+Non Nobis Domine, Non Nobis Sed Nomine Tuo Da Gloriam+

Magazine
November 2017
N 6
Arianism and the First
Council of Nycea

Sovereign Brotherhood of Dames and Knights of The Temple

OSMTJ-International-SPAIN
 Digital Magazine
Sovereign Brotherhood of Dames and Knights of The Temple
OSMTJ-SPAIN
November 2017
Director: Events
Ms. Fuensanta Santos de la Rubia
Contact: maestroc@hermandadtemple.org

Editorial Board:
Priory Council of HSDCT.OSMTJ.
Mr. Jose Maria Fernandez Nuez

Writers:
Mr. Ambrosio Camps Saez
Mr. Albert Champeau
Mr. Sebastian Carbajosa
Mr. Anselmo Hermes Almada
Mr. Juan Antonio Cabezos

Designer:
Ms. Fuensanta Santos de la Rubia

International Order Contact:

Mr. Agustin Ibaez Aguirre
Tfno: 0034 672 110 817
hispaniatemple@live.com

International Translator Contact:

Mr. Luis Antonio Coln Arce
marineronoble@icloud.com

Translators:
Mr. Luis Antonio Coln Arce

Edited:
Magazine published in Mlaga, Spain
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 Table of Contents

Credits.................................................................................... 1
Index....................................................................................... 2
Editorial.................................................................................. 3
Presentation Templars, Myths, Falsehoods And History ... 4
Arianism and the First Council of Nycea ......................... 5
The Little Death:Mystery of Golgotha ............................... 10
Baphomet: The Countenance of the Shroud ......................... 15
Initiation Trip to Jerusalem ................................................ 21
Expansion of Christianity during the Roman Empire ......... 29
Congres In Zaragoza (Spain)............................................... 34
The Grail Translator Team ................................................ 35
Posting Rules ........................................................................ 36
 The Grail
Editorial
By Fuensanta Santos Hypatia

At last, my friends, we can now say that the November issue of The Grail was
completed. Different obligations of the Brotherhood had delayed its timely release,
but it is now here.
Truly interesting is the work of Sebastian Carbajosa, Baphomet: The countenance
of the Shroud, everything that has to do with Our Lord awakens expectations and
curiosity.
Also our collaborator on the esoteric aspect of the Temple, Albert Champeau,
delights us with The Little Death: The Mystery of Golgotha, of which I am
totally certain will leave none indifferent, the paths of knowledge open to all whom
have eyes to see.
A new friend to the review, Ambrosio Camps, gives us the treasure of History
of the Church and Christianity, Arianism and the Council of Nycea, 1st
Ecumenical, things we have forgotten but that form part of our cultural inheritance.
On another note, our brother in Christ, Anselmo Hermes Almada delights us
with the fact finding trip he made to the Holy City, Introductory Journey to
Jerusalem, and esteemed Prior Juan Antonio Cabezos Eneass enlightens us as to
the circumstances that promoted Christian Expansion during the Roman Empire.
And finally, our special envoy, Hermes Mercurio got away from us and brings from
the Congress of Zaragoza, an advance report about the event..
This year we have intellectually and eagerly pursued, an edition of a book made up
of a series of articles intensely researched by our Knights and Dames in their first year
of investiture. Investitures and elevations that will take place on the 24th and 25th
of June of the present year, and the publication of the conferences that took place
at the Congress of Zaragoza abd retell the editorial novelty of Templars:Myths,
Falsehoods and History by our regular contributor, Jose Maria Fernandez, which
is, without a doubt, the definitive reference on the History of the Temple.

Hypatia
 Presentation Of The Book, Templars,
Myths, Falsehoods And History
Synopsis

The following work is the product of five years of research,

based on a project of academic design, where one applies the
tools of the trade of a historian, perhaps, the most crucial one
being the scientific method applied with the necessary rigor.
As in any project, it comes from the need to solve, clarify
or document a historic fallacy, or as it is commonly known
in Spain as "Catalonian history", its purpose is to recover the
history of that moment, devoid of deceit and invasive factoids.
One must never underestimate the importance of this first
phase of the scientific method, as it is within it where we
locate the action that will take us to the objective of the work.
It takes place fundamentally within the first thirty years
of the 12th century, during the creation, development and
recognition by the Nablus Synod of the Canonical Brotherhood of the Poor Companions of Christ,
and investigation based upon archival documents of pseudo chroniclers of the time and later ones.
A profound study as to why it was not created on the generally accepted dates, as well as
not attributing proper importance to the intervention of Bernard de Clairvaux in Troyes, yet, his
contribution, enormously acknowledged by posterity, is precisely what made the Order great. He
is denied the creation of the Rule while simultaneously the Synod of Troyes is justified as a Templar
decree, not ecclesiastic.
The concept of monkhood is denied, not even the one of brother is allowed, the results of an
exhaustive study, equal to the supposed poverty of the founders.
This being the nucleus, it is supported by other articles that detail and better help us to understand
that society and the true motives of the Crusades, on an ecclesiastical as well as a social and
commercial level with the recovery of ancient commercial routes, then, in hands of Muslims with
also a slight presence in central European rivers. The loss of presence and importance of the
Mediterranean will be a primordial factor for the magnates of that time.
Another factor, shall be the appearance on the scene of the jurisprudence that the disputed
Order: its bulls, adaptations and corrections, that will generate a power base greater than the
Orders of the Holy Sepulcher and of St. John the Evangelist which they will overshadow. An
ample and close biography of its founders will close the book. Followed by the epilogue and the
consulted bibliography.

