Transcribed by wakingup72 @ http://www.waronyou.com/forums
No matter what country you're in, or what language you speak: welcome, around the world, to the Hour of the Time. I'm your host, William Cooper.
(opening music: Long As I Can See The Light, by Creedence Clearwater Revival)
Tonight folks, I come to you with a heavy heart. For another one, actually two, of my predictions...one has come true, one is about to come true. The one that has come true involve the loss of life and the injury of over five hundred people. And of course, I'm talking about the bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City. As far back as 1989, and ever since, I've been predicting major terrorist attacks upon the United States. The primary number one target: New York City. I have said it so many times, and so many people attending my lectures, listening to my broadcasts, and who have read my book, are familiar with it. I never, never enjoy being right when it involves the loss of life and human injury.
Nevertheless, it is another chalk mark on the board, and I remain the most accurate predictor of future world events in the history of the world. But the one that is about to come true, and has not yet, is the prediction that I made that the United States would send troops to Yugoslavia, and it appears that that is going to happen in the very near future. Anyway, we will see, won't we, as we move into the New World Order, and all of these events are planned to take us directly into one-world totalitarian socialist government. To all those people in New York who lost relatives, or who had friends or relatives that were injured, I offer you my deepest compassion, sympathy, and I wish that I could tell you that that was the end of it, but I can tell you that it is only the beginning. Unless people wake up, it will escalate and there will be more.
Don't forget, folks, Monday, March 15th, 8pm, LaFayette Hotel, 2223 El Cajon Boulevard in San Diego. I'll be there, I'll be giving a three-hour presentation, entitled The Sacrificed King: On the Assassination of John F. Kennedy. In it, I will directly connect to the occult worship of Mystery Babylon, the secret societies, and specifically to the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, which really is just the outward form of the old Knights Templar. And I also believe, have reason to believe, that the sovereign and military order of the Knights of Malta was involved, which is just another branch of the old Templar order. So make sure that you're there. Forty dollars is the admission fee unless you're a CAJI member, then the admission fee if thirty dollars. I managed to negotiate a 25% discount with the people who are putting this on and who have invited me to speak. If you're not a CAJI member, you can purchase advance tickets at the Controversial Bookstore in San Diego. If you are a CAJI member, you must buy your tickets at the event. That's the only way, uh, that we can get you the discount. If you would like information on this whole conference that lasts the whole weekend, there's a whole lot of Looney Tunes stuff going on there. There are some good speakers. Uh, my workshop is, uh, Monday night, the last one of the whole conference, and it's not a workshop ticket, so it's a separate event altogether. But you can call and find out about the whole thing in case you want to spend the whole weekend. Call (619)492-8588, that's (619)492-8588, and we still donations to pay for this airtime, folks. C'mon, get out your checkbooks and money orders and help us out here. Send your donation to Stan and make your checks and money orders to WWCR, not to me, I don't want your money. It goes to pay for airtime, that's it, period. Send them to Stan, P.O. Box 889, Camp Verde, Arizona, 86322. That's Stan, P.O. Box 889, Camp Verde, Arizona, 86322. Tell him Bill sent you (laughs), and while you're at it, and even if you don't send a donation, write to Stan or call him and tell him you'd like to receive a packet of information. He'd be glad to send it to you. If you'd like to call him, his number is (602)567-6109. That's (602)567-6109. Please call him during normal waking hours. Stan's getting up there and he likes his sleep, and I don't blame him, so please don't call him, uh, late in the evening or late at night. Let him have some, some of his own time. Call him during the day, during waking hours or early evening, please. Thank you very much for those of you who are doing that. Those of you who are not, please start.
Well, let's continue where we left off and, uh, this is about the society in the Middle East known as the Assassins, and we've covered quite a bit of their history already:
[Reading from A History of Secret Societies, written by Arkon Daraul]:
"But this secret society, [the] most successful of secret societies showed that its strength ultimately depended upon a powerful leader. [Well,] Kia Mohammed was no such leader, and little by little it became obvious that his son, Hasan the Hated, was the stronger personality."
[William Cooper]: Now remember, Kia Mohammed was the Old Man of the Mountain, and the mountain lair was called, "The Eagle's Nest."
"Now Hasan, through some magnetic power, was able to capture the imagination of the Assassins, soon having it believed that he himself was none other than the Power of All Powers, the Hidden Imam, who had been mentioned by the first Grand Master; an incarnation of all greatness. So important was [Hasan] that he was the fountain of power, and others only held a [very small] measure of authority because he allowed them to have it [William Cooper: for no other reason].
"This final absurdity was lapped up by members who had been conditioned to believe in things which were not, shall we say, exactly self-evident to the ordinary man. The doctrine of the all-powerful Invisible Imam was a part of Ismailism; and Hasan was ready even during his early manhood to assume the role. But, since his father was able to assert himself by having some two hundred and fifty of Hasan' followers murdered, he thought it wiser to hold his hand. In 1163 his chance came. Mohammed died, and Hasan II issued an order to all Ismailis to collect below the castle of Alamut.
"Never before had such an assembly of killers, fanatics and dedicated perverters of the truth been seen. Hasan, probably in a state of megalomania, assured them that he had received a message from the Almighty that as from now, all the bond of religion were loosed: everyone might do as he liked."
[William Cooper]: Later, in the modern age, we would hear that again as, "The whole of the Law shall be: do as thou wilt."
"It was not necessary [he said] to keep up pretences. And, furthermore, he, Hasan, was none other than the Hidden Imam. His word was law; and he was a form of the divinity, not merely relaying instructions from above [William Cooper: but the divinity].
"There was one further obstacle [folks]. According to Ismaili doctrine, the Hidden Imam was to be of the Family of Hashim, the blood of Mohammed the Prophet. Such descendants were known and revered: and it was common knowledge that Hasan II was not one of them. He overcame this difficulty by stating that he was not in fact the true son of Kia Mohammed the Persian, but an adopted child of the Caliphial family of Egypt. This pretence was carried on for four years, during which the crazed Hasan showed that he was not as mad as he might have been, by consolidating quite efficiently the power of the cult. Eventually, he was assassinated by his brother-in-law, Namwar ('The Famous'). Now the father-to-son succession seemed to be established. Mohammed II, son of Hasan II, began the cultivation of letters and sciences which was to distinguish successive Grand Masters of the Order. It was a conceit of his, in the time of the greatest flowering of Persian literature, that he was supreme among poets and philosophers. He used his assassins [also] to drive this point well home. The Imam Razi, one of the greatest thinkers of the time, refused to acknowledge the Assassins as the most advanced theologians: so Mohammed II sent an envoy to him, promising either a swift death by dagger or a pension of several thousand gold pieces a year. Suddenly [William Cooper: Oh yes, suddenly!] the learned Imam's discourses seemed to lose their bite. One day, soon afterwards, he was asked why he did not attack the Assassins as of old. 'Because,' said the old man, with a nervous glance around the assembly where a murderer might lurk, 'their arguments are so sharp, and pointed [William Cooper: and indeed, they were].'
"For thirty-five years Mohammed II ruled the Ismailis with a rod of iron; the only law was that of obedience to the Assassin will. The observances of ritual Islam were abolished. A new star had arisen [William Cooper: Remember that star?]: a power to stiffen resistance to Crusader penetration; Saladin, who was to become an implacable foe of the Assassins.
"The Syrian branch of the cult grew in power, while the activities of the Eastern Assassins were carried out much more quietly, with missionaries being sent to India, Afghanistan, even the remote Pamir mountains which straddle China and Russia, where even today adherents of the sect are to be found. Saladin had overcome the other Ismaili branch and original home of Assassinism - Egypt - and restored the true faith to the people of the Nile. He now had enough booty for ten years' war against the Crusaders in Palestine, and troops to spare. His first task was to unify the forces of Islam; and this he determined to do by force, if necessary. Sinan, Ancient of the Assassin cult in Syria, decided to oppose this terrible enemy of the Fatimites. Three assassins fell upon Saladin and nearly killed him. This made the sect a priority target for the Saracen chief. The Old Man of the Mountain, for his part [William Cooper: Who was now Mohammed II], now unleashed a succession of fanatics, in every kind of disguise, upon Saladin. By 1176, Saladin decided that an end must be put to the cult. He invaded their territory and started to lay it waste, when the Assassin chief offered him freedom of action to fight the Crusaders, and no, no further attempt upon his life, if the cult were spared. These terms were agreed to, and henceforth no Assassin ever again attempted to molest Sultan Saladin.
"This period introduces Sinan as yet another strange and terrible Assassin leader. [For] he had decided that he was the incarnation of all power and deity, and that he would live the part. Sinan was never seen to eat or drink, sleep, or even to spit."
[William Cooper]: Now can you imagine this? A living, human being never seen to eat or drink, sleep, or even to spit.
"Between sunrise and sunset he stood on a pinnacle of rock, dressed in a hair-shirt, and preached his own power and glory to delighted Assassins."
[William Cooper]: Have you ever worn a hair shirt? Have you ever stood on a pinnacle of rock between sunrise and sunset? I mean, every sunrise and sunset, and wearing a hair shirt every sunrise and sunset? Well, folks, this is historic fact. This is not something that someone made up.
"Thus, at one and the same time, there were two chiefs of the Order, each busily telling his own followers that he, and he alone, was God [was God!]. Hasan in Persia, Sinan in Syria, each commanded legions of devoted killers, all committed by oath to follow his path.
"When Mohammed II died, he was succeeded by his son Jalaludin, who completely reversed the orders that the Assassins were to have no outward religious observances. [You see] he felt that he could do a great deal by adopting the cloak of orthodox piety, and sent ambassadors far and wide to announce his maintenance of the true faith. He went so far as to curse his predecessors publicly, in order to convince the incredulous that such a people as the Assassins could turn over a new leaf. As a result of what would today be called a long-term and comprehensive propaganda plan, he was acknowledged as a religious leader by half the orthodox monarchs of Islam, and (the first Assassin to be so styled) came to be termed Prince Jalaludin.
"Jalaludin died in 1203, after twelve years of leadership of the cult, handing over to Alaeddin ([or] Aladdin [William Cooper: And you guys thought that it was just a storybook tale, didn't you? Aladdin), a child of nine years of age. Weak, inefficient, stupid, Alaeddin made little mark upon history."
[William Cooper]: Except in the classic tales of Arabia, the 1001 Arabbian Nights, for Aladdin in the 1001 Arabian Nights is Aladdin, the leader of the Assassins.
"It is said that his main activity was tending sheep, to which he was passionately attached, and he even had a small hut built in a sheepfold, where he spent most of his time. [Aladdin] was extraordinarily cruel, in spite of the contact with the sheep, and continued to terrorize in time-honored fashion any person, great or small, who did not pay tribute or otherwise co-operate with the organization.
[William Cooper]: And even today, those in power who are in contact with sheep most of the time (laughs) ultimately turn out to be same. And we all know who the sheeple are, don't we?
"The Assassins' hands, ears and eyes were everywhere. Once fully initiated, a man might be sent to a place a thousand miles away...to take up residence and live: waiting for the moment when orders came to him from Alamut to fulfill his fatal destiny [William Cooper: and all the while in-between, furnishing intelligence to the central headquarters of the Assassins]. A story is told of the court of the Shah of Khwarism, thus: 'The Ismaili ambassador spent some time with the Vizier. One day, after a splendid banquet when the wine which they had been drinking in violation of the law had mounted into their heads, the ambassador told the Vizier by way of confidence that there were several Ismailis among the pages, grooms, guards and other persons who were immediately about the Sultan. The Vizier, dismayed and at the same time curious to know who these dangerous attendants were, besought the ambassador to point them out to him, giving him his napkin as a pledge that nothing evil should happen to them. Instantly, at a sign from the envoy, five of the persons who were attendants in the chamber stepped forth, avowing themselves to be concealed Assassins, "On such a day and at such an hour," said one of them, an Indian, to the Vizier, "I might have slain thee without being seen or punished; and if I did not do so it was only because I had no orders from my superiors."'
"The Vizier [of course] begged for his life. But word got the Sultan, who ordered the Assassins to be apprehended and burned alive, and 'the five chamberlains were cast on the flaming pyre, where they died exulting at being found worthy to suffer in the service of the great Sheikh of the Mountain [William Cooper: so powerful was their devotion to the cult].' The Assassins had the last laugh, for an order arrived immediately afterwards from Alamut, that the Shah must pay ten thousand pieces of gold as compensation for each man killed - which he did [William Cooper: or be killed himself].
"Another subsidiary activity which the Assassins delighted in was holding captive in Alamut of useful, rare and distinguished personages who could be of value to them in educational, military or other spheres. One was a physician, another a famous astronomer, a third the greatest painter in Persia, who worked to the order of the chief alone.
"The end of a chapter was near, for the Mongol hordes under Halaku, lieutenant of Chinghiz, were steadily destroying all the civilization of Islam which lay in their inexorable path westwards. Rukneddin, son of Alaeddin, succeeded him and tried at first to turn the Mongol tide. After a series of encounters, pitched battles, intrigues and counter-intrigues, Rukneddin was taken. He played for time as long as he could, but was eventually murdered in his own turn by the victorious Mongol chief's men. Assassin power in Persia was broken, and what remained of the members were ordered - none knows by whom - to conceal their faith and await a signal that the cult was in full operation again. Alamut was silenced, and the Syrian headquarters alone remained."
[William Cooper]: And if it had not been for the refusal of the Christian kings in Europe to send ambassadors to make a treaty, or a new Crusade, with the Mongol horde, then all of Islam would have been decimated. But it was not, for the Christian kings, even though they would have liked to regain their foothold in the Middle East, had problems of their own and ignored the Mongol emissaries.
"It was a long time until the Mamluk Sultan of Egypt was able to overcome the Mongol thrust. In 1260, however, he carried the banners of Islam victoriously against them, and restored the fortress of Alamut and other properties to the Assassins, who were strongly surviving underground. They soon found that they had exchanged one master for another, for the Egyptians were now employing them for their own purposes [William Cooper: and required them to undergo a new initiation, that of the ancient Egyptian Mysteries of Babylon]. Ibn Batuta, the great traveler of the fourteenth century, found them well entrenched in their former strong places, being used as the 'arrows of the Sultan of Egypt with which he reaches his enemies.'
"The supposed suppression of the creed which followed the Mongol destruction did not in fact take place. Copying each other, historians (laughs) have asserted that Assassinism died six hundred years ago [William Cooper: nothing could be further from the truth]. Now and again, however, fresh facts of their continued existence still come to light. In the eighteenth century an Englishman, the British Consul at Aleppo in Syria, was at pains to make this better known: 'Some authors assert,' he writes, 'that these people were entirely extirpated in the thirteenth century by the Tartars... but I, who have lived so long in this infernal place, will venture to affirm that some of their spawn still exists in the mountains that surround us; for nothing is so cruel, barbarous and execrable that is not acted, and even gloried in, by these cursed [Assassins].'
"The Assassins were widely dispersed throughout Asia. The rise of the Thugs, the secret society of assassination of India, followed the Mongol invasion of Persia. indeed, at least one of the Thug recognition-signals (Ali bhai Salam!) indicates salutations to Ali, the descendant of the Prophet most greatly revered by the Assassins. Ismailis, not all of them recognizing the one chief, reside in places as far apart as Malaya, East Africa and Ceylon (Sri Lanka). They would not necessarily feel that they are Assassins in the same sense as the extremists who followed the old Sheikhs of the Mountains; but at least some of them revere the descendants of the Lords of Alamut to the extent of deification.
"The modern phase of Ismailism dates from 1810, when the French consul at Aleppo found that the Assassins in Persia recognized as their divinely-inspired chief a reputed descendant of the Fourth Grand Master of Alamut, who then lived at Kehk, a small village between Isfahan and Tehran. This Shah Khalilullah 'was revered almost like a god and credited with the power of working miracles... the followers of Khalilullah would, when he pared his nails, fight for the clippings; the water in which he washed became holy water.'
"The sect next appear to the public gaze through an odd happening. In 1866, a law case was decided in Bombay. There is in that city a large community of commercial men known as Khojas: 'A Persian,' the record tells us, 'Aga Khan Mehalati (i.e., a native of Mehelat, a place situated near Khek) had sent an agent to Bombay to claim from the Khojas the annual tribute due from them to him, and amounting to about £ 10,000. The claim was resisted, and the British court was appealed to by Aga Khan. Sir Joseph Arnold investigated his claim. The Aga proves his pedigree, showing that he descended in a direct line from the fourth Grand Master of Alamut, and Sir Joseph declared it proved; and it was further demonstrated by the trial that the Khojas were members of the ancient sect of the Assassins, to which sect they had been converted four hundred years before by an Ishmaelite missionary, who composed a work which has remained the sacred book of the Khojas.'
"In the First Afghan War, the then Aga Khan contributed a force of light cavalry to the British forces. For this he was awarded a pension. Hitti, in his History of the Arabs, notes (p. 448, 1951 edition) that the Assassin sect, known as Khojas and Malwas, gave over a tenth of their revenues to the Aga Khan, who 'spends most of his time as a sportsman between Paris and London.'
"The influence of the new form of organization and training, as well as initiatory techniques, of the Assassins upon later societies has been remarked by a number of students [William Cooper: and I have found in my research that it's absolutely true]. That the Crusaders knew a good deal about the Ismailis is shown from the detailed descriptions of them which survive. S. Ameer Ali, an Orientalist of considerable repute, goes further in his assessment: 'From the Ismailis the Crusaders borrowed the conception which led to the formation of all the secret societies, religious and secular, of Europe. The institutions of Templars and Hospitallers; the Society of Jesus, founded by Ignatius Loyola, composed by a body of men whose devotion to their cause can hardly be surpassed in our time; the ferocious Dominicans, the milder Franciscans - may all be traced either to Cairo or to Alamut. The Knights Templar especially, with their system of grand masters, grand priors and religious devotees, and their degrees of initiation, bear the strongest analogy to the Eastern Ismailis.'"
[William Cooper]: We've got to take a break, folks. I'll be right back, right after those short pause.
(break music: Moonglow, words by Eddie De Lange, music by Will Hudson and Irving Mills, made famous by Benny Goodman)
[William Cooper]: In the year 1110, a mysterious order called the Prieuré de Sion appeared upon the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. This mysterious secret order, the Prieuré de Sion, was eventually to crown the first king, the first Christian king of Jerusalem. When they appeared in the Temple Mount in 1110, they recruited nine knights to comb, to scour the Temple Mount, the passages and caverns and tunnels beneath for the ancient remains of the relics of their religion.
[continuing reading from A History of Secret Societies, by Arkon Daraul, starting on page 39]:
"Later in A.D. 1118, nine knights, [supposedly] concerned for the welfare of pilgrims to the Holy Land, bound themselves together in the creation of a knightly Order."
[William Cooper]: This order, again existing of nine knights, just like the original nine knights, were commissioned by the Prieuré de Sion.
"In under two hundred years [folks] this organization had become one of the most powerful single entities - if not the greatest - [William Cooper: power ever to exist] in Europe."
[William Cooper]: They were the first international bankers. The first that ever existed in the world.
"A few years later it was utterly destroyed."
[William Cooper]: They say, however, as you're going to find out, they were not destroyed at all, but merely driven underground.
"The zeal of religion, the conditioning which made men support a dedicated cause with all of their might, was likewise the instrument of their destruction. Nothing less than religious fervor could have smashed the Order: as nothing less could have created it."
[William Cooper]: And folks, you're going to find it difficult to believe, but the rise of this order and destruction, at least publically, of this order has such a great bearing on events today that you could say that everything that has happened since has been brought about by this one series of acts.
"Were the Knights Templar devil-worshippers, secret Saracens indulging in obscene orgies? Did they adore a head, spit on the Cross, use the word, 'Yallah' [William Cooper: which means literally in Arabic, 'Oh, Allah,'] in their rituals? Did they learn their ways from the terrible sect of the Assassins?"
[William Cooper]: Well, yes folks, they did. And they are the link -- at least, in that day, would have been considered the modern link -- between the ancient Mystery Religion of Babylon and Europe. For the religion had come to Europe long, long before the Templars ever emerged, and made their appearance in the ancient worship of the sun by the druids and the Celts, and the tribes, the Germanic tribes who had made their way thousands of years ago from the Middle East up through Asia, and across Russia and into Europe. They brought Mystery Babylon with them, and practiced it as what we now know of today is the pagan religion. And Stonehenge is actually an ancient Babylonian temple of the sun. And you will find how all this connects later.
[William Cooper]: But the origin of this was lost, and the ability to control large numbers of people, by the use of the hidden knowledge of the ages, was lost. It wasn't until the Knights Templar [bought] and brought the Mystery Religion of Babylon to Europe, that the ancient, ancient worship of the sun again took hold. Amongst the Christian countries, in the guise of Christianity, which was itself at that time -- I'm not talking about the teachings of Christ now, I'm talking about the perversion of the teachings of Christ -- the melding of the teachings of Christ with the ancient worship of the sun, the Mystery Religion of Babylon which became the Catholic church was indeed another branch of the ancient Mystery Religion of Babylon. And some of you out there may be confused from all of this.
[William Cooper]: If you've been listening from the beginning of this series, then you're right on target; you're not confused, you know exactly what I'm talking about. If you picked up this series somewhere in the middle, then you need to call Stan and order the studio quality tapes. They're in stereo, they're on TDK tapes, first-quality tapes and crystal clear. You need to order this series from the first tape, the very first, and that was broadcast on February the 12th, I believe, a Friday. But anyway, Stan will know. Give him a call at (602) 567-6109. That's (602) 567-6109 or write to Stan and ask him for an information packet at P.O. Box 889, Camp Verde, Arizona, 86322. That's P.O. Box 889, Camp Verde, Arizona, 86322.
