A Wisdom Archive on King Solomon

Israel - Historical roots.

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Israel - Legislature. Israel is a parliamentary democracy based on universal suffrage and proportional representation. Israel's legislative branch is a 120-member parliament known as the Knesset. Membership in the Knesset is allocated to parties based on their proportion of the vote. Elections to the Knesset are normally held every four years, but the Knesset can decide to dissolve itself ahead of time by a simple majority, known as a vote of no-confidence. The President of Israel is head of state, serving ...

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Bahá'u'lláh, founder of the Bahá'í Faith, referring to himself stated, "The Most Great Law is come, and the Ancient Beauty ruleth upon the throne of David. Thus hath My Pen spoken that which the histories of bygone ages have related."[1] In general, his followers believe him to be the Second Coming of Christ (Messiah), though for many Bahá'ís of non-Christian or non-Jewish background, this belief is not of personal interest. Many Bahá'ís see such scriptures as relevant to past revelations, and as-such ...

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Solomon, King of Israel and Judah shelomoh (Hebrew) [from shalom prosperous cf Arab zuleima, Greek Salomon Latin solomo, genitive solomonis, French Salomon]
 
Peace, prosperity; according to orthodox Biblical chronology, he lived 993-953 BC, the youngest son of David whom he succeeded through the influence of his mother Bathsheba and the prophet Nathan. Throughout the East, especially in Arabia and thence in Europe, there are many legends of his wisdom and magical powers, and notably with regard to his seal, the six-pointed star or double interlaced equilateral triangles (Solomon''s seal); his meeting with the Queen of Sheba and his answering of the questions and riddles propounded by her and others; and his judgments. Solomon is said to have gotten "his secret learning from India through Hiram, the king of Ophir, and perhaps Sheba" (IU 1:135, 136n).
 
If the exoteric literal account in the Bible is accepted, Solomon in his later years showed himself as very far from wise, indulging in licentiousness and idolatry (1 Kings 11); further, he began his reign with the murder of Adonijah, Joab, and Shimei and his last recorded act was that he sought to kill Jereboam.
 
In Freemasonry, King Solomon is especially honored as the builder of the Temple and as the first of the Three Grand Masters -- the other two being Hiram, King of Tyre, and Hiram Abif -- all of whom were concerned with the building of the Temple. The evil ending of Solomon''s life, according to the Biblical account, is almost overlooked in Masonic ritual and literature. In the Jewish Encyclopedia ("Solomon"), according to one writer, Solomon is represented as "the wise king par excellence"; and "in Arabic literature, Solomon is spoken of as ''the messenger of God'' "; according to another writer in the same work, however, "a critical sifting of the sources leaves the picture of a petty, Asiatic despot, remarkable, perhaps, only for a love of luxury and for polygamous inclinations." Only by interpreting the Bible esoterically can we arrive at the truth regarding King Solomon; and such interpretation fully corroborates the characterization of "the wise king par excellence"; and fully supports both Masonic ritual and tradition in regarding King Solomon as the first and chief of the Three Grand Masters.
 
What then is the explanation of the otherwise contradictory statements in the Bible regarding Solomon? Even from a historical and ethnological standpoint one may find a clue, for along purely exoteric lines there is nothing foreign in Solomon''s "idolatry" and his worship of other deities. The same racial strain ran through all the surrounding peoples as in Israel, and the respective worships, gods, and goddesses were all closely interrelated, derived from the same Babylonian concepts, appearing under different names -- Blavatsky shows the identity of the mystery gods of the Phoenicians, Chaldeans, and Israelites (SD 2:3). The gods and goddesses of the nations surrounding the Jews were all theologically interrelated, aspects or permutations of the same basic idea; and, as worshiped by the people, all were variants and, in their exoteric forms, degradations of the original conception on which every great theogony and cosmogony was built (cf SD 2:535 et seq).
 
As for Solomon''s 700 wives and 300 concubines, these "are merely the personations of man''s attributes, feelings, passions and his various occult powers: the Kabbalistic numbers 7 and 3 showing it plainly. Solomon himself, moreover, being, simply, the emblem of Sol -- the ''Solar Initiate'' or the Christ-Sun, is a variant of the Indian ''Vikarttana'' (the Sun) shorn of his beams by Visvakarman, his Hierophant-Initiator, who thus shears the Chrestos-candidate for initiation of his golden radiance and crowns him with a dark, blackened aureole -- the ''crown of thorns.'' (See The Secret Doctrine for full explanation.) Solomon was never a living man. As is described in Kings, his life and works are an allegory on the trials of Initiation" (BCW 10:162-3n).
 
Solomon the Wise is a type-figure, and the legendary story of his life, wisdom and glory, and temptations and apparent fall, is a variant of the traditional history of certain wise ones recounted in every world-religion. Even granting that a king names Shelomoh reigned over Judah and Israel, the Biblical account and the many traditions of his life are an allegory of initiation.

 
(See also: Solomon, King of Israel, Judah, Shelomoh, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary )

For more dictionary entries, see » king solomon dictionary

SOLOMON
The biblical king, 1000 B.C., noted for his infinite wisdom. In fact, when he first became king of Israel, an angel asked him what he wanted above everything else and Solomon chose wisdom over wealth. He was also a great magician. He was the inventor of a television-like mirror used in divination, which Paracelsus reinvented 2500 years later. Solomon means "peaceful," for he ruled in a time of peace. This is important, because until then the kings of Israel had busily engaged in war. It was this miracle, in ancient times of peace, that enabled Solomon to build, with the help of angels, elementals, aethyrs and spirits, a great temple from cedars of Lebanon donated by Hiram, King of Tyre. The temple was seven years in the making and exceedingly beautiful. It housed many great Gods (despite the Judaic aversion to polytheism). When Solomon did finally go to war, he transported his armies on flying carpets and gliders. In Talmudic teaching, according to Wade Baskin''s Sorcerer''s Handbook, Solomon was instructed by Ashmedai, king of the Shedim.
 

 
(See also: SOLOMON , Magick, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul,)
 

For more dictionary entries, see » king solomon dictionary

Moriah, Mount. The site of King Solomon’s first temple at Jerusalem according to tradition. It is to that mount that Abraham journeyed to offer Isaac in sacrifice.

 
(See also: Moriah, Mount, Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,  )

For more dictionary entries, see » king solomon dictionary