The Essene Gospel of Peace,
Book 3,
Part 2 The Angel of Air We worship the holy breath which is placed higher than all other things created,
And we worship the most true wisdom.
In the midst of the fresh air of the forests and fields,
Thou shaltst thou find the Angel of Air.
Patiently she waits for thee,
To quit the dank and crowded halls of the city.
Seek her then,
And quaff deeply of the healing draught which she doth offer thee.
Breathe long and deeply,
That the Angel of Air may be brought within you.
For the rhythm of thy breath is the key of knowledge which doth reveal the holy law.
The Angel of Air doth soar on invisible wings,
Yet thou must walk her unseen path.
If thou wouldst see the face of God sweeter than the finest nectar of honeyed pomegranate is the fragrance of the wind in the grove of Cyprus.
Sweeter still the scent of the godly who do revere and teach the holy law.
Holy is the Angel of Air who doth cleanse all that is unclean,
And giveth to all evil smelling things a sweet odour.
Come on,
Come on,
Oh clouds,
From above down on to the earth,
By thousands of drops,
Through their brightness and glory the winds blow,
Driving down the clouds,
Toward the never-failing springs.
Vapours rise up from the vales of the mountains,
Nursed by the wind along the trail of the law,
Which increaseth the kingdom of light.
The Heavenly Father hath made the earth by his power.
He hath established the world by his wisdom,
And hath stretched out the heavens by his will.
When he uttereth his voice,
There is a multitude of waters in the heavens,
And he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth.
He maketh lightnings with rain,
And bringeth forth the wind out of his breath.
As the sea is the gathering place of the waters,
Rising up and going down,
Up the aerial way and down to the earth,
And up again the aerial way,
Thus rise up and roll along.
And for whose rising and growing,
The Heavenly Father hath made the eternal and sovereign luminous space.
No man may come before the face of God,
Whom the Angel of Air letteth not pass.
Thy body must breathe the air of the earthly Mother,
As thy spirit must breathe the holy law of the Heavenly Father.
The Angel of Earth now.
We invoke the abundant earth,
That possesseth health and happiness,
And is more powerful than all its creatures.
This wide earth do we praise,
Expanded far with paths,
The productive,
The forbearing,
Thy Mother,
Holy plant.
We praise the lands where thou dost grow,
Sweet-scented,
Swiftly spreading,
The good growth of the earthly Mother.
We praise the good,
The strong,
The beneficent Angel of Earth,
Who doth rejoice in the dew of heaven,
The fatness of the earth,
And the abundant harvest of corn and grapes.
We praise the high mountains,
Rich in pastures and in waters,
Upon which run the many streams and rivers.
We praise the holy plants of the Angel of Earth,
Which grow up from the ground,
To nourish animals and men,
To nourish the children of light.
The earth is the strong preserver,
The holy preserver,
The maintainer.
We praise the strength and vigor of the powerful preserver,
The earth,
Created by the Heavenly Father.
We praise the healers of the earth,
They who know the secrets of the herbs and plants.
To the healers hath the Angel of Earth revealed her ancient knowledge.
The Lord hath created medicines out of the earth,
And he that is wise shall use them.
Was not the water made sweet with wood,
That the virtue thereof might be known?
And to certain brothers he hath given skill,
That the law might be honoured and fulfilled.
With such do they heal men,
And taketh away their pains,
And of their works there is no end,
And from them is peace over all the earth.
Then give place to the healers,
And honour them,
For the Heavenly Father hath created them.
Let them not go from thee,
For thou hast need of them.
We praise the tillers of the soil,
Who work together in the garden of the brotherhood.
In the fields which the Lord hath blessed,
He who would till the earth with the left arm and with the right,
Unto him will she bring forth plenty of fruit,
And wholesome green plants and golden grain.
Sweetness and fatness will flow out from that land and from those fields,
Along with health and healing,
With fullness and increase and plenty.
He who sows corn,
Grass and fruit,
Soweth the Holy Law.
He maketh the law of the Creator to progress.
When all the earth shall be a garden,
Then shall all the bodily world become free from old age and death,
Not corruption and rot,
For ever and ever.
Mercy and truth shall be met together.
Peace and peace shall kiss each other.
Truth shall spring out of the earth,
And glory shall dwell in our land.
This one is the Angel of Life.
Be not ungrateful to thy Creator,
For he hath given thee life.
Seek not the law and thy scriptures,
For the law is life.
Whereas the scriptures are only words,
Until we truly Moses received not his laws from God and writing,
But through the living Word.
The law is living Word of living God,
To living prophets for living men.
In everything that is life is the law written.
It is found in the grass,
In the trees,
In the river,
In the mountains,
In the birds of heaven,
In the forest creatures and the fishes of the sea.
But it is found chiefly in thyselves.
All living things are nearer to God than the scriptures which are without life.
God so made life and all living things that they might by the ever living Word teach the laws of the Heavenly Father and the earthly Mother to the sons of men.
God wrote not the laws in the pages of books,
But in thy heart and in thy spirit.