"[Now, folks,] the original objective of the Order [of the Temple Knights Templar], which immediately because the subject of applause throughout Christendom, was to combine the two functions of monk and knight, to live chastely and fight the Saracents with the sword and spirit. The Sweet Mother of God [William Cooper: (clears throat) at least outwardly they say] was chosen as their patroness; and they bound themselves to live in accordance with the rules of St. Augustine, electing as the their first leader Hugh de Payens. King Baldwin II granted him a part of his palace to live in and gave them a grant toward its upkeep."
[William Cooper]: Now the part of the palace they lived in was an ancient mosque, which was built upon the actual location of the old Temple of Solomon, on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
"[The Knights Templar] vowed to consecrate their swords, arms, strength and lives to the defense of the mysteries of the Christian faith; to pay complete and utter obedience to the orders of the Grand Master; to fight whenever commanded, regardless of perils, for the faith of Christ as they understood it. Among the vows taken which were forbade their yielding even a foot of land to the enemy [whoever the enemy was] and not to retreat, even if attacked in the proportion of three to one. They choose the name militia templi - Soldiers of the Temple - after the temple supposedly built by Solomon in Jerusalem, near which they had been assigned quarters by the King."
[William Cooper]: ...but in reality had nothing to do with the Temple of Solomon.
"Some say that the Templars derived their idea of their Order from that of the Hospitallars, who looked after Catholic pilgrims to Palestine; for there was little hospitality to be had from the native Orthodox Christians of those parts. Others hold that there was an even older Order from which they received their inspiration. No reliable evidence is, at this point however, available..."
[William Cooper]: ...according to the "establishment" historians, although for those who really, really research the true history of the secret orders, and specifically the Knights Templars, there's a direct connection to the Assassins and the Roshaniya.
"Although the Templars were so poor than two men had to share a horse [William Cooper: they say, but that is not true at all] (and their Seal commemorated this decades after they became one of the richest communities of their time), they soon attracted favorable notice and support."
[William Cooper]: Now, the two knights riding a horse was a symbol of sacrifice. It denoted their vows of poverty. In truth, each knight now only had a horse, but he had what they called a yeoman. He had a spare horse, he had a pack horse, and he had several horses in reserve, and a whole train of servants. But the Knights Templar were the first true -as we know it in modern times, in modern times there were others before, but they were the first true in modern times - and by modern, I'd say, from the time that Europe escaped from the tribe of paganism. In other words, I consider 1110...I consider that to be beginning of the modern age. Although historians may disagree with me, it's the beginning of everything that has happened since, and everything that's happening today can be traced right to the door of the Knights Templar, and that's why I say that. They were the first modern order to practice what we now know as true Communism. They were the ones who brought international Socialism into Europe, which has always been the tenet and the creed of the Mystery Religion of Babylon.
"Only after one year of their establishment, Fulk, Count of Anjou, who had come to Jerusalem on a pilgrimage, joined as a married member and gave them an annual grant of thirty pounds of silver. This example was soon followed by other devout Western princes.
"For the first nine years of their existence, the knights continued to live a life of chastity and poverty in accordance with their vows. They adopted a striped black and white banner, called the Beauseant, after their original piebald horse; and this word also became their battle-cry. Special raiment they had none, and they wore whatever clothes were given to them by the pious. But little by little, as one writer puts it, they were to become 'haughty and insolent.'"
[William Cooper]: And the black and white banner, the translation of the meaning of which was for the, again, exoteric, for the real meaning of the black and white banner was the meaning of the androgynous god, the positive and the negative, the black and the white, the yin and the yang, the male and the female combined into one, and that was the real meaning of the black and white banner. And it's carried forth today on the floor of many of the temples of Freemasonry where the black and white checkered pattern exists, and in one famous cathedral in Europe built by the Knights Templar. They disguised their esoteric religion in an exoteric manner that would be accepted by Christianity.
"Baldwin of Jerusalem, who had been a prisoner in the hands of the Saracens and knew of their disunity, realized at about this time that Islam must eventually unite against the Christian invasion, and the decided that the Templars who prove ideal allies in the battles which were to come. In 1127, therefore, he sent two Templars with his strong recommendation to the Pope, applying for official recognition of the Order by the Holy See."
[William Cooper]: And this is the first time that the Templars even were considered to be close to the center of religion, the Christian religion in that day, the Catholic church, the Pope. For they were not commissioned as a Christian order; they were not commissioned by the Pope or by the church, and this is a big myth that the Knights Templar started out to protect the church and to protect the pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem. They were established first, primarily, and foremost as a branch of the ancient order of the Religion of Mystery Babylon. And it's indicative of the strategies that they've used since to endear themselves to whatever the established power, or the beliefs of the majority of the people might be.
"[When they went to see the Pope, they had an] introduction to St. Bernard himself, the Abbot of Clairvaux, who was known to be admirer of theirs, and who was a nephew of one of their envoys. Then the Grand Master himself arrived in Europe, and received the eulogistic opinion of the Abbot: 'They go not headlong into battle, but with care and foresight, peacefully, as true children of Israel. But as soon as the fight had begun, they rush without delay upon the foe...and know no fear...one has often put to flight a thousand; two, ten thousand...gentler than lambs and grimmer than lions; theirs is the mildness of monks and the valor of the knight.'"
[William Cooper]: Now folks, this was a strong recommendation, and this testimonial was part of the campaign of the Templars in their efforts at recognition of the Pope. All of you who have thought that they began as a religious order in the first place are so way off base that's it's pathetic. And neither were the Jesuits a religious order in the first place, but we'll get that together in another broadcast.
"[But on] the 31st [of] January [in the year] 1128, the Master appeared before the Council of Troyes. This formidable body consisted of the Archbishops of Rheims and Sens, ten bishops and a number of abbots - including St. Bernard himself - presided over by the Cardinal of Albano, the Papal legate. They were approved; and Pope Honorius chose for them a white mantle, completely plain. The red cross was added by order of Pope Eugenius III in 1146."
[William Cooper]: And see, you thought the Templars thought of this...nope, not at all. This was mandated by two Popes: first, the white mantle, completely plain; and then later the red cross was added by Pope Eugenius III in 1146.
"Hugh de Payens now took his delegation through France and England, and collected a number of recruits. Gifts and grants were showered upon the Order; lands, rents and arms were forthcoming from all quarters. Richard I of England was enthusiastic about them. By 1133, King Alfonso of Aragon and Naverre, who had fought the Spanish Moors in twenty-nine battles, had willed his country to them; although when the Moors finally laid him low his nobles prevented the Templars from claiming their rights."
[William Cooper]: Nevertheless, this was of great honor. In fact, to my knowledge and the knowledge and research of the history that it never had before been done.
"In 1129 the Master, accompanied by three hundred knights, recruited from the noblest houses of Europe, led a huge train of pilgrims to the Holy Land. It was at this time that the Templars formed part of the Christian contingent which, allied with the Assassins, tried to take Damascus."
[William Cooper]: And it wasn't the first time nor the last that the Christian Knights Templar, or supposedly Christian Knights Templar (they really weren't Christian at all) were allied with the Assassins.
"Were they (as the Orientalist von Hammer alleges) connected in some secret way with the Assassins? [William Cooper: Yes, our research shows that it is a historical fact. And it is also a historical fact that the Assassins were prepared to adopt Christianity if they could gain greater power thereby (Christianity, that is, on the surface, just as the Knights Templar had done)]. Hammer points to the similarities of the two organizations. the followers of Hasan Ibn Sabah were in contact with the Templars, and had a similar method of organization. They were in existence before the Templars were formed: 'The Ismailians (Assassins) was the original, and the Order of the Templars, the copy.'"
[William Cooper]: And folks, the order of the Templars was the copy.
"The balance of Western opinion is against this contention; more particularly because, one feels from wide reading of historians, great sympathy is felt for the cruelly treated and a arbitrarily dispossessed Templars. Thus Keightley, who made a close study of the Order those who would claim that the Templars were an Assassin branch..."
[William Cooper]: ...but, when you do research into the (laughs) associations and memberships of Keightley, you'll find that Keightley was himself a Knight Templar. And he said:
"'When, nearly thirty years after their institution, the Pope gave them permission to wear a cross on their mantle, like the rival Hospitaller Order, no color could present itself to well suited to those who daily and hourly exposed themselves to martyrdom as that of blood, in which there was so much of what was symbolical. With respect to internal organization it will, we apprehend, be always found that this is for the most part of the growth of time and the product of circumstances; and it always nearly the same where these last are similar.'"
[William Cooper]: And you find this kind of rhetoric, semantics, all throughout the writings of those who wish to cover the true origin and the true meaning of Mystery Babylon.
"The famous question of the three thousand gold pieces paid by the Syrian branch of the Assassins to the Templars is another matter which has never been settled. One Opinion holds that this money was given as a tribute to the Christians; the other, that it was a secret allowance from the larger to the small organization..."
[William Cooper]: ...which it really was, as the Assassins wished to expand their control and remember, their original goal was to take over the entire world by the systematic infiltration and control of each individual country.
"Those who think that the Assassins were fanatical Moslems, and therefore would not form any alliance with those who to them were infidels, should be reminded that to the followers of the Old Man of the Mountains only he was right, and the Saracens who were fighting the Holy War for Allah against the Crusaders were as bad as anyone else who did not accept the Assassin doctrine."
[William Cooper]: And it is true today: "If you are not one of us, you are nothing." "The ends justify the means." "The strength of our Order exists in the fact that we manifest ourselves under many different names and many different occupations, and sometimes even seem to oppose ourselves. But at the highest level, we are of one mind." And I could go on, and on (laughs), and on, and you all know that I could go on and on and on. For I have studied this for so many years that I eat, drink and sleep it. Oh yes.
"[Well, eventually] grave charges against the Templars during the Crusades included the allegation that they were fighting for themselves alone. More than one historical incident bears this out. The Christians had besieged the town of Ascalon in 1153, and were engaged upon burning down the walls with large piles of inflammable materials. Part of the wall fell after a whole night of this burning. The Christian army was about to enter, when the Master of the Temple (Bernard de Tremelai) claimed the right to take the town himself. This was because the first contingent into a conquered town had the whole spoil. As it happened, the garrison rallied and killed the Templars, closing the breach. There seem good grounds for believing that the power which they had gained caused the Templars to devote their efforts as much to their own Order's welfare as to the cause of the Cross, in spite of their tremendous sacrifices for that cause. Having no loyalty to any territorial chief, they obeyed their Master alone, and hence no softening political pressure could be put upon them. [Well,] this might well have led to an idea that they were an invisible super-state [and that is exactly the fact]; and this does show some similarity with the invisible empire of the Assassins. If none can deny their bravery, their high-handedness and exclusivity, in less than a hundred and fifty years after their founding gave them the reputation of considering themselves almost a law unto themselves."
[William Cooper]: And now, dear listeners, we get into the meat, the direct connection between the historical events and the events that are happening today. Don't miss even one episode of this series.
Good night, and may God bless each and every one of you.
(Closing music: Stardust, music by Hoagy Carmichael, lyrics by Mitchell Parish, performed by unknown artist)
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
AN OPEN LETTER TO ALEX JONES
By Rev. Ted Pike
7 Sep 10
Alex:
I watched with pleasure a two-year-old YouTube video clip of your program in which you indicated you were sick of not speaking the whole truth concerning the threat of Jewish supremacism. You then went on to discuss this threat, revealing a knowledge of the subject much more extensive than the great majority of right-wing leaders or talk show hosts.
Yet, for the most part, you have not shared such knowledge with your listeners over the years.
Jewish supremacism is untiring and relentless in its attempt to bring about a Judaic new world order. It is not enough that you occasionally punctuate your radio outreach with such truth, giving token opposition. It should be your habitual response to be vigilant and vocal against the greatest threat to Christianity and civilization that has ever existed.
You said in this clip that you are a Christian. If so, God obligates you to speak the whole, undiminished truth without fear of the Jews. There are at least three reasons you should now tell such truth:
First, as a Christian, God has empowered you with the opportunity and responsibility to be a “watchman,” capable of warning millions. Ezekiel also had that assignment and was told by God that if he did not warn the instant he saw evil approaching he would lose his soul. (Ez. 33)
Second, if you do not speak the whole truth about what you know, you become a deceiver. Half-truths are worse than outright lies. When a leader of your stature claims to have researched a topic yet holds back half of the truth, your followers relax, concluding that if a threat really existed, Alex would tell them! How wrong they have been.
Clearly, you have known for years that an all-pervasive, Talmudic threat exists. Yet, for fear of losing some of your mainline stations and perhaps being called “anti-Semitic,” you have not warned your audience as you should. Instead, you have given airtime to consideration of a myriad of lesser conspiracies, largely distracting your listeners and consuming their energies. In doing so, you have protected the most wicked conspirators from regular criticism and exposure. Since you have not gone to the heart of the problem, your message cannot save America. This is very wrong and unchristian. This is dereliction of duty and will merit the loss of your soul. You must repent of this great sin and do what is right: repeatedly, consistently speaking all that you know of this pervasive danger.
Third, you must do so, not just because God commands you or on penalty of your soul, but because the Christian is obligated to lay down his life, as Christ did, in love for others. When you do not faithfully warn against the Talmudic conspiracy, you sin most against your own family and loved ones. If you fail to be a dependable truthteller today, your descendants, shivering in a concentration camp someday, will curse you in your grave for not doing your utmost to identify and oppose the source of the horrific bondage that has come upon them.
Jesus describes the shepherd who does not adequately protect his flock as a “hireling.” Today, this untrustworthy guide might be a talk show host who is very concerned about the fate of our nation yet is even more concerned with acquiring a bigger following and number of stations. He rationalizes that, because he has become so big, he cannot jeopardize his influence by saying anything that might threaten his outreach. As a result, this “hireling” flees when the ADL “wolf” howls, “Anti-Semitism!”
Over the past five years, America has experienced repeated assaults from ADL-inspired, Christian-persecuting hate crimes legislation. During that period, especially during times of greatest crisis, I have repeatedly left messages imploring you to put me on your show to warn the people and take action. Unlike over a hundred other hosts, very rarely have you responded, and then only at the last minute, giving me perhaps 30 minutes of airtime. That happened more than a year ago, hours before the federal hate bill passed. You told our audience, “No one has done more to save freedom than Ted Pike.” Yet, during the station break, you told me the reason you have virtually never put me on is that you “had forgotten all about [me].” We both know the truth: If I am your guest, I cannot be depended on to avoid the Jewish issue.
The true Christian speaks the whole truth because it is the right thing to do, the responsible loving thing. The fate of many may depend on him. That is why he will not be distracted from delivering the message God has entrusted to him. When we do what is right, looking to God for guidance and protection, He and His mighty angels take special notice. They make a way for the truth to be told, even when there seems no way.
As I recently warned another media leader, WorldNetDaily’s Joe Farah, it is time to leave the endless strategies and self-protection of traditional right-wing power politics. Leaders must return to the ancient, divinely backed command to trust God and the whole truth. If you and other authorities like Farah do what is right, and the people respond in truth, then there is no restraint with God to save America for as long as He wants to.
How long will that be? Just as long as we fear God, not Jews.
Source
7 Sep 10
Alex:
I watched with pleasure a two-year-old YouTube video clip of your program in which you indicated you were sick of not speaking the whole truth concerning the threat of Jewish supremacism. You then went on to discuss this threat, revealing a knowledge of the subject much more extensive than the great majority of right-wing leaders or talk show hosts.
Yet, for the most part, you have not shared such knowledge with your listeners over the years.
Jewish supremacism is untiring and relentless in its attempt to bring about a Judaic new world order. It is not enough that you occasionally punctuate your radio outreach with such truth, giving token opposition. It should be your habitual response to be vigilant and vocal against the greatest threat to Christianity and civilization that has ever existed.
You said in this clip that you are a Christian. If so, God obligates you to speak the whole, undiminished truth without fear of the Jews. There are at least three reasons you should now tell such truth:
First, as a Christian, God has empowered you with the opportunity and responsibility to be a “watchman,” capable of warning millions. Ezekiel also had that assignment and was told by God that if he did not warn the instant he saw evil approaching he would lose his soul. (Ez. 33)
Second, if you do not speak the whole truth about what you know, you become a deceiver. Half-truths are worse than outright lies. When a leader of your stature claims to have researched a topic yet holds back half of the truth, your followers relax, concluding that if a threat really existed, Alex would tell them! How wrong they have been.
Clearly, you have known for years that an all-pervasive, Talmudic threat exists. Yet, for fear of losing some of your mainline stations and perhaps being called “anti-Semitic,” you have not warned your audience as you should. Instead, you have given airtime to consideration of a myriad of lesser conspiracies, largely distracting your listeners and consuming their energies. In doing so, you have protected the most wicked conspirators from regular criticism and exposure. Since you have not gone to the heart of the problem, your message cannot save America. This is very wrong and unchristian. This is dereliction of duty and will merit the loss of your soul. You must repent of this great sin and do what is right: repeatedly, consistently speaking all that you know of this pervasive danger.
Third, you must do so, not just because God commands you or on penalty of your soul, but because the Christian is obligated to lay down his life, as Christ did, in love for others. When you do not faithfully warn against the Talmudic conspiracy, you sin most against your own family and loved ones. If you fail to be a dependable truthteller today, your descendants, shivering in a concentration camp someday, will curse you in your grave for not doing your utmost to identify and oppose the source of the horrific bondage that has come upon them.
Jesus describes the shepherd who does not adequately protect his flock as a “hireling.” Today, this untrustworthy guide might be a talk show host who is very concerned about the fate of our nation yet is even more concerned with acquiring a bigger following and number of stations. He rationalizes that, because he has become so big, he cannot jeopardize his influence by saying anything that might threaten his outreach. As a result, this “hireling” flees when the ADL “wolf” howls, “Anti-Semitism!”
Over the past five years, America has experienced repeated assaults from ADL-inspired, Christian-persecuting hate crimes legislation. During that period, especially during times of greatest crisis, I have repeatedly left messages imploring you to put me on your show to warn the people and take action. Unlike over a hundred other hosts, very rarely have you responded, and then only at the last minute, giving me perhaps 30 minutes of airtime. That happened more than a year ago, hours before the federal hate bill passed. You told our audience, “No one has done more to save freedom than Ted Pike.” Yet, during the station break, you told me the reason you have virtually never put me on is that you “had forgotten all about [me].” We both know the truth: If I am your guest, I cannot be depended on to avoid the Jewish issue.
The true Christian speaks the whole truth because it is the right thing to do, the responsible loving thing. The fate of many may depend on him. That is why he will not be distracted from delivering the message God has entrusted to him. When we do what is right, looking to God for guidance and protection, He and His mighty angels take special notice. They make a way for the truth to be told, even when there seems no way.
As I recently warned another media leader, WorldNetDaily’s Joe Farah, it is time to leave the endless strategies and self-protection of traditional right-wing power politics. Leaders must return to the ancient, divinely backed command to trust God and the whole truth. If you and other authorities like Farah do what is right, and the people respond in truth, then there is no restraint with God to save America for as long as He wants to.
How long will that be? Just as long as we fear God, not Jews.
Source
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
William Cooper's Mystery Babylon: Part 10 – The Assassins
Transcribed by wakingup72 @ http://www.waronyou.com/forums
You're listening to the Hour of the Time and I'm your host, William Cooper.
(opening music: In the Hall of the Mountain King, written by Edvard Grieg)
[Reading from A History of Secret Societies, written by Arkon Daraul]:
"Two men in the year 1092 stood on the ramparts of a medieval castle -- the Eagle's Nest -- perched high upon the crags of the Persian mountains: the personal representative of the Emperor and the veiled figure who claimed to be the incarnation of God on earth. Hasan, son of Sabah, Sheikh of the Mountains and leader of the Assassins, spoke: 'You see that devotee standing guard on yonder turret-top? Watch!'
"He made a signal. Instantly the white-robed figure threw up his hands in salutation, and cast himself two thousand feet into the foaming torrent which surrounded the fortress.
"'I have seventy thousand men -- and women -- throughout Asia, [and] each one of them ready to do my bidding. Can your master, Malik Shah, say the same? And he asks me to surrender to his sovereignty! This is your answer. Go!'
"[Now] such a scene may be worthy of the most exaggerated of horror films. And yet it took place in historical fact. The only quibble made by the chronicler of the time was that Hasan's devotees numbered 'only about forty thousand.' How this man Sabah came by his uncanny power, and how his devotees struck terror into the hearts of men from the Caspian to Egypt, is one of the most extraordinary of all tales of secret societies [William Cooper: the Mysteries]. Today, the sect of the Hashishin ([or] druggers) still exists in the form of the Ismailis ([or] Ishmaelites), whose undisputed chief, endowed by them with divine attributes, is the Aga Khan.
"Like many another secret cult, the Assassin organization was based upon an earlier association. [And] in order to understand how they worked and what their objectives were, we must begin with these roots.
"It must be remembered [William Cooper: dear listeners] that the followers of Islam in the seventh century A.D. split into two divisions: the orthodox, who regard Mohammed as the bringer of divine inspiration; and the Shiahs, who consider that Ali, his successor, the Fourth Imam ([or] leader), was more important. It is with the Shiahs that we are concerned here.
"From the beginning of the split in the early days of Islam, the Shiahs relied for survival upon secrecy, organization and initiation. Although the minority party in Islam, they believed that they could overcome the majority (and eventually the whole world) by superior organization and power. To this end they started a number of societies which practiced secret rites in which the personality of Ali was worshipped, and whose rank and file were trained to struggle above all for the accomplishment of world dominion.
"One of the most successful secret societies which the Shiahs founded was centered around the Abode of Learning in Cairo, which was the training-ground for fanatics who were conditioned by the most cunning methods to believe in a special divine mission. In order to do this, the original democratic Islamic ideas had to be overcome by skilled teachers, acting under the orders of the Caliph of the Fatimites, who ruled Egypt at that time.
"Members were enrolled, on the understanding that they were to receive hidden power and timeless wisdom which would enable them to become as important in life as some of the teachers."
