Knights Templar History

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Contents
Volume 24. Issue 3 - fall 2011
FEATURE ARTICLES
MAILING ADDRESS
THE RISING POINT
Bonisteel Masonic Library 3 HISTORY Of THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR

2520 Arrowwood Trl
Ann Arbor, MI 48105 6 THE TEMPLAR GRAND MASTER

9
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KNIGHT KADOSH

Bro. Mitchell Ozog , 32º Editor in Chief.
mozog@bonisteelml.org 14 ARE THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR Of THE
PRESENT DAY

Bro. Karl Grube, Ph.D., 32º Managing Editor
kgrube@bonisteelml.org 17 THE THREE GREAT LIGHTS

Bro. Robert Blackburn 32º Book Review Editor

LAYOUT & DESIGN
19 1857 - BUILDERS Of TEMPLAR
MASONRY

COVER CREDITS
Bro. Mitchell Ozog
1 TEMPLARISM: ITS DUTY AND ITS
SPHERE

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History of the Knights Templar
Non nobis Domine, non nobis, sed nomini tuo da gloriam
(Not to us Lord, not to us, but to Your Name give the glory)

The history of the Knights Templar incorporates about two day, highly trained, well-equipped and highly motivated;
centuries during the Middle Ages, from the Order’s founding one of the tenets of their religious order was that they
in the early 12th century, to when it was disbanded in were forbidden from retreating in battle,
the early 14th century. unless outnumbered three to one, and even
then only by order of their commander,
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the or if the Templar flag went down. Not all
Temple of Solomon (Latin: Pauperes Knights Templar were warriors. The mission of
commilitones Christi Templique most of the members was one of support – to
Solomonici), commonly known as acquire resources which could be used to fund
the Knights Templar, the Order of the and equip the small percentage of members who
Temple (French: Ordre du Temple or Templiers) were fighting on the front lines. Because of this
or simply as Templars, were among the most infrastructure, the warriors were well-trained and
famous of the Western Christian military orders. very well armed. Even their horses were
The organization existed for nearly two centuries trained to fight in combat, fully armored.
during the Middle Ages. The combination of soldier and monk was
also a powerful one, as to the Templar knights,
Officially endorsed by the Catholic Church martyrdom in battle was one of the most glorious ways
around 1129, the Order became a favored charity to die.
throughout Christendom, and grew rapidly
in membership and power. Templar Their success attracted the concern of many other
knights, in their distinctive white orders, with the two most powerful rivals being the
mantles with a red cross, were among the Knights Hospitaller and the Teutonic Knights. Various
most skilled fighting units of the Crusades. Non- nobles also had concerns about the Templars as well, both
combatant members of the Order managed a large economic for financial reasons, and nervousness about an independent
infrastructure throughout Christendom, innovating financial army that was able to move freely through all borders.
techniques that were an early form of banking, and building
fortifications across Europe and the Holy Land. At the time of their arrest, the Order of the Temple, Knights
Templars had amassed great wealth, though not as much
The Templars’ existence was tied closely to the Crusades; as the Hospitallers. When they were in the Holy Land and
when the Holy Land was lost, support for the Order faded. upon their return, they were exempt from all taxes and had
Rumors about the Templars’ secret initiation ceremony many privileges. They loaned enormous amounts of money
created mistrust, and King Philip IV of France, deeply in to the Kings of both England and France as well as many
debt to the Order, took advantage of the situation. In 1307, great nobles. For the explanation of Philip IV of France’s
many of the Order’s members in France were arrested, persecution of the Templars we need hardly look further than
tortured into giving false confessions, and then burned at to financial considerations. “The wealth of the Order was
the stake. Under pressure from King Philip, Pope Clement V more than sufficient to excite the lust of royal freebooters,
disbanded the Order in 1312. Portugal was the only European and its power and privileges quite enough to arouse distrust
country where Templars were not persecuted and arrested in the mind of a less suspicious despot than Philip le Bel. He
(due to the King’s will). The abrupt disappearance of a major was already deeply in debt to them.”
part of the European infrastructure gave rise to speculation
and legends. Pope Boniface’s successor, Benedict XI, lifted the
excommunication of Philip IV but refused to absolve de
The Knights Templar were the elite fighting force of their Nogaret, excommunicating him and all the other Italian
3

kidnap co-conspirators At dawn on Friday, October 13, 1307, scores of French
on June 7, 1304. Templars were simultaneously arrested by agents of King
Benedict died just Philip, later to be tortured in locations such as the tower
eight months later at Chinon, into admitting heresy in the Order. Over 100
in Perugia, perhaps charges were issued against them, the majority of them
from poisoning by identical charges that had been earlier issued against the
an agent of Nogaret. inconvenient Pope Boniface VIII: accusations of denying
There followed a year Christ, spitting and urinating on the cross, and devil
of dispute among the worship. The main interrogation of the Templars was
French and Italian under the control of the Inquisitors, a group of experienced
cardinals as to the interrogators and clergy who circulated around Europe
next Pope, before at the beck and call of any European noble. The rules of
deciding on the non- interrogation said that no blood could be drawn, but this
Jacques de Molay, in a nineteenth- Italian Bertrand de did nothing to stop the torture. One account told of a
century color lithograph by Goth (Clement V), a Templar who had fire applied to the soles of his feet, such
Chevauchet childhood friend of that the bones fell out of the skin. Other Templars were
Philip, in June 1305. Clement withdrew the Papal Bulls suspended upside-down or placed in thumbscrews. Of the
of Boniface VIII which had conflicted with Philip IV’s 138 Templars (many of them old men) questioned in Paris
plans, created nine more French cardinals, and, after a over the next few years, 105 of them “confessed” to denying
failed attempt to unite the Templars and the Hospitallers, Christ during the secret Templar initiations. 103 confessed
agreed to Philip IV’s demands for an investigation of the to an “obscene kiss” being part of the ceremonies, and
Templars. Pope Clement also moved the papacy from the 123 said they spat on the cross. Throughout the trial there
Italian Anagni to the more palatable (and controllable) was never any physical evidence of wrongdoing, and no
French Avignon, initiating the period called the Avignon independent witnesses; the only “proof” was obtained
Papacy. through confessions induced by torture.The Templars
reached out to the Pope for assistance, and Pope Clement
did write letters to King Philip questioning the
arrests, but took no further action.

In 1312, after the Council of Vienne, and
under extreme pressure from King Philip
IV, Pope Clement V issued an edict officially
dissolving the Order. Many kings and nobles
who had been supporting the Knights up until
that time, finally acquiesced and dissolved the
orders in their fiefs in accordance with the
Papal command. Most were not so brutal as
the French. In England, many Knights were
arrested and tried, but not found guilty.

Much of the Templar property outside of France
was transferred by the Pope to the Knights
Hospitaller, and many surviving Templars
were also accepted into the Hospitallers. In the
Iberian Peninsula, where the king of Aragon
was against giving the heritage of the Templars
to Hospitallers (as commanded by Clement V),
the Order of Montesa took Templar assets.

