Mary came a little of the way with Jesus on the road to Jerusalem ; then fell and sat weeping great tears by the roadside. In a small voice she cried after him : “Nevertheless, Lord, the end is not yet, and when the Mother summons me to my duty, I will not fail her.”
“The end is as the Living God wills !”
It was a few days before midsummer. Jesus had come to a ford of the Upper Jordan, where the stream runs broad between high crags. He waited meekly on the eastern bank. John, in a white linen garment girded up to his waist, stood in midstream, and nine witnesses were gathered on the other side of the ford.
“Come, Lord !” cried John, “for it is written : ‘The Spirit of the Lord shall descend upon you, and you shall be changed to another man.’ ”
Naked, Jesus entered the water. John filled two pitchers from the flowing stream, one of gold, the other of white clay moulded in spiral form. He poured the double stream over Jesus’s head and body and chanted the antique formula preserved, almost unaltered, in the second Psalm :
I will declare the decree that the Lord has put in my mouth, saying :
Son, I have set you upon my holy citadel in the Wilderness of Zin,
My beloved Son you are, this day have I begotten you.
Ask now of me and I shall give you all nations for your inheritance and the utmost parts of the earth for your possession,
To rule them with a rod of iron, dashing them into pieces like pots of clay.
Then he roared in ecstasy : “Look up, Lord, for your Ka descends upon you in the form of a dove !”
Jesus looked up. At that moment the sun surmounted the eastern crag and shone brilliantly down on the water. The Ka is the weird, or double, of a king, and at the coronation of an Egyptian pharaoh is pictured as descending upon him in the form of a hawk ; but Jesus did not derive his royal title from the Hawk-goddess.
He passed glorified across to the other bank. John, following after, took a phial of terebinth oil and emptied it upon his head. “In the name of the Lord God of Israel, I anoint you King of all Israel !”
Some of the witnesses blew trumpets, others cried : “God save the King !” and shouted for joy.
Then Judas of Kerioth came forward with a seamless linen garment, of the sort reserved for High Priests, saying : “My former master, before he died, instructed me to put this on you at your anointing.” He clothed Jesus in it.
John set Jesus in a covered litter and the nine witnesses carried him northward into Galilee, taking turns at the staves. On the second day they came to the steep slopes of Mount Tabor. John strode ahead through the thickets of kerm-oak, terebinth, myrtle, carob and mountain-olive, the wild beasts fleeing startled away from his path, until he reached the rocky platform at the top. There stands the small town of Atabyrium, formerly the market-place and common sanctuary of the three tribes Issachar, Zebulon and Naphtali.
It was at Atabyrium, in the days of the Judges, that these three tribes rallied under Barak and the priestess Deborah before charging down against Sisera’s chariotry in the valley of the Kishon ; and there in later times the golden calves—“snares to catch the deluded”, as the prophet Hosea called them—were dedicated to Atabyrius, the god of the mountain. The men of Tabor identify Atabyrius with Jehovah ; the Greek mythographers describe him as one of the Telchines, that is to say, as a god of the Pelasgians ; and for the Essenes Atabyrius is a title of their demi-god Moses. Another mountain sanctuary of the same god is Atabyris in the island of Rhodes, where a pair of brazen bulls are said to roar aloud whenever anything extraordinary is about to happen. Atabyrius is credited with the power of transforming himself into any shape he pleases, like Dionysus, or like Pelasgian Proteus, or like the God of Horeb who appeared to Moses in the acacia bush of Kadesh and gave his name as “I am whatever I choose to be”.
In ancient times Tabor was not his only sanctuary in Israel : the Terebinth of Atabyrius on Mount Ephraim was a station through which King Saul passed on his coronation journey. A yearly fair is still held on Tabor, and in the time of Jesus patriotic Galileans would refer to Jehovah as “the Lord of Zebulon”, saying : “Nothing prevented that the Holy City should have been built on Tabor, but that it pleased the Lord to rule otherwise.” “Nothing” was an exaggeration. There is no spring-water on Tabor and the inhabitants are dependent on rain-water for all purposes.
