“Siddhartha left everything behind, including his wife and child, in order to continue his quest for a spiritual life. His journey made him reach illumination. He became the Buddha, after finding the four noble paths of the Truth that would lead humanity out of pain and suffering. Pythagoras, alternatively—instructed from an early age into the mysteries of Phoenicia and Egypt—became an Initiate of Sophia, wisdom, and the first Philosopher ever known in history. After achieving Oneness, and establishing a school of Initiation in Crotona, Italy, his mission ended,” he explained.
Paul fully comprehended what this man had taught him in the few days he had stayed here with him. And he hoped that his visit to Washington would clarify even more secrets that he needed to know, before going back to Lebanon and convening with the Keepers of the Word—waiting for him in the Fortress of Gebel. He had a lot to inform them, and many more things to inform the Padre, as well.
Mr. Gibson, who had finished his narration, seemed to have something he wanted to add. He looked at Paul with smiling eyes, “I have arranged everything for your meeting with Mr. Jackson on Wednesday. Just be sure you understand my instructions well. The trip may be dangerous!” He stood up, and walked towards the window.
Although his voice sounded alarming, Paul seemed ready for more.
.43.
Meeting Mr. Jackson, Washington
Wednesday, December 1, 03:15 PM
The trip to Washington D.C. from Lebanon, New Jersey was smooth. Paul had taken the bus in the morning, and arrived almost three hours later with no feelings of weariness at all. His meeting with Mr. Jackson had been scheduled to take place at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, around three in the afternoon. While touring the vast museum, and enjoying the view of the ancient creatures that had walked the Earth millions of years ago, before evolving into the creatures of today, Paul heard a husky voice coming from behind him.
“Hello, Mr. Khoury,” said the tall black man with an elegant white Stetson hat on his head.
“Hello!” replied Paul with a puzzled smile on his face. “I’m surprised you recognized me amidst the crowd. I was waiting for your call.”
“I know, but you described yourself very well on the phone. I’m a good observer,” Mr. Jackson avowed with satisfaction, “Shall we walk?”
“Sure.”
“Good. Mr. Gibson informed me that you’re interested in knowing about the Pharisees. Right?”
“Yeah, of course,” replied Paul. “I read about them in the New Testament as the main Hebrew priests, in perpetual conflict with Jesus. Now I know why; he was not one of them.” Paul smiled with confidence. “But, when I was in Iraq just recently, Dr. Hanna, former head of Iraqi museums, used this name as an alternative term for the Babylonian Brotherhood. I just wonder why!”
“You will know that soon, very soon,” Mr. Jackson said seriously, and invited Paul to sit on a bench nearby. Paul complied automatically.
A few moments passed…
“Let me tell you a few things concerning the Babylonian Brotherhood,” Mr. Jackson began. “The basic strategy they have adopted has been a remarkable plot, designed to weaken the Great White Fraternity, and strengthen the Brotherhood instead.” He fixed his hat, and added, “While they professed to be followers of the ancient Hermetic Tradition, they arrogantly declared—at their higher degrees—that the Mysteries taught in the different countries of the ancient world: in the Pyramids of Egypt, in the Temples of Phoenicia and Greece, in the school of Pythagoras, and others, were no longer sources of knowledge and wisdom to man.”
“What a strange contradiction!” Paul countered in surprise. “Why would they say such a thing?”
“It’s not a contradiction, Paul, but a tactic to discredit the reputation of these Ancient Mystery schools, and impose Scottish Freemasonry instead,” he asserted in reply.
“Hmm… I see.”
“They also say that it is a fantasy of poets, philosophers, and dreamers to believe that a redeemer—whether coming from the infinite Heaven, or not—is capable of solving the problem of evil and destroying hell, simply by doing Good and giving Love,” he shook his head to show his refusal of the claim.
“So… to them, there is no true salvation!” Paul charged in exasperation.
