The Story of the Essenes - Twelve Maidens
abracad, · Categories: edgar cayce, externally authored, jesusby Doug Simpson
This is the third article in a series of articles on the Essenes, based on the information revealed in the in-trance readings from America's legendary mystic, Edgar Cayce. If you have not read The Story of the Essenes - The Beginning and The Story of the Essenes - Jesus' Teacher, I respectfully recommend that you do so before continuing to read this article. It is not crucial that you do this, but it will assist you in understanding the background of the Essenes organization and religion, prior to the point in time where they were making contingency plans during their preparations for the birth of the long-awaited Messiah. If you cannot locate the first two articles, mentioned above, on the website where you are reading this article, you may read them on my website at http://dousimp.mnsi.net/.
With the birth and grooming of the Heavenly-anointed new leader of the Essenes, Judy, the most-gifted members of the Essene inner-circle were guided from Above to commence preparations for the birth of the Savior. The Heavenly Sources directed the Essenes to select twelve of the most-appropriate young maidens from within their devoted membership to be prepared as the potential mother of the infant Messiah. I would not blame you if, at this point, you think that this all sounds like some wild fantasy, but before you write-me-off as more-than-a-few-cards short of a full deck, stick with me a little longer and we shall look at the information on these preparations as revealed in some Edgar Cayce life readings for individuals who were part of this process in their earlier incarnations.
"42. The entity was among those of the household of faith in that direction; not only embracing the Jewish activities but the Essenes' interpretations of same. 45. And the entity counseled with the mothers of many of those who hoped for the selection of their offspring as the channel for that prophecy; also caring for many of those. 46. Hence the entity was among those of the period who are termed in the present as the holy women; counseling with the mothers and the young during that period. 47. The name then was Sofa." [DS: Reading 2173-1.] "4. In giving then the history: There were those in the faith of the fathers to whom the promises were given that these would be fulfilled as from the beginning of man's record. 5. Hence there was the continued preparation and dedication of those who might be the channels through which this chosen vessel might enter - through choice - into materiality. 6. Thus in Carmel - where there were the priests of this faith - there were the maidens chosen that were dedicated to this purpose, this office, this service." [5749-7] "22. Before that the entity was in the Holy Land, during the early periods and activities when there were those preparations for the incoming of He that is the way, the truth and the light. 23. The entity was among those who were later known as the Holy Women, being associated with the Essenes as well as those of the temple activity; being a part of the influences that made for choices especially of those who were to be channels in the activities that were to bring about that proclaimed and looked for consideration from and of the Creative Forces. 24. The entity was in the name Anna; ..." [2603-1] "35. The entity then was among the sages who chose the young that were to be set apart as channels through which that blessing might come to the world. 39. In that experience the entity was known as Shalmar." [2520-1] "35. Then the entity was in the name Anna; not the one in the temple, but that one who made the choices eventually of the twelve maidens who were to be chosen as the channels that might know that truth so thoroughly as to be moved by the Holy Spirit." [2408-1]
A few more readings supply us with a glimpse at the training of the twelve selected maidens. "18. (Q) Describe the training and preparation of the group of maidens. (A) Trained as to physical exercise first, trained as to mental exercises as related to chastity, purity, love, patience, endurance. All of these by what would be termed by many in the present as persecutions, but as tests for physical and mental strength; and this under the supervision of those that cared for the nourishments by the protection in the food values. These were the manners and the way they were trained, directed, protected. 19. (Q) Were they put on special diet? (A) No wine, no fermented drink ever given. Special foods, yes." [5749-8] "24. And there we find the entity was among the mothers who gave of themselves in body, and in the preparation of those things that had been handed down as of old, as to how - through the concentration of thought, and through the preparations by bodily exercise, as well as diet and physical activity - there might be the closer communion; or the consecrating of themselves that on the morrow there might be the greater preparations for the receiving of the message from the living forces or God. 25. Hence we find the entity, as one Anna, ... " [1904-2] "29. For during those periods when the Master walked in the earth, the entity was among the Essenes that made for the predictions - yes, the preparations - for the activities that would bring about His entering into the activities in that period. 30. There we find the entity acted then in the capacity of keeping the records and the temple service where the maids as well as the men were kept, or directed or taught according to the tenets of the law as pertaining to MATERIAL things and the law or tenets pertaining to the SPIRITUAL things." [1450-1]
What do you think that the odds would be that at least six out of the twelve maidens would be reincarnated at the time of Edgar Cayce, and would also have readings from Edgar Cayce? Your first inclination might be millions to one, but reincarnation does not follow the mathematical laws of random occurrences. Reincarnation follows the laws of karma. Most if not all of the individuals, who are or have played significant roles in your current life, are a part of your life in this incarnation because you are working on karmic connections from previous lifetimes. With that in mind, it should no longer be much of a shock that at least six former Essene maidens were incarnated again at the time of Edgar Cayce.
