Within two centuries they had become powerful enough to defy all but the Papal throne. Feared as warriors, respected for their piety and sought out for their wealth, there is no doubt that the Knights Templar were the key players of the monastic fighting orders.

Due to their vast wealth, the Templars essentially invented banking as we know it. Usury (the lending of money for interest) was forbidden by the church in those days, but the Templars were able to skirt the issue and finance even kings.

Perhaps due to this wealth or fear of their seemingly limitless powers, they were destined to be destroyed. The order met with a rather untimely demise at the hands of the Pope and the King of France in 1307 and by 1314, The Poor Fellow Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon ceased to exist.

In European political circles, they became very powerful and influential. This was because they were immune from any authority save that of the Papal Throne. (Pope Innocent II exempted the Templars from all authority except the Pope.)

After the crusades were over, the knights returned to their Chapters throughout Europe and became known as money lenders to the monarchs. In the process many historians believe they invented the Banking System. The Templars fought along side Richard Coeur de Lion (Richard The Lion Hearted) and other Crusaders in the battles for the Holy Lands.

On October 13th,1307, King Philip had all the Templars arrested on the grounds of heresy, since this was the only charge that would allow the seizing of their money and assets.

II. That the brothers committed various sacrilegious acts either on the cross or on an image of Christ.

III. That the receptors practiced obscene kisses on new entrants, on the mouth, navel or buttocks.

IV. That the priests of the Order did not consecrate the host, and that the brothers did not believe in the sacraments.

V. That the brothers practiced idol worship of a cat or a head.

VI. That the brothers encouraged and permitted the practice of sodomy.

VII. That the Grand Master, or other officials, absolved fellow Templars from their sins.

VIII. That the Templars held their reception ceremonies and chapter meetings in secret and at night.

IX. That the Templars abused the duties of charity and hospitality and used illegal means to acquire property and increase their wealth.

Central to the accusations brought against the Knights Templar, was the accusation that, they worshipped an idol named Baphomet, which is said to have taken the form of a head or sometimes a Black Cat.

'Baphomet was the deity worshipped by the Knights Templar, and in Black Magic as the source and creator of evil; the Satanic goat of the witches' Sabbath and one of the names adopted by Aleister Crowley.'

The Popular Image Of Baphomet

The image of the Baphomet is as varied as the explanations of what it means and descriptions of it.

How did this belief come to be?

Since King Philip (the fair?) of France sought to own the vast Templar wealth he, along with his puppet Pope Clement, had the Templars captured and tortured. During these tortures they made many confessions, among these, the disclosure that they had worshipped Baphomet.

Were these claims true?

Perhaps we'll never know.

Jacques de Molay, who had earlier confessed his and the Templars guilt slowly burned at the stake insisting the order was innocent of all but one offense, that of allowing torture to cause them to lie and confess untruths.

A Corruption Of The Name Mahomet (Mohammed)

It is held that the Baphomet was an idol. If we take this as fact, then the word Baphomet as a corruption of Mahomet doesn't hold. This is because, if the Templars followed Moslem beliefs there would be no idols Islam forbids all idols.

A Corruption Of The Arabic Term, Abufihamat

The meaning of the word is Father of Understanding or Father of Wisdom. It is a term used to refer to a Sufi Master. In Arabic, father is taken to mean source. If this is the case, this could imply God. The Templars were quite likely to have come in contact with Sufism while in the Holy Land.

For an interesting theory on The Abufihamet connection you must read Baphomet: A Mystery Solved At Last? by Frater Baraka IV O.T.O.

From The Greek Words, Baph and Metis

The word Baphomet is derived from two Greek words Baph and Metis meaning Baptism of Wisdom. The Templars are said to worship a Head (The Baphomet). One of the theories stands that this head was none other than the head of John the Baptist. If this were true, then perhaps this Greek origin of the term is true also.

