Outremer I

by D. N. Carter

  “Erm…Going back to Mary…It is the significance of Mary Magdalene being blue or black and connected with Isis, representing the star Sirius that’s the important point?” he asked.

  “That is in essence correct, yes, and before I forget, her feast day is the 22nd of July. Twenty-two of the 7th or 22 over 7. Those values you should make a special note of as they are paramount in the ancient codes and secret construction techniques,” the old man explained as Gabirol quickly made notes.

  “Let me see…erm..The Prior de Sion accord Mary Magdalene unusual great reverence. She is the only woman mentioned in all gospels and was the first apostle, apostola apostolorum and was acknowledged as second only to Jesus in Gnostic gospels of Egypt, yes?” Gabirol asked as he charged his quill with ink.

  The old man nodded yes as Simon put his hand up.

  “Simon…what now?” Sarah asked.

  “I worked out why Jesus appeared to her first after his crucifixion…,” he replied, smiling broadly.

  “Really…pray tell,” the Templar said and looked at him bemused.

  “Well, simple really isn’t it. The reason he appeared to her first was because she was a woman, so telling her first was guaranteed to get the word out and fastest spread as women gossip,” Simon said almost proudly.

  Sarah’s mouth dropped open. She looked back at the old man and the Templar.

  “You can kill him,” the Templar mocked.

  The old man let out a light laugh and wiped his mouth as he sat back and chuckled as Sarah sat speechless.

  “I shall continue…,” Gabirol said and coughed as Simon raised his hands in protest. “Mary Magdalene always came first when women were named in all the gospels and she also kept the disciples as she was woman of her own resources, yes?”

  “Yes…and one other thing I did not mention, seventy-two disciples of Jesus went with Mary Magdalene when she came to France. Did I mention too that John the Baptist’s head severed from its body represents the missing headstone or pyramidian of the great pyramid at Giza and that John is the patron saint of Templars and that the true Grail is equated with stone?…I am not sure if I did,” the old man asked, appearing momentarily confused.

  “I do not recall you mentioning that part,” Gabirol replied and flicked back through his notes, looked up and shook his head no as the others also shook their heads no.

  “Then perhaps I should mention how it is now, as that too is important for the story,” the old man said quietly. “Okay, let me start by explaining that the grail is stone and is referred to as ‘lapsit exillis’.”

  “Lapsi what?” Simon asked, confused.

  “Let me quote something,” the old man said and pulled out another parchment sheet, studied it for a moment and began reading from it. ‘Well I know that many brave knights dwell with the Grail at Munsalvaesche. Always when they ride out, as they often do, it is to seek adventure. They do so for their sins, these Templars, whether their reward be defeat or victory. A valiant host lives there, and I will tell you how they are sustained. They live from a stone of purest kind. If you do not know it, it shall here be named to you. It is called ‘lapsit exillis’. By the power of that stone the Phoenix burns to ashes, but the ashes give him life again. Thus does the Phoenix moult and change its plumage, which afterwards is bright and shining and as lovely as before. There never was a human so ill but that, if he one day sees that stone, he cannot die within the week that follows. And in looks he will not fade. His appearance will stay the same, be it maid or man, as on the day he saw the stone, the same as when the best years of his life began, and though he should see the stone for two hundred years, it will never change, save that his hair might perhaps turn grey. Such power does the stone give a man that flesh and bones are at once made young again. The stone is also called the Grail’. So here we not only have a definite connection of the Templars with the Grail itself, but also an account that relates the Grail to actually being a stone. Some have argued that the phrase ‘lapsit exillis’ is a corruption of ‘lapsit ex caelis’, which means it fell from heaven. This phrase is absolutely identical to a statement within the ancient Egyptian Edfu Texts that states that ‘It fell from heaven’, the thing being a sacred stone that became the Ben Ben stone as I will explain in detail later. But did you all note the mention of the Phoenix? The Phoenix is purely an Egyptian myth so why include it unless it was a deliberate symbolic clue that the Grail is in some way connected to Egypt? We shall look at the Phoenix myth later. But in regard to my earlier comment about John the Baptist’s head being buried under Herod’s temple that basically symbolises the buried pyramidian again.”

