An anchoress was a woman who set herself aside for God and was enclosed into a small room made into the side of a church. She was kind of like a hermetic nun, if you will.
She had to be a free and independent spirit. She had to be extremely strong-willed, but balanced and even-tempered. She had to love study and meditation, but at the same time possess gifts of communication. She preferably had relevant life experience, as mistress of the house and as a mother, for example. She was a minimum of thirty, preferably forty years old.
Through strict ascetic practices and a life of exemplary virtue, the anchoress has struggled free from the limitations of human existence. She possesses true calm, which means she can hear God’s voice without impediments. She experiences mystical ecstasies, during which she is admitted into heaven. She then sees what others know only from hearing, and knows with an infallibility characteristic of God Himself. She witnesses that God (Christ) stands as judge over the quick and the dead in her own surroundings. Back on earth, she informs those concerned of God’s decrees. She lets it be known who is elect and who will come to a bad end.
She walks the path of sapientia, acquiring en route a knowledge of the Bible and theology that equals or surpasses that of professionals. As a prophetess she is charged to proclaim the word of God to the community. When necessary she criticizes the local clergy.
She enters the service of Mary, the archprophetess and Queen of Heaven and Earth. As Mary’s servant, she carries out the orders of her mistress. Her task lies here on earth during this life, not in heaven after her death. At the same time, however, she has left earthly existence behind by having herself enclosed. She is both dead to the world and alive for people around her.
She lives the life of angels. Residing on a piece of holy ground, she brings salvation into the here and now, making it visible and tangible–graspable, in the full sense of the word–for the faithful. She imparts the grace of God to whom it is due.
She is a living saint.
~Excerpt taken from Lives of the Anchoresses by Anneke B. Mulder-Bakker in 2005
Wikipedia: Biosafety level 4 laboratories are used for diagnostic work and research on easily transmitted pathogens which can cause fatal disease. At present, more than 50
maximum- and high-containment facilities around the globe handle some of the world’s most hazardous pathogens to human and animal health for research and diagnostic purposes. Only 1 BSL-4 lab is in China–in Wuhan.
The Wuhan National Biosafety Laboratory is about 20 miles from the city centre seafood market, where the coronavirus is thought to have originated.
62 years ago:
The predecessor of Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences was the Wuhan Institute of Microbiology, prepared to be built in 1956, jointly established by the famous virologist academician Gao Shangyin and the famous microbiologist academician Chen Huagui and a batch of older generation scientists, formally announced to be established in 1958, mainly engaged in agricultural virus and environmental microbe research.
25 to 35 years ago:
In the 1980s and 1990s, the Wuhan Institute of Virology has made a series of important progresses in terms of insect virus, animal virus, molecular virus, virus classification preservation, environmental microbes, fermentation microorganisms and microbial sensors.
Bedford’s analyses of RaTG13 and 2019-nCoV suggest that the two viruses shared a common ancestor 25 to 65 years ago, an estimate he arrived at by combining the difference in nucleotides between the viruses with the presumed rates of mutation in other coronaviruses. So it likely took decades for RaTG13-like viruses to mutate into 2019-nCoV.
“One of the biggest takeaway messages [from the viral sequences] is that there was a single introduction into humans and then human-to-human spread,”
Concerns about the institute predate this outbreak. Nature ran a story in 2017 about it building a new biosafety level 4 lab and included molecular biologist Richard Ebright of Rutgers University, Piscataway, expressing concerns about accidental infections, which he noted repeatedly happened with lab workers handling SARS in Beijing. Ebright, who has a long history of raising red flags about studies with dangerous pathogens, also in 2015 criticized an experiment in which modifications were made to a SARS-like virus circulating in Chinese bats to see whether it had the potential to cause disease in humans. Earlier this week, Ebright questioned the accuracy of Bedford’s calculation that there are at least 25 years of evolutionary distance between RaTG13—the virus held in the Wuhan virology institute—and 2019-nCoV, arguing that the mutation rate may have been different as it passed through different hosts before humans. Ebright tells ScienceInsider that the 2019-nCoV data are “consistent with entry into the human population as either a natural accident or a laboratory accident.”
“I believe there’s a hero in all of us – that keeps us honest, gives us strength, makes us noble, and finally allows us to die with pride. Even though sometimes we have to be steady and give up the thing we want the most. Even our dreams.”
This really speaks to me. It’s from Spiderman 2. XD But what an epic verse.
I have known a lot of rejection in my life. To be fair, I have known a lot of acceptance too. Sometimes it’s easy to focus on the rejections and to think they overshadow everything else, but they don’t. Sometimes we simply don’t get what we want, even when we ‘deserve’ it, have earned it, or are worthy of it. The old adage holds true: Life isn’t fair. The world isn’t fair.
