Gnosis: The Secret of Solomon’s Temple Revealed

By Philip Gardiner,
Best-selling author of The Serpent Grail, The Shining Ones, Gnosis, Secrets of the Serpent and Proof - Does God Exist?

Life is a journey we all have to take. We are born with no knowledge whatsoever other than some minor genetic memories, and many of us simply follow the patterns that life and our peers throw at us. We subconsciously assume we must do as our forefathers; we must follow in their footsteps; we must marry, have children, get a job, step onto the roller coaster of commercialism and the greed-oriented rat race we know as capitalism or even communism. There is seemingly no way out of this life and anyway, most of us are enthused by the chase.

All of this is perfectly natural. But, in times gone by, our ancestors saw through all of this and recognized that there was another way. They discovered that in-order for man to elevate himself he needed to alter his internal dialogue. Man needed to understand himself and the forces that drive him.

This unique understanding - that there could be a higher goal for mankind, whether collectively or individually - evolved into what we now know as Gnosticism. Gnostic comes from the Greek word gignoskein meaning simply "to know." It was applied to “one sect of so-called philosophers in the first ages of Christianity.”

Gnosis to me is related to esoteric, itself based upon the Greek eis, meaning "within" and so true Gnosis is "the knowledge of that which is within."

To me the Greek term implies more than that too; it implies all-knowledge. This is a kind of knowledge gained much like plugging ones mind into the world wide web and being able to download every single piece of data in an instant. In the same way, the true Gnostic could understand all things in a unique way, because he understood who and what he was himself.
Gnosis then, means knowledge of the most esoteric kind and this is the story that has been hidden from our eyes for too long. This is the truth of the secret societies that we on the outside are supposedly too worldly to comprehend.

So, let us now try our best to comprehend the Temple of Solomon and in doing so, let us walk upon Holy ground, trodden only by the initiated.
In the years of my own searching there were times when I would be found at the feet of the Magi, sitting and listening to the wise words of the Sufi, joining in the debate at some Freemasonic Lodge. All the time I was learning and viewing the process with an open ear and an open eye, and yet also balancing it all with the knowledge of modern day science and reductionism. Both worlds, the one of the esoteric and the one of science are useless apart.

And so down to facts about the Temple of Solomon. Well, unfortunately we are sadly lacking in any archaeological evidence.
According to Professor James Pritchard in his book, Solomon and Sheba (1974, p.35):

“…the so-called cities of Megiddo, Gezer and Hazor, and Jerusalem itself were in reality more like villages...Within were relatively small public buildings and poorly constructed dwellings with clay floors. The objects reveal a material culture which, even by the standards of the ancient Near East, could not be judged sophisticated or luxurious...The ‘magnificence’ of the age of Solomon is parochial and decidedly lacklustre, but the first book of Kings implies exactly the opposite.”

In fact what we actually have – and what most writers are afraid to admit – is no evidence whatsoever for Solomon’s Temple. In fact, we have no evidence for Solomon, other than these peculiar Biblical texts. Neither do we have any evidence for the Queen of Sheba, or any of the other characters involved. Instead, there is more depth than could ever be imagined, more meaning than we would dare to believe.

The Temple is an instrument of mystical and priestly science or even magic. The secret unravels before our eyes the more we learn. You see the true Gnostic, the true disciple or perfect one, must be a man or woman of balance. He or she must unite the two sides of the mind, the male and female principles as they are called. We are all both male and female and the alchemists used this concept of balance and revealed it in their images of the Hermaphrodite, half man and half woman.

In this respect Solomon, was no real man, and Sheba was no real woman. Instead, as I reveal in my book, Gnosis: The Secret of Solomon's Temple Revealed, they were symbols of this internal and often external process. The whole story of Solomon, Sheba and the Temple is the story of our own psyche.

Philip Gardiner, the best selling author of five books, has recently filmed several documentaries for the Discovery Channel amongst others. Contact Philip at phil@gardinersworld.com.