Atbash Cipher For The Goddess Sophia

The Word Baphomet was altered by Knowledge of the Atbash Cipher and was actually a representation of the Greek Goddess Sophia.

I wish to give my thanks to Frater Baraka IV of Whiskey Rebellion Camp O.T.O. for his kindness in allowing me to reprint his article and theory on the Baphomet here.

(This article originally appeared in _Annuit Coeptis_, the official publication of Whiskey Rebellion Camp, Pittsburgh PA Ordo Templi Orientis. (C) 1995)

Baphomet: A 'Mystery' Solved At Last? by Frater Baraka, IV*

Sooner or later every student of either the esoteric or the history of the Crusades encounters the name of an allegedly sinister entity known as 'Baphomet'. Baphomet was said to be the 'god' or 'idol' of the Knights Templar, but has also been described as 'the goat of Mendes', 'the god of the witches', a latter-day version of the Greek god Pan, a symbol of an alchemical principal, and even Satan himself. And while each of these has a following, there is evidence suggesting the possibility that Baphomet's origins are not only not sinister, but human rather than supernatural.

For nearly two centuries the Templars grew in size, strength, political clout, reputation (good at first, but bad towards the end), but most of all in wealth, and this would prove to be their undoing. In the early fourteenth century King Philip IV of France, who was deeply in debt to the Templars, decided to not only cancel that debt but seize their wealth and property for himself and having his puppet pontiff Clement V dissolve the order.

To do this, Philip would have to have the Templars convicted of heresy. With 'evidence' gathered from agents who infiltrated the Templars, along with a sworn deposition from a disgruntled ex-Templar on whose testimony his prosecutors could build a case, Philip made his move. Acting on sealed orders they were not to open until the previous midnight, Philip's officials arrested every Templar they could during the dawning hours of Friday, October 13, 1307.

While some of the charges, such as sodomy and desecration of Christian symbols, were obviously silly even to many people at the time, other allegations, such as the chanting of 'Yallah!' (Daraul, 1961), sounded like descriptions of documented Sufi Muslim practices (Khan, 1974). But it is the charge of worshipping an idol called 'Baphomet' that has inspired the most controversy.

Most of us who have heard of Baphomet first encountered the name in either a history book or the works of Anton Szandor LaVey, whose goat's-head-in-the-inverted-pentagram illustration is supposed to be Baphomet, or else in the works of Aleister Crowley, who equated Baphomet with the Greek god Pan (Crowley, 1974). Crowley even adopted the name 'Baphomet' as his own motto when he joined Ordo Templi Orientis (Order of the Oriental Temple, or O.T.O.). Other occult writers who have discussed Baphomet include nineteenth century authors Eliphaz Levi and Albert Pike, and Baphomet is the model for 'The Devil' in the Waite-Rider and Case-B.O.T.A. tarot decks. Many historians have claimed that the name 'Baphomet' was Old French for Muhammad, whose name is sometimes spelled Mahomet, although Crowley (1989) presented an interesting, but probably coincidental, claim that the name came from a Greek phrase for 'baptism of wisdom'.

The problem with Crowley's case is it overlooks two basic facts about the Templars:

1) as Roman Catholics, Greek names were not that important to them (and to Catholics at the time, the Greek Orthodox Christians were in some ways just as much 'infidels' as the Muslims), and

2) the Templars who lived in the Holy Land, along with the masons they employed, had to deal with the local population on a regular basis, often became fluent in Arabic, and for a European in the Holy Land --Templars included -- to 'go native' was not particularly unusual.

But it was in the pop-history book _Holy Blood, Holy Grail_ that I first came across the idea that 'Baphomet' was derived from an Arabic term, _abufihamet_, meaning 'Father of Understanding', rather than from an Old French name for the founder of Islam. Since that book, although a 'good read', is not one scholars take seriously due to its highly speculative theses, I decided to check their source for this, Idries Shah's _The Sufis_, which contains additional relevant information discussed below.