Jose Maria Fernndez Nez

 Arianism and the First
Council of Nycea
Ambrosio Camps Sez
Abstract In that same year of 313
he freed the clergy of all
The following article municipal services, in 3211
deals briefly on the subject he issued an order allowing
of the church' first council. them to receive willed
Reclining on the banks of donations, and established
Lake Askania, Nycea was Sunday as a day of rest.
the head, standard and In 320 he removes the
clearing market for the penalties against celibacy
culture of Asia Minor. etc. (2)
Crossroads of the
ancient world, cauldron of Significance of
selfishness and theological the 313
struggles between East
and West. A rivalry as old Edict of Milan
as history itself; it was the
seat, in 325 of the First
The first effect was
Ecumenical Council, where the church analyzed Arius'
the public and solemn manifestation of politics towards
(256-336) theological thesis on the second person of the
Christianity.
Trinity, condemning him for his heresy.
The rights of citizenship for Christians were
The Figure of Emperor recognized, as well as their ample liberties within the
Constantine empire. To solidify this decision he carried it out with
the blessing of Licinius I, Lord of the East. He faced no
The figure of Emperor Constantine the Great (273- opposition, as the prestige of Constantine, led Licinius to
337) was vital to the development of the church during agree to his wishes.
those first centuries.
Thus, the two august men reunited in Milan,
He was a providential figure for the Catholic Church; composed the famous edict, whose chief decision and
as he not only gave it the freedom it needed, but also the base for all else, was the proclamation of the most
supported and positively protected it, aiding it with the absolute religious freedom, "quam quisque voluisset".
greatest effectiveness in its later development. After the Edict of Milan Constantine's position with
respect to the church is characterized by: first, the
The equalized Christianity with the state religion absolute equality of Christianity with the state religion;
through innumerable dispensations. But the cult of second, his favor and preference towards Christianity
Paganism, as the official state religion, remained intact. grew, whereby later on, at least in fact, he treated it as
the religion of the empire, although he did not touch the
He himself retained the title of Supreme Pontiff (1). Pagan cult as an official state religion (3).
After his great victory, he no longer sanctioned sacrificial
offerings, nor homages to the capitol, nor secular games. Contrary to Constantine, Licinius gradually hardened
In 313 the monogram of Christ (R) appears on some his stance towards Christians: he disrupted the synodical
coins. gatherings of the bishops, dismissed Christian servants
from his palace, out lawed gatherings of the cult within
He ordered all property that had been confiscated the cities, forced his armies to offer up sacrifices to the
from Christians, to be returned; built new churches...in gods, thus violating the Edict of Milan, forty Christian
313 he also took Bishop Osius of Cordova as his counsel, soldiers were martyred in Sebastea, Armenia as well as
to whom he entrusted the execution of all religious affairs, the bishop of the same city, St. Blaise.
he gifted the Lateran Palace to the Popes, the buildings of
St. Peter's Basilica, St. Paul's, St. Lawrence Outside the Constantine, faced with this hostile attitude towards
Walls and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Christianity, declared war on Licinius. It was not a
religious war, in reality political gains were the real The Antiochian School founder, St. Lucian of Antioch
influences, and Constantine's ambition of being master during the second half of the third century, tended to
of the whole empire. lean towards this train of thought from its beginnings.
Its adherents pondered on the one end, the unity of
The Christian's of the East received Constantine the divinity, and on the other, the excellences of Christ,
as a liberator. Licinius was assasi.. nated in Thrace but not so these would elevate Him above the level of
(9/18/324) by order of Constantine, thus becoming sole creatures.
ruler of the empire (4).
From this school came Arius, born in Libya, who
Concerning Constantine we must say that although adhered to the schism of Meletius, (bishop of Lycopolis
he was educated in religious Christian values by his in Lower Egypt,, he appropriated the rights of the
mother Helen, and from his father Constantius Chlorus patriarchy of Alexandria; was deposed in a synod, and
I, he learned the norms of good government; as to the he as well as his followers joined the Arians in common
decision of the Edict of Milan, it begs to suspect thatkis cause) (7). Arius later reconciled with the church and,
more political than religious. ordained presbyter, placed in charge, by the bishop of
Alexandria of the church in Bucalis. Of all the heresies
Free of prejudice against Christians as a result of the of arianism it was the one that most easily made its way
education received from his mother, he was able to calmly among the masses.
consider the policies followed by the great emperors
that had preceded him in their eagerness of organizing Since arianism annulled the mystery of the divinity of
the empire. The battles undertaken by Dacian, Valerian Christ, placing within the scope of human intelligence
and, above all, Diocletian against Christianity had failed oneof the most fundamental truths of Christianity, this
completely. is why it came to spread so rapidly throughput many
regions, and what became even more effective, having
The Catholic Church was already extraordinarily penetrated the invasive nations of the western empire, it
strong, therefore impossible to destroy. Would it not be tenaciously held on for a couple of centuries (8).
more advantageous for the empire itself to capitalize on
this young force? Arianism and the First Oppositions
This idea must have fascinated the noble Constantine
As the basic principle of the entire system, the doctrine
for quite some time, as the knowledge he had concerning
of Arius was based on the weighing of the absolute
Christians had led his mind towards the conviction that
unity of God, eternal, uncreated and incommunicable.
Christianity did not constitute an obstacle to the empire Beyond Him, all that exist are mere creatures of His.
and if anything it lent itself to strengthen it on new
foundations, and to maintain the empire at peace (5). From this principle we derive the fundamental and
exclusive affirmation that the Verb of Christ is not eternal
Origin of the Arian Heresy nor has he been created from the ether; nor created
through necessity, but by the will of God, the Father.
During the Third Century, the Catholic Church had to The reason of His existence was based on that it was
struggle against the monarchichistic necessary for Him to be created so that He would serve
or Sabellian mindset, which, based as an instrument to the Heavenly
on its concept of an excessive Father to create the world.
unity of divinity, destroyed the
Consequently, the Verb was not
differences of the person. of the same nature as the Father;
According to this, the Verb or He is different from the Divine
Christ was not a different person, Essence; by His own nature, as the
but rather the same father in a first of all creatures and the most
special form. excellent of all, He is above all that
was created, He has been elevated
To resist this concept in divinity, to a truly impeccable state, and
some leaned to the extreme in this manner He reaches such
opposite; they distinguished sublimity, that He merits the title of
the Verb of the Father in such God. Therefore, we can call him
a way, that they denied the God by catachresis or abuse of the
consubstantiality (applied to the extension of the word.
Holy Trinity; of one and the same His doctrine was embraced
substance) and handed it to the with benevolence, increasing
Son, in some way, less than the Arius' and his followers activity.
Father, subordinating Him (6).
From its beginning it found many initiates among the man of utmost discretion and highly trustworthy, with
helenite learned, well accustomed to the idea of the special missives for Alexander and for Arius with a most
Summus Deus, a Supreme Being, as it destroyed all the urgent request to procure a solution.
mystery of the Trinity.
All was in vain} Arius ignored all of Osius'
On the other hand many Christian theologians, who exhortations, the latter was quickly convinced that the
then were only preoccupied with the dangers of a matter was quite serious and heresy was taking important
monarchy, it resolved the difficulty in a radical manner: proportions. Thus, it seems that it was he who proposed
the "Son" did not identify with the Father, but was instead to the emperor, as a means of achieving peace and unity,
completely distinct from Him and His own creature. the convening of the Council of Nycea (11).
With this theory the arian doctrine led to the complete
destruction of the redemption and the Gospels (9). Being that it concerned the highly important matter
of achieving religious peace, he took all the appropriate
He soon arrived at a conflict with the Bishop of measures to ensure that the greatest number of
Alexandria, Alexander. Who could not convince him of representatives of the bishopric ,. would be able to
the fallacy of his doctrine; he finally had to proceed with attend.
force and in a synod of over one hundred bishops, held
in 321, the arian doctrine was condemned for the first He undertook all the expenses of travel and
time. As a result, Arius was excommunicated. accommodations in the place where the meeting
would be held. Some three hundred attended, who
This action spurred him on to defend his ideas with were mostly Eastern Christians, but among them were
greater conviction. He then went to Palestine, and later two representatives of Pope Sylvester, the Presbyters
to Nicomedia in Turkey, where he won new initiates Vitus and Vincentius and as president by virtue of his
to his cause; among the most important was Bishop office, the emperor's confidante, Osius of Cordova; the
Eusebius of Nicomedia, his champion before the Patriarch of Alexandria, Alexander, was accompanied
Emperor, as well as Eusebius of Cesarea, the historian, by St. Athanasius. Arius was present, in the company of
who, without declarihg himself an'ariahist, was always- those who shared his beliefs, among them Eusebius of
one of Arius' best sponsors. During his exile he wrote Nicomedia (12).
great quantities of memoirs and letters, but above all he
wrote his famous work Thalia in which he defended his Meeting of the Council
beliefs about the Verb (10).
The council was celebrated in the small town of
Constantine's Intervention Nycea in May, not far from Nicomedia, in Bitania
(Turkey). The opening session was presided over by the
emperor himself, and he pledged his support, charging
Such was the state of affairs towards the year of 323, them with the utmost urgency to reach a true peace.
precisely the year of his decisive victory over Licinius,
through which he believed to have eliminated the danger He placed all available means of communication at
towards religious peace, and most definitely for the the disposal of the bishops. Some three hundred were
empire that Constantine saw the need to thus intercede. in attendance, according to records that have been
He attempted various solutions, that failed completely. preserved. Arius, again was also present, and was
especially encouraged by Eusebius of Nicomedia who
The first was a letter addressed to St. Alexander, the was confident of his influence over Constantine (13).
Patriarch of Alexandria, in which he urged him to do Arius andhpeople clearly expressed his opinion that the
whatever possible to avoid those divisions. The second Verb was a creature of the Father and different from
solution was based on dispatching Osius of Cordoba, a Him in essence.
 A great number of bishops, some twenty two, This symbol was immediately proposed so that it
manifested themselves as partial to these opinions. That would be accepted by all. Emperor Constantine took
is why it was considered essential to delve deeply into it upon himself announcing that those who refused to
the arian matter and unravel the false principles upon accept it would be banished.
which it based itself.
This, without a doubt caused most of Arius' followers
The formulations of Osius of Cordoba Thesign. to Eusebius of Nicomedia himself accepted it.
only ones that stubbornly refused to sign were
(Homoousion) two bishops, Secundus of Ptolemy and Thomas of
Marmarica. Shortly thereafter, in spite of agreeing,
Eusebius of Nicomedia was
The discussions soon took on also banished. Arius also left the
an unusual liveliness. A formula empire.
proposed by the arians had to
be rejected, due to its ambiguity The results of the Council
and being favorable to their of Nycea was the greatest
ideas. Then they all attempted triumph of the true Catholic
to condense Catholic dogma on doctrine. Constantine himself,
the nature of the Verb in clear who considered the Council
expressions, taken from the as his own brainchild, and
Holy Scriptures. the doctrinal unity a work of
the empire, procured that all
But the difficulty lay in that was agreed upon in the
that all these expressions assembly, be put forth.
were explained by the arians
conforming to their system. Aside from the arian
The phrase that the Verb was matter, the council took care
ex Deo, of God, they explained of several other matters of
their way, saying that it was lesser importance: the schism
of God as all things were, but of Meletius and the matter
purely and merely a creature. of the celebration of Easter.
Their schism condemned, the
In the midst of this general Meletians took up a common
confusion and not being able cause with the arians. In the
to arrive at a formula that celebration of Easter, the
clearly expressed Catholic practice utilized in the Western
dogma, Eusebius of Cesarea proposed a symbol church was proclaimed. In addition some twenty
employed by his church; but it was seen as containing disciplinary canons were promulgated, in which the
dangerous obscurities and that it lent itself to erroneous matter of the baptism of heretics and of lapsed apostates
interpretations. from persecution (16).
Under these circumstances and after fruitless The Credo was proclaimed in Nycea, the doctrine
discussions,the formula that more clearly expressed the that was confessed in prisons, in the depth of mines,
orthodox doctrineconcerning the nature of the Verb, upon the rack, at the stake, in the arenas of the circus',
was presented. This expression is the noted word before tyrants and executioners that pluck the eyes, cut
"Homoousion" (consubstantial), which defends, along the tongue, cut off hands and feet, rend the body and
with consubstantiality, the personal distinction of the burn the heart.
Son and the Father (14).
The doctrine that was proclaimed in Nycea had
It was Osius of Cordoba who proposed it. Thus been received from the martyrs, those of the Apostles,
expressly affirmed by St. Athanasius, an exceptional the Apostles of Christ-God. This doctrine is compiled
witness in these matters. With the happy formula of by Nycea in one symbol, the so called Symbol or Credo,
Homoousion the symbol of Nycea was composed, in The Nycean Creed (17).
which the Christian doctrine would be resumed, in
particular that which refers to the Verb.
Overall Judgment
This symbol was immediately proposed in the concerning Constantine
assembly. The fundamental phrase was this one, with
which the nature of the Son is declared: genitum, non The judgment we must form on Constantine is wholly
factum, consubstantialem Patri: begotten, not made, of favorable. Politically he was a great statesman, who knew
one and the same substance as the Father (15). how to unite the empire, overcoming the innumerable
obstacles that stood in his path and succeeding in once 2. H I C., 390-391
again placing it on a solid foundation. 3. Ibid., 388-389

For the Catholic Church, Constantine was truly 4. Alvarez Gomez, Jesus, CFM, Manual of the History of the
Church, Ed. Claretiana, Buenos Aires 1982, Pg. 8 and beyond (M H I)
a magnanimous force, a man for the time who put an
5. MHI., 57.
end to once and for all the persecutions of the Roman
Empire and did so favorably in the most efficient manner. 6. MHI., 401-402
Certainly, Constantine had major faults. Even though , 7. Ibid., 472.
since his victory over Licinius he was devoutly Christian, 8. Ibid.,401.
he lacked sufficient courage to embrace the obligations
9. Ibid., 403-403.
of Christianity and he continued to postpone his baptism
up until he lay on his deathbed. 10. Ibid., 404.
11. Ibid., 404-405,
12. Ibid., 406-407.
13. Ibid., 406-407.
14. Ibid., 408.
15. Ibid., 409.
16. Ibid., 409-410.
17. Adro, Xavier, The Ecumenical Councils, Ed. Casals,
Barcelona 1961, Pg. 28
18. Ibid., 416-417,

