Do You Want To Know A Secret? Solomon's Temple
Revealed
March 1st 2006
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Philip Gardiner
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There is a
journey that we all must take. It is called life. There is no
escaping this journey. We cannot pay somebody to take it for us or
take the pain and sorrow that frequents our path. Without our mother
and father there would be no help at all from the very start. We
would be helpless and we would die.
We are born with
no knowledge whatsoever other than some minor genetic memories, and
many of us simply follow the patterns that life, evolution and our
peers throw at us. We subconsciously assume we must do as our
forefathers; we must follow in their footsteps; we must marry, have
children, get a job, step onto the roller-coaster of commercialism
and the greed oriented rat race we know as capitalism or even
communism. There is seemingly no way out of this life and anyway,
most of us are enthused by the chase - for we truly know do
different.
All of this is
perfectly natural. We are, after all, apes with less hair. We strive
to be the alpha male and female; to be top dog; to fit in with the
society or “tribe” that surrounds us and support the same football
team as our friends. And often that society is just a larger version
of our selves; it is created by groups of selves.
But, in the times
gone by, our ancestors saw through all of this and recognized that
there was another way. They discovered that in-order for man to
elevate himself above the level of the brown earth upon which he
scrambled he needed to alter his internal dialogue. Man needed to
understand himself and the forces that drive him.
This unique
understanding - that there could be a higher goal for mankind,
whether collectively or individually - evolved into what we now know
as Gnosticism. Of course this is a massive oversimplification and we
should always take into account the mystics those who have
experienced what we would call other-worldly emotions or visions.
Also, regardless of popular perception, the Christian’s were not the
only Gnostics and mystics. Gnostic comes from the Greek word
gignoskein meaning simply to know. It was applied to “one sect of
so-called philosopher’s in the first ages of Christianity.”
However, the term
is now being used more loosely and I personally see the term
slightly differently to others and probably in a controversial
light.
To me the Greek
term implies all-knowledge. This is a kind of knowledge gained much
like plugging ones mind into the world wide web and being able to
download every single piece of data in an instant. In the same way,
the true Gnostic, much like the mystic, could understand all things
in a unique way. Whether this is the mind tapping into the
collective unconscious, the Akashic records, or any other name given
to the process, does not matter for the purpose of this article, the
fact remains, it was believed. And because of this belief, physical
manifestations of the internal belief system emerged the world over.
In this way, the temples of man, were exactly that Temples of Man.
Gnosis then,
means knowledge of the most esoteric kind and this is the story that
has been hidden from our eyes for too long. This is the truth of the
secret societies that we on the outside are supposedly too worldly
to comprehend.
The Temple
So, let us now
try our best to comprehend the Temple of Solomon and in doing so,
let us walk upon Holy ground, trodden only by the initiated.
In the years of
my own searching there were times when I would be found at the feet
of the Magi, sitting and listening to the wise words of the Sufi,
joining in the debate at some Freemasonic Lodge. All the time I was
learning and viewing the process with an open ear and an open eye,
and yet also balancing it all with the knowledge of modern day
science and reductionism. Both worlds, the one of the esoteric and
the one of science are useless apart both are needed today if we
are to truly understand and believe.
And so down to
facts about the Temple of Solomon. Well, unfortunately we are sadly
lacking in any archaeological evidence, regardless of what you read
on some literal fundamentalist website. What we are told is that in
the 10th century BC, the wise King Solomon erected a great Temple to
the Lord. Unfortunately, if any of this is true, then we actually
find that it was a Temple, which encompassed many pagan religions.
According to
Professor James Pritchard in his book, Solomon and Sheba (1974,
p.35):
“.. the so-called
cities of Megiddo, Gezer and Hazor, and Jerusalem itself were in
reality more like villages.. Within were relatively small public
buildings and poorly constructed dwellings with clay floors. The
objects reveal a material culture which, even by the standards of
the ancient Near East, could not be judged sophisticated or
luxurious.. The ‘magnificence’ of the age of Solomon is parochial
and decidedly lackluster, but the first book of Kings implies
exactly the opposite.”
In fact and in
the bright light of day, what we actually have, and what most
writers are afraid to say, is no evidence whatsoever for Solomon’s
Temple. In fact, we have no evidence for Solomon, other than these
peculiar Biblical texts. Neither do we have any evidence for the
Queen of Sheba, or any of the other characters involved. Instead,
there is more depth than could ever be imagined, more meaning than
we would dare to believe.
John Michell in
The Temple at Jerusalem: A Revelation, (Gothic Image) gives us an
insight to the real meaning.:
“Legends of the
Temple describe it as the instrument of a mystical, priestly
science, a form of alchemy by which oppositely charged elements in
the earth and atmosphere were brought together and ritually married.
The product of their union was a spirit that blessed and sanctified
the people of Israel.”
How right Michell
is. The Temple is an instrument of mystical and priestly science or
even magic. The secret unravels before our eyes the more we learn.
You see the true Gnostic, the true disciple or perfect one, must be
a man or woman of balance. He or she must unite the two sides of the
mind, the male and female principles as they are called. We are all
both male and female and the alchemists used this concept of balance
and revealed it in their images of the Hermaphrodite, half man and
half woman.
Solomon, was no
real man, and Sheba was no real woman. Instead they were symbols of
this internal and often external process. The whole story of
Solomon, Sheba and the Temple, which is the perfectly formed body,
both physical and spiritual, is the story of our own psyche. It is
an esoteric truth, misunderstood in its exoteric form.