One such writer was Peter Partner, who even found a French troubadour ballad from the late thirteenth century and published an English translation, showing parenthetically that 'Bafometz' had appeared in the original French (he had rendered it as 'Mohammed' as if this had somehow proved his point). What Partner had inadvertently done was prove that

a) Baphomet was a known entity before the demise of the Templars, and most likely a person with spiritual power, capable of working miracles (although Islam never credits Muhammad with any 'miracle' other than receiving the Qu'ran), and

b) that Baphomet was known among non-Templars (although Partner believed the ballad's author was an ex-Templar, that troubadour's audience certainly had non-Templars among them), and if Shah is correct in his assertions about Sufic influences on the troubadours, then we have in the ballad Partner quoted possible proof of a link between Sufism and Baphomet. (As for the Templars and the Sufis, not only were there many documented contacts between Templars and Sufis [as well as other unorthodox Muslims such as the Ismailis] during their time in the Middle East, but there were also opportunities for contacts in Europe. France, after all, borders Spain, and during the Crusades Sufism flourished in Muslim-ruled Spain and influenced the early Qabalistic Jews and other mystics on both sides of the border; Robert Graves, in his introduction to Shah's book, even claimed that Templars fought alongside Sufi warriors in Spain. And many Masonic trappings, such as the checkered floor and the tolerance of all monotheistic religions, are at least Islamic in origin if not specifically Sufic.) But in my opinion the strongest support for Baphomet as abufihamet is the number of Arabic sobriquets which begin with abu which belonged to historical individuals rather than esoteric principles.

One such individual was the tenth century Sufi martyr Husayn ibn Mansur al-Hallaj, who died in 922CE. A pantheist, an alleged miracle worker, and a most definitely unorthodox Muslim, Hallaj was imprisoned and tried for blasphemy for his public descriptions of his mystical union with God. Finally convicted after a nine year inquiry, Hallaj was maimed, crucified, beheaded, and his torso was cremated.

Some of the stories surrounding his death include an account of the Caliph's Queen Mother having Hallaj's head preserved as a relic (Singh, 1970). Various Sufi sects have rituals commemorating Hallaj's death, and Shah claimed that Hallaj was the model for the 'Hiram Abiff' character in the Master Mason initiation ritual. Although Shah cited other reasons connecting Hallaj to Hiram Abiff and the sect of Sufis known as 'the Builders' (who built the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock on the site of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem, which was the Holy Land headquarters for the Templars and the mythical scene of Masonic initiations), Hallaj bore some interesting parallels to the Old Testament's descriptions of Hiram the artificer: first, both men were sons of widows; second, both men had 'sons of David' play key roles in their lives (Hiram worked for Solomon, and one of Hallaj's prosecutors was named Ibn Daud [Massignon, 1994], which is Arabic for 'Son of David'), and third, the Old Testament Hebrew for 'Abiff' is abyu (Kohlenberger, 1987).

Having already encountered writers who hypothesized a connection between the Templars and Freemasonry (which, although plausible, is nowhere near as romantic or fantastic as some, such as John J. Robinson in _Born in Blood_, have claimed), I had already found the first two most interesting, and further investigation of Hallaj, who, according to the medieval Islamic poet and historian Farid al-Din Attar, turns out to have been known by several titles beginning with abu-, brought the third coincidence to my attention. And since, as noted above, some of the Templars may indeed have been participants in documented Sufi practices, could the charge that the Templars 'worshipped a head called Baphomet' not have had some factual basis, namely the commemoration of a decapitated Sufi martyr whose head became a relic and who had been given the sobriquet abufihamet? The only problem here is that despite all the other abu- titles belonging to Hallaj, there is no known documentation linking him to abufihamet.

