Mysteries in Christian Civ

CHAPTER 6
Babylonian Spiritualistic Mysteries
in the Christian Civilization

An employee of a Christian publishing establishment in Russia missed work intermittently because of abdominal pain. Physicians could not discover the cause and eventually, this person was unable to work. He then sought the services of an alternative medicine practitioner. By feeling the ear of this employee, the practitioner diagnosed an infestation of round worms in the stomach and intestines. Medicine was prescribed, which caused the worms to be eliminated. The pain ceased and the employee returned to work.

A few months later, another employee developed abdominal pain. This individual heard an announcement on television about a certain healing technique and decided to try it. He sent to the TV healer a month’s wages in rubles. He then taped one of his own coins to the monitor of his television, and a healing current was supposed to be transferred to the coin. In turn, the coin was then taped to his abdomen. The coin was to transfer healing energy to cure his abdominal pain, even though no diagnosis had been established.

The above two incidents initiated my receiving an invitation in 1998, to organize a seminar on Mystical Medicine. The seminar was to be presented to Health Educators of the Conferences of the Euro-Asian Division of Seventh-day Adventists. This division encompasses all of the countries of the former Soviet Union. Many of the health educators were nurses, dentists, and physicians.

The use of pagan healing methods in this part of the world was so endemic that it was considered regular medical practice; so much so, that these methods were incorporated into the practice of some physicians who had recently joined the church as well as a few who had been in the church for years.

It was a sobering task for us, as foreign doctors who did not use pagan healing techniques, to attempt to convince the Eastern European doctors that these pagan methods were wrong, especially since they used, believed in, and derived some income from use of these methods. We needed to demonstrate the intimate connection between the healing techniques and the doctrines of paganism. The previous chapter, combined with this chapter, is the result of that study. This information has proved to be a powerful influence in convincing individuals of the source of power in most non-conventional healing techniques.

To understand the rise, growth, as well as the coming out into the open, of mystical medicine in our day, we have to understand its past, and have a true understanding of its origins and author.

The pagan civilization continued the philosophy of the zodiac with its mystical concepts, and the doctrine of “dualism,” since the dispersion from Babylon. Satan, the great Counterfeiter, was able to influence the people of Israel through the Canaanites, who were idol worshipers and practiced the mysteries of Babylon. For over 900 years Israel was harassed and intermittently succumbed to the influence of its pagan neighbors. Israel’s captivity in Babylon in 606 B.C. effectively ended their idol worship.

Books covering medical history chronicle from the earliest civilizations, the advancement (or lack of it) during each succeeding civilization. It is interesting to note that information concerning the Jewish civilization is very brief, and no mention is made of any outstanding advancement in treatment methods. But there is one distinct difference. It was the only nation that practiced prevention and hygiene in dealing with disease. Careful study of the Bible will show that the health information God gave to Israel during the exodus focused on proper health habits and hygiene. No other civilization presented prevention as an approach to its health problems.

When the Jews returned from the Babylonian exile Satan devised another plan of attack whereby, he could usurp their loyalty to God. This he accomplished by the infiltration of the Babylonian mysteries into their religion by way of a secret society.

SECRET SOCIETIES

Sometime following the return of the Jews to their homeland after seventy years of captivity in Babylon, a secret society began in Israel. No one knows for sure when this occurred, but it is believed by researchers that some of the Jewish priests, while in Babylon, probably began mixing their religion with Babylonian mysteries (the hidden knowledge based on astrology) and Zoroastrianism (religion of Persia). They carried back home with them this mixture in a society called the “Cabala” (“Cabbala” or “Kabalah” and “Kabbalah”), which is based on dualism.

But esotericism again presents a dual aspect. Here, as in every phase of earthly life, there is the ‘revers de la medaille’ white and black, light and darkness, the Heaven and Hell of the human mind. ¹⁾ Webster, Nesta, Secret Societies and Subversive Movements, (Christian Book club of America, Hawthorne, CA, (1924) p. 3, Available through Emissary Publications, 0205 SE Clackamas Rd., # 1776, Clackamas, OR 97015, (503-842-2050) ….

