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The Knights Templars In the beginning there was... |
The Order of Knights of the Temple was founded in the Holy
Land in1118 AD by a Burgundian Knight, Hugues de Payens.
It's organisation was based on that of the Saracen fraternity of
hashishim whom Christians called Assassins. The Templars
first headquarters was a wing of the royal palace of Jerusalem
next to the al-aqsa mosque, revered by the Shi'ites as the
central shrine of the Goddess Fatima.
Western romances, inspired by Moorish Shi'ite poets,
transformed this Mother-shrine into the Temple of the Holy
Grail, where certain legendary Knights called Templars
gathered to offer their service to the Goddess, to uphold the
female principle of divinity and to defend women. These
Knights became more widely known as Galahad, Perceval,
Lohengrin etc.
The other story is the Knights Templar, professed Christianity
and assumed the duty of protecting Christian pilgrims and
merchants travelling through the Holy Land. They also
undertook to protect the travellers' lands, castles, and other
properties back home, where Templars from Jerusalem arrived
to take charge. When pilgrims failed to return from their
journeys, the property could pass into the Templars'
permanent possession. As a result, like other holy orders
founded on a vow of poverty, the Templars soon became very
rich.
At first the Knights Templar had difficulty getting papal
sanction for their military order. The papacy refused to
recognise them until a vindication of their aims was written by
Saint Bernard, whose uncle joined the order and became a
Grand Master. The Templars' original charter, signed by Pope
Innocent II, granted them freedom from papal claims on their
property, even from church taxation. This financial
independence was to prove their downfall.
Having acquired estate, the Templars were accused of
organised heresy, devil worship, ritual sodomy, and
blasphemy. It was claimed they adored an androgynous idol
named Baphomet, "having sometimes three faces, sometimes
two, or only one, and sometimes a bare skull which they called
their saviour, and believed its influence to be exerted in
making them rich, and in making flowers grow and the earth
germinate".
The rumour-mongers claimed the Templars secret rites
involved denial of Christ, treading on the cross, and similar
charges that were to become monotonously familiar in witch
persecutions. Grand Master Jacques de Molay and other
dignitaries of the order were arrested and confessed under
torture, that they had indeed done such things, with the aim of
teaching newly initiated Knights unquestioning obedience to
their superiors' commands. Later, de Molay and his associates
publicly renounced their confessions, saying they had been
forced by torture. In 1314 they proclaimed their innocence
before a large crowd of people and were burned at the stake
as relapsed heretics the same afternoon.
The order was suppressed with great cruelty. With the
church's blessing, local barons in France, Cyprus, Castile, and
other areas simply murdered the Knights and took their
properties. Captured Templars were forced to confess to
every sort of crime, most apparently invited by their judges. It
was found that each Templar confessed to one set of sins
when tortured by one judge and a completely different set
when tortured by a different judge. Trials were transparently
Land in1118 AD by a Burgundian Knight, Hugues de Payens.
It's organisation was based on that of the Saracen fraternity of
hashishim whom Christians called Assassins. The Templars
first headquarters was a wing of the royal palace of Jerusalem
next to the al-aqsa mosque, revered by the Shi'ites as the
central shrine of the Goddess Fatima.
Western romances, inspired by Moorish Shi'ite poets,
transformed this Mother-shrine into the Temple of the Holy
Grail, where certain legendary Knights called Templars
gathered to offer their service to the Goddess, to uphold the
female principle of divinity and to defend women. These
Knights became more widely known as Galahad, Perceval,
Lohengrin etc.
The other story is the Knights Templar, professed Christianity
and assumed the duty of protecting Christian pilgrims and
merchants travelling through the Holy Land. They also
undertook to protect the travellers' lands, castles, and other
properties back home, where Templars from Jerusalem arrived
to take charge. When pilgrims failed to return from their
journeys, the property could pass into the Templars'
permanent possession. As a result, like other holy orders
founded on a vow of poverty, the Templars soon became very
rich.
At first the Knights Templar had difficulty getting papal
sanction for their military order. The papacy refused to
recognise them until a vindication of their aims was written by
Saint Bernard, whose uncle joined the order and became a
Grand Master. The Templars' original charter, signed by Pope
Innocent II, granted them freedom from papal claims on their
property, even from church taxation. This financial
independence was to prove their downfall.
