The Phoenician Code

by Karim El Koussa

  Tau

  An Eternal Moment

  Through the mist he appeared, walking along the field, sure of his deed, fearless of the end and of his adversaries—scurrying and raging behind him. They had felt threatened by his constant message of Love and Peace, and had refused to perceive the Light. He had come to the world from a Superior Order, and so, with slow and steady steps, his destination clear, he continuously marched without turning back. His long white-linen tunic, torn by excessive use, edged his papyrus sandals—worn out by his long journey through the awkward and hard path of Truth.

  Paul was there, watching and wondering about him. His enemies cursed him, and threw stones at him, but he never answered back. They ran after him, spitting and howling out his death like mad dogs, thunder in the midst of a storm, but he kept impressively silent. His power of control amazed Paul. When he passed by Paul, he smiled with an ineffable tenderness. Loving warmth emitted Beauty from his eyes, and communicated with Paul’s dazzled mind. Paul followed the man in white without hesitation. A soft breeze escorted him along the way.

  A small hill stood just ahead. He advanced, getting closer. Stains of blood appeared on his white robe. Surrounded by a few mountains and plains, the hill appeared, as if in the heart of the world. A beautiful old tree rose on the top. Despite his injuries, he approached his destination with unnoticeable effort. Very few men and women followed him with sad faces, weeping. They were probably members of his family and some friends. Compassion towards that mysterious man overwhelmed Paul. He wanted to help, but courage seemed to have escaped him, as it had escaped his relatives and friends—who seemed unable to assist the man walking towards the hill.

  Reaching the tree on the top of that hill, he greeted it, and turned back to face those who considered him an enemy. He, on the other hand, held no such feelings of resentment towards them or towards anyone! He raised his hands up to the sky, and whispered in a silent zephyr—a soundless moment in which hundreds of arrows, perhaps even more, launched with mighty hatred yet by shaky hands, swished across the air and struck his body. The strength of the strikes pierced him, crucified on the tree of life and death. His eyes blinked. A nail perforated his right wrist, another caught painfully on his other wrist, and then another across his feet. He strove for a mouthful of air.

  They had just elevated a cross on that hill… in the heart of the world. He looked down at the people, and smiled with the same warm and loving eyes. They wept and wept again. In spite of all the suffering and pain that invaded his realm, he only murmured a faint sound, a sound only the Eternal could hear.

  His blood dripped to the ground—a witness, or rather, an insignia in the memory of life—marking his sacrifice on the Altar of Humanity. Whether on the cross or on the tree, it didn’t matter at all. Everywhere he existed, he appeared powerful, standing in the center, a Master, intimidating the flesh, and shining with divine charm.

  With great emotion, the faithful few who had come to that place looked at him, thought about him, hoped and asked for a miracle—for a way for him to save himself. From above, however, he kept watching them. In the fullness of time, he knew he would not fulfill their wishes, but rather, accomplish his mission, written by Divine Words. Paul drew nearer to the cross. Somebody there filled a Grail with his shedding blood. Joseph of Rameh! Paul gasped in recognition.

  The murderers, conversely, waited for him to die, debating whether or not he could save himself. A frightening feeling appeared to have taken over them, and an anxiety subdued the remnants of their thoughts. Time elapsed slowly for the dying, but too quickly for the caring ones. The Sun had not yet disappeared in the ocean, but darkness had crept up that hill like a spy. He gazed at them, then towards the sky above, and talked to his Father, saying, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”

  Time stood still.

  As Keeper of the Word, Paul knew by then that the man of the white-linen garment was, in truth, the Kosmic Man. His great power of compassion and his aptitude to forgive—even those who had greater sin than Pilate—left Paul awestruck. Suddenly the air changed, and the wind blew all around. It struck him hard, diffusing the coldness of death into his blood. In a mystical whisper he chanted to God, his Father, “Eli, Eloi…” The call held no request for help, but rather, for guidance along the final path of his conscious spirit. “It is finished,” he imparted, as his spirit floated away from his body like a note of melody from a musical chord.

