Outremer I

by D. N. Carter

  “As I have said before, my friends, all the symbolism is multi layered and with many interpretations and meanings…depending upon your level of initiation and understanding. In simple short terms, various meanings of what the text is about and the hidden meaning are these two that make perfect sense and related to the Anglo Saxon for both words, without having to mix up the languages. The two meanings of Maraclea are ‘black-clear or dark-clear’. Or black and white…just like the Templars’ standard Beausant. This is also very significant in the Gnostic sense, as the contradictory nature of the words reveals the duality spoken of by the Gnostics and Manicheans of light and dark, male and female, or like in China and as Tenno explained, yin and yang. These are the two sides of our minds, a revelation of our own divided consciousness. It is in fact the very same element spoken of throughout time as the generative source of all religions. For by overcoming this duality and finding balance and union, or a neutral state, we become enlightened to our own true self and often enter a spiritual state of illumination or ‘shining’. The second, other, meaning of the name Maraclea is related even more to the concept of illumination. It means ‘greater shining’. But as with all symbolism, there are even more meanings,” the old man smiled as Gabirol struggled to keep up with his writing. “Therefore try and understand if you can that the tale speaks of a Lord of Sidon, possibly a Templar Knight, if indeed not a Grand Master, coming into union with the ‘Greater Shining’. What could it possibly mean other than this Templar was a ‘Shining One’ and therefore experienced the Holy Grail of enlightenment for himself? The result of his union would be the head or skull nine months later, although another version says nine years, and as I will explain later, within the construction and layout of the Temple of Jerusalem, the number nine is of paramount importance to the Templars. The head is also definitely being used as a metaphor for this internal process, which actually involved the head or something within it. This in itself should give a greater insight to the sacred head of Baphomet that the Templars are said to worship. Is it surprising to learn as explained previously that it was nine knights who set up the Templars and it took them nine years to recover something beneath Solomon’s temple? If you look at the number nine, it is a reversed P.”

  “Kittens, puppies, and other young animals have their eyes closed for nine days and then open them and see the light…,” the farrier remarked quietly.

  “Indeed they do. The significance of the number nine is important. It is nine months that the female is pregnant and thus rebirth. Nine months or years for the Lord of Sidon to receive his prize; and nine days before the newborn animals see the light… can you start to detect a pattern here?” the old man asked as he studied their faces and reactions. “Can you see how the skull and crossbones are linked to the number nine and again, enlightenment and the Holy Grail, which are both seen as good, pure and holy? Indeed, was not the Holy Grail said to be the giver of all good things, just like the head in the Templar tale, ‘guard it well, for it would be the giver of all good things’. If this Greater Shining were truly the Holy Grail then it would bring him good things for sure. It became his protecting genius. So, this ‘Greater Shining’, this ‘head’, became his inborn faculty or inborn nature. The two were the same. There is a subtle symbolism of duality going on here as the Lord of Sidon, a Templar, mates with the Lady of Maraclea, a Cathar, and we have an inborn nature called genius. Suddenly the skull and crossbones symbol, as explained in the Templar text, is revealed in just one aspect of its many layered meanings. But the symbol of the skull and crossbones goes so much farther back in time. There are many representations of a skull or head with a diagonal cross or saltaire below. Carrying a staff or sceptre was, in ancient Egypt, a symbol of universal power. The flail was used to beat animals, or indeed people, into submission and shows authority like the sceptre, hence their interchangeable nature. The crook was a shepherd’s tool, used to pull stray animals by the neck without hurting them. How many times do shepherds appear within the Old and New Testament? This shepherd aspect of the king is as old as Mesopotamia and beyond. These two symbols reveal the two opposites of the duality spoken of by the Gnostics, the push of the positive male, and the pull negative, and feminine. Anyone therefore that mastered these symbols had mastery over the self and the enlightened connection or ‘shining’. We once had in our possession details of an ancient Egyptian boy king, translated as Tutankhamen, who was portrayed with these devices held upon the chest in the diagonal cross form, making a replica of the skull and crossbones in form, whereas many other pharaohs held them outwardly away from each other but we had those stolen and no one knows where his tomb is any more. Though it is rumoured that details of his location are secreted away in Britain and will one day lead to his recovery. In ancient Egypt, when dead, the king became Osiris, the Green God, and this same image is seen upon Osiris and is therefore his symbol, a symbol of the ultimate universal power and borrowed by his earthly representative the Pharaoh. His head above his crossed sceptre and flail.”

