MDDM Ch. 50 Elect Cohens of Paris

[Dave Monroe]

"One day, the Meridian having been closely enough
establish'd, and with an hour or two of free time
available to them, one heads north, one south, and
'tis Dixon's luck to discover The Rabbi of Prague,
headquarters of a Kabbalistick Faith, in
correspondence with the Elect Cohens of Paris, whose
private Salute they now greet Dixon with, the Fingers
spread two and two, and the Thumb held away from them
likewise, said to represent the Hebrew letter Shin and
to signify, 'live long and prosper.'" (M&D, Ch. 50, p.
485)


The Rabbi of Prague

"Anyone visiting Prague has an opportunity to
encounter the Golem, the legendary being created and
brought to life by Prague’s former Chief Rabbi Yehuda
Low. According to legend, the Golem has lain lifeless
and undisturbed for centuries behind a small,
triangular window in the attic of the synagogue in the
Jewish Quarter. Many authors have written about the
Golem, making it a popular figure in Jewish and
European folklore."

http://www.israeltoday.co.il/article/Default.asp?CatID=6&ArticleID=47

"Rabbi Uehuda Loew, known to the pious as the Maharal,
came to Prague from Nikolsburg, Posen, in the year
5332 of the Creation (1572 C.E.) in order to become
rabbi of the community there. The whole world
resounded with his fame because he was deeply learned
in all branches of knowledge and knew many languages,
Is it any wonder that he was revered by the wise men
among the Gentiles. Even King Rudolf of Bohemia
esteemed him highly. Because of these reasons the
Maharal was able to wage war successfully against the
enemies of Israel who tired to besmirch Jewish honour
with their false blood accusations.  After much sad
experience, in the course of which these frightful
slanders were fully exposed in the brilliant light of
truth, King Rudolf assured Rabbi Yehuda Loew that
never again would he permit any blood accusations to
be charged against the Jews in his kingdom. When the
Maharal first came to Prague the blood accusation was
a very common occurence there and much innocent Jewish
blood was spilled because of it. Immediately on his
arrival, Rabbi Yehuda Loew announced that he would
fight against this unholy calumny with all his power
in order to silence his enemies of his people who so
tirelesly plotted for its destruction."

http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~jewsoc/prague.html


Cohen

"The kohanim are the descendants of Aaron, chosen by 
G-d at the time of the incident with the Golden Calf
to perform certain sacred work, particularly in
connection with the animal sacrifices and the rituals
related to the Temple. After the destruction of the
Temple, the role of the kohanim diminished
significantly in favor of the rabbis; however, we
continue to keep track of kohein lineage. DNA research
supports their claims: a study published in Nature in
June 1997 shows that self-identified kohanim in three
countries have common elements in the Y-chromosome,
indicating that they all have a common male
ancestor.... 

[...]

"The term 'Kohein' is the source of the common Jewish
surname 'Cohen,' but not all Cohens are koheins and
not all koheins are Cohens. 'Katz' is also a common
surname for a kohein (it is an acronym of 'kohein
tzadik,' that is, 'righteous priest'), but not all
Katzes are koheins."

http://www.jewfaq.org/rabbi.htm#Kohein


Elect Cohens of Paris

"'Cohen' is the Hebrew word for priest. Much of the
book of Leviticus is devoted to spelling out their
duties. As for the 'Elect Cohens of Paris,' they were
an 18th century Masonic group. All of the Cohens are
'elect' in the sense that God chose them for his
priests."

http://www.hyperarts.com/pynchon/mason-dixon/alpha/e.html

"Out of the Illuminates of Avignon developed within
the french Freemasonry a mystical-theosophical order
founded by Jacques de Livron Joachin de la Tour de la
Case Martinez de Pasqually (or Martinez Pasqually for
short.) Pasqually was born in Grenoble in 1727. His
inclinations towards mysticism made him join
freemasonry, and he became Master mason in Montpellier
around 1754.... Pasqually tended very early towards
speculative masonry. He made extensive travels through
France in the years 1755 -1760, and met many masons
that were fascinated by his thoughts. His ideas had by
the time of 1760 gained enough resonance among
freemasons that it allowed him to establish a lodge
called 'Temple des Elus Cohen' (Coên). The members
were known as 'La Perfection Elue Ecossise'.

