WISDOM SEMINARS

The writings of Dr Lewis Keizer represent the culmination of decades of dedicated research into Christian Mysticism, the Western Esoteric Tradition, Hermetic Philosophy, Qabalah, and the authentic teachings of Mar Yeshua. This collection of books and manuscripts forms the foundation of the Home Temple Priesthood and Temple of the Holy Grail (THG) programmes, while also providing a rich resource for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the Christian Mysteries and the path of spiritual transformation. Each work reflects Dr Keizer's lifelong commitment to recovering and preserving timeless wisdom for future generations.

CORE STUDY TEXTS FOR THE HOME TEMPLE DIACONATE AND PRIESTHOOD PROGRAMMES.

This book was written because the many scholarly translations of The Gospel of Thomas available in books and online do not correctly interpret the logia. Neither literal translations nor attempts to clarify through paraphrase have been adequate. As a result, readers blissfully create their own interpretations of the sayings oblivious to which are Gnostic interpolations, which are authentic, and what the original Aramaic davarim of Yeshua really taught.

This book is for people who want to know what the sayings really meant to Yeshua, and what they can mean for twenty-first century people.

The key to understanding the teachings of Yeshua is familiarity with the thought-world of Jewish messianic mysticism upon which they were based. These included the Jewish wisdom tradition, prophetic and apocalyptic schools, and Merkabah mysticism. Much of this was transmitted orally and in private to close disciples by a Rav or Master of Israel.

THE PRE-CHRISTIAN TEACHINGS OF YESHUA. All of the extant authentic sayings and teachings of Yeshua remembered in the earliest oral Jesus traditions and collections compiled by his Jewish disciples A.D. 30-50 before they were rendered into Greek, misunderstood, and Christianized in the later Gospels. Translated in terms of the original Hebrew/Aramaic vocabulary and idioms used by Yeshua Explained in the context of Second Temple messianic haggadah, Merkabah, prophetic, and wisdom traditions Organized and presented as a coherent body of exquisite spiritual teaching that was lost and forgotten in Christianity. Lewis Keizer, Ph.D.

The Syriac Lord’s Prayer is not the Historical Aramaic Prayer

Recently various authors have published what they claim to be the original Aramaic version of the Lord’s Prayer. However, this is not the authentic prayer that Yeshua, the Jesus of history, transmitted to his disciples. It is merely a second-century Syriac translation adapted from the Greek versions in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. It is used in the modern Syrian churches.
Although Syriac was a development of Aramaic, the Abbun d’bishmayo or “Our Father Who art in Heaven” is taken from the Diatessaron or harmony of the New Testament gospels translated from the Greek into Syriac by Tatian about A.D. 160–175. In other words, the so-called Aramaic version of the Lord’s Prayer is merely a translation into second-century Syriac of the flawed Greek version in Matthew and Luke (c. A.D. 85-90). Like all the sayings and parables of Yeshua in the New Testament gospels, the Lord’s Prayer was poorly translated from Aramaic and altered to make sense in terms of the Pauline theology of the gentile churches.
However, through biblical scholarship it is possible to recover the original Aramaic prayer of Yeshua, understand its meaning, and render it into a form that modern people can use with understanding. That is the purpose of this little booklet.

The basic textbook used in the Home Temple Diaconate Studies for introducing the historic background and teachings of the Master Jesus. Based upon Aramaic language concepts and the background of historical Jewish mysticism without which the teachings cannot be understood. Originally written in 1976 and revised in 1998, this book anticipated the work and many of the conclusions of the controversial Jesus Seminar—an ecumenical research project of scholars to recover the historical teachings of Jesus. Keizer’s understanding and evaluation of the sources, however, represents a more profound and constructive spiritual understanding than was achieved in most publications of the Jesus Seminar, many of which focused upon merely debunking Christian theology.

KEYS OF THE MASTER: Aramaic Key Words and Divine Concepts in the Authentic Historical Teaching Of the Master Jesus, Lewis Keizer (Home Temple Press)   Included as part of the Priesthood Study materials. Available as E-book from the HOME TEMPLE PRESS site for $10.

The basic textbook used in the Home Temple Priesthood Studies for developing the introduction gained in The Authentic Jesus. Encyclopedic alphabetical listing of basic concepts and words spoken in Aramaic and Hebrew by the Master Jesus, with detailed interpretations.

This book was written for all those who have been perplexed by the contradictions among the Gospels and the plausibility of the miracles and events they narrate. Today, in the 21st century, with the discovery and cataloging of some 10,000 manuscripts, we have been able to publish the earliest and best attested Greek and other manuscripts with textual apparatuses for scholars and clergy. We have been able to identify the sources used by the Gospel and other writers of the New Testament. This short book is an overview of the processes of writing the five gospels--in historical order Mark, Matthew, Luke-Acts, John, and Thomas.

THE EIGHT REVEALS THE NINTH: A New Hermetic Initiation Disclosure (Tractate 6, Nag Hammadi Codex VI), Lewis Keizer (Academy of Arts and Humanities Monograph Series: Number One) Available as E-book from the HOME TEMPLE PRESS site for $12.