  “But this Osiris Green God…how does that connect to the Templar tale?” the Hospitaller asked awkwardly as if embarrassed to ask.

  “Osiris is the archetypal resurrecting god representing a symbol of regeneration, akin to the power of the Templar in the text. Meaning that the Templar is symbolically the same as Osiris on earth. Osiris was known as the ‘Good God’,” the old man explained.

  “No wonder that Christ is called the ‘good shepherd’ as Osiris, who was called the ‘good god,” Simon commented and blinked quickly.

  “Yes. Well done, Simon. But know also that the image of the skull and crossbones can be traced back not only into ancient Egypt but also into Babylon and Mesopotamia. That should come as no surprise, as they were the home of the ancient and original ‘Shining Ones’.”

  “Is this not similar to the Chi-Rho?” Gabirol asked.

  All around the table looked at him puzzled before the old man answered.

  “Yes. That symbol is commonly known as the Chi-Rho, so-called because it is composed of the Greek letters chi (X) and rho (P). (Fig 22:) The argument over these two letters is fought between Christians and historians; between fundamentalists on both sides and yet

  Fig 22:

  both sides are missing the point. Christians claim that the Chi-Rho forms the first two letters of Christ (Cristos) and yet historians claim that the symbol can be found hundreds if not thousands of years before Christianity and was therefore usurped by Christians. An identical symbol to the Chi-Rho has been found inscribed on rocks supposedly from as far back as 2500 BC in Sumeria and was interpreted as ‘a combination of the two sun-symbols’, symbols of the ancient shining ones. It was also used on the coins of Ptolemeus the Third from 247 to 222 BC, as well as being an emblem of the Chaldean sky, sun god and has the definition ‘Everlasting Father Sun’. We have ancient documents that illustrate the monogram Chi-Rho as being the very emblem of the Egyptian god Horus, thousands of years before Christ, and is therefore a link between Horus the saviour, and Christ the saviour. To others it is in this second century BC where the secret of the monogram lies with the Greek Ptolemys who are said to have ‘borrowed’ it from the Africans. In this scenario the Greeks called their version of Horus Heracles or Hercules and applied the Greek Xpnc (Chres) to him. This suddenly gave the ancient Horus the title of Lord, Chrestos, and inevitably ‘Christ’. This, if true, shows again the direct link between Horus, the Chi-Rho monogram and Christ. There are those within the inner circles of the Templars and Sufism who identify Heracles or Hercules as none other than an emblem of Jesus Christ. Bear in mind that the name Heracles is related to Hero and Hu, which means ‘shining’, but are also related to Christ, showing that these titles of the Messiah are directly derived from the word Heru, which is of African origin and can be found the world over as a word for the sun. But there are even more links. The Greek title Christ is, like Heru, also derived from an Egypto-African word Karast, and Kristos or Christos is the KRST (Karast).
Karast is a person who is anointed, enlightened or shining as a Heru (Hero) during his or her own life time. It is only when deceased that one receives the great term ‘a KRST’ or Ausur. This Ausur is none other than Osiris, the same Egyptian god with the skull and crossbones symbol with the flail and sceptre. The anointing, in the physical sense, as the anointing also applies in the spiritual sense, derived from the body or cadaver being anointed with spices, oils and resins to preserve it. The body is then wrapped in bandages, placed in a coffer, which is then placed upright to symbolise resurrection. It was believed that in the plural, the Herus (Heroes) or Krsts (Christs) would rise again to save the world as fully divine beings and thus become the ‘once and future king’… identical symbolism as recounted in the modern Holy Grail and Arthurian legends. It seems then that this tradition came out of Africa, through Egypt and into Greek and Christian legend and brought with it the original symbols of Osiris. So we have a link between the Chi-Rho and the symbol of Osiris, god the father of Horus or Christ. No wonder that a philological and historical war rages and that Christianity refuses to accept this remarkable link. Christians believe this Chi-Rho to derive from Constantine and was an amazing propaganda device to establish the new Roman Empire, and therefore to become the Catholic Empire.”