“Follow my thoughts on this one!” Mr. Jackson enjoined in a tone of annoyance. “Their law recognizes only the second dimension as true—the one of matter. From their point of view, all manifested dualities produce the divine one, for they deem that the one is already two. The Babylonian Brotherhood believes in the two principles: Good and Evil. They say, as long as there is light, there is always darkness.”
“So,” Paul interfered. “To them, there is nothing true by itself, without its contradiction!” he deduced.
“Exactly, this is their uppermost law, taught in their highest degrees, and they call it the universal equilibrium or the mystery of the balance. This would be the immutable law of nature, and thus, the eternal will of Justice, which is God.”
“But we know and believe that God is Good and cannot be evil!” Paul protested in discomfort.
“Well, as conscious human beings, we definitely agree with that, but to them, God is not only evil… God is both good and evil!”
“What rubbish that is!” Paul dissented dryly. “It could be translated into: let us make peace—but since peace cannot exist without a balanced parallel and contrary movement to it—then let there be war,” he analyzed out loud, and shuddered at the simple thought of it. “Come on, this is a very dangerous concept… the product of a completely ignorant mind!”
“True. They assert that their law of Good and Evil—Light and Darkness—is the work of infinite wisdom and endless love! They go as far as to contend that the rebellious sprite of evil and darkness does not co-exist in eternal controversy with God, and that it is mainly by faith and understanding of that equilibrium that they could realize the harmony between the existence of evil; sin; suffering; and sorrow, and infinite goodness; blessings; and happiness.”
“What kind of schizophrenic and mentally unbalanced philosophical faith is this, they endorse?” Paul interjected irately, leaping to his feet at the absurdity of such a concept. His tirade made Mr. Jackson smile bleakly, he didn’t respond though, and an instant later, Paul felt the need to work out his irritation. He walked over to where the dinosaurs were exhibited, without real interest in them, and turned on his feet, pacing back and forth silently.
“As you may have comprehended by now,” Mr. Jackson addressed him in a tone of authority that made Paul stop in attention, and face him. “The Compass represents the male, Adam or Yod, with two opened legs; same as the female, Heva or Eve, with widely open legs—the Square, having the letter ‘G’ inscribed in the middle. It is an incomplete mirror of the Star of David, better known as the Seal of Solomon. The interlaced dual triangles—forming the star with six pointed peaks—correspond to the male and the female. Veiled in allegory, and illustrated by symbols, the Seal of Solomon shall only be completed with the final execution of the Temple!”
The compass… the square… the letter ‘G’ in the centre. Paul arranged the symbols together in his mind, heaved a deep sigh of awareness, and yet…
“What about the letter ‘G’?” he asked.
“Well, the letter ‘G’ surely does not stand for God, at least not the one we know. It doesn’t signify Geometry either, but rather, the god they strongly worship—the androgynous Yod-Heva, for ‘G’ is Gamos, Hieros Gamos or sacred marriage, in other words: Ritual Sexuality. And all of this with the goal of keeping the Babylonian Brotherhood Bloodline pumping through the veins of the chosen people.”
“Wow!” Paul exclaimed, as he sighed deeply, attempting to absorb all the knowledge he had just obtained. That was all news to him.
Paul shook his head to clear away the astonishment that held him motionless for a minute or two, and went to sit by his side on the bench. “All the members of the Great White Fraternity, including you,
always refer to Scottish Freemasons as direct descendants of the Templars,” Paul recalled the discussions he’d had with the Keepers, back in Gebel. “What about the British Freemasons? Are there any differences?” he asked.
“There may be. Since Freemasonry has been defined by its own historians as ‘a science of morality, veiled in allegory, and illustrated by symbols’, then it might just be the case for British Freemasonry...” Contemplating what he’d just said, he added, “In fact, English Freemasonry is absolutely different from the Scottish one. In 1717 AD, the Grand Lodge of England was established in London, on John the Baptist’s Day, June 24th. Since St. John The Evangelist is the patron saint of British Freemasonry, it would then be important for them to conduct a conscious, intelligent Lodge, where the New Testament lays open on the first chapter of the Gospel of St. John. The candidate, in his continual search for the lost word, could finally open his blind eyes and read, ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.’”
