish imagination had built up a legend of the Sabbath River, there also arose a legend regarding a fortunate Jewish people that was not scattered over the whole world in the midst of unfriendly peoples, that did not suffer, and that was not persecuted and insulted. It inhabited a distant unknown land, where it had a strong kingdom and led a secure and peaceful existence. This Jewish folk was the Ten lost tribes. (see James 1:1). Other Jews saw in this fortunate folk the descendants of Moses. For God said to Moses: 'And I will make of thee a great nation.'

The two legends merged and became one. Where would the lost tribes, or the descendants of Moses have their kingdom? Naturally beyond the Sambatyon." From a Book of Jewish Legends.

Another (Ginzburg's Legends of the Jews, note 108, pp.107-08), has the Sun being swallowed by a Great Serpent. Again, an allusion to the Nation's return to the center of the Oracle. A Gnostic myth has the Church sailing on the Sea (the Sea of Nations, where the Great Serpent lives), and arriving at a city named "Habitation," as it is written: Unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose out of all your tribes to put His Name there, EVEN UNTO HIS HABITATION SHALL YE SEEK. (Deuteronomy 12:15):

"We went down to the Sea (which means up into Europe...see it in the oracles) at an opportune moment, which came to us from the Lord. We found a ship moored at the shore ready to embark, and we spoke to the sailors of the ship about our coming on board with them. They showed great kindness toward us as was ordained by the Lord. And after we had embarked we sailed a Day and a Night (through Light and Darkness). After that a Wind came up behind the ship and brought us to a small city in the Midst of the Sea...

And I, Peter, inquired about the name of the city from residents who were standing on the dock. A man among them answered, saying, 'The name of this city is Habitation, that is Foundation...

And also concerning the road to the city, which you asked me about. I will tell you about it. No man is able to go on that road, except one who has forsaken everything he has.'" The Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles, The Nag Hammadi Library.

Josephus tips us off at the very beginning of his works that he is an initiate into these Seaward Mysteries. In his Life of Flavius Josephus he tells us that he was "shipwrecked" on a "sea journey" to Rome. He meets "certain priests," and has arrived at, of all places, Putoli. (Acts 28:13; Life 3). Among his other hints he says: "I was now about the 30th year of my life." (Life 14, 15). This is the figurative time of Christian initiation. (See Luke 3:21-23). He uses the term "Galileens" (the Great Circle) and the term "all Seventy" together. (See the chapter on the Name of Jesus).

In a work entitled Greeks, Celts, and Romans (p.130), the authors say: "Not far from Klosterneuburg...on a hill standing out from the Vienna Woods and in the city's XIXth district a tomb was found. Evacuation of this tomb in 1952 had found it constructed within a Roman building, with the present church standing over it. It was empty. Heiligenstadt was medieval Heylegenstatt (Place Where the Holy One Has Been Laid) and has a twelfth century record of being known as 'Locus Sanctus.'" (Compare this with Matthew 24:15). The author says, "The case must be re-opened."

Locus Sanctus

Just as the Crucified Body of Christ (into whose mysteries Josephus was initiated) is stretched out across the Great Sea, from the East as far as the Western ends of the Earth, so the writers of the Gospels employed similar literary tactics when they applied to the Proctorship of Pontus Pilate such things that must come to pass again in the West. G.R.S. Mead, in his Did Jesus live 100 B.C. (p.423), says: "The name Pontus Pilate came most readily to hand in this connection in those days of name-play, for it bare close resemblance to a mystical term which played an important part in the mystery teachings." And then he mentions a colleague, C. W. Leadbeater, who also associates the name with the "sea-ward mysteries" and the "descent of the soul into the underworld." The underworld is a euphemism for the West, or the regions below the Navel of the Earth. In other words, just as Paul said that they erred who said that the Resurrection is past already (2 Timothy 2:18), so the Crucifixion is not complete yet either. Christ is still dying in every human death, and is still coming to life in every human birth (or re-birth). (See 1 Corinthians 2:6-8).

Now in the Fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontus Pilate being the governor of Judaea, and Herod being the Tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip Tetrarch of Ituraeia and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the Tetrarch of Abilene. Annas and Caiphas being the high priests...(Luke 3:1,2).