Having acquired estate, the Templars were accused of
organised heresy, devil worship, ritual sodomy, and
blasphemy. It was claimed they adored an androgynous idol
named Baphomet, "having sometimes three faces, sometimes
two, or only one, and sometimes a bare skull which they called
their saviour, and believed its influence to be exerted in
making them rich, and in making flowers grow and the earth
germinate".
The rumour-mongers claimed the Templars secret rites
involved denial of Christ, treading on the cross, and similar
charges that were to become monotonously familiar in witch
persecutions. Grand Master Jacques de Molay and other
dignitaries of the order were arrested and confessed under
torture, that they had indeed done such things, with the aim of
teaching newly initiated Knights unquestioning obedience to
their superiors' commands. Later, de Molay and his associates
publicly renounced their confessions, saying they had been
forced by torture. In 1314 they proclaimed their innocence
before a large crowd of people and were burned at the stake
as relapsed heretics the same afternoon.
The order was suppressed with great cruelty. With the
church's blessing, local barons in France, Cyprus, Castile, and
other areas simply murdered the Knights and took their
properties. Captured Templars were forced to confess to
every sort of crime, most apparently invited by their judges. It
was found that each Templar confessed to one set of sins
when tortured by one judge and a completely different set
when tortured by a different judge. Trials were transparently
The tombs at Temple Church, London. Built by the Knights
Templar in the 12th century as a base for their operations.
The Round Church was consecrated in 1185.
Templar in the 12th century as a base for their operations.
The Round Church was consecrated in 1185.
The Chancel was built in 1240. The church was bombed in
1941: the Chancel's vault survived; the columns cracked in
the heat, and after the War they had to be replaced.
1941: the Chancel's vault survived; the columns cracked in
the heat, and after the War they had to be replaced.
A modern day artist's colorful rendering of Baphomet.
The German Knights Templar funded this
film "Nazi Secrets of World War II"
The film deals with the fabled Nazi discs...
Excerpt below by Rayelan Allan.
The Nazi officers who were members of the
conspiracy to assassinate Hitler were not
only members of the Hapsburg royal family.
They were also members of an age-old
Order that had been destroyed, and whose
memory had been maligned by the same
evil cabal that was now trying to enslave the
world. This order is the Knights Templars.
The conspirators knew they had to end the
war, and the only way to end it quickly was
to assassinate Hitler. They reached out to
England and America, and asked for help.
Both countries refused to help them.
Winston Churchill was heard to say that he
wanted Germany "bombed into oblivion."
film "Nazi Secrets of World War II"
The film deals with the fabled Nazi discs...
Excerpt below by Rayelan Allan.
The Nazi officers who were members of the
conspiracy to assassinate Hitler were not
only members of the Hapsburg royal family.
They were also members of an age-old
Order that had been destroyed, and whose
memory had been maligned by the same
evil cabal that was now trying to enslave the
world. This order is the Knights Templars.
The conspirators knew they had to end the
war, and the only way to end it quickly was
to assassinate Hitler. They reached out to
England and America, and asked for help.
Both countries refused to help them.
Winston Churchill was heard to say that he
wanted Germany "bombed into oblivion."
Connections to the Freemasons
The theory that Freemasonry originated in the Holy Land during the crusades and was instituted by the Knights
Templar was initially advanced by one person!
Chevalier Ramsey was an extraordinary figure of his day (born about 1680). A man with a great literary reputation,
he was a tutor to royalty and ostensibly a Freemason although the details of his membership are somewhat
obscure. In 1737, Ramsay, identified as 'Grand Orator' (although there was no such position in that Grand Lodge
at that time), delivered a discourse before the Grand Lodge of France in which he set forth his theory in explicit
terms. Coil's Masonic Encyclopedia says this: "Rejecting all references to the Traveling Architects from Como, to
the Stone Masons of Germany, and the Operative Freemasons of England, he had sought a noble and chivalric
origin for Freemasonry, which with him was not a confraternity founded on a system of architecture, but solely on
the military prowess and religious enthusiasm of knighthood." Other writers, both Masons and non, have continued
to attempt to make the same connection through this very day. It is one, however, with no provable basis, save
conjecture." (Masonicinfo Note: A popular book of the day is one by John J. Robinson "Born in Blood" on this very
topic. Robinson was not a Freemason when he wrote but later became one based on what he had found after
examining the claims of anti-Masons!
Coil's Masonic Encyclopedia also adds, "This theory of Templar origin which, mythical as it is and wholly
unsubstantiated by the authority of history, has exercised a vast influence in the fabrication of advanced Degrees
and the invention of Continental Rites."
