By Jamie Seidel
Appendix 5: Myths and Legends of the Orders (from version 3)
Each of the three Militant Orders, knights Templar, knights Teutone and knights Hospitaller, have an air of mystery surrounding their traditions, purpose and history. None more so than the Templars.
The Knights Templar have been a favored subject of "History Sleuths" throughout the 1980s. The best seller lists have features books such as Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, The Temple and The Lodge, The Sword and the Rose etc. All have put forward interesting postulations about the Militant Orders true role, often delving into Arthurian and Grail legends.
Some of these theories refuse to go away, and more pieces seem to fall into place all the time. These may have potential for a storyline.
The storyline is basically this. Mary Magdalene and her child (Jesus' progeny) flee Israel because the political situation for Jesus' immediate family was too hot. Jesus' brother (Judas Thomas) was leading the war against the Romans. Because the concept that several of Jesus' disciples were Zealot resistance fighters (indicating he was possibly one of them himself) did not go down with the passive message trying to be pushed by the early Christian Church, Judas Thomas' (Jesus' twin brother, a Zealot warrior priest) identity was split and most references to the Zealoti removed. This included the watering down of the importance of Simon and James -- also prominent Zealots. The gospels written by Judas Thomas and James were deliberately destroyed or drastically edited by the Church before the 8th Century.
There was apparently a dispute among the disciples, the mystics under Paul and the Nazarean Party under James. Some evidence exists that Paul was outcast by the other disciples because he was trying to attach messianic qualities to Jesus, who the rest of the disciples "knew" was simply the "Messiah" -- King-Priest of Israel.
The upshot of the situation was that Israel was "destroyed" in the AD 70s. Before this time many Jews left the country for safer parts, including Alexandria in Egypt, Greece, Rome and southern France. Allegedly, Mary Magdalene (possibly Jesus' wife) ended up in southern France with Jesus' son, along with Cathar Jews who believed Jesus to be a prophet-king.
The Templars, upon the capture of Jerusalem in the 1100s, apparently discovered some remaining copies of the "heretic" gospels, and traced the movements of Magdalene. The knights apparently took the family's bloodline (or grail) into their own protection. Known as the Merovingian's, the family had spawned a line of French Kings often associated with mystical happenings and arcane power. Some say the Templars, now known as the Prieure de Sion (Rock of Sion -- the Temple), still guard Jesus' descendants -- and working hard towards the unification of Europe!
It is because of the Templars' association with the Cathars (the descendants of the group which included Magdalene) that the Order fell out with the Pope.
There is strong speculation that many of the authors of various Grail and Arthurian sagas were either strongly associated with the Templars, or were Templars themselves. Some say the legends were a secret way of perpetuating the "true" story of Christ. The Church had been suspicious the Templar "heresy" for some time, but the jealous French King Philip IV used it as an excuse to try and grab their property. While the Order was disbanded, no convictions of heresy were ever made. (Both the Pope and Phillip IV died within a two months of the death of the Grand Master's execution. Historical legend claims the Grand Master "cursed" them both, but it is also possible Templar contacts within each household poisoned them.)
There is plenty of evidence to suggest that the Temple did not dissolve after 1314. While hundreds of Templars were captured and put before the Inquisition, only a few were full knights. The ratio was something of 1 knight per 5 Templars, the bulk being Sergeants and support staff. Only 1 in 20 of those facing the Inquisition in France was a knight -- and in the UK, none were knights. The whole treasury department disappeared, along with the entire Templar fleet. Nevertheless, the Order obviously broke up over the years because it was hard to manage such a huge organisation secretly. While many Orders such as the Spanish knights of Christ were formed by the Templar remnants, evidence suggests the "pure" core survived in Scotland -- a country not inclined to pay any attention to the Pope.
Complicating the story is the fact that Rennes le Chateau is in the dead centre of an ancient grid of "power lines". Multiple geometric designs (ranging from a near-perfect pentagon formed by natural? mountain peaks to clusters of towns and even standing stones) use the area as its focus. It obviously had strong pre-Christian, pre-Roman significance -- similar to the Nazca lines of America.