Over time, the doctrine of the Cabala infiltrated and blended with Judaism, to such an extent that one author described it as:

…the heart and life of Judaism. ²⁾ Franke, Adolph, La Kabbalah, p. 288 (reported in Secret Societies, by Nesta Webster p. 9); Stehelin, J.P.; The Traditions of the Jews, p. 145 (printed for G. Smith in London 1742-43) (Above reference reported in Webster,(1922), op, cit., p. 9).

The modern Jewish Cabala presents a dual aspect, theoretical and practical; the former concerned with theosophical speculations, the latter with magical practices. ³⁾Webster, op. cit., pp. 12–13.

The Cabala uses a mystical approach to illness and its treatment. One method uses numbers and letters on “talismans” applied near the bed of the sick.

In the hill country of Israel, north of Galilee, is a small Palestinian town with a Jewish section, located at the peak of a small mountain.

The Sea of Galilee can be seen in the distance. This is Safed, considered one of the “holy” cities in Israel today. As you enter the town, a sign will tell you that this is the location of the school of the Cabala.

Figure 14. Safed and a Kabala Teacher

From the Cabala came the Gnostics, that sect which greatly opposed the Christian movement in the days of Paul and the Apostles.

The Freemason, Ragon, gives the clue in these words: “The Cabala, is the key of the occult sciences, The Gnostics were born of the Cabalists.” ⁴⁾ Ragon, Maconnerie Occulte, Emile Nourry, Paris, (1853), p. 78; Reported in Secret Societies by Nesta Webster, p. 28.

Simon Magus, whom Peter rebuked because he tried to buy the power of the Holy Ghost for the laying on of hands (Acts 8), is known in secular writings as the founder of Gnosticism. He was also a magician and was involved with mystical medicine. Legend has it that he became sorcerer to Nero, who had a statue made in his (Simon Magus) likeness and placed in Rome.

In the Dictionary of Christian Biography, Vol. 4, p. 682, we read that “when Justin Martyr wrote his Apology (152 A.D.), the sect of the Simonians appears to have been formidable, for he speaks four times of their founder, Simon…and tells that he came to Rome in the day of Claudius Caesar (45 A.D.), and made such an impression by his magical powers, that he was honored as a god, a statue being erected to him on the Tiber, between the two bridges, bearing the inscription “Simoni deo Sancto” (i.e., the holy god Simon). ⁵⁾ Griffin, Des, Fourth Reich of the Rich, Emissary Publications, Clackamas, OR, (1989), (503–824–2050) p. 33.

The heart of the doctrine of these secret societies was pantheism, God in everything and everything God. The deification of humanity became a supreme doctrine of the secret societies. Nature worship, too, was an end result.

A major reference book of the Masonic order, Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry by Albert Pike, has a forty-page discussion of Gnosticism and its connection to Freemasonry. Of Gnosticism, Pike wrote:

The Gnostics derived their leading doctrines and ideas from Plato and Philo, the Zend-avesta and the Kabalah, and the Sacred books of India and Egypt; and thus introduced into the bosom of Christianity the cosmological and theosophical speculations, which had formed the larger portion of the ancient religions of the Orient, joined with those of the Egyptian, Greek, and Jewish doctrines, which the New-Platonists had equally adopted in the Occident. ⁶⁾ Pike, Albert, Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Kessinger Publishing Co., Kila, MT, (1925), p. 248 (original publication 1871 In Charleston, South Carolina).

Pike, a past Sovereign Pontiff of Universal Freemasonry, traces the chronological growth and spread of the Mysteries over the face of the earth from ancient Babylon to the present-day Masonic Order. In reference to the esoteric doctrines of the Mysteries, he states.