It should be understood that in the 17th through 19th centuries, proof of antiquity generated credibility. In this
climate, it was only natural that Freemasonry - like many, many other organizations of its time - sought to 'create'
such links, tenacious as they were. (A common claim of the day was that an organization could be linked to early
Egypt, for example, and some went so far as to claim descent from the Garden of Eden!)
It was the mindset of the time and the further back a linkage was established (even if unsubstantiated by actual
fact), the better. For this reason, all entities at that time sought connections to Biblical days (or earlier!!!) so as to
provide credibility for themselves and their members. This simple fact is often overlooked as anti-Masons today
ignore the reality and use the convenient. The claims of antiquity were quite common at the time Freemasonry
began - and, in fact, the earliest 'exposures' of Freemasonry and many other organizations sought to discredit
such claims as a way of undermining the group itself.
In our current politically-correct climate, the Knights Templar - both of old and new stripe - are sometimes
demonized by anti-Masons for several things including (but not limited to):
the death and destruction they caused in the Crusades (which of course ignores the fact that they fought to keep
alive the Christianity which those anti-Masons now enjoy in a free society);
supposedly occult or pagan rituals (based either on hearsay from other anti-Masons or from anti-Templar material
promulgated as the Catholic Church as it sought to bring the Templars 'to heel', fearing that their power and the
respect in which they were held by the populace would ultimately bring down the Papacy);
"confessions" made by Templars, given while being tortured (or the later 'revealed' confessions made public by the
Inquisition);
the complete and total disappearance without a trace of the medieval organization (fueling speculation of
conspiracy theories still rampant some 600+ years later and assuming that the organization had a huge
membership unlike the reality of barely a couple of hundred!)
the requirement in the current Knights Templar organization that a member shall defend the Christian faith (which,
in a delicious irony is criticized by anti-Masons as wrong since Freemasonry is not a religious organization -
although they often portray it as such!)
The true nature of the ancient Knights Templar may never be fully understood and the connection to Freemasonry
will likely always remain unsubstantiated. Because of Chevalier Ramsay, however, it is now a part of Masonic
heritage.
The theory that Freemasonry originated in the Holy Land during the crusades and was instituted by the Knights
Templar was initially advanced by one person!
Chevalier Ramsey was an extraordinary figure of his day (born about 1680). A man with a great literary reputation,
he was a tutor to royalty and ostensibly a Freemason although the details of his membership are somewhat
obscure. In 1737, Ramsay, identified as 'Grand Orator' (although there was no such position in that Grand Lodge
at that time), delivered a discourse before the Grand Lodge of France in which he set forth his theory in explicit
terms. Coil's Masonic Encyclopedia says this: "Rejecting all references to the Traveling Architects from Como, to
the Stone Masons of Germany, and the Operative Freemasons of England, he had sought a noble and chivalric
origin for Freemasonry, which with him was not a confraternity founded on a system of architecture, but solely on
the military prowess and religious enthusiasm of knighthood." Other writers, both Masons and non, have continued
to attempt to make the same connection through this very day. It is one, however, with no provable basis, save
conjecture." (Masonicinfo Note: A popular book of the day is one by John J. Robinson "Born in Blood" on this very
topic. Robinson was not a Freemason when he wrote but later became one based on what he had found after
examining the claims of anti-Masons!
Coil's Masonic Encyclopedia also adds, "This theory of Templar origin which, mythical as it is and wholly
unsubstantiated by the authority of history, has exercised a vast influence in the fabrication of advanced Degrees
and the invention of Continental Rites."
It should be understood that in the 17th through 19th centuries, proof of antiquity generated credibility. In this
climate, it was only natural that Freemasonry - like many, many other organizations of its time - sought to 'create'
such links, tenacious as they were. (A common claim of the day was that an organization could be linked to early
Egypt, for example, and some went so far as to claim descent from the Garden of Eden!)
It was the mindset of the time and the further back a linkage was established (even if unsubstantiated by actual
fact), the better. For this reason, all entities at that time sought connections to Biblical days (or earlier!!!) so as to
provide credibility for themselves and their members. This simple fact is often overlooked as anti-Masons today
ignore the reality and use the convenient. The claims of antiquity were quite common at the time Freemasonry
began - and, in fact, the earliest 'exposures' of Freemasonry and many other organizations sought to discredit
such claims as a way of undermining the group itself.