The worldwide network of medical care units, ambulance services and disaster relief teams -- combined with the diplomatic status offered to the Order (who still insist that Senior knights must be able to show a coat of arms dating back 300 years proving direct male lineage) -- make them an ideal network for intelligence work. The hospital and medical services are often placed strategically in areas of crisis (such as Northern Ireland). Membership extends from medical staff and ambulance drivers to important political and financial officials. Rumors have it that the Hospitallers are closely linked to the Vatican Intelligence Service -- a role similar to that of the Crusades. Other rumors have it that the knights are used as a link between the Vatican and the CIA. The knights actually have a world-wide award for counter-intelligence work. Those who have received this award include the head of the West German Secret Service and several high-ranked CIA operatives. Most of the CIA directors since the 1940s have become knights of Malta, as have many American diplomats. The extent of their actions is not know, but much of the credit for peace efforts in Central America has been quietly given to Hospitaller operatives.
The true Order at this time was obviously driven underground. Apart from genocidal racist behavior, the SS's rituals included conceiving children on the gravestone of prominent historical figures, marriages which were little more than Aryan orgies, and other mystical ceremonies. Himmler instigated an Order of the Round Table with 13 knight officers. Its headquarters was in Wewelsburg, near Paderborn, in West Germany. Although never completed, this town (centred on a modern castle) was supposed to become the SS capital. The town and castle's architecture was based on the numbers 3 and 12, the significance of which is not known. Himmler often spoke of Sacred Geometry, "earth magic."
Interesting links have been drawn with the "old school" army officers who were involved with the plot to assassinate Hitler. Apparently, the leaders were members of noble families with histories of association with the Teutones. This may have been a desperate attempt by the remnants of the Order to cut the Fuhrer's career short.
The link with the SS provides scope for many of the mysterious activities of WWII to be utilised, ie the collection of mystical books and artifacts, as could the disappearance of many of these valuable historical objects after the war.
The fourth Grand Master was undoubtedly Cathar and many recruits came from the southern regions of France where the religion was strongest.
The Templars remained neutral during the Albigensian Crusade, an attempt to exterminate Catharism because of its direct conflict with Catholicism. Cities were razed and thousands massacred. Rumors emerged that the Templars had actually helped hide Cathar treasures, as well as protect many prominent families. It was during this time that the first allegations against the order was made. Pope Innocent III, upset that the knights had refused his order to join the attack on the Cathars, berated them for un-Christian behavior and accused them of necromancy.
The Albigensian Crusade (the Templars refused to refer to it as a crusade, they repeatedly insisted the only true crusade was to invade Israel) actually increased the numbers of Cathars among their ranks. In some preceptories, more officers were Cathar than Catholic.
Through their contact with Islamic and Judaic cultures, the Templars had absorbed many ideas and ideals alien to the orthodox Roman Christianity of the time. Templars often employed Arabs accountants and secretaries, they learned to speak and write the languages and financial exchanges were commonplace.
Philip IV of France hated the knights' independence and wealth (he had also been rejected by the order as a recruit -- and he owed it money). He may have used this tolerance for other schools of thought as an excuse to bring about the Order's destruction. Undoubtedly, the almost open links with the Eastern cultures exposed Templars to occult thinking. It would have been in the knights' interests to at least find out about such rites, rituals and beliefs in an effort to "understand one's enemy". How much of this secular information was gathered -- and even adopted -- is pure speculation. All the Order's books were burned at the instruction of the Grand Master shortly before Philip IV moved to have all the knights in France arrested.
Links have also been made to the Johannite (or Mandaean) heresy, which denounced Jesus as a false prophet and acknowledged John as the true Messiah. The Templars undoubtedly came in contact with this sect.
By 1798, the era of romance, many legends were attributed the knights with mythical powers. They were supermen with awesome arsenals of arcane powers and knowledge. They were called occult adepts, illumined alchemists, magi and sages, master masons and high initiates.
The Masonic link may have significant relevance. Much of the suspicion against the knights was brought about by their superior technical skill. While the knights themselves were generally uneducated, those within the Order who were specialists (such as architects) had much more advanced knowledge than their civilian counterparts. Much of the learning of the Greek and Roman philosophers, mathematicians etc had been lost in Europe during the dark ages. But the Arabs were not so stupid. Some of this information was captured with the Spanish Crusades after the fall of the Templars. But, much information suggests the Templars had gained much of this knowledge through their interaction with the Arabs -- and then kept it for themselves.