  “I have come across much in my years of study that relates to the Green Man symbolism. But am I also correct in understanding that Templars are not purely devoted Christian knights but also pagan and that is represented by the twin riders on a single horse?” Gabirol commented and looked first at the Templar then the old man.

  The Templar shook his head no.

  “Not exactly…but I can tell you there are several levels within the Order. Higher levels of initiation that I am not party to for that takes many years to attain,” he explained as Miriam looked at him intently.

  “What can I tell you about the twin rider symbolism? I can tell you that it has a multitude of meanings of which one only learns more of as they progress in knowledge and wisdom within the Order,” the old man explained.

  “Can you give us any idea?” the wealthy tailor asked.

  “I can…but there are other aspects you should be made aware of also.”

  “Such as?” Simon asked impatiently.

  “That you should know that the original Templar Seal was the Lamb of God, which is identical to John the Baptist’s symbol. That the Templar inner circle of high initiates is the Egyptian rite known as the ‘Son of the Widow’ rite, the widow being Isis herself. Whom we all know is now symbolically identical to and represented by Mary Magdalene. Not the Virgin Mary by the way. That is a massive difference. Understand too that the Prior de Sion was and is also known as ‘Ormus’, which will have relevance later. How many of you here have heard of the Levitikon?” the old man asked.

  The Templar and Hospitaller both raised their hands as the rest shook their heads no.

  “I believe I once was handed details of it, but I did not take the matter further,” Gabirol stated.

  “Let me explain then. The Levitikon is an eleventh century Gnostic gospel of John. In it Jesus is described as an initiate of Osiris. It reveals that Jesus taught secrets to John only and they were not revealed to the other disciples. Also that there are in fact nine grades within the Templar Order. This is something most Templars know,” the old man revealed and looked at the Templar, who nodded in confirmation. “Plus Hugues de Payens himself and knights were all Johannite initiates. One of the symbolic meanings behind the twin riders upon a single horse also refers to the staff of John the evangelist and the staff of John the Baptist. You may be shocked to learn that the Book of John was in fact written by Jesus himself, after the crucifixion, and that is why the Prior de Sion designated John the First as representing Jesus symbolically.”

  “I have heard that Templars, or at least some in their inner circle of initiates, practise a form of sex magic. Is this true?” Gabirol asked as Miriam sat up straighter and looked at the Templar.

  “Hey, if that were true, I think I would know about it,” the Templar replied and smiled broadly at Miriam.

  “I can tell you that Bernard of Clairvaux himself was deeply influenced by St Hildegard of Bingen’s mystical writings on sex,” the old man explained as Sarah’s face went red with embarrassment. Stephan laughed at this and rubbed his hand across her back. Miriam placed her hand upon the Templar’s forearm and smiled. “I know those within the Order who have stated that the key that opens all Hermetic secrets is sex and is but one aspect of the Templars’ inner circle of initiates’ secrets.”

  “Oh that is great. We all swear to total celibacy whilst thos
e at the top are at it like mad…,” the Templar part joked, but his face was confused.

  “I think Miriam could change that for you,” Simon commented and nodded towards Miriam. She immediately let go of the Templar’s arm, embarrassed. The Templar shook his head at Simon.

  “Within the Order, there are two types of teaching, and this is again another meaning to the twin riders on one horse. One level of teaching is exoteric for all believers, and one is esoteric purely for the inner circle initiates, who are taught aspects from Mark’s ‘Secret’ Gospel,” the old man explained as Sarah wiped her brow.

  “Sounds too much like heresy to me,” the wealthy tailor commented and shuffled upon his seat.

  “Heresy…remember earlier I explained that the word simply means ‘choice’. Well you have that right to believe what you will for that is your free will and choice. But I shall explain later in the story about Hieros Gamos, which means the Sacred Marriage. The marriage of a priestess to sexually anoint a True King, plus Horasis,” the old man explained and looked at them all in turn, Sarah turning her head, embarrassed.