Perhaps this documentation does exist (it would be useless to hypothesis that 'perhaps it once existed, but no longer does'), but has not yet come to my attention, and should someone who knows of it ever read this essay, I would be most appreciative to hear of it. Until then, the above thesis, although plausible in my opinion, and hopefully interesting to the reader, remains purely speculative. But if it does turn up, then at last we will have proof positive that the Templars possessed a body of knowledge that would later become known to the Freemasons, regardless of how Freemasonry came to be.

Continued below the following short bibliography ...

The word Baphomet written in Hebrew (Hebrew is read from right to left)

Then applying the Atbash cipher, he rewrote the word again in Hebrew characters revealing a different word and meaning altogether:

When the Atbash cipher is applied we get this reading in Hebrew which is a Greek word Sophia meaning Wisdom (Again letters read from right to left)

If we once again return to the image of a head that the Templars were said to worship. Applying the theory of Dr. Schonfield, that Baphomet was an Atbash cipher of the Greek word for wisdom a couple of possibilities crop up:

In Kabbalistic Lore there is the figure of Adam Kadmon. His bearded head represents the Chokmah of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. Chokmah is a representation of wisdom. Perhaps the Templars were in possession of knowledge of the Kabbalah.

The Greek Goddess, Sophia is again a representation of wisdom. The Templars were said to possess a gilded image of a woman's head. In fact in the accusations brought against the order by Philip IV, such an item is inventoried to have come from the Paris Temple.

Leo Taxil, born Gabriel Antoine Jogand-Pages, was a freethinker who made his living writing pornographic stories in chapter (serial) form. Freethinkers was a term given to those who opposed the authority and dogma of society, especially religious authority.

In addition to his anti-Masonic writings, Taxil also was known for his works opposing Catholicism. Taxil upon petitioning admission to the Masonic lodge, met with opposition of its members, largely due to his reputation as an Anti-Catholic writer. Objections aside, Taxil was made a member for a short time after which he was expelled from the order. Perhaps this expulsion prompted him to write his Anti-Masonic works or perhaps it was his purpose for joining in the first place. In any case Taxil would go on to perpetrate a hoax that has lasted decades.

Albert Pike 33°

'That which we must say to a crowd is - We worship a God, but it is the God that one adores without superstition.

To you, Sovereign Grand Inspectors General, we say this, that you may repeat it to the Brethren of the 32nd, 31st, and 30th degrees - The Masonic Religion should be, by all of us initiates of the high degrees, maintained in the purity of the Luciferian Doctrine.

If Lucifer were not God, would Adonay whose deeds prove his cruelty, perdify and hatred of man, barbarism and repulsion for science, would Adonay and his priests, calumniate him?

Yes, Lucifer is God, and unfortunately Adonay is also god. For the eternal law is that there is no light without shade, no beauty without ugliness, no white without black, for the absolute can only exist as two gods: darkness being necessary to the statue, and the brake to the locomotive.

Thus, the doctrine of Satanism is a heresy; and the true and pure philosophical religion is the belief in Lucifer, the equal of Adonay; but Lucifer, God of Light and God of Good, is struggling for humanity against Adonay, the God of Darkness and Evil.'

Instructions to the 23 Supreme Councils of the World, July 14, 1889. Recorded by A.C. De La Rive in La Femme et l'Enfant dans la FrancMaconnerie Universelle on page 588

As well documented as his admission of defrauding a gullible public is, the myth of Albert Pike's statement is still used today to slander the fraternity of Masonry.

In another Anti-Masonic book of the day we find the image of Levi's Baphomet as connected with the Freemasons. Published in 1894 ,'La Femme et L'Enfant dans la Franc-Maconnerie Universal' (Woman and child in Freemasonry) by Abbe Clarin de la Rive, we find the popular Baphomet seducing a woman on the cover between the pillars of Masonry. In this same book the false Albert Pike quote is used to support (falsely) the authors own Anti-Masonic views. It is no doubt that the covers of these two books created quite a stir with the public of the day.

