Jesus: The Explosive Story of the 30 Lost Years and the Ancient Mystery Religions

by Tricia McCannon

A breathtaking work of staggering research and synthesis that provides startling new information and context to the first thirty years of Jesus’ life
 
Where was Jesus for the first thirty years of his life? Where and what was he taught?  Who were his teachers?
 
Based on new information culled from hard to find Vatican texts, theosophical classics, ancient texts, legends, and systems of hermetic symbolism, Tricia McCannon constructs a radical new timeline of Jesus’ life. She assert Jesus spent at least seven years of study and training in Egypt, a number of years in England, and visited both India and Tibet before beginning his public ministry in Palestine.
 
This is a wide-ranging examination of the direct links and similarities between Jesus’ teachings and those of various Mystery religions and sects that were popular during his lifetime, including the Essenes, Buddhist, Mithrans, Zoroastrians, and Druids. McCannon offers compelling evidence that places Jesus’s life and mission firmly in the context of the profound spiritual teachings that came before him.
 
Drawing on records from the Vatican, Tibet, India, and Egypt, along with Greek, Aramaic, and Pali text, as well as oral traditions of Jesus’s teachings, McCannon uncovers the real reason that he has remained such a powerful and pivotal figure in world consciousness for over two millennia.

Genres: Nonfiction, Spirituality, Philosophy

448 pages, Paperback

First published June 5, 2009

About the author

Tricia McCannon is a writer, teacher, and speaker about various facets of the worlds mystery religions. She has been a guest on more than 150 national TV and radio shows, including the popular series Sightings, Unsolved Mysteries, and Strange Universe. McCannon lives in Georgia."

Reviews

[Gerald · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's not a good idea, in my view, to mix Bible scholarship and subjective metaphysical experience. Many of the discoveries and recent scholarship about the apocrypha and Lost Years have appeared earlier, elsewhere. I'm not saying I discount those assertions. I find many of them appealing. But the author lost my interest completely when she cited Jesus, in personal conversation with her, as a primary research source. Why she didn't ask Him how soon the world would end while she had the chance is baffling, to say the least.

The possible connections between Jesus and the ancient mystery religions, particularly the Greek cult of Serapis and the Jewish Therapeuti, are intriguing. The best source I know is Roger Weir. He speaks often on the topic locally, but he hasn't written much at all. His book The New Aion is not widely available, and I don't have it.

[Elizabeth]

If this is anything like BIF, it will be hilarious. If it is a serious book I might not be so invested....

[April Schmidt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mind blowing

[Glen Stripling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many a Christian has heard the standard story for centuries: The Bible is the Word of God. Jesus died to redeem the sins of mankind. Paul and the church founders took the gospel to the Gentiles and the world because of its unique concept of justification by faith. As time went on, the message was corrupted by pagan teachings that permeated the church.

Historian Tricia McCannon has thrown a monkey wrench into this way of thinking with the release of her book JESUS: THE EXPLOSIVE STORY OF THE THIRTY LOST YEARS AND THE ANCIENT MYSTERY RELIGIONS, (Hampton Roads Pub).

In this fascinating account of the ancient stories of Jesus, McCannon submits that modern Christianity is the end result of many religions of the ancient world, from many countries, combining into a unique faith developed by Jesus and his followers and fine tuned over the centuries by the Christian church to make it square with its teachings.

McCannon proposes that Jesus was brought to Egypt as a child, and possibly other nations where he was exposed to and influenced by, the religions of Egypt, Greece, Persia, the British Isles and even India.

Some of these religions, known collectively as the Great White Brotherhood, hold that a savior god would redeem the world and some groups such as the Essenes awaited such a godly figure when Jesus was born.

As one reads the book, he learns of the political and religious climate of the ancient world and how it contributed to Jesus' death. To cover all these complex and subjects, Mccannon organizes the book into six parts.

In the first part, THE MYSTERIES OF THE AGES, McCannon introduces us to a worldwide network of Mystery Schools, a web of world traditions that existed 4000 years before Jesus was born and was made of various masters who specialized in human enlightenment.