In the end, the only three accused of heresy
Two Templars burned at the stake, from a French 15th century manuscript directly by the papal commission were Jacques
4

de Molay, Grand Master of the Knights Templar, and his countries where the Templar suppression was not enforced.
two immediate subordinates; they were to renounce their Although the theory may not be dismissed, it is usually
heresy publicly, when de Molay regained his courage deprecated on grounds of lack of evidence by both masonic
and proclaimed the order’s and his innocence along with authorities and historians
Geoffrey de Charney. The two were arrested by French
authorities as relapsed heretics and burned at the stake in In September 2001, Barbara Frale discovered a copy of the
1314. Their ashes were then ground up and dumped into the Chinon Parchment dated 17–20 August 1308 in the Vatican
Seine, so as to leave no relics behind. Secret Archives, a document that indicated that Pope
Clement V absolved the leaders of the Order in 1308. Frale
In England the Crown was also deeply in debt to the published her findings in the Journal of Medieval History in
Templars, and probably on that basis, the Templars were 2004. In 2007, The Vatican published the Chinon Parchment
also persecuted in England, their lands forfeited and as part of a limited edition of 799 copies of Processus
taken by others, (the last private owner being the favorite Contra Templarios.[31] Another Chinon parchment dated 20
of Edward II, Hugh le Despenser). Many of Templars August 1308 addressed to Philip IV of France, well-known
in England were killed; some fled to Scotland and other to historians, stated that absolution had been granted to all
places. In France, Philip IV, who was also coincidentally those Templars that had confessed to heresy “and restored
in terrible financial debt to the Templars was perhaps the them to the Sacraments and to the unity of the Church”
more aggressive persecutor. So widely was the injustice of
Philip’s rage against the Templars perceived that the “Curse References: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of _the_
of the Templars” became legend: Reputedly uttered by the Knights_Templar
Grand Master Jacques de Molay upon the stake whence he
burned, he adjured: “Within one year, God will summon
both Clement and Philip to His Judgment for these actions.”
The fact that both rulers died within a year, as predicted,
only heightened the scandal surrounding the suppression of
the Order. The source of this legend does not date from the
time of the execution of Jacques de Molay.

Today, the Knights Templar is the name of a branch of
Freemasonry.

The Knights Templar is an international philanthropic
chivalric order affiliated with Freemasonry. Unlike the initial
degrees conferred in a Masonic Lodge, which only require a
belief in a Supreme Being regardless of religious affiliation,
The Templar Seal showing two knights (perhaps Hugues de
the Knights Templar is one of several additional Masonic
Payens and Godfrey de Saint-Omer) on one horse. There are
Orders in which membership is open only to Freemasons
many interpretations of the symbolism of this seal.
who profess a belief in the Christian religion. The full title
of this Order is The United Religious, Military and Masonic
Contemporary legend held that the symbol represented the
Orders of the Temple and of St John of Jerusalem, Palestine,
initial poverty of the order; that they could afford only a single
Rhodes and Malta. The word “United” in this title indicates
horse for every two men. Still, the Rule of the Order from the
that more than one historical tradition and more than one
outset permitted three horses and no more for each knight, as
actual Order are jointly controlled within this system. The
well as no Templars sharing the same horse.
individual Orders ‘united’ within this system are principally
the Knights of the Temple (Knights Templar), the Knights
Several masters adopted this seal from the beginning of the
of Malta, the Knights of St Paul, and only within the York
order until at least 1298. It is known to have been in use since
Rite, the Knights of the Red Cross. The Order derives its
1167. The Rule forbids two riders on the same beast.
name from the historical Knights Templar. One theory of
the origins of Freemasonry claims direct descent from the
historical Knights Templar through its final fourteenth-
century members who took refuge in Scotland, or other

THe TeMplAr GrAnd MAsTer

JAcques de MolAy
Molay was followed by Guy in his assertion of the
innocence of the order; the other two remained silent.
The commissioners were confounded, and stopped. The
intelligence was conveyed to the king, who, instantly calling
his council together, without any spiritual person being
present, condemned the two knights to the flames.

A pile was erected on that point of the islet in the Seine
where afterwards was erected the statue of Henry IV., and
the following day Molay and his companion were brought
forth and placed upon it. They still persisted in their assertion
of the innocence of the order. The flames were first applied
to their feet, then to their more vital parts. The fetid smell of
their burning flesh infected the surrounding air, and added to
their torments; yet still they persevered in their declarations.
At length death terminated their misery. The spectators shed
tears at the view of their constancy, and during the night
their ashes were gathered up to be preserved as relics.
It is mentioned as a tradition, by some historians, that
Molay, ere he expired, summoned Clement to appear within
forty days before the Supreme Judge, and Philip to the same
18th March, 1314. An immense concourse of people stood
tribunal within the space of a year. The pontiff actually did
around. The four noble prisoners were conducted from their
die of a cholic on the night of the 19th of the following month,
dungeons, and led up on the stage. The cardinal of Alba read
and, the church in which his body was laid taking fire, the
out their former confessions, and pronounced the sentence of
corpse was half consumed. The king, before the year had
perpetual imprisonment. He was then proceeding to expose
elapsed, died of a fall from his horse. Most probably it was
the guilt of the order, when the Master interrupted him, and
these events which gave rise to the tradition, which testifies
thus spoke, taking all the spectators to witness:--
the general belief of the innocence of the Templars. It was
also remarked that all the active persecutors of the order
“It is just that, in so terrible a day, and in the last moments
perished by premature or violent deaths.
of my life, I should discover all the iniquity of falsehood,
and make the truth to triumph. I declare, then, in the face of
It remains to discuss the two following points:--Did the
heaven and earth, and acknowledge, though to my eternal
religio-military order of the Knights Templars hold a secret
shame, that I have committed the greatest of crimes; but it has
doctrine subversive of religion and morality? Has the order
been the acknowledging of those which have been so foully
been continued down to our own days?
charged on the order. I attest, and truth obliges me to attest,
that it is innocent. I made the contrary declaration only to
We have seen what the evidence against the Templars was,
suspend the excessive pains of torture, and to mollify those
and it is very plain that such evidence would not be admitted
who made me endure them. I know the punishments which
in any modern court of justice. It was either hearsay, or given
have been inflicted on all the knights who had the courage
by persons utterly unworthy of credit, or wrung from the
to revoke a similar confession; but the dreadful spectacle
accused by agony and torture. The articles themselves are
which is presented to me is not able to make me confirm one
absurd and contradictory. Are we to believe that the same
lie by another. The life offered me on such infamous terms.
men had adopted the pure deism of the Mahommedans, and
I abandon without regret.”
were guilty of a species of idolatry * almost too gross for the
6

See they would perhaps have come down to us as unsullied as
the knights of St. John *; but they sided with Pope Boniface
against Philip the Fair, and a subservient pontiff sacrificed
to his own avarice and personal ambition the most devoted
adherents of the court of Rome †.

