The Essenes (/ˈɛsiːnz, ɛˈsiːnz/; Hebrew: אִסִּיִים, Isiyim; Greek: Ἐσσηνοί, Ἐσσαῖοι, or Ὀσσαῖοι, Essenoi, Essaioi, Ossaioi) or Essenians were a mystic Jewish sect during the Second Temple period that flourished from the 2nd century BCE to the 1st century CE
Most scholars think the Essenes seceded from the Zadokite priests.[4] They saw themselves as the genuine remnant of Israel, upholding the true covenant with God, and attributed their interpretation of the Torah to their early leader, the Teacher of Righteousness, possibly a legitimate high priest. Embracing a conservative approach to Jewish law, they observed a strict hierarchy favoring priests (the Sons of Zadok) over laypeople, emphasized ritual purity, and held a dualistic worldview.
Josephus gave a detailed account of the Essenes in The Jewish War (c. 75 CE), with a shorter description in Antiquities of the Jews (c. 94 CE) and The Life of Flavius Josephus (c. 97 CE). Claiming firsthand knowledge, he lists the Essenoi as one of the three sects of Jewish philosophy[7] alongside the Pharisees and Sadducees. He relates the same information concerning piety, celibacy; the absence of personal property and of money; the belief in communality; and commitment to a strict observance of Sabbath. He further adds that the Essenes ritually immersed in water every morning (a practice similar to the use of the mikveh for daily immersion found among some contemporary Hasidim), ate together after prayer, devoted themselves to charity and benevolence, forbade the expression of anger, studied the books of the elders, preserved secrets, and were very mindful of the names of the angels kept in their sacred writings.
The Essenes have gained fame in modern times as a result of the discovery of an extensive group of religious documents known as the Dead Sea Scrolls, which are commonly believed to be the Essenes' library. The scrolls were found at Qumran, an archaeological site situated along the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea, believed to have been the dwelling place of an Essene community. These documents preserve multiple copies of parts of the Hebrew Bible along with deuterocanonical and sectarian manuscripts, including writings such as the Community Rule, the Damascus Document, and the War Scroll, which provide valuable insights into the communal life, ideology and theology of the Essenes. According to the conventional view, the Essenes disappeared after the First Jewish–Roman War, which also witnessed the destruction of the settlement at Qumran.[3] Scholars have noted the absence of direct sources supporting this claim, raising the possibility of their endurance or the survival of related groups in the following centuries.
According to Josephus, the Essenes had settled "not in one city" but "in large numbers in every town".[32] Philo speaks of "more than four thousand" Essaioi living in "Palestine and Syria",[33] more precisely, "in many cities of Judaea and in many villages and grouped in great societies of many members".[34] Pliny locates them "on the west side of the Dead Sea, away from the coast... [above] the town of Engeda"
Essene Communities & Locations
First Essene communities were established
- Lake Mareotis near Alexandria - “Mother House”
- Qumran by the Dead Sea - “Father House”
- Damascus These three communities were the main stem of the plant
Smaller communities (3 north and south of Qumran)
- Ein Gedi
- Arad
- Hebron
- Rama
- Jenin
- Mount Carmel - Yeshua’s community
Who Were the Essenes?
The jewish, Egyptian, pythagorean occult society and mystery school that was being taught and guided by beings on higher planes in order to keep the light burning through the dark ages and in order to foster the birth of the Christ light and it’s implantation into Humanity and Earth.
They(the Kaloo) made sure the Essenes were never confined to one religion. The Essene Way was created from four sources: Egyptian, Zoroastrian and Pythagorean ideas and the Jewish law.
Says that the Gnostic stream was the evolution of the Essenes after Yeshua’s crucifixion They considered the heart of what Jesus was teaching as “The Way”
- From The Magdalene Version book
In his books, “Hidden Mysteries” and “The Complete Ascension Manual,” Joshua David Stone described some mind bending information about the source of various teachings that are now called religions. According to Stone:
- The Essene movement started about 2000 B.C. with the spiritual master called Melchizedek, who also gave his teachings to Abraham, the father of the Jewish religion.
- The Essenes evolved within an esoteric aspect of Judaism. They believed in reincarnation, astrology, channeling, prophecy, soul travel, psychic development, etc. They facilitated the beginning of the Christian religion and taught Jesus as a youth, who later traveled worldwide to learn the ways of many other teachers and masters.