But as Christians we know that God IS fair. It’s just that we can’t always (usually?) understand God’s economy and methods. So we can feel sort of baffled and flabbergasted when we don’t get what we want. But God knows what I need….and perhaps more importantly, what I don’t need. I don’t know about you, but it almost always seems to feel like that last bit is the hardest to swallow. It can seem like He is repetitively saying “No”.
But it behooves us to remember that He says “Yes” quite often.
So, I am very blessed. I pray I can gracefully give up the things that I want the most, even my dreams, knowing my trust is always in the Lord.
The Yahad is an inner circle of Essenes, the bifurcation that eschews marriage and prefers to sequester themselves in their ultimate devotion to God. Yahad means ‘unity’ or ‘togetherness’ in Hebrew. They believe this not only gives them greater knowledge of God, but that God reveals secrets to them. They also believe they can exist as angels.
I believe this to be true. Essenes were known for their ability to foresee the future, to prophecy accurately, to know the plants and rocks of healing and how to use them, and the names of the angels (which they guarded with utmost secrecy).
Jesus may not have died an Essene, or maybe he did. But he most certainly lived among them at various times, learned healing and the signs of the times from them, and some of his unique interpretations of scripture (and likely much more). He became the final Teacher of Righteousness. I believe some within the Yahad knew Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah and supported Him as such, as evidenced by Jesus and his disciples having numerous unnamed helpers toward the end of his ministry and time on earth, if you pay careful attention to the New Testament scriptures. Then there were the angels who helped them as well, such as in Peter’s escape from prison.
Critics state Jesus could not have been Essene because historically they differed from Jesus in a few things. They hated their enemies, much like King David; they did not believe in healing on the Sabbath; and they seemed to disavow women of any holy or righteous role beyond that of wife and mother. For example, the Book of Esther is the only holy book not found in the hundreds of texts in the caves at Qumran. Although we do not know the reason why, we can surmise it is because a Jewess is the heroine of the story. Whereas Jesus advocated loving your enemies; that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath, and that you could heal man or save beast on the Sabbath; and he seemed to hold women in high esteem, such as Mary Magdalene and his mother, Mary.
However, these beliefs were found in their writings hundreds of years before Jesus walked the earth! We know also that the Essenes believed in evolving prophecy–that God could and would reveal new Truth to those who sought Him wholeheartedly and in purity. It is not impossible to think that after hearing Yehoshua HaMashiac teach, they too were made to see the divinity of him through His unique way of illuminating God’s will, even if it contrasted with some of their earlier beliefs. In short, unlike the more stubborn and corrupt sects of Jews called the Pharisees and Sadducees, they were able to change their minds if the elders among them felt called to a higher notion or belief.
Some of the Yahad undoubtedly exist even into present day, just as all the 12 tribes of Israel are still represented. But all that really matters in the end is to love God and obey His commandments. And trust that when the Endtimes come, He will be faithful to lift us up with Him.
I found Simcha Jacobovici’s investigative journalism The Lost Tomb of Jesus, and am overwhelmed by the evidence showing Jesus and Mary Magdalene were very intimate, maybe even married. I tend to doubt gnostic literature as I have delved into it before and found much of it anitithesis to Jesus’ biblical teachings. But after seeing the mosaic recently unearthed of Jesus and Mary Magdalene in a Holy Land church, watching the convincing scientific research of Jacobovici and colleagues, and calling forth some of the same truths that have already been revealed to me through God (Pantera as Jesus’ real father, and that Jesus’ body was buried somewhere) I believe Jesus was buried in his family tomb outside Jerusalem, that he and Mary Magdalene were intimate, and that she was likely an invisible instrument in the formation of the new religion: Christianity. I also believe the early church thought they needed to re-write the biblical account in a way they deemed more holy, and they edited and censored it centuries later-in many ways-namely regarding the sexual underpinnings of the holy family itself, and invalidating the feminine influence in the realm of God.
In my previous God-led studies, I have found much in the original word of God to be contrary to popular church doctrine, translation, and teaching. In other words, early Catholic church translators edited words here and there to make the scriptures more palatable for the king and the church fathers at the time. Were it not for the Interlinear bible, Strong’s Concordance, God’s insights, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and access to other open-minded scholars (via the internet), I would be ignorant of so much important Truth. So this latest work by Mr. Jacobovici confirms and validates me: I am indeed on the right path, and God is leading me.
Jesus as sun God and Mary as moon goddess, surrounded by the 12 disciples, in art reflecting the typical admixing of Judeo-Christian-Pagan iconography and beliefs as the new faith was born.
More art depicting the intimate relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene
My main beliefs which are considered heretical in the current church:
Jesus was conceived between the union of Mary and Pantera, a Roman soldier, while Mary was betrothed to Joseph.
Instead of cursing Mary, God blessed her harlotrous action and told her via the Angel Gabriel she was chosen by Him to bear the Messiah which left her dumbfounded.
The Holy Spirit overcame her womb and Jesus the mamzer (bastard child) was made into Jesus the Christ.