This type of imagery as false as it is, has prevailed among Fundamentalist Christian groups today, such as Jack T. Chick publisher of 'The Curse Of Baphomet', an Anti-Masonic tract comic book. The Taxil hoax has been thorn in the side of Freemasons for years and is unlikely to go away anymore than the myths surrounding the Knights Templar.

Below is a list of some of the faults and consequences a brother of the order could face:

Murdering a Christian

Divulging The Chapters meetings

Committing acts of sodomy

Committing an act of heresy or denouncing the Christian faith

Conspiring, or making false charges, against a Brother

Leaving the Temple house for more than two days without permission

Fleeing the enemy during battle while the Baussant was flying or without permission of the Marshall

Fought with another brother

Lost or murdered a slave

Killed a pack animal or lost their horse due to their own neglect

Told untruths about themselves

Injured any Christian person out of anger (not by accident)

Had sex with a woman (sex with a man, sodomy, was a much more serious Templar crime)

Threatened to join the Saracens (usually out of madness or anger)

Leaving the Commandary at night in anger

Throwing their Templar coat to the ground in anger

Loaned any Temple assets without permission of the Order

It is important to note that all the above crimes could be forgiven. If a Brother repented with sincerity of his bad actions and providing the Brethren agreed, he would be restored with his coat and weapons.

It is well known that the order of the Templars were monastic in nature and therefore forbidden to have involvement with women (see Templar Rule of Order). The legend of the Skull of Sidon states that one Templar knight had a relationship with a woman who died. He dug up the woman's corpse and consummated their relationship resulting in a most grisly birth nine months later.

'A great lady of Maraclea was loved by a Templar, A Lord of Sidon; but she died in her youth, and on the night of her burial, this wicked lover crept to the grave, dug up her body and violated it. Then a voice from the Void bade him return in nine months time for he would find a son. He obeyed the injunction and at the appointed time he opened the grave again and found a head on the leg bones of the skeleton (skull and crossbones). The same voice bade him 'guard it well, for it would be the giver of all good things', and so he carried it away with him. It became his protecting genius, and he was able to defeat his enemies by merely showing them the magic head. In due course, it passed to the possession of the Order.'

From The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail
by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln

According to these same authors this tale can be traced back to a twelfth century author named Walter Mapp, although the story at this time is not connected with the Templar Knights. However, at the time of their trials 1307-1314 CE it was well woven into the Templar legend. In fact it was called upon during the actual trials of the Templars.

Edward Burman in his book 'Supremely Abominable Crimes' tells of an Antonio Sicci, an apostolic notary from Vercelli, Northern Italy. Sicci recounts to the inquisitors the tale of the Lord of Sidon which he claimed he learned while working for the order in the Holy Land. His accusation and recounting of the tale is similar to that quoted in Baigent and Leighf's book.

As loony as this tale seems to modern eyes, it was easily bought during the period. The inquisitors and theologians would have picked up on the fact that the woman of the piece was Armenian by background. This they would have connected with the Armenian Church and its Paulician sects. The Paulicians and the Bogomils were practitioners of Catharism which the church had all but wiped out during the Albigensian Crusade. Since the church believed the Cathari to be practitioners of the Black Mass and necromancy, the woman's Armenian background would make the story guilty by association.

13. Under no other circumstances should the brothers of the Temple share the company of an obviously excommunicated man, nor take his own things; and this we prohibit strongly because it would be a fearful thing if they were excommunicated like him. But if he is only forbidden to hear the divine office, it is certainly possible to keep company with him and take his property for charity with the permission of their commander.

16. But at the end of the psalms, when the Gloria patri is sung, through reverence for the Holy Trinity, you will rise and bow towards the altar, while the weak and ill will incline their heads. So we command; and when the explanation of the Gospels is read, and the Te deum laudamus is sung, and while all the lauds are sung, and the matins are finished, you will be on your feet. In such a manner we command you likewise to be on your feet at matins and at all the hours of Our Lady.