She introduces us to the Great White Brotherhood, a large group of keepers of wisdom, who wore white and awaited enlightened souls that incarnated to Earth and brought balance to the world. It was these people, who awaited the arrival of a "Soular Sun," one of the many names for a Messiah. It was from this group came the Magi, who wanted to educate Jesus and help him develope spiritual and physical gifts.

McCannon argues that the various teachings of these ancient mystery schools influenced Jesus in his youth and they have parallels in modern Christianity. For example, Jesus taught in paralbles and his messages had multilayered meaning. This is what one could expect from someone who trained in the hermetic languages of the ancient mystery religions. Hermetics, (from the Greek god Hermes), is the language of symbolism. And Jesus mentions this in the GOSPEL OF PHILLIP and the ACTS OF JOHN.

One classic symbol found in Christianity is the cross, used in many religions for thousands of years. The Solar Lords, Mithra, Krishna, and Quetzalcoatal were all said to be savior gods, crucified on the tree of life. Even the base of the traditional "Calvary Cross" is drawn on three stair steps that parallel the 3 steps of initiation into the mystery schools.

The second part of the book, BIRTHDAY OF A KING, covers the background of the world of Herod Antipater and the birthday of Jesus. According to scholar Martin Larson, Herod was a "competent soldier a resourceful politician, a capapble administrator and a bully." Using a Roman army, he captured Jerusalem in 37 BCE. He siezed power by killing the king, murdering 45 members of the Sanhedrin, killing his brother-in-law and later his wife.

Amazingly, McCannon shows we have a letter written by Herod from Archko Volume, (aka The ACTS OF PILATE, W.D. Mahan, 1887), where he, (Herod), tries to justify to the Roman Senate why he had children put to death after "Wisemen" concluded a babe would be a king after seeing
a star. Herod evidently believed the subjects of Bethlehim were superstitious but a widespread belief like this could be a serious threat to his kingdom.

It is in this point in the book that though I see the author Tricia McCannon is a great researcher, who cites her sources with endnotes in a professional way, I start to believe some of her credentials as well as her sources appear to be a bit dubious. She claims to be a clairvoyant even though we have no scientific way to verify a person can be one.

In her discussion about the birth of Jesus, she cites the book JESUS AND THE ESSENES, by Dolores Cannon, that claims to have eyewitness accounts from hypnotic subjects, who report to have known Jesus in previous lifetimes. McCannon argues the transcripts from these hypnotic sessions have been "corroborated by Biblical researchers, archaeologists,and other hypnotherapists working independently."

One of these clients reported to be an Essene named Suddi, who says he saw the star of Bethlehem and it was 4 stars.

While I am certain these hypnotic sessions were done in a clinical environment, I am aware of no peer reviewed double blind study that demonstrates "recovered memories" derived from hypnosis, are actual memories of actual events. While McCannon says, "Cannons's books give us a window of what may have happened at the time of Jesus' birth," her (McCannon's) extensive coverage of Suddi's testimony suggests she believes it is of equal value to legitimate historical research.

That is not to say McCannon makes no use of historical or scientific research. Quite the contrary, she devotes all of chapters 4 and 5 to the many astronomical events that could have been the legendary Star of Bethlehem. And there were many from the time of 12 BCE, (the appearance of Halley's Comet), to 4 BCE, (the death of King Herod).

Indeed bright objects, believed to be exploding stars, appeared in 5 and 8 BCE. And of course various conjuctions of planets occurred in 8 and 7 BCE, which would be of interest to wisemen, who were willing to travel the 500 miles to Jerusalem, due to the significance they gave to constellations where the conjunctions occurred.

Part III of the book is JESUS AMONG THE ESSENES. Chapter 6 begins with the Christian patriarch Theophilus who wrote about Jesus' flight to Egypt, an event mentioned in Matthew 2:13-15. According to legend, Bishop Theophilus saw Mary in a vision where she told him about her overland journey to Egypt with Joseph and her son. The vision was around 325 CE, when the church issued its Theodosian Decrees, papal dictates designed to suppress competing religions by blocking written records and closing centers of learning. Some argue that Theophilus writings were not written until about 700 years later. But even if Jesus had been to some of the places in Egypt Theophilus mentions, he would have had the opportunity to learn many of the religions of the ancient world, since Egypt at that time, was a land of religious freedom and where many cultures interacted.

