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The Serpent and the
Real Origins of Freemasonry
March 1st, 2006
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Philip Gardiner
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Abraham the
Israelite father of mankind, and Hiram of the Freemasons, are one
and the same, and both are based upon serpent worshippers with
Indian Naga or serpent deity backgrounds. A grand statement, but one
that I am not alone in making.
Flavious Josephus
said in his History of the Jews:
“These Jews are
derived from the Indian philosophers; they are named by the Indians
Calani.”
Megasthenes, sent
to India by Seleucus Nicator, also said that the Jews were called
“Kalani” and that they were an Indian tribe.
Clearchus of Soli
said: “The Jews descend from the philosophers of India. The
philosophers are called in India Calanians and in Syria Jews. The
name of their capital is very difficult to pronounce. It is called
Jerusalem.”
If Abraham as the
father of the Jewish race is therefore a legendary figure of India,
then who is he? And did he exist at all? It’s time to upset
traditionalists.
The obvious
person for an Indian Abraham is Brahma (A-Brahma) who just happens
to have a consort and sister named Saraisvati [1] which is
amazingly similar to the name of the Biblical Abraham’s wife - Sarai.
Indeed Abraham is said to have learned his trade in Ur (the ‘Ur of
the Chaldees’ in the Bible said to be in ancient Sumer), which is
very close to the Persian border being en-route to India.
It is also a fact
that the name of Brahma spread throughout this entire area so much
so, that the Persians even adopted him as one of their deities. So,
the very area where Abraham is said to have learned his priestly
trade is the very area that the Indian Brahma was being spread and
worshipped. What more can we find within this area of the Chaldees?
The Chaldeans
were called Kaul-Deva, and they were a priestly caste living in
among other places, Afghanistan, Kashmir and Pakistan. (Kaul-Deva
meaning the Shining Calani, hence these were enlightened Shining
Ones, a group going back to ancient Sumeria and outlined in my book
The Shining Ones).
So Abraham/Brahma
learned his trade among the Chaldees, who were a priestly caste
related to the Indian sub-continent and were the Shining priesthood
or enlightened souls. In this respect then Abraham was simply a
title given to the high priest or Lord of the sect of Brahma. But
if, like in ancient Egypt, he needed to duplicate the life of the
gods, then he too would have needed a wife/sister. The fact that
Saraisvati was both Brahma’s consort and sister, also relates to the
Biblical account of Abraham.
“But indeed she
is truly my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not the
daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.” (Genesis 20:12.)
This same pattern
of hidden Gnosis would later become part of the Mary/Jesus myth. The
complex twists and turns that modern writers such as Dan Brown in
the Da Vinci Code seem to have to create to explain the seemingly
peculiar nature of Jesus’ relationship with Mary the Mother and Mary
Magdalene are really quite remarkable. In fact it is simple.
Like Sarai is
Saraisvati, she is also Isis, the greatest of Egyptian goddesses.
Mary too is a duplicate of Isis. You see Isis was the consort of
Osiris, hence the wife part. She was therefore the mother of Horus
the Saviour - hence the mother of god. But Horus was Osiris
reincarnated and so Isis was also his sister. Mary the Mother, Mary
Magdalene the lover/consort and Mary of Bethany the sister are
really and truly the hidden aspects of a much older Gnostic
tradition that has no literal element at all! The three Mary’s are
in reality three aspects of the one feminine principle - the
feminine trinity.
Of course, we
could find ourselves in trouble here, as nowhere does it state that
Mary of Bethany was the sister of Jesus. However, its does state
that Mary of Bethany was the sister of Lazarus, whom Jesus raised
from the dead, or more pertinently was Jesus, raised from the dead.
You see, in
Egyptian mythology it was the role of the son of God and saviour,
Horus, to raise his father, Osiris, from the dead and in a sense
resurrect himself, as Horus was Osiris resurrected.
However, Lazarus
and Osiris are distinctly different names and so cannot be related.
