Monday, February 02, 2009
TIMELINE OF THE AUTHENTIC TRADITION
by Jonathan Sellers
From the year 1769:
In Conjugial Love, Swedenborg's experience seemed to merge Yogic with Kabbalistic practice.
Also in Conjugial Love, Swedenborg described a secret mystical society, in which "spirits from Asia" teach inititiates how to meditate on emblems of love"works of art and some small images as though cast in silver" that represent "the many qualities, attributes, and delights which belong to conjugial love."
Under the year 1771:
(At this time, we are still dealing with the history of the Frankists, and survivors of the Shabbeteans)... The schools of this area not only taught traditional sacred texts such as the Torah, Talmud and Zohar, but also more esoteric themes of the Kabbalah. This means the Frankist Kabbalah....
In the year 1772:
August. Czestochowa. When Czestochowa was captured by the Russians in August 1772, after the first partition of Poland, Frank was freed by the commander in chief and left the town early the next year, going with his daughter to Warsaw.
In the year 1773:
March. Warsaw. From Warsaw, Frank and 18 of his associates disguised as the servants of a wealthy merchant to Bruenn (Brno) in Moravia, to the home of his cousin Schoendel Dobruschka, the wife of a rich and influential Jew. Frank remained in Bruenn until 1786, obtaining the protection of the authorities, both as a respected man of means with many connections, and also as a man pledged to work for the propagation of Christianity among his numerous associates in the communities of Moravia. He established a semi-military regime in his retinue, where the men wore military uniform and went through a set training. Frank's court attracted many Shabbeteans in Moravia, whose families preserved for generations the swords that they wore while arriving at his court.
In the year 1775:
March. Vienna. Frank went with his daughter to Vienna and was received in audience by the Empress and her son, later Joseph II. Some say that Frank promised the empress the assistance of his followers in a campaign to conquer parts of Turkey, and over a period of time several Frankist emissaries were sent to Turkey, working with the Doenmeh, and perhaps as political agents or spies in the service of the Austrian government. During this period Frank spoke a great deal about a general revolution which would overthrow kingdoms, and the Catholic Church, in particular, and he also dreamed of the conquest of some territory in the wars at the end of time which would be the Frankist dominion. For this, military training would be a deliberate preparation. Where Frank obtained the money for the upkeep of his court was a constant source of wonder and speculation and the matter was never resolved. Stories circulated about barrels of gold sent, some said, by his followers, while others claimed it was from his foreign employers. At one period there were in Bruenn, several hundred sectarians who followed no profession or trade and whose sole and absolute master was Frank, who ruled with a rod of iron..
Martinist Order created, by St. Martin. He reformed the Elus Cohens. Mackey says that Lodges opened in Paris, Marseilles, Bordeaux, Toulouse. The Devotees of Martinez Paschalis, the founder, were called Martinistes. Partly Hermetic, partly Sweden-borgian; based partly on Qabalah and Hermetica. Nine Degree System. St Martin's first published work also appears this year. Des Erreurs et de la verité which is used by the Philalethes and recommended by the Initiated Knights and Brothers of Asia.
Under 1780:
...the leaders of the Rit Primitif would appear to have been law-abiding and loyal gentlemen devoted to the Catholic religion, yet in their passion for new forms of Masonry and thirst for occult lore ready to associate themselves with every kind of adventurer and charlatan who might be able to initiate them into further mysteries.
