Templars!

The Templars had great success in defeating the poor peasants of the Holy Land, but Templars were trained warriors who fought on large and heavy armoured horses. The Crusaders wielded expensive swords and wore expensive armour, how could the poor people of these areas fight and win against them? God was said to support the Crusaders as they rode through the countryside, many hundreds of miles, taking from local peasantry whatever they needed in terms of food and other necessities, sometimes they returned home with great stolen luxuries! Over the course of 200 years, the local people gathered and trained themselves to fight against these Crusading intruders. Losses occurred, and God no longer supported Crusader successes! This would lead to the downfall of the Templars. 

The Templars honoured St John the Baptist and also Mary Magdalene, who were saints, but neither featured in the Christian Creed. Templars were dedicated to both these prominent saints but not instead of Jesus the Christ or his mother, Mary the Theotokos, Mother of God. There were two pillars of the church, John the Baptist and Jesus. Both had a powerful ministry. 

Templars - Story One

“I would rather die than be dishonoured” motto of Hughes de Payens. 

There was no higher calling that to be - not a knight - but a ”poor fellow soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon” the name of the Order, for whom these brave knights fought and died. 

This military Order was of a highly trained, mounted cavalry. The 'poor' part of their title involved  commitment not to be tempted by the great riches they handled on behalf of the Church as the earliest of international bankers. They answered and honoured the Pope, whom they were totally beholden to as their spiritual and practical leader, and they would no more steal from the Church than steal from one another.       

Most monks were pledged never to take life, even that of a Saracen, but this was a special force of warriors who fought for places within Edessa, Antioch, Tripoli, Tortorsa, Tyre and especially Jerusalem, Bethlehem and the route through the desert to the river Jordan. They were hardy fighting men who provided safe passage for pilgrims through dangerous lands on perilous journeys to the sacred sites of Christendom, and they also pledged to get these pilgrims safely back home again! In 1118 three hundred pilgrims were murdered. As religious tourism was a lucrative source of revenue, pilgrims needed to be protected and looked after along the hazardous routes. If they contracted leprosy, which was endemic, they would transfer to the Order of the Knights of St Lazarus and continue to fight until they were incapacitated. King Baldwin IV was a leprosy victim. 

Q : Were Templars Heretics?

18th March 1314: Last words of Jacques de Molay: It is just, in this so terrible day, and in the last moments of my life, I should discover all the iniquity of falsehood and make the truth triumph. I declare, in the face of heaven on earth, and acknowledge, to my eternal shame, that I have committed the greatest of crimes. But it has been the acknowledging of the crimes which the Order has been charged. I attest, and truth obliges me to attest, that the Order is innocent. I made the contrary declaration only to suspend the excessive pains of torture and to mollify those who made me endure them. I know the punishments which have been inflicted on all the knights who had the courage to evoke a similar confession. But the dreadful spectacle which is presented to me is unable to make me confirm one lie after another. The life offered me on such infamous terms I abandon without regret.” “I confess that I am indeed guilty of the greatest infamy. But the infamy is that I lied. I lied by admitting to disgusting charges laid against my Order. I declare that the Order is innocent. Its purity and saintliness have never been defiled. In truth, I have testified otherwise, but I did so from fear of horrible tortures.”

Adam of Murimouth and Christian Spinoza vouched for the Templars’ innocence and we have verbatim accounts of the court cases. 

Baptised and confirmed Catholics, the Templars took vows of poverty, chastity and obedience and accepted further rules of restriction of aceticism that was not required of other monks. They honoured the Cistercian monastic rule from their founder St Bernard (which can be read online). They were monks and very few were priests, so therefore they had no initiation beyond the ordinary baptism, communion and confirmation rites. When they joined the Order, they gave up their ancestral lands, often placing female relatives in convents. Templars, like all monks, attended daily mass - a public event - and there they recited The Apostles Creed (which can be read online), so we know what these men of integrity believed without doubt. They heard the old and New Testament readings and exegesis, they gave public confessions where they would be humiliated for the least personal sins, and they received holy communion, wine and unleavened bread, celebrated in remembrance of the last supper before Jesus was betrayed, judged, tortured and crucified. They kept the canonical hours with prayer 8 times throughout day and night. 

Templars Story Four

The story of Pope Sylvester II (Gerbert of Aurillac) who lived 940-1003 was the first Frenchman to be Pope in 999. His life story begins as a poor shepherd boy (like King David) in the rich Aquitaine in France, and he became the first Christian alchemist. He was born in Aurillac with its black Madonna and golden statue of Saint Gerard. The area of his birth was noted for its golden fleeces, as sheepskins left in the river Jordan attracted particles of gold and were transported across the pilgrim routes. The area had strong links with Compostela where he studied mathematics in the universities of Cordoba and Toledo under the Arabs. He introduced Arabic numbers to the west, and he invented the astrolabe, a hydraulic organ and a clock. Prior to being made Pope, he was Bishop of Rheims and Archbishop of Ravenna.  Most interestingly, he kept a head that talked! 

Helinand, a popular medieval author on the Grail, was greatly influenced by Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) who had been personally responsible for obtaining the Papal rule for the Knights Templar. There were deep connections between Bernard’s monastic order, the Cistercians, and the Nazoreans, who fought and died for Jerusalem in 70AD. The Cistercians wore white robes, as did theNazoreans, and so did the Knights Templar before adding the red cross. 

Templars Story

The Templar Order was founded in 1119 after 300 pilgrims were killed the previous year at Madeley. It was a white robe with red cross mantle, a monastic order under Cistercian monastic rule with dedicated contemplation and prayer, and with additional responsibilities to protect religious tourism to holy sites, handle the pilgrims’ valuables, and fight for possession of the Holy Land, and to bring back relics for the new cathedrals! 