18. But these robes should be without any finery and without any show of pride. And so we ordain that no brother will have a piece of fur on his clothes, nor anything else which belongs to the usages of the body, not even a blanket unless it is of lamb's wool or sheep's wool. We command all to have the same, so that each can dress and undress, and put on and take off his boots easily. And the Draper or the one who is in his place should studiously reflect and take care to have the reward of God in all the above-mentioned things, so that the eyes of the envious and evil-tongued cannot observe that the robes are too long or too short; but he should distribute them so that they fit those who must wear them, according to the size of each one.

19. And if any brother out of a feeling of pride or arrogance wishes to have as his due a better and finer habit, let him be given the worst. And those who receive new robes must immediately return the old ones, to be given to the squires and sergeants and often to the poor, according to what seems good to the one who holds that office.

32. For it is written: In multiloquio non effugies peccatum. That is to say that to talk too much is not without sin. And elsewhere: Mors et vita in manibus lingue. That is to say: 'Life and death are in the power of the tongue.' And during that conversation we altogether prohibit idle words and wicked bursts of laughter. And if anything is said during that conversation that should not be said, when you go to bed we command you to say the paternoster prayer in all humility and pure devotion.

40. For this reason we pray and firmly command the knight brothers who have abandoned their own wills and all the others who serve for a fixed term not to presume to go out into the town or city without the permission of the Master or of the one who is given that office; except at night to the Sepulchre and the places of prayer which lie within the walls of the city of Jerusalem.

41. There, brothers may go in pairs, but otherwise may not go out by day or night; and when they have stopped at an inn, neither brother nor squire nor sergeant may go to another's lodging to see or speak to him without permission, as is said above. We command by common consent that in this Order which is ruled by God, no brother should fight or rest according to his own will, but according to the orders of the Master, to whom all should submit, that they may follow this pronouncement of Jesus Christ who said: Non veni facere voluntatem meam, sed ejus que misit me, patris. That is to say: 'I did not come to do my own will, but the will of my Father who sent me.'

47. Moreover the Master, who should hold in his hand the staff and rod- the staff with which to sustain the weaknesses and strengths of others; the rod with which to beat the vices of those who sin--for love of justice by counsel of the patriarch, should take care to do this. But also, as my lord St Maxime said: 'May the leniency be no greater than the fault; nor excessive punishment cause the sinner to return to evil deeds.'

Now what if ... this Knight, and others, reformed their own Order based on what had come before, and did their best to right the wrongs ... but as time passed their Brothers, all human, grew old and died. A few of these knights where born Inheritors and aged very slowly. One day another of their kind came to them and explained what they where, Vampires. Not the mythological kind but viral in nature.

The fact that they did not look as old as their brothers was attributed to black magic and worship of the Devil by those influenced by the lies of the church in relation to black magic. So this boy, now an adult, left with his companion, also a vampire, and over time they where joined by others who where also knights. And as the decades passed, these Knights formed their own Order and own branches of the Templar organization.

... and so, this ancient Order was brought fourth to modern day, with some of the original members still serving their vows.

We have provided you, the student with a Banner Link in the links section of this Vampiric Studies site so you may journey to this site yourselves at your leisure and delve even deeper into the subject, you will also find books, articles and web links in reality to further your studies.

The opinions expressed on this site do not necessarily represent those of Stephen Defoe or AHAMOTKT and that the copyrighted material is provided to further research into the history and Mythos of the Knights Templar.

The information contained within this section and the entire Knights Templar Class excerpted from 'A History and Mythos of The Knights Templar' by kind permission of the author. Copyright (C) 1997,1999 Stephen Dafoe.

The opinions expressed in this section, Vampiric Studies: Knights Templar, are Stephen Defoe's unless otherwise expressed in writing, except for the Knights Templar 'What if ...' section, which was written by the site author: Catherene. (c)copywright 1999 and is expressly and solely her extrapolation.

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