We notice that there are certain elements of initiation built into the opening verses of this chapter, which suggest, again, a completion of these events in the fulness of time, at the Western ends of the earth. We have the emperor Tiberius, whose name is also associated with the Sea of Galilee, which in turn, like the River Jordan, is another geographical, or geo-metaphysical symbol of the wider world-mystery--the great Circle of the Gentiles. (John 6:1; Isaiah 9:1,2). Then we have the three Tetrarchs, an office and a title which was brought down out of Europe with the Celts, who appeared in Asia just before the time of the Maccabees. These suggest the three divisions of the City of Jerusalem, and the words: Beware the leaven of Herod. And we have Two high priests, symbolizing both East and West, where the evening sacrifice must join itself to the morning sacrifice to complete the epic drama. All of this is accompanied by the phrase, Pontus Pilate being the governor of Judaea.

"Again, the men in Homer's day, in general, regarded the PONTIC Sea as a kind of Oceanus, and they thought that those who voyaged thither got beyond the limits of the inhabited world just as much as those who voyaged beyond the Pillars of Hercules (Gibraltar); The Pontic Sea was thought to be the largest of the seas in our part of the world, and for that reason they appointed to that particular sea the term "the Pontus" just as they spoke of Homer as "the Poet." Perhaps it was for that reason that Homer transferred to Oceanus things that were true of the Pontus." (or to the Pontus things that were true of Oceanus). Strabo, Book II.

Meade, in his Fragments of a Faith Forgotten, says:

"'The fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar, which means, "The Fifteenth day of the Egyptian month Tybi...'

We then have an interesting glimpse into the workshop of the historicizers. It is evident therefore that the Basilidians did not accept the accounts of the canonical gospels literally, on the contrary they explained such incidents as Historicized legends of initiation." (p.278).

The Roman empire did not only extend from Palestine and Egypt to Britain in those times, but northward to the Danube and that city, Vindebona, as it was then known. It was a city thoroughly reduced and rejected (just as it has been thoroughly tread under the feet of the Gentiles since that time--of emperors and Popes, and Crusaders on their way to the "holy land." Perhaps the report of its importance and centrality to the life of Israel then, was something like trying to convince Christians and Jews today that Salt Lake City is the true center of Zion, and that the members of the Latter Day Church of Jesus Christ are the true priests of Israel. No, I guess it was more like trying to convince Christians and Jews today that Vienna, and the region thereabouts, is the true center of Zion, and that it always has been. The world was in no less a state of apostasy and confusion then as it is today. (Those who understood it, and the reason it was being concealed from the world at large, became the fathers and mothers of the early Church).

Those who call themselves Jews today are by and large indignant at the way the term (the Jews) is used in the New Testament to describe such apostates, and even to describe those who "persecuted Christ." And this indignation flows from a general belief, not merely that they are the only true Jews but that they have always been, and that the Gospels must necessarily be referring to them. Normative Judaism as we know it today springs from that small group (or groups) of Jews who were set aside by God out of all other groups of Jews that existed in the time of Christ. They were set aside--despite their refusal, as well as inability to understand these matters (their zealous refusal to see the Torah spiritualized out of existence, or to see it perverted as they perceived it to be by the larger Jewish world that surrounded them, by the Greeks, the Hasmoneans and the Saducees and the Zealots). And what of these Essenes? We are already seeing how the lines of communication were opened between the Essenes and these Pharisees, and how the one sect was secretly informing the other. Realize that the Talmud, and therefore almost all of Judaism since the time of Christ's, knows nothing of the events being described in the Gospels. "When did we do this?" "How did it happen?" "When did it happen?" "Where did it happen?" Finding itself accused of it centuries later, after the Christian story of initiation began to circulate, Judaism had to reach back into its own archives and come up with the Jeschu stories to make sense of it, or to rationalize it to themselves, and (at their own peril at times) to others. What we have in the Christian narratives is a classic case of "If the Shoes fits wear it." For just as the Gospels imply a Universal Israel, and a Cosmic Christ (who is killed every day by Jews, Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, agnostics, humanists...and all others who partake in the rituals of warfare and execution), so are they also referring to the Universal Jew, of which the whole world was filled in those times. There were Jews in Egypt and Africa, Jews in the East, Jews in Europe, in Rome, in Athens, in Britain, in India, in America, Jews everywhere. The Gospels are referring to all--no matter how distant, or how obscurely--who made a claim to the God of Israel, or even in the least wise to the doctrines and the teachings of Israel...which are in turn partly comprised of the doctrines of all the other world-religions combined.