  The Sun sunk into the ocean at once. Massive black clouds clothed the hill and its surroundings. They hastily moved in all directions, changing forms, eventually hovering like circles in the sky. The air became cold, very cold. The Earth rocked and quaked. Every existing atom, whether blind or intelligent, trembled inside. Animals drifted in weird movements, loosing direction, crying and howling in fear. Birds lost control of their flight, and the fish plunged into the abyss. Flowers trembled in the breeze, and trees swayed in the darkening tempest.

  The walls of each fake Temple and house shook to their very foundations. People became clumsy, as they lost their perception of things. Chaos replaced the orderly rhythm of life. Night invaded from all directions. Alone, abandoned in an obscured and unknown place, they felt unsafe, searching for a probable answer to their mislaid feelings.

  Abruptly, the erratic hysteria of nature came to a halt. What was it? Paul marveled. He turned to watch the faithful, lowering the body, very gently, from the cross. The tree breathed. His enemies departed, rejoicing in their victory and relief. His mother, family, and friends took the body away, to bury it in the Sarcophagus—inside a new tomb that Joseph of Rameh, his Great uncle, had carved in the rock of his garden. Paul went with them.

  From afar, their eyes perceived twinkles of light. The more they walked towards that light, the more their fear of darkness and their anxious loneliness faded away. Then, the sound of drums echoed all around. The sky cleared for the stars to shine like diamonds on the dark-blue dress of an Ancient Goddess—the Queen of Heaven. The road led them inside a forest of Oak and Cedar trees. Its beauty enchanted them. The fragrance of tears—the ‘golden amber’, leaking down from the trees—seeped into their minds.

  Time elapsed without a trace. Clouds ran across the sky. Days followed nights, and nights followed days. The sky danced. On the third day, when the moonlight dimmed, a faint whisper came from afar—far away like the wailing of some lost spirit. Within seconds, the faint wail surged into a steady voice. A voice, sweet as amber, vibrated inside the walls of the Mystery Chamber, where the body rested.

  “Let God—the Most High, the Father—illuminate you, and lead you out from the wilderness of pain and illusions into the Realm of Light!”

  Words of mystery indeed, strong and meaningful, entered their ears like the sound of waterfalls, thundering down from a High Mountain. Then they watched, as the body took life again! They trembled inside, and followed the light within.

  “Fire in the East is shining over water in the West. Life is conquering death. Behold the resurrection of Man!” the voice continued.

  From within their inner realm they saw him, standing in front of them, on the top of the High Mountain. His arms stretched upwards, his feet parted. A crown of red roses ornamented his head, and his hair glittered under the rays of the Sun, draping his shoulders. His glorious pink aura calmed down their fright. A five-pointed star shone on his chest, revealing the emanation of Heaven in his being.

  He was the Initiate of the First Order. A microcosm of the macrocosm. An elected to the Great Power. He was Keeper of Justice, Wisdom, and the Mercy of God throughout the Eternal Truth. Wearing his new white-linen garment, he appeared pure as an Angel, a god. With a glorious smile he whispered aloud, “I’m Hermes-Enoch-Taautus, Adonis, Horus-Osiris, Krishna, Pythagoras, Buddha… I’m Jesus Christ, son of man, son of God, every man, in the process of becoming—a Kosmic Man.” Silence, and then, “I stand as a Metatron between the Spirit and the Body, redeeming the body—by its regeneration below, and the
spirit—by its jubilation above, giving Humanity the will to walk once more with God. I am the son of the everlasting Light.” And before it was all concluded, he said, “I am now leaving Earth—my mother, and will rejoin my Kingdom, where my Father lives eternally.”

  He opened his arms up high, and soared like a flame towards Heaven.

  Along his final resurrection, he uttered loudly, “I am the Aleph and the Tau, the beginning and the end.”

  His last words vibrated all over the Kosmos.

  Up in Heaven, he would become a creature of Light, free at last from the tyranny of matter and the aspirations of the spirit of bondage.

  Epilogue

  34 AD

  Mystery Chamber, Gebel

  Early Morning

  No more than a few days after the Resurrection, Joseph of Rameh—the Great uncle of Jesus and one of his most faithful followers—joined his niece, Mariam, at the kitchen table in her small house in the village of Kana. They intoned a thanksgiving prayer to their God, the Most High ‘El’ and to his son ‘Immanuel’.