On the other hand, he was unable to control his fits

of rage, at times committing abominable acts even for the
time, such as the murder of his son Crispus and his own
second wife Fausta on suspicion of infidelity. Finally
for his spirit of insertion in religious matters, causing
irreparable damages to the church, leaning in the final
years of his life in favor of arian heresy. Never-theless,
the services that he lent to Christianity abundantly
outweigh these deficiencies, for which he deservedly
received the ennobling appellation of "The Great" (18).
REFERENCES:
1. Bernardino Llorca, S I., History of the Catholic Church, Vol.
1, Ancient Time, Reason and Faith - Ed. S.A. Madrid, 1955, Pg. 389
and beyond ( H I C)

Ambrosio Camps Sez

Holds a degree in nursing and is the author of Ordo Fratrum Minimorum, the
convent of St. Ambrosius in Cartagena.
He tells us that they decided to establish a hospice and convent in San Anton,
just outside the ancient walls of Cartagena.
The monastery and sanctuary of Our Lady of the Light, dedicated to the
monastery along the road that joins the sanctuary of the Fuensanta (holy
fountain) with the Natural Valley Park
 The Little Death:
Mystery of Golgotha
Albert Champeau

Almost always, and regardless of the invitation A few embedded determinations in our subconscious,
involved, apprentices, neophytes or students, truly product of our education and upbringing, the social
enamored with esoteric matters, at first seek and with context where we live, or the acquired religious beliefs,
a certain zeal "magic recipes", thinking that through that must be taken into the light of conscience.
initiation alone one learns some secret powers...in reality,
it is as one immerses themselves in their search when Thus this initial cleansing process imposes the general
they discover that, in no way, can authentic formulas rearrange. ment of an entire world slumbering in its
and magic keys be moved without having understood own comfort zone. Being that, to mentally rise in the
God and creation in all their metaphysical works. architectural abstractions of God and tame this universe
of forces, itsnecessary to liberate ourselves of these
Here, we touch on architectural entities, endowed mental fixations that upset the conscience, they hold us
with intelligence and conscience, totally free, just as back, and lastly, they maintain us in the dark.
fundamental and rudimentary reflections, that are
unfettered forces, or hierarchically exhausting, cunning Controlling the conscience is the first step one
and ready to rob us of our "mercury". must take to scroll back to zero. And here, to distance
themselves, the neophyte will discard their baggage, as
Taking advantage of the ingenuousness and exhibited prescribed in traditional initiations.
haste of certain neophytes, these forces can play on this,
causing serious psychic wounds. The disconnect . is equivalent to killing the old person
within us.
For this reason it is imperative to respect some
prerequisites before delving into some magic practices.
If the fast track initiation is intended to be a strengthening
of the being, the "Id" quick and dense, whereas on the
other hand the Primordial Tradition instituted different
phases of the Alchemy of the Soul that correspond to the
different stages that the neophyte will pass through.
Proceeding towards to a task of cleansing is the
preliminary step. It involves the acknowledgment and,
of course, the abandon of those that bind and control
us, with impunity, the negative forces of the ego, the
submission to instincts, prejudices and physical or
spiritual taboos that bind us.
 It is an ennobling game where one pays with their the flight can commence. Blue cormorant, white dove,
person... since the ego, who was shameless in its peacock. Up to the grand mastership of the initiates
barefaced pride of individuality, finds itself completely burnishing.
torn apart between the forge and the fire that slowly
burns its worn framework. Whatever the path embarked upon by the neophyte

A stewof purification on low heat, that makes this in their quest, they must travel through this preliminary
stage, always, unbearably long, replete with bitterness phase, within themselves, endured as a "little death", as
and disappointments, rebellions and grudges. it is soon enough
That is why the Christlike hero of the Grail does not followed by a rebirth. In reality, and within this
face ferocious beasts or terrible dragons in the enchanted circuit there is no other access but this essential need of
forest, but instead wages combat with himself, as with alchemistic death with the objective of sublimation and
Don Quixote when faced with his illusioh. transfiguration of the self. And, paradoxically, it is not the
triumph but the failure that marks our recognition. The
In that moment, confronted with his nothingness, case of failure is primordial.
having accepted the game of replanning himself, the
individual agrees to their nakedness and enters into the The tests and the traps are here for our improvement.
terror of the mystic night. In the black silence of the To solidify our demonstrated valor. It is the game of the
absences and abandons where the being blossoms with forge. And the forge is law. This how God loves us,
a great roar over the cacophony of ones internal demons. singles us out and breathes us in until we become one
with Him.
The neophyte then enters into the experience of
the void and touches their finality, their imperfection, Contrary to what many think, confusing their desires
their inadaptability, in short the frailty of their calming with reality, Divine Law is not a good natured adaptation.
mechanism. The void produced by the loss of their
markers and old foundations and values produces a If to satisfy his limits, man projects himself in a vision
dynamic opening of awareness, that flows out over the that will provide him with security, the reality is quite
expected metamorphosis and rebirth. different: Divine Lawis divine and not human. An
inevitable consequence, as creatures we do not freely
This healthy dissolu, tion, accomplished with total establish the rules to which we are bound. And it is thus,
indifference, allows access to a higher state, exalted, and that God's oversight rules inexorably over the "opus") and
its "tool" is destiny. In truth, a determinism or philosophy symbols that surround the Divine Passage, down "here",
in the service of the law, in order to unemcumber the our path is the image of this God, meaning, Christ like.
background by means of different adjustments. And Which implies that the Passion of Christ is the way.
here, as an added aside, the course of events suffer the
consequences of our acts, and man is crucified by his Thus, in the image of the Divine Archetype, man
own destiny of which he is the sovereign character. In bears his destiny as Christ bore His Cross. Suffering is
fact, the tests follow in succession as a "savingflame", his atonement, a demanded and inevitable regimen for
as an unavoidable crucible and necessary to attain the enlightenment of his conscience and his elevation
redemption and atonement. through the cross that represents experience. It is thus
that upon his flesh, by means of the applied forges, that
To die within oneself is the seed of resurrection.
man ascends the ladder of salvation. Which is why, on
It cannot be taken as an end per se. That is why the
"little death" has never killed anyone! Because in this an initiative path, it is said with great knowledge: one
form of nothingness, one can read the signs of future must descend in order to ascend.
recovery, and regardless of what a person goes through,
So that we understand, the Light of the Lamb shows
they always find within themselves what is needed to
us the way, Die and arrive at being!. It is a light set by the
overcome. Its only a case of complicated situations, and
it's precisely in these situations where the true measure fire of alchemy, that can only burn the refuse of human
of individual greatness is measured.
There is only failure when indeed all is lost. Now
then, in the midst of the worst adversities, man is never
forsaken, and never is all lost. God is still with us,the
"Emmanuel" and He intercedes in our destiny.
For this reason, the life of man is always grave, cruel,
tragic, pathetic, but also sublime. Failure is an opening to
self reform, necessary and inescapable, as the blocked
action opens the door to all possibilities, chiefly the one
of anticipated rectification. Overcoming is how man
grows.
In truth, there can be no evolution without opposition.
Since by the rule, opposition is a spiritual critic, it is a sort
of spiritual policeman and failure must be liberated from
this subjective spell of failure from which nothing can imperfection, which inevitably requires the crucifiction
gather impulse. This positive philosophy begins at the of the undertaken matter, in the inescapable blood red
moment that one experiences failure without actually of the conquerors.If our destiny is "Christ like", it is also
suffering one, since in order for change to exist, the sacrificial. As the true path is dramatic.
obstacle must only be a moment of transition/ a mere
instant of purification, a rite of passage, an "Easter". To be the Lamb is a sign of love, sacrifice and
forgiveness, and leads to the "Rock", towards the purple.
It is the shift from slavery to freedom by means of
Golgotha lies before us, unyielding, signed the blood of
sacrifice. Just as the Pascal Lamb.
Calvary and of sacrifice. As the trial must be experienced,
Let's not forget God's example, who descended in we are obliged by nature and condition, to endure the
the Incarnation to do the work of Redemption for His darkness that disowns us, makes us ridiculous, and finally
sacrifice freely assumed... As such, if we clearly see the leads us to death. The road to Calvary is for all, relentless,
an imposed universal condition, paradoxically loaded Christian vows that were useful for advancing in this
with the greatest benefits and unimagined virtues.. alchemistic journey, do not correspond to any offering.
Unfortunately, human nature is much too frail to They cannot cause the purity of the spirit to shine,
proceed without pressures, and the experience of failure nor the humility or tolerance. And, since the same old
continues to be useful and formative. It surmises that it song, is a Non Nobis (not us) recited without thought
needs an absolutely stimulating and renewing factor which, at last, prostituted, has no authenticity.
that, in the long run, should engender an evolutionary
dynamic. The horror of change could cause us to flee, With this attitude, the neophyte appears as a granite
for lack of courage or fear, including the best reasons wall, trapped in the hardened shell of one who has
of a thousand weaknesses, because one who rejects not truly understood the game, when it was the time
confrontation retreats when faced with the effort of to clear the path that led to the cloister of light. Who
realizing something, they are destroyed and are finally does not advance, regresses. Of course, the door to this
dissolved in a dispersion of the personality. temple that they wished to know, remains completely
closed, and for them nothing can truly take place, even
The escape and surrender lead to recreating in some less:Magically!
other place, and in a more powerful way, what has not
been accepted, because what is not accepted cannot Now then to succeed in the "upper" world, and to
finally be transformed and much less sublimated. be acknowledged, then heard in his magic affairs, one
must step down, that is to say, fail in this. Accept reform
Truth always ends up imposing itself. Masks are cast of oneself...There is no other path to the transcendental
aside. state.
Its only a matter Some may reject this vision that could appear as
of time. negative, per-haps somewhat masochistic, nevertheless,
it is our awareness of God. The needs of an initiative
All conflict not Golgotha are a fatalism whose sometimes hidden reason
resolved obstructs is often incomprehensible to the profane.,,
time, which is
perceived as a To seek initiation is a difficult path, reserved for an
black bile fraught elite class, potentially stronger than the rest, who accept
with melancholy in conscience the hardships of a path of fire, made of
where all will tests, falls and, of course, of healthy rectifications.
decant and decay
in its own rhythm If not, it would involve a false tradition, a chimerical
until it inexorably initiation masked in wisdom, a sugar coated hoax,
reaches its fraught with childish illusions and devoid of any maturity
mutation. or reality.