Hiram
Hiram was the son
of a Jewish mother and a Phoenician father and is credited with the
decoration of the 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.
We must also note
something of interest mentioned in 1 Kings 16:
“Then he made two
capitals of cast bronze, to set on top of the pillars. The height of
one capital was 5 cubits; and the height of the other capital was
five cubits. He made a lattice network, with wreaths of chainwork,
for the capitals which were on top of the pillars: seven chains for
one capital and seven for the other capital.”
These pillars
became known as Jachin, meaning “he establishes” and Boaz, which
means “in him is strength” and these are now familiar to most modern
Freemasons as central to their own Lodge or Temple. Copies of these
can be clearly seen at the infamous Rosslyn Chapel as we shall
discover.
But, what is
interesting here is the original text about these pillars. Firstly
bronze is used for the capitals, just as bronze is used for the
“Brazen Serpent” of Moses and is indicative of the fiery aspect of
the serpent as one of the channels in the Kundalini process. Their
“heights” were 5 cubits, matching the five hooded cobras seen across
India and atop many pillars, although the Bible calls them Lilies,
which are symbols of balance anyway.
Leading up to
these capitals then were “wreaths” of “chainwork”, seven on each
pillar. Strangely these chains were “for the capitals,” and so we
conclude that these seven levelled chains (coils) were pointing
towards the head (capital) just as the serpents of the Kundalini do.
There are more
real links between Hiram and the serpent. For instance, we noted
above that he was of the Tribe of Naphtali. The standard of the
Tribe of Naphtali, according to Jewish tradition, is a serpent or
basilisk and this could have come from Egyptian origins, as Jewish
tradition states that Naphtali was the brother of Joseph, chosen to
represent the family to Pharaoh.
“And now I have
sent a skillful man, endowed with understanding, Huram [Hiram] my
master [father] craftsman, (the son of a woman of the daughters of
Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre), skilled to work in gold and
silver, bronze and iron, stone and wood, purple and blue, fine linen
and crimson, and to make any engraving and to accomplish any plan
which may be given to him, with your skilful men and with the
skilful men of my lord David your father.” 2 Chronicles 2:13-14.
Here, Hiram is
said to be a son of the Tribe of Dan and even the tribe of Dan had
an emblem, which was amazingly also the serpent, this time with a
horse.
Incredibly there
is also a hidden truth and repetitive pattern in this little
statement about the real skills of this literary character. Follow
this pattern:
Hiram is skilled
in:-
1 gold and
silver,
2 bronze and
iron,
3 stone and wood,
4 purple and
blue,
5 fine linen and
crimson,
6 and to make any
engraving
7 and to
accomplish any plan which may be given to him.
Note that there
are seven ‘balanced’ elements to the skill of the man who will build
the Temple! This is a real clue to the Temple’s secret indeed.
According to this
book of Chronicles Hiram was a cunning man (a word used for the
serpent) endued with understanding, skilful as we can see in the
work of gold, silver, brass, stone and timber. But he was also
credited with certain tools, which could pierce stone. Stone, as I
show in Gnosis is symbolic of wisdom and foundation. Hiram’s tool
therefore pierced the veil or even the very root of wisdom.
According to the
book of Kings the Temple was built of stone (or wisdom) before it
was brought to the site. Something like a prefabricated building. It
was said by tradition that neither hammer nor axe, nor any tool of
iron was used in the building. So how was it built? This in itself
is a paradox, which can only be answered by the true secret of the
Temple being revealed.
According to
Rabbinical teaching the prefabrication of the Temple was performed
by the Shamir, a giant worm or serpent that could cut stones
(incidentally worm means serpent). Not dissimilar to Norse and
Celtic beliefs where Valhalla and Camelot were built with the fire
of the dragon and in China where building is aided by the serpent
energy.
This is a
universal concept as can be seen in India, where it was the
serpentine linked Naga’s of fable who escaped their country and took
the architectural wisdom abroad. The architect gods, such as Thoth
of Egypt, are linked strongly with the serpent wisdom because they
are linked with the building of “Temples of Wisdom” inside our
SELVES.
The Shamir,
according to one legend had even been placed in the hands of the
Prince of the Sea (Shamir by Wilhelm Bacher & Ludwig Blau), which of
course is symbolic of the Prince of Wisdom.
In essence what
we really have here is the Temple of Wisdom being built by the
serpent and that serpent is none other than that of, or similar to,
the internal Kundalini, later to be developed into the Kabbalah.
This is a psychological training manual; a method of
self-improvement; a way for society to become One; a multi-layered
method of getting closer to the deity which resides in each and
everyone of us; a deity, that the ancients saw as being the same in
each of us.
The whole process
repeats again and again throughout the Bible. The Temple is reduced
(like the alchemical method) and is remade. Then again and again,
until finally the Christ is the Temple which is reduced (killed) and
then rises again for the last time. And now, according to the texts,
we can all meet with this Christ and we can all have the knowledge.
We just need to understand that the true Christ is all and in all.
But this hasn't worked has it. Man is still even now in the 21st
century, searching for answers and so the temple is being reduced
once again……
I say, we should
all take a look at our own "temples" and knock them to the ground.
We should then go about re-building them in a bigger and better way
than before, just like the Bible states. And more than that, we must
keep on doing this until this world of ours has peace and all truly
are equal before God….
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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