Keepers of the Word… Paul thought to himself. Keepers of the word… his mind repeated.
“British Freemasonry has only endorsed, within its chapters, the first three degrees of the Craft, or what is called by Blue Lodge Masonry: the Entered Apprentice Degree, the Fellow Craft Degree, and the Master Mason Degree—consecrated to Hiram Abiff, the Master Architect.” Mr. Jackson added, “Hiram sounds similar to Hermes, and, in the Phoenician language, the word Hiram could mean the enlightened one or divine messenger and teacher, or it could derive from the word Khur-Um, which means lifted up to life.”
Paul’s eyes were intent on Mr. Jackson’s. There was a certain spark of hope in Paul’s eyes, for he felt proud of being a descendant of the Phoenicians.
“The legend of the Architect, Hiram Abiff—and his assassination by three brothers—was first incorporated into the freemasonic rituals by the English Grand Lodge. The ritual bestowed the names: Jubela, Jubelo, and Jubelum on the killers of Hiram Abiff, known collectively as the Juwes! Sometimes, Hiram Abiff is shown as an allegorical Jesus Christ, killed, so to speak, by Judas, Caiaphas, and Pilate,” Mr. Jackson explained. “However, when Pilate, as mentioned in Matthew 27:24-25, saw that nothing was being gained, but that a disturbance had started instead, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, ‘I am innocent of the blood of this righteous person. You see to it. All the people answered, ‘May his blood be on us, and on our children!’ Henceforth… Annas—the father-in-law of Caiaphas—should be the third man, not Pilate; for Judas, Caiaphas, and Annas were, in fact, the three Jewish men that masterminded his arrest, as mentioned in the New Testament. That was what led to his Crucifixion by the Romans, and his Resurrection three days after that.”
The secret knowledge Paul had just received was of great importance, as Mr. Jackson continued his precise explanation, revealing that in the third degree the Fellow Mason would undertake a ritual of resurrection into a Master Mason, thus, perfectly mirroring the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day. ‘For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection,’ St. Paul had declared in his Epistle to the Romans, 6:5. Therefore, if the Temple of Solomon was not completed in Freemasonry, it was simply because Jesus Christ is the Temple of God in its Completion.
Mr. Jackson paused for a brief moment, to glance at his attentive guest then nodded, and commented, “Didn’t he say, in John 2:19, that if they destroy this Temple, Him, he will raise it up—his body—in three days?”
“Yes he did, that’s true,” Paul agreed, totally convinced.
Indeed! However, some deviant British Freemasons endorsed an additional system of continually higher degrees, of which, the best known was the Royal Arch degree. This one followed the direction of the Grand Lodge of the Royal Arc, also known as, the Holy Royal Arch of Jerusalem. It had incorporated Jewish myths and history by going as far back as King Cyrus II of Persia, the Babylonian Zoro-Babel—prince of the people, and others! In the Royal Arch Degree, the mason candidate would logically become higher than a Master (the known Third Degree), whereby he would encounter the Essence of the Philosophical Masonry, and, as shown in the Torah, this would allow him to discover the real name of God—the ineffable name YHWH!
“Ah… I see,” Paul uttered, “So the Royal Arch is concordant with Scottish Freemasonry.”
“Absolutely! And, it is also in concordance with French Freemasonry,” Mr. Jackson clarified. “However, the mainstream Freemasonry of today is that of the Grand Lodge of England, which does not act as a true secret society, but more as a semi-public prestigious banquet club and an organization for mutual aid and advancement, or at best, a philosophical and scientific society like the Royal Society. Authentic British Freemasons refused to be related, in any way whatsoever, with Scottish and French Freemasons—the underground branches!” he concluded, adjusted his neat white Stetson, and gave Paul a serious look.