  A few other friends and members of the family congregated with them to share their meal in remembrance of the death of Jesus, and his resurrection up to the Father—the King of the Kingdom of Heaven. Quietness reigned on the Family reunion. They rarely sobbed at their loss, for they were heartened by the beginning of a new era, with the fulfillment of a prophecy to the people of Galilee in the region of Phoenicia. A savior had been announced.

  “Our Father who art in Heaven is a God of Love and Peace,” Mariam suddenly proclaimed, breaking the silence. “He often asked Anat, the Mother Goddess, Queen of Heaven, to plant the soil with love, to pour peace in the bosom of Earth, and to multiply love in the heart of the fields. She listened to him, and delivered Adonis. It happened, again and again, and I listened. We all did, didn’t we?” The question held no hint of doubt, but merely a public confirmation of what they all believed in the silence of their hearts. “Jesus didn’t suffer, die, and resurrect only for us, the people of Galilee and Phoenicia. Every drop of his blood that fell to the ground should be a reminder of the message of Love and Peace, which he brought to the whole world,” she ended her statement, and waited calmly for a response.

  It came, at once, in the form of loving smiles from Joseph—her uncle, Mary Magdalene, John the Beloved, Philip, Peter and Andrew of Bethsaida, Simon and his brother Andrew, James and his brother John—all four from Galilee, Simon the Canaanite, Matthew, Paul—the ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes, and a few others around her. They believed in what Mariam had just declared. They knew and understood. She smiled back.

  “Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father,” Paul, the most learned of the disciples of Jesus, affirmed with supreme faith in his voice. “The ritual of ‘bread and wine’ should continue, and spread all over the world, for Jesus was like Melki-Sedek, a High Priest of ‘El’, a one spiritual priesthood.”

  “Indeed, it should,” Joseph agreed instantly. “I’ll be leaving on a holy trip to the Sacred Land of ‘El’—Gebel, in a couple of days. Then, on my return from there, I shall sail west to the Land of Tin, Bar-Tanak, and spread the word there.”

  Reassured from what she had just heard, Mariam stated, “How many times did Jesus try to preach the Kingdom of the Father to the Jews, our neighbors in Judea, and how many were the times they refused to listen to him? I tell you now, forget about them, and let’s spread the word all over the world. Go to Alexandria, Antioch, and Greece… There, people will listen to you.”

  They all nodded in agreement. Paul, however, informed Mariam of his wish, to try preaching to the Jews once more.

  “You can try if you want… you can try,” she replied softly.

  In the very few moments that passed, everybody made their plans, and determined the destination they would take, to spread the message; a mission entrusted to them to fulfill. John decided to accompany Joseph on his holy trip to Gebel.

  Around midday, perhaps four days later, clad in white tunics, they rode their mules through the gates of the city of Gebel like two messengers of God. The citizens recognized them at once as members of the Asaya Fraternity—the healers. The news about their arrival reached the ears of the High Priest of Gebel, who ran to meet and welcome them into the holy city.

  “Shalam El likum…” the High Priest greeted them joyfully with open arms. “I’m Adonisedek, the Priest of Gebel.”

  “Shalam,” they both replied at once, and introduced themselves.

  “We come from the house of Mariam in Kana, carrying with us the Holy Blood in the Holy Grail,” Joseph declared devotedly, a moment later.

  “The Holy Grail!” The High Priest exclaimed in surprise. He then fearfully looked around him, came closer to them, and whispered, “You mean the blood of our savior Immanuel?”

  “Yes,” replied Joseph, sternly. “And we wish to hide it here, in the Great Phoenician Temple of Gebel.”

  “Oh… but it’s an honor for us to keep the blood of the Son, protected in the Holy Land of the Father! Uh… please follow me. I know the best place to hide it.”

