I found a curious item the other day. At DeceptionBytes, Mishel wrote a post titled ‘The Hidden Agenda of The Order of the Mustard Seed.’ The first two paragraphs of which, are:

Peter Grieg of the 24-7 Prayer Movement, an international, ecumenical movement laced with Gnostic, New-Age, and Contemplative spirituality, is reviving the 17th century Order of the Mustard Seed and encouraging members to take a lifelong vow of commitment. This commitment to the vows of the Order, are to be symbolized with a ring or tattoo. The Order of the Mustard seed, which was originally a secret order started by Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf, is a long dormant Masonic Order. Greig says he was inspired to resurrect the order by the 18th century Moravian renewal and the life of Count Zinzendorf.  In fact, many of those in the Apostolic and Prophetic Movement, who embrace a world-view by which they believe themselves God’s Champions, bringing Heaven to Earth, have a rabid fascination with Zinzendorf and the Moravians.

Why, are so many of the ministries that seek to “take” the world for Christ, enraptured by the Moravians and why do the Moravians wield this kind of influence over this “New Breed” of Christian “emerging” in today’s post modern church era? In order to understand the horrific significance of the resurrection of this Order and the overall draw of Zinzendorf’s Moravians, it is first imperative to understand the history of this movement and how it fits together with today’s stringent social and political agenda.

The full name of the secret society was the Order of the Grain of Mustard Seed. I’m reading a book right now by Marsha Schuchard called Why Mrs Blake Cried: William Blake and the Erotic Imagination - a book-length expansion of her earlier scholarly article. There’s some rare info on Zinzendorf, Swedenborg, William Blake and the Masonic Sabbatean-Kabbalistic (antinomian) milieu of the 18th Century. The Mustard Seed secret society is mentioned a few times, too.

(more…)

Salih Niyazi Dedebaba and his dervishes

“[The Bektashi] are even said to be affiliated to some of the French Masonic Lodges. One thing is certain; the order now consists almost exclusively of gentlemen of education, belonging to the Liberal, or Young Turk party.”

- Richard Davey, The Sultan and His Subjects [1897] (Gorgias Press LLC, 2001), p. 65.

I’m not that familiar with the Bektashi Order, but it turns out that this politico-mystical secret society - directly or indirectly - was the inspiration behind the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.

Freemasons Dr. Walter M. Fleming, 33°, and William J. Florence, 32°, founded the Shriners in 1870. And in recounting the origins of their Order, Florence and Fleming corroborate the above statement by Richard Davey.

(more…)

Today’s Zaman, Turkey - Aug 15, 2008

Sabbateanism, a movement that began 400 years ago in the Ottoman Empire, is the subject of some of the most popular conspiracy theories in Turkey.

Although interest in these theories has considerably increased in recent years, there has been a lack of any academic study of the issue. All the existing theories have been superficially constructed from loose links to certain figures known to have Sabbatean backgrounds. Now, however, those looking for an academic perspective on the Sabbatean phenomenon can turn to the work of historian Cengiz Şişman, who studied the subject for his doctoral thesis at Harvard University and recently published a book on the subject in Turkish titled “Sabatay Sevi ve Sabataycılar: Mitler ve Gerçekler” (Sabbatai Sevi and Sabbateans: Myths and Realities).

(more…)