Translation, edition, and interpretation of the historical initiation discourse discovered among the Coptic Gnostic Library of Nag Hammadi. Adapted from Keizer’s doctoral dissertation for a more general reading public, you will find this work referenced in most contemporary Hermetic studies.

SEPHER HA-RAZIM AND ITS TRADITION: An Inquiry into the Interrelation of Jewish, Greco-Egyptian, and Chaldean Magico-Mystic Practices in the Roman-Hellenistic Period, Lewis Keizer (Home Temple Press)  Available as E-book from the HOME TEMPLE PRESS site for $10.

Investigations into magical and Gnostic theurgical traditions contemporary with Jesus. Margalioth’s reconstructed book of Hebrew Kabbalistic magic is examined along with portions of the Greek Magical Papyri, the Mithrisliturgie, and other significant sources.

INITIATION: Ancient and Modern, Lewis Keizer (Home Temple Press) $20.  Included as part of the printable materials for THE INITIATIC MYSTERIES OF CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY at the WISDOM SEMINARS. Available as E-book from the HOME TEMPLE PRESS  site for $10.

Analyzes the meaning and methodology of initiation with detailed examinations of shamanic, Osirian, Eleusinian, Hermetic, and other mystery schools, categorizing the Grade One Initiations mentioned, but not discussed in Alice Bailey’s INITIATIONS: HUMAN AND SOLAR.

PROPHECIES CONCERNING THE NEW CHURCH, Lewis Keizer (Home Temple Press) Available as E-book from the HOME TEMPLE PRESS  site for $10.

The prophecies of Nostradamus and other Western mystics about the future of esoteric Christianity are translated, examined, and analyzed. Insights into twenty-first century world spiritual events.

Greatly expanded and completely rewritten version of the original monograph published in limited edition in 1976. Some chapters are used in Priesthood Studies of the Home Temple. Overview of Apostolic Succession and the history of the Episcopi Vagantes or Independent Bishops leading to the Home Temple and other valid lineages. The clandestine Gnostic and Templar successions of Europe, the Order of Corporate Reunion, the transplanting of Orthodox and other non-Roman Catholic Episcopal lineages to America, independent bishops win secular and canonical court battles for validity, the Theosophical lineages, the consecration of women bishops in Canada, the U.S., and worldwide.

ULTRA-FUNDAMENTALISM:  Assault on Democracy,  Dr. Lewis Keizer. Available as E-book from the HOME TEMPLE PRESS  site for $10.

Identifies the  phenomenological characteristics of religious fundamentalism in Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, the origins of Christian millenarianism and biblical fundamentalism in the post-Civil War South, and the rise of the religious right in post-Vietnam America.  Clarifies the difference between Christian evangelism, fundamentalism, and ultra-fundamentalism. Debunks ultra-fundamentalist claims to be the inheritors of the American Founding Fathers and exposes their political apocalyptic agendas for American education and government. 

This volume, compiled and edited by Dr Lewis Keizer, offers a broad-ranging introduction to Gnosticism and the Gnosis, both ancient and modern, drawing together historical writings, scholarly commentary and source materials from a variety of traditions. Beginning with early Christian critiques of Gnostic schools, including the extensive testimony of Irenaeus concerning Valentinianism, the Pleroma, Sophia, the Demiurge and other foundational concepts. The collection moves beyond antiquity to consider later and modern expressions of the Gnostic impulse, including Mandaeism, Bogomilism, revived Gnostic churches and related Western esoteric movements. Rather than presenting Gnosticism as a single fixed doctrine, the material reveals a diverse spiritual current united by the search for Gnosis - direct, transformative knowledge of the Divine, and the awakening of the spiritual principle within humanity.

A diverse collection of books, essays, and study materials exploring Christian spirituality, theology, mysticism, history, symbolism, and related subjects.

MOTHER JENNIE’S GARDEN, Lewis Keizer (Home Temple Press) Available as pdf ebook from HOME TEMPLE PRESS and as an Amazon Kindle ebook. You can order the paperback by emailing +LK+. Price is $15 plus postage.

The autobiography of Bishop Keizer's spiritual teacher as told to him in hundreds of hours of taped interview before her death at the age of ninety seven  in 1975.  The Rev. Jennie Hopkins Peterson Maiereder was an anonymous saint and woman of highly developed spiritual power and psychic sensitivity.  Introductions to each chapter provide the reader with insight into the spiritual life of Keizer during the Civil Rights and Vietnam War periods as well.

My intention in writing Sparks of Gnosis is to revisit and contemplate the evolution of my personal spiritual history—what Dickens described as “buried treasure and other things submerged.” It is a spiritual exercise not unlike Jung’s Memories, Dreams, and Reflections, but focused upon the interior consciousness that guided my outer life.I have tried to move through each period chronologically to examine the evolution of my spiritual understanding. But after 1971 at age thirty each line of experience or what I have called an “arrow of time” must be examined separately because my most creative period is a quiver of those arrows, talents, identities—parent, scholar, writer, bishop, spiritual teacher, jazz musician, orchestra conductor, sailor, educator. They interacted creatively with each other and accelerated my growth into advanced spiritual realities. I hope that my readers will be inspired to reflect carefully upon the interior history of their own lives. If so, they too will discover their own submerged treasures and find new ways to interpret and understand who they really are.