  “Is that the story where Constantine had a vision before a great battle and was told that with the symbol of the Chi-Rho, which they called the Labarum, he would gain victory. ‘By this sign, you will conquer’?” Gabirol asked.

  Fig 23:

  “Yes…and using the new Labarum as his battle standard, which would relate to everybody, Constantine took the field and the Empire was ‘born again’. But as we now know, the Christians had been using this symbol secretly as a sign of their faith and Constantine, or somebody who advised him, picked up on the fact that this symbol and the whole saviour process was as ancient and widespread as I am outlining here, and according to some, it was used to plunder the treasuries of the pagan temples. On the coinage during and after Constantine’s death, we see the Laburnum or Chi-Rho, underlined with the serpent, a symbol used throughout time and especially by the Gnostics for wisdom and the enlightenment process. Strangely, just as the biblical term Elohim is a plural word used for God (EL), and in reality means the ‘Shining Ones’, the X part of the monogram is also plural (X=10) and is the number of Yahweh. But Chi also has another meaning, ‘Great Fire’ or ‘Light’ or even ‘Shining’. The P (Rho) part is more difficult but has been related to ‘Pen’. Pen means ‘head’ thus implying that the loop on the top of the P is a head, in the very place that a skull would be on the skull and crossbones. But one thing is sure, Rho stood for ‘Pater’ or ‘Patah’ the Egyptian god Ptah, which is ‘Father’. Together they therefore make ‘Shining Father’ (Dyaus Pitar), which later became the Roman ‘Jupiter’. Hu Ptah means father sun, the Roman version of the Greek father-god Zeus. So you see, the symbol of the skull and crossbones then stretches back over thousands of years and relates entirely to the ancient ‘Shining Ones’ and directly to Osiris, the Egyptian version of the original ‘Shining Father’ incarnated on earth. Not only that, but geographically it goes right into the heart of original Shining territory.”

  “But why the X?” Peter asked.

  “You have heard the expression X marks the spot? Well in this instance the X does indeed mark the spot in more ways than can be imagined. It also represents the crossing point of two dual energies and the centre where true enlightenment is engaged, where the two opposites meet. With the upright world axis running through the X we also have a dividing line, but it is also a six-pointed symbol and is directly linked to the Star of David or Seal of Solomon, which is also an ancient symbol with much the same meaning. It is the basis upon which the very Cross of the Templars is based. But the six points are important, as they reveal the seventh point and, most holy, the centre of the X. As I mentioned earlier, the Jesuits swear an oath upon the symbol of the skull and crossbones,” the old man concluded and paused for several minutes.

  “I am still confused. I think Simon must be affecting me,” Sarah joked as she rubbed her head.

  “You and me both,” the Genoese sailor remarked and took a large mouthful of drink.

  “It will all make sense…I promise,” the old man commented softly and smiled.

  “I know that we keep distracting you from the main story…about the sword…but I keep having the thought that seems to be nagging away at me about an earlier comment regarding Jesus being a Roman lie. A myth deliberately started by them. Before we continue, can you just briefly explain that,” Gabirol asked.

  “I am confused enough already…do we have to?” Sarah asked and folded her arms.

  “In answer, I can give a very brief overview, if that is acceptable to you all?” the old man replied and looked at them all.

  “Aye…tell us. We may as well hear everything,” Peter spoke as the rest nodded in agreement.

  “In the briefest and simplest of terms, there are those who claim that ‘Jesus’ was invented as an expedient political means of controlling and subjugating people. Parchments and ancient Roman documents that both the Church and the Templars, as well as the Ashashin, possess claim to be confessions that supposedly prove that the New Testament was actually written by first century Roman aristocrats. That they fabricated the entire Jesus Christ story and wrapped it around esoteric hidden secrets.”