We make little doubt that any one who coolly and candidly
considers the preceding account of the manner in which
the order was suppressed will readily concede that the guilt
of its members was anything but proved. It behoves their
modern impugners to furnish some stronger proofs than any
they have as yet brought forward. The chief adversary of the
Templars at the present day is a writer whose veracity and
love of justice are beyond suspicion, and who has earned
for himself enduring fame by his labours in the field of
oriental literature, but in whose mind, as his most partial
friends must allow, learning and imagination are apt to
overbalance judgment and philosophy ‡. He has been replied
to by Raynouard, Münter, and other able advocates of the
King Philip IV of France (1268–1314) knights.
lowest superstition? But when did this corruption commence
among the Templars? Were those whom St. Bernard praised We now come to the question of the continuance of the order
as models of Christian zeal and piety, and whom the whole to the present day. That it has in some sort been transmitted
Christian world admired and revered, engaged in a secret to our times is a matter of no doubt; for, as we have just
conspiracy against religion and government? Yes, boldly seen, the king of Portugal formed the Order of Christ out
replies Hammer, the two humble and pious knights who of the Templars in his dominions. But our readers are no
founded the order were the pupils and secret allies of the doubt aware that the freemasons assert a connexion with
Mahommedan Ismaelites. This was going too far for Wilike, the Templars, and that there is a society calling themselves
and he thinks that the guilt of introducing the secret doctrine Templars, whose chief seat is at Paris, and whose branches
lies on the chaplains; for he could discern that the doctrines extend into England and other countries. The account which
of gnosticism, which the Templars are supposed to have they give of themselves is as follows:--
held, were beyond the comprehension of illiterate knights,
who, though they could fight and pray, were but ill qualified James de Molay, in the year 1314, in anticipation of his speedy
to enter into the mazes of mystic metaphysics. According, martyrdom,, appointed Johannes Marcus Lormenius to be
therefore, to one party, the whole order was corrupt from top his successor in his dignity. This appointment was made by
to bottom; according to another, the secrets were confined a regular well-authenticated charter, bearing the signatures
to a few, and, contrary to all analogy, the heads of the order of the various chiefs of the order, and it is still preserved
were frequently in ignorance of them. Neither offer any thing at Paris, together with the statutes, archives, banners, c.,
like evidence in support of their assumption. of the soldiery of the Temple. There has been an unbroken
The real guilt of the Templars was their wealth and their succession of grand-masters down to the present times,
pride *: the last alienated the people from them, the former among whom are to be found some of the most illustrious
excited the cupidity of the king of France. Far be it from names in France. Bertrand du Guesclin was grand-master
us to maintain that the morals of the Templars were purer for a number of years; the dignity was sustained by several
than those of the other religious orders. With such ample of the Montmorencies; and during the last century the heads
means as they possessed of indulging all their appetites and of the society were princes of the different branches of the
passions, it would be contrary to all experience to suppose house of Bourbon. Bernard Raymond Fabré Palaprat is its
that they always restrained them, and we will even concede head at present, at least was so a few years ago *.
that some of their members were obnoxious to charges of
deism, impiety, breaches of their religious vows, and gross This is no doubt a very plausible circumstantial account;
licentiousness. We only deny that such were the rules of the but, on applying the Ithuriel spear of criticism to it, various
order. Had they not been so devoted as they were to the Holy ugly shapes resembling falsehood start up. Thus Molay,
7

we are told, appointed his successor in 1314. He was put to has led them to claim a descent from that order; and it is
death on the 18th March of that year, and the order had been possible that, if the same fate had fallen on the knights of St.
abolished nearly a year before. Why then did he delay so John, the claim had never been set up. We are very far from
long, and why was he become so apprehensive of martyrdom denying that at the time of the suppression of the order of the
at that time, especially when, as is well known, there was Temple there was a secret doctrine in existence, and that the
then no intention of putting him to death? Again, where overthrow of the papal power, with its idolatry, superstition,
were the chiefs of the society at that time? How many of and impiety, was the object aimed at by those who held it,
them were living? and how could they manage to assemble and that freemasonry may possibly be that doctrine under
in the dungeon of Molay and execute a formal instrument! another name *. But we are perfectly convinced that no proof
Moreover, was it not repugnant to the rules and customs of of any weight has been given of the Templars’ participation
the Templars for a Master to appoint his successor? These in that doctrine, and that all probability is on the other side.
are a few of the objections which we think may be justly We regard them, in fine, whatever their sins may have been,
made; and, on the whole, we feel strongly disposed to reject as martyrs--martyrs to the cupidity, blood-thirstiness, and
the whole story. ambition of the king of France.

As to the freemasons, we incline to think that it was the Sources: Secret Societies of the Middle Ages, by Thomas
accidental circumstance of the name of the Templars which Keightley, [1837], at sacred-texts.com

FAMOUS FREEMASON:
Bro. JOSEPh JACOB FOSS
he became the first American pilot of World Marines and won his wings in March 1941,
War II to equal Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker’s nine months before the United States entered
(Freemason) record in World War I. Captain the war.
Foss was brought home in the spring of 1943
to receive the Medal of Honor from President In November 1959, the club owners forming
Franklin D. Roosevelt (Freemason) and to the American Football League selected
go on a national tour to sell war bonds, spur Mr. Foss as commissioner, hoping that his
military recruiting and inspire workers in war contacts in Washington could help them
plants. Thrilling an America still reeling from in an anticipated struggle with the long-
Pearl Harbor, Captain Foss was pictured in his established National Football League. Even
dress uniform on the cover of Life on June 7, though his football experience had been
1943, described as ‘’America’s No. 1 Ace.’’ limited to benchwarming as a guard for the
University of South Dakota, he accepted.
Joseph Jacob Foss was born on April 17, 1915, Under Mr. Foss, the A.F.L., out of necessity,
on a farm near Sioux Falls, S.D. He died at divided broadcast revenues evenly among the
the age of 87 on January 1, 2003. When he was teams. One move he made for the league was
12, he visited a tiny airport near his home to signing a five-year $10.6 million television
see Charles A. Lindbergh (Freemason), who contract with ABC in 1960 that included his
was taking his Spirit of St. Louis on a national pioneering idea. As commissioner, Mr. Foss
tour after flying to Paris. The boy envisioned indulged his lifelong passion for hunting and
soaring through the skies himself one day. fishing as host of ‘’The American Sportsman’’
Four years later, he went up in a plane for the on ABC. He was criticized by some A.F.L.
first time, a $1.50 sightseeing ride in a Ford club owners who said he spent too much time
Tri-Motor. After watching a Marine aerial filming his outdoors shows and flying as a
team perform acrobatics in open-cockpit brigadier general in the Air National Guard.
Joe Foss, was a Medal of Honor winner as biplanes, he was convinced that the aviator’s Mr. Foss, who advocated an association with
a Marine fighter pilot in World War II who life was for him. But a month before Joe’s the N.F.L. under a single commissioner while
was a two-term governor of South Dakota, 18th birthday, his father was electrocuted by a hoping to keep the leagues’ identities separate,
commissioner of the upstart American downed power line in a lightning storm. The resigned as A.F.L. commissioner on April 17,
Football League and head of the National Rifle teenager had to help his mother and his brother, 1966. Less than two months later, the league
Association. A cigar-chomping curly haired Cliff, work the farm while the dust storms of announced plans to merge with the N.F.L. in
six-foot captain who looked like his friend the Depression piled sand knee high. Working 1970.
John Wayne (Freemason), Mr. Foss inspired at odd jobs, he managed to afford occasional
the nation as a wartime ace. Flying a Wildcat flying lessons and, at 25, graduated from the Brother Joseph Jacob Foss was a member of
that was slower than the vaunted Japanese University of South Dakota with a bachelor’s Minnehaha Lodge #5, South Dakota.
Zeros, he shot down 26 fighters and bombers in business administration. Seeing a chance
in the battle for Guadalcanal from October to fly at government expense, he joined the
1942 to January 1943. With his 26th ‘’kill,’’
8