The Holy Family may have travelled with 7 of Joseph's children from a previous marriage and are documented in the Protevangelion. Mccannon says there is strong evidence that the Holy Family was offered lodging and help by the Essenes and the Great White Brotherhood, people who Joseph would have gravitated to.

In Egypt, the young Jesus would have seen the temples of Serapis, a solar lord who may have come as far away as India and a man McCannon says looked similar to Jesus, "with shoulder length hair," and "kind eyes." He was also similar to the solar lords Mithra, Zoroaster and Horus, (who the Greeks called Apollo).

The Egyptian city of Alexandria was the ideal place for Jesus to learn of the many religions and cultures of his time. The library of Alexandria and the temple of Serapis were known as "international centers of spiritual, philosophical and scientific knowledge."

McCannon also tells us about the Zadokites and the Therapeutae, 2 religious political camps that were strong in Egypt at the time Jesus was there.

The Zadokites awaited a messianic king, who they believed would come from the line of King David and would restore Israel to the laws of Moses. Since Jesus was supported by the Zadokites, the Zealots and the Essenes, we could have a logical reason why Jesus was resisted by the Sanhedrin of Jerusalem, who saw him as a threat to King Herod, who wanted to cooperate with Roman rule. It could also explain why aggresive apostles like Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot were attracted to Jesus' ministry.

The Therapeutae were men of spiritual devotion. Since they were called "physicians of souls," the name may be the origin of the word "therapy."

They lived a life of seclusion. They liked to "die" to the outside world and gave up their property for the good of the local community. They were also spread out all over the world. But their base was in Alexandria.

Egypt was also a land of sun worship. Veneration to the sun was a practice seen in the mystery schools and all over the world from India to the Greeks, to the Celts to the Aztecs. So it is very likely all these religions had an influence on the beliefs of Jesus.

In Part IV, JESUS IN THE LAND OF THE CELTS, McCannon shows that we have evidence that when Jesus was a young man, he travelled with Joseph of Arimathea to Avalon in the British Isles. In this part, McCannon introduces us to the land of the Druids. At the time of Christ, the Druids were one of the most educated peoples of the world, so much so that the nobility of Greece and Rome sent their children to the British Isles to study with them. Even Julius Caesar called these British schools "colleges."

McCannon says the Druids and the Essense had their roots in ancient Egypt and she says, "were probably connected through a common ancestry from the original Atlantean migrations." Atlantean? Researchers have identified a number of possible sites that could be the root of the legend of Atlantis. But we are lacking in historical evidence of some advanced race on a lost continent. McCannon goes so far into the past, she seems to believe that legends of folklore are of equal value to historical evidence.

McCannon says there are reports that Jesus visited Britain on 4 separate occasions with his mother and his likely uncle, Joseph of Arithmathea. He returned at age 15 and stayed on the Island of Avalon, where he studied with the Druids. Then he returned at age 30 after a trip to India and even after his crucifixion!

In this part of the book, McCannon shows us the Protevegelion, an apocryphal gospel from the second century. In this gospel, we are told that Jesus' grandmother Anna, fled an abusive husband in Britain and marries a man named Joachim in Nazareth. An angel tells her she will give birth to a child spoken of all over the world. And she gives birth to Mary.

McCannon cautions this might be a "Christianized" account where the church polishes up Anna's image as an obedient Hebrew wife, while Celtic accounts portray her as "independent" with "powerful mystical gifts."

In Part V, (JESUS IN THE EAST), McCannon shows we have evidence
that Jesus also travelled to India. One is by a writer named Levi Dowling, who argues that Jesus succeeded in remembering his own divinity, by using an opportunity available to all people. He was a "god-man," awaited for centuries and believed in reincarnation, a claim later suppressed by the Council of Nicea. According to Downing, Jesus enhanced his study of the Mystery Religions, by going to the East as a teenager and became a student ot the Vedas, a compilation of religious texts dating back 5000 years by seven "holy men." Dowling claims he got his sources from the Akashic Records, an "etheric library." McCannon calls this "channeled material" because it can not be validated. (Or could it mean "made up?")

But there are other sources that support the claim that Jesus traveled to the the East. Perhaps the most notable is THE UNKNONW LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST, by Russian journalist Nicolas Notovitch, who said he found Buddhist writings about Jesus' life in India.

