The Hiram Key

Mind, Body & Soul Ezine Book Review: The Hiram Key - Pharaohs, Freemasons and the Discovery of the Secret Scrolls of Jesus by Christopher Knight and Robert Lomas 

Written in an easily understandable style with a summary every few pages. This book of discovery and expose took six years of research and unravels the story of Jesus and the earliest Jerusalem church. Were  there initiations practised by early Christians that were similar to Freemasonry initiations? Could these initiations originated in Egypt?  Did the early Christians have connections to other religious groups such as those mentioned in the Dead Sea Scrolls? There are secrets of Freemasonry initiations and their possible connections to Gnostics and Templars. Parallels between Mithras, Attis, Indra, Adonis, Dionysius and others. And revelations of the origins of the Hiram Abiff story. 

The lost story of Jesus is described. Was he from a town called Nazareth, or was he a Nazorean, a word meaning 'fish'? Was he the Messiah? What do the apocryphal Gnostic books state? Who was Jesus Barabbas? Was Jesus a rebel who was an Essene of the Qumran Community and what power had they in the Jerusalem Church? What is special about the white robe? What is the association with the rebuilding of Solomon's Temple, the Essenes, the Knights Templar and Freemasonry?  

The Sign And the Seal

Mind, Body & Soul Ezine Book Review: The Sign And The Seal - A Quest for the Lost Ark of the Covenant by Graham Hancock. 

Graham Hancock is a wonderful story-teller and I love his writing, especially on this fantastic adventure. 

He visited Ethiopia in 1983, a few years after the overthrow and assassination of the reigning ancestral monarch, Haile Salasse. The Red Terror had unleashed death squads which executed people and then claimed the cost of the bullets before the corpses were released to their relatives for burial! Haile Salassie claimed he was the 225th generation in an unbroken line of succession from the Queen of Sheba who visited Jerusalem and returned to Ethiopia bearing King Solomon's son, Menelik. Menelik visited his father and is said to have returned to his mother with the Ark of the Covenant which is guarded in the Church of St Mary of Zion in Axum. The original measurement defined in Exodus is 2.5 cubits x 1.5 cubits x 1.5 cubits (a cubit thought to be 18 inches). Many Ethiopians have similar religious practices to the ancient Jews, and celebrate their sabbath on Saturdays. In every church throughout Ethiopia, a replica of the Ark is positioned in the holy of holies. The Ark is said by the guardian to have raised massive stone blocks with the aid of celestial fire. 

The Murdered Magicians

Mind Body &  Soul Ezine Book Review: The Murdered Magicians - The Templars and their Myth by Peter Partner, hardback, published by Crucible.

This is an interesting study which is balanced, realistic and well researched. Is it possible to explain the Templars as great rogues, heroic yet ordinary men involved in a blame game by the King Philip 'the Fair' of France with the reluctant collusion of Pope Clement V?  The Order began with a dream of Saint Bernard and ended with a mythic curse from the tortured and dying Jacques de Molay.

This book does not artificially praise the Order, due to accusations of avarice, pride and other sins of their day, yet we are made aware of their honour and of their suffering. Most interesting, the court cases are described in detail along with the privations of their incarceration. 54 were burned to death in 1310 and the two Templar leaders burned to death in 1314. All went to their deaths claiming their innocence. What was their wrongdoing? They had no money and they failed to have further successes in the Holy Land. Were they really stupid to keep the secrets they were accused of? 

The Messianic Legacy

Mind Body & Soul Ezine Book Review: The Messianic Legacy - The Sequel to the International Bestseller The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln. 

Following the Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, the three intrepid investigators have produced this sequel covering again the debunked hoax of Gerard de Sède and his shady pal, Pierre Plantard of the secret society, Priory of Sion. Their bloodline story of the marriage between Jesus and Mary Magdalene, through Merivogian royalty to Knight Templars is centre stage yet again. It doesn’t inspire anyone to think they were competent investigators especially as they state themselves in the text that history is notoriously unreliable! 