KnIGHT KAdosH
WE often profit more by our
enemies than by our friends. It will be easy, as we read,
“We support ourselves to separate the false from
only on that which resists,” the true, the audacious
and owe our success to conjectures from the simple
opposition. The best friends facts.
of Masonry in America
were the Anti-Masons of “A power that ruled
1826, and at the same time without antagonism and
they were its worst enemies. without concurrence, and
Men are but the automata of consequently without
Providence, and it uses the control, proved fatal to
demagogue, the fanatic, and the Sacerdotal Royalties;
the knave, a common trinity while the Republics, on the
in Republics, as its tools and other hand, had perished
instruments to effect that of by the conflict of liberties
which they do not dream, and franchises, which, in
and which they imagine the absence of all duty
themselves commissioned to hierarchically sanctioned and
prevent. enforced, had soon become
mere tyrannies, rivals one
The Anti-Masons, traitors of the other. To find a stable
and perjurors some, and some mere political knaves, medium between these two abysses, the idea of the Christian
purified Masonry by persecution, and so proved to be its Hierophants was to create a society devoted to abnegation by
benefactors; for that which is persecuted, grows. To them its solemn vows, protected by severe regulations; which should
present popularity is due, the cheapening of its Degrees, the be recruited by initiation, and which, sole depositary of the
invasion of its Lodges, that are no longer Sanctuaries, by the great religious and social secrets, should make Kings and
multitude; its pomp and pageantry and overdone display. Pontiffs, without exposing it to the corruptions of Power. In
that was the secret of that kingdom of Jesus Christ, which,
An hundred years ago it had become known that the ‫ו‏‬ without being of this world, would govern all its grandeurs.
?Q?D?S‫ה‬‎ were the Templars under a veil, and therefore the
Degree was pro-scribed, and, ceasing to be worked, became “This idea presided at the foundation of the great religious
a mere brief and formal ceremony, under another name. Now, orders, so often at war with the secular authorities,
from the tomb in which after his murders he rotted, Clement ecclesiastical or civil. Its realization was also the dream of
the Fifth howls against the successors of his victims, in the the dissident sects of Gnostics or Illuminati who pretended
Allocution of Pio Nono against the Free-Masons. The ghosts to connect their faith with the primitive tradition of the
of the dead Templars haunt the Vatican and disturb the Christianity of Saint John. It at length became a menace for
slumbers of the paralyzed Papacy, which, dreading the dead, the Church and Society, when a rich and dissolute Order,
shrieks out its excommunications and impotent anathemas initiated in the mysterious doctrines of the Kabalah, seemed
against the living. It is a declaration of war, and was needed disposed to turn against legitimate authority the conservative
to arouse apathy and inertness to action. principle of Hierarchy, and threatened the entire world with
an immense revolution.
An enemy of the Templars shall tell us the secret of this Papal
hostility against an Order that has existed for centuries in “The Templars, whose history is so imperfectly known, were
despite of its anathemas, and has its Sanctuaries and Asyla those terrible conspirators. In 1118, nine Knights Crusaders
even in Rome. in the East, among whom were Geoffroi de Saint-Omer

9

and Hugues de Payens, consecrated themselves to religion, and deeds of Jesus Christ; words which, they thought, would
and took an oath between the hands of the Patriarch of be only a ridiculous exaggeration, if he were not speaking of
Constantinople, a See always secretly or openly hostile to an allegory and a legend, that might be varied and prolonged
that of Rome from the time of Photius. The avowed object of to infinity.
the Templars was to protect the Christians who came to visit
the Holy Places: their secret object was the re-building of the “The Johannites ascribed to Saint John the foundation of
Temple of Solomon on the model prophesied by Ezekiel. their Secret Church, and the Grand Pontiffs of the Sect
assumed the title of Christos, Anointed, or Consecrated, and
“This re-building, formally predicted by the Judaïzing claimed to have succeeded one another from Saint John by an
Mystics of the earlier ages, had become the secret dream of uninterrupted succession of pontifical powers. He who, at the
the Patriarchs of the Orient. The Temple of Solomon, re-built period of the foundation of the Order of the Temple, claimed
and consecrated to the Catholic worship would become, in these imaginary prerogatives, was named THEOCLET; he
effect, the Metropolis of the Universe; the East would prevail knew HUGUES DE PAYENS, he initiated him into the
over the West, and the Patriarchs of Constantinople would Mysteries and hopes of his pretended church, he seduced
possess themselves of the Papal power. him by the notions of Sovereign Priesthood and Supreme
royalty, and finally designated him as his successor.
“The Templars, or Poor Fellow-Soldiery of the Holy House
of the Temple intended to be re-built, took as their models, “Thus the Order of Knights of the Temple was at its very
in the Bible, the Warrior-Masons of Zorobabel, who worked, origin devoted to the cause of opposition to the tiara of Rome
holding the sword in one hand and the trowel in the other. and the crowns of Kings, and the Apostolate of Kabalistic
Therefore it was that the Sword and the Trowel were the Gnosticism was vested in its chiefs. For Saint John himself
insignia of the Templars, who subsequently, as will be seen, was the Father of the Gnostics, and the current translation
concealed themselves under the name of Brethren Masons. of his polemic against the heretical of his Sect and the
[This name, Frères Masons in the French, adopted by way pagans who denied that Christ was the Word, is throughout
of secret reference to the Builders of the Second Temple, a misrepresentation, or misunderstanding at least, of the
was corrupted in English into Free-Masons, as Pythagore de whole Spirit of that Evangel.
Crotone was into Peter Gower of Groton in England. Khairu_
m or Khu_r-u_m, (a name mis-rendered into Hiram) from an “The tendencies and tenets of the Order were enveloped
artificer in brass and other metals, became the Chief Builder in profound mystery, and it externally professed the most
of the Haikal Kadosh, the Holy House, of the Temple, the perfect orthodoxy. The Chiefs alone knew the aim of the
Ἱερος Δομος; and the words Bonai and Banaim yet appear Order: the Subalterns followed them without distrust.
in the Masonic Degrees, meaning Builder and Builders.]
“To acquire influence and wealth, then to intrigue, and
“The trowel of the Templars is quadruple, and the triangular at need to fight, to establish the Johannite or Gnostic and
plates of it are arranged in the form of a cross, making the Kabalistic dogma, were the object and means proposed to
Kabalistic pantacle known by the name of the Cross of the the initiated Brethren. The Papacy and the rival monarchies,
East. The Knight of the East, and the Knight of the East and they said to them, are sold and bought in these days, become
West, have in their titles secret allusions to the Templars of corrupt, and to-morrow, perhaps, will destroy each other. All
whom they were at first the successors. that will become the heritage of the Temple: the World will
soon come to us for its Sovereigns and Pontiffs. We shall
“The secret thought of Hugues de Payens, in founding constitute the equilibrium of the Universe, and be rulers
his Order, was not exactly to serve the ambition of the over the Masters of the World.
Patriarchs of Constantinople. There existed at that period in
the East a Sect of Johannite Christians, who claimed to be “The Templars, like all other Secret Orders and Associations,
the only true Initiates into the real mysteries of the religion had two doctrines, one concealed and reserved for the
of the Saviour. They pretended to know the real history of Masters, which was Johannism; the other public, which was
YESUS the ANOINTED, and, adopting in part the Jewish the Roman Catholic. Thus they deceived the adversaries
traditions and the tales of the Talmud, they held that the whom they sought to supplant. Hence Free-Masonry, vulgarly
facts recounted in the Evangels are but allegories, the key imagined to have begun with the Dionysian Architects or the
of which Saint John gives, in saying that the world might be German Stone-workers, adopted Saint John the Evangelist
filled with the books that could be written upon the words as one of its patrons, associating with him, in order not to
10