Notovitch claims that Jesus, (called "Issa" by the sages of India), spent up to 6 years in India and Tibet, where he learned the teachings of the Vedas and the healing arts. In one account, Notovitch describes the anger of the ancient masters of India when they got the news of Jesus' death. Clearly this implies that Jesus was well known and respected in India prior to his death.

We are even shown a bit of irony when McCannon tells us Catholic officials tried to discourage Notovitch from publishing his findings. Yet he found documents, (in Oriental languages), in the Vatican library that mention "St. Issa in the East."

By this part of McCsnnon's book, we realize the geographic magnitude of the Great White Brotherhood and its influence on all the mystery religions, from the Brahmans to the Jews.

In the SOPHIA OF JESUS CHRIST, we see patterns of a multifacited god, including the "Divine Mother" that Jesus honored, (and that was the Eastern counterpart to the Holy Spirit), as well as the male gods, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.

McCannon argues that Jesus used his training from all the lands he visited, to form his own unique style of mystery theology, which stressed the importance of self development, noble behavior, inner reflection to the point of having a pure heart and being able to cure sickness and raise the dead.

Just as Jesus' followers would see in Israel, the people of India saw his democratic view of humanity, to the point he showed contempt for the Hindu caste system, the Vedas and showed defiance to authority if that was what it took to save the lives of the common people.

But of all the Solar Lords, the one who seemed to have the greatest influence on Christianity seems to be the Persian god Mithra.

McCannon says legends claim Mithra was born of a virgin on December 25, possibly in a manger, was visited by 3 shepherd kings and whose followers used the sign of the cross inscribed on their foreheads.
He was put to death by crucifixion and rose again on March 25. His priests claimed his death and suffering brought salvation to his people.

In light of this identical counterpart to Christianity, one can see other similarities. For example, Mithra is often depicted holding a staff, as did Thoth, Horus, and Jesus. Just as Moses struck a rock to get water, Mithra shot arrows into a rock to release the "waters of life."

Perhaps the most ancient prophet of the Great White Brotherhood, would be Zoroaster, who came from either Iran or Central Asia. Depending on which sources we believe, Zoroaster could have been born as late as 300 B.C.E. or as early as 1800 B.C.E. In fact there could have been and even earlier version mentioned by Aristotle as far back as 6000 B.C.E. So he could have lived early enough to be as McCannon says, an influence for the Jews held captive in Babylon!

Though Zoroaster did not claim to be a "son of god," McCannon says he was like Jeremiah, in that he spread the news of a Christ to come. And indeed, there are many interesting parallels between Zoroastrianism and Christianity. For example he was treated bad in his mother's hometown as Jesus was not well accepted in Nazareth. There are also similarities between what Zoroaster taught and the Hebrew Ten Commandments and Egypt's Law of Ma'at.

But there are other similarities that are more obvious. In art, Zoroaster is often shown holding a staff and a solar crown as seen on many of the Saints in Catholic paintings, or he is shown with a hat with a cross. Zoroastrians used the sign of the cross and the dove in their symbolism and they called Mithra the "Son of God."

The Zoroastrians also believed in Dualism- a good god in conflict with evil. The conflict will continue on to the the great showdown of Armageddon, an idea that Paul would later add to Christianity. It would be natural that this mindset would be popular among the early Christians during the dark days of persecution from both the Romans and the Jewish Sanhedrin.

In Part VI McCannon tells us about JESUS IN EGYPT, where she shows we have evidence Jesus was not only taken there as an infant, (as mentioned in Matthew 2:13-15), but also spent much of his boyhood and life as a young man studying in this "Motherland of Mysteries."

Much of the modern world's religious teachings have their roots in ancient Egypt. For example, several thousand years before Moses, Egyptians were taught the Law of Ma'at, where upon death, a man had to stand before the throne of Osiris, in the Halls of Amente and recite 42 statements confirming he did not lie, steal, kill or dishonor his parents. One can infer that the Law of Ma'at is an unabridged version of the Ten Commandments.

McCannon shows there are many features and icons of the ancient Egypt religions that are found in Judaism and Christianity. For example, the rites of circumcision and the Tree of Life have Egyptian origins. The famous Ark of the Covenant was used by the Egyptians to contact the Sun God.