John went to the house of the Essene Watchman of Tabor, whose name was Nikki, that is Nicanor, and roused him from sleep. “The King is coming, Watchman, do you hear? The King is coming ; the only son of Michal, his father a King !”
Nicanor, dizzied with sleep, cried : “Away, man, you speak wildly.”
“I am John of Ain-Rimmon, the prophet who anointed him King, and I declare him to be true-born. As an infant he escaped from the sword of Archelaus at Bethlehem of Judaea, being carried to safety in Egypt by the Sons of Rahab.”
“Are the signs of royalty upon him ?”
“It remains to add the eighth. Already he has endured his vigil and tamed the wild beasts of Horeb. Already the new heiress of Michal has been summoned to the Heel Stone. The contract between the King and her guardian, Lazarus of Bethany, is sealed and witnessed.”
“Where is this King ?”
“He follows behind.”
“Conduct him to the sacred grove, and we shall see how he comports himself.”
As dawn was breaking, John guided the litter-bearers to the sacred grove, in a clearing of the forest, where Nicanor was awaiting Jesus. The litter was set down and Jesus stepped out.
Seven trees stood in a circular plot strewn with sea-sand ; they were the broom, the willow, the kerm-oak, the almond, the terebinth, the love-apple, the pomegranate. Jesus circumambulated the grove, blessing each tree in turn while Nicanor watched him intently. Jesus chanted :
Blessed in the Creator’s Name be the Sun, and the first day of the week, which is the angel Raphael’s. Blessed in his Name be the royal broom, beneath which the prophet Elijah took his rest and was fed.
Blessed in the Creator’s Name be the Moon, and the second day of the week, which is the angel Gabriel’s. Blessed in his Name be the willow, whose water-loving boughs deck the Great Altar on the Day of Willows.
Blessed in the Creator’s Name be the planet Nergal, and the third day of the week, which is the angel Sammael’s. Blessed in his Name be the kerm-oak, whose scarlet dyes the garments of the anointed king, a charm against the Female, the Leprous One.
Blessed in the Creator’s Name be the planet Nabu, and the middle day of the week, which is the angel Michael’s. Blessed in his Name be the almond-tree, whose rod budded for Aaron the wise, whose fruit cups each lamp of the seven-branched candlestick.
Blessed in the Creator’s Name be the planet Marduk, and the fifth day of the week, which is the angel Izidkiel’s. Blessed in his Name be the terebinth, under whose shade Abraham and Sarah his wife were promised increase as the sands on the sea-shore.
Blessed in the Creator’s Name be the planet Ishtar, and the sixth day of the week, which is the angel Hanael’s. Blessed in his Name be the quince-tree, whose goodly fruit sweetens the Feast of Tabernacles.
Blessed in the Creator’s Name be the planet Ninib, and the seventh day of the week, which is the angel Kepharel’s. Blessed in his Name be the pomegranate-tree, on whose bough the Paschal lamb is impaled, whose fruit alone may be fetched into the presence of the Living God.
Blessed above all be the Creator of all things, who is the candlestick to these seven lamps, cupping them with his wisdom, who planted the seven-branched tree of life.
To the Sun be granted the power either to warm or to scorch.
To the Moon be granted the power either to foster or to blight.
To the planet Nergal be granted the power either to strengthen or to make weak.
To the planet Nabu be granted the power either to make wise or to make foolish.
To the planet Marduk be granted the power either to make fruitful or to make barren.
> To the planet Ishtar be granted the power either to grant or to withhold the heart’s desire.
To the planet Ninib be granted the power either to make holy or to make accursed.
Blessed be the Disposer of powers, the Lord of the Sabbath. Him only I adore.
Nicanor looked to see under which of the seven trees Jesus would seat himself, and wondered that he abstained from the tree of royalty, the tree of magic, the tree of might, the tree of wisdom, the tree of prosperity, the tree of holiness, but rested submissively on his knees under the tree of love.