They are in thy breath,
Thy blood,
Thy bone,
In thy flesh,
Thine eyes,
Thine ears and in every little part of thy body.
They are present in the air,
In the water,
In the earth,
In the plants,
In the sunbeams,
In the depths and in the heights.
They all speak to thee that thou mayest understand the tongue and the will of the living God.
And the scriptures are the works of man.
But life and all its hosts are the work of God.
First,
O great Creator,
Thou didst create the heavenly powers,
Thou didst reveal the heavenly laws.
Thou gavest unto us understanding from thine own mind and thou madest our bodily life.
We are grateful,
Heavenly Father,
For all thy manifold gifts of life,
For the precious things of heaven,
For the precious fruits brought forth by the sun,
For the precious things put forth by the moon,
For the great things of the ancient mountains,
For the precious things of the lasting hills and for the precious things of the earth.
We are grateful,
Heavenly Father,
For the vigour of health,
Health of the body,
Wise,
Bright and clear-eyed,
With swiftness of foot,
Quick hearing of ears,
Strength of the arms and eyesight of the eagle.
For all the manifold gifts of life,
We do worship the fire of life and the holy light of the heavenly order.
We do worship the fire,
The good and the friendly,
The fire of life,
The most beneficial and the most helpful,
The fire of life,
The most supporting,
The most bountiful,
That fire which is the house of the Lord.
Behold now the child of light,
Who doth commune with the angel of life.
Lo,
Now,
His strength is in his loins and his force is in the muscles of his chest.
He moveth his legs like a cedar,
The sinews of his thighs are knit together,
His bones are as tubes of grass,
His limbs are like bars of iron.
He doth eat of the table of the earthly mother,
The grass of the field and the waters of the stream do nourish him.
Surely the mountains bring him forth food.
Blessed is his strength and beauty,
For he doth serve the law.
A sanctuary of the Holy Spirit is the body in which the fire of life doth burn with eternal light.
We thank thee,
Heavenly Father,
For thou hast put us at a source of running streams,
At a living spring and a land of drought,
Watering an eternal garden of wonders,
The tree of life,
Mystery of mysteries,
Growing everlasting branches of eternal planting,
To sink their roots into the stream of life from an eternal source.
This next one is the Angel of Joy.
The heavens smile and the earth celebrates,
The morning stars sing together and all the children of light shout for joy.
Oh,
Sing unto the Heavenly Father a new song.
Sing unto the earthly mother all the earth,
Let the heavens rejoice,
Let the earth be glad,
Let the sea roar and the fullness of eternal life,
Let the field be joyful and all that is therein.
Then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice before the Holy Law.
Sing unto the Heavenly Father all ye heavens of heavens and ye waters that be above the heavens,
All mountains and all hills,
Stormy wind fulfilling his word,
Fruitful trees and all cedars,
Beasts and all cattle,
Creeping things and flying fowl,
Kings of the earth and all people,
Princes and all judges of the earth,
Young men and maidens,
Old men and children,
Let them sing unto the Heavenly Father of joy.
Sing unto the Lord with the harp and the voice of a psalm,
With trumpets and sound of pipes,
Make a joyful noise before the angels,
Let the floods clap their hands,
Let the hills be joyful together before the Lord,
Make a joyful noise unto the Lord,
All ye lands,
Serve the Heavenly Father and the earthly mother with gladness and joy.
Come before their presence with singing,
The spirit of the Holy Law is upon me because the elders have anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek.
They have sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound,
To comfort all that mourn,
To send unto them the holy angel of joy,
To give unto them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of light for the spirit of heaviness,
For weeping may endure for a night,
But joy cometh in the morning.
The people that walked in darkness shall see a great light and they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death,
Upon them shall shine the light of the Holy Law.
Drop down ye heavens from above and let the skies pour down happiness,
Let the people of sadness go out with joy and be led forth with peace,
Let the mountains and the hills break forth before them into singing that they might partake of a holy celebration and eat of the fruit of the tree of life which standeth in the eternal sea.
The sun shall be no more their light by day,
Neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto them,
But the law shall be unto them an everlasting light.
And the heavenly Father and the earthly Mother shall be their eternal glory.
Their sun shall no more go down,
Neither shall their moon withdraw itself,
For the law shall be their everlasting light and the days of their mourning shall be ended.
I will greatly rejoice in the Holy Law,
My soul shall be joyful in the angels,
For they have clothed me in garments of light,
They have covered me with robes of joy.
As the earth bringeth forth her bud and as the garden causeth its seeds to spring forward,
So the heavenly Father will cause the Holy Law to spring forth with gladness and joy before all the children of light.
In the garden of the Brotherhood all the earth shines with holiness and abundant joy,
For there are the seeds of the Holy Law sown.
The Law is the best of all good for the children of light.
It giveth unto them brightness and glory,
Health and strength of body,
Long life in communion with the angels,
And eternal and unending joy.
We will sing unto the heavenly Father and unto the earthly Mother and unto all angels.
As long as we live in the garden of the Brotherhood we will sing praise unto the Holy Law forever and ever.