In case that As for God, He addresses the elite souls that more
instincts hold than ever mark the cadence, being that the alchemistic
you back, pride evolution of the dry path was never made for the benefit
dominates and one cannot attain a new step of of all mankind, but instead for the minority.
gravitational acceleration.
The Templars knew this without a doubt, they who
In fact, making the Templar ethic shimmer, the three were exceptional beings...
 In summary, before one believes or brags that they poses a beautiful illusion, not without risks.
are a magician or sage, first, it behooves one to embark
on a process of initiation until they arise from the little And so, the way is always a risk of becoming lost,
death, which as we have seen is filled with virtues and, therefore it is not worthwhile to tempt the devil...
second, ascending the planes, truly learn to know the
metaphysical architectures of creation. In how many illusions has a supposedly initiative path
cloaked itself, presenting itself as a springboard to all
Playing Demiurge (in Plato's Philosophy, a spirit superiorities!
intermediate between God and the creature) tapping
into the occult powers, which is what draws everyone The truth often times is hurtful, and until now it has
rapidly to the threshold of initiation.., with all certainty, it always been imposed with blood and tears.

Albert Champeau
*Is a writer and philosopher
*Disciple and friend of Jacques Breyer in the 1980s, carrying on the
tradition.
*For the past 20 years he has dedicated himself to holding workshops
on metaphysics, and the knowledge of Templar law, connected to Templar
resurgence started by Jacques Breyer in 1952, in Arginy, France
 Baphomet:
The Countenance of the Shroud
Sebastian Carbajosa Castilla
"...The Baphomet that we worship is a human head Dr. Frale, we feel that the occasion well deserves it.
devoid of gold or silver, pale and faded, with a beard like
the Templars..." Baphomet is a bearded head that bears The Baphomet
two feet in front and two in back..."
Logically, we must commence by defining what
is "Baphomet", this concept first appears during the
process against the Templars carried out after the
aforementioned, 1307 detention ordered by Philip IV
"The Fair" (Le Beau) of France, whom going forward
shall be referred to as "The Handsome" so as not to
confuse him with his Hispanic/German homonymous.
The term Baphomet falls into oblivion until the
expoliation of the Vatican documents ordered by
Napoleon in 1810.
Its etymology is complicated, for starters, the term has
no concrete spelling, most likely due to translation into
Latin of the verbal confessions of the very process, it being
quite common to see it written as Bafomet, Baphomet,
Bafometo, Baffometto, etc..., and much has been said
as to its tetymologlcal meaning, it is-dommonly accepted
that it is the composition of the Greek words "Bapho"
and "Meteos", which mean, respectively "baptism" and
"adoration". Others say that it is the defacing of the
term "Mahomet", which in the Oc language (Provensal)
means "Mahoma"
Such confessions were professed by some of the (Mohammed), this all fits in conveniently with Philip's
Knights of the Order of the Temple following their arrest own fabricated accusation of idolatry and heresy, more
on Friday the 13th of October 1307 after being accused than probably related to Islam, as it was well known that
of idolatry. during a great part of the Order's existence they were
It was the historian Ian Wilson in his 1979 book, defenders and protectors of all three cultures: Christian,
"The Shroud of Turin", to be the first to formulate this Islamic and Judaic, that coexisted peacefully in a good
theory that the idol worshipped by the Templars was in part of their commanderies.
fact, none other than the Holy Shroud that is displayed In 1982 Henry Lincoln, along with Michael Baigent
today in Turin. and Richard Leigh, in his book "The Sacred Enigma" (The
Yet another reason on this historic occasion, to Holy Blood & The Holy Grail)" pointed out that it could
silence the controversy as to its authenticity or, at least, be a derivative of the Arab word "Abufihamet", which
to question the reliability of the, worn out, Carbon 14 means "Father (or source) of Knowledge". More daring
test that it has been subjected to. are the ones that want to see alchemistic abridgments or
a connection of this word to the philosophical stone.
Novi. this hypothesis of Wilson's is being revisited in
light of the latest investigations by another historian,Dr. Its form, as gathered from the confessions of the
Barbara Frale recently published in Spain in her opus: brothers, is that of a "bearded head". The wrong idea
The Templars and the Holy Shroud" (I Templari e la of a Baphomet of diabolical aspect comes from the
Sindone di Cristo".) Once again, controversy is served. French occultist Eliphas Levi (real name Alphonse Louis
Constant), who in 1854, published a book titled "Dogma
After our trip to Turin last year, in the first place, and and Ritual of High Magic", where he reproduces an
the recent appearance of the above mentioned book by illustration of the term that has passed down through
history because, quite often, a picture is indeed worth singular presence of these split bearded heads.
more than a thousand words; since then relating the
Templar idol with the graphic image of the devil is little
less than unavoidable.
One may also observe bearded heads in the
Hermitage of Santa Maria de Eunate in Navarre, 12th
century and octagonal shaped, obviously of Templar
origin, and I myself have observed some in St. Pantaleon
de Losa and Santa Maria de Siones, both 12th century
and located in Las Merindades, province of Burgos. But
these last examples are not as clear, they are not located
in the keystone nor do they coincide with the esthetics of
the previous ones.
In order to speak of authentic "Baphomets" we would
need to arrive at the 13th century, we will soon see why.

The Shroud and the Templars

The so called "Sindone di Torino" or the Holy
Shroud that is in Turin, precisely in the Royal Chapel
At any rate, the knowledge of this idol, did not seem of the Cathedral of St.
to be common among all the members of the Order, John the Baptist, is an
Dr. Frale gathers in her cited work, that of the 1,114 ancient linen cloth,
registered confessions, only 130 refer to the image. yellowed with time,
that reproduces, both
Nevertheless, the image of its cult is evident in in back and front, the
architecture, being quite common to see bearded heads faint and reddish image
in churches, in the form of bas reliefs that, often, are of a bearded man in full
located in the so called "keystone", which is, the central figure who seems to lay
stone that supports the arch crowning the entrance to after death, displaying
the temple, which,ih my view, allows the belief that the a series of wounds that
Baphomet constituted a central idea in their beliefs, it are compatible with
is also my opinion that one can discard the belief that what tradition and
said idol has anything to do with alchemy because quite the Gospels narrate to
often bearded heads are observed as isolated, meaning, have been endured by
without the company of other figures that would make Jesus of Nazareth.
one think of any chemical formula.
It actually measures
In Spain there exist three basreliefs of this type, in 4 X 36 meters in length
the Church of Vera Cruz in Segovia, in Santa Maria de by 1 X 11 meters
Castillo in Fregenal de la Sierra (Badajoz) (bah-dah-
wide but, given linen's
hose) and the one in Santa Maria del Alcazar in Arjona
flexibility, it most
(ahr-ho-nah), Jan .
likely stretched with
All of them from the time and, if it originated in the 1st century, it possibly
latter part of the 13th conformed to a standard measurement which according
century; curiously the last to Dr. Frale, was 8 X 2 Syrian cubits (measurement of
of these is not of Templar the time equivalent to 44.7 cm) a cubit was a measure of
origin, but of Calatravan length equal to the distance from the elbow to the end
(order of), which gives us of the middle finger.
a glimpse of the existing
relationship between the The shroud also shows as well, the damage produced
two orders. by having suffered through various fires.