  Joseph, John, and Adonisedek walked side by side between the ruins of the Great Temple. Some of the pillars were still standing. A few steps ahead they turned right, and walked a bit farther then turned to the right again until they finally reached an ancient door in the wall. Adonisedek looked carefully over his shoulder then opened it quickly for the three men to rush inside. The High Priest lit the torch, hanging from one of the walls of the Chamber. At once, the torches on all the other walls lit systematically. A beautiful ancient Sarcophagus stood in front of them.

  “This is the Sarcophagus of our Great King of Gebel, Ahiram,” the High Priest uttered respectfully.

  “Do you intend to hide the Grail inside the Sarcophagus?” John asked with some reservation.

  “No, not here, but in the next Chamber… the Mystery Chamber.”

  Adonisedek moved a few steps behind the Sarcophagus, and unbolted a secret door. Joseph and John followed him inside the room, and stopped in awe at the beautiful sight that met their eyes. The lit torches shed their light on the colorful mosaics on the floor; the Great Altar surrounded by twin Pillars, and the paintings on the walls, one of which attracted their attention in particular. Standing clear behind the Great Altar, it depicted the ritual of bread and wine. John whispered in respect, “The Mystery Chamber.”

  The High Priest moved to the Great Altar, and performed a salutation rite to ‘El’. John and Joseph followed suit. On the Great Altar rested a fine wooden box. Adonisedek carefully opened it, and immediately, a mesmerizing Cedar fragrance emerged, filling the air, and refreshing them.

  “This box is very ancient,” the High Priest explained. “It was made by Enoch—the ancient seer of Mt. Hermon—after he descended to Gebel, to proclaim it as the Holy Land of ‘El’. The box has great magical potency and strong powers of preservation. It can surely keep the blood rejuvenating throughout the eternal cycle.”

  Joseph and John smiled, for they already knew about the Tradition—the Tradition of the Great White Fraternity. Joseph stood in front of the Great Altar, took the Sacred Cup out of the leather sack he carried on his shoulder, and held it high in his hands.

  “In the beginning was The Word,” proclaimed John, solemnly. “And the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. The word was made flesh, and has dwelt among us. It lived in the very few Initiates who suffered, died, and resurrected. The peace of the world depends on the ultimate realization of man, the resurrection of the Kosmic Man.”

  On the Sacred Cup—the Holy Grail—Joseph had earlier inscribed, in gold, the two most important letters of the Sacred Alphabet: the Aleph and the Tau, the beginning and the end. He did
that in reverence to the last words of Jesus in his glorious moment of Resurrection.

  “The Kosmos, stars, planets, Earth—and its living creatures—are all letters of the Alphabet,” he attested solemnly. “All are the Alphabet that communicates itself to us, and informs us of the will and the law of the Most High God ‘El’—the Universal Mind.”

  After completing the ritual, Joseph carefully placed the Holy Grail inside the Cedar box that shut down instantly. The two precious stones, resting on the Pillars, twinkled with a bright light that peacefully diffused over the entire Mystery Chamber. Joseph had already made an exact replica of the Holy Grail. He would later take it to the Land of Tin—Britain.

  ***

  Paul woke up, on the morning of December 25th, in his bed, at home, in the Mountains of Eden. After a copious breakfast and a cold shower, he drove up towards the Chapel of the Lady of the Fortress, seeking peace of mind. Winter had started…

  He had contacted Padre Joseph to check on him, and had delighted at the cheerful sound of his voice and at the news he’d had. The Police had finally discovered the criminals, and raided their headquarters. The Padre had told Paul that he, and the rest of the team that had worked at the Archaeological site in Gebel, were now free to move about without fear of persecution. Now, after winning over the dark-side, nothing could ever frighten Paul, or even endanger the Great Fraternity of the Keepers of the Word. The ‘BB’s secret agents—Seth Servitors—simply couldn’t harm the Society any more. Paul felt protected by the sign of the cross, the Sacred Tau—his secret and revealed sign.

  In fact, the word of the Master had not been lost, but rather, stolen, and now it had been found. It is EL-ELyon, Eli-Eloi, Elim… It is LOVE… It is Abba, our Father.

  Watching the Cedar trees, spread all over the Mountains of Eden, Paul ended his call with the Padre with a holy wish. “Merry Christmas,” he said with a smile.