Process of Admission into the

Essene

andWabash Mysteries

The Essene community at Qumran required ultimate purity from its members, who would have to have been born one hundred percent pure in order to be truly admittined into God's grace. The members of the sect could test prospective initiates by requiring specific humility and activity. If the applicant performed every expected duty and adhered to every prescribed rule then he would undergo review panels every year, with intitaion into the sect occuring, at the earlierst, after the second year.

Josephus, in War 2, wrote:

Probation at Qumran lasted two years or more. The applicant, at least twenty years old, would travel to Qumran to be met the Guardian, at the head of the Congregation, who would examine them and assess their 'spirit.' Apirants from outside the community would have to be met by the Guardian before they could be informed about its rules. Geta Vermes speculates that there must have been another standard for children who grew up within the community, who could not possibly have followed this precept. It is like that any foreign aspirant would also be familiar with the rules and standards of living or he wouldn't have wanted to join. Once met the Guardian's approval he took the Oath of the Convenant, swearing to adhere to the Torah and the sect's particular interpretation of it.

He was then instructed in the rules of the community for an uspecified period of time, learning from the Guardian everything that would be required in order for him to continue living there. Gerry Bernard wrote that: "The novice Essene was given three articles: a pickax, an apron, and a white garment." (cited here)

After demonstrating his ability to behave as was necessary the applicant would be called before the members of the sect for review.After one year of probation, during which he was carefully observed, he could be promoted to the next level. If he was accepted then he became a member of the congregation and of the Council, but he was still not pure. The Community Rule relates:

Another two years of successful tests would entitle the successful candidate to full membership in the Essene brotherhood. At this point he would be permitted to join other members for the common meals. He was then entreated to give everything he had to the community, everyone living with the same access to material, goods, and wealth. Everything in the order was common property. The Community rule also says that:

Purity was very important for the Essenes. He could be fully accepted after his third examination, and then instituted into the rank of the holy ones of the most high, those special few who would recieve God's benediction when the Messiah came to establish God's holy kingdom on Earth.

Josephus comments in Antiquities 18:

They paid very close attention to the hierarchy.

At Wabash College, several derivations are noted. The Wabash Community no longer requires complete participation in the mysteries, and as such auxillary communities are created, utilizing Greek alphabet acronyms. The iniatory requirements are somewhat different at each living unit, but all require similar behaviors with regard to each other. The novices are called 'pledges' and do most of the ritual cleaning, necessary for the upkeep of the community. Pledges must also study and learn so that they may join the brotherhood in the wisdom of the true paths. That path took six to seven months, but the amount of time varied. Some particularly feckless pledges could be denied entrance into the sacred councils of the community for several reasons, including talking back to an active member, not doing the required works, or failing to study the holy texts with the utmost zeal.

In ancient times, novices, also called 'freshmen', were to don green hats called 'pots' in order to show their uncleanliness - green being the compliment of red just as a dirty pot compliments a clean one. Pledges would gather once a year near harvest time to re-inact the final battle against the Sons of Darkness on the steps of the Sacred Chapel. There they would scream the holy hymn to the college, competing among them to see who could rouse the angels of the holy host to join them. Other required activities included mocking the wicked seductress who would entice the faithful from the divine path during an activity called Homecoming, wherein the community was commanded to return from their diaspora in order to affirm their allegiance to the Lord and the Sons of Light.

There is no set age limit, but children and fools would not make it at Wabash, the society of men would have rejected them. It's safe to assume that very few younger than 18 years of age attended. They also put a boundary on the amount of time an acolyte could spend studying at the community, at around four years, five or more being reserved for thoste students of exquisite ability that the faculty couldn't bear to let go.

An excellent site examing Josephus' presentation of the Essene community at large and how the Qumran community relates Here

Someone who doesn't believe that the Essenes and the Qumran community were the same (old article, I'd trust Vermes).

A look at historical presentations of the Essenes throught world literature

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