9. THE FRAGRANT TREES
24.1 And from there I went to another
place of the Earth and he showed me a mountain of fire that blazed day and night.
24.2 And I went towards it and saw seven magnificent mountains. And all were
different from one another, and precious and beautiful stones, and all were
precious, and their appearance glorious, and their form was beautiful. Three
towards the east one fixed firmly on another and three towards the south one
on another, and deep and rugged valleys, no one of which was near another.
24.3 And there was a seventh mountain, in the middle of these, and in their
height they were all like the seat of a throne and fragrant trees surrounded
it.
24.4 And there was among them a tree such as which I have never smelt, and none
of them, or any others, were like it. It smells more fragrant than any fragrance,
and its leaves, and its flowers, and its wood never wither. Its fruit is good,
and its fruit is like bunches of dates on a palm.
24.5 And then I said: "Behold, this beautiful tree! Beautiful to look at,
and pleasant are its leaves, and its fruit very delightful in appearance."
24.6 And then Michael, one of the Holy and Honoured Angels, who was with me,
and was in charge of them,
25.1 answered me and said to me: "Enoch, why do you ask me about the fragrance
of this tree, and why do you inquire to learn?"
25.2 Then I, Enoch, answered him saying: "I wish to learn about everything,
but especially about this tree."
25.3 And he answered me, saying: "This high mountain, which you saw, whose
summit is like the Throne of the Lord, is the throne where the Holy and Great
One, the Lord of Glory, the Eternal King, will sit, when he comes down to visit
the Earth for good.
25.4 And this beautiful and fragrant tree, and no creature of flesh has authority
to touch it until the great judgment, when he will take vengeance on all and
bring everything to a consummation forever, this will be given to the righteous
and the humble.
25.5 From its fruit, life will be given to the chosen; towards the north it
will be planted, in a Holy place, by the house of the Lord, the Eternal King.
25.6 Then they will rejoice with joy and be glad in the Holy place. They will
each draw the fragrance of it into their bones, and they will live a long life
on earth, as your fathers lived. And in their days sorrow and pain, and toil
and punishment, will not touch them."
25.7 Then I blessed the Lord of Glory, the Eternal King, because he has prepared
such things for righteous men, and has created such things, and said that they
are to be given to them.
26.1 And from there, I went to the middle of the earth, and saw a blessed, well
watered place, which had branches which remained alive, and sprouted from a
tree which had been cut down.
26.2 And there I saw a holy mountain, and under the mountain, to the east of
it, there was water, and it flowed towards the south.
26.3 And I saw towards the east, another mountain, which was of the same height,
and between them, there was a deep and narrow valley; and in it, a stream ran
by the mountain.
26.4 And to the west of this one, was another mountain, which was lower than
it was and not high; and under it, there was a valley between them. And there
were other deep and dry valleys at the end of the three mountains.
26.5 And all the valleys were deep and narrow, of hard rock, and trees were
planted on them.
26.6 And I was amazed at the rock, and I was amazed at the valley; I was very
much amazed.
27.1 Then I said: "What is the purpose of this blessed land, which is completely
full of trees, and of this accursed valley in the middle of them?"
27.2 Then Raphael, one of the Holy Angels who was with me, answered me, and
said to me: "This accursed valley, is for those who are cursed for ever.
Here will be gathered together all who speak with their mouths against the Lord
- words that are not fitting, and say hard things about His Glory. Here they
will gather them together, and here will be their place of judgment.
27.3 And in the last days there will be the spectacle of the righteous judgment
upon them, in front of the righteous, forever. For here, the merciful will bless
the Lord of Glory the Eternal King.
27.4 And in the days of the judgment on them they will bless Him, on account
of his mercy, according as He has assigned to them their lot."
27.5 Then I myself blessed the Lord of Glory, I addressed Him, and I remembered
His majesty, as was fitting.
28.1 And from there, I went towards the east, to the middle of the mountain
of the wilderness, and I saw only desert.
28.2 But it was full of trees from this seed and water gushed out over it from
above.
28.3 The torrent, which flowed towards the northwest, seemed copious, and from
all sides, there went up spray and mist.
29.1 And I went to another place, away from the wilderness; I came near to the
east of this mountain.
29.2 And there I saw Trees of Judgment, especially vessels of the fragrance
of incense and myrrh, and the trees were not alike.
30.1 And above it, above these, above the mountains of the east, and not far
away, I saw another place, valleys of water, like that which does not fail.
30.2 And I saw a beautiful tree, and its fragrance was like that of the mastic.
30.3 And by the banks of these valleys I saw fragrant cinnamon. And beyond those
valleys I came towards the east.