[William Cooper]: ...and you find that these same precepts in every branch, in every nationality, on every continent where the Mysteries prevail.
"The Caliph saw to it that the instructors were no ordinary men. The supreme judge was one of them; another was the commander-in-chief of the army; a third the minister of the Court. There was no lack of applicants. In any country where the highest officials of the realm formed a body of teachers, one would find the same thing.
"Classes were divided into study groups, some composed of men, others of women, collectively termed Assemblies of Wisdom. All lessons were carefully prepared, written down and submitted to the Caliph for his seal. At the end of the lecture all present kissed the seal: for did the Caliph not claim direct descent from Mohammed, through his son-in-law Ali and thence from Ismail, the seventh Imam? He was the embodiment of divinity, far more than any Tibetan lama ever was.
"The university, lavishly endowed and possessing the best manuscripts and scientific instruments available, received a grant of a quarter of a million gold pieces annually from the Caliph. Its external form was similar to the pattern of the ancient Arab universities, not much different from Oxford. But its real purpose was the complete transformation of the mind of the student.
"Students had to pass through nine degrees of initiation [William Cooper: the same number that are claimed in the York Rite of Freemasonry]. In the first, the teachers threw their pupils into a state of doubt about all conventional ideas, religious and political. They used false analogy and every other device of argument to make the aspirant believe that what he had been taught by his previous mentors was prejudiced and capable of being challenged. The effect of this according to the Arab historian, Makrizi, was to cause him to lean upon the personality of the teachers, as the only possible source of the proper interpretation of facts. At the same time, the teachers hinted continually that formal knowledge was merely the cloak for hidden, inner and powerful truth, whose secret would be imparted when the youth was ready to receive it. [William Cooper: None ever questioned why no secret was ever put forth.] This 'confusion technique' was carried out until the student reached the stage where he was prepared to swear a vow of blind allegiance to one or other of his teachers.
"This oath, together with certain secret signs, was administered in due course, and the candidate awarded the first degree of initiation. The second degree took the form of initiation into the fact that the Imams ([the] successors of Mohammed) were the true and only sources of secret knowledge and power. Imams inspired the teachers. Therefore the student was to acknowledge every saying and act of his appointed guides as blessed and divinely inspired. In the third degree, the esoteric names of the Seven Imams were revealed, and the secret words by which they could be conjured and by which the powers inherent in the very repetition of their names could be liberated and used for the individual especially in the service of the sect.
"In the fourth degree, the succession of the Seven Mystical Law-givers and magical personalities was given to the learner. These were characterized as Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Mohammed and Ismail. There were seven mystical 'helpers': Seth, Shem, Ishmael, Aaron, Simon, Ali, and Mohammed, the [sons] of Ismail. This last was dead, but he had a mysterious deputy, who was the Lord of the Time: authorized to give his instructions to the People of Truth, as the Ismailis called themselves. This hidden figure gave the Caliph the power to pretend that he was acting under even higher instructions.
"The fifth degree named twelve apostles under the seven prophets, whose names and functions and magical powers were described. In this degree the power to influence others by means of personal concentration was supposed to be taught. One writer claims that this was done merely by the repetition, for a period of three years to train the mind, of the magical word AK-ZABT-I.
"To obtain the sixth degree involved instruction in the methods of analytical and destructive argument, in which the postulant had to pass a [very] stiff examination. The seventh degree brought [revelations] of the Great Secret: that all humanity and all creation were one and every single thing was part of the whole, which included the creative and destructive power [William Cooper: the androgynous god]. But, as an Ismaili, the individual could make use of the power which was ready to be awakened within him, and overcome those who knew nothing of the immense potential of the rest of humanity. This power came through the aid of the mysterious power called the Lord of the Time.
"To qualify for the eighth degree, the aspirant had to believe that all religion, philosophy and the like were fraudulent. All that mattered was the individual, who could attain fulfillment only through servitude to the greatest developed power - the Imam. The ninth and last degree brought the revelation of the secret that there was no such thing as belief: all that mattered was action. And the only possessor of the reasons for carrying out any action was the chief of the sect.
"As a secret society, the organization of the Ismailis as outlined above was undoubtedly powerful and seemed likely to produce a large number of devotees who would blindly obey the orders of whomever was in control of the edifice. But, as with [many] other bodies of this kind, there were severe limitations from the point of view of effectiveness.
"Perhaps the phase of revolt or subversion planned by the society did not in the end get under way; perhaps it was not intended to work by any other means than training the individual. Be that as it may, its real success extended abroad only...to Baghdad [in 1058], where a member gained temporary control of Baghdad and coined money in the Egyptian Caliph's name. [Now] this sultan was slain by the Turks, who now entered the picture, and the Cairo headquarters was also threatened . By 1123, the society was closed down by the Vizier Afdal. The rise of Turkish power seemed to have discouraged the expansionist Cairo sect so strongly that they almost faded out, and [very] little is heard of them after that date.
"It was left to Hasan, son of Sabah, the Old Man of the Mountains, to perfect the system of the ailing secret society, and found an organization which [has] endured for nearly another thousand years.
"Who was Hasan? [Well,] he was the son of a Shiah (Ali-worshipper) in Khorasam, a most bigoted man, who claimed that his ancestors were Arabs, from Kufa. [Now] this assumption was probably due to the fact that such a lineage bolstered up claims to religious importance, then as now, among Moslems. [You see,] the people of the neighborhood, many of them also Shiahs, stated very decisively that this Ali was a Persian, and so were his forebears. [So] it is generally thought that this is the truer version. As the Governor of the Province was an orthodox Moslem, Ali spared no efforts to assume the same guise. [Now] this is considered to be completely permissible -- the Doctrine of Intelligent Dissimulation. As there was some doubt as to his reliability in the religious sense, he retired into a monastic retreat, and sent his son Hasan to an orthodox school. This school was no ordinary one. It was the circle of disciples presided over by the redoubtable Imam Muwafiq, about whom it was said that every individual who enrolled under him eventually rose to great power.
"It was here that Hasan met Omar Khayyám, the tentmaker-poet and astronomer, later to be the poet laureate of Persia. Another of his schoolmates was Nizam-ul-Mulk, who rose from peasanthood to become prime minister. These three made a pact, according to Nizam's autobiography, whereby whichever rose to high office first would help the others."
[William Cooper]: And that tenet has survived to this day. It is how their own infiltrate all levels of society, military, and government, and then pull their brothers up into positions below them. It is the method of infiltrating and controlling large masses, populations, governments, military organizations, and society as a whole.
"Nizam, the courtier, became Vizier to Alp-Arslan the Turkish sultan of Persia [William Cooper: in a very relatively short time. He helped Omar], in accordance with his vow, and secured him a pension, which gave him a life of ease and indulgence in his beloved Nishapur, where many of his Rubá'iát poems were written. Meanwhile Hasan remained in obscurity, wandering through the Middle East, waiting for his chance to attain the power of which he had dreamed. Arslan the Lion died, and was succeeded by Malik Shah. Suddenly, Hasan presented himself to Nizam, demanding to be given a place at court. Delighted to fulfill his childhood vow, the vizier obtained for him a favored place, and relates what transpired thus in his autobiography:
"'I had him made [a] minister by my strong and extravagant recommendations. Like his father, however, he proved to be a fraud, hypocrite and a self-seeking villain. He was so clever at dissimulation that he appeared to be pious when he was not, and before long he had somehow completely captured the mind of the Shah.'
"[Now] Malik Shah was young, and Hasan was trained in the Shiah art of winning people over by apparent honesty [William Cooper: which means it has the appearance, or the look, of honesty, but truly is not. Just as the notice of apparent violations sent by the FCC (laughs)]. But Nizam was still the most important man in the realm, with an impressive record of honest dealing and achievements. Hasan decided to eliminate him.
"The king had asked in that year, 1078, for a complete accounting of the revenue and expenditure of the empire, and Nizam told him that this would take over a year. Hasan, on the other hand, claimed that the whole work could be done in forty days, and offered to prove it [William Cooper: and there's that forty days again]. The task was assigned to him. And the accounts were prepared in the specified time. Something went wrong at this point. The balance of historical opinion holds that Nizam struck back at the last moment, saying, 'By Allah, this man will destroy us all unless he is rendered harmless, though I cannot kill my playmate.' [Now] whatever the truth may be, it seems that Nizam managed to have such disparities introduced into the final calligraphic version of the accounts that when Hasan started to read them they appeared so absurd that the Shah, in fury, ordered him to be exiled. As he had claimed to have written the accounts in his own hand, Hasan could not justify their incredible deficiencies [William Cooper: and could not sluff the blame off upon his friend].
"Hasan had friends in Isfahan, where he immediately fled. There survives a record of what he said there, which sheds interesting light upon what was in his mind. One of these friends, Abu-al-Fazal, notes that Hasan, after reciting the bitter tale of his downfall, shouted these words, in a state of uncontrollable rage: 'If I had two, just two, devotees who would stand by me, then I would cause the downfall of that Turk and that peasant.'
"Fazal concluded that Hasan had taken leave of his senses, and tried to get him out of this ugly mood. Hasan took umbrage, and insisted that he was working on a plan, and that he would have his revenge. He set off for Egypt, there to mature his plans.
"Fazal was himself later to become a devotee of the Assassin chief, and Hasan, two decades later, reminded him of that day in Isfahan: 'Here I am at Alamut, Master of all I survey: and more. The Sultan and the peasant Vizier are dead. Have I not kept my vow? Was I the madman you thought me to be? I found my two devotees, who were necessary to my plans.'
"Hasan himself takes up the story of how his fortunes fared after the flight from Persia. He had been brought up in the secret doctrines of Ismailism [William Cooper: the Arab branch of the Mysteries], and recognized the possibilities of power inherent in such a system. He knew that in Cairo there was a powerful nucleus of the society. And, if we are to believe the words of Fazal, he already had a plan whereby he could turn their followers into disciplined, devoted fanatics, willing to die for a leader. What was this plan? [Well,] he had decided that it was not enough to promise paradise, fulfillment, eternal joy to people. He would actually show it to them; show it in the form of an artificial paradise, where houris played and fountains gushed sweet-scented waters, where every sensual wish was granted amid beautiful flowers and gilded pavilions. And this [dear listeners] is what he eventually did.
"Hasan chose a hidden valley for the site of his paradise, described by Marco Polo, who passed this way in 1271:
"'In a beautiful valley, enclosed between two lofty mountains, he had formed a luxurious garden stored with every delicious fruit and every fragrant shrub that could be procured. Palaces of various sizes and forms were erected in different parts of the grounds, ornamented with works of gold, with paintings and with furniture of rich silks. By means of small conduits contained in these buildings, streams of wine, milk, honey and some of pure water were seen to flow in every direction. The inhabitants of these places were elegant and beautiful damsels, accomplished in the arts of singing, playing upon all sorts of musical instruments, dancing, and especially those of dalliance and amorous allurement. Clothed in rich dresses, they were seen continually sporting and amusing themselves in the garden and pavilions, their female guardians being confined within doors and never allowed to appear. The object which the chief had in view in forming a garden of this fascinating kind was this: that Mahomet having promised to those who should obey his will the enjoyments of Paradise, where every species of sensual gratification should be found, in the society of beautiful nymphs, he was desirous of it being understood by his followers that he also was a prophet and a compeer of Mahomet, and had the power of admitting to Paradise such as he should choose to favor. In order that none without his license should find their way into this delicious valley, he caused a strong and inexpugnable castle to be erected at the opening to it, through which the entry was by a secret passage."
[William Cooper]: ...and thus the legend of Shambala, or the paradise in the mountains, a valley of lush greenery, unending fruits, fair, beautiful maidens...thus the legend began.
"Hasan began to attract young men from the surrounding countryside, between the ages of twelve and twenty: particularly those whom he marked out as possible material for the production of killers. Every day he held court, a reception at which he spoke of the delights of Paradise and at certain times he caused droughts of soporific nature to be administered to ten or a dozen youths, and when half dead with sleep [William Cooper: drugged out of their minds] he had them conveyed to the several palaces and apartments of the garden. Upon awakening from this state of lethargy, their senses were struck by all the delightful objects, and each perceiving himself surrounded by lovely damsels, singing, playing, and attracting his regards by the most fascinating caresses, serving him also with delicious viands and exquisite wines, until, intoxicated with excess and enjoyment, amidst actual [real] rivers of milk and wine, he believed himself assuredly in Paradise, and felt an unwillingness to relinquish its delights. When four or five days had thus been passed, they were thrown once more into a state of somnolency [drugged], and carried out of the garden. Upon being carried to his presence, and questioned by him as to where they had been, their answer was, 'in Paradise, through the favor of your highness'; and then, before the whole court who listened to them with eager astonishment and curiosity, they gave a circumstantial account of the scenes to which they had been witnesses. The chief thereupon addressing them said: 'We have the assurance of our Prophet that he who defends his Lord shall inherit Paradise, and if you show yourselves[, if you show yourselves] to be devoted to the obedience of my orders, that happy lot awaits you.'
"[Now] suicide was at first attempted by some [William Cooper: to be able to return to the Paradise that they had just left, not knowing that it was an illusion]; but the survivors were early told that only death in the obedience of Hasan's orders could give the Key to Paradise. [And] in the eleventh century it was not only credulous Persian peasants who would have believed such things were true. Even among [the] more sophisticated people the reality of the gardens and houris of paradise were completely accepted. True, a good many Sufis preached that the garden was allegorical - but that still left more than a few people who believed that they could trust the evidence of their senses.
"The ancient Art of Imposture, by Abdel-Rahman of Damascus, gives away another trick of Hasan's. [You see,] he had a deep, narrow pit sunk into the floor of his audience-chamber. One of his disciples stood in this, in such a way that his head and neck alone were visible above the floor. [And] around the neck was placed a circular dish in two pieces which fitted together, with a hole in the middle. This gave the impression that there was a severed head on a metal plate standing on the floor. [Now] in order to make the scene more plausible (if that is the word) Hasan had some fresh blood poured around the head, on the plate.
"[Then the] recruits were brought in [William Cooper: the initiates]. 'Tell them,' commanded the chief, 'what thou hast seen.' [Then] the disciple [William Cooper: appearing as a head on the plate]...described the delights of Paradise. 'You have seen the head of a man who died, whom you all knew. I have reanimated him to speak with his own tongue.' [William Cooper: And then, he would really sever, treacherously, the man's head] in real earnest, and stuck for some time somewhere that the faithful would see it. The effect of this conjuring trick plus murder increased the enthusiasm for martyrdom to the required degree [William Cooper: and gave him unbelievable control over his flock].
There are many documented instances of the recklessness of the fidayeen (devotees) of the Ismailis, one witness being a Westerner who was treated a century later to a similar spectacle to that which had appalled the envoy of Malik Shah."
[William Cooper]: But we've got to take a break first, folks. Don't go away, I'll be right back after this very short pause.
(break music: Theme from The Twilight Zone)
[Continuing reading from A History of Secret Societies, written by Arkon Daraul]:
"Henry, Count of Champagne, reports that he was traveling in 1194 through Ismaili territory. 'The chief sent some persons to salute him and beg that, on his return he would stop at and partake of the hospitality of the castle. The Count accepted the invitation. As he returned, the Dai-el-Kebir ([or] Great Missionary) advanced to meet him, showed him every mark of honor, and let him view his castle and fortresses. Having passed through several, they came at length to one of the towers which rose to an exceeding height. On each tower stood two sentinels clad in white. "These," said the Chief, pointing to them, "obey me far better than the subjects of your Christians obey their lords;" and at a given signal two of them flung themselves down, and were dashed to pieces. "If you wish," said he to the astonished Count, "all my white ones shall do the same." The benevolent Count shrank from the proposal, and candidly avowed that no Christian prince could presume to look for such obedience from his subjects. When he was departing, with many valuable presents, the Chief said to him meaningly, "By means of these trusty servants I get rid of the enemies of our society."'
"Further details of the mentality of Hasan are given in what is supposed to be an autobiographical account of his early days, and it probably is in fact such, because the method of his conversion does seem to follow the pattern which has been observed in fanatics, of whatever religious or political persuasion.
"He was, he says, reared in the belief of the divine right of the Imams, by his father. He early met an Ismaili missionary (Emir Dhareb) with whom he argued strenuously against the Emir's particular form of creed. Then, sometime later, he went through a bout of severe illness, in which he feared to die, and began to think that the Ismaili doctrine might really be the road to redemption and Paradise. If he died unconverted, he might be damned. Thus it was that as soon as he recovered he sought out another Ismaili propagandist, Abu Najam, and then others. Eventually he went to Egypt, to study the creed at its headquarters.
"He was received with honor by the Caliph, due to his former position at the Court of Malik Shah. in order to increase their own importance, the high officials of the Court made a good deal of public play of the significance of the new convert; but this fact seemed in the end to help Hasan more than it did them. He entered into political intrigue and was arrested, then confined in a fortress. No sooner had he entered the prison than a minaret collapsed, and in some unexplained way this was interpreted as an omen that Hasan was in reality a divinely protected person. The Caliph, hurriedly making Hasan a number of valuable gifts, had him put aboard a ship sailing for north-west Africa. This gave him the funds which he was to use for setting up his 'paradise' -- and also, through some quirk of fate, the disciples whom he sought.
"A tremendous storm blew up, terrifying the captain, crew and passengers alike. Prayers were held, and Hasan was asked to join. He refused. 'The storm is my doing; how can I pray that it abate?' he asked. [William Cooper: And then says this:] 'I have indicated the displeasure of the Almighty. If we sink, I shall not die, for I am immortal. If you want to be saved, believe in me, and I shall subdue the winds.'
"[Well] at first the offer was not accepted. Presently, however, when the ship seemed on the point of capsizing, the desperate passengers came to him and swore eternal allegiance. Hasan was still [very] calm; and continued so until the storm abated. The ship was then driven on to the sea-coast of Syria, where Hasan disembarked, together with two of the merchant passengers, who became his first real disciples.
"Hasan was not yet ready for the fulfillment of his destiny as he saw it. For the time being, he was traveling under the guise of a missionary of the Caliph in Cairo. From Aleppo he went to Baghdad, seeking a headquarters where he should be safe from interference and where he yet could become powerful enough to expand. Into Persia the road led him, traveling through the country, making converts to his ideas, which were still apparently strongly based upon the secret doctrines of the Egyptian Ismailis. Everywhere he created a really devoted disciple ([or] fidayi) he bade him stay and try to enlarge the circle of his followers. These circles became hatching-grounds for the production of 'self-sacrificers', the initiates who were drawn from the ranks of the most promising ordinary converts. Thus it was that miniature training centers, modeled upon the Abode of Learning, were in being within a very few months of his return to his homeland.
"During his travels, a trusted lieutenant -- one Hussein Kahini -- reported that the Iraki district where the fortress of Alamut was situated seemed to be an ideal place for proselytism. Most of the ordinary people of that place, in fact, had been persuaded into the Ismaili way of thinking. The only obstacle was the Governor, Ali Mahdi, who looked upon the Caliph of Baghdad as his spiritual and temporal lord. The first converts were expelled from the country. Before many months, however, there were so many Ismailis among the populace that the Governor was compelled to allow them to return. Hasan, though, he would not brook [William Cooper: would not allow him]. The prospective owner of Alamut decided to try a trick. He offered the Governor three thousand pieces of gold for 'the amount of land which could be encompassed by the hide of an ox'. When Mahdi agreed to such a sale, Hasan produced a skin, cut it into the thinnest possible thongs, and joined them together to form a string which encompassed the castle of Alamut. Although the Governor refused to honor any such bargain, Hasan produced an order from a very highly placed official of the Seljuk rulers, ordering that the fortress be handed over to Hasan for three thousand gold pieces. [Well] it turned out that this official was himself a secret follower of the Sheikh of the Mountain.
"The year was A.D. 1090. Hasan was now ready for the next part of his plan. He attacked and routed the troops of the Emir who had been placed in the governorship of the Province, and welded the people of the surrounding districts into a firm band of diligent and trustworthy workers and soldiers, answerable to him [and him] alone. Within two years the Vizier Nizam-ul-Mulk had been stabbed to the heart by an assassin sent by Hasan, and the Emperor Malik Shah, who dared to send troops against him, died in grave suspicion of poison. Hasan's revenge upon his class-fellow was to make him the very first target of his reign of terror. [You see,] with the king's death, the whole realm was split up into warring factions. For long the Assassins alone retained their cohesion. In under a decade they had made themselves masters of all Persian Irak, and of many forts throughout the empire. This they did by forays, direct attack, the poisoned dagger, and in any other manner which seemed expedient [William Cooper: indeed, the ends always justifies by the means]. The orthodox religious leaders pronounced one interdict after another against their doctrines; all to no effect.
"By now the entire loyalty of the Ismailis under him had been transferred from the Caliph to the personality of the Sheikh of the Mountain, who became the terror of every prince in that part of Asia, the Crusader chiefs included. 'Despite and despising fatigues, dangers and tortures, the Assassins joyfully gave their lives whenever it pleased the great master, who required them either to protect himself or to carry out his mandates of death. The victim having been pointed out, the faithful, clothed in a white tunic with a red sash, the colors of innocence and blood, went on their mission without being deterred by distance or danger. Having found the person they sought, they awaited the favorable moment for slaying him, and their daggers seldom missed their aim.'
"Richard the Lionheart was at one time accused of having asked the 'Lord of the Mountain' to have Conrad of Montferrat killed; a plot which was carried out thus: 'Two assassins allowed themselves to be baptized and placing themselves beside him, seemed intent only on praying. But the favorable opportunity presented itself; they stabbed him and one took refuge in the church. But hearing that the prince had been carried off still alive, he again forced himself into Montferrat's presence, and stabbed him a second time; and then expired, without a complaint, amidst refined tortures.'"