How wrong this is, although there is still much debate on the exact
etymology, many believe that there is a proven link. How?
The ancient
Egyptian designation for Osiris was Asar or Azar. Now, when the
Egyptians spoke of their Gods they indicated them with “the” and so
we would have had “the Azar.” This term “the” also meant Lord or
God, like the Greek word for God The-os or Theos. One of the Hebrew
terms for Lord was El and was applied to their many deities, such as
El-Shaddai or El-hoim. So when the Hebraic writers included Osiris
in their myths they put him in as El-Azar The Lord Osiris. This in
the later Latin translation was changed to El-Azar-us. This use of
the “us” was the way that masculine names ended under the Roman
language. In fact, in Arabic Lazarus is still spelt El-Azir, hence
missing the “us”. So we now have El-Azar-us, which reduced further
into Lazarus. In this way the Egyptian, or should we say much older
mythos, became the literal truth of the Biblical record.
Horus therefore
raised “El-Azar-us” or “El-Osiris” from the dead, just as Christ was
to raise “Lazarus.” This story in itself is an allegory of the sun
god Osiris being reborn but never the less gives us the remarkable
fact that Mary of Bethany, as the sister of Lazarus, was in literary
and esoteric reality, the sister of Jesus.
And so, as we
find that Jesus and Mary were in reality based upon a much older
Egyptian mythology, which itself stretches back even further in time
to ancient Sumeria, we also find that the story of Abraham and Sarai
are no different. In the Koran (6:75) we find that Abraham’s father
was called Azar (Osiris), and so Abraham was Horus, just as Jesus
was Horus. Lo and behold, we also discover (Luke 16: 22-25) that
Lazarus himself rested in the bosom of Abraham, just as Osiris as
the crippled god, rested in his resurrecting son’s arms.
And it was this
Abraham, this Brahma or Osiris, that is said to have spawned the
very Children of Israel. Let’s take a look at Abraham’s sons and see
if we can reveal the hidden serpent lineage or serpent secrets that
we found elsewhere in The Serpent Grail.
Abraham’s son
Ishmael, by Hagar, his maidservant, also had children who lived in
India, or Havilah (land of serpents), as it is in Genesis. Both
famous sons of Abraham, Ishmael and Isaac have names that revert
back to the worship of that serpent Hindu deity Siva. [2]
Ishmael is
Ish-Maal in Hebrew, and in Sanskrit, Ish-Mahal means ‘Great Siva.’
Isaac is Ishaak in Hebrew, and Ishakhu in Sanskrit which means
‘Friend of Siva.’ Most startling of all is the very name of Abraham
himself, which could mean that Abraham was nothing other than a Naga
King Ab Ram actually means ‘exalted snake.’
Hiram, the famous
Freemasonic and Biblical builder of Temples was Ahi-Ram and it is
time to take a look at this mythical character.
Hiram and the
Temple
Hiram of Tyre,
the son of a Jewish mother and a Phoenician father is credited with
the decoration of the fabled Temple of Solomon. He was said to have
been the “son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali . . . He cast two
bronze pillars” 1 Kings 7:13-15.
The standard of
the Tribe of Naphtali, according to Jewish tradition is a serpent or
basilisk and this could have come from the Jewish sojourn into
Egypt, as Jewish tradition states that Naphtali was the brother of
Joseph chosen to represent the family to Pharaoh. Hiram is also said
to be a son of the Tribe of Dan (Chronicles 11) and even the tribe
of Dan had an emblem, which was the serpent and the horse. Barbara
Walker in The Woman’s Encyclopaedia of Myths and Secrets points out:
“Writers of the
Old Testament disliked the Danites, whom they called serpents
(Genesis 49:17). Nevertheless, they adopted Dani-El or Daniel, a
Phoenician god of divination, and transformed him into a Hebrew
prophet. His magic powers were like those of the Danites emanating
from the Goddess Dana and her sacred serpents…. Daniel was not a
personal name but a title, like the Celtic one.”
