Bishop John Cole - Tau Iohannes Harmonius
August 29 1956 - August 29, 2010
Bishop John Cole was ordained as a priest in the EGCA on his 40th birthday, when attending the 100th Anniversary Parliament of World Religions in Chicago, he was ordained as a priest by Bishop Robert Cokinis, Primate Bishop of the French Gnostic Church in North America. In October 1998 Bishop Cokinis consecrated and Bishop Stephan Hoeller (Ecclesia Gnostica) co-consecrated Reverend Cole as Tau Iohannes Harmonius, Bishop of Evansville, Indiana and Auxiliary Bishop of the Midwest, fusing the English and French lines of the Gnostic Church for the first time.
As an active leader of the Church, Bishop Cole brought to the Church an attitude of open communication and solidarity, forging a relationship with the Church of the Glorious Christ in Barbados. This was the center of Martinist activity in the West Indies, where the tradition was deposited after escape from Nazi persecution in Europe in WWII. The Church in Barbados was also the center for ICES, the ‘International College of Esoteric Studies’ and its fraternal body, the Order of the Grail. For a time John Cole accepted the responsibility as Grand Commander of the Rosicrucian Order of the Grail. Bishop Cole was instrumental in the founding of the Ancient Martinist Order (A.M.O) in April 2000. The goal was to unify Martinism by exchanging lineages of the existing Martinist Orders to preserve the Martinist movement and its future. Represented at the meeting were the Ordre Martiniste (Paris), Ordre Martiniste et Synarchique (Canada, Barbados and England), Ordre Martiniste des Chevaliers du Christ, and Ordre Martiniste Initiatique Reforme (U.S.A.), as well as the International Grand Master of the Ancient and Primitive Rite of Memphis-Misraim from France (Vieilledant); the National Sovereign Grand Master of the Ancient and Primitive Rite of Memphis-Misraim of the National Sovereign Sanctuary (Ronald V. Cappello); and leaders of the Gnostic Church in America (Mgr. Cokinis and Mgr. Cole). The result of the gathering was the foundation of the Sovereign Grand Lodge of the Ancient Martinist Order, and John Cole was elected as Grand Master of the Order. Bishop John Cole was also Past Grand Master of the Blue Lodge Mixed Rite of the Ancient and Primitive Rite of Memphis and Misraim. |
The Cathars and the Kabala
By John Cole (Tau Iohannes Harmonius). The Dharma of Devekut By John Cole (Tau Iohannes Harmonius). The Sons of Zadok and The Christian Gnosis By John Cole (Tau Iohannes Harmonius). Rabbi Simeon bar Yohai: Messiah of the Kabbalah By John Cole (Tau Iohannes Harmonius). Practice of Kavvanah By John Cole (Tau Iohannes Harmonius). Theurgical Exercises on the Zohar (excerpts) By John Cole (Tau Iohannes Harmonius). What is a Pesher? By John Cole (Tau Iohannes Harmonius) |