Jesus is compared to King Arthur and Robin Hood, both of whom are fictitious, and also Joan of Arc, whose life and death are well recorded. Jesus is even compared to Hernan Cortez who was thought to be a god when he landed in Mexico in 1520! 

In the first pages we find a heavy debunking of the life of Jesus, describing the books of the New Testament as being written several decades after the death of Jesus and were therefore fabricated. This frustrates me because, in these times, people had immensely accurate memories and could recite long poems and genealogies verbatim. The words of such a great teacher that had been foretold as the Messiah in the Old Testament, would have been preciously recorded in mind if not in writing. To discredit Christ as the Messiah, they use a German professor, Herman  Samuel Reimarus who taught in Hamburg in 1750 and words the authors ascribe to Pope Leo X which were never said by him as simple research confirms. Many highly popular writers have made their name by picking apart the life of Jesus and the huge welter of man-made ideas that followed on from the publication of the New Testament. 

The hallmarks of the Messiah were foretold in the Old Testament and the words of Jesus teach us empathy, understanding, generosity and many spiritual values, including examining our conscience, forgiving others, being fair and just, and pursuing peace. His death teaches us the evils that were committed against shim. All religions should teach is the difference between right and wrong and those who destroy such a belief are suspect characters. 

Baigent, Leigh, and Lincoln are all dead but sadly their words live on! 

Review by Wendy Stokes https://wendystokes.co.uk 

The Chalice of the Magdalene

Mind Body Soul Ezine Book Reviews: The Chalice of the Magdalene - The Search for the Cup that Held the Blood of Christ by Graham Phillips, Paperback and Kindle formats, Published by Bear and Co.

Was the Holy Grail a cup used at the Last Supper by Jesus and his disciples? Was it able to perform miracles? Did Mary Magdalene collect the blood of Jesus in this cup when he appeared to her following his death on the cross? Was there a relic known as the Marian Chalice taken to Rome by Constantine's mother, Helen? Was a cup smuggled from Rome in 410 AD according to Olympiodorus? Was it brought to Britain for safe keeping? This book focuses on the journey of this grail. It identifies Arthur and the place where the Holy Grail is now. 

The Templars History & Myth

Mind Body & Soul Ezine Book Review: The Templars History & Myth - From Solomon's and Herod's Temples to the Freemasons, a Guide to Templar History, Culture and Locations by Michael Haag, published by Profile Books, 384 pages with black and white diagrams and photographs.

"The Templars have something to do with everything!"

A factual and readable account of the building of Solomon's Temple to the instigation of the Knights Templar, including the many crusades, their castles, banking empire, successes and failures, alleged conspiracies, trials and exiles, to the capture, imprisonment, torture of members, and to the eventual burning at the stake of their Last Grand Master. Details of the Chinon Parchment - which proved their innocence - and their escape to various countries, under various guises and denominations.

Turning the Templar Key

Mind Body & Soul Ezine Book Review: Turning the Templar Key - Martyrs, Freemasons and the Secret of the True Cross of Christ by Robert Lomas 

Twice the following quote is given: “The King’s directions to his officers were to seize the persons and the goods of the Templars; to interrogate, torture and obtain confessions from them, to promise pardon to those who confessed, and to menace those opposed to them.” We know all sins are forgivable, as were the heresies the Templars confessed to. They were free to go after absolution. But they had lied under torture that they were guilty, and the retraction of their confession led to their death by fire, being called a recalcitrant heretic. 

The book opens to Martin Foulks’ glowing appraisal of Freemasonry and its charitable and self development aims, though fortunately, we don’t need to join a secret society with hidden handshakes, threats and a death ritual with knives and coffins to achieve a Christian life! 

The book begins with a fantasy of the morning of 13th October 1307 when the last Templar Grand Master was arrested by the soldiers of King Philip the Fair in the dormitory of the Paris Temple - the place where the royal valuables were kept for safety. Templar knights were monks. Priests are initiated, they say mass,  though some monks were also priests, but not the Grand Masters, as one priest for a few dozen monks would have been adequate. Even with minimal criticisms, did I enjoy the content of the text? Yes, very definitely. It is beautifully written, and the author is a great story teller. 

