This John the Baptist was born in the hill country of Judea, nearly thirty years before he appeared as a prophet.  His father was of the priestly order, or temple caste, who had reached an advanced age, and who lived with his aged wife in retirement, away from the noise and confusion of the world, waiting the gradual approach of that which cometh to all men alike.  Then there came to them a child of their old age, unexpected and unhoped for—­coming as a mark of especial favor from God—­a son, to whom they gave the name of Johanan, which in the Hebrew tongue means “Jehovah is gracious.”

Reared in the home of his parents—­the house of a priest—­John saturated himself with all the Inner Teachings reserved for the few, and withheld from the masses.  The Secrets of the Kaballah, that system of Hebrew Occultism and Mysticism in which the higher priests of Judea were well versed, were disclosed to him, and occult tradition has it that he was initiated into the Inner Circle of the Hebrew Mystics, composed of only priests of a certain grade, and their sons.  John became an Occultist and a Mystic.  When the boy reached the age of puberty, he departed from the home of his parents, and went into the wilderness, “looking to the East, from whence cometh all Light.”  In other words, he became an Ascetic, living in the wilderness, just as in India even to-day youths of the Brahmin or priestly class sometimes forsake their homes, renouncing their luxurious life, and fly to the jungle, where they wander about for years as ascetics, wearing a single garment, subsisting on the most elementary food, and developing their spiritual consciousness.  John remained a recluse until he reached the age of about thirty years, when he emerged from the wilderness to preach the “Coming of the Lord,” in obedience to the movings of the Spirit.  Let us see where he was, and what he did, during the fifteen years of his life in the wilderness and hidden places of Judea.

The traditions of the Essenes, preserved among Occultists, state that while John was an ascetic he imbibed the teachings of that strange Occult Brotherhood known as the Essenes, and after having served his apprenticeship, was accepted into the order as an Initiate, and attained their higher degrees reserved only for those of developed spirituality and power.  It is said that even when he was a mere boy he claimed and proved his right to be fully initiated into the Mysteries of the Order, and was believed to have been a reincarnation of one of the old Hebrew prophets.

THE ESSENES.