The Mystery of the Essenes Lost

Science of a Forgotten People

Dear Reader,

Welcome to the fall/winter

issue of Translations, the
newsletter of Sacred
Spaces/ Ancient Wisdom.
During the last months of
1999, some of the best
minds of our time were
asked what they foresaw
in the first decades of our
new century. In addition to
the anticipated surge of information and
Five hundred years before the birth of Christ, a
communication through the world-wide-web, an
mysterious group of scholars formed communities
increase in the average life expectancy attributed
to honor an ancient teaching that began before
to new technology and changes in lifestyles, there
history as we know it. Collectively known as the
was another category of change that wove its way
Essenes, Roman and Jewish historians referred to throughout the future visions. Ranging from
the members of this spiritual tradition as "a race by unprecedented extremes in weather, new
themselves, more remarkable than any other in the diseases that we have no cure for, and the
world." The underlying wisdom of many Essene
possibility of a third global war, the scientists,
traditions pre-dates the dominant traditions of their religious and spiritual leaders believed that the
day and is traced through ancient writings to at
next few years may very well hold the greatest
least 4,000 years BC. Key elements of nearly every challenges ever to face humankind! At the same
major belief system existing in the world today,
time, many of the leaders shared a sense that the
including those of China, Tibet, Egypt, India,
technology of our world will fail us in the presence
Palestine, Greece, even those of the American
of such challenges.
Desert Southwest, appear to have common roots in
this ancient lineage of wisdom. Additionally, many
While such scenarios are not necessarily new, the
of the great spiritual traditions of the western world, suggestion that our outer technology may fail us
as different as they appear from one another today, brings even greater relevance to understanding
appear to have originated from this lineage of
the role of prayer in our lives. Twentieth-century
wisdom, including the Free Masons, Gnostics,
science has now measured, validated, and
Christians, and the Kabalists. Also known as the
replicated the effects of another technology, the
"Elect" and the "Chosen Ones", the Essenes were
inner technology of a non-denominational, nonthe first people to openly condemn slavery, the use mystical, feeling-based prayer available to each
of servants, and the killing of animals for food.
woman, child and man that walks our earth. At the
Viewing physical labor as a healing communion
dawn of our new century, we find ourselves at a
with the Earth, they were agriculturists, living close time when the impact of feeling-based prayer
to the land that gave them life. The Essenes viewed upon the conditions of our lives can no longer be
prayer as the language through which to honor
discounted. Ancient traditions remind us that
nature and the creative intelligence of the cosmos-- prayer is the single-most empowering force ever
they made no distinction between the two.
to grace our world. The Isaiah Effect and this
issue of Translations is dedicated to exploring
Their prayers were practiced on a regular basis.
precisely such technology. Please accept my
The first prayer of the day was offered upon arising thanks for creating the time to enjoy our
in the pre-dawn darkness to work in the fields.
newsletter.
These were followed by prayers before and after
each meal, and again upon retiring at the end of the Gregg Braden
day. The Essenes viewed their practice of prayer
Northern New Mexico
as an opportunity to participate in the creative
September, 2000
process of their lives, rather than a structured ritual
required of them throughout the day. Strict
vegetarians by today's standards, members of the
The Great
Essene communities abstained from animal flesh,
blood foods, and fermented liquids. Perhaps one of
Isaiah Scroll
the clearest explanations of their diet may be found
in the following passage from the Dead Sea Scrolls:
"Kill not the food which goes into your mouth. For if
you eat living food, the same will quicken you, but if
you kill your food, the dead food will kill you also.
For life comes only from life, and death comes
One of the most
always from death. For everything which kills your
controversial of the Essene libraries was
foods, kills your bodies also." Their lifestyle
discovered hidden among forgotten caves in an
permitted them to enjoy advanced ages,attaining
area known as Qumran, a mountainous area
120 years or more with vitality and great
adjacent to the shores of the Dead Sea, between
endurance.
Copyright 2000 Gregg Braden