The Bloodline of the Holy Grail

Mind Body & Soul Ezine Book Review: The Bloodline of the Holy Grail - The Hidden Lineage of Jesus Revealed by Laurence Gardner. 

Kicking off, by page 4, the author is drawing attention to how far our society has degraded from the Grail ideology. The author promises to set out the Grail Code - which is one of service - of conscience, and therefore the grail transmits a true religious message across the world and across the generations. All credit to the late Laurence Gardner for recognising and teaching this ancient and vital knowledge. 

The late Laurence Gardner (died 2010) was a controversial character, a writer, researcher and one time stockbroker. He believed that the Ark of the Covenant produced monoatomic gold, a white powder that has superhuman healing properties; that aliens from other planets brought us religion; that the origins of Judaism lie in Egyptology; and that Jesus married Mary Magdalene, had children and their offspring are in the House of Stewart. He worked closely with HRH Prince Michael of Albany, Head of the Royal House of Stewart, aka Michael Roger Lafosse who has been entirely discredited. 

Templar Antiquities

Mind Body & Soul Ezine Book Review: Temple Antiquities – The Templar Papers II By Oddvar Olsen Published by O Books Paperback 260 pages

This is book II and follows ‘Templar Papers: Ancient Mysteries, Secret Societies and the Holy Grail’ and is compiled by Oddvar Olsen as a collection of essays by a number of writers, some very well-known in their field and with a love of research into the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon (known as the Knights Templar). This was a Mediaeval Western Christian military and religious order (1129-1312) that guarded pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem. They were the most important figures of the Crusades and began a banking system so that pilgrims could deposit money in one place and collect it in another. Philip IV of France borrowed large sums of money from them and the Pope of the day declared the Order was heretical and many were tortured and put to death, and it is said some escaped.

History of the Knights Templar

Mind Body Soul Ezine Book Review: The History of the Knights Templar: The Temple Church and The Templars by Charles G Addison, 332 pages, reprinted and published. Hardback, paperback and Kindle. 

Written by a member of London’s Inner Temple (ie and licensed to practice law), the author, Charles Greenstreet Addison, refers to Latin, French and Early Modern English citations and source material,  and describes the origin of the Templars, their popularity, their rivalry with the Knights of Malta, (Hospitallers), their activities in the Holy Land, eye witness accounts of the battles' wins and losses, the 1312 suppression of the Order, their arrest, accusations of heresy and secret rites, their torture and the execution of the the last and highest of the Order. The London Temple Church, their headquarters in the UK, its architecture and history and how the area became the centre of the legal profession, a hostel and school for lawyers. All is detailed, with the culmination of the survival of their legacy. Expertly written and researched. 

The Sword and the Grail

Mind Body & Soul Ezine Book Review: The Sword and the Grail - The Story of the Grail, the Templars and the True Discovery of America by Andrew Sinclair.

This book describes the formation of the Templars and the fortunes of the survivors after the inquisition in 1307. Rosslyn Chapel was built as the Grail temple with many indications of possible Templar treasure buried there. Could America have been discovered almost a hundred years before Columbus by Venician Zen brothers and St Clair family, who arrived in Nova Scotia and New England? The St Clair family history is fascinating, from its earliest time - by a healing well in Normandy - to become the Earls of Orkney and other high offices in Scotland. 

The Templars

Mind Body & Soul Ezine Book Review: The Templars - The Dramatic History of the Knights Templar, the Most Powerful Military Order of the Crusades by Piers Paul Read. 

The Templars were a multinational force of religious warriors, the first uniformed standing army in the Western world. They owned and managed vast estates and were pioneers in many fields, including fighting, travel, banking and building. Were they guilty of the charges to which they pleaded guilty under torture of blasphemy, heresy and sodomy yet withdrew their guilty plea knowing that death by fire awaited them? What relevance has their story for our modern times? 