31.1 And I saw another mountain on which there were trees, and there flowed
out water, and there flowed out from it, as it were, a nectar whose name is
styrax and galbanum.
31.2 And beyond this mountain I saw another mountain, and on it there were aloe
trees, and those trees were full of a fruit, which is like an almond, and is
hard.
31.3 And when they take this fruit it is better than any fragrance.
32.1 And after these fragrances, to the north, as I looked over the mountains,
I saw seven mountains full of fine nard, and fragrant trees of cinnamon and
pepper.
32.2 And from there, I went over the summits of those mountains, far away to
the east, and I went over the Red Sea, and I was far from it, and I went over
the Angel Zotiel.
32.3 And I came to the Garden of Righteousness, and I saw beyond those trees
many large trees growing there, sweet smelling, large, very beautiful and glorious,
the Trees of Wisdom, from which they eat and know great wisdom.
32.4 And it is like the carob tree, and its fruit is like bunches of grapes
on a vine, very beautiful, and the smell of this tree spreads and penetrates
afar.
32.5 And I said: "This tree is beautiful! How beautiful and pleasing is
its appearance!"
32.6 And the Holy Angel Raphael, who was with me, answered me and said to me:
"This is the Tree of Wisdom, from which your ancient father and ancient
mother, who were before you, ate and learnt wisdom; and their eyes were opened,
and they knew that they were naked. And they were driven from the garden."
33.1 And from there I went to the ends of the earth, and I saw there large animals,
each different from the other, and also birds, which differed in form, beauty,
and call - each different from the other.
33.2 And to the east of these animals, I saw the ends of the Earth, on which
Heaven rests, and the open Gates of Heaven.
33.3 And I saw how the stars of Heaven come out, and counted the Gates out of
which they come, and wrote down all their outlets, for each one, individually,
according to their number. And their names, according to their constellations,
their positions, their times, and their months, as the Angel Uriel, who was
with me, showed me.
33.4 And he showed me everything, and wrote it down, and also their names he
wrote down for me, and their laws and their functions.
34.1 And from there I went towards the north, to the ends of the Earth, and
there I saw a great and glorious wonder at the ends of the whole Earth.
34.2 And there I saw three Gates of Heaven; through each of them north winds
go out; when they blow there is cold, hail, hoarfrost, snow, fog, and rain.
34.3 And from one Gate, it blows for good; but when they blow through the other
two Gates, it is with force, and it brings torment over the earth, and they
blow with force.
35.1 And from there I went towards the west, to the ends of the Earth, and I
saw there, as I saw in the east, three open Gates - as many Gates and as many
outlets.
36.1 And from there I went towards the south, to the ends of the Earth, and
there I saw three Gates of Heaven open; and the south wind, the mist, and the
rain, and wind, come out from there.
36.2 And from there I went towards the east of the ends of Heaven, and there
I saw the three eastern Gates of Heaven open, and above them, there were smaller
Gates.
36.3 Through each of these smaller Gates, the stars of Heaven pass, and go towards
the west, on the path that has been shown to them.
36.4 And when I saw, I blessed, and I will always bless the Lord of Glory, who
has made Great and Glorious Wonders so that he might show the greatness of His
Work, to His Angels, and to the souls of men, so that they might praise His
Work. And so that all his creatures might see the work of His Power, and praise
the great work of His Hands, and bless Him forever!
Notes
(9) THE FRAGRANT TREES
(pages 39-44)
In this section, Enoch is taken on another tour. At the beginning, 24.1, there
is perhaps a volcano. Then the seven mountains again, 24.2-3, this time with
more detail.
From-24.3 to 25.6, there are the fragrant trees. These sound like cannabis to
me. The description at 25.6 of "drawing the fragrance into the bones'',
is quite an apt description of smoking it. The part where it says, at 25.4,
"no one will have authority to touch it," could represent the present
prohibition.
At 31.1 Enoch mentions galbanum, this is one of the ingredients of the incense
that was to be burned on the Incense Altar in the Tent of Appointment, Exodus
30:34.
Also, at 32.3-6, the Tree of Wisdom also sounds like cannabis. Here we get a
new insight into the Adam and Eve story.
At 33.3-4, Enoch mentions how Uriel gave him notes on astronomy. These notes
are in this book as sections 13, 14, and 16.
The angel Zotiel is mentioned at 32.2, east of the Red Sea, there are suggestions
based on weathering data that The Sphinx is much older (pre 10,000 BC) than
the pyramids, so this is a possible candidate for Zotiel.
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