  “Hmm…I can tell you all, that we, as Templars, were made aware in our lessons, that Mary Magdalene was to be venerated as both a Christian but also as a pagan priestess of Isis…so I know what this old man speaks of is not all heresy. But we were also told that as we progressed within the Order, we would learn its mysteries as the Lord sees fit, who of us would be chosen to be taught,” the Templar explained awkwardly and hesitantly as his brother looked at him puzzled.

  “I fear we shall get a little too involved in these matters, of which time does not permit us here this night. So if I may be so blunt, I would like to state a few facts, facts that will be covered later anyway so do not be concerned if you do not understand what I now say, and if you are not comfortable with what you hear, you are free of course to leave,” the old man said softly.

  “No, you fire away. I think I speak for us all when I say we are intrigued. Pray tell more,” the farrier commented and raised his eyebrows and nodded he continue.

  “That is good to hear,” the old man replied and leant against the table, his hands placed together, his fingers running into each other just below his chin. “As I said before, ‘occult’ simply means hidden, and much has been hidden from you all. Many myths abound that Mary Magdalene came to France. Well, she did but the real site where she landed was not at the Camargue, but the coast of Roussillon. The Egyptian God Osiris had his birthday celebrated on what is the twenty-fifth of December, that date being copied over to mark the official birth date of Jesus. When Osiris died, he was killed on a Friday but he was resurrected on the third day, identical to Jesus. The Prior de Sion teach their initiates that Mary Magdalene is one and the same Mary of Bethany, sister to Lazarus but also, as just mentioned, a pagan priestess of Isis, Isis being Osiris’s consort. You all know now that Mary Magdalene was referred to as the ‘apostle of apostles’ and a ‘woman who knew all’. Both inner circles of initiates of the Templars and Ashashin refer to Jesus’s ministry as the ‘Jesus Initiative’ as it had all its main components and themes based upon and identical to previous older religions and is why they tried, and still try, to fuse Islam, Judaism and Christianity as one,” the old man explained without stopping.

  “What? Well what about baptism then for surely that was purely a Christian thing, no?” the farrier asked, with a puzzled look of suspicion.

  “Even baptism. For baptism is not, nor ever has been a ritual of Judaism, but came from rituals of the temple of Isis on the River Nile. John the Baptist learnt his secrets from Egypt when he lived there. Plus the dove seen when John baptised Jesus is purely symbolic of the dove that represented Isis as queen of heaven, star of the sea, again the ‘Stella Maris’ and mother of God, the same appellation given to the Virgin Mary as mother of Christ. Even the bread symbolism Jesus uses is connected to the seal boss inside the Great Pyramid and the ancient Egyptian symbol for bread. In short simple terms, Jesus’s religion is based upon ancient Egyptian sacred secrets and the Goddess Isis, but who in turn got their knowledge and wisdom from an even older source… Christos means ‘gentile one’ and is also the appellation of Isis. You must understand that Jesus is called a non Jew Egyptian magician in the Holy Jewish Talmud. Jesus even quotes almost word for word the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead magic. Even Jesus’s crucifixion and resurrection are identical enactments of the Osiris and Isis ritual. The crucifixion was just another form of a god dying and rebirth ritual, the same as Osiris dying and going into the underworld and reborn et cetera. Plus if Jesus had been a Jew, he would have been stoned to death and not crucified by Romans,” the old man explained as the group looked at each other not sure what to believe.

  “Do you know the words that Jesus spoke that are of Egyptian origin then…just so I may get it sorted in my head that what I hear is truth?” the Genoese sailor asked.