The communication of this knowledge and other secrets, some of which are perhaps lost, constituted, under other names, what we now call Masonry, or Free or Frank-Masonry. …The present name of the Order, and its titles, and the names of the Degrees now in use, were not then known. .But, by whatever name it as known in this or any other country, Masonry existed as it now exists, the same in spirit and at heart, …before even the first colonies emigrated into southern India, Persia, and Egypt, from the cradle of the human race (Ancient Babylon). ⁷⁾ Ibid., pp. 207–208.

These doctrines were preserved among the Christian civilization over the ages within the societies of the Kabbalah, Gnosticism, Manichaeism, various secret orders of the Islamic countries, Sufis, Knights Templars, Rosicrucian’s, and Freemasonry. Notice the following conclusion by an author and researcher in this subject.

Luciferian Occultism controls Freemasonry—Luciferian Occultism—is therefore not a novelty, but it bore a different name in the early days of Christianity. It was called Gnosticism and its founder was Simon the Magician. ⁸⁾ Miller, Edith Starr, Occult Theocracy; printed in France and no Publishing companies name given in the book, (Originally Published in 1933, not printed for general sale, reprinted in 1980, Hawthorne, CA. by The Christian Book Club of America, p. 33).

Satan’s goal is to pervert Christianity with these concepts, and counterfeit healing is the right arm of his message. So it continues to this day. From the time of the early church through the ages to our day, these spiritual and healing mysticisms have been kept alive in the Christian community via secret societies with the aim of promoting, in disguise, the worship of Lucifer. Healing modalities are used to attract people, progressing on to the philosophical and spiritual teachings of their theosophy—pagan theology, see glossary.

The Babylonian mysteries were the basis of paganism and nature worship of the people who dispersed from Babylon, which today we recognize as the old religions of Egypt, Persia, Greece, India, Oriental countries, Americas, etc. The common core philosophy is pantheism. Their cosmological beliefs and teachings through time are reflected in their approach to medical care.

From French Freemasonry (Grand Orient lodges), greatly influenced by Illuminism at the end of the 18th century, arose various American and European secret political societies, the international banking elite, Marxism, and eventually the World Council of Churches. Nesta Webster in her book Secret Societies, reveals that the Freemasons of France gave support to the establishment in 1875 of the Theosophical Society in New York. ⁹⁾ Webster, op. cit., pp. 297–310.

NEW AGE MOVEMENT

In the 1970’s the influence of all of the above-mentioned and other pantheistic societies came together to bring about what is now known as the New Age Movement. The expression East–West refers to the joining of Western occultism with Eastern mysticism.

With reference to the teachings of these societies, Albert Pike made the following statement July 14, 1889, to the twenty-three Supreme Councils of the World (His answer was recorded by A.C. De La Five in La Femme et L’Enfant dans la Franc–Maconnerie Universelle p. 588):

If Lucifer were not God, would Adonay (the God of the Christians) whose deeds prove his cruelty, perfidy, and hatred of man, barbarism and repulsion for science, would Adonay and his priests, calumniate him? Yes Lucifer is God, and unfortunately Adonay is also God. For the eternal law is that there is no light without shade, no beauty without ugliness, no white without black, for the absolute can only exist as two Gods: darkness being necessary to light to serve as its foil as the pedestal is necessary to the statue, and brake to the locomotive. …Thus, the doctrine of Satanism is a heresy: and the true and pure philosophic religion is the belief in Lucifer, the equal of Adonay; but Lucifer, God of Light and Good, is struggling for humanity against Adonay, the God of Darkness and Evil. ¹⁰⁾ Miller, op. cit., pp. 220, 221; Reported in Kah, Gary; En Route to Global Occupation, Huntington House Pub., Lafayette, LA, (1992), p. 124.

In Revelation 11, we find a prophecy about a Beast that comes out of the bottomless pit. Adventists have understood this to refer to the spiritualistic power that was behind the French revolution in 1789-

1799, which brought in the Reign of Terror in 1793, and which controlled the country for three and one half years. Nesta Webster, in her book Secret Societies and Subversive Movements, credits the secret societies, more specifically the Masonic lodge of Paris called Grand Orient, controlled by the Illuminist, as the primary force behind the rise of radicals, anarchy, philosophy, encyclopedists, atheism, and the French revolution. ¹¹⁾ Webster, op. cit., p. 150.