Templar monks were the elite fighting groups of the Crusades, that involved many fighting Orders of monks. Monks were the lowest ranks in the hierarchy of the Church. They were often lacking education, but were highly principled, ascetics who made money fir the. Hutch, but were allowed no personal wealth. 

On the long and arduous route, by land and sometimes sea, and whilst at their destinations, many pilgrims were in poor health, so caring for the disabled, their animals and often their own Templar band, was part of their many serious responsibilities. Israel, Syria, Turkey, and Jordan, and cities such as Edessa, Antioch, Tripoli, and Tyre were in their sights. Jerusalem was the main destination, and source of revenue. King Baldwin I of Jerusalem was the Christian head of the city under an Egyptian authority who gave permission for pilgrimages. The Hospitallers, with white crosses on their black robes and under Benedictine monastic rule, were already established in the region on a site previously owned by the seventh century bishop of Alexandria, St John the Almsgiver. 

From the Champagne region of France, Hughes of Payens developed a small coterie of knights under oaths of poverty, chastity and obedience, and they were invited by King Baldwin II and were installed in a wing of the Kings Palace in the Temple area. In 1120 Fulk, the Count of Anjou, and future King of Jerusalem (and also the grandfather of King Henry II of England) stayed with the knights. In 1126, Hugh and Andrew of Montbard and a small number of others, travelled back to Champagne. This was an important visit. There they met with Count Thibault and Cistercian Abbot Bernard of Clairvaux.

Templars Story Two

The Setting: 

1095 Pope Urban preaches for the first Crusade. 1099 Crusaders capture Jerusalem. 1128 the Order of the Poor Fellow Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon was founded. 1180 Pope Alexander III condemns the Waldensians. 1187 Saladin captures Jerusalem. 1204 Third Crusade sacks Constantinople. 1305 The Papacy moves to Avignon. 

Siege Perilous: 

One can hardly imagine the privations of those who had entered the Order of the Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon. After giving up their lands, their freedom and their family and friends, they took vows of poverty, chastity and obedience to the Church and Pope -  a vow was a vow and they pledged their life to the most difficult of tasks for as long as they might live, by the grace of God! They ate little, prayed much, and were religious ascetics in all their behaviour. When not enduring extremely dangerous battles and sieges in heavy metal armour, they were facilitating sea crossings, avoiding piracy and shipwreck dangers, and travelling with baggage trains through arduous and perilous countryside with responsibility for often sick animals, and for unprepared pilgrims who I suggest might well have felt very disillusioned on reaching the destiny of their many months of immensely strenuous efforts. Pilgrimages were immense hardships but battles were even harder. The mortality rate was high as was the sickness, accident and disease rate. Any crimes were dealt with with brutality. They were thrown into a body of water? If they sank they were innocent. If they floated, they were guilty. Did they spit on a crucifix, one wonders! Their lives were of little importance. Their soul had an immense price. They lived each hour, maintaining the purity of the soul so when they died, which could be at any moment, their soul would be welcomed into heaven. Every deed was closely examined, the smallest omission of commission could mean hell fires for eternity. 

The Immune System

We are all familiar with the needs of our immune system which helps our lymphocytes fight disease. There are two types of these specialised defence  lord cells, basofils and neutrophils. Vitamin C, D3, and Zinc are thought to boost these defence cells. Maybe Echinacea, and possible garlic also. A healthy and varied diet with high fibre and exercise is also valuable. Small amounts of particular stresses also boosts these defence cells, a cold shower, public speaking and other short term stresses. Sleep is a major factor is boosting our immune system and research has shown the massage is also very effective. Our gut diversity of organisms has been proved to be necessary in having a well functioning immune system. 

Superstitions Part Two

The superstition about walking under a ladder is not because a pot of paint might fall on you. It is due to the shape that the ladder makes when placed against a wall. The triangle was a holy shape in times gone by, and when walking beneath the ladder, one ‘breaks the triangle’ – the symbol of the Christian Trinity.

In herbal folklore Solomon’s Seal will banish poisonous insects, a hazel tree branch that is gathered on Palm Sunday will keep lightening away, caraway seeds prevent poultry from wandering and fennel banishes witches.

November

In the old Celtic calendar, November is the beginning of the New Year, the time of new beginnings, as the day began at nightfall, and the seed begins life in the dark soil. The moon lends itself to this, dark and then a crescent emerging in the early days and becoming full on 15th. This month honours the ancestors, those brave and resourceful people who have gone on the Great Journey before us, each living until adulthood and bearing children of whom we are one. These are the Hallows and Saints of the early days of the month. In ancient times, this was the 9th month, the time of greatest spirituality of the year. Animals were killed and salted and stored for winter; it was a time of preparation and many chose to renew commitments and make new plans at this time. 

The autumn season is one of rich colour and beauty, as we say goodbye to the warmth of summer and embrace lengthening nights of the colder months. We welcome the Angel I have chosen to accompany us through this month, Adnachiel, the Truth Seeker, whose ability of perception sees through the veils of our world into the clarity and honesty that is our spiritual birthright. 

Janet Burvill's Pumpkin Soup Recipe

Serves 6

Ingredients:

approx 1 kg/2lb 4oz pumpkin;

40g or 1.5 oz butter or margarine;

1 thinly sliced onion;

1 crushed garlic clove;

900 ml or 1 pint of vegetable stock;

salt and pepper;

1/2 tsp ground ginger;

1 tbsp lemon juice;

3-4 thinly pared strips of orange rind;

1-2 bay leaves or 1 bouquet garni;

300 ml or 1.5 pints milk