We most certainly do not have the space in this article to reveal the entire, often most interesting, Palestinian lifetimes of six former maidens, but I will briefly introduce each of them to you.
"19. The entity was among those of that household [DS: She was the daughter of the Innkeepers of the Inn.] in which Mary, the Mother, had come when the Babe was born. 22. The entity gathered with those people that had held to those tenets of the period [DS: Essenes], and GAINED throughout that sojourn, in the name then Edithia." [587-3] "7. This entity then, Edithia, was among the daughters that were chosen as those that were to dedicate, consecrate their bodies, their minds, their service to become a channel [DS: twelve maidens]. And with others was chosen in the earlier period of its earthly activity. 24. (Q) What was my association with the Wise Men that came seeking the child, and what influence does that have on me now? (A) As indicated. The entity was among those first chosen to be presented before the Lord as POSSIBLE choices or channels through which those great blessings were to come. So, when the birth came, the NATURAL associations were such that the entity was drawn to and about those activities of the parents [DS: The Innkeepers]. And when the Wise Men of the East, or from India, Egypt, the Gobi, came to Jerusalem where there had been the gathering of those that had been of that consecrated group, the ENTITY went WITH the Wise Men. For it AWAKENED WITHIN the entity then that there had been the fulfillment, the completion of that which had been impressed upon the entity in the years of its preparation." [587-6] Edithia, after being groomed at Carmel as a potential channel for the birth of Jesus, along with Mary and the ten other maidens, for many years, returned to her parents Inn after the Angelic selection of Mary. She was present at the birth of Jesus, and after witnessing this culmination of the event to which she had dedicated most of her lifetime, and the consecration of Jesus in the temple in Jerusalem, apparently started a new life as the wife of one of the Wise Men. We can only speculate that Edithia may have met her Wise Man first at the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, and again a month later at the gathering of the Essenes in Jerusalem for the consecration of Jesus. It is also possible that they may have known each other for years as the Wise Men were regular visitors at the Essene monastery on Mount Carmel.
"4. As has been outlined from here, there were those special groups of individuals who had made some preparations for the expected activities that were to come about during that particular period; especially those of the Essenes who had chosen the twelve maidens to indicate their fitness. This choice was to be made by those selections indicated by the spirit, and Josie was the daughter of Shem and Mephibosheth that was among these. 5. This entity, Josie, was close to Mary when the selection was indicated by the shadow or the angel on the stair, at that period of consecration in the temple. This was not the temple in Jerusalem, but the temple [DS: in Carmel] where those who were consecrated worshiped, or a school - as it might be termed - for those who might be channels. 6. This was a part of that group of Essenes who, headed by Judy, made those interpretations of those activities from the Egyptian experience, ... Hence it was in this consecrated place where this selection took place. 7. Then, when there was the fulfilling of those periods when Mary was espoused to Joseph and was to give birth to the Savior, the Messiah, the Prince of Peace, the Way, the Truth, the Light, - soon after this birth there was the issuing of the orders first by Judy that there should be someone selected to be with the parents during their period of sojourn in Egypt. This was owing to the conditions which arose from the visit of the Wise Men and their not returning to Herod to report, when the decrees were issued that there should be the destruction of the children of that age from six months to two years, especially in that region from Bethany to Nazareth. 8. Thus this entity, Josie, was selected or chosen by those of the Brotherhood, - sometimes called White Brotherhood in the present, - as the handmaid or companion of Mary, Jesus and Joseph, in their flight into Egypt. 9. This began on an evening, and the journey - through portions of Palestine, from Nazareth to the borders of Egypt - was made only during the night. 10. Do not understand that there was only Joseph, Mary, Josie and the Child. For there were other groups that preceded and followed; that there might be the physical protection to that as had been considered by these groups of peoples as the fulfilling of the Promised One." [1010-17]  Josie remained with the Holy Family for most of her remaining years. "43. The entity's activities then were even in the preservation or the keeping of the family intact, with the death of Joseph. For this the entity saw; closed the eyes and laid him to rest." [1010-12]
"39. Before that we find the entity was in that now known as or called the Promised Land, during those periods when there were the preparations of the channels through which the Essenes looked for choice to be made of one, from those who had been consecrated for the service of being the channel, through which He, the Prince of Peace, might come. 40. Hence we find the entity was in the temple or house of lodgement where the maidens were brought for that consecrated service, and the entity was the third upon the stair when the choice was made of Mary. 41. Hence the entity was closely associated throughout that experience not only with the close followers of the Master, but the entity was also the wife of James - the brother of John, the beloved; the wife of the first of the martyrs for the Christ, the wife of him who brought many of the Romans to the greater interpretation; and hence closely associated with especially the wife of Cornelius, as well as the entity who acted with the disciples on the walk to Emmaus; giving then that entitlement there as being among the holy women who sought for the preparations of the Body, as well as those who came with the disciples and the Mother at that first Easter morn." [1981-1] This maiden was never identified by name.