Each of the Jerusalem temples are detailed, the founding of the Templar Order, their daily lives and responsibilities, each of their battles, including Acre and its fall, and the many colourful characters, Saladin, Richard the Lionheart, Louis of France, etcetera are covered. The author provides a balanced account, and documents some interesting scandals, errors and tragedies. Each success and defeat is described and the many complex circumstances that led to their demise are detailed, including a major internecine dispute about the marriage of a Princess in Tripoli. A tracing attempts of the Templars to protect their treasure takes it from Sidon then to Cyprus, with many lost battles along route. An interesting piece, page  249, about Roger of Flor, son of a falconer of Emperor Frederick II, extortionist, commander of the  Falcon galley and the Olivetta, expelled from the Templar Order, he sailed to Marseilles, then Genoa, making vast sums through piracy, leading Catalan mercenaries, in 1302 he commanded 32 galleys and a force of 2,500 men, and was eventually assassinated. He was one of the very few recorded renegade Knights Templar.

The Temple and The Lodge

Mind Body & Soul Ezine Book Review: The Temple and The Lodge by Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh. 

The hard back copy has some excellent b/w images. Written 7 years after their highly successful and controversial The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail of 1982, the two authors, without Henry Lincoln, have tied the knot between the Order of the Poor Fellow Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon and the Freemasons. Here, once again these stalwarts of storytelling take us on a journey through history, geography, genealogy, philosophy, mystery and wild possibilities, all mixed together. In the first chapters, a very interesting perspective emerges - how history includes myth, and fact is glossed with fiction, ideology and manipulation wins out, so we read with discernment! These guys really know this! I loved the pages about Scotland, written movingly with great love of the subject, and with great research on the last years of the Templar Order and their demise under the French King, Philip the Fair. 

The Templar Revelation

Mind Body & Soul Ezine Book Review: The Templar Revelation - Secret Guardians of the True Identity of Christ by Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince, published by Corgi Books.
Visit: www.picknettprince.com

Exciting research and interesting speculations about the Order of Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon! Why is St John the Baptist so important? Who was Mary Magdalene and was she Mary of Bethany? What is the connection between St John the Disciple and Mary Magdalene? What is the 'John gesture'? Are there Mysteries encoded within Leonardo's work? Whose image is on the Turin Shroud? What did the Templars discover in the Holy Land? What is special about Friday 13th? Was Mary the 'Ark of the Covenant'? How important was alchemy to the Templars, the cathedral builders, Leonardo and others? 

Rex Deus and Rosslyn

Mind Body & Soul Ezine Book Review: Rex Deus - The True Mystery of Rennes-le-Chateau and The Dynasty of Jesus by Marilyn Hopkins and the late Tim Wallace-Murphy, published by Element Books. 

A work of the late Tim Wallace-Murphy, Founder of the European Templar Heritage Research Network, suggesting Jesus Christ lived after the crucifixion to travel with Mary Magdalene to France where his descendants have retained a pure blood line to this day. It describes Jesus as the founder of a wisdom based dynasty originating with 24 Jerusalem kings, and follows how descendants joined forces to found the Knights Templar. What is the symbol on the Rex Deus ring? Links are made with the Cathar, Rosicrucians and Freemasons. 

The Templar Treasure of Gisors

Mind Body Soul Ezine Book Review: The Templar Treasure of Gisor by Jean Markale, Published by Inner Traditions/Bear & Co. Paperback 304 pages, £15.99 Using source documents, this controversial author, the late Jean Markale, considers that Templar treasures were hidden within the Cathedral at Gisor, possibly within the many underground chambers and passageways that are held to be too dangerous to investigate by modern archaeologists. The author accepts that the original confession of the Templars to heresy (conducted under extreme torture) was true and ignores their following retraction. Jean Markale (1928 - 2008) was the pen name of Jean Bertrand - described by himself as a Celtic and mediaeval scholar at the Sorbonne. Here he suggests that within the Knights Templar Order was a secret band of knights who had access to knowledge and wealth, spiritual and material, that is still to be found. This author has been discredited more than a couple of times!