In our current politically-correct climate, the Knights Templar - both of old and new stripe - are sometimes
demonized by anti-Masons for several things including (but not limited to):
the death and destruction they caused in the Crusades (which of course ignores the fact that they fought to keep
alive the Christianity which those anti-Masons now enjoy in a free society);
supposedly occult or pagan rituals (based either on hearsay from other anti-Masons or from anti-Templar material
promulgated as the Catholic Church as it sought to bring the Templars 'to heel', fearing that their power and the
respect in which they were held by the populace would ultimately bring down the Papacy);
"confessions" made by Templars, given while being tortured (or the later 'revealed' confessions made public by the
Inquisition);
the complete and total disappearance without a trace of the medieval organization (fueling speculation of
conspiracy theories still rampant some 600+ years later and assuming that the organization had a huge
membership unlike the reality of barely a couple of hundred!)
the requirement in the current Knights Templar organization that a member shall defend the Christian faith (which,
in a delicious irony is criticized by anti-Masons as wrong since Freemasonry is not a religious organization -
although they often portray it as such!)
The true nature of the ancient Knights Templar may never be fully understood and the connection to Freemasonry
will likely always remain unsubstantiated. Because of Chevalier Ramsay, however, it is now a part of Masonic
heritage.
|
As updates become available we will present them here. Frank Riccardi Director, Eyepod.Org/usassociates.us
|
Ads support Eyepod, click on links above.
rigged. During the trial of Templars at Paris, the court
repeatedly refused to hear depositions from no fewer than 573 witnesses for the defence.
A few Templars managed to flee to England, where torture was not legal. This made it impossible to obtain what
Pope Clement called "true evidence", meaning evidence extorted by torture. The pope wrote to King Edward II
demanding that the Templars be arrested and tortured. Otherwise, Edward and his court would be excommunicated
as impeders of the Inquisition. As a bribe, Edward was offered a Plenary Indulgence for all his past sins. Finally he
permitted papal judges to torture the Templars, changing the English Law "out of reverence for the Holy See". The
indispensable utility of torture was thus established, and "the success of the extermination of the Templars set the
patterns for the subsequent persecution of witches".
Scholars have tried to determine the truth, if any, of the charges against the Templars. Most agree that the
Templars "had adopted some of the mysterious tenets of the eastern Gnostics". Their alleged idol Baphomet may
have been the Triple Head of Wisdom pictured on the arms of the orders' founder, in the form of three black
Saracen heads. On the other hand, no idol of Baphomet was ever found in the Templars houses or shrines, though
these were seized and sealed immediately.
Templars were accused of "making a fig" at the crucifix with their hands; but this derisive sexual symbol was not a
mockery by eastern standards. Orientals called it a knowledge sign, the feminine counterpart of the phallic cross; in
India it was a lingam-yoni. If the Templars trampled a crucifix, they may have copied the custom of Arab dervishes
who ceremonially rejected a cross with the words "You may have the Cross, but we have the meaning of the Cross".
repeatedly refused to hear depositions from no fewer than 573 witnesses for the defence.
A few Templars managed to flee to England, where torture was not legal. This made it impossible to obtain what
Pope Clement called "true evidence", meaning evidence extorted by torture. The pope wrote to King Edward II
demanding that the Templars be arrested and tortured. Otherwise, Edward and his court would be excommunicated
as impeders of the Inquisition. As a bribe, Edward was offered a Plenary Indulgence for all his past sins. Finally he
permitted papal judges to torture the Templars, changing the English Law "out of reverence for the Holy See". The
indispensable utility of torture was thus established, and "the success of the extermination of the Templars set the
patterns for the subsequent persecution of witches".
Scholars have tried to determine the truth, if any, of the charges against the Templars. Most agree that the
Templars "had adopted some of the mysterious tenets of the eastern Gnostics". Their alleged idol Baphomet may
have been the Triple Head of Wisdom pictured on the arms of the orders' founder, in the form of three black
Saracen heads. On the other hand, no idol of Baphomet was ever found in the Templars houses or shrines, though
these were seized and sealed immediately.
Templars were accused of "making a fig" at the crucifix with their hands; but this derisive sexual symbol was not a
mockery by eastern standards. Orientals called it a knowledge sign, the feminine counterpart of the phallic cross; in
India it was a lingam-yoni. If the Templars trampled a crucifix, they may have copied the custom of Arab dervishes
who ceremonially rejected a cross with the words "You may have the Cross, but we have the meaning of the Cross".
Templars' history http://www.ordotempli.org/
Press play to view Nazi secrets of World War II by The German Knights Templar.