[William Cooper]: Do you see? The method of controlling men's minds that Hasan had perfected was extremely effective and powerful. And not one, not even one, incidence of one of his followers failing to carry out his orders exactly can be found.
"The Order of the Assassins had perfected their method of securing the loyalty of human beings to an extent and on a scale which has seldom been paralleled.
"The Assassins carried on the battle on two fronts. [You see,] they fought whichever side in the Crusades served their purposes [William Cooper: They fought with the Knights Templars and fought against the Knights Templars]. At the same time they continued the struggle against the Persians. The son and successor of Nizam-al-Mulk was laid low by an Assassin dagger. The Sultan, who had succeeded his father Malik Shah and gained power over most of his territories was marching against them. One morning, however, he awoke with an Assassin weapon stuck neatly into the ground near his head. Within it was a note, warning him to call off the proposed siege of Alamut. [Well,] he came to terms with the Assassins [after that], powerful ruler though he undoubtedly was. [William Cooper: You see, the assassins eventually] had what amounted to a free hand, in exchange for a pact by which they promised to reduce their military power."
[William Cooper]: It was during their pacts, their treaties, their battles with the Knights Templars that many, some say most, some few even say all, of the Knights Templars were initiated into the Mysteries.
"Hasan lived for thirty-four years after his acquisition of Alamut. On only two occasions since then had he even left his room; yet he ruled an invisible empire as great and as fearsome as any man before -- or since."
[William Cooper]: ...they say, but his empire may still exist today, changed and melded with other sects of the Mysteries.
"[Hasan] seemed to realize that death was almost upon him, and calmly began to make plans for the perpetual continuance [folks] of the Order of the Assassins."
[William Cooper]: And we now begin the latter days of the Assassins which we will not finish in this hour but will finish in the next.
"The ruler of one the most terrifying organizations the world has ever known was without a lineal successor. [In fact,] he had had both of his sons killed: one for carrying out an unauthorized murder, [and] the other for drinking wine; certainly a case of 'do as I say, not as I do'. He called his two most trusted lieutenants from the strongholds which they maintained on his behalf: Kia Buzurg-Umid (Kia of Great Promise) and Abu-Ali of Qaswin. Kia was to inherit the spiritual and mystical aspect, while Abu-Ali attended to the military and administrative affairs of the Order. It is said that Hasan bin Sabah died almost immediately afterwards, in 1124, at ninety years of age; having given the world a new word; assassin. 'Assasseen' in Arabic signifies 'guardians', and some commentators have considered this to be the true origin of the word: 'guardians of the secrets [William Cooper: which the Knight Templar took to Europe].'
"The Organization of the Order, under Hasan, called for Missionaries...Friends... who were disciples, and Fidavis, devotees. The last group had been added by Hasan to the Ismaili original, and these were the trained killers. Fidavis wore white, with a girdle, cap or boots of red. In addition to careful coaching in where and when to place the dagger in the victim's bosom, they were trained in such things as languages, the dress and manners of monks, merchants and soldiers, any of whom they were ready to impersonate in carrying out their missions. The chief was known as Sayedna ([which means] Our Prince, [or] Leader), and popularly (because of the mountain stronghold of Alamut), as the Sheikh of the Mountain."
[William Cooper:] Now, Alamut, or the stronghold of the mountain, was also known as "The Eagle's Nest," and this is what Hitler named his mountain retreat, and there's also an Eagle's Nest near Santa Barbara, California, which very few people know anything about...yet.
"[Now, the Sheikh of the Mountain] is the figure referred to in Crusaders' writings as 'Sydney', or 'Senex de Monte', the first word being a literal translation of the word 'Pir': Persian for Ancient, or Sage. There were three Great Missionaries, who ruled three territories. After the Friends and Fidavis came the Laziks, aspirants who were being trained for membership of the society, but were as yet uninitiated.
"Hasan reduced the original number of degrees of initiation from nine to the mystical number of seven. A similar number of regulations formed the rules of the Order. This, in fact, comprised the working plan of the spreading of the Faith. The First Rule was that the Missionary must know human psychology in such a way as to be able to select suitable people for admission to the cult; and was summed up in the mnemonic: 'Cast no seeds upon rocks.' The second rule of procedure was the application of flattery and gaining the confidence of the prospective member. Third came the casting of doubt into the mind, by superior knowledge. Fourthly, the teacher must apply an oath to [the] student never to betray any of the 'truths' which were to be revealed to him. Now he was told, as the fifth stage, that Ismailism was a powerful secret organization, supported by some of the most important figures of the time. After this, the aspirant was questioned and studied, to discover whether he had absorbed the opinions of the teacher and attached himself sufficiently into a position of dependence upon his ideas. [And] at this stage he was asked to meditate upon the meaning of the reported saying of the prophet that 'Paradise lies in the shadow of swords.' In the final degree, many difficult passages of the Koran were explained in terms of allegory.
"How is it that the rules of this extraordinarily successful Order are known in such detail? [Well,] it so happened that when the Mongols eventually overthrew Alamut by force of arms, their chief Halaku ([meaning] 'Destruction') Khan, asked his chief minister to examine their library. This most learned man, 'Father of Kings' Jawani, later wrote a careful book in which he detailed the organization of the Assassins, whose name he attributed to the use of the drug Hashish, which they were said to use in stupefying candidates for the ephemeral visit to 'paradise'.
"It is possible that recruits were made in another way than by selecting gullible, fully grown youths. Legend has it that Hasan, once master of Alamut, used to buy unwanted children from their parents, and train them in implicit obedience and with the sole desire to die in his service.
"Buzurg-Umid ([meaning] 'Great Promise'), the second Grand Master [William Cooper: 'Grand Master' is still used today, folks], maintained the power of the Assassins on much the same pattern: building new forts, gaining fresh converts, terrorizing those whom he did not want to have killed and using them to further his design of world conquest. Sultan Sanjar of Persia, in spite of several expeditions against the Viper's Nest, as Alamut was now being called, could do little about him."
[William Cooper:] "Viper's Nest" was the term given by the Assassins' enemies. The Assassins themselves call it the "Eagle's Nest."
"Ambassadors on each side were slain; a notable religious leader was captured by the Assassins, given a mock trial and flung into a furnace. The Grand Master at this time seldom put on the field more than two thousand men at a time: but it must be remembered that they were killers acting under an iron discipline, and more than a match for any organized army that they might ever have to face. Now the Order began to spread in Syria, where the continued contact with the Crusaders was established.
"The warriors of the Cross were in fairly effective control of an area extending from the Egyptian border to Armenia in the north. Bahram, a Persian leader of the Assassin cult from Astrabad, gained control of a mighty fortress in Syria, in the region known as the Valley of Demons (Wadi-el-Jan), and from there spread [out] from one fort to another. The Grand Prior Bahram now moved to an even more substantial fortified place, Massyat. Bahram's successor, Ismail the Lash-Bearer, planted a trained devotee on the saintly Vizier of Baghdad, into whose confidence he worked his way to such an extent that this Assassin, now called the 'Father of Trust', was actually made Grand Judge of Baghdad.
"The Crusaders had by now been about thirty years in the Holy Land, and the Assassins decided that they could usefully form an alliance with them aimed against Baghdad. A secret treaty was therefore made between the Grand Master and Baldwin II, King of Jerusalem, whereby the Ismaili Grand Judge would have opened the gates of Baghdad treacherously to the Crusaders, if the fortified city of Tyre were handed over to the Assassins for their part in the transaction.
"[William Cooper: Well, (laughs) as with most plans,] something went wrong. The judge had ordered an underling to open the city's gates. This servant had told the military commander of Damascus, who lost no time in killing the man, the Vizier and six thousand people believed to be secret Assassins within the city. The Damascus garrison fell upon the Crusaders and beat them back in a thunderstorm which the Christian warriors attributed to divine anger at their unworthy pact, and the Assassins as an attempt by the powers of Nature to allow the Crusaders into the city under its cover.
"Meanwhile the Grand Master was indulging in an orgy of destruction of individual rulers who opposed his creed; the list is interminable, but this is a fair example: 'The celebrated Aksunkur, Prince of Mosul, was a warrior equally dreaded by the Christians and the Assassins. As this Prince, on his return from Ma'ara Masrin, where the Moslem and Christian hosts had parted without venturing to engage, entered the Mosque at Mosul to perform his devotions, he was attacked at the moment when he was about to take his usual seat by [William Cooper: not one, but] eight Assassins, disguised as dervishes. Three of them fell below the blows of the valiant Emir; but ere his people could come to his aid, he had received his death-wound and expired.'
"The fanaticism which inspired the killers was shared, it seems, by other members of their families, who had been thoroughly trained in the bloody creed: for the historian Kamal-ed-Din relates, 'On this occasion when the mother of one of the youths who attempted Aksunkur's life heard that he had been slain, she painted her face and donned the gayest raiment and ornaments, rejoicing that her son had been found worthy to die the glorious death of a martyr in the cause of the Imam. But when she saw him return alive and unscathed, she cut off her hair and blackened her countenance, and would not be comforted.'
"Things thus continued for the fourteen years and a quarter of the Second Grand Master's rule. When he died he nominated his son Kia Mohammed as his successor. Under Mohammed the killings continued, a part of the sea-coast of Palestine came into Assassin hands, and the cult leaders reaffirmed their overt belief in orthodox Islam. In public, Ismailis were ordinary Moslems; the secret doctrine of the divinely guided leader was not to be discussed with the uninitiated."
[William Cooper]: Don't miss tomorrow night's show. Good night, and God bless each and every one of you.
(closing music: unknown, dramatic instrumental music)
You're listening to the Hour of the Time and I'm your host, William Cooper.
(opening music: In the Hall of the Mountain King, written by Edvard Grieg)
[Reading from A History of Secret Societies, written by Arkon Daraul]:
"Two men in the year 1092 stood on the ramparts of a medieval castle -- the Eagle's Nest -- perched high upon the crags of the Persian mountains: the personal representative of the Emperor and the veiled figure who claimed to be the incarnation of God on earth. Hasan, son of Sabah, Sheikh of the Mountains and leader of the Assassins, spoke: 'You see that devotee standing guard on yonder turret-top? Watch!'
"He made a signal. Instantly the white-robed figure threw up his hands in salutation, and cast himself two thousand feet into the foaming torrent which surrounded the fortress.
"'I have seventy thousand men -- and women -- throughout Asia, [and] each one of them ready to do my bidding. Can your master, Malik Shah, say the same? And he asks me to surrender to his sovereignty! This is your answer. Go!'
"[Now] such a scene may be worthy of the most exaggerated of horror films. And yet it took place in historical fact. The only quibble made by the chronicler of the time was that Hasan's devotees numbered 'only about forty thousand.' How this man Sabah came by his uncanny power, and how his devotees struck terror into the hearts of men from the Caspian to Egypt, is one of the most extraordinary of all tales of secret societies [William Cooper: the Mysteries]. Today, the sect of the Hashishin ([or] druggers) still exists in the form of the Ismailis ([or] Ishmaelites), whose undisputed chief, endowed by them with divine attributes, is the Aga Khan.
"Like many another secret cult, the Assassin organization was based upon an earlier association. [And] in order to understand how they worked and what their objectives were, we must begin with these roots.
"It must be remembered [William Cooper: dear listeners] that the followers of Islam in the seventh century A.D. split into two divisions: the orthodox, who regard Mohammed as the bringer of divine inspiration; and the Shiahs, who consider that Ali, his successor, the Fourth Imam ([or] leader), was more important. It is with the Shiahs that we are concerned here.
"From the beginning of the split in the early days of Islam, the Shiahs relied for survival upon secrecy, organization and initiation. Although the minority party in Islam, they believed that they could overcome the majority (and eventually the whole world) by superior organization and power. To this end they started a number of societies which practiced secret rites in which the personality of Ali was worshipped, and whose rank and file were trained to struggle above all for the accomplishment of world dominion.
"One of the most successful secret societies which the Shiahs founded was centered around the Abode of Learning in Cairo, which was the training-ground for fanatics who were conditioned by the most cunning methods to believe in a special divine mission. In order to do this, the original democratic Islamic ideas had to be overcome by skilled teachers, acting under the orders of the Caliph of the Fatimites, who ruled Egypt at that time.
"Members were enrolled, on the understanding that they were to receive hidden power and timeless wisdom which would enable them to become as important in life as some of the teachers."
[William Cooper]: ...and you find that these same precepts in every branch, in every nationality, on every continent where the Mysteries prevail.
"The Caliph saw to it that the instructors were no ordinary men. The supreme judge was one of them; another was the commander-in-chief of the army; a third the minister of the Court. There was no lack of applicants. In any country where the highest officials of the realm formed a body of teachers, one would find the same thing.
"Classes were divided into study groups, some composed of men, others of women, collectively termed Assemblies of Wisdom. All lessons were carefully prepared, written down and submitted to the Caliph for his seal. At the end of the lecture all present kissed the seal: for did the Caliph not claim direct descent from Mohammed, through his son-in-law Ali and thence from Ismail, the seventh Imam? He was the embodiment of divinity, far more than any Tibetan lama ever was.
"The university, lavishly endowed and possessing the best manuscripts and scientific instruments available, received a grant of a quarter of a million gold pieces annually from the Caliph. Its external form was similar to the pattern of the ancient Arab universities, not much different from Oxford. But its real purpose was the complete transformation of the mind of the student.
"Students had to pass through nine degrees of initiation [William Cooper: the same number that are claimed in the York Rite of Freemasonry]. In the first, the teachers threw their pupils into a state of doubt about all conventional ideas, religious and political. They used false analogy and every other device of argument to make the aspirant believe that what he had been taught by his previous mentors was prejudiced and capable of being challenged. The effect of this according to the Arab historian, Makrizi, was to cause him to lean upon the personality of the teachers, as the only possible source of the proper interpretation of facts. At the same time, the teachers hinted continually that formal knowledge was merely the cloak for hidden, inner and powerful truth, whose secret would be imparted when the youth was ready to receive it. [William Cooper: None ever questioned why no secret was ever put forth.] This 'confusion technique' was carried out until the student reached the stage where he was prepared to swear a vow of blind allegiance to one or other of his teachers.
"This oath, together with certain secret signs, was administered in due course, and the candidate awarded the first degree of initiation. The second degree took the form of initiation into the fact that the Imams ([the] successors of Mohammed) were the true and only sources of secret knowledge and power. Imams inspired the teachers. Therefore the student was to acknowledge every saying and act of his appointed guides as blessed and divinely inspired. In the third degree, the esoteric names of the Seven Imams were revealed, and the secret words by which they could be conjured and by which the powers inherent in the very repetition of their names could be liberated and used for the individual especially in the service of the sect.
"In the fourth degree, the succession of the Seven Mystical Law-givers and magical personalities was given to the learner. These were characterized as Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Mohammed and Ismail. There were seven mystical 'helpers': Seth, Shem, Ishmael, Aaron, Simon, Ali, and Mohammed, the [sons] of Ismail. This last was dead, but he had a mysterious deputy, who was the Lord of the Time: authorized to give his instructions to the People of Truth, as the Ismailis called themselves. This hidden figure gave the Caliph the power to pretend that he was acting under even higher instructions.
"The fifth degree named twelve apostles under the seven prophets, whose names and functions and magical powers were described. In this degree the power to influence others by means of personal concentration was supposed to be taught. One writer claims that this was done merely by the repetition, for a period of three years to train the mind, of the magical word AK-ZABT-I.
"To obtain the sixth degree involved instruction in the methods of analytical and destructive argument, in which the postulant had to pass a [very] stiff examination. The seventh degree brought [revelations] of the Great Secret: that all humanity and all creation were one and every single thing was part of the whole, which included the creative and destructive power [William Cooper: the androgynous god]. But, as an Ismaili, the individual could make use of the power which was ready to be awakened within him, and overcome those who knew nothing of the immense potential of the rest of humanity. This power came through the aid of the mysterious power called the Lord of the Time.
"To qualify for the eighth degree, the aspirant had to believe that all religion, philosophy and the like were fraudulent. All that mattered was the individual, who could attain fulfillment only through servitude to the greatest developed power - the Imam. The ninth and last degree brought the revelation of the secret that there was no such thing as belief: all that mattered was action. And the only possessor of the reasons for carrying out any action was the chief of the sect.
"As a secret society, the organization of the Ismailis as outlined above was undoubtedly powerful and seemed likely to produce a large number of devotees who would blindly obey the orders of whomever was in control of the edifice. But, as with [many] other bodies of this kind, there were severe limitations from the point of view of effectiveness.
"Perhaps the phase of revolt or subversion planned by the society did not in the end get under way; perhaps it was not intended to work by any other means than training the individual. Be that as it may, its real success extended abroad only...to Baghdad [in 1058], where a member gained temporary control of Baghdad and coined money in the Egyptian Caliph's name. [Now] this sultan was slain by the Turks, who now entered the picture, and the Cairo headquarters was also threatened . By 1123, the society was closed down by the Vizier Afdal. The rise of Turkish power seemed to have discouraged the expansionist Cairo sect so strongly that they almost faded out, and [very] little is heard of them after that date.
"It was left to Hasan, son of Sabah, the Old Man of the Mountains, to perfect the system of the ailing secret society, and found an organization which [has] endured for nearly another thousand years.
"Who was Hasan? [Well,] he was the son of a Shiah (Ali-worshipper) in Khorasam, a most bigoted man, who claimed that his ancestors were Arabs, from Kufa. [Now] this assumption was probably due to the fact that such a lineage bolstered up claims to religious importance, then as now, among Moslems. [You see,] the people of the neighborhood, many of them also Shiahs, stated very decisively that this Ali was a Persian, and so were his forebears. [So] it is generally thought that this is the truer version. As the Governor of the Province was an orthodox Moslem, Ali spared no efforts to assume the same guise. [Now] this is considered to be completely permissible -- the Doctrine of Intelligent Dissimulation. As there was some doubt as to his reliability in the religious sense, he retired into a monastic retreat, and sent his son Hasan to an orthodox school. This school was no ordinary one. It was the circle of disciples presided over by the redoubtable Imam Muwafiq, about whom it was said that every individual who enrolled under him eventually rose to great power.
"It was here that Hasan met Omar Khayyám, the tentmaker-poet and astronomer, later to be the poet laureate of Persia. Another of his schoolmates was Nizam-ul-Mulk, who rose from peasanthood to become prime minister. These three made a pact, according to Nizam's autobiography, whereby whichever rose to high office first would help the others."
[William Cooper]: And that tenet has survived to this day. It is how their own infiltrate all levels of society, military, and government, and then pull their brothers up into positions below them. It is the method of infiltrating and controlling large masses, populations, governments, military organizations, and society as a whole.
"Nizam, the courtier, became Vizier to Alp-Arslan the Turkish sultan of Persia [William Cooper: in a very relatively short time. He helped Omar], in accordance with his vow, and secured him a pension, which gave him a life of ease and indulgence in his beloved Nishapur, where many of his Rubá'iát poems were written. Meanwhile Hasan remained in obscurity, wandering through the Middle East, waiting for his chance to attain the power of which he had dreamed. Arslan the Lion died, and was succeeded by Malik Shah. Suddenly, Hasan presented himself to Nizam, demanding to be given a place at court. Delighted to fulfill his childhood vow, the vizier obtained for him a favored place, and relates what transpired thus in his autobiography:
"'I had him made [a] minister by my strong and extravagant recommendations. Like his father, however, he proved to be a fraud, hypocrite and a self-seeking villain. He was so clever at dissimulation that he appeared to be pious when he was not, and before long he had somehow completely captured the mind of the Shah.'
"[Now] Malik Shah was young, and Hasan was trained in the Shiah art of winning people over by apparent honesty [William Cooper: which means it has the appearance, or the look, of honesty, but truly is not. Just as the notice of apparent violations sent by the FCC (laughs)]. But Nizam was still the most important man in the realm, with an impressive record of honest dealing and achievements. Hasan decided to eliminate him.
"The king had asked in that year, 1078, for a complete accounting of the revenue and expenditure of the empire, and Nizam told him that this would take over a year. Hasan, on the other hand, claimed that the whole work could be done in forty days, and offered to prove it [William Cooper: and there's that forty days again]. The task was assigned to him. And the accounts were prepared in the specified time. Something went wrong at this point. The balance of historical opinion holds that Nizam struck back at the last moment, saying, 'By Allah, this man will destroy us all unless he is rendered harmless, though I cannot kill my playmate.' [Now] whatever the truth may be, it seems that Nizam managed to have such disparities introduced into the final calligraphic version of the accounts that when Hasan started to read them they appeared so absurd that the Shah, in fury, ordered him to be exiled. As he had claimed to have written the accounts in his own hand, Hasan could not justify their incredible deficiencies [William Cooper: and could not sluff the blame off upon his friend].
"Hasan had friends in Isfahan, where he immediately fled. There survives a record of what he said there, which sheds interesting light upon what was in his mind. One of these friends, Abu-al-Fazal, notes that Hasan, after reciting the bitter tale of his downfall, shouted these words, in a state of uncontrollable rage: 'If I had two, just two, devotees who would stand by me, then I would cause the downfall of that Turk and that peasant.'
"Fazal concluded that Hasan had taken leave of his senses, and tried to get him out of this ugly mood. Hasan took umbrage, and insisted that he was working on a plan, and that he would have his revenge. He set off for Egypt, there to mature his plans.
"Fazal was himself later to become a devotee of the Assassin chief, and Hasan, two decades later, reminded him of that day in Isfahan: 'Here I am at Alamut, Master of all I survey: and more. The Sultan and the peasant Vizier are dead. Have I not kept my vow? Was I the madman you thought me to be? I found my two devotees, who were necessary to my plans.'