arouse the suspicions of Rome, Saint John the Baptist, and the Temple. Part of the symbols are displayed there to the
thus covertly proclaiming itself the child of the Kabalah and Initiate, but he is intentionally misled by false interpretations.
Essenism together.” It is not intended that he shall understand them; but it is
intended that he shall imagine he understands them. Their
[For the Johannism of the Adepts was the Kabalah of the true explication is reserved for the Adepts, the Princes of
earlier Gnostics, degenerating afterward into those heretical Masonry. The whole body of the Royal and Sacerdotal Art
forms which Gnosticism developed, so that even Manes had was hidden so carefully, centuries since, in the High Degrees,
his followers among them. Many adopted his doctrines of as that it is even yet impossible to solve many of the enigmas
the two Principles, the recollection of which is perpetuated which they contain. It is well enough for the mass of those
by the handle of the dagger and the tesserated pavement or called Masons, to imagine that all is contained in the Blue
floor of the Lodge, stupidly called “the Indented Tessel,” and Degrees; and whoso attempts to undeceive them will labor
represented by great hanging tassels, when it really means in vain, and without any true reward violate his obligations
a tesserated floor (from the Latin tessera) of white and as an Adept. Masonry is the veritable Sphinx, buried to the
black lozenges, with a necessarily denticulated or indented head in the sands heaped round it by the ages.]
border or edging. And wherever, in the higher Degrees, the
two colors white and black, are in juxtaposition, the two “The seeds of decay were sown in the Order of the Temple
Principles of Zoroaster and Manes are alluded to. With at its origin. Hypocrisy is a mortal disease. It had conceived
others the doctrine became a mystic Pantheism, descended a great work which it was incapable of executing, because
from that of the Brahmins, and even pushed to an idolatry of it knew neither humility nor personal abnegation, because
Nature and hatred of every revealed dogma. Rome was then invincible, and because the later Chiefs of
the Order did not comprehend its mission. Moreover, the
[To all this the absurd reading of the established Church, Templars were in general uneducated, and capable only of
taking literally the figurative, allegorical, and mythical wielding the sword, with no qualifications for governing,
language of a collection of Oriental books of different and at need enchaining, that queen of the world called
ages, directly and inevitably led. The same result long after Opinion.” [The doctrines of the Chiefs would, if expounded
followed the folly of regarding the Hebrew books as if they to the masses, have seemed to them the babblings of folly.
had been written by the unimaginative, hard, practical The symbols of the wise are the idols of the vulgar, or else
intellect of the England of James the First and the bigoted as meaningless as the hieroglyphics of Egypt to the nomadic
stolidity of Scottish Presbyterianism.] Arabs. There must always be a common-place interpretation
for the mass of Initiates, of the symbols that are eloquent to
“The better to succeed and win partisans, the Templars the Adepts.]
sympathized with regrets for dethroned creeds and
encouraged the hopes of new worships, promising to all “Hughes de Payens himself had not that keen and far-sighted
liberty of conscience and a new orthodoxy that should be intellect nor that grandeur of purpose which afterward
the synthesis of all the persecuted creeds.” distinguished the military founder of another soldiery that
became formidable to kings. The Templars were unintelligent
[It is absurd to suppose that men of intellect adored a and therefore unsuccessful Jesuits.
monstrous idol called Baphomet, or recognized Mahomet as
an inspired prophet. Their symbolism, invented ages before, “Their watchword was, to become wealthy, in order to buy
to conceal what it was dangerous to avow, was of course the world. They became so, and in 1312 they possessed in
misunderstood by those who were not adepts, and to their Europe alone more than nine thousand seignories. Riches
enemies seemed to be pantheistic. The calf of gold, made were the shoal on which they were wrecked. They became
by Aaron for the Israelites, was but one of the oxen under insolent, and unwisely showed their contempt for the religious
the laver of bronze, and the Karobim on the Propitiatory, and social institutions which they aimed to overthrow. Their
misunderstood. The symbols of the wise always become the ambition was fatal to them. Their projects were divined and
idols of the ignorant multitude. What the Chiefs of the Order prevented. [Rome, more intolerant of heresy than of vice and
really believed and taught, is indicated to the Adepts by the crime, came to fear the Order, and fear is always cruel. It has
hints contained in the high Degrees of Free-Masonry, and always deemed philosophical truth the most dangerous of
by the symbols which only the Adepts understand. heresies, and has never been at a loss for a false accusation,
by means of which to crush free thought.] Pope Clement V.
[The Blue Degrees are but the outer court or portico of and King Philip le Bel gave the signal to Europe, and the
11