[...]

"The members of the Order were called le Chevaliers
Elus Cohens (or Coëns) de l'Univers. The name Cohen is
a French version of the Hebrew word 'Cohanim': a name
for the highest class of priests in Jerusalem in
biblical times. They believed they descended directly
from Aaron, the brother of Moses.

[...]

"Pasqually's sources are of Gnostic, manicheistic and
Catharistic origin fused with elements of hermetical
and christian-kabbalistic mysticism typical of Knorr
von Rosenroth. He may also have used Arabian-chaldean
texts. There might also be a connection to the
teachings of Emmanuel Swedenborg. Pasqually's
teachings were also of a sexual-magical nature,
largely connected to phallisism."

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/1896/pascally.html

Cf. "Martinist Illuminati" (M&D, Ch. 37, p. 378)

"Martinism is a system of mystical Christian
Illuminist philosophy and practice based upon the
transmission of an Initiation (called by Martinists
The Initiation) and the secret instruction and public
writings of French philosopher Louis-Claude de
Saint-Martin (1743-1803). St. Martin's major published
works include Of Errors and Truth, The New Man, and
The Spirit of Things. (See Waite's The Unknown
Philosopher for a complete bibliography of
St.-Martin's works.) Saint-Martin was initiated into
the Order des Elus-Cohens, an esoteric and magical
group founded by Rosicrucian and Freemason, Martines
de Pasqually (?-1774).

"Saint-Martin eventually developed a preference for
mysticism rather than for Pasqually's medieval magical
practice...."

http://www.rcmo.org/HistMart.html

http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0203&msg=65322&sort=date

"Martinism: name derived by Louis Claude de
Saint-Martin, author of a 1775 book, Des ereurs et de
la vérité. Saint-Martin was a disciple of adventurer
and seer, Martines de Pasqually who wrote the
incomplete, Traité de Réintégration. Swedenborgian in
view, Christian in origin, theurgic or magical in its
implications, Martinism first appeared in the south of
France in the 1750s under the name of Juges Ecossais.
By 1760 they appeared in Paris, now known as the Elus
Cohens. Martinist doctrines were carried in
Freemasonry and increased the confusion as to what
constituted Freemasonry. Martinism also popularized
the general classification of seekers after
revelations as 'illuminés', a term that was to take on
a far different meaning in the next century. Mesmer's
Order of Universal Harmony, Cagliostro's Egyptian
Rite, a new system of Clermont (1758) etc. [pp.
103-105]"

http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/mythology_secret.html

"In France, among the many prominent figures in that
country, Louis Claude de Saint-Martin stands out for
the pure spirituality of his thought. As a young army
officer he met a mystic of Bordeaux and founder of the
Order of the Elect Cohens, Martinez de Pasqually. Upon
resignation from the military service in 1771
Saint-Martin became his co-worker and the driving
force behind reforms of the Order. He eliminated its
magic rituals, as he soon realized the fallacy of the
theurgic practices his teacher employed in order to
communicate with the 'Active and Intelligent Cause' of
the universe: Saint-Martin's was the inward path,
without psychism; he believed he had an urgent
mission: 

to lead the mind of man by a natural path to the
supernatural things which of right belong to him, but
of which he has lost all conception, in part by his
degradation, in part by the frequently false
instruction of his teachers.[...] -- The Unknown
Philosopher, A. E. Waite, pp. 52, 82

"For a number of years Saint-Martin spent much energy
and time meeting people in an effort to interest as
many as possible in his mystic message. He frequented
not only other members of secret societies, but also
the prominent of that era, titled and untitled, to
whom his birth gave access. When the Revolution
finally put an end to this form of service, he must
have recognized that henceforth the works he had
written under the pseudonym 'The Unknown Philosopher'
would be a more effective avenue"

http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/sunrise/30-80-1/ph-ida1.htm

A.E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910) ...

http://www.sacred-texts.com/tarot/

Pynchon's primary source on tarot, apparently ...

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