"Hasan himself takes up the story of how his fortunes fared after the flight from Persia. He had been brought up in the secret doctrines of Ismailism [William Cooper: the Arab branch of the Mysteries], and recognized the possibilities of power inherent in such a system. He knew that in Cairo there was a powerful nucleus of the society. And, if we are to believe the words of Fazal, he already had a plan whereby he could turn their followers into disciplined, devoted fanatics, willing to die for a leader. What was this plan? [Well,] he had decided that it was not enough to promise paradise, fulfillment, eternal joy to people. He would actually show it to them; show it in the form of an artificial paradise, where houris played and fountains gushed sweet-scented waters, where every sensual wish was granted amid beautiful flowers and gilded pavilions. And this [dear listeners] is what he eventually did.
"Hasan chose a hidden valley for the site of his paradise, described by Marco Polo, who passed this way in 1271:
"'In a beautiful valley, enclosed between two lofty mountains, he had formed a luxurious garden stored with every delicious fruit and every fragrant shrub that could be procured. Palaces of various sizes and forms were erected in different parts of the grounds, ornamented with works of gold, with paintings and with furniture of rich silks. By means of small conduits contained in these buildings, streams of wine, milk, honey and some of pure water were seen to flow in every direction. The inhabitants of these places were elegant and beautiful damsels, accomplished in the arts of singing, playing upon all sorts of musical instruments, dancing, and especially those of dalliance and amorous allurement. Clothed in rich dresses, they were seen continually sporting and amusing themselves in the garden and pavilions, their female guardians being confined within doors and never allowed to appear. The object which the chief had in view in forming a garden of this fascinating kind was this: that Mahomet having promised to those who should obey his will the enjoyments of Paradise, where every species of sensual gratification should be found, in the society of beautiful nymphs, he was desirous of it being understood by his followers that he also was a prophet and a compeer of Mahomet, and had the power of admitting to Paradise such as he should choose to favor. In order that none without his license should find their way into this delicious valley, he caused a strong and inexpugnable castle to be erected at the opening to it, through which the entry was by a secret passage."
[William Cooper]: ...and thus the legend of Shambala, or the paradise in the mountains, a valley of lush greenery, unending fruits, fair, beautiful maidens...thus the legend began.
"Hasan began to attract young men from the surrounding countryside, between the ages of twelve and twenty: particularly those whom he marked out as possible material for the production of killers. Every day he held court, a reception at which he spoke of the delights of Paradise and at certain times he caused droughts of soporific nature to be administered to ten or a dozen youths, and when half dead with sleep [William Cooper: drugged out of their minds] he had them conveyed to the several palaces and apartments of the garden. Upon awakening from this state of lethargy, their senses were struck by all the delightful objects, and each perceiving himself surrounded by lovely damsels, singing, playing, and attracting his regards by the most fascinating caresses, serving him also with delicious viands and exquisite wines, until, intoxicated with excess and enjoyment, amidst actual [real] rivers of milk and wine, he believed himself assuredly in Paradise, and felt an unwillingness to relinquish its delights. When four or five days had thus been passed, they were thrown once more into a state of somnolency [drugged], and carried out of the garden. Upon being carried to his presence, and questioned by him as to where they had been, their answer was, 'in Paradise, through the favor of your highness'; and then, before the whole court who listened to them with eager astonishment and curiosity, they gave a circumstantial account of the scenes to which they had been witnesses. The chief thereupon addressing them said: 'We have the assurance of our Prophet that he who defends his Lord shall inherit Paradise, and if you show yourselves[, if you show yourselves] to be devoted to the obedience of my orders, that happy lot awaits you.'
"[Now] suicide was at first attempted by some [William Cooper: to be able to return to the Paradise that they had just left, not knowing that it was an illusion]; but the survivors were early told that only death in the obedience of Hasan's orders could give the Key to Paradise. [And] in the eleventh century it was not only credulous Persian peasants who would have believed such things were true. Even among [the] more sophisticated people the reality of the gardens and houris of paradise were completely accepted. True, a good many Sufis preached that the garden was allegorical - but that still left more than a few people who believed that they could trust the evidence of their senses.
"The ancient Art of Imposture, by Abdel-Rahman of Damascus, gives away another trick of Hasan's. [You see,] he had a deep, narrow pit sunk into the floor of his audience-chamber. One of his disciples stood in this, in such a way that his head and neck alone were visible above the floor. [And] around the neck was placed a circular dish in two pieces which fitted together, with a hole in the middle. This gave the impression that there was a severed head on a metal plate standing on the floor. [Now] in order to make the scene more plausible (if that is the word) Hasan had some fresh blood poured around the head, on the plate.
"[Then the] recruits were brought in [William Cooper: the initiates]. 'Tell them,' commanded the chief, 'what thou hast seen.' [Then] the disciple [William Cooper: appearing as a head on the plate]...described the delights of Paradise. 'You have seen the head of a man who died, whom you all knew. I have reanimated him to speak with his own tongue.' [William Cooper: And then, he would really sever, treacherously, the man's head] in real earnest, and stuck for some time somewhere that the faithful would see it. The effect of this conjuring trick plus murder increased the enthusiasm for martyrdom to the required degree [William Cooper: and gave him unbelievable control over his flock].
There are many documented instances of the recklessness of the fidayeen (devotees) of the Ismailis, one witness being a Westerner who was treated a century later to a similar spectacle to that which had appalled the envoy of Malik Shah."
[William Cooper]: But we've got to take a break first, folks. Don't go away, I'll be right back after this very short pause.
(break music: Theme from The Twilight Zone)
[Continuing reading from A History of Secret Societies, written by Arkon Daraul]:
"Henry, Count of Champagne, reports that he was traveling in 1194 through Ismaili territory. 'The chief sent some persons to salute him and beg that, on his return he would stop at and partake of the hospitality of the castle. The Count accepted the invitation. As he returned, the Dai-el-Kebir ([or] Great Missionary) advanced to meet him, showed him every mark of honor, and let him view his castle and fortresses. Having passed through several, they came at length to one of the towers which rose to an exceeding height. On each tower stood two sentinels clad in white. "These," said the Chief, pointing to them, "obey me far better than the subjects of your Christians obey their lords;" and at a given signal two of them flung themselves down, and were dashed to pieces. "If you wish," said he to the astonished Count, "all my white ones shall do the same." The benevolent Count shrank from the proposal, and candidly avowed that no Christian prince could presume to look for such obedience from his subjects. When he was departing, with many valuable presents, the Chief said to him meaningly, "By means of these trusty servants I get rid of the enemies of our society."'
"Further details of the mentality of Hasan are given in what is supposed to be an autobiographical account of his early days, and it probably is in fact such, because the method of his conversion does seem to follow the pattern which has been observed in fanatics, of whatever religious or political persuasion.
"He was, he says, reared in the belief of the divine right of the Imams, by his father. He early met an Ismaili missionary (Emir Dhareb) with whom he argued strenuously against the Emir's particular form of creed. Then, sometime later, he went through a bout of severe illness, in which he feared to die, and began to think that the Ismaili doctrine might really be the road to redemption and Paradise. If he died unconverted, he might be damned. Thus it was that as soon as he recovered he sought out another Ismaili propagandist, Abu Najam, and then others. Eventually he went to Egypt, to study the creed at its headquarters.
"He was received with honor by the Caliph, due to his former position at the Court of Malik Shah. in order to increase their own importance, the high officials of the Court made a good deal of public play of the significance of the new convert; but this fact seemed in the end to help Hasan more than it did them. He entered into political intrigue and was arrested, then confined in a fortress. No sooner had he entered the prison than a minaret collapsed, and in some unexplained way this was interpreted as an omen that Hasan was in reality a divinely protected person. The Caliph, hurriedly making Hasan a number of valuable gifts, had him put aboard a ship sailing for north-west Africa. This gave him the funds which he was to use for setting up his 'paradise' -- and also, through some quirk of fate, the disciples whom he sought.
"A tremendous storm blew up, terrifying the captain, crew and passengers alike. Prayers were held, and Hasan was asked to join. He refused. 'The storm is my doing; how can I pray that it abate?' he asked. [William Cooper: And then says this:] 'I have indicated the displeasure of the Almighty. If we sink, I shall not die, for I am immortal. If you want to be saved, believe in me, and I shall subdue the winds.'
"[Well] at first the offer was not accepted. Presently, however, when the ship seemed on the point of capsizing, the desperate passengers came to him and swore eternal allegiance. Hasan was still [very] calm; and continued so until the storm abated. The ship was then driven on to the sea-coast of Syria, where Hasan disembarked, together with two of the merchant passengers, who became his first real disciples.
"Hasan was not yet ready for the fulfillment of his destiny as he saw it. For the time being, he was traveling under the guise of a missionary of the Caliph in Cairo. From Aleppo he went to Baghdad, seeking a headquarters where he should be safe from interference and where he yet could become powerful enough to expand. Into Persia the road led him, traveling through the country, making converts to his ideas, which were still apparently strongly based upon the secret doctrines of the Egyptian Ismailis. Everywhere he created a really devoted disciple ([or] fidayi) he bade him stay and try to enlarge the circle of his followers. These circles became hatching-grounds for the production of 'self-sacrificers', the initiates who were drawn from the ranks of the most promising ordinary converts. Thus it was that miniature training centers, modeled upon the Abode of Learning, were in being within a very few months of his return to his homeland.
"During his travels, a trusted lieutenant -- one Hussein Kahini -- reported that the Iraki district where the fortress of Alamut was situated seemed to be an ideal place for proselytism. Most of the ordinary people of that place, in fact, had been persuaded into the Ismaili way of thinking. The only obstacle was the Governor, Ali Mahdi, who looked upon the Caliph of Baghdad as his spiritual and temporal lord. The first converts were expelled from the country. Before many months, however, there were so many Ismailis among the populace that the Governor was compelled to allow them to return. Hasan, though, he would not brook [William Cooper: would not allow him]. The prospective owner of Alamut decided to try a trick. He offered the Governor three thousand pieces of gold for 'the amount of land which could be encompassed by the hide of an ox'. When Mahdi agreed to such a sale, Hasan produced a skin, cut it into the thinnest possible thongs, and joined them together to form a string which encompassed the castle of Alamut. Although the Governor refused to honor any such bargain, Hasan produced an order from a very highly placed official of the Seljuk rulers, ordering that the fortress be handed over to Hasan for three thousand gold pieces. [Well] it turned out that this official was himself a secret follower of the Sheikh of the Mountain.
"The year was A.D. 1090. Hasan was now ready for the next part of his plan. He attacked and routed the troops of the Emir who had been placed in the governorship of the Province, and welded the people of the surrounding districts into a firm band of diligent and trustworthy workers and soldiers, answerable to him [and him] alone. Within two years the Vizier Nizam-ul-Mulk had been stabbed to the heart by an assassin sent by Hasan, and the Emperor Malik Shah, who dared to send troops against him, died in grave suspicion of poison. Hasan's revenge upon his class-fellow was to make him the very first target of his reign of terror. [You see,] with the king's death, the whole realm was split up into warring factions. For long the Assassins alone retained their cohesion. In under a decade they had made themselves masters of all Persian Irak, and of many forts throughout the empire. This they did by forays, direct attack, the poisoned dagger, and in any other manner which seemed expedient [William Cooper: indeed, the ends always justifies by the means]. The orthodox religious leaders pronounced one interdict after another against their doctrines; all to no effect.
"By now the entire loyalty of the Ismailis under him had been transferred from the Caliph to the personality of the Sheikh of the Mountain, who became the terror of every prince in that part of Asia, the Crusader chiefs included. 'Despite and despising fatigues, dangers and tortures, the Assassins joyfully gave their lives whenever it pleased the great master, who required them either to protect himself or to carry out his mandates of death. The victim having been pointed out, the faithful, clothed in a white tunic with a red sash, the colors of innocence and blood, went on their mission without being deterred by distance or danger. Having found the person they sought, they awaited the favorable moment for slaying him, and their daggers seldom missed their aim.'
"Richard the Lionheart was at one time accused of having asked the 'Lord of the Mountain' to have Conrad of Montferrat killed; a plot which was carried out thus: 'Two assassins allowed themselves to be baptized and placing themselves beside him, seemed intent only on praying. But the favorable opportunity presented itself; they stabbed him and one took refuge in the church. But hearing that the prince had been carried off still alive, he again forced himself into Montferrat's presence, and stabbed him a second time; and then expired, without a complaint, amidst refined tortures.'"
[William Cooper]: Do you see? The method of controlling men's minds that Hasan had perfected was extremely effective and powerful. And not one, not even one, incidence of one of his followers failing to carry out his orders exactly can be found.
"The Order of the Assassins had perfected their method of securing the loyalty of human beings to an extent and on a scale which has seldom been paralleled.
"The Assassins carried on the battle on two fronts. [You see,] they fought whichever side in the Crusades served their purposes [William Cooper: They fought with the Knights Templars and fought against the Knights Templars]. At the same time they continued the struggle against the Persians. The son and successor of Nizam-al-Mulk was laid low by an Assassin dagger. The Sultan, who had succeeded his father Malik Shah and gained power over most of his territories was marching against them. One morning, however, he awoke with an Assassin weapon stuck neatly into the ground near his head. Within it was a note, warning him to call off the proposed siege of Alamut. [Well,] he came to terms with the Assassins [after that], powerful ruler though he undoubtedly was. [William Cooper: You see, the assassins eventually] had what amounted to a free hand, in exchange for a pact by which they promised to reduce their military power."
[William Cooper]: It was during their pacts, their treaties, their battles with the Knights Templars that many, some say most, some few even say all, of the Knights Templars were initiated into the Mysteries.
"Hasan lived for thirty-four years after his acquisition of Alamut. On only two occasions since then had he even left his room; yet he ruled an invisible empire as great and as fearsome as any man before -- or since."
[William Cooper]: ...they say, but his empire may still exist today, changed and melded with other sects of the Mysteries.
"[Hasan] seemed to realize that death was almost upon him, and calmly began to make plans for the perpetual continuance [folks] of the Order of the Assassins."
[William Cooper]: And we now begin the latter days of the Assassins which we will not finish in this hour but will finish in the next.
"The ruler of one the most terrifying organizations the world has ever known was without a lineal successor. [In fact,] he had had both of his sons killed: one for carrying out an unauthorized murder, [and] the other for drinking wine; certainly a case of 'do as I say, not as I do'. He called his two most trusted lieutenants from the strongholds which they maintained on his behalf: Kia Buzurg-Umid (Kia of Great Promise) and Abu-Ali of Qaswin. Kia was to inherit the spiritual and mystical aspect, while Abu-Ali attended to the military and administrative affairs of the Order. It is said that Hasan bin Sabah died almost immediately afterwards, in 1124, at ninety years of age; having given the world a new word; assassin. 'Assasseen' in Arabic signifies 'guardians', and some commentators have considered this to be the true origin of the word: 'guardians of the secrets [William Cooper: which the Knight Templar took to Europe].'
"The Organization of the Order, under Hasan, called for Missionaries...Friends... who were disciples, and Fidavis, devotees. The last group had been added by Hasan to the Ismaili original, and these were the trained killers. Fidavis wore white, with a girdle, cap or boots of red. In addition to careful coaching in where and when to place the dagger in the victim's bosom, they were trained in such things as languages, the dress and manners of monks, merchants and soldiers, any of whom they were ready to impersonate in carrying out their missions. The chief was known as Sayedna ([which means] Our Prince, [or] Leader), and popularly (because of the mountain stronghold of Alamut), as the Sheikh of the Mountain."
[William Cooper:] Now, Alamut, or the stronghold of the mountain, was also known as "The Eagle's Nest," and this is what Hitler named his mountain retreat, and there's also an Eagle's Nest near Santa Barbara, California, which very few people know anything about...yet.
"[Now, the Sheikh of the Mountain] is the figure referred to in Crusaders' writings as 'Sydney', or 'Senex de Monte', the first word being a literal translation of the word 'Pir': Persian for Ancient, or Sage. There were three Great Missionaries, who ruled three territories. After the Friends and Fidavis came the Laziks, aspirants who were being trained for membership of the society, but were as yet uninitiated.
"Hasan reduced the original number of degrees of initiation from nine to the mystical number of seven. A similar number of regulations formed the rules of the Order. This, in fact, comprised the working plan of the spreading of the Faith. The First Rule was that the Missionary must know human psychology in such a way as to be able to select suitable people for admission to the cult; and was summed up in the mnemonic: 'Cast no seeds upon rocks.' The second rule of procedure was the application of flattery and gaining the confidence of the prospective member. Third came the casting of doubt into the mind, by superior knowledge. Fourthly, the teacher must apply an oath to [the] student never to betray any of the 'truths' which were to be revealed to him. Now he was told, as the fifth stage, that Ismailism was a powerful secret organization, supported by some of the most important figures of the time. After this, the aspirant was questioned and studied, to discover whether he had absorbed the opinions of the teacher and attached himself sufficiently into a position of dependence upon his ideas. [And] at this stage he was asked to meditate upon the meaning of the reported saying of the prophet that 'Paradise lies in the shadow of swords.' In the final degree, many difficult passages of the Koran were explained in terms of allegory.
"How is it that the rules of this extraordinarily successful Order are known in such detail? [Well,] it so happened that when the Mongols eventually overthrew Alamut by force of arms, their chief Halaku ([meaning] 'Destruction') Khan, asked his chief minister to examine their library. This most learned man, 'Father of Kings' Jawani, later wrote a careful book in which he detailed the organization of the Assassins, whose name he attributed to the use of the drug Hashish, which they were said to use in stupefying candidates for the ephemeral visit to 'paradise'.
"It is possible that recruits were made in another way than by selecting gullible, fully grown youths. Legend has it that Hasan, once master of Alamut, used to buy unwanted children from their parents, and train them in implicit obedience and with the sole desire to die in his service.
"Buzurg-Umid ([meaning] 'Great Promise'), the second Grand Master [William Cooper: 'Grand Master' is still used today, folks], maintained the power of the Assassins on much the same pattern: building new forts, gaining fresh converts, terrorizing those whom he did not want to have killed and using them to further his design of world conquest. Sultan Sanjar of Persia, in spite of several expeditions against the Viper's Nest, as Alamut was now being called, could do little about him."
[William Cooper:] "Viper's Nest" was the term given by the Assassins' enemies. The Assassins themselves call it the "Eagle's Nest."
"Ambassadors on each side were slain; a notable religious leader was captured by the Assassins, given a mock trial and flung into a furnace. The Grand Master at this time seldom put on the field more than two thousand men at a time: but it must be remembered that they were killers acting under an iron discipline, and more than a match for any organized army that they might ever have to face. Now the Order began to spread in Syria, where the continued contact with the Crusaders was established.
"The warriors of the Cross were in fairly effective control of an area extending from the Egyptian border to Armenia in the north. Bahram, a Persian leader of the Assassin cult from Astrabad, gained control of a mighty fortress in Syria, in the region known as the Valley of Demons (Wadi-el-Jan), and from there spread [out] from one fort to another. The Grand Prior Bahram now moved to an even more substantial fortified place, Massyat. Bahram's successor, Ismail the Lash-Bearer, planted a trained devotee on the saintly Vizier of Baghdad, into whose confidence he worked his way to such an extent that this Assassin, now called the 'Father of Trust', was actually made Grand Judge of Baghdad.
"The Crusaders had by now been about thirty years in the Holy Land, and the Assassins decided that they could usefully form an alliance with them aimed against Baghdad. A secret treaty was therefore made between the Grand Master and Baldwin II, King of Jerusalem, whereby the Ismaili Grand Judge would have opened the gates of Baghdad treacherously to the Crusaders, if the fortified city of Tyre were handed over to the Assassins for their part in the transaction.
"[William Cooper: Well, (laughs) as with most plans,] something went wrong. The judge had ordered an underling to open the city's gates. This servant had told the military commander of Damascus, who lost no time in killing the man, the Vizier and six thousand people believed to be secret Assassins within the city. The Damascus garrison fell upon the Crusaders and beat them back in a thunderstorm which the Christian warriors attributed to divine anger at their unworthy pact, and the Assassins as an attempt by the powers of Nature to allow the Crusaders into the city under its cover.
"Meanwhile the Grand Master was indulging in an orgy of destruction of individual rulers who opposed his creed; the list is interminable, but this is a fair example: 'The celebrated Aksunkur, Prince of Mosul, was a warrior equally dreaded by the Christians and the Assassins. As this Prince, on his return from Ma'ara Masrin, where the Moslem and Christian hosts had parted without venturing to engage, entered the Mosque at Mosul to perform his devotions, he was attacked at the moment when he was about to take his usual seat by [William Cooper: not one, but] eight Assassins, disguised as dervishes. Three of them fell below the blows of the valiant Emir; but ere his people could come to his aid, he had received his death-wound and expired.'
"The fanaticism which inspired the killers was shared, it seems, by other members of their families, who had been thoroughly trained in the bloody creed: for the historian Kamal-ed-Din relates, 'On this occasion when the mother of one of the youths who attempted Aksunkur's life heard that he had been slain, she painted her face and donned the gayest raiment and ornaments, rejoicing that her son had been found worthy to die the glorious death of a martyr in the cause of the Imam. But when she saw him return alive and unscathed, she cut off her hair and blackened her countenance, and would not be comforted.'
"Things thus continued for the fourteen years and a quarter of the Second Grand Master's rule. When he died he nominated his son Kia Mohammed as his successor. Under Mohammed the killings continued, a part of the sea-coast of Palestine came into Assassin hands, and the cult leaders reaffirmed their overt belief in orthodox Islam. In public, Ismailis were ordinary Moslems; the secret doctrine of the divinely guided leader was not to be discussed with the uninitiated."
[William Cooper]: Don't miss tomorrow night's show. Good night, and God bless each and every one of you.
(closing music: unknown, dramatic instrumental music)
OBAMA LOSING LIBERAL BASE AND YOUTH COULD COST DEMOCRATS BIG IN NOVEMBER
By Sherwood Ross
President Obama is not only losing support among the general public but also of the liberals and college students who did so much to energize his presidential campaign. Now, even some Democratic incumbents whose seats had been considered safe are in trouble.