From various works McCannon shows us we have evidence, (e.g. THE NINE FACES OF CHRIST), that Jesus received much of his religious and self-enlightenment training in Egypt.

In a temple she proposes, Jesus was dressed in white, trained in academics and the things he was expected to learn.

Part of Jesus' training was from a master named Skakus, who drills Jesus on mental and emotional control. From this man Jesus learns by a near death experience, how to survive a crucifixion. He is bound to a cross, causing him to go into a trance. He is placed in a sarcophagus for three days and three nights then rises from the dead.

In her conclusion, THE PATH OF THE MASTER, McCannon gives the reader a summing up of all that is in her book, which is very helpful to the reader, considering its enormous size. She reminds us the story of Jesus Christ has many similarities to stories and icons of the many mystery religions of the ancient world. We are shown the similarities of numbers and symbols found in the religions of the ancients and we see their counterparts in the Christian Bible.

We are told that for the past 5000 years, many of the historical roots that influence mainstream or "somatic" Christianity have been released to the public in a controlled fashion, suggesting a tendency to follow contemporary social and political forces and not strictly an undiluted account of a direct communication from God.

Curiously, McCannon extapolates some of these symbols into modern interpretation that could not have been the intent of ancient religious leaders. She notes the solar lords Mithra, Osiris and Serapis used the images of the spiral or a serpent as metaphors for the Tree of Life, "thus awakening the potential locked within our DNA." DNA is a spiral. But it was not discovered until the twentieth century. So It would not be a target of symbolism used by the ancients.

By the end of this part, it is clear Tricia McCannon intends for this book to be more than a researched account on how the various Mystery Religions came to be. She quotes from THE GOSPEL OF THOMAS that Jesus will become one with anyone who "drinks from my mouth," to show each of us we have the "power to be Christ, a divinely annoited human being."

McCannon makes her perspective clear to us in her AFTERWORD in which she says she has worked with other solar lords as well as Jesus and gained a sense of order through her message. She claims that Jesus appeared to her and requested she write his story and she wants us to experience the same enlightenment she has.

Thus McCannon's book is written with the intent to convert us to her unique religious perpective and is therfore limited in its value of historical research. But I think she is straightforward with this when she says in her ending her writing the book was a "walk of faith."















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[Stephen Weinstock · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book for research into the claim that Jesus traveled to various places during the years uncounted for in the Gospels. In my 1001, The Reincarnation Chronicles series, I wanted a few past life stories to place my characters in this time period.

I perused many books for a visionary approach to the subject, and a comprehensive account of the theories and textual evidence of Jesus' missing years. McCannon delivers both. The book is exhaustive in its chronological account of the places he went. And it provides a compelling point of view, that Jesus was part of an already ancient continuum of mystical healers and magicians (Magi). He traveled to different centers of sacred training to prepare for his mission: Egypt, Britain, India, and Persia. The interpretation of the death and resurrection related to this training is fascinating.

A complex, thorough, and brilliantly creative study. Even if you don't believe, the book is imaginative, entertaining (as in an idea), and spiritually rich.

[Lisal Kayati Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating read. Looks like it was well-researched. I’m sure there is a great deal of conjecture on the author’s part. The timelines/stories/myths are all plausible. A courageous and thoughtful rendering…

[Lillian Martinez · Rating 5 out of 5]

McCannon is truly a gem of a writer of spiritual history. This is a must-read.

[Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tricia Mccannon obviously knows her stuff when it comes to the ancient mysteries and expertly weaves accounts from many sources (all cited) to create a viable time line for Jesus's travels and training from religious and spiritual masters across Egypt, Persia, Greece, India and the UK. An eye opening and insightful read and certainly one I will no doubt delve back into again at some point

[Jeremy Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of the finds are suggestive but it really is a lot of powerful information that will give you a much broader prospective of the greatest mystery of our time.

[Kathy Fontenot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written, easy to read, maybe a little hard to believe at first. The book explains Jesus' initiation into mystery religion between 12 and 30. Also, explains the Joseph of Aramathia connection.

[Greg Sudmeier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting ideas.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book I'd like to read again and again.

[Kimber · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is so intense! My brain hurts!