Already during its active existence, the Order of the Templars was seen in the eyes of contemporaries as a kind of magical institution. The Knights of the Temple were suspected of magic, witchcraft and alchemy. (Epoch earlier they would have been suspected of shamanism). It was believed that many of the Templars were associated with "dark forces." Back in 1208, Pope Innocent III called the Templars to order due to their "non-Christian actions and the spell of spirits."
It is known that the Templars dreamed of establishing the Kingdom of Peace and Unity of all peoples on earth, for which they were engaged in esoteric research and the search for inter-confessional churchliness on the basis of Gnostic teachings. At the same time, “ecclesiasticalness” was understood in its original sense - from the Greek “ekklhsia”, that is, “community” of people united by an idea.
A few words about the Gnostics. The Gnostics are an Alexandrian sect based on the secret doctrines of early Christianity. The Gnostics interpreted the Christian mysteries according to pagan symbolism. They hid their secret information and philosophical achievements from outsiders and taught only a small group of specially dedicated persons.
The Gnostics sought (and believed they had found) the Truth with a capital letter. They considered it to be based on Gnosis (Greek "gnosis" - "knowledge"), that is, secret knowledge about God, the world and the true spiritual nature of man, discovered by the prophets and preserved by the esoteric tradition. The possession of such knowledge, which only a select few could be rewarded with, leads in itself to Salvation. Evil in the world was considered to have arisen initially as a result of "technology error". Its destruction occurs only gradually, in the course of the world process of restoring the planned harmony, which is again accelerated by prophets and divine messengers. God, according to the teachings of the Gnostics, is hidden and unknowable. But at the same time, it is the supreme true God. Most people (non-Gnostics) worship an untrue God, whose image they capture in the form of icons and frescoes. Meanwhile, this is just a derivative of the true God, the father not of the world, but of “the lies of this world,” that is, the Devil. However, for the Gnostics, the Devil was not the father of evil, but only a failure, a victim of his own delusions.
The Templars, in particular, borrowed the symbol of Androgyne from the Gnostics. For them it was an occult image of universal unity. He was depicted as a figure with wings, sitting on a cube. On the head is a torch with three flames. The right hand is male (with the Latin inscription "solve" - "allow"), the left hand is female (with the inscription "coagula" - "thicken"). The trouble is, Androgyne had a goat's head; her horns, beard and ears fold into a PENTAGRAM (known to us as the five-pointed star). The Christian hierarchs, of course, associated this head with the Devil. And subsequently, the fact of worshiping Androgyne was blamed on the Templars. Meanwhile, even among the Pythagoreans, the pentagram was a symbol of health and an identification mark of the community.
The androgyne of the Gnostics among the Templars had his own name, called Baphomet.
Baphomet is the word "Temophab" read from right to left, meaning "Templi omnium hominum pacis abbas", that is, "Abbot of the temple of the world of all people." By this term, the Templars understood the emanation of the world "We", an astral vortex that could lead people along the path of improvement, to universal peace and brotherhood.
All this was in plain sight. However, later research showed that, most likely, there was a narrow circle of initiates within the Order of the Templars, who developed and guarded from outsiders a much deeper occult doctrine than the persecutors of the Templars could imagine.
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In the 18th century, two documents related to the Middle Ages were found in Hamburg. They contained a secret code for the templars who reached the "inner circle" of the Order, and supplemented the church charter. These were the Rite of the Chosen Brothers and the Rite of the Consoled Brothers. In his book History of the Order of the Templars and the Crusades, Gerard Sebanesco comments in detail on these texts and proves that they are talking about instructions, the purpose of which was to preserve the secrets of the occult hierarchy, strictly separated from the rest of the Order.
There are many versions of the esoteric secrets so jealously guarded by the Templars. And in our days, works continue to appear on this topic. In his amazing book Jean de Fodoas, occult writer Maurice Magre hypothesizes that the Templars used the magic-charged figure of Baphomet during battles. She allegedly provided them victory until it was stolen from them during one of the battles of the Christian army with the Mongol invaders in Bohemia.
Maurice Magre adds:
"It is likely that all the great conquerors who left their mark on the destinies of various peoples used magic, which allowed them to control the world forces in their own interests."
We do not believe in magic, and therefore we will not seriously consider this last thesis, but it seems that the templars of the highest rank did have esoteric knowledge. While in Touraine, in the keep of Chinon Castle, they painted symbolic graffiti on the walls of their cells, which generations of scholars are trying to decipher.
The modern alchemist Eugene Canselier, author of The Two Dwellings of the Alchemists, believes that he was able to interpret the most mysterious and complex of these drawings. According to his version, the Templars knew how the earth cycle would develop up to the Apocalypse.