According to Rasmussen pollsters, Obama's general approval rating plunged from 65 per cent upon taking office to 45 per cent today. Larry Sabato, director of the Center For Politics at the University of Virginia, says the Republicans are poised to have a net gain of 47 House seats and likely eight Senate seats. “If anything,” says Sabato, “we have been conservative in estimating the probable GOP House gains...”
What's turning off liberals is that on issue after issue, Obama appears to be little more than a slicker copy of his stumbling predecessor. When the Republicans under George Bush elected to bail out Wall Street, Obama helped them finish the job even though congressional mail ran overwhelmingly against it.
Instead, he might have created a massive jobs program to restart the economy with paycheck power as FDR did with his New Deal. But Obama's half-hearted make-work blueprint appears to be too little and too late. “For Vulnerable Democrats, Economy Fuels Election Fears,” The New York Times reported September 4th. “Seeking to keep the focus away from Mr. Obama and the national economy, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona emphasizes her work for rougher border controls and support for the stimulus money that saved the jobs of local teachers and public safety workers,” the paper said. Her campaign manager, Rodde McLeod, says, “We're running our own race.” Translation: the man in the White House is now a liability, not an asset.
A related article in the same issue is titled, “In a Shift, Fewer Young Voters See Themselves as Democrats.” Reporter Kirk Johnson writes, “The college vote is up for grabs this year---to an extent that would have seemed unlikely two years ago, when a generation of young people seemed to swoon over Barack Obama.” He quotes Mandi Asay, 22, spokeswoman for the University of Colorado's College Democrats, as saying: “People are angry---about the budget deficit, health care plan, angry about this and that. I feel like Republicans definitely, definitely have a chance of getting back on their feet.” The percentage of collegians who identify themselves as Democrats has dropped about five points to 57 percent in roughly two years, according to Pew Research Center.
On health care, perhaps the No. 1 concern of liberals after the wars of aggression in the Middle East, Obama surrendered on the public option issue when he might have campaigned for it dramatically in person on hospital doorsteps around the country. Instead, the public got the idea that he regarded it as, well, optional.
And liberals who saw the president as a champion for ecological sanity, are also disillusioned. Writing in the July issue of “Sojourners” magazine, which defines itself as “Faith in Action for Social Justice,” author Bill McKibben writes Obama's honeymoon with progressive Americans “took what looks like a lethal blow” when oil began washing ashore in the marshes of Louisiana last Spring.
True, Bush had relaxed the relevant environmental regulations “But it was Obama himself who had stood up three weeks before the spill and announced that he was lifting a long-standing moratorium on offshore drilling...” McKibben points out. Obama promised “We'll be guided not by political ideology, but by scientific evidence,” when, “In fact, the president has basically ignored scientific evidence when it's come to energy policy,” McKibben wrote.
And Paul Craig Roberts, the former Assistant Treasury Secretary under President Reagan, writes, “Obama... is committed to covering up the Bush regime’s crimes and to ensuring that his own regime can continue to operate in the same illegal and unconstitutional ways.” He points out, “To the consternation of his supporters, Obama is leaving 50,000 U.S. soldiers in Iraq. The others are being sent to Afghanistan and to Pakistan, where on Obama’s watch war has broken out big time with already one million refugees from the indiscriminate bombing of civilians.” Says Roberts: “The change that we are witnessing is in Obama, not in policies. Obama is morphing into Dick Cheney.” Obama has even multiplied the illegal CIA drone attacks in Pakistan that have claimed the lives of hundreds of innocent civilians, possibly because he himself has been a long-time clandestine asset of that intelligence agency.
Where President Eisenhower once got a landslide voter response for his campaign slogan of “Peace and Prosperity,” it should surprise no one that President Obama's failure to deliver either one of those ideals has turned off a nation----starting with disillusioned liberals and college students whose energies played a major role in his election. As Tom Paine is said to have once remarked of a British politician, “As he rose like the rocket, he fell like the stick.”
(Sherwood Ross formerly reported for the Chicago Daily News and wire services. Reach him at sherwoodross10@gmail.com)
President Obama is not only losing support among the general public but also of the liberals and college students who did so much to energize his presidential campaign. Now, even some Democratic incumbents whose seats had been considered safe are in trouble.
According to Rasmussen pollsters, Obama's general approval rating plunged from 65 per cent upon taking office to 45 per cent today. Larry Sabato, director of the Center For Politics at the University of Virginia, says the Republicans are poised to have a net gain of 47 House seats and likely eight Senate seats. “If anything,” says Sabato, “we have been conservative in estimating the probable GOP House gains...”
What's turning off liberals is that on issue after issue, Obama appears to be little more than a slicker copy of his stumbling predecessor. When the Republicans under George Bush elected to bail out Wall Street, Obama helped them finish the job even though congressional mail ran overwhelmingly against it.
Instead, he might have created a massive jobs program to restart the economy with paycheck power as FDR did with his New Deal. But Obama's half-hearted make-work blueprint appears to be too little and too late. “For Vulnerable Democrats, Economy Fuels Election Fears,” The New York Times reported September 4th. “Seeking to keep the focus away from Mr. Obama and the national economy, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona emphasizes her work for rougher border controls and support for the stimulus money that saved the jobs of local teachers and public safety workers,” the paper said. Her campaign manager, Rodde McLeod, says, “We're running our own race.” Translation: the man in the White House is now a liability, not an asset.
A related article in the same issue is titled, “In a Shift, Fewer Young Voters See Themselves as Democrats.” Reporter Kirk Johnson writes, “The college vote is up for grabs this year---to an extent that would have seemed unlikely two years ago, when a generation of young people seemed to swoon over Barack Obama.” He quotes Mandi Asay, 22, spokeswoman for the University of Colorado's College Democrats, as saying: “People are angry---about the budget deficit, health care plan, angry about this and that. I feel like Republicans definitely, definitely have a chance of getting back on their feet.” The percentage of collegians who identify themselves as Democrats has dropped about five points to 57 percent in roughly two years, according to Pew Research Center.
On health care, perhaps the No. 1 concern of liberals after the wars of aggression in the Middle East, Obama surrendered on the public option issue when he might have campaigned for it dramatically in person on hospital doorsteps around the country. Instead, the public got the idea that he regarded it as, well, optional.
And liberals who saw the president as a champion for ecological sanity, are also disillusioned. Writing in the July issue of “Sojourners” magazine, which defines itself as “Faith in Action for Social Justice,” author Bill McKibben writes Obama's honeymoon with progressive Americans “took what looks like a lethal blow” when oil began washing ashore in the marshes of Louisiana last Spring.
True, Bush had relaxed the relevant environmental regulations “But it was Obama himself who had stood up three weeks before the spill and announced that he was lifting a long-standing moratorium on offshore drilling...” McKibben points out. Obama promised “We'll be guided not by political ideology, but by scientific evidence,” when, “In fact, the president has basically ignored scientific evidence when it's come to energy policy,” McKibben wrote.
And Paul Craig Roberts, the former Assistant Treasury Secretary under President Reagan, writes, “Obama... is committed to covering up the Bush regime’s crimes and to ensuring that his own regime can continue to operate in the same illegal and unconstitutional ways.” He points out, “To the consternation of his supporters, Obama is leaving 50,000 U.S. soldiers in Iraq. The others are being sent to Afghanistan and to Pakistan, where on Obama’s watch war has broken out big time with already one million refugees from the indiscriminate bombing of civilians.” Says Roberts: “The change that we are witnessing is in Obama, not in policies. Obama is morphing into Dick Cheney.” Obama has even multiplied the illegal CIA drone attacks in Pakistan that have claimed the lives of hundreds of innocent civilians, possibly because he himself has been a long-time clandestine asset of that intelligence agency.
Where President Eisenhower once got a landslide voter response for his campaign slogan of “Peace and Prosperity,” it should surprise no one that President Obama's failure to deliver either one of those ideals has turned off a nation----starting with disillusioned liberals and college students whose energies played a major role in his election. As Tom Paine is said to have once remarked of a British politician, “As he rose like the rocket, he fell like the stick.”
(Sherwood Ross formerly reported for the Chicago Daily News and wire services. Reach him at sherwoodross10@gmail.com)
Sunday, September 5, 2010
William Cooper's Mystery Babylon: Part 09 – Gnosticism
Transcribed by wakingup72 @ http://www.waronyou.com/forums
Welcome once again, folks, to the Hour of the Time, and our ongoing series of the exposure, of the origins, the history, the doctrine, and the identity of Mystery Babylon. I'm William Cooper.
Many of you have written letters and asked, “How does one get into the Mystery Schools since no one ever hears anything about it? And there appears not to be a campaign of recruitment,” and you're absolutely right. In our research, we have found the requirements to be simple: be of sound mind and body, have a sincere desire to be illumined, and simply knock up on the door.
(Opening music: Opening theme from Phantom of the Opera)
Remember folks, Monday, March 5...(William Cooper plugs an appearance, asks for donations to stay on the air and offers CAJI memberships)
Well, to continue...remember that the first religion in the world was the religion of the worship of the heavens. And man eventually came to recognize the sun as the representation of the power and the ability of the hidden god of the universe. The invisible god of the universe, the all-powerful creator of everything. But man, as he gained his intellectual ability, began to look toward himself, toward the intellect as that god. And the sun, the representation of what used to be the invisible god of the universe then because the representation of the intellect, the light, Lucifer. And man began to worship the Luciferian philosophy.
He believed -- these people who call themselves the "Guardians of the Secrets of the Ages," and still believe -- that man was held prisoner in the Garden of Eden by an unjust, vindictive and very cruel God, the God of the Bible. And that he was set free from the bonds of ignorance through the gift of intellect, given to him by Lucifer through his agent, Satan. Now, many people believe that Lucifer and Satan are the same individual entity, and they may be. I don't know the answer to that, I just know what the Mystery Schools believe, and I know what I personally believe and what I personally believe doesn't have any bearing on anything. Knowledge, the truth, is what counts, and that's what we're trying to get to the bottom of here. Now, eventually this philosophy of worshiping the intellect, or wisdom, or the mind became known as Gnosticism. And the followers of Gnosticism began to be known as the Gnostics.
(Reading from A History of Secret Societies, written by Arkon Daraul):
"In extraordinary number [folks] of exceedingly bizarre talismans and inscribed stones bear witness to the power of the secret Gnostic organizations which flourished in various forms during the few centuries immediately before and after the rise of Christianity in the Middle East. [You see,] one of the oddest emblems of these schools was the figure of Abraxas. [Now, that's] a human body clothed in a Roman soldier's garb wielding a battle-axe, as if threatening an enemy. [Now] in its left hand it carried an elliptical shield, upon which the words of power 'IAO' and 'Sabaoth' were sometimes written. The head of this fearsome being was that of a cock with open beak. [William Cooper: Now, that symbolized the rising of the morning sun, because the cock crows with the sunrise.] For legs, it had twin serpents [William Cooper: The serpent throughout history has always been a symbol for wisdom, the gift of intellect], coiling to either side. Underneath the figure sometimes lay a conventionalized thunderbolt.
"[Now] who was Abraxas? His name, in accordance with cabalistic computation, is decoded to mean 'three hundred and sixty-five'-- [William Cooper: Isn't it absolutely incredible that every single time we investigate one of these, it leads directly to the sun. For three hundred and sixty-five days are] the number of days in the year. [William Cooper: or the exact number of days that it takes for the earth to make one revolution around the sun. Amazing!] There was no god or idol belonging to the society. [William Cooper: And this is where man made the transition from worshiping a god to worshiping the mind.] The Abraxas figure merely represented the aspects for power which went to make up the supreme intelligence, the all-power. The body was man himself; the bird stood for intelligence, and the hailing of light [illumination] which is the cock's habit at dawn. The tunic represented the need for struggle [or revolution, Socialism], the arms the protection and power given by the dedication to the Gnosis -- [or] knowledge. The shield was wisdom, the club or whip, power. The two snakes meant nous, insight, [or] logos, understanding. [William Cooper: primordial knowing, which was the gift from Satan, the snake, the serpent.]
"By means of this diagram Gnostic teachers inculcated the theory that man comes to his power by developing certain facets of his mind. He must struggle to arrive at gnosis; but this knowledge if of the mystical kind and it is not the mere collection of facts. [You see] great stress was laid upon personal mystical experience, to and through which the initiate was guided under conditions of great secrecy.
"The Gnostics did not confine their studies, or their teachings, to anyone of religion, but borrowed illustrations from all that were accessible to them. This caused them to be considered Christian, heretics, Jews, who were trying to undermine Christianity, remnants of the Persian sun-worshipers. They have been widely studied by early Christian sages, and it is upon the opinions of these latter that many conclusions have been formed. Little or no investigation of these 'People of Wisdom' has been done by research workers on the spot--in Asia and North Africa--where strong and interesting traces of their beliefs and practices still remain.
"The main teaching states that there is a Supreme Being, or power which is invisible and has no perceptible form [William Cooper: it is pantheism]. This power is the one which can be contacted by mankind, and it is through it that man can control himself and work out his destiny. The various religious teachers through the ages, putting on their creeds in many different ways, were in contact with this power [they claim], and their religions all contain a more or less hidden kernel of initiation. [Now] this is the secret which the Knowers can communicate to their disciples. But the secret can be acquired only through exercising the mind and body until the terrestrial man is so refined as to able to become a vehicle for the use of this power [William Cooper: or, in their terms, 'illumined']...
"...Eventually, the initiate becomes identified with the power, and in the end he obtains his true destiny as purified personality, infinitely superior to the rest of unenlightened mankind [William Cooper: to the state of Apotheosis, where he himself is god].
"The symbolism in which this teaching is concealed, the methods by which the mystical power is attained, vary from one Gnostic society to another. But the constant factor is there: the attainment of that which humankind unconsciously needs. [You see] the Gnostic claims that within every man and woman, there is an unfulfilled urge which cannot be given expression in the normal way because there is social means by which it can be fulfilled. This feeling has been put into man in order that he may seek the fulfillment which the Gnostics can give him. His search for completeness in love, trade, professions, theology is vain and unsuccessful.
"The theories of the various schools [folks] of Gnosticism with which the Christian clerics came into contact are very much secondary to the [rituals and] practices which are used to produce the Gnosis, the enlightenment [the illumination]. This has not been fully understood by too many [people], who devote much space to trying to work out the beliefs of the Knowers by a perusal of their writings, or by reports which had been given them by others."
[William Cooper]: Simply, folks, because they do not understand the symbolism. It is not clear to them; it is veiled. It is the esoteric wisdom.
"What were--and are--the Gnostic practices? [Well] first, discipleship and the inculcated belief that the initiate must struggle, must devote himself as much as possible to the identification with the power which inspires all. Secondly, there are two kinds of men, those who are bound to the earth and matter, and those who can refine themselves. It is from the latter class that the aspirants are chosen [William Cooper: they claim. In every instance that we investigated, they many choose them from the latter class, but they all end up in the first]. Thirdly, the methods by which the divine illumination may come are many and varied; and it is the providence of the teacher to choose which path he will give to his disciple to follow. Some Gnostics believed that frenzy and excitement would produce the necessary liberation of the mind from the fetters of the body [William Cooper: Remember the sphinx?]; others [consider] that this could be done best by fasting and meditation. Present-day Gnostic practice in the East has it that different methods suit different temperaments: and this [could] be one cause for the historical confusion as to which branch of 'heretics' practiced what.
"The Gnostics believed themselves to be intellectual aristocrats: their knowledge was only for the few who were ready to receive it. [William Cooper: And that's why they do not recruit. You must knock at the door. And you, and only you, know when you ready to receive it.] And this is what made them a secret cult, not the fear of persecution. They had their own passwords, in shaking hands they tickled the palm as an identification signal, and they helped one another in every conceivable way."
[William Cooper]: Just as Freemasons do today, for they are one and the same, as they have always been one and the same with all the different versions of the Mystery throughout the ages.
"[Now some say that] they could not pantheists...that the doctrine was secondary to the experience of religion; and the theologians and ordinary priesthood of any religion did not approval of that. They were not, in fact, a religion like most others, because they stressed the importance of the individual before that of the community. Those who were more enlightened were more important in every possible way, because they were valuable, refined, aristocrats. At the same time they taught that providing the wellbeing of the Gnostics was assured, so was that of the community at large. [And] this meant that they could subscribe to the outward doctrines of any religion, and could continue to operate under many different politico-religious systems. Gnosticism profoundly influenced men's minds even in Europe up to and after the Middle Ages, and its basic way of thinking is probably an underlying factor in other secret societies whose members would be surprised to know it."
[William Cooper]: Because the pyramidal, organizational structure of membership of these organizations means that nobody below the top, the very top, really knows anything of the true religion and goals of the society to which they belong. And so these people could truly be said to be the greatest group of followers and fools in the history of the world. For they think that they are illumined, but, in fact, they were never given any real secrets, and only those at the top truly know what is really going on.
"Terrible obscenities and other crimes have been laid at the door of the Gnostics by the early ecclesiastical writers. Although there is little doubt that some of them did believe in mass ecstasy, it seems unlikely that their secrets were well enough known to enable the commentators to assess them."
[William Cooper]: And in most cases whenever the commentators try to assess them, they were trying to assess the exoteric, or the appearance, but not the esoteric, or the real truth of the object of the worship of the Gnostics.
The belief that certain special men could control their destiny and obtain extra powers thought dedication to Gnostic practices meant that, inevitably, there was a belief in magic.
[William Cooper]: Remember on previous shows we discussed that belief in magic? Magic is real, folks. I have seen it work, and it is not to be played with or laughed at or scoffed about. It is dangerous, extremely dangerous.
"The myriad Gnostic 'gems' (inscribed stones) decorated with serpents, cabbalistic names and the rest, are more likely to be proofs of initiation and talismans than mere identification tokens presented to ensure admission to meetings, as some authors have thought. The reason for supposing this is that (1) the 'gems' are very similar in many respects to talismans in use by other communities [William Cooper: including the ancient Egyptians]; and (2) they can often be interpreted as containing magical messages or 'diagrammatical invocations'.
"Ethically speaking, Gnostic belief is that there are two principles: that of good and that of evil. A balance must be struck between these forces; and the balance is in the hands of the Gnostic--the Knower--partly because nobody else can tell whether an action is for the eventual good of the individual or the community. [And] this secret knowledge comes through the mystical insight which the supermen-Gnostics attained."
[William Cooper]: There's that reference to a super-race or a "superman" again, which always crops up with these people, as it did with Hitler and many others.
"The rise of individuals who wrongly believed that they had attained to Gnosis -- all knowledge -- some of whom were leaders of Gnostic societies, produced notorious characters. Those who followed the way of the Ophite branch glorified the serpent who tempted Eve [William Cooper: and they still do that today]. They did this because this snake by his actions brought knowledge into the world. [William Cooper: Gave man the gift of intellect, the use of which will bring him to the state of Apotheosis, where man himself will be God.]
"...Basilides was a leader who taught that Jesus did not die on the cross. [William Cooper: And you will see this crop up all through the history of the Mystery Schools, even in the Knights Templar.] Since matter and material things were considered to be a part of the inferior, non-spiritual world, the sect known as the Cainites called upon everyone to destroy those things which belonged to the world. [William Cooper: And they called themselves 'the destroyers,' and their god is the Destroyer.]
"These deviations and aberrants have attracted the greatest attention -- as is natural -- and the quieter teachers of the creed have received less attention. The pious horror with which the less respectable Gnostics were viewed by the early Christian father has stamped itself for ever on Western literature and belief about the ['Enlightened Ones']. But, in more than one place in the Middle East, as well as in small groups in Western Europe, there are still followers of various schools of Gnosticism. They mainly follow the ideas held by Valentinus, with some variations. [And] this school teaches its initiates that matter is more evil than good; that man must be purified by mental concentration; that after death man will rejoin that from which he has been severed, and will be unified with those whom he loves [William Cooper: in the Great Intelligence]. They also believe that all matter will eventually be destroyed by fire."
[William Cooper]: And if they have their way, that could be absolutely true.
"The Mandaeans, a small but tenacious community which dwells in Iraq, follow an ancient form of Gnosticism, which practices initiation, ecstasy and some rituals which have been said to resemble those of the Freemasons."
[William Cooper]: And of course they do, because they are. (laughs) In every Masonic temple you will see somewhere up on the wall a big letter 'G'. And you will see it in their symbology, in their books. You will see this letter 'G'. And if you ask a Freemason, being bound by the oath never to tell you or reveal you the secrets to the profane -- which is what they call those who are not initiates, or adepts in the Mysteries -- he will tell you it's for God, but that is a lie. That does not stand for God, for I have researched it deeply, all the way up the ladder of the stages of initiation. And at the top, those adepts known as the Priesthood know this large letter 'G' to represent Gnosticism. And it is an admission that they are indeed the recipients of the ancient Gnostic. They are Gnostics, and they are looking to attain the gnosis, through which they will receive Apotheosis. And they believe that they are the only ones in the world who possess truly mature minds and, thus, the only ones in the world capable of ruling the rest of us, whom they refer to as cattle. Cattle.
[William Cooper]: Well, it's time to take a break, folks. Don't go away, I'll be right back after this very short pause.
(break music: Overture to Sleuth, written by John Addison)
That was Overture to Sleuth, conducted by Erich Kunzel, the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. Cincinnati is the home of the order of Cincinnatus and the Knights of the Golden Circle. You see, everything that I do on this show has meaning -- even the music, folks. Now, whether you like the music or not makes no difference. Listen to the words. Research the title. Try to find out what the music means before you condemn it. And remember that you're not the only one out there. Your age group is not the only age group listening. So, whether you like the music or not, it doesn't make any difference. It all has a message. All has a message, folks, and I hope you get the message, for it is extremely important that you do.