Here we have a
distinct conclusion, that Daniel of the Bible is related to the very
same Danu or Dana goddess of Celtic Europe and that this goddess is
conclusively related to serpents in this case the serpens
astrological sign as worshipped by the Danites. We also have
confirmation that the Jewish people collected their belief system
from those around them. Thus far, as we have gathered, they have
melded the beliefs of India, Egypt and now Phoenician into their own
growing system.
According to the
book of Chronicles, this son of Dan, Hiram, was a cunning man,
endued with understanding and skilful in the work of gold, silver,
brass, stone and timber. He was also credited with certain tools,
which could pierce stone. According to the book of Kings the Temple
was prepared in stone before it was brought to the site being
something like a ready-made or prefabricated building. It was said
that neither hammer nor axe, nor any tool of iron was used in the
building. So how was it built? At least, symbolically?
Well, in Exodus,
Moses is told to build an altar to the Lord without tools, lest he
should pollute it, and it seems the same symbolism was utilized here
in the building of the Temple. According to Rabbinical teaching the
prefabrication was performed by the Shamir, a giant worm or serpent
that could cut stones. Not dissimilar to Norse and Celtic beliefs
where Valhalla and Camelot were built with the fire of the dragon.
According to the Islamic accounts of Rashi and Maimonides, the
Shamir was a living creature. This is hardly likely, unless we
understand this creature to be ourselves. Indeed what is more likely
is that the idea of the wisdom of the “worm” (which evolved from the
word orm for serpent anyway) or snake, Shamir, was used in the
construction of the symbolic Temple of man - a Gnostic belief. [3]
It was fabled
that serpent-linked Naga’s escaped their country and took this deep
and seemingly, architectural, wisdom abroad. This linking of the
esoteric and underlying principles of self-illumination manifested
here in architectural symbolism eventually gave rise to modern
Freemasonry.
The ‘architect
gods’ such as Thoth or Hermes are linked strongly with the serpent
wisdom as we discovered in The Serpent Grail. Other references also
link the Shamir to the snake, such as the Testament of Solomon,
which calls it a “green stone,” like the Emerald Tablet [4], which
obviously provides further evidence for the Shamir to have been
serpent wisdom.
Returning to
Hiram we find that the name Hir-Am actually means ‘exalted head of
the people:’ (Hir = Head, exalted, Am = people) and is closely
related to Abraham (Ab Hir Am).
However, it also
has another and more telling meaning.
Ahi-Ram actually
means ‘exalted snake.’ So, in either meaning Hiram was the ‘exalted
head’ or ‘snake,’ both meanings being paramount to the discovery of
the thread of the snake cult and religious underlying beliefs - the
mixture of the opposites within one‘s own head as shown in The
Serpent Grail.
Hiram was also
believed by some (according to David Wood in his book, Genisis) to
be descended from Cain via Tubal-Cain who was said to be the only
survivor of the “superior race” after the flood.
The race is
supposed to be called Elohim (people of the ‘fiery snake’) or the
‘Shining Ones,’ also known as the ‘serpent people.’ This tale is
derived from a text known as E or Elohim from around 750 BC and also
gives rise to the stories of the Dionysiac Architects - themselves
also linked with the Freemasons.
No wonder
therefore that the pillars of Hiram should be related closely to the
worship of the snake. Rosslyn and especially one of its mock Temple
pillars, as we are now so acutely aware, is entwined with the
symbolism of snakes not just as a direct relation to the Norse
myths of Yggdrassil, with its gnawing serpent but ultimately as
symbols of the religious power of the Gnostic serpent.
On the Secret
Scroll discovered by Andrew Sinclair one of the most important
images is the sight of a large, coiled, Serpent beneath the Temple
steps, with a crown, a pick and a shovel, as if pointing towards the
excavation of the Temple itself.
There is a legend
which may back up Andrew Sinclair’s findings and which he does not
mention.
