The Lost Pillars of Enoch: When Science and Religion Were One

by Tobias Churton

Explores the unified science-religion of early humanity and the impact of Hermetic philosophy on religion and spirituality

• Investigates the Jewish and Egyptian origins of Josephus’s famous story that Seth’s descendants inscribed knowledge on two pillars to save it from global catastrophe

• Reveals how this original knowledge has influenced civilization through Hermetic, Gnostic, Kabbalistic, Masonic, Hindu, and Islamic mystical knowledge

• Examines how “Enoch’s Pillars” relate to the origins of Hermeticism, Freemasonry, Newtonian science, William Blake, and Theosophy

Esoteric tradition has long maintained that at the dawn of human civilization there existed a unified science-religion, a spiritual grasp of the universe and our place in it. The biblical Enoch--also known as Hermes Trismegistus, Thoth, or Idris--was seen as the guardian of this sacred knowledge, which was inscribed on pillars known as Enoch’s or Seth’s pillars.

Examining the idea of the lost pillars of pure knowledge, the sacred science behind Hermetic philosophy, Tobias Churton investigates the controversial Jewish and Egyptian origins of Josephus’s famous story that Seth’s descendants inscribed knowledge on two pillars to save it from global catastrophe. He traces the fragments of this sacred knowledge as it descended through the ages into initiated circles, influencing civilization through Hermetic, Gnostic, Kabbalistic, Masonic, Hindu, and Islamic mystical knowledge. He follows the path of the pillars’ fragments through Egyptian alchemy and the Gnostic Sethites, the Kabbalah, and medieval mystic Ramon Llull. He explores the arrival of the Hermetic manuscripts in Renaissance Florence, the philosophy of Copernicus, Pico della Mirandola, Giordano Bruno, and the origins of Freemasonry, including the “revival” of Enoch in Masonry’s Scottish Rite. He reveals the centrality of primal knowledge to Isaac Newton, William Stukeley, John Dee, and William Blake, resurfacing as the tradition of Martinism, Theosophy, and Thelema. Churton also unravels what Josephus meant when he asserted one Sethite pillar still stood in the “Seiriadic” land of Sirius worshippers.

Showing how the lost pillars stand as a twenty-first century symbol for reattaining our heritage, Churton ultimately reveals how the esoteric strands of all religions unite in a gnosis that could offer a basis for reuniting religion and science.

Genres: Nonfiction

336 pages, Paperback

Published January 12, 2021

About the author

Tobias Churton is a filmmaker and the founding editor of the magazine "Freemasonry Today". He studied theology at Oxford University and created the award-winning documentary series and accompanying book The Gnostics, as well as several other films on Christian doctrine, mysticism, and magical folklore, such as "A Mighty Good Man" (2002), a documentary on Elias Ashmole, his religious ideas and Masonic initiation in 1646. He is currently a lecturer on Freemasonry at the Exeter Centre for the Study of Esotericism, Exeter University. He lives in England.

Reviews

[J.R. Emry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Has almost nothing to do with title or summary. Fine demonstration of masonic philosophy predicated on the idea of the pillars, but kind of self-undermining in that it provides no real link to the historical pillars or the typology of the pillars.

I was hoping for some real literature about the pillars, but already I have more than this guy.

[George · Rating 3 out of 5]

Be prepared for a bit of a challenging read. There are a lot of references on things that if your not well read on the subject, it will be a challenge.

[Dina · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't bother.

[James R · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm about half finished, but my opinion tends to get worse as I go along. Tobias seems to have great interest in promoting the occult of Freemasonic interpretation of Enoch, which is an outdated & boring philosophical system largely of the 19th century wealthy elites. The claims of antiquity of Enoch have been shown to be false; scholarship in recent decades has only used this material to better understand the period of so-called "late antiquity" (Augustine, Ambrose, Neoplatonism, etc.) when all these forgeries & systems were created. Tobias has an obsession with 19th century occult of Aleister Crowley, who was a hustler & a con man peddling a bunch of ancient sounding nonsense, largely as a coping mechanism from his elite life of generational trauma & abuse. The concepts of ancient knowledge & inspiration are interesting, but I don't care about the 19th century interpretations of documents pulled from the desert. Things like Theosophy & Crowley's thinking have been known as cons & scams for decades now, so why continue to waste time on them?

It's boring & frustrating to see someone still bring out these tired materials & forgeries in 2022, long after most of the world abandoned these things. Crowley is meaningless now and his ideas should be tossed in the trash and forgotten. Churton is irrelevant and his academic credentials are meaningless for helping the average person.

Scholarship has been overturning the lies of religion & empire for hundreds of years, but especially since 1990, much has changed. All western religions (Hermes, Enoch, Judaism, Islam, Suffism, Kaballah, Catholics, Theosophy, Orthodoxy, Coptics, Gnostics, etc.) can be seen as nothing more than syncretism & influence of empire, and nobody knows the real story & timeline. Much of history is nothing but lies and forgery, so I wouldn't assume any person, book, or timeline, as it may simply have been fabricated at some point. Who knows what the "early Christians" really believed, but they definitely didn't live as any Christian does today.

The reaction for many people in recent years has been atheism or apathy, and a doubling down on their focus on material wealth. This kind of radical choice between opposites is really unsatisfying for many people, including myself. However, neither side is really presenting a coherent vision. The churches are still tied up with empire, lies, forgeries, and philosophical systems that should have been tossed in the trash long ago. Much of what the churches teach is still a rehashing of Neoplatonism, and things like Gnosticism were just the really anxious people who created a philosophy out of desperation & misunderstanding; both systems are dead ends.

This book is trying to give a more balanced look at science & religion. I think ultimately his story isn't compelling because any successful approach would need to first dismiss history as a concept, and to ignore anything dug up out of the desert as evidence, especially old books (Enoch I, II, III should be tossed aside just as much as any other old book). Elites & scholars love to confuse the regular people with their ancient texts, and we'd be better off tossing the whole thing in the trash. Trying to salvage something from the past just leads to another cult, so something like a 21st century Mormonism, just more troubled elites leading people down a bad bath, based on inspiration and "ancient texts." I'm immediately distrustful of anything that appeals to an "ancient text" as they're unreliable & usually just a forgery or were written to largely control people.

This was my first & will be my last book by Tobias Churton; I have no interest in promoting 19th century Freemasonry & occult knowledge. Esoteric Christianity is nothing but a continuation of things like Theosophy, which is a complete joke. When you hear people mention Theosophy, Crowley, or "estoteric Christianity" or something related, know that it's a scam.

[Lucien Pastures · Rating 3 out of 5]

general overview between knowledge before the flood, the preservation thereof by Enoch, and its dispersion post-Flood. Masonry is tentatively credited with the rediscovery, maintenance, and use of it in the west.