587-6
The readings say the Essene priests chose according to the selection indicated by Spirit. Among the assembly was a child of four, Mary, the daughter of Elizabeth, an unmarried woman who alleged her daughter had been immaculately conceived. While the Cayce information asserts it was true, many in the community doubted Elizabeth’s claim and questions about Mary’s parentage caused divisions among the sect’s leadership. Some thought it was improper for the child to be among those set apart to potentially fulfill such a holy purpose. Others felt that because of her perfection in body and mind, Spirit had directed her inclusion within the group and should not be refused. In the end Mary and eleven other maidens were singled out “ … each as a representative of the twelve in the various phases that had been or that had made up Israel—or man.” (5749-8) Their training and preparation by the priests (similar in many ways to that of present-day novices in some Roman Catholic religious orders) began immediately and continued for several years until Mary reached the age of twelve or thirteen.
All the happenings at Mount Carmel are said to have drawn the first visits of the Wise Men of the East who hailed from Persia, India, and Egypt and who, according to the Edgar Cayce readings, visited the Holy Land on more than one occasion to better understand what was about to come to pass. The temple at Mount Carmel was widely considered a sacred place by those in tune with the impending spiritual transformation. So it is not too difficult to understand why this consecrated ground became the site where the mother of the Messiah was chosen from the initial group of twelve Essene girls. Edgar Cayce describes the scene this way—
The temple steps, or those that led to the altar—these were called the temple steps. These were those upon which the sun shone as it arose of a morning when there were the first periods of the chosen maidens going to the altar for prayer, as well as for the burning of the incense.
On this day, as they mounted the steps, all were bathed in the morning sun, which made a beautiful picture, clothing all as in purple and gold. As Mary reached the top step, then there were the thunder and lightning, and the angel led the way, taking the child by the hand before the altar. This was the manner of choice; this was the showing of the way; for she led the others on this particular day.
5749-8
After the selection of Mary to become the channel through which the Messiah would enter the earth, she was separated from the other girls and associated more closely with those in the community responsible for her further training and preparation, which lasted approximately four years.
Teacher in Training: Judy
During this period, a woman named Judy headed up the Essene community. Her appointment as its leader had been fraught with controversy too. Born approximately twenty-five years before the birth of Jesus, Judy had entered the world to fulfill a critical soul mission. Before her birth an angel had appeared at separate times to her parents, Hannah and Elkanah, to reveal the ministry and glorious work their child would perform. Due to the significance of the child’s future role in the life of the Messiah, everyone in the community had assumed Hannah’s baby would be a boy. When a girl was born, her gender “ … brought some disturbance, some confusion in the minds of many,” (1472-3) reports Cayce.
Holding onto their faith in the angelic messages and the promises they had received concerning their only child, Hannah and Elkanah dedicated Judy’s life to study. Cayce explains she learned about “ … those things that had been handed down as part of the experiences of those who had received visitation from the unseen, the unknown—or that worshipped as the Divine Spirit moving into the activities of man.” (1472-3) Judy is also credited with having the experience of hearing voices and much of her training was in disciplines the Essenes considered conducive to the development of psychic or prophetic abilities. In addition to the in-depth studies of the prophecies and traditions of her own people, she explored all the teachings of the East, including the traditions of India, Egypt, and “ … the conditions and traditions from many of the Persian lands and many of the borders about same … ” (1472-3) Impressed by the fact that numerous teachings and experiences related to her by these distant groups were handed down orally rather than through the written word, Judy made it a priority to devote a portion of her studies and time to the work of recording these oral traditions and discovering the best methods for preserving the information for future generations.
The Cayce material describes Judy as becoming not only a prophet and healer but also serving as a teacher and recorder, which boded well for her future work as one of Jesus’ primary instructors. After her appointment as head of the Essenes, she actively pushed to collect all the information concerning the advent of the promised Redeemer from groups in other lands and then compiled it with the records held by the Essenes. Select members of the Brotherhood were assigned to go gather this data from disparate gurus and communities by tapping “ … the teachings of those groups in Persia, India, Egypt, and even of the Hebrews and the activities in Olympus and the isles of the sea.” (2520-1) There were also individuals from far-flung regions of the world who traveled to Mount Carmel to consult with the Essenes and brought with them information received through their own research and study.
Conceiving the Christ
Then when the days were come that the prophecy might be fulfilled that had been given by Isaiah, Malachi, Joel and those of old, she, Mary, espoused to Joseph—a chosen vessel for the office among those of the priests, the sect or group who had separated and dedicated themselves in body, in mind, in spirit for this coming—became with child.
5749-7
The story in the New Testament about a man named Jesus begins with the tale of a young girl who is told by an angel, a messenger of the universal Creative Forces, that she will bear a son. The Cayce readings comport with the biblical account in confirming the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary in the home of Elizabeth. Upon the appearance of this supernatural intermediary Mary is made aware of the presence of the Spirit within her. Similar to Abraham’s wife Sarah in the Old Testament who thought she was too old to bear a child, Mary finds the angel’s pronouncement hard to believe for she is still a virgin who has never been with a man. The divine emissary responds by remarking that nothing is impossible with God. “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God,” (Luke 1:35) recounts the Gospel of Luke. The life force spontaneously quickening within Mary had done so without any connection to a human father or material cause. That which was conceived within her had been implanted by the unseen forces and the holiest of spirits. Its origins were of God.
The debate over the Immaculate Conception has raged for centuries and likely will continue far into the future. But the Cayce readings say it was true and go even further to reveal that this event was in compliance with natural law. The conception of Jesus is a manifestation of the law underlying the projection of mind into matter—the very same process that marked humanity’s entrance into the earth plane at the beginning of time. The soul’s separation from its source and subsequent involvement in matter, which now encased it in a physical or bodily form, had started the journey through this dimension. And because this encasement had a beginning, “there must be an end” to it—a time when the powerful yoke binding man to materiality would be broken. Such was the process, says Cayce, which began during this particular period of human history. (5749-8)
When asked to explain the Immaculate Conception or the virgin birth of Jesus, the readings suggest the reason it was called forth was for the “ … manifestation in the earth of the holy influence necessary for the sustaining of a backsliding world … ” (5749-3), because