Jesus studied with the Essenes and learned the esoteric knowledge which was unknown by the majority of Jews: like the hidden meanings and symbols in the bible, the names of angels, how to heal, and other divine knowledge (gnosis).
Jesus met Mary Magdalene who had been a prostitute and they either had a platonic, intimate relationship which has been censored by the church; or a marriage with a child or two, who may be the unnamed ‘disciple whom Jesus loved’
Jesus used the network of Essenes often, so that what seemed miraculous and supernatural to us may have been a cohesive network of like-minded believers who painstakingly formed the new religion now known as Christianity–probably over decades, or even possibly centuries or millenia:
…saying to them, ‘Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me.’ ~Matthew 21:2
He said to them, “Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters. ~Luke 22:10
Joseph of Arimathea offered his burial tomb for Jesus. I think it likely he was a part of that secret network and that there was a plan to remove Jesus’ body from that tomb during the quiet Sabbath hours, to the Talpiot Tomb which was found in 1980 outside Jerusalem.
I believe that the body of Jesus was removed by the secret network and that Mary intercepted them in the tomb, as she went so early she likely startled them in their work. I think they had been hidden in an inner chamber of this burial tomb until the two males had gone away, and Mary was all alone. Jesus’ body had likely already been moved and maybe they were ‘cleaning up’ the scene. I think they knew they could convince her of this mystery which they were allowing to unfold. She rightly thought the third figure was a gardener–and maybe it was–but he was part of the secret group too. He convinced Mary he was Jesus and it worked! She left, and they proceeded with their work. We know that when others encountered Jesus after his death, they did not recognize him at first, but came to believe it was Jesus by the things he said. This points logically to a secret group who believed in the same things Jesus did, a fellow group of unknown believers. **Lest anyone think these things are antithetical to God or His supernatural powers, think again. Jesus can ascend into Heaven without his body going also. Jesus can be turned into the only Begotten Son of God even though he is the product of conceptus of a human man. Jesus can be the Son of God and Savior of the world and still be a husband to a reformed prostitute named Mary, and father to his ‘most beloved disciple.’ It is the doubters and skeptics who demand that miracles can only be real if they are supernatural and defy natural truths.**
Interestingly, this biblical account reads as if Mary was ignorant of these events. If she was ignorant of these events to move the body of Jesus, then she was truly only a platonic disciple/apostle, because had they been married she would not have been ignorant of these plans. Or perhaps the biblical account reads as if she is ignorant, but she really is not. It cannot be both ways. In other news, it seems likely Jesus lived a secret life: that shared with the Essene or Other group, and that shared with his 12 disciples. Unless the disciples knew about all these matters and the written account just makes them seem ignorant of it all.
John 20:1-18New King James Version (NKJV)
The Empty Tomb
20 Now the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.2 Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved,and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.”
3 Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb. 4 So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. 5 And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there,7 and the [a]handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed. 9 For as yet they did not [b]know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went away again to their own homes.
Mary Magdalene Sees the Risen Lord
11 But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. 13 Then they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?”
She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.”
14 Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?”
She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!”
She turned and said to [c]Him, “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher).
17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yetascended to My Father; but go toMy brethren and say to them,‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and toMy God and your God.’ ”
18 Mary Magdalene came and told the [d]disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her.
The most exciting part of this new revelation for me is that over the entrance-way to the Talpiot Tomb, there is symbology of a circle under/inside a pyramid. And it’s on some of the ossuaries as well. The circle is the symbol for God, hidden all throughout the Old Testament, if you know where to look! I have never seen it in the New Testament and up to now had no proof that Jesus was related to this symbology. [Perhaps this secret knowledge and ciphering is what is referred to as Kabbalah, I am not an old testament or Jewish expert.] So Jesus was a part of the same movement who imbedded the codes/meanings/symbols into the Old Testament! It had to be an ancient group. This should be no surprise as Jesus spoke in parables and demonstrated he thought only certain people should be privy to certain knowledge. Again, the most likely candidates seem to be the Essenes, or a forebear to them.
Finally, the history and even name of Mary Magdalene having influence alongside Jesus lends credence to the minority monotheistic belief that female is involved in the Holy Trinity, that female Mary is the wife of God and likely embodies the Holy Spirit. Again, this is typically a gnostic believe, but one I believe is true. What’s also interesting is that Mary Magdalene and Mary Mother of Jesus have pasts tainted by sexual immorality but God still chose them. Like God chooses ‘bastard’ illegitimate children to be His primary heirs. Like how He chooses the second son (not the first born) of a man for the greatest blessings, like how He chooses the weak things, the lowly things, the despised things, the things which are not, to bring to nothing the strong things, the mighty things, and the things which are, that no flesh may glory in His Presence.
The only real relationship we will have is with God who is immaterial. All material relationship is only vanity~
I said in my heart, “I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.”And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind.
For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.
Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head. I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanityand a striving after wind.
The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” ~Ecclesiastes
~Song of Mary~ 