The greatest engineering feats of their time, the first Gothic Cathedrals, can be directly attributed to Templar involvement. The ignorance of the general populace (and even nobility) often attributed such works of engineering to magic.
The most serious allegation was that the knights ritually denied Christ. The ceremony is said to have involved, trampling, spitting on and defecating on the cross.
Even before the Inquisition, some said the knights were sorcerers and magicians, secret adepts and alchemists. Some of their contemporary monastic Orders shunned them, believing them to be in league with arcane powers. Much of this can be attributed to the knights greater understanding of medicine, architecture and basic chemistry and physics -- all learned from the Arabs and Jews. It is interesting to note that among all monastic Orders, only the Templars were given permission in their charter to associate with, and make deals with heathens.
Many members of the Order were burned, imprisoned or tortured. It is interesting to note that the few "confessions" that were made were only extracted under torture -- and the knights almost always repudiated their confession afterward. Extremely few "clear convictions" were made by the Inquisitors, but then, Inquisitors didn't need to justify their actions.
After the Order's extinction, rumors of the Occult escalated. The Grand Master and the preceptor of Normandy are said to have cursed the king and the pope as they were being burnt alive. Within months of the knights execution, both Pope Clement and King Philip were dead.
| Baphomet | Derivation of Muhammad |
| Baphomet | Bifihimat, "Father/Source of Wisdom and Understanding" |
| Baphomet | Gonfalon Bauceant, the battle standard of the Templars and battle cry. Bauseant, meaning "of comely appearance", or "piebald" or "standard", but likely to mean "for glory" |
When subject to the torture of the Inquisition, many knights referred to something called Baphomet. There is little indication on who or what Baphomet was, what it represented or even if it was significant. It appears that it was regarded with reverence -- perhaps idolatry. Sometimes the name was associated with a demonic sculpture found in some preceptories, other times with a bearded head.
The link between Baphomet and the concept of a bearded head remains obscure. One strong possibility is that the head may be that of the Turin Shroud -- a revered artifact believed to be in the possession of the Templars between 1204 and 1307. The way it was folded (it was almost never unravelled) placed the head in the most visible position. In fact, the surviving images of the Templar "head" bear a striking resemblance to the Shroud.
According to Inquisition records, a reliquary in the shape of a woman's head was confiscated from the Paris preceptory. It was hinged on top, and contained a relic of some kind. The report said "a great head of gilded silver, most beautiful, and constituting the image of a woman. Inside were two head-bones, wrapped in a cloth of white linen, with another red cloth around it. A label was attached, one which was written the legend CAPTU LVIIIm (Head 58m). The bones inside were that of a rather small woman." The "m" may have actually been a misreading of the sign of Virgo. Some speculation has been made -- on minimal evidence -- that the head may be that of Mary Magdalene, an artifact rescued from the Cathars.
Myths involving sacred heads include that of Isis, Tammuz or Adonis whose head was flung into the sea, and of Orpheus, whose head was flung into the river of the Milky Way. Bran the Blessed in Celtic mythology also had his head severed, but it was kept alive in a magical cauldron.
According to Inquisition records, the charges against the Templars included:
Item, in each province they had idols, namely heads.
Item, that they adored these idols
Item, that they said that the head could save them.
Item, that it could make riches
Item, that it made the trees flower
Item, that it made the land germinate
Item, that they surrounded or touched each head of the aforesaid idols with small cords, which they wore around themselves next to the shirt or the flesh.
These properties were extraordinarily similar to that attributed to the Holy Grail. Cathars wore sacred cords.
It is likely that many Templars did not believe in Christ, as many knights gave testimony that they only believed in God in heaven, not in Jesus. Such charges were consistent, and lend credence to the idea. But it may also simply have been a well organised conspiracy on behalf of the Inquisitors. It may also have been an internal faction split. However, the strongest argument revolves around the Shroud of Turin. The Templars were very secretive about their posessions, wealth and relics -- and any information about such an item would have been distorted "through the telling."
This work only covers the three most popular and powerful Militant Orders:the Knights Templar, Hospitaller and Teutone. However, these were not the only ones.
Many Orders were spawned by the crusades, some lasting only months while others endured for centuries. If you wish to supplement the Church Knights sourcebook with re-interpretations of these other Orders I suggest you research the following: