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King Kenneth and King Constantine
Macbeth
Stone of Destiny
Freemasonry and The Illuminati
The Viking Attack

Theories and Mythology

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King Kenneth and King Constantine

King Kennith of Scotland was killed in 995 and his throne taken by King Constantine

The reign of Kenneth II lasted from 971-995. In 994, he tried to march into Northumbria on some conquest venture, and failed. He returned home to find an uprising in progress.

Here is a quote from the book "Monarchs of Scotland":

"There is a story that Kenneth met a startling death. For a long time the Scottish kings had found the Mearn a difficult area to control and in attempting to force his authority there Kenneth had slain the son of Finella, the wife of the mormaer of the Mearns. The embittered woman planned a sinister revenge. In her castle she had a copper tower built, bedecked inside with rich and elaborate tapestries. Several loaded crossbows were secured behind these hangings. She then placed a statue of the king holding a golden apple in the center of the room, at which point the bows were aimed..."

Constantine III followed as king. His reign was "as unsuccessful as it was brief...some say that he was killed by an illegitimate son of Malcolm I...Constantine's death marks a low point in the early story of the Scottish monarchy..."

For more info than is presented here check out a book called "Monarchs of Scotland" by Stewart Ross, it has info about the MacAlpin line as well as a family tree.

Macbeth's father, Finlay, was the mormaor of Moray and Ross until he was killed by Gillacomgain (on King Duncon's command), who then took the title of Mormaor of Moray as his own and was wed to Gruach, who was a member of one of the older ruling families.

After Gillacomgain's death (Macbeth killed him), Macbeth became the Mormaor of Moray and wed Gruach, taking in her infant son, Luach, as his own.

Both Duncan and Macbeth were the grandsons of the high king of Scotland at the time, Malcolm the Destroyer, but Duncan was the son of Malcolm's oldest daughter and this might have been the reason that he became the next king. Duncan was the first king of Scotland to be a direct descendant of the previous king - his grandfather. Macbeth did not try to murder his cousin, but did fight back when Duncan attacked Moray to eliminate his potential rival. In the battle, Macbeth personally fought Duncan to the death. After winning, Macbeth ruled Scotland for 17 years, until Duncan's oldest son, Malcolm Canmore (or ceann-mhor), with English support, defeated him. Luach ruled for a short time after, but Malcom Canmore soon overthrew him.

In "City of Stone" we see Macbeth crowned while kneeling on a stone. This stone is known as the Stone of Destiny. The Stone of Destiny was a stone upon which the ancient Kings of Scotland had always been crowned. In 1296, Edward I humiliated Scotland by removing the Stone of Destiny from Scone. He placed the Stone in Westminster Abbey, London, where it resided until November 15th, 1996.

The Stone was stolen in recent times (1950) by Scottish Nationalists, but they were forced to return the Stone to Westminster Abbey. Some Scots say that a fake Stone was given to the English and that the real Stone now resides in its true home: Scotland. Now after 700 hundred years the English are finally giving back the Stone of Destiny to its rightful owners, the Scots. This is a huge step in the quest for full Scottish independence from England. For more information about the origin and history of the stone, read on, or you can read more about the return of the Stone of Destiny.

Maeve did not write the following information. It was found on the web in the Highlander Web Magazine.

The Stone of Destiny, or as it is sometimes called the Stone of Scone - for reasons that will become apparent, is a block of sandstone which measures 26 inches long, 16 inches wide, 11 inches high and weighs 336 lbs or 152 kg. Yet this unassuming block of stone has been revered for centuries as a holy relic, fought over by nations and used successively by Dalriadic, Scottish, English and British monarchs as an important part of their enthronement ceremonies. The Stone has only one inscription, best described as a Latin cross, which gives no clue to the Stone's heritage. So where did the Stone come from?

The Stone allegedly originates from the Middle East and was subsequently brought to Scotland, arriving here around 850 AD. The Stone's history, however, stretches back to biblical times when Jacob is said to have used the Stone as a pillow. The Stone was then shipped through Egypt, Sicily, Spain and Ireland before, as said, arriving in Scotland. Sir Compton MacKenzie - the famous writer, literary critic and amateur politician - disputed this line of events. He believed the Stone to have been quarried on the West Coast of Scotland near Oban, although it has to be said that he offered little proof.

However an additional and more specific explanation, which supports the Middle East origins of the Stone, hails from the ancient Irish Kingdom of Dalriada which existed from around 400 AD to, conveniently, about 850 AD. Dalriadic Kings were enthroned at sacred ceremonies in which an enthroning stone which had been blessed by St. Patrick was used. The Stone embodied St. Patrick’s message in that wherever the Stone lay the race of Erc should reign. Hence the Stone's title - Stone of Destiny. Erc was the first King of the Antrim Dal Riata tribe, and Antrim is, of course, in Ireland. After many years and battles with the Picts, Britons and Saxons, alongside others, Kenneth I, 36th King of Dalriada, moved his seat to Scotland. He moved it, in fact, to Scone, in Perthshire. The Stone was used at Iona, Dunadd, Dunstaffnage and Scone for enthroning Dalriadic monarchs.

In 1292 John Balliol became the last King to use the Stone in Scotland as it was removed by Edward I of England in 1296, taken south and placed in Westminster Abbey. Edward believed, mistakenly, that possession of the Stone gave him sovereignty of Scotland. In 1328, though, the Scots won the Stones return under the Treaty of Northampton but sadly the Stone never moved from underneath the Coronation Throne in the Abbey as the English reneged on the promise.

Has it moved back to Scotland since? On Christmas day 1950 the Stone was taken from Westminster Abbey by a group of Scottish Nationalists and subsequently went 'missing.' It was 'found' about 4 months later after having been placed in Arbroath Abbey and was returned to Westminster. 'Missing' and 'found'? It is strongly rumored that the Stone was never 'missing' - at least not from those who know - and was never truly 'found.' The Scots who took the Stone from Westminster had a replica made, which it is estimated would take about 4 months, and placed the replica in Arbroath. The replica was then 'retaken' and placed in Westminster Abbey. Therefore, it is in fact the real Stone which is now on display, as a purported replica, at Scone Palace, the Stones right and proper home. But that, of course, is only a rumor.

So, by now you are asking yourself why St. Patrick's blessing embodied in the Stone has failed? Well, it hasn't really. If you remember that wherever the Stone rests the race of Erc shall rule, we'll go on. The Scottish Kings were descended from the Irish Kings. It follows that the royal line of Scots are descendants of the first Dalriadic King - King Erc. The English royal line failed with Elizabeth I in 1603 when, thereafter, James VI of Scotland also became James I of England. Apart from a brief spell between 1649 and 1660, when the English refused to hold Charles II of Scotland as their monarch, the Scots have been the true descendants of what is now held to be the British royal family. So Elizabeth II, the present Queen, is in fact a descendent of Erc. St. Patrick’s blessing seems to have worked and the Stone of Destiny has fulfilled its promise. King Eric's family still reign. From 1603, when James VI of Scotland took the throne in England, to the present day the Stone of Destiny has been used in the Westminster coronation of every single 'British' monarch. Or has it? Perhaps Elizabeth II, whose coronation was held in Westminster Abbey in 1952, should have traveled to Scone!

The return of the Stone of Destiny!!!

After 700 years, the English are finally returning the Stone of Destiny to Scotland. Seized in 1296 by Edward I (Longshanks) as part of his conquest and humiliation of Scotland, the Stone, which has been held in the hands of the English, will finally be turned over to the Scots by Elizabeth II and ensconced once more at the ancient seat at Scone. This marks another step, and a significant one, in the Scots' quest for national independence.

Again, Maeve did not write the following information. It was found on the web, I'm not sure where (it was emailed to me).

For 700 years, under the Coronation Chair in Westminster Abbey sat a lump of rock. A rock which was stolen from Scotland in 1296 by the English King Edward I. This piece of rock is known as The Stone of Destiny or The Stone of Scone, and is reputed to be the stone upon which all Scottish Kings were crowned. The Stone is surrounded in myth and is said to have been brought to Scotland from the Holy Land, the biblical Jacob's Pillow.

On 15th November 1996, this Stone was returned to Scotland, for eventual display in Edinburgh Castle. What Scotland needs now is not the return of stolen goods, but the return of real power, the power of a sovereign Scottish Parliament.

Is the Stone now returned to Scotland the real Stone? Was Edward I originally 'sold a dummy', and did the patriots of 1951 return only a copy of the Stone? We may never know, but one thing is sure, the authorities can't be certain either!! What is certain is that this Stone is a symbol and touchstone of Scottish nationhood, a very potent icon. What is also certain, is that in 1328, the Treaty of Northampton was signed and Edward III promised the Stone's return to Scotland. Since 1328, England has used every possible legal device to hold onto this Scottish relic - has it really been given up without a fight?

In 1951 a group of patriotic Scottish students succeeded in a daring raid to recapture the Stone and return it to Scotland. Although they were eventually caught, no charges were brought. To prove 'theft' of the Stone would have entailed the Crown proving ownership. This quite clearly would have caused severe embarrassment to the authorities. What is significant is that the Stone is a symbol of Scottish nationhood, and as long as that symbol remained at Westminster, it was a source of grievance.

A note about the Illuminati: Although Bluestone would be proud that I have put the Illuminati in the History section of the Gargoyles page, you should understand that some of what is "known" about this secret society is rumor and theory, not historical fact.

Throughout the centuries -- particularly the Dark Ages, when the tyranny of the Church was absolute and possessing knowledge was almost a capital crime in certain parts of Europe, there have always been groups of scholars, philosophers, and alchemists variously known as "Illuminati". In the courts where they were welcomed and given sanctuary, they served as advisers to kings and regents in areas where organized civilization, even at a feudal level, still existed. They were among the few who had access to the surviving bodies of knowledge in Europe and of the new learning flourishing in the East under the intellectual traditions being nurtured in Islamic lands.

During the Crusades, when the Christian armies headed Eastward in search of heavenly glory, and plunder, several Christian orders came into contact with Sufi Moslems, who themselves had pursued studies ranging from mathematics and astronomy to esoteric meditational and sexual disciplines which had as their object the transcendence of consciousness --all reaching to far older Hindu, Taoist, and Tantric traditions practiced in the Silk Lands of the East. One order, the Knights Templar, adopted Sufi teachings and attempted to preserve and clandestinely spread them. They were found out by the Church's agents of the Inquisition and ruthlessly purged in the 14th century.

The surviving thread of the Knights Templar's practices and philosophy was to be found in the teachings of the Order of the Rosy Cross, the people we know today as the Rosicrucians. They passed their traditions on to those who founded the first lodges of Freemasonry, which also endeavored to keep alive the tradition of Gnosticism and had to do so in the face of ever-pervasive repression by the Church. In order to meet safely and conceal themselves, they were forced to adopt an ever-growing body of secret signs, codes, and rituals designed to mask their true purpose from the outside world. Freemasons, who sought to promote intellectual and personal freedom, based their lodges on the concept of a brotherhood in which all, regardless of station in the outside world, could congregate as equals and had both the nobleman and the laborer, the scholar and the artisan in their ranks. Freemasons were dedicated to the eventual overthrow of Church tyranny and its replacement with a rule of reason and knowledge. The Inquisition, for its part, added Freemasonry to the list of heresies to be rooted out and destroyed and ruthlessly hunted down Freemasons as Satanists and witches.

Freemasonry had existed as an underground movement for centuries as Europe passed from the barbarism of the Inquisition and the holy wars through the Renaissance. In that time, dozens of Freemason lodges of varying and sometimes mutually antagonistic traditions had come into being. Some of these lodges, existing underground for so long and so embittered by their struggle for survival against Church and monarchical tyranny, dedicating themselves to overthrowing the tyrants, eventually lost sight of their original purpose and became dedicated simply to seizing power by any means necessary.

In the late 18th century, when the power of the Church had begun to lose its stranglehold on European learning and politics, and as revolution and democratic ideals following on the heels of the Enlightenment were sweeping the continent, a Freemason named Adam Weishaupt founded what he styled the Ancient Illuminated Seers of Bavaria on May 1st, 1776, the ancient day of the Spring Rite of the Goddess. Weishaupt claimed a heritage for his lodge's tradition reaching back to the Merovignian dynasty in France and perhaps further as imprimaturs of his lodge's legitimacy. In truth, since nobody had accurate enough records or oral traditions to confirm this, the claims could have been nothing more than salesmanship on Weishaupt's part. And according to some research, the AISB could have actually been nothing more than a front for Weishaupt's wife, Eve, who had founded one of the first feminist societies in Europe.

In any case, Weishaupt attracted several of the Freemasons from his lodge as members in his new order. Among them were a shadowy figure known as Count Cagliostro and the French Duc d'Orleans, who initiated Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin as Freemasons when they were in France seeking support for the fledgling American Revolution. When they returned to the United States, they in turn initiated several Revolutionary leaders in the tradition of the lodge they had taken their oaths in; hence the heavy freemasonic influence in the formation of the American Republic.

Other Freemasons in Europe who had some connection, however tenuous, to Weishaupt and Cagliostro were Emanuel Schickanader, who became partners with Count Giacomo Cassanova, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who encoded freemasonic symbolism in "The Magic Flute". However, the brief period of respectability enjoyed by freemasonry and Weishaupt ended with the French Revolution, in which freemasons participated. This so frightened other monarchs such as Austrian emperor Joseph II that freemasons were purged and driven underground once more.

Weishaupt and his lodge were hounded out of existence by the Authorities. It has been rumored, ever since then, that the AISB was never destroyed but merely went underground, infiltrated and subverted freemasonic lodges across Europe and converted them into underground revolutionary cells, all conspiring and awaiting their chance to eventually arise and seize power and the government of the planet Earth. In dark whispers spoken by the members of every power-group and paranoid society (some, ironically, freemasonic themselves), it is said that these "Illuminati" have attracted the powerful and wealthy in every nation, have amassed vast private resources of wealth and information, and use it to infiltrate every major institution and subvert governments, turning them into puppets to their secret purposes.