Jesus, reading his thoughts, asked : “Was it not of this tree that Solomon the wise prophesied in his allegory of God’s love for Israel : ‘I sat down under his shadow with great delight, for his banner over me was love’ ?”
Nicanor bowed before Jesus reverently and asked : “Lord, are you prepared to suffer the things that are necessary to royalty? Are you prepared for the marring ?”
“I am prepared. It is written : ‘Behold the Servant of the Lord shall prosper. He shall be exalted and praised and lifted high. Many were astonished, Lord, at your doing : for his face was marred more than any man’s, and his body likewise. Thus marred, shall he sprinkle many nations with his lustral branch. Kings shall be dumb before him. They shall see what has not been told them, and learn what they have not before heard.’ ”
On the third day, just before dawn, they led him by torchlight to the Heel Stone, formerly the eastern altar of a gilgal, or stone circle, long since vanished. Mary of Bethany, the daughter of Jose styled Cleopas, a beautiful kinswoman of Mary the mother of Jesus, stood at one side of the stone ; Mary herself stood next to her, and presently another woman came out of the darkness of the wood, her face shrouded in a shawl, and made a third with them, but said nothing.
Nicanor bound the ceremonial dove-wings to the shoulders of Jesus. “Have no fear, great Lord, for our God will give his angels charge of you, lest you dash your sacred foot against a rock.”
As dawn was breaking, Jesus mounted upon the stone and Mary the daughter of Cleopas cried : “Fly, Dove of Doves, fly !”
At that signal the Kenites began to pelt him with stones and sticks and filth until his face was wounded and disfigured and he toppled forward from the stone, as the winged Icarus falls from Heaven in the famous picture by Zeuxis. But seven notables of Tabor, named after the archangels Raphael, Gabriel, Sammael, Michael, Izidkiel, Hanael and Kepharel, stood below the stone and caught him before his feet touched the ground.
Now, I have read that the Great King of Babylon himself would submit during his coronation to be buffeted in the face by a priest, and that King Herod when crowned King of the Jews underwent the same indignity, which was the occasion of his remembering the prophetic buffets that Father Manahem had dealt him at Bozrah. But the ritual assault upon King Jesus by the seven notables of Tabor was a more ancient and cruel one by far, performed again after more than a thousand years in fulfilment of prophecy.
They wrestled with him, seven against one, until they had forced him to kneel with thighs divaricated. Then the tallest and boldest of them climbed on the stone and leapt down on him, and by that act of violence the marring was completed. Jesus’s left thigh was put out of joint, the head of the bone being displaced and lodged in the muscles of the thigh ; and his left leg stretched out in spasm and twisted, so that thereafter he limped with what is called the sacred lameness. The eighth sign of royalty had been added and he had uttered no cry or word of complaint. Mary the elder and Mary the younger wept for pity. But the tall old woman standing beside them suddenly drew back her veil, kissed the younger Mary on both cheeks, laughed terribly and fled back into the wood.
The Kenites took Jesus up tenderly and implored his pardon. They washed his face, put salve on his wounds, and towards evening carried him in a litter to a spacious arbour of cedar and fir branches which had been erected in Nicanor’s garden. As he entered, the whole assembly, who had been sworn to sacred silence, rose to their feet.
A throne hung with purple was prepared at the western end of the arbour. Mary the daughter of Cleopas was already seated on it, dressed like a queen in a robe of gold tissue ; a necklace of amber and scallops about her neck and a diadem of stars on her head. The seven notables came forward and ministered to Jesus. Kepharel drew upon his feet the royal scarlet buskins with gold heels of tragical height ; the four angels next in the hierarchy invested him with sacred garments ; Raphael crowned him with his golden crown ; Gabriel presented him with a sceptre of canna-reed.
When he was ready, the Queen smiled graciously at him, descended slowly from the throne and gave him her hand. Painfully he took three steps up the ramp and sat down beside her ; for the meaning of coronation is marriage to the heiress of the land.
Rams’ horns blew, the company shouted acclamations and the wedding feast began. An unblemished white ox had been slaughtered in honour of the King and Queen, and now the company, hungry for roast flesh after a night and a day of fasting, waited for him to inaugurate the banquet by partaking of the sacred shoulder reserved for him.