This oriental
legend tells how the Queen of Sheba was attracted to Hiram and that
King Solomon became jealous so jealous in fact, that he plotted
the death of Hiram. Molten metal used in the casting of a ‘brazen
sea’ was going to be used to kill Hiram, but he was saved by the
“spirit” of Tubal-Cain his ancestor who is linked with serpent
worship - he was therefore saved by the serpent from death. Hiram
threw his “jewel” down a deep well, but was then killed by Solomon’s
assassins by a blow to the head. It was said that three masters
later found the body and venerated it. The jewel was found and
placed on a triangular altar, which Solomon then had erected in a
secret vault beneath the Temple. (Josephus, Antiquities V111, 3:4)
What was the jewel of this builder, which caused so much veneration?
Whatever it was, later crusader knights under the guise of Knights
Templars were supposedly to dig furiously beneath the Temple to
discover. Of course the Templars are believed to have dug for other
items, they and others, such as St. Bernard, thought were located
there like the Ark of the Covenant. It may be of course that even
this is symbolic and Gnostic language - the eternal search for our
own divinity.
Following these
dubious excavations both the Templars and the Cistercians under St.
Bernard grew in immense wealth. Great building works were carried
out across Europe all hiding secret symbolism of the snake, and
all using the architectural skills discovered whilst on their
travels in the Middle East. Greatest of all however is the symbolism
that was brought back with them and which invaded European culture
like a contagious virus, seeping into and onto our buildings and
works of art and keeping alive an ancient tradition for us to one
day rediscover.
The hollow and
non-literal Brazen Pillars of Hiram became the twin pillars of the
later Masons who themselves, like Moses as the emergent serpent,
emerged from the Templars. These pillars were said to be hollow and
to contain secret manuscripts which reminds us of the supposed
discovery of the manuscripts from Rennes Le Château, also thought to
have been found inside a pillar. In truth they do hold a secret, but
not one that can be held in the hand.
Now it is time to
take a look at another exterior source on the modern Freemasons to
see if there are any parallel influences at play - the Dionysiac
Architects we have just mentioned.
These are said by
Masonic historians to be the prime originators of their guilds. A
secretive group or secret society with doctrines said by Manly P.
Hall (in Masonic, Hermetic, Quabbalistic & Rosicrucian Symbolical
Philosophy) to be similar to the Freemasons. They are thought to
have been great builders, reminiscent of the idea of the great
architectural Naga’s who escaped India.
It was supposedly
this secret society, under Hiram Abiff, who built the Temple of
Solomon and erected the great brass pillars now seen as Boaz and
Joachim in Masonry. They were also known as the Roman Collegia and
were said to have wandered around like the Medieval Masons, building
such fantastic places as the Temple of Diana at Ephesus (John
Weisse, The Obelisk and Freemasonry.)
Weisse also
points out that the Collegia influenced the Islamic building
efforts, which were later to become a turning point in Western
European architecture after the crusades and possibly via the
Collegia’s influence over the Templars amongst others.
These Collegia
were also thought to have been known before the Romans in Greece and
were said to have worshipped the serpentine Bacchus. Considering
the Masonic fascination with the Druids, there is little wonder that
the infamous historian and archaeologist William Stukely believed
them to have been the builders of Stonehenge and other ancient
monuments. Many Masonic writers love to associate themselves with
the Druids and we find that they “had a high veneration for the
Serpent. Their great god Hu, was typified by that reptile.” George
Oliver, Signs and Symbols (Macoy Publishing New York.)
If it is true
that the Dionysiac Architects and the Bacchus/Dionysius-worshipping
Greek and Roman Collegia, were among the originators of the
Freemasons, then it is highly likely that they were linked also with
the serpent-worshipping Druids who were also known as Adders or
Snakes. They were all in fact a later showing of the worldwide
serpent cult the same as those in India, Egypt and elsewhere, who
all had fantastic building skills and held secrets of the true and
hidden Gnostic traditions. Today we can still see a remnant of this
great architectural, serpent-worshipping and secretive cult in the
Masons. As George Oliver points out “The Serpent is universally
esteemed a legitimate symbol of Freemasonry” and now we see its
history is world-wide and some would say justifiably kept alive
within the initiated Freemasons.