Personally I have had
the opportunity to visit
both the Fregenal and
Arjona churches and have
been able to observe,
crowning the archways
of their entrances, the
The first time that its existence is discovered, as such
is in 1353 in Lirey, France, the local Lord donates said
cloth to the collegiate church that he had just founded,
there exists evidence of skepticism concerning the relic
on the part of the local bishop (in D'Arcis) in a missive
to the Pope dated 1389. The Lord of Lirey was one
Geoffroy de Charny.
 numerous fragments of the "Lignum Crucis" (wooden
cross)..., and including beyond Christianity proper, if we
pay heed to the writings of Procopius of Caesarea, there
also were mythical objects of Judaism such as the great
Menorah, the Trumpets of Jericho and the so called
Solomon's Table.
The Shroud was kept at that time, in the Basilica of
St. Mary of Blachernae, as stated by Crusader Robert de
Clari in his chronicle "The Conquest of Constantinople",
where it was vertically displayed so that the people could
see the full figure of Jesus Christ. After the pillaging of
the city, he himself states that none ever knew what
became of it. If it fell into Templar hands, these would
not speak of it, as Pope Innocent III had launched a
penalty of excommunication against the spoliators of
Constantinople, it is quite probable that because of this,
as well, its possession was unknown by a majority of the
Templars.
Among the knights that took part in the taking of
Constantinople, was Othon de la Roche.
Curiously the lord of a fiefdom near Athens that also
had an abbey in Dafnis which was renamed as St. Mary
It was precisely his name that placed the Templars,
as custodians of the Shroud, in the sights of the
aforementioned British historian Ian Wilson, as the
coincidence is quite evident, of Geoffroy de Charny,
Chief Seneschal of the last Grand Master of the Temple,
Jacques de Molay, and arrested at the same time in
1307 and sentenced together with the latter in 1314.
Although some argue that the surname differs , one must
say that, both show up as Charny, Charnay, Charnayo,
Charniaco, etc. in different documents.
The connection seems evident, But, how came the
Shroud into the hands of our Poor Knights?
We find the answer at the beginning of the 13th
century, during the Fourth Crusade, it commences with
great economic woes, which is why on the journey
to Jerusalem, where they would never arrive, the
Crusaders stopped in Constantinople to reinstate the
ousted emperor Alexios IV Angelos in exchange for
payment.
When they arrive, the latter has already been
rejected by the people and the situation became further
complicated after the coup and assassination of the
emperor by the hand of a public official named Alexius
Murzuphlus, who installs himself as Alexios V Doukas, of Blachernae, making reference to the same, in diverse
who refused to pay the debts of his predecessor, which documents, Pope Innocent III himself; in her exhaustive
led to the attack and plundering of the city, which would body of investigation, Dr. Frale, highlights a document
never recover, this occurred between the 14th and 16th dated in 1205 where a member of the Imperial Byzantine
of April in 1204. family beseech the aforementioned pope for the return
of at least, the most important relics, referencing among
It is said that Constantinople, subsequent to the search them the Shroud of Christ that, according to him, was in
embarked upon by St. Helena, mother of Constantine the custody of Othon de la Roche.
the Great, possessed at least half of the Christian relics:
the Crown of Thorns, the sponge used at the cross, The Sindon (shroud), following Dr. Frale's reasoning,
had been in the possession of the de la Roche family until
a high dignitary of the Temple, belonging to the above
mentioned family, Amaury de la Roche had turned it
over to the Order perhaps in exchange for capital to
finance military campaigns, perhaps for hierarchical
reasons; we must not forget the hypothesis defended by
other investigators, among these, Julio Marvizon, that in
Lirey the actual owner of the cloth was Jeanne de Vergy
and not her husband Geoffroy de Charny, thanks to a
medal of that time that represents the Shroud with the
heraldic devices of both, at a time when women were
not granted much importance.
Be that as it may, the Holy Shroud would return
to the de la Roche family thanks to the marriage of
their daughter, Marguerite, to Humbert de Villersexel,
Comte de la Roche, who at that time held a fiefdom
in St. Hippolyte Sur le Doubs, where it would remain
until the family relinquished it to the Royal House of
Savoy. We illustrate this work with stained glass images
from Humbert's 14th century church, that represent.,,,
his ancestor Othon in Templar garb, bearing the Holy
Shroud in his hands.
According to Dr. Frale's theory, the Templars would
have accorded our linen the status of a major relic, with
which to consecrate certain cords that they displayed
on their attire, which they could not fail to wear, and
which dated to the time of Bernard de Clairvaux,
and in ancient times they were passed through the
Holy Sepulcher up until the loss of Jerusalem in 1187
subsequent to the Battle of the Horns of Hattin. Besides
the references to Baphomet in the confessions, it is worth
highlighting, among the proofs mentioned in Dr. Frale's
work, a reference to a hitherto unpublished document,
whereupon a Templar named Arnaut Sabbatier, in his
investiture to the Order, is shown a length of cloth with
the full figure of Christ upon it which he worships kissing
the feet three times.
The Mandylion and the Tetradyplon
Of all that has been said some questions arise, for
example: what does our "bearded head" have to do
with a linen that dis plays a full figure (of Jesus of
Nazareth) front and back and how did the Shroud
come to Constantinople? Both are answered with the
"Mandylion acheiropoieton", which literally means
"towel not wrought by human hand".
The Mandylion is a small cloth that displayed the
image of a bearded head that, is not only associated with
Jesus, but it is also, fundamentally believed, that it was
the one that altered all the iconography of a "beardless"
Christ, Good Shepherd of Primitive Christianity, to the
bearded countenance that we see today; It appears
in Edessa, today the Turkish city of Urfa, around the
beginning of the 6th century, according to a legend it
was supposedly found by a bishop named Eulalius,
tucked away withinra ruined wall, but its existence is
dated to 544, thanks to the "Ecclesiastic History" of
Evagrius, whera a reference is made to said cloth, as we
are informed by Julio Marvizoin in his book "The Holy
Shroud, Miraculous Falsehood?".
The arrival of said relic in Edessa, is traditionally
explained( in the legend of King Abgar (Abgar V The
Black), diseased king, probably with leprosy, who at the
time of Jesus and aware of His miracles, implores His
services, the latter, not being able to leave Palestinian
lands, would probably have sent the sacred cloth, with
which the king would have healed.
In reality, there is no evidence that Edessa would
have embraced Christianity until the reign of Abgar IX,
around the year 200 AD, therefore, although legends
almost always bear some trace of an arcane truth, we
do not exactly know when the "Mandylion" came to this
city.
 Studies carried out in 2008, relative to the water stains the time, that the Mandylion was stored in a reliquary
on the Sindon, that were thought to have originated covered by a framework that left only the face visible.
at the time of the Chambery blaze, show that these
stains are from a much earlier time, and that the cloth The most probable reason for this, was to conceal
was not precisely folded, as in that time, but instead in that the representation was in truth, a burial shroud, as
overlapping layers, indicating perhaps, that it had been Christianity, in its beginnings, was a Jewish sect and for
stored in a cylindrical receptacle, which, Dr. Frale tells them anything that had been in contact with a cadaver
us, would coincide with the discovery of the amphorae was considered impure. Later on, Edessa embraced
Islam, whereby a Byzantine army raided the city in the
diccovered at Qumran that contained the Dead Sea
year 943, seizing the relic which was then brough* to
Scrolls, a hypothesis that would explain where the relic
Constantinople.
was located at the dawn of Christianity.
But how both relics are 'elated, Shroud and The Holy Face and the Veronica
Mandylion, We must say that the homily of the Vatican
Greek Codex # 511, describes that the Mandylion
bore, besides the face,the outline of the thorax and the
evidence of the lance wound.
On the other hand, one of the versions of the legend
of Abgar, specifically one attributed to Addai, refers to the
Mandylion as "Tetradyplon", a term that means,"folded
four times in two"; effectively, when the cloth is folded
four times, only the head would be visible and little else.

We would not be able to conclude our work on the

Baphomet of the Templars without speaking of the Holy
Face.
On one of our trips we were able to visit the Cathedral
of the Ascension of the Virgin in Jaen, and there we
were able to view one of them, as there are five in total,
three are in Spain: besides the one in Jaen there is one in
Honrubia, in Cuenca and one in Alicante, and outside
of our country, one in St. Peter's in Rome and one in
Sacre Coeur in Paris.
All are of mythical origin, that connects them to King
Abgar, as well as with St. Veronica...it is even said that one
of them is the authentic Mandylion of Edessa, although
Its also curious, that to proceed in this manner with in reality these and some others, are but pictographic
the shroud, lifting the head from behind, we would Byzantine representations done on wood or fabric, of
encounter the image of feet from the rear, and to do the this last relic.
same from the front, with the previous image reversed In our journey to the Manifestation of the Holy
to show the front of the feet, as we already know that Shroud, in Turin, we were able to view copies of some
the cloth bears both the full images of the figure, front of them in our stop at the Museum of the Shroud.
and back; as a matter of fact, remember the Templar's
confession that we spoke of at the beginning? it is a fact, A bit more or less of the same could be said of the
just as it can be seen in the artistic representations of "Veil of Veronica" or Sudarium: According to traditional
lore, a woman was present on the road to Calvary, who town now part of Spain, but previously called Lusa
wiped the perspiration on Jesus' face with her head (Portugal), there we observed the existence of a ritual,
covering, which left an image. called Paderinha (pah-deh-reenya), which consists of
some young maidens, dressed in period costumes of
In truth, the only constant of this pious woman is
that time, and emulating said woman, carry a cloth with
in the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus, not written
an image of the face of Jesus, in a procession, and it is
before the year 150AD and which belongs to a group of
texts found in Naj-Hammadi. Marvizdn explains to us even surrounded by a framework, just as the relic of
in his work that Veronica is but a corruption of the Latin the Mandylion. It would also not be unusual, to see that
term "Vera Icona", that is to say, true image, referring, the same cords worn by the knights on their habits, new
with these terms, once again to the same thing; copies images and cloths would be blessed by touching them to
of the icon on the Mandylion and that surely, said saint the image of Christ.
never existed.
REFERENCES Books:
On the other hand, Ian Wilson, referring to our
The Templars and the Holy Shroud (I Templari e la
Knights of Christ and their Baphomet, presents us, with Sindone di Cristo) Barbara Frale, 2009 1st Ed. in Spanish by
the Templars tablet discovered in Templecombe, the Aliana Ed. S.A. April 2011
idea of these pictographic representations of bearded
heads are nothing but references to the idol upon which The Turin Shroud, Ian Wilson - London Ed. 1979
our work is centered; we should point out that all the
churches that dispute over the Holy Face are situated in The Holy Shroud, Miraculous Falsehood? - Julio
regions connected to the Temple and could be nothing Marvizon Preney, Giralda Ed. 1996
else except a hidden cult to our bearded head that, as we The Sacred Enigma (The Holy Blood & the Holy Grail),
have previously stated, was not known to all members of Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, Henry Lincoln, 1982
the Order.
Articles:
The same could be said of the Veil of Veronica, as in
one of our visits to Templar enclaves in the Commandery Templars, Guardians of the Holy Shroud? - Adriano
of Jerez de los Caballeros, specifically in Olivenza, a Forgione, Beyond Science # 248, M. C. Ed., 2010.