  “No…that cannot be so…we would know. Would we not?” Ayleth interrupted, alarmed.

  “How would you know? Remember as I have said before…who controls the past, controls the future.” He paused. “Just like the myths of antiquity now lost to us in the mists of time. But there are those who would wish you to know or believe in these rumours to do harm to Christianity and that is why it is important you learn about it, to be aware and on your guard…but all peoples of the world should know the truth about our past so we can understand how and why those in power create false histories and false gods. They often do it to obtain a social order that is against the best interests of the common people. This has been a practice since the beginning of time. It is why both Niccolas and Theodoric constantly instilled within Paul and Taqi to always question what they were told. That is why it was important to explain to them too about this rumour that Christianity did not really begin as a religion, but a sophisticated Roman project, a kind of propaganda exercise used to pacify the subjects of the Roman Empire. Jewish sects in Palestine at the time, who were waiting for a prophesied warrior Messiah, were a constant source of violent insurrection during the first century. When the Romans had exhausted conventional means of quashing rebellion, they switched to psychological warfare. They surmised that the way to stop the spread of zealous Jewish missionary activity was to create a competing belief system. That’s when the ‘peaceful’ Messiah story was invented. Instead of inspiring warfare, this Messiah urged turn-the-other-cheek pacifism and encouraged Jews to ‘give unto Caesar’ and pay their taxes to Rome,” the old man recounted.

  “Was Jesus based on a real person from history then or was he a complete lie?” the Hospitaller asked, concerned.

  “The short answer is yes he was real and no it was not a complete lie. But other powers that be used him later to create their own controllable myth. The Jesus we know of now whose entire life can be traced to other real events, places and people is identical to what is happening in regard to the King Arthur and Holy Grail myths. Facts, codes and mysteries being brought up to date and superimposed upon real people. I could tell you that the dual symbolism of the two riders upon a horse our Templars now use can also be applied to representing yet another meaning…that of Jesus and St Paul…that Paul is in fact one and the same person. But again that is another story, perhaps for later. I can also tell you that there is plenty of evidence to confirm that Jesus was himself a Roman citizen, so the rumours that the real Jesus of the ‘Jesus Initiative’ being a Roman orchestrated event is not that far from being based upon fact.”

 
; “But why?” Simon asked, confused.

  “As I explained before, to guarantee a greater message from antiquity is carried across time intact…for the benefit of future generations when the time is right,” the old man explained and sighed.

  “So what you are saying is that there is in fact some kind of great power, or being, that orchestrates it all. So you can argue it is still by divine intervention,” the Templar remarked as his mind fought to justify what he was hearing.

  “Yes…you could say that…as nothing happens without a reason. I have mentioned previously the book ‘Wars of the Jews’ by Josephus, who wrote the only surviving first-person historical account of first-century Judea alongside the New Testament. There are parallels between the two texts, he recounts. That is why it has been recognised by Christian scholars for centuries that the prophesies of Jesus appear to be fulfilled by what Josephus wrote about in the First Jewish–Roman war. But the sequence of events and locations of Jesus’s ministry are more or less the same as the sequence of events and locations of the military campaign of the Emperor Titus Flavius as described by Josephus himself. This is clear evidence of a deliberately constructed pattern. The biography of Jesus is actually constructed, tip to stern, on prior stories, but especially on the biography of a Roman Caesar,” the old man said and paused to see their reactions.

  “But how could this go unnoticed in the most scrutinised books of all time?” Gabirol asked.

  “It has not gone unnoticed. Just ignored and pushed aside or deliberately left out by way of any explanation. Why do you think the clergy still write in Latin and do not wish the masses to be fully literate? Many of the parallels are conceptual or poetic, so they aren’t all immediately obvious. After all, the authors did not want the average believer to see what they were doing, but they did want the alert reader to see it. An educated Roman in the ruling class would have recognised the literary game being played. The Roman Caesars left us a literature puzzle that was meant to be solved by future generations, and the solution to that puzzle is ‘We invented Jesus Christ, and we’re proud of it’. But as you shall learn, that is far from the whole picture,” the old man smiled as the Templar shuffled uncomfortably in his seat.[22]