Philip Gardiner
is the author of The Serpent Grail, Gnosis: The Secret of Solomon’s
Temple Revealed and The Shining Ones. He can be contact via his
website at
www.philipgardiner.net
Notes:
1 Brahma is
the subtle life-force or the spirit itself and Saraisvati was the
River of Life. See The Wonder that was India by A. L. Basham,
Fontana Ancient History, 1967.
2 Mahadeva,
one of Siva’s names, is often represented with a snake entwined
around his neck, arms and hair. His consort, Parvati, is likewise
represented. Bhairava, the Avatar of Siva, sits upon the coils of a
serpent, whose “head rises above that of the gods.” According to
Hyde Clarke & C. Staniland Wake in Serpent and Siva Worship, Siva is
the same as Rudra, the healer, and is called the King of Serpents.
He is depicted with a garland of skulls, symbolizing time measured
in years, the changing of ages. He is called sometimes Nagabhushana
Vyalakalpa or “having serpents round his neck” and Nagaharadhrik or
“wearing serpent-necklaces” and also Nagaendra, Nagesha or “king of
Nagas” is also known as Nakula, the “mongoose” which means one who
is immune from the venom of the snake.
3 See
Gnosis: The Secret of Solomon’s Temple Revealed by Philip Gardiner
due out March 06 under Radikal Books.
4 The word,
Emerald comes from the Greek, smaragdos, which simply means ‘green
stone’ although true emeralds have been popular for well over
4,000 years. Cleopatra, the famous Queen of Egypt who died from the
bite of an Asp, was fond of them and more than any other gem! She
had the emerald mined near Aswan. The emerald is found on Jewish
breastplates and is used as Indian Talismans. Spaniards stole it
during the conquest of South America and the Incas held it in high
veneration. It is said to cure fevers, epilepsy, leprosy, dysentery,
opthalmia, bleeding, liver problems and stings from venomous beasts.
It was also strangely said to “blind” serpents.
The Emerald
Tablet is a summary of alchemical thought - existing in Arabic and
Greek - and mainly having roots in Roman and Greek alchemy,
especially that of Hermes - thus bringing to mind that it must
originate from the same source as the Dionysiac Architects or the
Roman Collegia.
One of the
earliest recordings of its existence is from an 8th century, Arabic
work. Some relate the Emerald to the Sacro Catino of Genoa, the
supposed Holy Grail, said to have been in the possession of the
Queen of Sheba, which was made from green or emerald glass.
It was believed
that a physician named Galienus who calls it the Table of Zaradi
recovered The Tablet from the Thrice Great Hermes. Many believe
Galienus to be the surgeon Galen, but others believe it to be a
mistranslation of Balinas (Apollonius of Tyana.) If this is the
case, then the Emerald Tablet of the great serpent deity, Hermes,
would be coming directly from the sage who visited the Naga
(serpent) kings of India and Kashmir and who is himself said to be
long-lived.
The term, Zaradi
derives from the word for ‘underground cave’ or ‘chamber’ and
alludes to an “otherworldly” domain possibly the Shamanic
Underworld.
Other people said
to have discovered the Tablet are equally incorporated into the
serpent worship story. Alexander the Great and Zara (Sarah) the
wife of Abraham who is said to have taken it from the hands of
Hermes just after the flood.
By
Phillip Gardiner
Philip Gardiner is a best selling author of The Shining Ones, The Serpent
Grail and Gnosis: The Secret of Solomon’s Temple Revealed. He can be seen on TV, heard on radio and has written for
hundreds of magazines around the world. His website is
www.philipgardiner.net
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