The Illuminati were formed only in the 18th century. Well...yes and no. The formal organization, the Ancient Illuminated Seers of Bavaria, which is always taken as THE Illuminati, were indeed founded May 1,1776 by Adam Weishaupt. However, the Illuminati have always claimed a much older heritage and a link to Freemasonry going back to the Merovignian Dynasty in France. And if the Illuminati are lying, there’s no real way of telling when the actual foundation occurred. Any palace group of seers, academics, alchemists, or whomever in the Dark Ages have always been referred to as "illuminated ones" or "Illuminati" or whatever term you like. In the days when knowledge was restricted to a very few --and those who did possess it either served the emperor, or were conspiring with the emperor's enemies, or being executed as witches, it can be said that Illuminati have existed for millennia. It could be that the Gargoyles writers modeled the Illuminati Society more on the RPG model crafted by Steve Jackson Games --which itself draws from history and legend. So takes your pick.

Sources say The Illuminati existed for I believe it was eight years, but I'll verify this later. THE Illuminati, in Bavaria, would naturally claim older origins to make themselves seem more mysterious. A possible explanation, Gargoyles-wise, would be that the society has existed underground for thousands of years, this is not historical fact however. It was historically rumored that after the Bavarian Illuminati were dissolved (when the government of Bavaria discovered them, they were stamped out), they moved to France, founded the Jacobin club, and had a conspiracy to instigate the French Revolution. Later in the mid 1800's there was a scare in New England that a powerful secret group calling itself the Illuminati was working to overthrow the government and religious institutions--this was dismissed as mere rumor in the book New England and the Bavarian Illuminati.

Ranks of the Illuminati (Lowest to Highest) 1. Novice, 2. Minerval, 3. Illuminatus Minor, 4. Illuminatus Major, 5. Illuminatus Dirigens (Scottish Knight), 6. Priest, 7. Prince, 8. Magus, 9. King as written in The Secret Societies of All Ages and Countries. This book also states that the Bavarian Illuminati intended to develop a branch for female members, although I don't know if the branch was in existence before the government banned them.

The Illuminati did a lot of their recruiting in the Freemason's clubs. This is the Mason Link. Many masons joined; a lot bowed out when they realized the Illuminati weren't just playing games... A lot of fan fic authors have called the Illuminati head "Grandmaster." This was used in Mason's Clubs but NOT the Bavarian Illuminati.

There are many conflicting opinions concerning the Illuminati. Some books describe the Illuminati as dangerous and subversive; others as one of the most misunderstood groups in history. It must be remembered that at the time of the Enlightenment, the aristocrats, monarchs and clergy were beginning to lose their control over the masses of peasants and bourgeois. Liberals (typically bourgeois) describe the Illuminati as a group founded on Enlightenment ideals: equality, knowledge, brotherhood, etc. As these goals were inspiring the liberals who threatened the absolute power of the upper classes in their quests for constitutional monarchy, republics and/or democracy, of course the upper classes would describe the Illuminati as subversive! Of course there is also a description of a bloody initiation ritual involving human sacrifice and other delights... I suspect this was anti-Illuminati propaganda invented by the ruling classes. Another book says that in time corruption crept into the ranks of the Illuminati and diverted it from its nobler goals.

There have been fiction books written about them, notably the Illuminatus! trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson, and a card game about them by Steven Jackson Games first published in 1982. Their symbol, the Eye in the Pyramid, is on the back of the one dollar bill, no doubt having sinister meaning. For more material on the Illuminati, one good source is the works of Robert Anton Wilson, who has spent years compiling this material for the purpose of weaving it into his humorously subversive science fiction/philosophy/quantum psychology works.

A Viking named Haakon [I or II] did die attacking the Scottish coast in 994 AD. The Vikings did attack Scotland during King Kenneth's reign.

Information submited by Ad Astra and Maeve

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I created almost all of the images on this page from screencaps I got at Agamemnon's Castle. Be sure to visit this castle, as it has screenshots from every single Gargoyles episode.

A big Thank You to all who have contributed to this page by sending me info!!!

The great gargoyles who have sent me information for this page, and who deserve millions of thank yous from myself are:

Ad Astra, Batya "The Toon", Coldsteel, Constance, the Doctor, Kathy, Magus K, Paladin, and Stormy.

Thanks again you guys!!

Do you have info you want to submit, or a topic you'd like to suggest? Just drop me a line with your suggestion or information. If you are submitting information, please tell me the source. I am trying to properly identify all sources now, so the original authors get credit.

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