He set the shoulder aside, saying : “Those who love me will refrain with me. This custom is ended.”
None dared cat, and the carcase of the ox was taken out for burial. However, he accepted a cup of red wine from Nazareth, the ancient House of Wine attached to the shrine of Tabor, and shared it with his queen. Even the Kenites now drank wine, dispensed from their Nazirite prohibition. He also accepted a loaf of bread from Bethlehem of Galilee, the ancient House of Bread, and shared it with his queen to the last crumb.
Then to music of pipe and drum the Kenites antiphonically sang Rachel’s Blessing upon Israel. This is their mystic song of the Sacred Year and contains the names of the original fourteen tribes, Dinah among them, beginning with Reuben and ending with Benjamin :
See the Son, on the water tossed,
In might and excellency of power,
Resting at ease between two feats—
He has paid the shipman all his hire—
Dwelling secure in the hollow ship
Until by winds he is wafted home.
Hark, how he roars like a lion’s whelp!
Hark, how his brothers praise his name!
For his eyes are red with Eshcol wine
And his teeth are white with milk.
Happy is he ; his bread is fat,
Royal dainties are on his plate.
Though a troop of raiders cast him down,
He will cast them down in his own good time.
He is set apart from all his brothers
And joined in marriage to Canaan’s queen.
His word is sharp, his anger fierce ;
The whole world listens to his commands.
He makes fruitful by his right deeds,
And the people swarm like fish.
So his seed shall become a multitude.
He bestows forgetfulness of pain ;
He is wise as a serpent, undeceived,
His judgements bite like an adder’s fangs.
None dares murmur before the throne
When he sits in judgement beside his queen.
Wise-mouth wrestles against his foe,
Who flees at dawn like a hind let loose—
See the Son of my Right Hand,
Divider of nightly spoil.
Then the notables, who were the bridesmen, sang the first half of the forty-fifth Psalm, King David’s royal marriage hymn, in which the King is invited to gird his sword on his thigh and ride forward in majesty to battle, seeing that God has established his throne for ever and has put a right sceptre in his hand, and has anointed him with the oil of gladness.
Mary’s kinswomen, headed by her sister Martha, who were the bridesmaids, sang the second part of the psalm in which occur the verses :
Kings’ daughters were among thy honourable women : upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir.
Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear ;
forget also thine own people, and thy father’s house ;
So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty : for he is thy Lord ; and worship thou him.
The king’s daughter is all glorious within : her clothing is of wrought gold.
She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework : the virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee.
The maskers came tumbling in, disguised as birds and beasts ; they danced and made merry until it was time for Jesus and Mary to retire to the bridal chamber behind the curtain. But he turned to his queen and his words were far more terrible to the company even than his refusal of the reserved shoulder. He said in a clear voice : “I am your King, and I have come not to renew but to make an end. Beloved, let us not do the act of darkness, which is the act of death. You are my sister! You are my sister! You are my sister !”
By these words he chastely denied her the consummation of marriage. A silence as if of death fell on the astonished assembly ; while Mary the Queen first flushed and then blanched.
Mary the mother of Jesus was the first to speak. She stood up and asked sternly : “My son, is this how you deal with your virgin bride? What if the King your father had shamefully done the same ?”
He answered : “Woman, the Power of Michal has left you and lighted upon your kinswoman. The reckoning is now between herself and myself only.”
Lazarus the Essene, the Queen’s brother who had been her guardian since the death of their father Jose Cleopas, comforted her. “The King your husband has done wisely in trampling upon the garment of shame. Only by this road can we all walk together in pure love. Dry your tears, Mary. Dry your tears, for the love of the Living God.”
She answered : “Is my lord the King wiser than King Solomon, whose sister was also his spouse? For Solomon lay, dove-eyed, all night between her breasts, on a green bed in their spacious arbour ; and like a dove he sought out the clefts of the rock. Yet who am I to be a judge in this matter? I unveil my face for the King, and his word is my law.”