Mystery Babylon Guide

Mystery Babylon Episode 2: Antiquities | Summary & Sources

Episode MB02
Series Mystery Babylon, Hour of the Time
Host William Cooper
Air date February 15, 1993
Station WWCR (shortwave)
Chapter title Egyptian Magic
Transcript length About 6,200 words
Runtime n/a
Listen Full series audio on archive.org

What This Episode Covers

hieroglyph-covered papyrus unfurled on dark linen — Mystery Babylon episode 2 archival illustration

The third broadcast in the series, aired February 15, 1993, picks up directly from MB01: The Sun of God. Cooper opens by repeating his standing disclaimer that the material does not necessarily reflect his beliefs or those of WWCR, then tells listeners these are historic broadcasts and that by making them he has “sealed my fate.”

The first half continues the reading from Jordan Maxwell’s That Old-Time Religion. The solar wordplay of episode 1 extends into new territory: the sun is said to enter each zodiac house at the 30th degree and leave at the 33rd, which Cooper presents as the reason a ministry begins at 30 and ends at 33, and the reason 33 is the highest degree of Scottish Rite Freemasonry. Scorpio, the back-biting sign of October, becomes the betrayer figure, and Cooper attaches a date to the theme: there was, he says, an “October surprise” in France on Friday, October 13, 1307, a forward reference to the suppression of the Knights Templar covered in the Templar episodes. The reading continues through the Marriage Feast of Canaan as a fertility rite older than the New Testament, Horus receiving the title Logos and later the name Iesos or Iesus, born-again symbolism (with an aside about George Bush’s use of the phrase), the shepherd’s rod and staff as Pharaonic regalia, the Egyptian potter god Khnemu as the original of the Old Testament potter passages, and Amen-Ra as the source of the word spoken at the end of prayers. Cooper caps the section with his own etymologies: Israel as Isis, Ra, and El, and Baal as Ba, the sun, plus al, God. Two further asides round out this half. He attacks the ancient-astronaut reading of Egypt’s winged sun disk, naming Zecharia Sitchin, and asserts that most prominent UFO researchers are 32nd degree Scottish Rite Freemasons advancing what he calls the Great Work. He also delivers a personal credo, stating that his allegiance runs first to God, second to the Constitution, and third to his family, in that order.

The second half shifts source and tone. Cooper reads at length from Manly P. Hall’s Freemasonry of the Ancient Egyptians, on Isis as patroness of the magical arts and on Egyptian religion as an elaborate magical system. The centerpiece is Hall’s account of the curse of Tutankhamen: the deaths attributed to the tomb’s opening in 1922, the panic that reportedly drove British collectors to mail their Egyptian antiquities to the British Museum in 1923, the poisonous-dust explanation offered by Dr. Frederick Cowles, and Arthur Conan Doyle’s talk of Egyptian elementals. Hall’s text also surveys claims about the powers of Egyptian priest-magicians, citing Proclus, Iamblichus, Pythagoras, and Plato, and quotes Albert Pike’s definition of magic. Cooper adds two of his own assertions along the way: that Plato was initiated in the Great Pyramid, lying in the sarcophagus for three days and nights, and that his organization CAJI has placed members inside Masonic lodges to verify his research. Hall’s text leaves room for the reader to weigh the curse stories against the rationalist explanations it quotes, and Cooper likewise tells his audience he has no idea whether to believe some of the more extreme accounts, such as James Bonwick’s catalogue of levitating, fire-handling Egyptian mystics or Dr. Alexander Cannon’s reports from Tibet. He closes by connecting the Egyptian material back to the series thesis: the Egyptians, he says, inherited the religion of Babylon, and its secrets remain guarded to this day by the priesthood of the modern Mystery Schools. The series’ broader treatment of these themes continues on the Mystery Schools topic hub.

Key Claims Made in This Episode

  1. Cooper claims the sun enters each zodiac house at the 30th degree and leaves at the 33rd, which is why the highest degree of Freemasonry is the 33rd.
  2. Cooper claims a Freemason is not told the true object of the order’s worship until reaching the 30th degree.
  3. Cooper claims the original “October surprise” took place in France on Friday, October 13, 1307, referring to the mass arrest of the Knights Templar.
  4. Cooper claims the Marriage Feast of Canaan story is over 5,000 years old, predating the New Testament account by 3,000 years.
  5. Cooper claims Horus was titled the Logos in Egypt and later named Iesos or Iesus, from which the name Jesus derives.
  6. Cooper claims the Old Testament potter passages in Jeremiah and Isaiah copy an Egyptian story of the god Khnemu that is 1,000 years older.
  7. Cooper claims the word Amen spoken at the end of prayers descends from the Egyptian god Amen-Ra.
  8. Cooper claims most prominent UFO researchers are 32nd degree Scottish Rite Freemasons working to further the Great Work.
  9. Cooper claims Plato was an initiate of the Mysteries, initiated in the Great Pyramid after lying three days and nights in the sarcophagus.
  10. Cooper claims his organization CAJI infiltrated Masonic lodges and verified the broadcast’s claims from inside.
  11. Cooper claims the Egyptians inherited their religion from Babylon, and that its secrets remain guarded by the modern Mystery Schools.

Each dated claim is plotted on the Mystery Babylon series timeline.

Sources Cooper Reads From in This Episode

Source Status Where to find it
Jordan Maxwell, That Old-Time Religion Under copyright; quote-only Library copies; see the sources hub
Manly P. Hall, Freemasonry of the Ancient Egyptians (1937) Under copyright; quote-only Library copies; see the sources hub
Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma (1871, quoted via Hall) Public domain Scans on archive.org
The Bible, King James Version (Psalms 23, Jeremiah 18, Isaiah 64, Revelation) Public domain KJV scans on archive.org

Cooper also mentions The African Belief in God in passing as the source of a hieroglyphic illustration of Khnemu at the potter’s wheel.

Notable Quotes

“‘Magic,’ says General Albert Pike, ‘is the exact and absolute science of nature and its laws.’” (Albert Pike, as read by Cooper from Manly P. Hall, MB02, February 15, 1993)

“Those of you who are smart enough to know what is transpiring here know that these are historic broadcasts and by making these broadcasts I have sealed my fate.” (Cooper, MB02, February 15, 1993)

ancient Egyptian amulet collection on museum display board — Mystery Babylon episode 2 archival illustration

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Mystery Babylon episode 2 about?

Two subjects: the continuation of the sun-worship reading from Jordan Maxwell, covering Freemasonry’s 33 degrees, the October betrayal motif, and Egyptian antecedents of biblical imagery, followed by a long reading from Manly P. Hall on Egyptian magic and the curse of Tutankhamen.

When did episode 2 air?

Monday, February 15, 1993, on the Hour of the Time over WWCR, resuming from the previous Friday’s broadcast, MB01: The Sun of God.

What books does Cooper read from in this episode?

That Old-Time Religion by Jordan Maxwell and Freemasonry of the Ancient Egyptians by Manly P. Hall. The Hall reading includes material quoting Albert Pike, whose Morals and Dogma is public domain and readable on archive.org.

What is the October 13, 1307 reference?

Cooper points forward to the arrest of the Knights Templar in France on Friday, October 13, 1307, an event he covers in detail in the Templar episodes, MB10 through MB12. See the Knights Templar and Assassins hub.

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