"[The] most detailed account on what was said to be the seven highest degrees of secret Egyptian initiation was first published in Germany in the eighteenth century. This strange and very exhaustive document combines many elements from the ancient mysteries...It seems to come from Greek sources, because many of the words used are Greek; and it [could] well be that we have here the modern beginnings of an attempted revival of ancient mysteries. Whatever [it is], it is not one of those fanciful and spurious ones which used to be printed merely to attract the credulous: because it is plausible in containing the sort of material which might well have formed the content of an initiation and mind-conditioning system."
[William Cooper]: And if you understand the secret religions as I do, and specifically the modern ones, you will quickly recognize this as authentic.
"The earliest version known is in the form of an anonymous pamphlet (probably not intended for public sale) or thirty-odd pages, [which was] printed in 1785. (laughs) [William Cooper: Right in that area of history is momentous occurrences [sic].] It was republished in a French translation thirty years later, purporting to be the ritual of the Master degree in Freemasonry. [William Cooper: And if you know anything about the Master degree in Freemasonry, you will soon see that it's certainly (laughs) is exact in its description.] The French editor claims that it is a composite ritual, derived from the works of some fifteen Greek and Roman writers.
"This degree, we are told, was open to Egyptian kings and priests alone; and only those specially recommended by an initiate could enter it. The usual procedure was that the Pharaoh himself introduced the candidate to the priests. By them he sent from Heliopolis [William Cooper: the city of the Sun, and you will never escape from the sun when you're studying the mysteries] to the Memphis priests; from there we went to Thebes. He was circumcised, forbidden to eat pulse or fish; and generally had to abstain from wine. He was put for several months in an underground cave, and asked to write down his reflections. [After] he had done this, he was led to a passage supported by the pillars of Hermes where he had to learn certain things which were inscribed thereon. As soon as he was word-perfect, the Themorphous (introducer) came to him with a strong whip, to keep the uninitiated at bay. He was blindfolded, and his hands bounds with cords.
"Now follow the procedure from the first degree of this elect body. The candidate was led to the Gate of Men, where the introducer touched the shoulder of an apprentice (Portophorus) standing there on guard. He in turn knocked on the gate, which was opened. When the aspirant entered, he was questioned on various matter by the Hierophant, after which he was led around the Birantha in an artificial storm of wind, rain, thunder and lightning. If he showed no sign of fear, Menies the Expounder explained the laws of the Crata Repoa, to which he had to agree. He was then taken in front of the Hierophant, made to kneel, and vowed fidelity with a sword-point at this throat. As witnesses he called upon the sun, moon and stars."
[William Cooper]: And where have you heard that before?
"'His eyes were then unbandaged, and he was placed between two spare pillars, called Betilies, where lay a ladder of seven steps, behind which were with doors of different metals of gradually increasing purity. The Hierophant then addressing those present as Mene Musae, or children of the Work of Celestial Investigation, exhorted them to govern their passions and fix their thoughts upon God.'"
[William Cooper]: Now the sun, the moon and the stars, you should know by now, represent the doctrine, the church, and the initiates. The sun, of course, is the doctrine, the moon is the church, and the stars are the body of initiates, or the "thousand points of light."
"The candidate was taught [folks] that the ladder symbolized the wanderings of the soul; he was told the causes of wind, thunder and lightning; and given other valuable information, such as medial lore. He was given the password of recognition of this degree, which was [William Cooper: and I spell it because I don't know the correct pronunciation...A-M-O-U-N], meaning secrecy. He was taught a grip, given a pyramidal cap and an apron called Xylon. Around his neck was a collar; and he word no other clothes. His duty was to guard the Gate of Men in his turn.
"The Portophorus was now able, after showing his devotion, to proceed to the Second Degree. Following a prolonged fast he was taken to a dark chamber called Endimion, the invitation grotto. He was now of the degree of Neocoris. 'Handsome women brought him dainty food; they were the wives of the priests, who endeavored to excite his love.'
"If he resisted these advances, he was further lectured by the Master of Ceremonies and led into an assembly, where the Stolista ([or] water-bearer) poured water over him. Then a living serpent was thrown at him. The whole room was full of snakes, to test his courage. 'He was then led to two high pillars between stood a griffin driving a wheel before him. The pillars symbolized East and West, the griffin the sun and the wheel of four spokes the four seasons. He was taught the use of the level and instructed in geometry and architecture. He received a rod, entwined by serpents [William Cooper: and that rod is still used today by the medical community. It's called the caduceus] and [he received] the password HEVE ([meaning] serpent), and was told the story of the fall of man. The sign consisted in crossing the arms over the chest [and] his duty was to wash the pillars.
"[Now when the initiate] was initiated into the Third Degree, the member was given the title of Melanophoris. He was led to an anteroom, over whose door was written 'Gate of Death'. The room was full of copies of embalmed bodies and coffins. Here too were a number of dissectors, embalmers and so on.
"'In the centre stood the coffin in Osiris. The Melanophoris was asked if he had had a hand in the assassination of his master. On his denying the question , he was seized by two Tapizeites, or men who buried the dead, and led into a hall, where he found all the other Melanophores clothed in black. The King himself, who always was present on these occasions, addressed him in an apparently friendly way, begin him if he did not feel courage enough to undergo the test no to be applied to him, to accept the golden crown he was offering him.'
"[Well] he had already been coached to refuse the crown and tread it underfoot. At this 'insult' the King called for revenge. Raising his sacrificial axe he touched the head the initiate."
[William Cooper]: And in one famous initiation, the King actually beheaded the man.
"The two corpse-carriers threw him to the ground, and the embalmers wrapped him in bandages. All who were present wept. Now he was led to a gate over which was written Sanctuary of the Spirits."
[William Cooper]: Now, the initiate was not supposed to be beheaded in that one famous initiation. And I don't know what they chalked that up to. Now, standing before the gate, the initiate waited.
"'On its being opened, thunder and lightning struck the apparently dead man. Charon received him as a spirit into hit boat and carried him to the judges of Hades. Pluto sat on his judgment seat, while Rhadamanthus and Minos as well as Aethon, Nycreus, Alaster and Orpheus stood beside him. Very severe questions were put to him as to his former life and finally he was sentenced to remain in these subterranean vaults.'"
[William Cooper]: Now, remember, this was an initiation which sometimes lasts for months, and even years.
"The bandages were removed, and he was told never to desire blood, never to leave a corpse unburied; and to believe in the resurrection of the dead and the judgment to come."
[William Cooper]: Now remember, this was long...centuries before Christianity.
"He was taught coffin-decoration and the peculiar hierogrammatical script. The sign was an embrace, to express the 'days of wrath'. He was kept in these underground chambers until thought fit to proceed to a higher degree.
"These 'Days of Wrath' generally lasted for a year and a half, until the initiate was ready for promotion to the Fourth Degree: 'The Battle of the Shades'. He was handed a sword and a shield and taken though dark passages. He met 'certain persons, presenting a frightful appearances, carrying torches and serpents". He was attacked, with the cry of PANIS! He defended himself bravely, but was [always] taken prisoner, his eyes were bandaged and a cord placed around his neck. Dragging him into a hall, the specters disappeared. He was led into the assembly of initiates, and his eye unbandaged. Before him saw a magnificent hall, decorated with beautiful paintings; the King and the highest dignitary--the Demiurgos--were present.
"All were wearing their Alydei, and Egyptian Order composed of sapphires. Among those present were the Secretary, the Treasurer and the Master of Feats. The Orator made a speech, congratulating the new member on his fortitude. He was given a drink, called Cyce, which he drank to the dregs. This was probably the ritual drink of honey or milk, water, wine and gruel--and perhaps some hypnotic drug. He donned the boats of Anubis, took up the shield of Isis, put on the cloak and cap of Orcus. He was handed a sword and told that he must cut off the head of the next person he met in a cave and bring it back to the King.
"This cave was pointed to him. Entering it, he saw that seemed to be a beautiful woman, but in reality was a model of one. [William Cooper: And notice it's a woman.] He seized this by the hair and severed the head. This he brought back to the monarch, who praised him, telling him that he had symbolically won the head of the Gorgon, wife of Typhon, who had caused the death of Osiris. He was not permitted always to wear the dress which had been given to him, and he was entered in a book as one of the judges of the land. [William Cooper: Notice that: one of the judges of the land.] He was able to communicate at any time with the King, and received an allowance from the court. He was invested with an Order (that of Isis in the shape of an owl) and it was revealed to him that the secret name of the lawgiver was 'JOA', which was also the password of this Degree. But the password for the meetings of the Christophori (as the Fourth Degree initiates were called) was 'SASYCHIS'.
"The Fifth Degree, that of Balahate, could not now be refused to the Christophoru. He was led to a hall to watch a play, at which he was the only onlooker. Other members of the degree went through the hall, as if looking for something. One drew this sword, and the terrible figure of Typhon appeared. [Of course] he was slain. Now the new Balahate was told that Typhon represented fire, a terrible element which was at the same time indispensable. The password was 'CHYMIA', and the teaching was in chemistry [or alchemy].
"In order to become an 'Astronomer at the Gate of the Gods'--the Sixth Degree--the candidate was taken to the hall of assembly, bound, and led to the Gate of Death. He was shown corpses which had been cast into water, and warned that he might be similarly treated if he broke his oath. He was given some teaching in astronomy, and taken back to the Gate of the Gods, where he looked at the pictures of the gods while their histories were explained to him. A priestly dance took place, symbolizing the course of the heavenly bodies; he saw a list of members of the Order throughout the world, and learned the password: 'IBIS', for watchfulness.
"The last and the highest degree was that of 'Propheta', in which all secrets were laid bare. It was conferred following public processions, and when the permission of the King and all the highest members had been obtained. The members secretly left the city by night, 'and retired to some houses built in a square and surrounded by pillars by the sides of which were placed alternately a shield and a coffin, whose rooms were painted with representations of human life'. [Now] these houses were called maneras, for the people believed them to be visited by the manes of departed men. On their arrival at these houses the new member, now called prophet or Saphennath Pancah (a man who knows the secrets), was given a drink called oimellas and told that now all trials were over. He received a cross of peculiar significance, which he was always to wear. He was clothed in a wide, white-striped dress, called etangi. The usual sign was crossing his arms in his wide sleeves. He could peruse all the sacred books written in the Ammonite language...his greatest privilege was having a vote in the election of a king [and] the password was 'ADON'."
(Reading from Behold A Pale Horse, written by Milton William Cooper)
"These mystical societies always continued, and one of special interest is the powerful society of Afghanistan in ancient times called the Roshaniya--illuminated ones. The major tenets of this cult were: the abolition of private property; the elimination of religion; the elimination of nation states; the belief that illumination emanated from the Supreme Being who desired a class of perfect men and women to carry out the organization and direction of the world; belief in a plan to reshape the social system of the world by first taking control of individual countries one by one, and the belief that after reaching the fourth degree one could communicate directly with the unknown supervisors who had imparted knowledge to initiates throughout the ages...
"...The Roshaniya also called themselves the Order. Initiates took an oath that absolved them of all allegiance except to the Order and stated, 'I bind myself to perpetual silence and unshaken loyalty and submission to the Order... All humanity which cannot identify itself by our secret sign is our lawful prey.' The oath remains essentially the same to this day. The secret sign was to pass a hand over the forehead, palm inward; the counter-sign, to hold the ear with the fingers and support the elbow in the cupped other hand. Does [that] sound familiar?"
[William Cooper]: If you sit in a courtroom in just about any city in this land, you will see those signs exchanged between lawyers and defendants and judges. And you will see that whenever that...these signs are exchanged, whoever initiated the exchange will usually, in fact, most often does, win the court case.
"The Order [of course] is the Order of the Quest. [And] the cult preached [there was no heaven and no hell, only] a spirit state completely different from life as we know it. The spirit could continue to be powerful on earth through a member of the Order, but only if the spirit had been itself a member of the Order before its death. Thus members of the Order gained power from the spirits of the dead members.
"The Roshaniya took in travelers as initiates and then sent them on their way to found new chapters of the Order."
[William Cooper]: and they were called 'fellow travelers’. You see, this order, as all before it, and all since, are Socialist, Communists.
"It is believed by some that the Assassins were a branch of the Roshaniya. Branches of the Roshaniya or 'the illuminated ones' or the Illuminati existed and still exist everywhere. One of the rules was not to use the same name and never mention 'the Illuminati.' That rule is still in effect today [and it's probably] the breaking of [that] rule that resulted in Adam Weishaupt’s downfall."
[William Cooper]: Remember, folks, that we have really only just begun. And you are just beginning to understand, although some of you may think that you do already understand. I can assure you that may be only a very small minority of you really do. Most do not. We have a long way to go in this history and in your own particular, individual illumination. (laughs) Oh, I just love it! I just love it; exposing these people who claim that they are doing everything for the benefit of mankind, who really have all the guilt of everything bad that has ever happened to mankind squarely upon their shoulders.
[William Cooper]: Now, if you'd like a packet of information, if you would like to know how to join CAJI, if you'd like to purchase my book, or if you would like to donate...
(William Cooper asks for donations to stay on the air and offers CAJI memberships)
Next time, folks, we're going to talk about the Old Man of the Mountain. And we're going to continue the history of the order through the ages.
Good night, and may God bless you all.
(closing music: unknown classical piece)
Welcome once again, folks, to the Hour of the Time, and our ongoing series of the exposure, of the origins, the history, the doctrine, and the identity of Mystery Babylon. I'm William Cooper.
Many of you have written letters and asked, “How does one get into the Mystery Schools since no one ever hears anything about it? And there appears not to be a campaign of recruitment,” and you're absolutely right. In our research, we have found the requirements to be simple: be of sound mind and body, have a sincere desire to be illumined, and simply knock up on the door.
(Opening music: Opening theme from Phantom of the Opera)
Remember folks, Monday, March 5...(William Cooper plugs an appearance, asks for donations to stay on the air and offers CAJI memberships)
Well, to continue...remember that the first religion in the world was the religion of the worship of the heavens. And man eventually came to recognize the sun as the representation of the power and the ability of the hidden god of the universe. The invisible god of the universe, the all-powerful creator of everything. But man, as he gained his intellectual ability, began to look toward himself, toward the intellect as that god. And the sun, the representation of what used to be the invisible god of the universe then because the representation of the intellect, the light, Lucifer. And man began to worship the Luciferian philosophy.
He believed -- these people who call themselves the "Guardians of the Secrets of the Ages," and still believe -- that man was held prisoner in the Garden of Eden by an unjust, vindictive and very cruel God, the God of the Bible. And that he was set free from the bonds of ignorance through the gift of intellect, given to him by Lucifer through his agent, Satan. Now, many people believe that Lucifer and Satan are the same individual entity, and they may be. I don't know the answer to that, I just know what the Mystery Schools believe, and I know what I personally believe and what I personally believe doesn't have any bearing on anything. Knowledge, the truth, is what counts, and that's what we're trying to get to the bottom of here. Now, eventually this philosophy of worshiping the intellect, or wisdom, or the mind became known as Gnosticism. And the followers of Gnosticism began to be known as the Gnostics.
(Reading from A History of Secret Societies, written by Arkon Daraul):
"In extraordinary number [folks] of exceedingly bizarre talismans and inscribed stones bear witness to the power of the secret Gnostic organizations which flourished in various forms during the few centuries immediately before and after the rise of Christianity in the Middle East. [You see,] one of the oddest emblems of these schools was the figure of Abraxas. [Now, that's] a human body clothed in a Roman soldier's garb wielding a battle-axe, as if threatening an enemy. [Now] in its left hand it carried an elliptical shield, upon which the words of power 'IAO' and 'Sabaoth' were sometimes written. The head of this fearsome being was that of a cock with open beak. [William Cooper: Now, that symbolized the rising of the morning sun, because the cock crows with the sunrise.] For legs, it had twin serpents [William Cooper: The serpent throughout history has always been a symbol for wisdom, the gift of intellect], coiling to either side. Underneath the figure sometimes lay a conventionalized thunderbolt.
"[Now] who was Abraxas? His name, in accordance with cabalistic computation, is decoded to mean 'three hundred and sixty-five'-- [William Cooper: Isn't it absolutely incredible that every single time we investigate one of these, it leads directly to the sun. For three hundred and sixty-five days are] the number of days in the year. [William Cooper: or the exact number of days that it takes for the earth to make one revolution around the sun. Amazing!] There was no god or idol belonging to the society. [William Cooper: And this is where man made the transition from worshiping a god to worshiping the mind.] The Abraxas figure merely represented the aspects for power which went to make up the supreme intelligence, the all-power. The body was man himself; the bird stood for intelligence, and the hailing of light [illumination] which is the cock's habit at dawn. The tunic represented the need for struggle [or revolution, Socialism], the arms the protection and power given by the dedication to the Gnosis -- [or] knowledge. The shield was wisdom, the club or whip, power. The two snakes meant nous, insight, [or] logos, understanding. [William Cooper: primordial knowing, which was the gift from Satan, the snake, the serpent.]
"By means of this diagram Gnostic teachers inculcated the theory that man comes to his power by developing certain facets of his mind. He must struggle to arrive at gnosis; but this knowledge if of the mystical kind and it is not the mere collection of facts. [You see] great stress was laid upon personal mystical experience, to and through which the initiate was guided under conditions of great secrecy.
"The Gnostics did not confine their studies, or their teachings, to anyone of religion, but borrowed illustrations from all that were accessible to them. This caused them to be considered Christian, heretics, Jews, who were trying to undermine Christianity, remnants of the Persian sun-worshipers. They have been widely studied by early Christian sages, and it is upon the opinions of these latter that many conclusions have been formed. Little or no investigation of these 'People of Wisdom' has been done by research workers on the spot--in Asia and North Africa--where strong and interesting traces of their beliefs and practices still remain.
"The main teaching states that there is a Supreme Being, or power which is invisible and has no perceptible form [William Cooper: it is pantheism]. This power is the one which can be contacted by mankind, and it is through it that man can control himself and work out his destiny. The various religious teachers through the ages, putting on their creeds in many different ways, were in contact with this power [they claim], and their religions all contain a more or less hidden kernel of initiation. [Now] this is the secret which the Knowers can communicate to their disciples. But the secret can be acquired only through exercising the mind and body until the terrestrial man is so refined as to able to become a vehicle for the use of this power [William Cooper: or, in their terms, 'illumined']...
"...Eventually, the initiate becomes identified with the power, and in the end he obtains his true destiny as purified personality, infinitely superior to the rest of unenlightened mankind [William Cooper: to the state of Apotheosis, where he himself is god].
"The symbolism in which this teaching is concealed, the methods by which the mystical power is attained, vary from one Gnostic society to another. But the constant factor is there: the attainment of that which humankind unconsciously needs. [You see] the Gnostic claims that within every man and woman, there is an unfulfilled urge which cannot be given expression in the normal way because there is social means by which it can be fulfilled. This feeling has been put into man in order that he may seek the fulfillment which the Gnostics can give him. His search for completeness in love, trade, professions, theology is vain and unsuccessful.
"The theories of the various schools [folks] of Gnosticism with which the Christian clerics came into contact are very much secondary to the [rituals and] practices which are used to produce the Gnosis, the enlightenment [the illumination]. This has not been fully understood by too many [people], who devote much space to trying to work out the beliefs of the Knowers by a perusal of their writings, or by reports which had been given them by others."
[William Cooper]: Simply, folks, because they do not understand the symbolism. It is not clear to them; it is veiled. It is the esoteric wisdom.
"What were--and are--the Gnostic practices? [Well] first, discipleship and the inculcated belief that the initiate must struggle, must devote himself as much as possible to the identification with the power which inspires all. Secondly, there are two kinds of men, those who are bound to the earth and matter, and those who can refine themselves. It is from the latter class that the aspirants are chosen [William Cooper: they claim. In every instance that we investigated, they many choose them from the latter class, but they all end up in the first]. Thirdly, the methods by which the divine illumination may come are many and varied; and it is the providence of the teacher to choose which path he will give to his disciple to follow. Some Gnostics believed that frenzy and excitement would produce the necessary liberation of the mind from the fetters of the body [William Cooper: Remember the sphinx?]; others [consider] that this could be done best by fasting and meditation. Present-day Gnostic practice in the East has it that different methods suit different temperaments: and this [could] be one cause for the historical confusion as to which branch of 'heretics' practiced what.
"The Gnostics believed themselves to be intellectual aristocrats: their knowledge was only for the few who were ready to receive it. [William Cooper: And that's why they do not recruit. You must knock at the door. And you, and only you, know when you ready to receive it.] And this is what made them a secret cult, not the fear of persecution. They had their own passwords, in shaking hands they tickled the palm as an identification signal, and they helped one another in every conceivable way."
[William Cooper]: Just as Freemasons do today, for they are one and the same, as they have always been one and the same with all the different versions of the Mystery throughout the ages.
"[Now some say that] they could not pantheists...that the doctrine was secondary to the experience of religion; and the theologians and ordinary priesthood of any religion did not approval of that. They were not, in fact, a religion like most others, because they stressed the importance of the individual before that of the community. Those who were more enlightened were more important in every possible way, because they were valuable, refined, aristocrats. At the same time they taught that providing the wellbeing of the Gnostics was assured, so was that of the community at large. [And] this meant that they could subscribe to the outward doctrines of any religion, and could continue to operate under many different politico-religious systems. Gnosticism profoundly influenced men's minds even in Europe up to and after the Middle Ages, and its basic way of thinking is probably an underlying factor in other secret societies whose members would be surprised to know it."
[William Cooper]: Because the pyramidal, organizational structure of membership of these organizations means that nobody below the top, the very top, really knows anything of the true religion and goals of the society to which they belong. And so these people could truly be said to be the greatest group of followers and fools in the history of the world. For they think that they are illumined, but, in fact, they were never given any real secrets, and only those at the top truly know what is really going on.
"Terrible obscenities and other crimes have been laid at the door of the Gnostics by the early ecclesiastical writers. Although there is little doubt that some of them did believe in mass ecstasy, it seems unlikely that their secrets were well enough known to enable the commentators to assess them."