ASTRAL MAN TO COSMIC CHRIST: A Metaphysical Odyssey, Lewis Keizer with Eugene Whitworth (iUniverse Press, 2000).  

An occult adventure novel about astral projection containing profound teachings and hints about advanced practice and the achievement of spiritual mastery. Written by Keizer in 1976 and revised with assistance from Dr. Whitworth, whose brilliant novels like The Nine Faces of Christ are published in many languages. Order from Amazon.com, Booksamillion.com, Barnes&Noble.com, and most online book sellers, or as an ebook from Amazon Kindle

THE SHAMANIC ART OF HARMONIC INTONING AND CHANT

THG Candidates must develop skills in Harmonic Intoning for Chakra Attunement to operate the First Order Empowerments. Probationary acceptance for initiatic preparation includes access to the Seminar entitled THE SHAMANIC ART OF HARMONIC INTONING AND CHANT at Wisdom Seminars.

Probationers must begin working with the technique before operating the Initiatic Vigil. It may take many weeks of practice before one’s ears can discern the overtones, and months before one gains the ability to isolate and produce the seven main overtones at will.

ORIENTATION TO INITIATIC CONCEPTS OF T:.H:.G:.

This book, authored by Dr Lewis Keizer is your starting place for T:.H:.G:.   E-Book: https://www.amazon.com/PNEUMATIKON-Twenty-First-Introduction-Reincarnations-Spiritual-ebook/  Alternatively on the HOME TEMPLE PRESS

This book uses 21st-century cosmology and quantum science to reinterpret ancient ideas of the soul, reincarnation, parapsychological phenomena, the death process, after-death states, and systems of advanced meditation and spiritual practice. It also includes appendices on how to develop a meditation practice, control of weather, effective liturgies to assist the dead, and other rituals. It also includes links to online videos and references

This work presents Bishop Lewis Keizer’s vision of the New Humanity through what he understands to be the recovered pre-Christian and Kabbalistic teachings of Yeshua. It contrasts the inherited patterns of the Old Humanity - division, inequality, nationalism, environmental exploitation and dogmatic religion - with an emerging humanity characterised by planetary stewardship, human unity, equality and a more universal spirituality. Central to the book is the Bar-Enash, or Son-of-Mankind, interpreted not merely as an individual Messiah but as an archetypal and corporate New Humanity called to participate responsibly in Divine Malkuth, or Sovereignty, through wisdom, compassion, justice, service and spiritual transformation. The work moves from theological and historical exploration into a practical Halakah for modern spiritual life, emphasising interior purification, self-examination, compassionate service, prayer, meditation and contemplation, and concludes with practical spiritual exercises, liturgies and sacred rites intended to support the awakening and maturation of the New Humanity.

This work presents the Liturgy of the Messianic Banquet as a reconstruction and reinterpretation of the sacred communal meal associated with Yeshua and his earliest disciples. Rather than understanding the Eucharist primarily through the later sacramental theology of the Christian Mass, the text places its origins within the setting of the Jewish sacred meal, the sharing of bread and wine, mystical teaching, fellowship, and the anticipation of the Messianic Age-to-Come. Central to the liturgy is the idea that the disciples themselves constitute the Body and Blood of Christ, participating collectively in the emerging New Humanity and in the restoration of divine communion between humanity and the Father-Mother Godhead. Through prayer, blessing, sacred meal, meditation and spiritual teaching, the rite seeks to transform ordinary fellowship into a living experience of unity, divine presence, service and the awakening of the Christ within.

THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST: The Simple Word of the Master Jesus, Lewis Keizer (Home Temple Press)   Included as part of the Priesthood Study Sacramentary and Lectionary, designed for selections to be read aloud in Eucharistic services according to the Lectionary schedule. Available as E-book from the HOME TEMPLE PRESS site for $10.

Keizer’s inspired translation and paraphrase of the teachings of Master Jesus following the Marcan Gospel order and amplified by all extant historical logia of Jesus from canonical and non-canonical sources. Clarifies one level of spiritual meaning for non-scholars that is otherwise inaccessible from standard Bible translations, as it is based on original Aramaic language studies and the historical Jewish mysticism and setting out of which Jesus taught. Used with the Lectionary for Home Temple Liturgy of the Chalice.

This liturgy presents a visionary form of sacramental worship centred upon the emergence of a “New Humanity” transformed through the indwelling Divine Presence. Drawing upon Christian Eucharistic structure while incorporating Hebrew prayer, mystical symbolism, contemplative practice and universalist spirituality, it understands humanity not as separate from God but as participating in a living unity of Godhead, humanity and all beings. At its heart is the awakening of the Christ within, the purification of the heart, and the transformation of the individual into a conscious instrument of Divine Wisdom, Compassion, Justice, Truth and Love. The Eucharistic mysteries are therefore presented not merely as remembrance, but as a means of interior transformation, spiritual rebirth and participation in the sanctification and liberation of all humanity.