Moments later, after Paul took some time to reflect, they decided to leave the Museum, heading towards a nice cafeteria that Mr. Jackson had suggested. They picked a cozy-looking table by the window, and sat, silently enjoying the taste and aroma of the fine coffee imported from Brazil.
“So,” Paul broke the silence that had endured for a few minutes, “Who are the Pharisees?” he inquired of Mr. Jackson.
“The answer to your question will be revealed on Sunday, when we visit the House of the Temple,” he revealed.
The House of the Temple? Paul thought, and then murmured to himself in a low voice, high enough for Mr. Jackson to hear him.
“Yes. Home of the Supreme Council,” he confirmed in a serious tone. “It’s the main Temple of the Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry,” he smiled.
Paul stayed silent for a minute or two, trying to assimilate the uncertain implications of such a visit. Looking at Mr. Jackson in the eyes, he questioned, “How are we going to do that? Isn’t it dangerous for us?”
“Don’t worry,” Mr. Jackson replied confidently, assuring the man by his side, “Everything is under control.”
The billowing smoke of the cigar ascended from his muscled fingers to the sharp features of his face, enveloping him in a mystical aura, and adding more power to the black man facing Paul. He had the look of a Secret Agent; a man who had been around for a long time, probably seen a lot, and his demeanor seemed to say: I’m in control.
He was not just a learned member of the Society of Keepers, but a secret one too, Paul thought.
He then lit his cigarette, and waited for the next move.
.44.
House of the Temple, Washington, D.C.
Sunday, December 5, 04:00 PM
Standing still, in front of the House of the Temple—located at 1733 16th Street, N.W. in the Dupont Circle neighborhood—Paul’s eyes were in awe of the monument ahead. He had never expected it to be of such architectural beauty, it had given him goose bumps. It was divided into three stages in a quasi-pyramidal shape; about thirty-six Pillars bound the second stage from the four sides. It was built entirely of white granite, and the stairs leading to its massive, fortified iron black door were flanked by two American flags, and watched over by two statues of a strange creature that looked like the Egyptian Sphinx.
His mind immediately took him back to Gebel, where he recalled the two Sphinxes that guarded the Cedar-wood entrance door of the Fortress, where the Keepers resided. He wondered at once about such similarities, for he knew very well that the two Ordinances had nothing in common, either in character or in principle.
Mr. Jackson explained that the cornerstone of the House of the Temple had been laid, in October 1911, by the Grand Master J. Claude Keiper—of the Grand Lodge of the District of Colombia. It was designed by the architect, Joh
n Russell Pope, who planned it after the tomb of Mausolus at Halicarnassus, considered as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.
Dedicated four years later, the House of the Temple is one of the main Masonic Temples in the United States. It stands as the center of operations for the Scottish Rite Freemasonry, and is formally recognized as ‘Home of the Supreme Council, 33°, Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry.’ Its full name is: ‘The Supreme Council, or Mother Council of the World, of the Inspectors General Knights Commander of the House of the Temple of Solomon of the thirty-third degree of Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry of the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States of America.’
“Shall we go in,” Mr. Jackson invited Paul with a gesture of his hand. “The Temple holds some important materials related to Scottish Freemason writers and poets in its library,” he informed.
“I thought the entrance was forbidden to non-masons,” Paul said with a hint of surprise.
“It’s not a lodge, Paul,” he replied. “Haven’t you noticed the inscription on the wall?” he lifted his eyebrows.
In fact, Paul hadn’t noticed it. He had been enthralled by the antique work of architecture used on the monument, its history, and function. At any rate, he now examined what was written on the wall to the left of the iron door. It read, ‘Scottish Rite of Freemasonry—Supreme Council 33°—Museum/Library.’
“This was the first public library in Washington D.C.,” Mr. Jackson explained. “Please, follow me.”
The Phoenician Code Page 38