Continued from page 11

Templars, taken as it were in an immense net, were arrested, a name to which they have not the shadow of a title.]
disarmed, and cast into prison. Never was a Coup d’Etat “The Successors of the Ancient Adepts Rose-Croix,
accomplished with a more formidable concert of action. The abandoning by degrees the austere and hierarchial Science
whole world was struck with stupor, and eagerly waited for of their Ancestors in initiation, became a Mystic Sect,
the strange revelations of a process that was to echo through united with many of the Templars, the dogmas of the two
so many ages. intermingling, and believed themselves to be the sole
depositaries of the secrets of the Gospel of St. John, seeing
“It was impossible to unfold to the people the conspiracy in its recitals an allegorical series of rites proper to complete
of the Templars against the Thrones and the Tiara. It was the initiation.
impossible to expose to them the doctrines of the Chiefs of
the Order. [This would have been to initiate the multitude “The Initiates, in fact, thought in the eighteenth century
into the secrets of the Masters, and to have uplifted the veil that their time had arrived, some to found a new Hierarchy,
of Isis. Recourse was therefore had to the charge of magic, others to overturn all authority, and to press down all the
and denouncers and false witnesses were easily found. When summits of the Social Order under the level of Equality.”
the temporal and spiritual tyrannies unite to crush a victim
they never want for serviceable instruments.] The Templars The mystical meanings of the Rose as a Symbol are to be
were gravely accused of spitting upon Christ and denying looked for in the Kabalistic Commentaries on the Canticles.
God at their receptions, of gross obscenities, conversations
with female devils, and the worship of a monstrous idol. The Rose was for the Initiates the living and blooming
symbol of the revelation of the harmonies of being. It was
“The end of the drama is well known, and how Jacques de the emblem of beauty, life, love, and pleasure. Flamel, or the
Molai and his fellows perished in the flames. But before Book of the Jew Abraham, made it the hieroglyphical sign
his execution, the Chief of the doomed Order organized of the accomplishment of the great Work. Such is the key of
and instituted what afterward came to be called the Occult, the Roman de la Rose. The Conquest of the Rose was the
Hermetic, or Scottish Masonry. In the gloom of his prison, problem propounded to Science by Initiation, while Religion
the Grand Master created four Metropolitan Lodges, at was laboring to prepare and establish the universal triumph,
Naples for the East, at Edinburg for the West, at Stockholm exclusive and definitive, of the Cross.
for the North, and at Paris for the South.” [The initials of his
name, JἹ BἹ MἹ found in the same order in the first three To unite the Rose to the Cross, was the problem proposed by
Degrees, are but one of the many internal and cogent proofs the High Initiation; and in fact the Occult philosophy being
that such was the origin of modern Free-Masonry. The the Universal Synthesis, ought to explain all the phenomena
legend of Osiris was revived and adopted, to symbolize the of Being. Religion, considered solely as a physiological fact,
destruction of the Order, and the resurrection of Khu_ru_m, is the revelation and satisfaction of a necessity of souls. Its
slain in the body of the Temple, of KHU_RU_M ABAI, the existence is a scientific fact; to deny it, would be to deny
Master, as the martyr of fidelity to obligation, of Truth and humanity itself.
Conscience, prophesied the restoration to life of the buried
association.] The Rose-Croix Adepts respected the dominant, hierarchical,
and revealed religion. Consequently they could no more be
“The Pope and the King soon after perished in a strange the enemies of the Papacy than of legitimate Monarchy; and
and sudden manner. Squin de Florian, the chief denouncer if they conspired against the Popes and Kings, it was because
of the Order, died assassinated. In breaking the sword of the they considered them personally as apostates from duty and
Templars, they made of it a poniard; and their proscribed supreme favorers of anarchy.
trowels thence-forward built only tombs.”
What, in fact, is a despot, spiritual or temporal, but a crowned
[The Order disappeared at once. Its estates and wealth anarchist?
were confiscated, and it seemed to have ceased to exist.
Nevertheless it lived, under other names and governed One of the magnificent pantacles that express the esoteric
by unknown Chiefs, revealing itself only to those who, in and unutterable part of Science, is a Rose of Light, in the
passing through a series of Degrees, had proven themselves centre of which a human form extends its arms in the form
worthy to be entrusted with the dangerous Secret. The of a cross.
modern Orders that style themselves Templars have assumed
1


Commentaries and studies have been multiplied upon the Cagliostro was the Agent of the Templars, and therefore
Divine Comedy, the work of DANTE, and yet no one, so wrote to the Free-Masons of London that the time had come
far as we know, has pointed out its especial character. The to begin the work of re-building the Temple of the Eternal. He
work of the great Ghibellin is a declaration of war against had introduced into Masonry a new Rite called the Egyptian,
the Papacy, by bold revelations of the Mysteries. The Epic and endeavored to resuscitate the mysterious worship of Isis.
of Dante is Johannite and Gnostic, an audacious application, The three letters LἹ PἹ DἹ on his seal, were the initials
like that of the Apocalypse, of the figures and numbers of the of the words “Lilia pedibus destrue;” tread under foot the
Kabalah to the Christian dogmas, and a secret negation of Lilies [of France], and a Masonic medal of the sixteenth or
every thing absolute in these dogmas. His journey through seventeenth century has upon it a sword cutting off the stalk
the supernatural worlds is accomplished like the initiation of a lily, and the words “talem dabit ultio messem,” such
into the Mysteries of Eleusis and Thebes. He escapes from harvest revenge will give.
that gulf of Hell over the gate of which the sentence of despair
was written, by reversing the positions of his head and feet, A Lodge inaugurated under the auspices of Rousseau, the
that is to say, by accepting the direct opposite of the Catholic fanatic of Geneva, became the centre of the revolutionary
dogma; and then he reascends to the light, by using the Devil movement in France, and a Prince of the blood-royal went
himself as a monstrous ladder. Faust ascends to Heaven, by thither to swear the destruction of the successors of Philippe
stepping on the head of the vanquished Mephistopheles. Hell le Bel on the tomb of Jacques de Molai. The registers of the
is impassable for those only who know not how to turn back Order of Templars attest that the Regent, the Duc d’Orleans,
from it. We free ourselves from its bondage by audacity. was Grand Master of that formidable Secret Society, and
that his successors were the Duc de Maine, the Prince of
His Hell is but a negative Purgatory. His Heaven is composed Bourbon-Condé, and the Duc de Cossé-Brissac.
of a series of Kabalistic circles, divided by a cross, like the
Pantacle of Ezekiel. In the centre of this cross blooms a rose, The Templars compromitted the King; they saved him from
and we see the symbol of the Adepts of the Rose-Croix for the rage of the People, to exasperate that rage and bring
the first time publicly expounded and almost categorically on the catastrophe prepared for centuries; it was a scaffold
explained. that the vengeance of the Templars demanded. The secret
movers of the French Revolution had sworn to overturn the
For the first time, because Guillaume de Lorris, who died Throne and the Altar upon the Tomb of Jacques de Molai.
in 1260, five years before the birth of Alighieri, had not When Louis XVI. was executed, half the work was done;
completed his Roman de la Rose, which was continued by and thenceforward the Army of the Temple was to direct all
Chopinel, a half century afterward. One is astonished to its efforts against the Pope.
discover that the Roman de la Rose and the Divina Commedia
are two opposite forms of one and the same work, initiation Jacques de Molai and his companions were perhaps martyrs,
into independence of spirit, a satire on all contemporary but their avengers dishonored their memory. Royalty was
institutions, and the allegorical formula of the great Secrets regenerated on the scaffold of Louis XVI., the Church
of the Society of the Roses-Croix. triumphed in the captivity of Pius VI., carried a prisoner to
Valence, and dying of fatigue and sorrow, but the successors
The important manifestations of Occultism coincide with the of the Ancient Knights of the Temple perished, overwhelmed
period of the fall of the Templars; since Jean de Meung or in their fatal victory.
Chopinel, contemporary of the old age of Dante, flourished Morals and Dogma, by Albert Pike, [1871], at www.sacred-texts.com
during the best years of his life at the Court of Philippe le
Bel. The Roman de la Rose is the Epic of old France. It is
a profound book, under the form of levity, a revelation as
learned as that of Apuleius, of the Mysteries of Occultism.
The Rose of Flamel, that of Jean de Meung, and that of
Dante, grew on the same stem.

Swedenborg’s system was nothing else than the Kabalah,
minus the principle of the Hierarchy. It is the Temple, without
the keystone and the foundation.