Napoleon’s rise to power in France lessened control of the government by this spiritualistic power but its influence continued “underground,” and has grown worldwide in such movements as humanism, socialism, communism, etc. From the atheistic and spiritualistic movement of the French revolution sprang different organizations. Not all of them were atheistic; some were Deists, others were guided by ancient pagan doctrines somewhat similar to those taught by the modern Theosophy Society, which was started in New York in 1875. This society had great influence and ultimately helped usher in the New Age Movement, with all its mystical medical practices.

E.G. White frequently places the word spiritualism in conjunction with the word theosophy as she discussed this term. She wrote to a man entrapped in such:

There is danger in having the least connection with Theosophy, or Spiritualism. It is Spiritualism in essence, and will always lead in the same path as Spiritualism. These are the doctrines that seduce the people whom Christ has purchased with His own blood. You cannot break this spell. You have not yet broken it. ¹²⁾ White, E.G., Manuscript Releases, Vol. 13 (nos. 1000–1080), (1990), No. 1000.

In the book Education, (by E.G. White), it is stated that the fundamental doctrinal teachings of:

Spiritualism asserts that men are unfallen demigods; that “each mind will judge itself;” that ”true knowledge places all men above the law;” that “all sins committed are innocent;” for “whatever is, is right,” and “God doth not condemn.” ¹³⁾ White, E.G., Education, Pacific Press Publishing Assn., Nampa, ID, (1903), pp. 227–8.

We are admonished that the same spirit that prevailed leading into the French revolution of 1789 will return:

…the world wide dissemination of the teachings that led to the French revolution–all are tending to involve the whole world in a struggle similar to that which convulsed France. ¹⁴⁾ Ibid.,

The Theosophical Society was founded in 1875 by Helen Blavatsky and Henry Olcott. Mrs. Blavatsky stated that she came from Tibet where she said she had been initiated into esoteric doctrines.

Annie Besant, an English lady, was Blavatsky’s successor in leadership of the Theosophy Society. She, (Annie Besant), became Vice-President of Co-Masonry (In France women had been allowed to enter the Masonic Order in this branch called “Co-Masonry”). Mrs. Besant led the movement for three decades. ¹⁵⁾ Kah, op. cit., pp. 89.

Figure 15. Graph of Secret Societies

Cardinal Caro Y. Rodriguez, Archbishop of Santiago, Chile, in exposing the Masonic Order, wrote:

Madame Blavatsky, the promoter or founder of Theosophy in Europe, was also a member of the Masonic Lodge; her successor, Annie Besant, President of the Theosophical Society in 1911 was Vice President and Great Teacher of the Supreme Council of the International of C0-Masonry—and among us, in our city the brother masons are the ones that contribute mostly to the spread of the Theosophical Society. ¹⁶⁾ Rodriguez, Cardinal Carl Y., The Mystery of Free Masonry Unveiled, Haw thorne, CA, Christian Book Club of America, (1971), pp. 336, 238. Reported in Kah. op. cit., p. 90.

He summarized his comments on Co-Masonry as follows:

It is understood: The theosophical doctrines on the nature of God and the soul, are the same doctrines as taught in masonry, it is enough to read of the International Order of Co-Masonry–and among us, the books dealing with the history of Theosophy to see that each theosophical center is founded, almost without a doubt by members of the Lodge. ¹⁷⁾ Ibid.,.

Nesta Webster, in Secret Societies and Subversive Movements, pp. 297-310, discusses the association of theosophy with the Grand Orient lodges of France.

The third leader in this movement was Alice Bailey who lived in the U.S. Under the guidance of a spirit guide (Djwhal Khul, also known as The Tibetan Master), she wrote more than twenty books

from messages channeled from this spirit guide and which have been the foundation and guide for the New Age movement. ¹⁸⁾ Cumbey, Constance, The Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow, Huntington House Inc., Shreveport, LA, (1983), pp. 49–50. This movement is the major promoter of “mystical medicine” in the United States and around the world. It also has been very effective in drawing millions of people to the belief of theosophy.