Sebastian Carbajosa Castilla

Member of the Sovereign Brotherhood of the Knights and Dames Templar.
Editor of Unusual and mysterious phenomena,
Contributing author to "Voices of Mystery.; "Kaleidoscope" and "Beyond Science".
Historian and investigator on the History of the Temple.
Student of Medicine and Anthropology.
 Initiation Trip
to Jerusalem
Anselmo Hermes Almada
Abstract: design, not very flashy but well built and ornamental.

Within this brief context I wish to relate and share Its is a style typical of the region, where almost
some experiences be it with photographs and/or text, always the structure is square and the carved stonework
concerning my journey to the Holy Land. can be seen in each construction that give them a very
handsome appearance.
I have no words to describe how beautiful, how
historic, how mystical the time that I spent in this blessed Within this city, one notices great civility, they are
place. very attentive and respectful regarding how traffic is
directed within the city.
It is a place charged with energy, felt in the air, it
is the place where it all began, where the bloodiest A place of openess where one can breathe fresh
battles unfolded through centuries for possession of this air and take leisurely strolls or read a book and/or take
sacred land, only the persons that.were there can speak pictures because the city deserves it.
of the anecdotes and day to day occurrences, one can
also learn how affairs unfolded as they happened and The Jordan where Our Lord
evolved through time and how Jerusalem is today.
Jesus Christ was baptized.
Modern Jerusalem
A mystical place not only because of its blue/green
Breathtaking and elegant high rise buildings can be color and no rubbish or debris whatsoever, but because
seen in the city, of various contemporary colors and it was in this place that Our Lord Jesus Christ was

baptized (according to Google) when he was 30, by the

Apostle John "The Baptist".

King Solomon's Mines

 Jerusalem: Actual History
There has been no peace for some 2000 years in this
most sacred of places in the world, where more blood
has been shed, a place where the three worldly religions
of Christianity, Judaism and Islam, have caused this city
to be the center of bitter dispute, all want to possess it for
the fact that it is as I stated the most sacred place in the
world and unfortunately it is referred to as the "Princess
of Peace".

According to studies carried out and keeping in mind

that it was conquered 11 times, totally destroyed 5 times,
The Garden of Gethsemane while all the time its ruins continue to harbor all the past
events, all who come here bring their own culture and
In the illustration we can appreciate the myriad forest customs and they impose them until there is insurrection
of trees where one can appreciate by their appearance, and it commences anew.
their antiquity, one of these in the photo below right, has
an inscribed plaque marking the 1964 visit of Pope Paul
VI and that was 52 years ago. We can also observe that
the garden is quite vibrant and healthy, bearing in mind
the other trees of the same species.
The site occupies approximately 1200 square meters
and according to history, it was where Our Lord Jesus
offered his last prayers before surrendering to the
centurions that would eventually crucify Him. The word
Gethsemane, originates from the ancient Hebrew word
"Gatshemanin" (oil mill). This garden is truly a place of
great peace, as its custodians are the Franciscans.

The Romans came and they set fire to it, and to this
day it remains so, th earth calcareous and dry, those
using advanced technology and the will and desire to
have something beautiful and good have managed
somewhat to reverse this situation, so much so that they
have become one of the world's premier exporters of
produce and tropical fruit.
Well let us proceed to what interests usieager to
see all the stages that blessed Jerusalem has been put
through, later came the Byzantine Empress Helena,
seeking the holy places and she found them, the Holy
Sepulcher, being from that moment on, one of the most
visited sites in the world.
The City was retaken by Christian Crusaders in the
year of 1099, whereupon in 1187, the Sultan Salahuddin
returned with his hordes and drove out the Frankish
knights, who had governed there for nearly 500 years, in
1917 the English army entered the city to govern it and
since 1948 Jordan and Israel battle .boldly for control
of the "Holy City", whereby a resolution by the United
Nations an armistice was reached and a division was
made of a nation that had been one for thousands of
years.
again pray on this site.
The Wailing Wall
In this place it is as if time has stood still, or as if one is
The Jordanians of that time decreed that the Jews
in another dimension, as a place, where thousands upon
could no longer pray before the holiest site for the
thousands A Am fict of people from all over the
Hebrew people, that is the Wailing Wall.
world have visited and in antiquity it has been assailed
This wall is the only one remaining of the great temple by numerous armies and still it stands and 14 P194-9
destroyed by the Romans in 70AD, following a major brandishing its own banner that we all know, within that
Jewish uprising, that temple had endured some 400 context ,that is called Holy Land, time stands still, none
years. According to legend when the legions of Emperor look at each de other only you and your world.
Titus destroyed the temple, only a section of the outer
It is a strange sensation that invades our being by the
wall remained standing.
mere fact that you are in this land, for its rich, sacrificed,
wounded and suffered history that even today,
never ceases to be told by different people, editorials,
enterprises dedicated to these subjects because each day
is a different word and everyone tells it their own way,
this is the reason why it is a city with its story that never
ends ...People, one must visit it once, twice and ten times
because every day its a different story.

Christian Sanctuaries
The Holy Sepulcher and Mount Calvary are one
and the same, and it is managed by a Muslim family
and is represented by all architectural styles of theast
1000 years. One of the chapels is built on the Rock of
Golgotha.
Titus left this section intact so that the Jews would The moment where after 550 years we gloss over all
retain the bitter memory that Rome had triumphed over the explanations and the contents and I find that in the
Judea and from there comes the name "Wailing Wall". different places that I have lectured, there is not much of
The Jews attributed this to God through a promise a variation, thus I leave all as is.
that at least one section of the sacred temple would
endure as a symbol of the perpetual covenant with the
people of Israel.
Jews have prayed at this wall for 2000 years, believing
that this is the most holy place on earth, being that they
cannot enter the interior of the Esplanade of Mosques,
which would be the most sacred of all.
The Hebrew people were forbidden to recite their
prayers in this place, a place that they had reclaimed
after the Roman destruction, and not again until the war
of 1967, when the Israeli army achieved the conquest
of the ancient city of Jerusalem, thus being able to once
 In this place time ceases to exist, one is not tired,
there is only a yearning to know what is hidden or what
is within, one bristles with curiosity wanting to know,
what it is, who it was, how did it all unfold and one is
transported to that time and does not cease to be historic,
sentiment, feeling and imagination.
I still cannot comprehend the squabbling among
the different faiths over the control of this most sacred
place, the encounters range from verbal attacks as
well as physical including violent knife fights, or as it
is commonly referred to as "marking ones territory"
and none of them retreat, not even out of respect for
such hallowed ground, even though they are all adults,
cordiality. friendliness, brotherhood and patience are
non existent, not to mention kindness.
In this place an inch is an inch and all three factions
are zealously watching for any offering that may end up
in the wrong plate.
The Holy Sepulcher is managed by the three
Christian churches: the Catholic, the Greek Orthodox
A depression framed in silver marks the supposed and the Armenian. It seems that through some sort of
spot where the Crossp once stood. research they have fixed the precise location of the holy
sites, including all that refers to the Church of the Holy
Beneath the dome of the church there is a small
marble chapel with an atrium, the so called chapel of
the angel.
Within it the stone that the angels moved from the
entrance of the sepulcher is kept. Behind the Holy
Sepulcher, in a very close space, which at most could
accommodate four persons.
The air is filled with clouds of incense. It is illuminated
by 43 beautiful oil lamps, each one belonging to one of
the Christian factions.
The walls are dressed in marble. The pilgrims, deep
in prayer, kneel before the stone in the tomb where it is
beleTved the body of Christ reposed.
Below, the painting shows th stone where Jesus body Sepulcher, although there is still much disagreement if it
was covered with a linen cloth. was truly built over Calvary and the tomb of Joseph of
Arimathea.

Basilica of the Holy Cross

of Jerusalem.

Or This is one of the Roman basilicas and the most

devotional of Rome that form part of the seven churches
that are said to be connected to St. Helena, mother of
Constantine, who made her residence there.
It is said that the emperor ordered a church to be
built, In Palattio Sessoriano. The Sessorium was a place
where sentencing was carried out and on one of her
return trips to Rome (St. Helena) brought, among other Entering through the Jaffa gate, our footsteps take
relics, the True Cross. us throughe. Christian quarter and to the basilica of the
Holy Sepulcher.
Thus, in the 4th century the construction of said
church had begun in the pallatio.

There exists a mountain of conjectures which i believe

are valid to cite: St. Helena arrived with an army to
locate the Holy Sepulcher and meandering throughout
the city she located an old Jewish man whom after
being tortured (put in a well to die of hunger), revealed
its whereabouts and that it measured fifteen feet long This edifice is enormous, although seen from outside,
by eight wide, a piece of the cross of Christ that she and because of the surrounding buildings it is impossible
acknow-ledged, for it had been touched to a dying man to distinguish where one begins or ends as the buildings
and he instantly rellied.
One of the nails is kept in Carpentoria (Venice),
another in the Duomo of Milan, a third one was set
into the crown of her son Constantine that afterwards
was gifted to the Roman Church of the Holy Cross of
Jerusalem, the fourth one is said to have been cast into
the Adriatic by order of this princess to calm a furious
tempest, and which arose afterwards and is now in Paris
in the chapel of the Church of St. Dyonisius.
The crown of thorns and the blood is also in the
Paris chapel. The plaque that was inscribed Jesus of
Nazareth, king of the Jews (INRI), is said to have been
sent to Rome by St. Helena and is now located in the
Church of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem.
The spear that pierced his side is in the Vatican. The
sponge dipped in vinegar was divided in two, half is
in Rome and the other in the Paris chapel. The Holy closely resemble one another and one must be very
Shroud is in the Metropoltan church in Torino, Italy. focused as to what one is seeing and what unfolded in
this place.
In that moment, being so close to the Creator, one
The Old City of Jerusalem - Jaffa wants to shout, weep, laugh, applaud, leap, in short
give free rein to our emotions, one leaves their natural
I have said that I do not know Jerusalem and I am state and enters a moment where the mind and the
left with the desire to express what I have seen and body blend and nothing responds, feelings of anxiety,
felt, which is a unique sensation within itself because
goodness, forgiveness, humanity, a return to infancy or a
everything, every step, every place is unique and never
wizened old soul full of experience...indescribable!
repeated.
 Sepulcher of the Virgin Mary Royal Temple and it is believed that they discovered the
Ark of the Covenant which contained within: the Staff

of Aaron, the Holy Grail and the Laws of God or Moses

tablets).
Tomb of King David Later on, Baldwin II installed them in a palace near
the temple, whereupon they took the name of Knights of
the Temple or Templars.

