Mysteries and Tricks of Freemasonry: Part III

The Templar ConnectionWhat could be the association involving the Order of Knights Templar and Freemasonry? Is it a legitimate link or not?Before the Order of the Freemasons became commonplace, still another team was developed, allegedly their predecessor. An organization of soldier monks was established in the early 12th Century, then termed the Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon. Sooner or later they were sanctioned by the Catholic Church, but were formally founded in 1118 AD, with Hughes delaware Payen as its first Grand Master. They marched to Jerusalem, primarily to combat in the holy wars contrary to the Muslims. Primarily this class of knights became what we generally understand as the Knights Templar, wherein a typical tradition claims were the forerunners of the Freemasons restoredmasonry.com. Quickly they acquired prosperity and became the greatest banking company across Europe and the Holy Land. Regrettably, its great prosperity cause its fateful demise.While the Knights Templar spent a long time in Jerusalem, they connected with mystic Sufis who almost certainly inspired the warrior monks toward a greater religious way. "It is Sufism that individuals discover the earliest record of the transmission of religious understanding from master to initiate." (The Enigma of the Freemasons by Tim Wallace-Murphy). Considering the Masonic college uses this same type of initiatory custom, this is another clue to the development of the Knights Templar and eventually Freemasonry.Supposedly the strange Rex Deus families were also behind the developing of the Knights Templar in addition to Freemasonry in later generations, so here we visit a obscure link involving the Templars and Freemasonry. The idea that the two really meet at some time, even though the Templars were suppressed and vanished 300 years before Freemasonry arose, is regarded as incorrect. But, the idea that the Templars' affected those who ultimately became Freemasons is far more possible.There was a match up between the Knights Templar and the Craftmason guilds across Europe. In fact, these specific guilds have an appealing history as well, if it's even to be believed. "Robert Graves... Said that Freemasonry first started as a Sufi culture that reached England in the guise of a craft guild during the reign of King Athelstan (decided 924-939), and was then introduced in to Scotland. He explains the Sufic sources of the Craftmasons' guilds and the part played by Templar training and tradition in the modification of these guilds into Freemasonry. Plots followed Sufi origins back to the 2nd millennium BCE and recounted that their concealed knowledge was passed down the ages by way of a procedure for initiation, from master to pupil. He claims that the function of the Sufi masters in building of Solomon's Temple is just a a key point that is commemorated in Freemasonic ritual." (The Enigma of the Freemasons by Tim Wallace-Murphy) Here we see yet another portion of the challenge to the beginnings of Freemasonry. Though the effect of the Sufi tradition upon the Templars and actually Craftmason guilds that became Freemasons is very possible, the notion of a direct link appears not as likely. Thus, its bold claim to have its historical origin in the building of Solomon's Temple is highly questionable.Likewise, lots of the Craftmason guilds in Europe were privately initiatory warders, apparently coming back to these early Sufi builders. One guild in particular, the Kids of Solomon, was intrinsically from the Knights Templar. Precisely how isn't obvious. Whether one sprung from the other, or when they were two a fraternal bond that was formed by separate entities isn't known. Nevertheless, this particular link increases the approaching development of Freemasonry. Such craft guilds were innovators of great Gothic structure, for they were responsible for creating the cathedrals and churches for the increasing Roman Catholic Church. In fact, many of these wonderful new efforts were especially made by the Kids of Solomon and funded by the Knights Templar.Also, these clever Craftmason guilds marked their esoteric signatures into these religious buildings, using significance of sacred geometry, one example being the Celtic Cross within a circle, the distinct level of the Children of Solomon. Such craftsmen imprinted their secret language in such great structures, being the language of the triggers, intentionally making their mark wherever they went, wherever they built great structures. Several signs and symbols are now symbols of the Freemasons.So, the story thickens.Reference:( The Enigma of the Freemasons by Tim Wallace-Murphy