MELKI-TSEDEQ

EASTERN tradition speaks of Soma being lost at a certain point in time, such that it became necessary for another beverage to be substituted for it, though it bore no relation to the original. [1] The usual replacement was wine, to which a large part of the Greek legend of Dionysos is devoted. [2] Moreover, wine is widely taken to represent the true initiatory tradition: the Hebraic iain, 'wine', and sod, 'mystery', share the same number [3] and were thus interchangeable. Wine symbolizes to the Sufi the esoteric knowledge reserved for the small elite and not suitable for all, as all cannot drink wine with impunity. Thus the use of wine in a rite confers upon it a clearly initiatory character; such is the case of the 'eucharistic' sacrifice of Melchizedek, [4] upon which we must now dwell a while. Melchizedek, or more precisely Melki-Tsedeq, is none other than the title used by Judaeo-Christian tradition to denote the function of the 'Lord of the World'. We have hesitated before publishing this information which explains one of the most enigmatic passages of the Hebrew Bible, but, having decided to treat the issue of the Lord of the World, concluded it could hardly be passed over in silence. The words of Saint Paul are most appropriate: 'We have much to say on this subject and much that is difficult to explain, for you have become slow to understand'. [5] The biblical text prompting Saint Paul's comment reads as follows: 'And Melki-Tsedeq, king of Salem, caused bread and wine to be brought; and he was priest to God the Most High (El Ellon), And he blessed Abram, [6] saying: "Blessed be Abram, he of God the Most High, possessor of Heaven and Earth; and blessed be God the Most High who has delivered your enemies into your hands." And Abram gave him the tithe of all he had taken. [7] Melki-Tsedeq is thus both king and priest. His name means 'king of Justice' and he is also king of Salem, that is of 'Peace', so again we find 'Justice' and 'Peace', the fundamental attributes pertaining to the 'Lord of the World'. Contrary to popular opinion, the name Salem has never described a town but, taken as the symbol residence of Melchizedek, can be considered the equivalent of Agarttha. Nor can it be interpreted as the primitive name for Jerusalem, as the latter was originally called Jebus. On the contrary, had the name Jerusalem been given to the town and its establishment by the Jews as a spiritual centre, it would have been to manifest it as an image of the true Salem. It is worth noting that the Temple was built by Solomon, whose Hebraic name (Shlomoh), also derived from Salem, signifies 'Peaceable'. [8] Saint Paul comments as follows on the description given of Melki-Tsedeq: 'This Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of God Most High, when he returned from the defeat of the kings came before Abraham whom he blessed and to whom Abraham gave the tithe of all his spoils; who is, first, as his title denotes, king of Justice and also king of Salem, that is to say king of Peace; who is without father, without mother, without origin, who has neither beginning nor end to his life, but who is made in the likeness of God's Son; this Melchizedek dwells as Priest in perpetuity. [9] Here Melchizedek - as the one giving the blessing - is represented as Abraham's superior: 'It cannot be gainsaid that the inferior is blessed by the superior. [10] Abraham himself recognized this by surrendering the tithe, the mark of his dependence. The whole episode enacts a true 'investiture', almost in the feudal sense of the word, but with the difference that it is a spiritual investiture, wherein is found the exact point of union between the Hebraic and the great primordial tradition. The 'blessing' is in fact the communication of a 'spiritual influence' in which Abraham would henceforth participate, since the formula used placed him in a position of direct communication with 'God Most High', He whom Abraham afterwards invoked in the name of Jehovah. [11] If, then, Melki-Tsedeq is superior to Abraham it is because his God 'Most High' (Elion) is superior to the 'All-Powerful' (Shaddai), Abraham's God. Another view is that the first name represents a higher divine aspect than the second. On the other hand a crucial truth that has never been noticed is that EI Elion is synonymous with Emmanuel, as each carry the same number. [12] This fact connects the history of Melki-Tsedeq directly with that of the Magi-kings: consequently the priesthood of Melki-Tsedeq is that of EI Elion. The Christian priesthood is that of Emmanuel. If, then, El Elion is Emmanuel, the two priesthoods are one, thus proving that the Christian office with its eucharistic offering of bread and wine is truly 'according to the order of Melchizedek'. [13] Judaeo-Christian tradition distinguishes between two forms of priesthood, the one 'according to the order of Aaron',.the other 'according to the order of Melchizedek'. The latter is superior to the former, just as Melchizedek is superior to Abraham, whose issue composed the tribe of Levi and consequently the family of Aaron. [14] This supremacy is clearly defined by Saint Paul: 'Levi collected the tithe [from the people of Israel] and paid it, so to speak, through Abraham. [15] We shall not pursue here the question of the two priesthoods, but these other words of Saint Paul are worth quoting: 'Here [in the Levitic priesthood] these are mortal men who receive the tithes but there that is a man who is attested to be living. [16] This 'living man' who is Melki-Tsedeq is also Manu, he who 'lives perpetually' (Hebrew le-olam), which means for the duration of his cycle (Manvantara) or of the world he specifically controls. For this reason he is 'without geneology', for his origin is non-human since he is the veritable prototype of man; he is truly 'made like the Son of God'. Through the prescription of his own law he is for this world the expression and image of the Divine Word. [17] The history of the Magi-kings presents three distinct personages, the leaders of the initiatory hierarchy; the account of Melki-Tsedeq contains only one, but it is he who has the ability to unite in himself the necessary qualities of all three offices. Thus some have distinguished Adoni-Tsedeq, 'Lord of Justice' who is also double in the form of Kohan-Tsedeq, 'Priest of Justice' and Melki-Tsedeq, 'King of Justice'. These three can be taken as corresponding to the functions of the Brahatma, the Mahatma, and the Mahanga. [18] Strictly speaking, the title Melki-Tsedeq applies only to the last aspect, but as the function it expresses is the closest to the exterior world and consequently the most immediately manifested, it is normally extended to embrace all three. 