As it is known, the Templars wore a distinctive white

mantle with a red patee cross on its left shoulder (equal
beams with four extremes flared) as well as a white
tunic over their armor displaying the same cross upon
the breast.

They were the best of the best in terms of military

training, which is why they also took part in diverse
battles in Spain against Islam, receiving thus numerous
donations and land grants where they built churches,
hospitals and commanderies all throughout the Iberian
Peninsula.

The Order of the Templars In 1134 King Alfonso I of Aragon willed his entire
kingdom to the Order, which they refused in exchange for
According to what I have read on various sites, they abundant lands and castles, among them the Fortress of
state that the future Order of the Templars was founded Monzn, which would become General Headquarters
in Jerusalem in the year of Our Lord 1118 by Hugh of the Templars in Aragonese lands.
de Payens in the company of eight other French knights,
under the name of the Poor Companions of Christ (these
gentlemen had had taken part in the Crusades for the
liberation of the city of Jerusalem, the fierce defense of
Palestine and therefore Constantinople, key location for
commerce, they, weary of battle, decide to retire from
this burden, after its foundation), one of its principal
goals of execution being the safe passage of pilgrims and
merchants that traveled to Jerusalem as much as to visit
the holy sites, as the ones who dedicated themselves to
commerce with their purchases and sales.
King Baldwin II headquartered these men in an old
palace near the ancient temple of Solomon (it is said
that within this abandoned palace they, during their
modification, excavated and discovered Solomon's
 In those times they not only were committed to
protecting those coming and going, but they also
functioned as bankers, the non combatant members
of the Order created a complex economic structure
throughout the Christian world, creating new financial
practices that constituted a primitive form of modern
accounting practices, as well as the first use of letters of
credit. (the people paying for protection deposited their
cash or goods, allowing the traveler to make the tri p
without the need to carry gold and silver coins. This
system brought great wealth to the Order).
When Christians were driven out of Palestine, the
Templars retreated to Cyprus.
Ancient Templar Fortress
This Templar fortress was an obligatory rest stop of
any merchant or pilgrim on the way to Jerusalem, later
they would be accompanied by one or several military
monks (Templars), after paying the protection fee for
themselves and the tariff on their goods of course, this
site is approximately some thirty kilometers from the city
and stands alongside of a stream that exists to this day.

Templar inn to welcome pilgrims

arriving in Jerusalem
On the Iberian Peninsula they settled in Catalonia,
Aragon and Navarre.
They were in charge of defending frontiers and
participated in numerous campaigns against the Moors
in Spain (conquest of Lerida, Tortosa, Valencia, Majorca,
etc.), thus acquiring greater wealth and this did not go
without notice by the various kingdoms and scrutinized
as a serious threat to their own thrones and power.
So much so that Phillip IV of France, who was deeply
in debt to the Templars and so plotted. a way to not only
default but also to destroy the Order in the process. He
set up an elaborate scheme of lies and slanders designed
to discredit and destroy the Order's reputation, thus
resulting in charges of heresy, blasphemy and sodomy. A
weak willed puppet of a pope, Clement V, condemned
the Order and the die was cast.
Phillip had also coveted the Templars vast wealth and
proceeded to have all Templars in France arrested and
tortured into giving forced confessions, not allowing them
to mount a defense or voice their innocence, eventually
leading them to be burned alive on a stake. Their Symbols
Among those condemned was the Grand Master, Their seal, the Sigillum Militium Christi (Seal of the
Jacques de Molay. After all this effort, Phillip found Militia of Christ), represents two knights astride a single
almost nothing of their wealth which gave way to horse, thus alluding to their poverty.
the legend that persists to this day...where did all that
treasure go? The Knights Templar were forbidden to surrender to
infidels, which is why they rarely suffered capture in any you look, you will not see it if you are not prepared to.
battle.
One just has to look at the monuments that exist
Their rule would not allow their ransom, so their and it is as plain as day, but not obvious if you do not
only options were to succeed or die trying. This made look closely and carefully, how was it made, what tools
them especially dauntless, fierce, highly disciplined and were used and who created them with such a degree of
terrifying in combat. precision is all a secret, i will point out that some of these
The appearance of the Templars red crosses on a cathedrals are 1000 years old or more.
battlefield, would strike terror and fear the enemy and
rejoicing among Christian soldiers for some 200 years.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
It is said that their battle flag is kept in the General
Archives of the National Library of France, guarded by Google.com.py.
"seven locks", and along with the seal of the "Secretum
Templi" and the letter (order) from Phillip IV as well as Infobae.com.ar
several others, including the one sent to Grand Master
Taringa.net
Jacques de Molay, summoning him to come to Paris
immediately from Jerusalem. If DeMolay was the The Grail review
number one man...the supreme master of the Order,
who or what was the "Secretum Templi" and what did it Mega Post
order him to do?...interesting conjectures.
Sepulcro.custodia.org
There exists proof, both historical and archaeological
as well that show that not all is as it seems and the Trajinando por el mundo (wandering the world)
invisible is always in front of your eyes which even as mgar.net/var/templarios.htm

Anselmo Hermes Almada Almirn

B.A. in Science and Letters

Law Faculty, Social and Political Sciences Attorney and specialized
notary
Investigator on the Order of the Temple
Knight Templar of the Sovereign Brotherhood of Dames and Knights
Templar, OSMTJ International
 The Expansion of Christianity
during the Roman Empire
Juan Antonio Cabezos Eneas

Several months ago I had the honor of attending a was born in that century as well as the culture of the
lecture presented by Knight Templar Pedro.. Lopez on masses.
Christianity and this occasion has been the motivation of
awakening my interest on this subject, which like many Mankind has changed and institutions will also, but
others, lay dormant. did religious institutions effect this change?

