he Templars have become the standard material
for all kinds of awe-inspiring conspiracy theories, along with societies
hungry for an impressive historical pedigree. The two most notable projects
in which the Order has starred after its suppression are the Holy Grail and
the Freemasonry movement. If we are to try and see whether there is any truth
in the Freemasons' claim that they descend spiritually from the Templars,
we must start even a bit further down in history. It must be noted here that
most of the material in this article is highly speculative in nature. Some
of it is from non-Mason sources.
pparently Renaissance writers had
a two-tier approach to the Templars. Some writers, such as Ramon Lull, the
famous witch-hunter, were of the opinion that Philip IV's actions needed
to be justified and said so in their writings. Others, like Dante, sought
to vindicate the Order and point the finger at Philip. Generally speaking,
most writers concentrated on the magic the Order was said to have possessed.
Amidst all of this, the general public was not that sure at all what to believe.
hen, along came one of the most
influential of all Renaissance writers, Henry Cornelius of Agrippa. His book,
De Occulta Philosophiae, contains references to the Order, for reasons
that remain obscure. Agrippa presents the Knights Templar as a bunch of witches
who needed no broom to fly. He was favourable to the Templars, although he
went heavily into the magic thing in his discussion of the Order. It can
be said that during this period there was a two-fold shift in the attitude
towards the Order: they were increasingly seen as victims, not as malefactors,
and on the other hand, they were moving from militant knights into capable
magicians.
nter the Freemasons. The time frame
here is about the early 17th century, during which time the foundation of
Freemasonry was laid in Europe. Freemasonry bases its history on a document
called "The Old Charges" dated in 1440, claiming to be a copy of an even
older document. As the new movement gathered new recruits into its seemingly
egalitarian and free system, the need to a history of the movement became
evident. A Frenchman called Chevalier Ramsay came up with and presented the
idea of Crusading Masons, in other words, Crusaders who had already possessed
the Mason train of thought. He went even so far as to concoct the idea that
the Biblical builders of the Temple of Solomon were the spiritual forefathers
of 18th century Freemasons. According to Ramsay, the Crusaders had founded
[fictitional] lodges, most of whom had since lapsed except those in Scotland
and England. Historical proof of such organizations is apparently nonexistent,
we must note. And I've recently been told that Ramsay's ideas have since
been discarded by modern Freemasons, who now claim descent from the ancient
operative stonemasons' guilds.
funny sidenote is in place here:
originally Ramsay was not talking Templars into the Freemasons. He was referring
to Crusader Masons being linked with the Knights Hospitallers. The problem
with those good Knights was that they still existed on the island of Malta,
and might have reacted with considerable irritation to such claims by the
upstart Masons. The Templars were all accountably beyond any form of objection,
hence it was safer to change the Order in question to be the Knights of the
Temple of Solomon (who on the side brought in the reference of the Temple).
Unable of resisting the adoption, Ramsay and some other Mason systematicists
cooked up a considerable amount of instant history.
he utilization of the Templars has
been very effective in Freemasonry. Especially German Freemasons put a very
large effort into installing Templar themes into their ranks and rites. The
most impressive development is the incorporation of a tradition of secret
wisdom that supposedly is caried from the Jewish sect of the Essenes to the
Canons of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, all the way to the Templars and
on to the Freemasons. While there is no evident proof of such a cycle, the
imagery appears to be widely used in Freemasonry. It is to my regret that
I must state I can see no factual data of this actually happening. Freemasonry
today incorporates material from many historical and non-historical sources.