13

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1


16


Reprint from Book – Gems from the Quarry and Sparks from the Gavel. Detroit, Michigan 1893
17

commandery
of
Knights T emplar in
Michigan

Photos by Mitchell Ozog

18

19

commandery
of
Knights Templar in Michigan

Photos by Mitchell Ozog 2011

0

Templarism:
Its Duty and Its Sphere
By Sir Albert Pike
Seven centuries Patmos, the apocalyptic isle, was a part; the Templars had
and a half have learned doctrines not acceptable to the Roman bishops,
passed away and it is probable that some of them had accepted those of
since, in 1118 Manes, and were liable to the pains and penalties denounced
eight French against heretics.
noblemen,
u n i t i n g To the monarchs of Christendom, all of whom were at that
themselves day little more than the deans of the nobility, maintaining
into a society, a constant struggle against the ambition of their vassals,
became the insecure in their places of power, and without standing
Master and armies, the soldiery of the Temple had become a terror by
Brethren of the their numbers, their immense possessions, and their unity of
Temple. They organization. For the Order dreamed of an Oriental empire,
first displayed and sought to obtain, by negotiation, an eastern seaport. It
the red cross was a standing army of proud, fiery, indomitable warriors,
upon the distributed over all Europe, and obedient to the single will
field in 1148; of the Grand Master. The thrones and the altars combined
were almost against it, and it fell and disappeared in a day. Its pride,
annihilated in storming Ascalon in 1153; their principles ambition, and luxuries, swelled the provocations that caused
were confirmed by the Bull Omne Datum Optimum, in its ruin. During the centuries that followed, while it was
1139 and they fought the great battle of Tiberias in 1187, in merged in other orders, and wore the mask of Freemasonry,
which year the Holy City of Jerusalem surrendered to the it was, as is usual, chastened and purified by adversity. The
Infidels. Other crusades were preached, and the soldiery advances made by science, the revival of letters, the reopening
of the Temple fought in the Holy Land until the end of the of the treasures of the ancient Grecian and Oriental wisdom,
thirteenth century, by the side, in succession, of Richard gave it a deeper and a sounder philosophical doctrine, and
Lion-heart of England, and Philip Augustus of France; of a wiser and truer religious creed; and its hereditary desire
Saint Louis and Edward Prince of Wales, at Damietta, Gaza, for vengeance on the despotisms to which its ruin was due,
and Acre; and wherever a blow was to be struck for the Cross symbolized by the mitre and the crown, led it eagerly to
against the Crescent. adopt the idea that governments are made for the people, and
not the people for governments, upon its first announcement
On the 13th of October, 1307, all the Templars in France were to the world.
arrested, and on the 18th of March, 1314, the Grand Master
was burned. Princes had been members of the Order, and If our Order should again become prosperous and powerful,
its ambassadors had taken precedence of Christian kings. let it avoid the shoals upon which it once suffered shipwreck.
It had become too powerful by numbers, and wealth, and Let it become neither haughty, nor vainglorious, nor
connections, and it sought to be more powerful still by its luxurious, nor useless. The principles which it adopted
influence upon opinions. In the East, the home of Gnosticism, in adversity, let it adhere to in its better fortunes. Let the
and where the doctrines of Saint John the Apostle were still enlargement of the Order, and the increase of its members
supreme; in that Asia Minor of the seven churches, to which and its Commanderies, be the enlargement of its powers
Paul, the new apostle, contested the claims of Peter to the and the confirmation of its desires to benefit mankind,
pontificate of the Gentile church; in that Orient, of which strengthen its hands against all unrighteous usurpation
1


of power by kings, or pontiffs, or popular chiefs, military everywhere you will find evils enough to combat, and it will
or civil, and encourage us to hope for the final triumph of be well for you if you do not become their ally.
liberty, equality, and fraternity, in the sense in which these
are understood by the true Freemasonry. The days have retired but a little way into the past when
men were divided into but two classes – the oppressor and
Let us also remember, in striving to benefit our race, that oppressed. Then thought was imprisoned; to breathe it was
the multitude is in every country instinctive rather than peril, if not death; and it died in the brain where it was born,
reflective, and can be attached to ideas only by means of or was only whispered in the solitude. The obligations of
forms, and surrenders its prejudices and changes its habits Blue Masonry are retained, that they may incessantly remind
with difficulty. Popular assemblies are not swayed by reason, us of those wretched days. Now, thought is free as the wind,
and legislative majorities are little controlled by any sense of and the lightning flashes it across the oceans and around the
justice. Upon an attempt to combat superstitions, it always continents. Nations are enfranchised by it, and the golden
seems to the people that religion itself is assailed. Socrates glories of truth begin to illumine the world. A new power
was accused of Atheism before the tribunals; and Jesus was has arisen among men, known as public opinion, with a new
denounced to the authorities as a blasphemer. Wherefore, weapon – the press. Before it, even the kings recede, and
those that undertake reforms will be wise, if, like Saint yield to it, and obey its bulb and allocutions, or it shakes
Gregory, one of the greatest among the Popes, they do not down their thrones into the dust.
permit usages to be suppressed. “Purify the temples,” he
wrote to his missionaries, “but do not destroy them; for We should be but cravens, therefore, if we did not persevere.
so long as the nation shall see its ancient places of prayer Whatever the evils of to-day in the country in which we
standing, it will repair thither by habit, and you will, with live, they are not invincible; for they are neither necessary
the more ease, persuade it to the worship of the true God.” and inevitable, nor in their nature immortal. Neither are we
Society has not no right to consider itself enlightened while it powerless in the struggle against them, and we are no true
regards the abuses of a system as its excellencies, and makes knights if we yield to discouragement:
idols of its own prejudices, and looks with horror on attempts
to obtain rational reforms as revolutionary projects; nor, “The smallest effort is not lost;
while it continues to be ignorant that the criminal instincts Each wavelet on the ocean tossed
are the most frightful of all the mental maladies, and does Aids in the ebb-tide or the flow;
not comprehend that the disease should be cured, and not put Each rain-drop helps
to death, has it any right to consider itself Christian. some flower to blow,
Each struggle lessens human woe.”
Keep these truths always in view in the warfare which you
are incessantly to wage against tyrannies. For there are not Reprint from Book – Gems from the Quarry and Sparks
only tyrannies of thrones and pontificates, but of the people, from the Gavel. Detroit, Michigan 1893
and parties, and opinion, and of the law. Close around you


The following article was written by Brother Shawn Carrick Montgomery Lodge #258 and Red Wing Lodge #8 and delivered in Lodge
2011 year. He is a fine writer and is now a member of the Grand Lodge Writers Guild.

A Masons cable Tow
As Masons we cheerfully agree to abide by our obligations and promises that we took at the altar
in each degree. The cable tow is an integral symbol that is part of each degrees impact on the
Mason’s conscience. We learn about the cable tow in the first degree and it is reinforced in each
additional degree a Brother will experience. An important question about this singular item is
how the cable tow has been defined by different sources, depending on their interpretation of
the degree.
www.MasonicDictionary.com indicates that the cable tow “represents the candidates bond to his
guide”. The Masonic Dictionary maintained by masonicworld.com indicates that the length of
the cable tow is symbolically measured to be three miles in the early years to go to the relief of a
brother in need but “in present time it is usually considered about forty miles.” These definitions
are just words that an individual has made based on their personal beliefs and experiences.
In the early years, 1700’s up to mid 1900’s, most members of a lodge would live in close proximity
to their Masonic Temple which would be consistent with a three mile cable tow. The lodge was an integral part of the local
community and being able to attend Lodge Communications was essential to Masons. In the present time, members are not
solely from a specific town for the lodge they belong to, but rather they can many times be from surrounding communities,
driving considerable distances to attend the different functions. They have chosen to be involved with a specific Lodge for
a personal reason or a specific Lodge is involved in an activity that is of interest and importance to the Mason. To better
understand the length of a cable tow, we must understand the give and take a cable tow experiences and what the cable tow
represents.