“On the wall of one of the chambers,” writes Canselier, “the Templars, sitting in the keep of the Chinon castle, awaiting execution, left, among other no less interesting graffiti, a short diagram of the development of nature. On the sidewall of the doorway, there is a circle scratched with a stylet on a soft stone, the right side of which is barely outlined and resolutely shaded with vertical lines. Indeed, the golden and silver ages ended when in 1308 the followers of the Order of the Temple presented their descendants with an image of the ruthless passage of time. That is why the gnomon on the cosmic dial, drawn from a smaller circle with the letter "S" in the center ("S" is the first letter of the French word "soleil" - sun), divides the upper sector into two halves, that is, the bronze eyelid. the past three hundred years, and the other - the next three hundred years, it still has the letter "B" on it,which in the Romans meant the number 300. These six centuries are also marked with the letters A, B, C, D, E, F. The letter "A" is larger than the others, and is connected by a curly brace with another letter "A" located directly above it, which symbolizes the two centuries mentioned. To the right and slightly above the Sun, we see the Moon and the Earth - a circle crossed out by a cross, a life that will end with the end of the Iron Age, indicated in the lower quarter of the circle. The stylet of the unknown Templar moves inexorably on, so that, having reached the vertical, he will note the great confusion in the noise of the pipes. Then the Chosen will be able to repeat the prophetic words of the soothsayer from Patmo:To the right and slightly above the Sun, we see the Moon and the Earth - a circle crossed out by a cross, a life that will end with the end of the Iron Age, indicated in the lower quarter of the circle. The stylet of the unknown Templar moves inexorably on, so that, having reached the vertical, he will note the great confusion in the noise of the pipes. Then the Chosen will be able to repeat the prophetic words of the soothsayer from Patmo:To the right and slightly above the Sun, we see the Moon and the Earth - a circle crossed out by a cross, a life that will end with the end of the Iron Age, indicated in the lower quarter of the circle. The stylet of the unknown Templar moves inexorably on, so that, having reached the vertical, he will note the great confusion in the noise of the pipes. Then the Chosen will be able to repeat the prophetic words of the soothsayer from Patmo:
“I saw a new heaven and a new earth; because the first heaven and the first earth disappeared and the sea no longer existed."
Pretty loose interpretation, isn't it? We will meet more than once how occultists freely interpret the deeds of their predecessors. In the meantime, let's try to answer the question, and what, in fact, did the Templars seek, strengthening and expanding their Order.
Conspiracy theorist Jean Marquez-Riviere, in his book "History of Esoteric Doctrines", defined the political aspect of the activities of the inner circle of the Order of the Temple:
"It seems that within the Order itself there was a group inspired by austere esotericism, with a secret goal of seizing power."
So, the Templars needed power in order to unite the Western world and become its real occult rulers. What means were they going to use to carry out their plan? A de facto union of secular and religious authorities? However, for this it was necessary to reconcile the Cross of Christianity and the Crescent of Islam, turning the Mediterranean Sea from a dividing abyss into a center of unity of world religions.
The Templars, who were not limited to only dreams of an ideal society, understood perfectly well that in order for the confrontation between the Christian world and the East to disappear sooner or later, it was necessary to methodically develop commercial contacts between the two sides. The leaders of the Order tried in every possible way to take control of industry, trade and financial relations between the Christian and Muslim worlds. The Templars' plan meant the undermining of existing norms, a complete reorganization of the traditional structure of human society, and Europe was only an intermediate stage on the way to the implementation of this project.
Although most of the political leaders of the era were treated by the secret circle of the Templars as mere pawns and blind doers of their will, there were some exceptions. In particular, the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II Staufen was perhaps one of the initiates of the daring plan. In particular, despite the strong indignation of Rome, he established contacts with Muslim adepts, instead of going to them on a crusade. Without a doubt, this emperor of Germany was not a pawn in someone else's game - on the contrary, he reached the highest circles of initiation. It was he who in 1228 presided over the "round table" in Akko, where representatives of all knightly orders, both Christian and Muslim, gathered.
To this day, in the most mountainous and least visited place by tourists, in the Italian province of Apulia, on the outskirts of the city of Andria, there is a huge fortified castle, which was built by Frederick II. Some people call this building the Castle of the Master of the World. This massive fortress, Castel del Monte, is built in full accordance with the octagonal plan, like the Templar chapels. Although later the castle served as the residence of high persons, it was clearly intended for other purposes, there was not a single room with a utilitarian purpose: no bedrooms, no dining rooms, no living rooms. During the life of the emperor, Castel del Monte was certainly used only on special occasions for meetings and ceremonies. The octagonal plan is also preserved inside the castle: all rooms are located around one central, also octagonal, master's room. Probably,this room was the Middle Room - the most hidden and therefore the most sacred.