Alice Bailey was closely connected to the Masonic Order. The following excerpt from her book The Externalization of the Hierarchy, states:

The Masonic Movement—it is the custodian of the law; it is the home of the mysteries and the seat of initiation. It holds in its symbolism the ritual of deity, and the way of salvation is pictorially preserved in its work. ¹⁹⁾ Bailey, Alice, Externalization of the Hierarchy, Lucis Publishing Co., New York, NY (1983), p. 511. Reported in Kah, op. cit. p. 89.

Constance Cumbey, in her book The Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow, on p. 46, states that from her research she learned that the Theosophical Society, in 1875, received orders from “spirit messengers” that the organization was to remain secret for one hundred years. They worked quietly but were still able to spread their dogma to the world. In 1975 they went public with their presence and programs. ²⁰⁾ Cumbey, op. cit., p. 46.

EAST––WEST

In 1989, I began receiving at my medical office a journal called New Age. It contained only holistic-type medical articles. All of its advertisements were for products relevant to holistic health practices

(techniques based on pantheistic concepts). I had no idea who sent it to me (it was an expensive magazine). In 1992, I read in a book, Enroute to Global Occupation, by Gary Kah, that someone had been able to make contact with the publishers of this journal (New Age) and inquired about advertising. They received a letter in return and on the letterhead these words identified the source of this journal, “Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Free Masonry.” Finally, I had the answer as to who was sending the journal to my office. The magazine soon thereafter changed its name to East–West.

Ellen White gave warnings about theosophical teachings.

There are many who shrink with horror from the thought of consulting spirit mediums, but who are attracted by more pleasing forms of spiritism, such as the Emmanuel movement. Still others are led astray by the teachings of Christian Science, and by the mysticism of Theosophy and other Oriental Religions. ²¹⁾ White, E. G., Evangelism, Pacific Press, Pub. Assn., Mountain View, CA, (1946), (now in Nampa, Idaho) p. 606.

In 1904 Mrs. White wrote:

A power from beneath is working to bring about the last great scenes in the drama–Satan coming as Christ, and working with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in those who are binding themselves together in secret societies. ²²⁾  

Today, the mysteries of heathen worship are replaced by the secret associations and séances, the obscurities and wonders of spiritualistic mediums. The disclosures of these mediums are eagerly received by thousands who refuse to accept light from God’s Word or through his Spirit. Believers in spiritualism may speak with scorn of the magicians of old but the great deceiver laughs in triumph as they yield to his arts presented in a different form. ²³⁾

White, E.G., The Review and Herald, The Fall of the House of Ahab, Jan 15, (1914), Review and Herald Publishing. Assn., Silver Spring, MD.

Michael Howard (who is not a critic but a sympathizer of this pantheistic theology), writes the following:

A very important work of the secret societies has always been the ultimate unification of the world religions. This aim was based on the restoration of the pre-Christian Mystery Tradition, which had been persecuted by the early Church and forced to go underground in medieval Europe, and the recognition that all religions had originated in a universal spirituality referred to as the Ancient Wisdom.

…It forms the basis for the ancient Egyptian Mysteries, Gnosticism, esoteric Christianity, the Cabbala, the Hermetic Tradition, Alchemy and societies such as the Templars, Freemasons and Rosicrucians, the occult doctrines of Geomancy, Alchemy, Astrology and sexual magic taught by these secret societies were used as symbolic metaphors illustrating the progression of the individual from material darkness to the spiritual light of understanding. ²⁴⁾ Howard, Michael, The Occult Conspiracy, Secret Societies–Their Influence and Power in World History; Destiny Books, Rochester, VT, (1998), p.170, 171.

It is these organizations that are the powers behind the New Age Movement and its pagan system of health and healing has been the right arm of their missionary endeavors.