The Essene Philosophy on Nature and Gardening

The Essenes, an ancient Jewish sect of which Jesus was reportedly a member, viewed life as a garden  from which we harvest the knowledge and understanding that we need to reach the Eternal Garden.

 “See the eternal garden of wonders, and at its center the Tree of Life, mystery of mysteries, growing everlasting branches for eternal planting, to sink their roots into the stream of life from an eternal source.
                                                         ” Essene Gospel of Peace, Book Four

 “Likewise YOU, if you would grow in knowledge and understanding...must go into your garden, where you will be close to all the forces of nature and of the universe--to the sum total of things."                                             Essene Gospel of Peace, BookTwo

 Members of the Essene community were instructed to work together to create Heaven on Earth.  They were told that they would receive heavenly assistance in this occupation.

“Work, Sons of Light, in the garden of the Brotherhood to create the kingdom of the heavens upon earth. And as you work, so will the angel of Creative Work nurture and ripen the seed of your spirit, that you may see God. “           Essene Gospel of Peace, Book four

 They were even given a recipe for making bread from the wheat that they grew in their gardens.

 "Let the angels of God prepare your bread. Moisten your wheat, that the angel of water may enter it. Then set it in the air, that the angel of air also may embrace it. And leave it from morning to evening beneath the sun, that the angel of sunshine may descend upon it. And the blessing of the three angels will soon make the germ of life to sprout in your wheat . Then crush your grain, and make thin wafers, as did your forefathers when they departed out of Egypt, the house of bondage. Put them back again beneath the sun from its appearing, and when is is risen to its highest in the heavens, turn them over on the other side that they be embraced there also by the angel of sunshine, and leave them there until the sun be set. For the angels of water, of air, and of sunshine fed and ripened the wheat in the field and they, likewise, must prepare also your bread. And the same sun which, with the fire of life, made the wheat to grow and ripen must cook your bread with the same fire. For the fire of the sun gives life to the wheat, to the bread, and to the body."         Essene Gospel of Peace Book One.

 From the “Teachings of the Essenes” by Edmund Bordeaux Szekely we learn that each member of the Essene community had his own small house and  a garden large enough for him to grow whatever he especially desired. But each member also took part in communal activities wherever his service might be needed, such as in the pasturing of animals, planting and harvesting of crops that required a larger field. 

“They considered gardening educational,” Szekely tells us, “a key to the understanding of the whole universe, revealing all its laws. .. When they dug in their gardens and tended their plantings they held communion with the growing things, the trees, the sun, soil and rain.  From these forces they received their education, their pleasure and their recreation…  Gardening was a ritual with them; a great and impressive silence reigned as they worked in harmony with nature creating veritable kingdoms of heaven in their brotherhoods.”

 Szekely found the teachings of Zoroaster regarding nature and gardening to be closely related to the Essene philosophy.:

 “He taught his followers that it was their duty to maintain the topsoil, to study gardening and all the laws of nature and to collaborate with its forces to improve the whole vegetable kingdom and extend it over the surface of the whole earth. He urged his followers to take an active part in developing every aspect of terrestrial nature, plants, trees and all their products.”

 “The ideal existence of man, Zoroaster taught, is that of the gardener whose work with the soil, air, sunshine and rain keeps him constantly contacting the forces of nature and studying their laws. Study of this greatest book, the book of nature, Zoroaster considered the first step in creating peace and harmony in the kingdom of the Earthly Mother.”

 Szekely’s extensive study of the Essene culture led him to conclude that, “Man needs today to learn harmony and peace with nature more than in any other age in history… The Essenes teaching shows the only way of organizing man’s life on the planet, the only foundation for a healthy humanity, peace with the kingdom of the Earthly Mother”

To learn about the Essene Church of Peace please visit  www.theessenechurchofpeace.org