'Dharma-Raja' is the Indian equivalent of Melki-Tsedeq, but like 'Lord of The World' and 'King of Justice' refers directly only to royal power. [19] Taking the strict sense of the name 'Melki-Tsedeq', as 'King of Justice', his proper attributes are the same scales and sword that characterize Mikael, 'Angel of Judgement'. [20] In the social structure these emblems represent the administrative and military offices that properly belong to the Kshatriya caste, and which are the two elements of royal power. Hieroglyphically, they compose two characters to form the Arabic and Hebrew root Haq that denotes both 'Justice' and 'Truth' [21] and which served for many ancient races also to denote royalty. [22] 'Haq' is the enabling power of Justice, the equilibrium symbolized by the scales, whereas power is symbolized by the sword, [23] and it is that which truly characterizes royal power. In a spiritual sense Haq signifies the power of Truth. A modified form of the word was formed by substituting the symbol of spiritual power for that of material strength so that Haq became Hak or 'wisdom' (Hebrew Hokmah), signifying sacerdotal authority rather than the 'royal power' implied by Haq. Both corresponding forms exist with similar meanings in the root kan, which signifies 'power' or 'enablement' and also 'knowledge' in a diversity of languages. [24] Kan is essentially the same as the spiritual or intellectual power of Wisdom (hence the Hebrew Kohen, 'priest'), whereas qan is the material power, from which originated many words denoting 'possession', notably the word Cain. [25] These roots could no doubt give rise to many other speculations which are, however, out of place here. The references contained in the Hebrew Kabbalah to the Shekinah will complete this subject: it is represented in the 'inferior' world by Malkuth, which means 'Kingdom' and which is the last of the ten Sephiroth. This in itself is of relevance, but more so are the synonyms given to Malkuth of 'Tsedeq' or 'the Just'. [26] This convergence of Malkuth and Tsedeq, or of Royalty (the government of the world) and Justice, reappears in precisely the title 'Melki-Tsedeq'. In this context it represents the distributive and balanced Justice found in the 'middle column' of the Sephirothic tree. Here, this Justice must be distinguished from that Justice (opposed to Mercy) which is identified with Rigour in the 'left-hand column', since these are two different aspects (and, besides, in Hebrew there are two words to distinguish these aspects: Tsedaqah and Din respectively). It is the first of these that denotes 'Justice' in both the strictest and most complete sense of the word, because it carries the fundamental idea of balance or harmony and is indissolubly aligned with 'Peace'. Malkuth is the 'reservoir where the waters that flow from the river above unite, that is to say all the emanations (spiritual influences or graces) that are poured out so abundantly'. [27] This river from on high and the waters that descend from it strangely recall the role played in Hindu tradition by the celestial river Ganga, and one could also comment that Shakti, of which the Ganga is an aspect, is not without its similarities to the Shekinah, no doubt because of the providential function that is common to them both. This reservoir of celestial waters corresponds naturally to the spiritual centre of our world, from which the four rivers of Pardes make their way towards the four cardinal points. The Jews identify the spiritual centre as Mount Sion, calling it the 'heart of the world', in common with all 'Holy Lands'. It corresponds to the Hindu Meru or Persian Alborj. [28] 'The Tabernacle of the Holiness of Jehovah, the residence of the Shekinah, is the Saint of Saints who is the heart of the Temple, that is itself the centre of Sion (Jerusalem) as the Holy Sion is the centre of the Land of Israel, and as the Land of Israel is the centre of the world. [29] The matter can be taken even further, not only by placing every name enumerated above in an inverse order but also by adding, after the Tabernacle in the Temple, the Ark of the Covenant in the Tabernacle, and on the Ark itself that point between the two Cherubim where the Shekinah manifests, to represent successive approximations to the 'spiritual Pole'. Dante depicts Jerusalem as the 'spiritual Pole' in precisely this way, as explained elsewhere, [30] but as soon as one leaves the strictly Judaic viewpoint the centre becomes symbolic and is not a location in the strict sense of the term. All secondary spiritual centres that are constituted with the aim of adapting primordial tradition to determined conditions are, as we have seen, images of the one supreme centre. In fact, Sion can only be one of these subordinate centres, yet is identified with the supreme centre by reason of its resemblance. Jerusalem, as its name indicates, is an image of the genuine Salem, and what has been said and what will be said of the 'Holy Land', which is not merely the Land of Israel, will make this attribution comprehensible. In this connection, another remarkable synonym of the 'Holy Land', 'Land of the Living', clearly describes the 'abode of immortality' in such a way that, strictly speaking, it is applicable to the Terrestrial Paradise or its symbolic equivalents. However, this title has also been carried over to secondary centres, notably the Land of Israel. It is said that the 'Land of the Living comprises seven lands', about which Vulliard observes that 'this land is Canaan in which there were seven peoples'. [31] Without doubt this is literally exact, but reviewed in a symbolical context these seven lands could equally well, like also those in the Islamic tradition, apply to the seven dwipas that, according to Hindu tradition, have Meru for a common centre, to which we will return later. There is a striking resemblance, hardly accidental, between the eras of the seven Manus - counted from the beginning of this 'kalpa' to the present epoch [32] - and the ancient worlds or preceding creations which are represented by the 'seven kings of Edom'. ('seven' in this context relates to the seven 'days' of Genesis).