"17. The entity then was in the household [DS: of faith], and of the sisters [DS: twelve maidens] that were in the temple with that one chosen as the channel through which the Spirit would manifest in the Holy One; hence a daughter of Elois, or the priestess that blessed the Holy One in the Temple with Simeon. 19. In that experience the entity, in the name Andra, gained throughout; and the entity aided in preparing much of that which came later in the form of visualizing the paintings on the walls, the drawings that might be carried hither - and that became as banners that might be shown; also the wrappings for the last of the anointing of the body of the Holy One - rather the wrappings than the spices, for Magdalene and Mary [DS: This Mary was the mother of the Apostles James, mentioned in the above paragraph, and John the Beloved disciple.] and Jose [Josie] [DS: the handmaid to the Holy Family and former maiden mentioned above.] and the mother of the Lord prepared these. The napkins that were about His head, and with those seals that were later made as raised figures, did the entity prepare." [649-1] "13. (Q) Please explain my relation with Mary, the mother of Jesus. (A) The activities then were as one of those who GREW up with those affiliated in that order which bound together that particular group of individuals that were all associated at the time. To elucidate: In the preparation for the coming of the Son of man, there were those during those periods who joined in their efforts to consecrate their lives, their bodies, for a service; for a channel through which activities might be had for the perfecting, as it were, of the material channel through which such an expression of the Creative Forces might come into the earth. See? There were, then, twelve maidens in the temple, or of the ORDER of the temple, who were dedicated for such preparation. The entity, then, was one of the twelve so associated with Mary in the preparations. 14. (Q) Was Elois, as mentioned in my Life Reading, and Anna mentioned in the Bible, one and the same? (A) No. Anna was the older, or what would be termed the supervisor, or what would be termed by SOME as the lady superior of the group at the time." [649-2] After the death of Jesus, Andra worked with the Apostles and other disciples who organized the early Christian churches.
"36. The entity was among those of that group chosen as ones to present themselves as a channel worthy of acceptance to be such. 37. Hence in its youth, as well as through those periods of girlhood, motherhood, the entity knew many of those who were so active - as was the entity - in those periods for a DEFINITE religious experience, as would be called today. 38. The entity then was of that sect or group known as the Essenes, and of those who were of the house of David, but of the kinship little to Joseph or Mary - and yet of those same groups. 39. The entity was among those who saw that vision on the stairs, when the first choice of the maidens was made. The entity knew then of the voice of the unseen forces as were aroused within the groups, that made for the speaking with the unusual tongues; not unknown yet unusual tongues, or the ability to make known their wishes to many in many tongues. 42. The name then was Sophie." [2425-1]
"41. The entity was then among those that were first chosen, among the twelve maidens that ascended and descended the stairs upon which Mary was chosen. 42. To be sure, the entity was of the Essenes - of the household of one Joseph; not of that Joseph that was chosen later, of course, but a kinsman - in the correct [direct?] line from David. 43. Hence the entity throughout its experience came close in contact with those that kept the records [DS: Judy, at Mount Carmel], yea with those activities when the persecutions arose. 44. And when the entity's own son was among those that were destroyed by Herod, ... " [1479-1] This maiden was not identified by name.
I hope you have found this somewhat brief look at six of the chosen twelve maidens interesting and worthwhile. We will visit with Mary, the maiden chosen by the Angel on the steps in front of the alter, in the temple at Carmel, in our next installment on the Essenes. The Edgar Cayce readings reveal no information on the other five maidens.
© Doug Simpson 2010.
Edgar Cayce Readings © 1971, 1993-2009 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation. Used by Permission. All Rights Reserved.
Doug Simpson is a retired high school teacher who has turned his talents to writing. His first novel, a spiritual mystery titled Soul Awakening, was published in the United States in October of 2011, by Book Locker. Check it out at http://booklocker.com/books/5754.html. It is available in print and eBook format through most book stores around the world. His magazine and website articles have been published in 2010 to 2012 in Australia, Canada, France, India, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States. His articles can be accessed through his website is at http://dousimp.mnsi.net.
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Filed in: edgar cayce, externally authored, jesus
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