A cable tow consists of two separate ends connected together by a cord. One end of the cable tow is representing the
individual Mason while the other end is representing the Fraternity or Lodge. When examining the cable tow it is impossible
to tell where one end starts and the other end begins. It is this fluid change that occurs while examining the cable tow from
one end to another that sets Masonry apart from any other fraternal organization. The cable tow reminds each Mason of
his obligations and promises to the lodge while at the same time representing the Lodge and the Fraternity’s (Members
of the Lodge) obligations to a Brother. How Masons fulfill their obligations differ based on their individual beliefs and
interpretations.
What act or acts fulfills a Mason’s obligations can vary greatly and may be as simple as a having a conversation with a
brother or it could bemore important and impacting such as providing emotional and even financial support of a Brother
who is in need of assistance, or to the family of a brother who is called by the Grand Architect of the Universe to that house
not made with hands…the celestial Lodge above.
It is important to remember that the length of a Mason’s cable tow is ultimately set by the individual Mason and cannot be
truly judged by any other individual. When three miles may be the proper length of a cable tow for one Mason, another
Mason’s cable tow may be hundreds or even thousands of miles in length. Each length is determined by the individual’s
moral principles, beliefs and their particular individual circumstances. Ultimately, a Mason will pass judgment on himself
based on the aid they have provided to others, but more especially a Brother Mason. A quote I like that I believe is fitting
when looking at your cable tow is:
“When looking at the reflection in the mirror, do you like what you see based on what you have done and what you have
not done?”
Masonry is a progressive science that helps to take good men and make them better, but it is not the lodge alone that will
help to make them better. Each Mason must work toward the goal of making himself better. By remembering our obligations
and having a cable tow that is of appropriate length for providing aid and relief, Masons, with the help of the Lodge, will
succeed in becoming better men to their families and to their communities.
Published with permission of the author.

3

INTERNATIONAL MASONIC REVIEW PUBLIShED BY BONISTEEL MASONIC LIBRARY
www.bonisteelml.org

Robert
L.D. Cooper,
The Red Triangle:
A History of Anti-
Masonry (Lewis Masonic
2011, $ 29.95 USD)
Fall
2011
The Red TRiangle:
a hisToRy of The PeRsecuTion of fReemasons
Rev. Jonathon Baker was recently Scotland, killing 16 children and a
appointed by the Archbishop of teacher and wounding a further 14
Canterbury as Bishop of Ebbsfleet. children and 3 teachers. As the event
Baker had been a 20 year member was being reported, unfounded
of Apollo University Lodge at speculation arose that the gunman
Oxford, where he joined while being was a Mason, leading to a frenzy of
a student. However, what might anti-Masonry in the media and calls
have been a cause for celebration, for government investigation of
Dr. Williams’ previous position the Masons. Cooper, who focuses
having been hostile to promoting primarily on Scottish material,
Masons within the Anglican clergy, ties these attacks to a tradition of
took a decidedly different turn unfounded and malicious attacks
when members of the Church of against the Fraternity stretching
England’s General Synod objected, back to the late 17th century.
leading to Bro. Baker’s resignation Cooper demonstrates that there has
form the Fraternity. Such action been a recurrent pattern in anti-
is particularly deplorable has the Masonry’s attacks, seeking to call
European Union’s Civil Rights court it a ‘religion,’ and thus subject it
has found that: a) Freemasonry is to clerical condemnation or as a
NOT a religion; b) it is NOT a ‘secret society’ with nefarious, self-
malicious “secret society”; c) discrimination against promoting motives and, in the case of the Protocols of
Masons as Masons is a violation of human rights. Zion forgery and Nazi persecution, elements of anti-
Sadly, Freemasons have been all too well aware of anti- Semitism. Indeed, Cooper notes that the failure to
Masonry and its relentless campaign of misinformation acknowledge that Freemasons were the targets of Nazi
and even violence against the Fraternity. Robert persecution as Freemasons is indicative of the inherent
Cooper’s new book, The Red Triangle (which takes bias and discrimination academia and the general
its name from the patch Masonic prisoners in German public has had against the Fraternity. The connections
concentration camps were forced to wear), documents between Nazism and anti-Semitism, of course, are
this history in sometimes painful and infuriating detail. well known and documented; but Freemasonry was
Roger Cooper is the Curator of the Grand Lodge of Nazism first target:
Scotland’s library and museum. He begins the book “That Nazis made a distinction between
recounting a recent instance of ‘masonophobia’ which Jews as a racial enemy of the German
touched him, and the Grand Lodge of Scotland, people and Freemasons as ideological
directly. In 1996, a gunman opened fire at a school in

4

INTERNATIONAL MASONIC REVIEW PUBLIShED BY BONISTEEL MASONIC LIBRARY
(political) enemies is extremely Germany’s borders, Masonic lodges were forced to
important… Gregor Schwartz- close, Masonic leaders were seized, and its property
Bostunitsch (1883 - ?) was Eichmann’s confiscated. Yet this sad chapter of the Nazi terror has
first superior. He was a White Russian been generally neglected or omitted from histories of
and anti-Semite and a self-proclaimed the Holocaust.
expert on Freemasonry, Jews, and Cooper devotes much of The Red Triangle to
Bolshevism. He was in charge of identifying and deconstructing masonophobic articles
the largest department within the SD and attacks in the Scottish press. Indeed, he notes that
[Sicherheitsdienst (‘Security Service’)] one of his intended purposes in writing this book is
which included the museum, library to document such material so that it will not be lost
and an archive (including the card index or forgotten. Frankly, it makes painful and infuriating
on which Eichmann was assisting in reading. In light of Bro. Baker’s resignation, however,
compiling). The card index of German it is particularly timely. Grand lodges and Masons
Freemasons eventually totaled 200,000 been increasingly open to public view; nevertheless,
entries. willful ignorance and bigotry remain a persistent
Schwartz-Bostunitch perceived, the problem and concern. It is sad that Bro. Baker chose
Masonic effect to be of paramount to drop his membership in the Fraternity rather than
importance in the work of PUBLIsHED BY BONIsTEEL MAsONIc LIBRARYposition as an opportunity to further public
INTERNATIONAL MAsONIc REVIEW
the SD. use his new
After working on the card index understanding of Freemasonry. Instead, detractors
system, Eichmann was transferred are already pointing to his resignation as ‘proof’ that
to the museum where he catalogued Freemasonry is “inconsistent” with Christianity and
Masonic artefacts. He also prepared thus suspicious in character. It is unlikely any amount
a Masonophobic exhibition in order of information and openness will satisfy those who
to educate members of the SS as to want to hate and fear Freemasonry. But for those who
the seriousness of the threat posed by still have open minds, The Red Triangle is an important
Freemasonry… Eichmann’s office was contribution toward setting the record straight.
within the museum which was named
the ‘St. John’s Room’ the significance
of which will not escape Freemasons.” Robert L.D. Cooper, The Red Triangle: A History of
As the Nazis solidified their power and spread beyond Anti-Masonry (Lewis Masonic 2011, $ 29.95 USD)

The
BONISTEELML.ORG

Rising Point
Volume 23. Issue 2 • • SPRING/SUMMER 2011

What
exactly is
“More Light”
in Masonry?
By Robert Blackburn

From
the
Parthenon to
US $9.95
the Capitol
10 By Leo Operti

SPRING 2011
Made In Michigan

The purpose of this publication is to disseminate the writings of Freemasons and to provide contemporary
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