And then this indignation flows from the fact that as the emerging World-church (which had not grasped the hidden message of the Gospels either), came to power, it began to harass and then eventually persecute those who still called themselves Jews (just as it did, however, to the true Christians and all those others over the centuries that it could not distinguish from each other, other than the collective fact that they would not adhere to the teachings and the authority of the now powerful and imperial World-church). As this World-church began to encourage its followers (the mindless masses), to consider these Jews "Christ-killers" it could not see--in its own loftiest sense of its own Christian self--that it had become the "Jews" who were persecuting and killing Christ.

Likewise the religious world today is divided, as the world was then, into three basic levels of attachment to the affairs of the world. We understand it in the words: Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Saducees (Matthew 16:6-12), and in our understanding now of that third class in Israel, the Essenes. This latter class is associated with the Qumran library which assists us in all of our present conclusions. Certain members of this class, among whom John the Baptist appeared at that time, also gave us the Gospels which, along with the works of Josephus, help us in our definition of the differences that existed between these three classes:

The Saducees are the worldly and the "purely ethical." They are the temple elite. They are aligned with and friendly with the powers of the age. They associate their fate, here in the West, with the fate of Politic-America. They believe in no culminating events in history, no Messiah, no Resurrection, and stay busy elevating the souls of men into the status-quo. They are religious, unspiritual, and generally affluent, exploiting not only the religious sentiments of the higher echelons of society, but along with them the great bounty that God has provided for the benefit of all. The Saducees of old were scattered (into other forms of Jewishness), or perished, when God sent the Romans down to destroy that city and that temple made with hands. In terms of the Mystical Body they are the "flesh," or that which is enslaved to serve the spirit. They are in bondage and cannot enter the kingdom of heaven (James 4 and 5).

The Pharisees: these live in two worlds. They know there is a mystery, an oral tradition, a world above and a world below. They war in the spirit against the world below, but when expedient they will forsake the higher for the lower. They will, if it serves their interests, kill for things "below," even sacrificing their sons and daughters to the Consuming Fire. (Deuteronomy 4:1-39; Hebrews 12:12-29). This because they fight two wars, and carry two swords. They know there is a mystery, but they do not know it; an oral tradition, but they do not know its precepts. Yet they know in part. They are above and below. They know there is a resurrection, and they study and prepare for it, but they stumble over its meanings. They cling to the "letter" and oppose the Spirit. They are divided in affection between the Saducees and the Essenes. (Let us not forget, of course, that the founder of Christianity was from this sect).

The Essenes are the remnant in every generation. They go by many names and no names at all. They live closest to God, and the Holy Spirit is at home in their hearts. They are free from the trammels of their age because they bind themselves to the inner meanings of God's laws. They do not kill, nor do they search the scriptures for permission to do so, knowing how these interpretations are reserved for the children of Darkness. They are found among the other two classes, but mostly they are found where their sentiments are, laboring in various ways for and among the poor, the oppressed, and the infirm. They are found in communities of like-minded individuals, or in no communities at all. Some are still found living alone in contemplation, overcoming not only the collective transgressions of their age but the private transgressions of their own hearts. They live by the Eightfold Precepts and by the Sermon on the Mount.

Many are standing at the door, but it is the solitary who will enter the bridal chamber...(The Gospel of Thomas, 75).

While the worldly "ascend" to bring the souls of men downwards, these "descend" to raise them back up. They are ready to assist God at the turn of every age. When God parts the times asunder the Essenes proceed, the Saducees perish, and the Pharisees are drawn between them.