  “Yes. I can tell you, for I have seen with my own eyes that inscribed upon the wall of the Temple of Isis, carved at least a thousand years before Christ, there is a statement that reads ‘I am all that was, that is, and that is yet to come’, which later became the Lord’s, the Jewish god Yahweh’s, words in the Book of Revelation (1:8). Also, word for word, ‘come to me all of you who are heavy laden and I will refresh you’, taken entirely from a saying of Isis as inscribed at the temple of Dendera. Even the Lord’s Prayer is identical almost to the ancient Egyptian prayer to Osiris. Note carefully also that the worship of Asherah, who was the consort of Yahweh himself, which opens up a whole lot of other questions of how come the Lord had a partner, was an integral element of religious life in ancient Israel prior to reforms introduced by King Josiah in 621 BC. Even King David and Solomon were both Goddess worshippers. And to answer your question on baptism, you must note that baptism by immersion was purely an Osirian ritual never practised by Jews until Christianity arrived. The birth of Isis just happens to be celebrated on the twenty-fifth of December too. But again in regard to the twin riders upon the single horse, John was equal to Jesus Christ and the early Church knew this full well but re-wrote him into a new version as subservient. But St John’s Christians use a book called the ‘Ginza’ but they are nowadays named Mandeans. Mandean means ‘gnosis’ from the root word ‘manda’. Their priests are known as Nasoreans. They appear in the Qur’an under the name of Sabians. Yahya is the Arabic name of John the Baptist in the Qur’an where it details his story of being a ‘fisher of souls’. There are still people who live in the remote mountains of Syria known as Nosairo, often called Alawites, who still have secret teachings as given by Jesus to John about the True Grail being just a symbol standing for symbols and doctrines only.”

  “So, Jesus was not a Jew?” Miriam asked.

  “No. In fact much of what the Templars know is the fact that he held dual nationality and even held Roman citizenship,” the old man answered. “By the way, even the Mandeans share and state, the same as Jews in their Talmud, that Jesus was a sorcerer and liar,” the old man stated, which drew a gasp from Sarah.

  “Surely he was not?” she asked shocked.

  “Sarah, ’tis far more complex than one would believe. But I shall endeavour to explain things as best as I am able…but rest assured, Jesus was not a liar, certainly not in the sense implied,” the old man explained trying to sound reassuring as he clearly saw the alarm upon her face.

  “You mentioned Lazarus…how does he come into this story?” Gabirol asked.

  “All I shall state for now, is that Lazarus was very much the beloved disciple of Jesus, not in fact John the Baptist. This little fact and the way it has been worded within the Bible will unfortunately confuse many for years to come. Perhaps even up to the end times,” the old man answered and sighed but then smiled to himself.

  “But did not John the Baptist get his head cut off anyway?” Simon asked.

  “That he did indeed. But even that story has hidden meaning behind it,” the old man answered.

  “Dare I a
sk, how so?” Simon said and pulled a grimacing face.

  “Let me explain very briefly. Recall I mentioned the bread symbol. Well, that in turn is linked to the miracle of when Jesus gave bread to five thousand men. It was a symbolic event for when he joined various factions together. Later, Islam would take this meaning to say that if you eat and drink with an enemy, you will not kill him. But after the miracle of loaves, they all wanted Jesus to be their king soon after John the Baptist had been beheaded. Recall that the Templars also revere a severed head and that is just yet another level of esoteric understanding symbolically also representing John the Baptist’s head. John, it must be understood, was arrested as he was considered a direct threat to Herod. Jesus was in effect his second in command but always marked out as to one day lead due to his bloodline and lineage. One of the disciples of Jesus at that early stage was the female named Salome. In the New Testament, she is the one who, after dancing for Herod, he granted her any wish she wanted, so demanded John’s head on a platter. Later gospel editors changed much about this confusing story as some rumours were rife that Jesus was in fact responsible for her making this demand to get John out of the way. But it was not that way at all. Both Jesus and John knew that he would be tried and executed and that he would lose his head. But by doing so, the esoteric symbolism it would make would be incorporated into the clues of a symbolic head being buried and hidden.”[13 & 14]

  “My Lord…he must have been incredibly brave to go through with that, knowing he was to die,” Miriam said softly and shook her head sadly.

  “More than most people give him credit for. But in time, the truth will be known to all about his sacrifice and why he chose that path.”

  “All of this information certainly puts everything I have ever heard of and learnt of in a different light and context,” Simon sighed and rubbed his head.

  “So, all of this is tied into that sword…and stars and paths of energy?” the Genoese sailor asked, pointing at the sword.