Elect Priests

The Order of the Knight-Masons Elect Priests of the Universe is, or at least was, based in France. They started as a theurgical Christian sect using Judean mysticism in order to gain power. It was founded by Martinez de Pasqually and his two students. These days, it is a small organisation that guards its secrets fiercely. Their magic is based on the idea of the fall of Adam and his later status as divine. Their energies flow through their own rise to a semi-divine status.

Structure

Besides adopting a church-like structure, the Order is heavily academic. Those who are experienced are teachers to their less enlightened students. Everything is based on understanding the messages and the restoration of divinity to man.

Public Agenda

The group is convinced that the material church will be destroyed and their, invisible and more divine, church will take its place. They attempt to infiltrate the material church when they can, but prioritise their own search for illumionatoin above everything else.

History

The order derives its teaching from the third son of Adam, as received from the Elohim. With time, this knowledge became perverted and useless. It took several scholars to restore what they could to the teachings and be able to use it again. As these chosen, or Elect, Priests found keys to controlling the universe, they founded the exclusive Order. The key to these understandings were clues left by the Apostles.

Mythology & Lore

The group is very much based on Christian ideas and traditions, with a focus on Catholic beliefs. They add some sacred texts that are supposedly given by Elohim that describe how to access divinity. Adam, assumed to be the first man, is thought to have been divine before being forced to leave Eden. This fall made him human and unable to reach his full potential. Secret teachings were given to his third son in order to allow humans with enough understanding to reach the state of divinity that had been lost.
Meditation and learning are central to harnessing this enlightened state. Once reached, the Elect Priest has a stronger soul, capable of reaching heights no ordinary mortal could. This, they believe, places them on par with the Angels and just as important in carrying out God's will.

Ethics

The search for enlightenment lies within every human, but not everyone is ready to study these truths. It takes enormous amounts of spiritual and mental strength to behold the divinity of Adam and the Elect Priests wouldn't even consider someone not up to the task. The bible holds many truths about the virtues of Heaven, but it is a source intended for the masses. The spiritual cleansing, meditation, and learning that are part of the traditions of Adam carry more weight.
The fact that the organisation is focused on the fall of the first man, has led to some political ethics. They firmly believe that all men are created equal as the sons of Adam. Racial and class differences would disappear if everyone was given the same chance to seek enlightenment through Christ and be like Adam was. However, they are less liberal when it comes to women. Eve was the one who made Adam fall to begin with, and the first man's original wife, Lilith, was even worse. While there are now a couple of female members, it is still contested by many within the organisation.
Maleness, which isn't the same as macho masculinity, is a good thing. The Elect Priests even disagrees with the Church as to how freely men should interact with each other. While it has mostly remained unspoken, this includes sex between men. If Adam is divine, then surely it can only be good to physically have a son of Adam inside you? Other kinds of non-straight sex are mostly considered bad out of habit and mostly ignored. Thinking about trans, non-binary, or other people outside the traditional gender definitions haven't really occurred to the Elect Priests before modern times. Some consider transmen to be women who finally understood. But if sex and gender isn't a static binary, that would mean Adam and Eve aren't clear representations. And the lore of the Elect Priests show centuries of research into how this must be.

Granted Divine Powers

Elect Priests often focus on reaching Fate or Thorns Branches, with Thaumaturgy as their primary tradition. They sometimes also take on Kabbalistic motifs and structures.

Founding Date

1757

Type

Secret, Occult

Alternative Names

Order of the Knight-Masons Elect Priests of the Universe
Ordre des Chevaliers Maçons Élus Coëns de l’Univers

Demonym

Elect Priest

Deities

• God

Location

Paris

Related Ethnicities

• Francophonie