[William Cooper]: And in most cases whenever the commentators try to assess them, they were trying to assess the exoteric, or the appearance, but not the esoteric, or the real truth of the object of the worship of the Gnostics.
The belief that certain special men could control their destiny and obtain extra powers thought dedication to Gnostic practices meant that, inevitably, there was a belief in magic.
[William Cooper]: Remember on previous shows we discussed that belief in magic? Magic is real, folks. I have seen it work, and it is not to be played with or laughed at or scoffed about. It is dangerous, extremely dangerous.
"The myriad Gnostic 'gems' (inscribed stones) decorated with serpents, cabbalistic names and the rest, are more likely to be proofs of initiation and talismans than mere identification tokens presented to ensure admission to meetings, as some authors have thought. The reason for supposing this is that (1) the 'gems' are very similar in many respects to talismans in use by other communities [William Cooper: including the ancient Egyptians]; and (2) they can often be interpreted as containing magical messages or 'diagrammatical invocations'.
"Ethically speaking, Gnostic belief is that there are two principles: that of good and that of evil. A balance must be struck between these forces; and the balance is in the hands of the Gnostic--the Knower--partly because nobody else can tell whether an action is for the eventual good of the individual or the community. [And] this secret knowledge comes through the mystical insight which the supermen-Gnostics attained."
[William Cooper]: There's that reference to a super-race or a "superman" again, which always crops up with these people, as it did with Hitler and many others.
"The rise of individuals who wrongly believed that they had attained to Gnosis -- all knowledge -- some of whom were leaders of Gnostic societies, produced notorious characters. Those who followed the way of the Ophite branch glorified the serpent who tempted Eve [William Cooper: and they still do that today]. They did this because this snake by his actions brought knowledge into the world. [William Cooper: Gave man the gift of intellect, the use of which will bring him to the state of Apotheosis, where man himself will be God.]
"...Basilides was a leader who taught that Jesus did not die on the cross. [William Cooper: And you will see this crop up all through the history of the Mystery Schools, even in the Knights Templar.] Since matter and material things were considered to be a part of the inferior, non-spiritual world, the sect known as the Cainites called upon everyone to destroy those things which belonged to the world. [William Cooper: And they called themselves 'the destroyers,' and their god is the Destroyer.]
"These deviations and aberrants have attracted the greatest attention -- as is natural -- and the quieter teachers of the creed have received less attention. The pious horror with which the less respectable Gnostics were viewed by the early Christian father has stamped itself for ever on Western literature and belief about the ['Enlightened Ones']. But, in more than one place in the Middle East, as well as in small groups in Western Europe, there are still followers of various schools of Gnosticism. They mainly follow the ideas held by Valentinus, with some variations. [And] this school teaches its initiates that matter is more evil than good; that man must be purified by mental concentration; that after death man will rejoin that from which he has been severed, and will be unified with those whom he loves [William Cooper: in the Great Intelligence]. They also believe that all matter will eventually be destroyed by fire."
[William Cooper]: And if they have their way, that could be absolutely true.
"The Mandaeans, a small but tenacious community which dwells in Iraq, follow an ancient form of Gnosticism, which practices initiation, ecstasy and some rituals which have been said to resemble those of the Freemasons."
[William Cooper]: And of course they do, because they are. (laughs) In every Masonic temple you will see somewhere up on the wall a big letter 'G'. And you will see it in their symbology, in their books. You will see this letter 'G'. And if you ask a Freemason, being bound by the oath never to tell you or reveal you the secrets to the profane -- which is what they call those who are not initiates, or adepts in the Mysteries -- he will tell you it's for God, but that is a lie. That does not stand for God, for I have researched it deeply, all the way up the ladder of the stages of initiation. And at the top, those adepts known as the Priesthood know this large letter 'G' to represent Gnosticism. And it is an admission that they are indeed the recipients of the ancient Gnostic. They are Gnostics, and they are looking to attain the gnosis, through which they will receive Apotheosis. And they believe that they are the only ones in the world who possess truly mature minds and, thus, the only ones in the world capable of ruling the rest of us, whom they refer to as cattle. Cattle.
[William Cooper]: Well, it's time to take a break, folks. Don't go away, I'll be right back after this very short pause.
(break music: Overture to Sleuth, written by John Addison)
That was Overture to Sleuth, conducted by Erich Kunzel, the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. Cincinnati is the home of the order of Cincinnatus and the Knights of the Golden Circle. You see, everything that I do on this show has meaning -- even the music, folks. Now, whether you like the music or not makes no difference. Listen to the words. Research the title. Try to find out what the music means before you condemn it. And remember that you're not the only one out there. Your age group is not the only age group listening. So, whether you like the music or not, it doesn't make any difference. It all has a message. All has a message, folks, and I hope you get the message, for it is extremely important that you do.
"[The] most detailed account on what was said to be the seven highest degrees of secret Egyptian initiation was first published in Germany in the eighteenth century. This strange and very exhaustive document combines many elements from the ancient mysteries...It seems to come from Greek sources, because many of the words used are Greek; and it [could] well be that we have here the modern beginnings of an attempted revival of ancient mysteries. Whatever [it is], it is not one of those fanciful and spurious ones which used to be printed merely to attract the credulous: because it is plausible in containing the sort of material which might well have formed the content of an initiation and mind-conditioning system."
[William Cooper]: And if you understand the secret religions as I do, and specifically the modern ones, you will quickly recognize this as authentic.
"The earliest version known is in the form of an anonymous pamphlet (probably not intended for public sale) or thirty-odd pages, [which was] printed in 1785. (laughs) [William Cooper: Right in that area of history is momentous occurrences [sic].] It was republished in a French translation thirty years later, purporting to be the ritual of the Master degree in Freemasonry. [William Cooper: And if you know anything about the Master degree in Freemasonry, you will soon see that it's certainly (laughs) is exact in its description.] The French editor claims that it is a composite ritual, derived from the works of some fifteen Greek and Roman writers.
"This degree, we are told, was open to Egyptian kings and priests alone; and only those specially recommended by an initiate could enter it. The usual procedure was that the Pharaoh himself introduced the candidate to the priests. By them he sent from Heliopolis [William Cooper: the city of the Sun, and you will never escape from the sun when you're studying the mysteries] to the Memphis priests; from there we went to Thebes. He was circumcised, forbidden to eat pulse or fish; and generally had to abstain from wine. He was put for several months in an underground cave, and asked to write down his reflections. [After] he had done this, he was led to a passage supported by the pillars of Hermes where he had to learn certain things which were inscribed thereon. As soon as he was word-perfect, the Themorphous (introducer) came to him with a strong whip, to keep the uninitiated at bay. He was blindfolded, and his hands bounds with cords.
"Now follow the procedure from the first degree of this elect body. The candidate was led to the Gate of Men, where the introducer touched the shoulder of an apprentice (Portophorus) standing there on guard. He in turn knocked on the gate, which was opened. When the aspirant entered, he was questioned on various matter by the Hierophant, after which he was led around the Birantha in an artificial storm of wind, rain, thunder and lightning. If he showed no sign of fear, Menies the Expounder explained the laws of the Crata Repoa, to which he had to agree. He was then taken in front of the Hierophant, made to kneel, and vowed fidelity with a sword-point at this throat. As witnesses he called upon the sun, moon and stars."
[William Cooper]: And where have you heard that before?
"'His eyes were then unbandaged, and he was placed between two spare pillars, called Betilies, where lay a ladder of seven steps, behind which were with doors of different metals of gradually increasing purity. The Hierophant then addressing those present as Mene Musae, or children of the Work of Celestial Investigation, exhorted them to govern their passions and fix their thoughts upon God.'"
[William Cooper]: Now the sun, the moon and the stars, you should know by now, represent the doctrine, the church, and the initiates. The sun, of course, is the doctrine, the moon is the church, and the stars are the body of initiates, or the "thousand points of light."
"The candidate was taught [folks] that the ladder symbolized the wanderings of the soul; he was told the causes of wind, thunder and lightning; and given other valuable information, such as medial lore. He was given the password of recognition of this degree, which was [William Cooper: and I spell it because I don't know the correct pronunciation...A-M-O-U-N], meaning secrecy. He was taught a grip, given a pyramidal cap and an apron called Xylon. Around his neck was a collar; and he word no other clothes. His duty was to guard the Gate of Men in his turn.
"The Portophorus was now able, after showing his devotion, to proceed to the Second Degree. Following a prolonged fast he was taken to a dark chamber called Endimion, the invitation grotto. He was now of the degree of Neocoris. 'Handsome women brought him dainty food; they were the wives of the priests, who endeavored to excite his love.'
"If he resisted these advances, he was further lectured by the Master of Ceremonies and led into an assembly, where the Stolista ([or] water-bearer) poured water over him. Then a living serpent was thrown at him. The whole room was full of snakes, to test his courage. 'He was then led to two high pillars between stood a griffin driving a wheel before him. The pillars symbolized East and West, the griffin the sun and the wheel of four spokes the four seasons. He was taught the use of the level and instructed in geometry and architecture. He received a rod, entwined by serpents [William Cooper: and that rod is still used today by the medical community. It's called the caduceus] and [he received] the password HEVE ([meaning] serpent), and was told the story of the fall of man. The sign consisted in crossing the arms over the chest [and] his duty was to wash the pillars.
"[Now when the initiate] was initiated into the Third Degree, the member was given the title of Melanophoris. He was led to an anteroom, over whose door was written 'Gate of Death'. The room was full of copies of embalmed bodies and coffins. Here too were a number of dissectors, embalmers and so on.
"'In the centre stood the coffin in Osiris. The Melanophoris was asked if he had had a hand in the assassination of his master. On his denying the question , he was seized by two Tapizeites, or men who buried the dead, and led into a hall, where he found all the other Melanophores clothed in black. The King himself, who always was present on these occasions, addressed him in an apparently friendly way, begin him if he did not feel courage enough to undergo the test no to be applied to him, to accept the golden crown he was offering him.'
"[Well] he had already been coached to refuse the crown and tread it underfoot. At this 'insult' the King called for revenge. Raising his sacrificial axe he touched the head the initiate."
[William Cooper]: And in one famous initiation, the King actually beheaded the man.
"The two corpse-carriers threw him to the ground, and the embalmers wrapped him in bandages. All who were present wept. Now he was led to a gate over which was written Sanctuary of the Spirits."
[William Cooper]: Now, the initiate was not supposed to be beheaded in that one famous initiation. And I don't know what they chalked that up to. Now, standing before the gate, the initiate waited.
"'On its being opened, thunder and lightning struck the apparently dead man. Charon received him as a spirit into hit boat and carried him to the judges of Hades. Pluto sat on his judgment seat, while Rhadamanthus and Minos as well as Aethon, Nycreus, Alaster and Orpheus stood beside him. Very severe questions were put to him as to his former life and finally he was sentenced to remain in these subterranean vaults.'"
[William Cooper]: Now, remember, this was an initiation which sometimes lasts for months, and even years.
"The bandages were removed, and he was told never to desire blood, never to leave a corpse unburied; and to believe in the resurrection of the dead and the judgment to come."
[William Cooper]: Now remember, this was long...centuries before Christianity.
"He was taught coffin-decoration and the peculiar hierogrammatical script. The sign was an embrace, to express the 'days of wrath'. He was kept in these underground chambers until thought fit to proceed to a higher degree.
"These 'Days of Wrath' generally lasted for a year and a half, until the initiate was ready for promotion to the Fourth Degree: 'The Battle of the Shades'. He was handed a sword and a shield and taken though dark passages. He met 'certain persons, presenting a frightful appearances, carrying torches and serpents". He was attacked, with the cry of PANIS! He defended himself bravely, but was [always] taken prisoner, his eyes were bandaged and a cord placed around his neck. Dragging him into a hall, the specters disappeared. He was led into the assembly of initiates, and his eye unbandaged. Before him saw a magnificent hall, decorated with beautiful paintings; the King and the highest dignitary--the Demiurgos--were present.
"All were wearing their Alydei, and Egyptian Order composed of sapphires. Among those present were the Secretary, the Treasurer and the Master of Feats. The Orator made a speech, congratulating the new member on his fortitude. He was given a drink, called Cyce, which he drank to the dregs. This was probably the ritual drink of honey or milk, water, wine and gruel--and perhaps some hypnotic drug. He donned the boats of Anubis, took up the shield of Isis, put on the cloak and cap of Orcus. He was handed a sword and told that he must cut off the head of the next person he met in a cave and bring it back to the King.
"This cave was pointed to him. Entering it, he saw that seemed to be a beautiful woman, but in reality was a model of one. [William Cooper: And notice it's a woman.] He seized this by the hair and severed the head. This he brought back to the monarch, who praised him, telling him that he had symbolically won the head of the Gorgon, wife of Typhon, who had caused the death of Osiris. He was not permitted always to wear the dress which had been given to him, and he was entered in a book as one of the judges of the land. [William Cooper: Notice that: one of the judges of the land.] He was able to communicate at any time with the King, and received an allowance from the court. He was invested with an Order (that of Isis in the shape of an owl) and it was revealed to him that the secret name of the lawgiver was 'JOA', which was also the password of this Degree. But the password for the meetings of the Christophori (as the Fourth Degree initiates were called) was 'SASYCHIS'.
"The Fifth Degree, that of Balahate, could not now be refused to the Christophoru. He was led to a hall to watch a play, at which he was the only onlooker. Other members of the degree went through the hall, as if looking for something. One drew this sword, and the terrible figure of Typhon appeared. [Of course] he was slain. Now the new Balahate was told that Typhon represented fire, a terrible element which was at the same time indispensable. The password was 'CHYMIA', and the teaching was in chemistry [or alchemy].
"In order to become an 'Astronomer at the Gate of the Gods'--the Sixth Degree--the candidate was taken to the hall of assembly, bound, and led to the Gate of Death. He was shown corpses which had been cast into water, and warned that he might be similarly treated if he broke his oath. He was given some teaching in astronomy, and taken back to the Gate of the Gods, where he looked at the pictures of the gods while their histories were explained to him. A priestly dance took place, symbolizing the course of the heavenly bodies; he saw a list of members of the Order throughout the world, and learned the password: 'IBIS', for watchfulness.
"The last and the highest degree was that of 'Propheta', in which all secrets were laid bare. It was conferred following public processions, and when the permission of the King and all the highest members had been obtained. The members secretly left the city by night, 'and retired to some houses built in a square and surrounded by pillars by the sides of which were placed alternately a shield and a coffin, whose rooms were painted with representations of human life'. [Now] these houses were called maneras, for the people believed them to be visited by the manes of departed men. On their arrival at these houses the new member, now called prophet or Saphennath Pancah (a man who knows the secrets), was given a drink called oimellas and told that now all trials were over. He received a cross of peculiar significance, which he was always to wear. He was clothed in a wide, white-striped dress, called etangi. The usual sign was crossing his arms in his wide sleeves. He could peruse all the sacred books written in the Ammonite language...his greatest privilege was having a vote in the election of a king [and] the password was 'ADON'."
(Reading from Behold A Pale Horse, written by Milton William Cooper)
"These mystical societies always continued, and one of special interest is the powerful society of Afghanistan in ancient times called the Roshaniya--illuminated ones. The major tenets of this cult were: the abolition of private property; the elimination of religion; the elimination of nation states; the belief that illumination emanated from the Supreme Being who desired a class of perfect men and women to carry out the organization and direction of the world; belief in a plan to reshape the social system of the world by first taking control of individual countries one by one, and the belief that after reaching the fourth degree one could communicate directly with the unknown supervisors who had imparted knowledge to initiates throughout the ages...
"...The Roshaniya also called themselves the Order. Initiates took an oath that absolved them of all allegiance except to the Order and stated, 'I bind myself to perpetual silence and unshaken loyalty and submission to the Order... All humanity which cannot identify itself by our secret sign is our lawful prey.' The oath remains essentially the same to this day. The secret sign was to pass a hand over the forehead, palm inward; the counter-sign, to hold the ear with the fingers and support the elbow in the cupped other hand. Does [that] sound familiar?"
[William Cooper]: If you sit in a courtroom in just about any city in this land, you will see those signs exchanged between lawyers and defendants and judges. And you will see that whenever that...these signs are exchanged, whoever initiated the exchange will usually, in fact, most often does, win the court case.
"The Order [of course] is the Order of the Quest. [And] the cult preached [there was no heaven and no hell, only] a spirit state completely different from life as we know it. The spirit could continue to be powerful on earth through a member of the Order, but only if the spirit had been itself a member of the Order before its death. Thus members of the Order gained power from the spirits of the dead members.
"The Roshaniya took in travelers as initiates and then sent them on their way to found new chapters of the Order."
[William Cooper]: and they were called 'fellow travelers’. You see, this order, as all before it, and all since, are Socialist, Communists.
"It is believed by some that the Assassins were a branch of the Roshaniya. Branches of the Roshaniya or 'the illuminated ones' or the Illuminati existed and still exist everywhere. One of the rules was not to use the same name and never mention 'the Illuminati.' That rule is still in effect today [and it's probably] the breaking of [that] rule that resulted in Adam Weishaupt’s downfall."
[William Cooper]: Remember, folks, that we have really only just begun. And you are just beginning to understand, although some of you may think that you do already understand. I can assure you that may be only a very small minority of you really do. Most do not. We have a long way to go in this history and in your own particular, individual illumination. (laughs) Oh, I just love it! I just love it; exposing these people who claim that they are doing everything for the benefit of mankind, who really have all the guilt of everything bad that has ever happened to mankind squarely upon their shoulders.
[William Cooper]: Now, if you'd like a packet of information, if you would like to know how to join CAJI, if you'd like to purchase my book, or if you would like to donate...
(William Cooper asks for donations to stay on the air and offers CAJI memberships)
Next time, folks, we're going to talk about the Old Man of the Mountain. And we're going to continue the history of the order through the ages.
Good night, and may God bless you all.
(closing music: unknown classical piece)
Pentagon declined to investigate hundreds of purchases of child pornography
By John Cook
A 2006 Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigation into the purchase of child pornography online turned up more than 250 civilian and military employees of the Defense Department -- including some with the highest available security clearance -- who used credit cards or PayPal to purchase images of children in sexual situations. But the Pentagon investigated only a handful of the cases, Defense Department records show.
The cases turned up during a 2006 ICE inquiry, called Project Flicker, which targeted overseas processing of child-porn payments. As part of the probe, ICE investigators gained access to the names and credit card information of more than 5,000 Americans who had subscribed to websites offering images of child pornography. Many of those individuals provided military email addresses or physical addresses with Army or fleet ZIP codes when they purchased the subscriptions.
In a related inquiry, the Pentagon's Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) cross-checked the ICE list against military databases to come up with a list of Defense employees and contractors who appeared to be guilty of purchasing child pornography. The names included staffers for the secretary of defense, contractors for the ultra-secretive National Security Agency, and a program manager at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. But the DCIS opened investigations into only 20 percent of the individuals identified, and succeeded in prosecuting just a handful.
The Boston Globe first reported the Pentagon's role in Project Flicker in July, citing DCIS investigative reports (PDF) showing that at least 30 Defense Department employees were investigated.
But new Project Flicker investigative reports obtained by The Upshot through the Freedom of Information Act, which you can read here, show that DCIS investigators identified 264 Defense employees or contractors who had purchased child pornography online. Astonishingly, nine of those had "Top Secret Sensitive Compartmentalized Information" security clearances, meaning they had access to the nation's most sensitive secrets. All told, 76 of the individuals had Secret or higher clearances. But DCIS investigated only 52 of the suspects, and just 10 were ever charged with viewing or purchasing child pornography. Without greater public disclosure of how these cases wound down, it's impossible to know how or whether any of the names listed in the Project Flicker papers came in for additional scrutiny. It's conceivable that some of them were picked up by local law enforcement, but it seems likely that most of the people flagged by the investigation did not have their military careers disrupted in the context of the DCIS inquiry.
Read More..
A 2006 Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigation into the purchase of child pornography online turned up more than 250 civilian and military employees of the Defense Department -- including some with the highest available security clearance -- who used credit cards or PayPal to purchase images of children in sexual situations. But the Pentagon investigated only a handful of the cases, Defense Department records show.
The cases turned up during a 2006 ICE inquiry, called Project Flicker, which targeted overseas processing of child-porn payments. As part of the probe, ICE investigators gained access to the names and credit card information of more than 5,000 Americans who had subscribed to websites offering images of child pornography. Many of those individuals provided military email addresses or physical addresses with Army or fleet ZIP codes when they purchased the subscriptions.
In a related inquiry, the Pentagon's Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) cross-checked the ICE list against military databases to come up with a list of Defense employees and contractors who appeared to be guilty of purchasing child pornography. The names included staffers for the secretary of defense, contractors for the ultra-secretive National Security Agency, and a program manager at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. But the DCIS opened investigations into only 20 percent of the individuals identified, and succeeded in prosecuting just a handful.
The Boston Globe first reported the Pentagon's role in Project Flicker in July, citing DCIS investigative reports (PDF) showing that at least 30 Defense Department employees were investigated.
But new Project Flicker investigative reports obtained by The Upshot through the Freedom of Information Act, which you can read here, show that DCIS investigators identified 264 Defense employees or contractors who had purchased child pornography online. Astonishingly, nine of those had "Top Secret Sensitive Compartmentalized Information" security clearances, meaning they had access to the nation's most sensitive secrets. All told, 76 of the individuals had Secret or higher clearances. But DCIS investigated only 52 of the suspects, and just 10 were ever charged with viewing or purchasing child pornography. Without greater public disclosure of how these cases wound down, it's impossible to know how or whether any of the names listed in the Project Flicker papers came in for additional scrutiny. It's conceivable that some of them were picked up by local law enforcement, but it seems likely that most of the people flagged by the investigation did not have their military careers disrupted in the context of the DCIS inquiry.
Read More..
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)