Thus the city of Vindebona, of Celtic character, and Roman, and Greek, and Hebrew (as Vienna was, and as New York City is today), was probably not too much disturbed when that first group of Essenes appeared in her gates, having come up from the East to observe a Solar Festival as almost all of Europe was given to in those times. Miranda Green, in her The Sun Gods of Ancient Europe, says: "The Celtic Sun God was worshipped over a wide area. The deity was present in virtually every region of Celtic-occupied Europe." (p.89). Their's was a Festival of Weeks, or Pentecost. It was a pre-enactment of the great events that would come to pass at the end of the age (Acts 2). It was also a time of Counting the Omer, or the days since Passover. It was also a time to begin to count the years, and the Jubilees of years, that would begin to unfold until the end of the age. (Leviticus 23:10-16; Lev. 25:8-17). Count 49 days from those events that began to transpire in the East, until those Essenes arrived at the gates of Jerusalem in the North. And then count 40 periods of 49 years from those times to the events that are unfolding here in the 20th century. (Deuteronomy 8):

"Counting the Omer...Climb the 49 steps up from Mitzrayim (Egypt) to the heights of Sinai. (Read Exodus 19).

Seven weeks of seven days, day by day, week by week, the community watches the spring grain grow--watches with hope and anxiety. Day by Day, week by week, the community moves forward from the moment of freedom's first explosion--moves forward with hope and anxiety. Will the earth succeed in unfolding its fruitfulness? Will we succeed in finding rest and new truth in our freedom?

Day by day, week by week, the community counts the days of growing grain--and through them counts the unfolding of the earth and of our own potential. Day by day, week by week; for this is no holy day, not even a week-long festival--but truly a season of the year. A season full of hope, and full of anxiety." Seasons of Our Joy, by Arthur Waskow, pp.xxiii, 165.

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"And Moses went up into the Mount of God, and the Glory of the Lord abode on Mount Sinai, and a Cloud overshadowed it Six days. And He called to Moses on the Seventh day out of the Midst of the Cloud, and the appearance of the Glory of the Lord was like a Flaming Fire on the top of the Mount. And Moses was on the mount Forty days and Forty nights, and God taught him the earlier and the later history of all the days of the law and of the testimony.

And He said: Incline thine heart to every word which I shall speak to thee on the Mount, and write them in a book in order that their generations may see how I have not forsaken them for all the evil which they have wrought in transgressing the Covenant which I have established between Me and thee for their generations this day on Mount Sinai. And thus it will come to pass when all these things come upon them, that they will recognize that I have acted truly with them.

And do thou write for thyself all these words which I declare unto thee this day, for I know their rebellion and their stiff neck, before I bring them into the land which I sware to their fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, Unto your seed will I give a land (a whole state of mind) flowing with milk and honey. And they will eat and be satisfied, and they will turn to strange gods, to gods which cannot deliver them from aught of their tribulations: and this witness shall be heard for a witness against them, and they will walk after the Gentiles, and after their uncleanness, and after their shame, and will serve their gods, and these will prove unto them an offense and a tribulation and an affliction and a snare." The Book of Jubilees I.1-10.

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It was also found in the records, that Jeremy the prophet commanded them that were carried away to take of the Fire (the Wisdom), as it hath been signified: And how that the prophet, having given them the law, charged them not to forget the commandment of the Lord, and that they should not err in their minds, when they see images of silver and gold...

It was also contained in the same writing, that the prophet, being warned of God, commanded the tabernacle and the ark to go with him, as he went forth into the mountain where Moses climbed up and saw the heritage of God.

When Jeremy came hither, he found an hollow cave, wherein he laid the tabernacle and the ark, and the altar of incense, and so stopped the door. And some of them that followed him came to mark the way, but they could not find it. Which when Jeremy perceived, he blamed them, saying, As for that place, it shall be unknown until the time that God gather His people again together, and receive them unto mercy.

Then shall the Lord shew them these things, and the Glory of the Lord shall appear, and the Cloud also, as it was shewed under Moses, and as when Solomon desired that the place be honourably sanctified. (1 Kings, chapter 8).

We also hope the the God who delivered all His people, and gave them all an heritage, and the kingdom, and the priesthood, and the sanctuary, as He promised in the Law, will shortly have mercy on us, and gather us together out of every land under heaven into the holy place; for He hath delivered us out of great troubles, and hath purified the place." (2 Maccabees 2:1-18).

THUS SAITH THE LORD, THE HEAVEN IS MY THRONE, AND THE EARTH IS MY FOOTSTOOL: WHERE IS THE HOUSE THAT YOU BUILD ME? AND WHERE IS THE PLACE OF MY REST?...(Isaiah 66).

 

More Notes From Brit-Am Now.

The Apocalyptic Secret