The question is key...How could Christianity spread Religious institutions such as Anglican, Calvinist,
in a society such as the Roman one where there was Orthodox, Roman Catholic and others fell behind when
an abundance of religions and therefore of spiritual faced with the cultural revolution that was taking place
offerings? in the 19th century, giving way to cultural renovation,
adapting to new historic circumstances, that were not
An easy question to pose and difficult but not impossible coming from religious institutions, but instead from
to answer because for centuries the economic base of society itself, more languid this time than before.
civilizations has been agriculture thus mankind prior to
the Industrial Revolution had basically equal cultural Three great minds revolutionized society, the first
parameters, on the margins of society where they lived a Darwin with his theory on evolution in his Origin of
sedentary life, barely traveling and with scant knowledge Species, opening the doors of genetic investigation that
of the outside world, developing an oral history and sowed spiritual restlessness among readers and non
facing minorities that developed a written one. readers of his theory and in addition it gave way to the
intellectual debate, as proof, shown in Bertrand Russel's
This illiterate and sedentary segment, therefore book, Why am I not Christian? or the book, Why I am a
could not read nor write, but cultured nonetheless, as Christian by the Spanish philosopher and professor, Dr.
they possessed an oral culture, it changed as the first Jose Antonio Marina.
industrial revolution was stabilizing and developing and
with the triumph of this revolution came the second one, The second great mind that sowed restlessness was
and with it, the possibility of traveling in one of the great the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche when he
inventions that the 19th century brought to society: the wrote on the need to create a superior man or when he
railroad, albeit the top speed being reached was some spoke of the cultural inversion caused by Christians.
20 kilometers per hour.
And lastly the combined philosophies of Karl Marx
If people can travel then also ideas that always and Friedrich Engels that made one of the major
accompany mankind can do so as well, also education, contributions to history, we refer to historic materialism
which spreads and opens to the middle and working and class struggles.
classes. The 19th century created a group of citizens
I have pointed out that these great thinkers seeded
eager to know and learn and for this reason journalism
 Christianity places this salvation in a future life,
following physical death, in heaven. Socialism places it
in this world, in a transformation of society... (4)
On the other hand students of Christianity do not
share Engels idea, rejecting that it was the religions
of slaves and placing cultural values over social ones,
Werner Jaeger tells us "With the use of Greek an entire
world of concepts penetrate into the Christian mind,
intellectual categories, inherited metaphors and subtle
connotations.
The obvious explanation reached is the rapid
assimilation of its climate effected by the first Christian
generations is, of course: that Christianity was a Jewish
movement and the Jews were already helenized (well
spiritual questions in the minds of the elite intellectuals versed in Greek culture, language, thoughts, etc,) in the
of the time as much for their intellectual contributions as time of St. Paul; not only the Jews of the Diaspora but
well as their opinions on Christianity. also, in great measure, the ones of Palestine itself and
to this helenized portion of the Jewish people that the
They constitute ideological contributions because Christian missionaries would first turn to". (5)
they lack the scientific tools of 21st century investigators.
Nietzsche approached Christianity when, in his
work "Genealogy of Morality", gave us the origin of the
concept of good and evil detaching it from unselfishness;
for him the origin of good is in relation to the dominant
or ruling class.
On the contrary, it were the good ones themselves,
these, that is, the nobility, the powerful ones, the ones
of position and elevated feelings who saw and valued
themselves and their actions as good, as something of
superior rank, before all the lowest, servile, vulgar and
common. From that point of view of distancing, they
self confirmed the right to create values and to establish
terms of worth". (1)
The approach to Christianity comes about when the Therefore they did not expand via the working classes
inversion of conciliatory values brought by the Jewish in Engels words or slaves for that matter but rather
people, "That society of priests" (2), and continued by during the 1st century they flourished and spread in the
Christianity and which translates into the rebellion of regions of helenized Jews, that is to say the cultured
the slaves against morality; therefore, Nietzsche relates ones exposed to superior Greek culture, in fact, "The
Christianity with slavery and the triumph if it begets name of the new sect, christianoi originated in the Greek
the rebellion of the slaves. Nietzsche is categorical "Let city of Antioch..." (6)
us embrace the facts. The people (slaves, the flock,
After the Second World War the world divided
commoners, or whatever) have won". (3)
among the ones that practiced the class struggle, basically
Friedrich Engels, partner of Karl Marx explained the the dictatorships of the proletariat, and the ones that
rise of Christianity through the use of the historic method practiced the politics of the welfare state. To these two
of the struggle of the classes; for Engels, Christianity was were joined a third: the de colonization of Africa et Asia.
the religion of slaves.
De colonization made it possible for the struggle of
The history of primitive Christianity has noteworthy the masses to extend throughout the Third World, that
points of similarity with the modern movement of the is to say through the world that was engaged in acquiring
working class. political independence from Europe, and for the United
States to react before said expansion.
Like the latter, Christianity at its inception, was a
movement of an oppressed mankind: at first it seemed When that occurred, which was the Cold War era,
to be the religion of slaves and freed men, of the poor the United States was forced to find an idea that would
stripped of all their rights, of subjugated peoples or those contest the notion of social class and the struggle of the
displaced by Rome. classes.
 In the early disease, always local,
fifties of the 20th they would hightail
century, American it to another castle
universities came up located several miles
with the solution: away from the city or
they floated the idea the infected area.
of a social network
as a response to the But during the
Marxist concept of Latter Roman
social class. Empire something
occurred, something
This idea of a that had never been
social network is witnessed before,
the one that we are which was that the
going to make use Christians did not
of to explain the flee, they stayed and helped the sick Pagans or Christians,
expansion of Christianity. The concept of a social they helped the Pagan or Christian widows, they helped
network implies the creation of organizations on the the Pagan or Christian orphans and that capacity of
fringes of the state and they would be within what is service established the social networks and this is one of
referred to as "civil society". the reasons that explain the rise of Christianity.
They are organizations that pursue unique objectives, The great development of Christianity comes about
they organize just outside of state control although they parallel to the epidemics. The social network that helps
may collaborate with same, and which cover the needs others in the face of the Pagan exodus explains the growth
that the state does not, for example, a non governmental of Christianity and the social network explains that it did
association that works with autistic children. In the case not develop among the slaves, as Nietzsche suggests but
of Christianity the net that the first Christians created rather from among the Roman elite, because they were
was implemented by the great capacity that these first the only ones who could organize said social networks.
Christians had to relate because Christians brought the
concept of "service" to society. The Role of Women
Beginning with the 3rd century the Roman Empire In agrarian based societies, women play a very
entered into the historic phase known as the Latter secondary role because they are considered easily
Roman Empire and this phase was beset, by among dispensed with. The farmer needs sons to work and not
other calamities, abundant epidemics. mouths to feed, and women, in these type of societies
The Roman Empire succeeded in achieving that its are mouths to feed.
subjects considered themselves part of the Empire, this This condition of the undervalued role of women we
process is called romanization, and it is aided by the still have today in parts of Asia where infanticide of girls
construction of public works. is practiced or they are sold into brothels as prostitutes.
Public works such as the aqueducts that provided
running water to homes, including hot, public works for
cleanliness such as thermal baths, or for entertainment
such as the Circus Maximus or amphitheatres, public
works such as paved highways.
On the other hand, in spite of the public works to raise
the welfare level of its subjects, the empire overlooked
public hygiene, they ignored sanitary conditions.
When in a city, caused by contaminated water in
most cases, an epidemic would break out, the reaction of
the upper classes, the freed men, the followers of Pagan
beliefs was to flee, escape to the nearest city and if they
had the financial resources, they could flee to greater
distances.
In the Greco/Latin world there existed the same
It is the same practice of the nobility during the situation as occurs in Asia because infanticide existed,
Middle Ages because they owned property's in different marriage took place at the age of twelve and there were
regions and whenever there was an outbreak of any abortions.
 The politics of birth control based on the elimination precise meaning of the word chastity).
of females has, in some regions of Asia, caused a scarcity
of women; and this very fact occurred in antiquity. Before Augustus, marriage as we knew it, which is
a sworn legal undertaking, did not exist, but rather the
The political birth policies of the emperors consisted couple because the familial bond was formed, based on
in pressuring widows to remarry because the practice convenience, interest and not love being the center of
of abortion and infanticide of female babies had created the union. Rarely had the future couple met previously
an excessive number of males relative to that of females. but it was rather an arrangement agreed between the
two families where the dowry was established, that is to
On the other hand in Christian circles the situation say the price of the bride.
was the opposite because abortion and infanticide were
forbidden and with the passage of time in the Pagan
sector's there was a surplus of men but not women and in
the Christian ones there were women but not many men
therefore in social reality there were mixed marriages
and since the women were more devote practitioners
than men, this gave way to a process of conversion of
the men to Christianity and to this phenomenon one
must take into account that any issue from these unions
would be raised in the Christian faith.
Parallel to this social phenomenon we have that
the status of the Christian woman within Christian
communities or churches, wasfar superior to that of
their Pagan counterparts. "Deacons fulfilled roles of
great importance in the first church. They assisted in
liturgical functions and administered the benevolent and
charitable activities of the church". (7) Augustus establishes legal marriage for political
reasons, because the civil wars that plagued Rome during
the 1st century BC and above all the wars between
Pompeii and Caesar on one side and between Mark
Antony and Augustus on the other left Augustus sorely
lacking of collaborators whom he could count on to run
the empire.
To this diminution of the directive group of the
Senate, a pervading attitude of other senators to not
father children; an alarmed Augustus queried of the
senators companions the reason for why they had no
offspring and they replied that is was due to a lack of
lawful security.
The solution offered by Augustus was marriage, that
is to say a binding contract by the bride (equally the two)
where the rights and obligations of each spouse and in
case of divorce, the financial compensations.
The very favorable position that Christian women
enjoyed soon translated into power and status, as much In another subsequent law with the purpose of
within the family as in the religious culture, substantially forcing the senators to father sons that would eventually
greater than that of Pagan women". (8) become leaders of the empire, so that it would not
perish, Augustus tied inheritance to marriage in such
The Roman Empire was one where sex was ever a way that only the issue of the marriage could inherit
present in daily life, so much so that it was a structural large land rights that were the property of the senator
violence, because of this fact we can speak of a sexual and in the event that there were no legitimate offspring
empire. upon the senator's death, the lands would pass to the
emperor.
The Christian proposal was to reject the sexual
violence of the empire, because of this, Christian women When Christianity exponentially grew marriage, as
were free to choose their husbands and, besides, they a legally binding contract, it was extended among the
demanded chastity, that is to say that the man could not upper classes of the empire and because of this Christian
have sexual relations outside of the marriage (that is the women had a say in the choosing of their future husband.
 Since the obsession of the empire was sex from the and spread. If Christianity today is on the decline,
moment young girls had their first menstrual cycle they it is because women have abandoned it, this, is the
entered into the matrimonial market but this fact did not explanation.
occur among Christians; abortions as well were accepted
REFERENCES:
which accounted for the high mortality rate among non-
Christian women, whereas since Christian women 1. Nietzsche, F., The Genealogy of Morality, Edimat Books S.A.
rejected abortion, their life expectancy was greater. Classics of Literature, 2005, pg. 53

2. Nietzsche, opus cit. pg. 61

Another cause or explanation for the growth of
Christianity was the creation of a new type of family. In
this new type of family the determining factors are not
the bonds of blood nor economic or social interests but
instead the sharing of Christian life.
The explanation is quite simple as women chose
Christianity because it afforded a degree of Freedom
that was denied to Pagan women, the women gathered
together with men and other women at banquets and love
feats (picnicstoday) and through these social encounters
new family ties were formed and they would retell tales
about the life and accomplishments of Jesus, Through
these gatherings is how Christianity lasted. It also should
not seem odd to us why a religious Jewish group such
as the Pharisees were, accused Jesus of gluttony and
of being surrounded by publicans (tax collectors) and
prostitutes.
In conclusion the creation of social networks where
people could break bread, at least, once a day, the
support of women, because they understood that they
elevated their status being Christian explains the growth
3. Nietzsche, opus cit. pg. 64
4. Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels: On Religion, Sigueme Ed. 1979
5. Werner Jaeger: Christianity and Greek Paideia, Cultural
Economic Fund, pgs. 14 & 15
6. Werner Jaeger, opus cit. pg. 16
7. Rodney Stark:The Surge of Christianity, Andres Bello ED. pg.
122
8. Rodnet Stark: opus cit. pg. 124
Juan Antonio Cabezos Martinez "Eneas"
Institutional professor, 35 years of experience
Degree in Geography and History, La Laguna University
Degree in Law, University of Murcia
Masters Degree in urban planning from the UCAM
Masters Degree in Theology, University of Murcia
President of the Association of Geographers and Historians of Murcia
Grand Magisterial Prior of the HSDCT.OSMTJ.SPAIN International

Juan Antonio Cabezos Eneas

Grand Prior of HSDCT.OSMTJ.International.Spain.
Degree in Geography and History from the University of La
Laguna
Law Degree from the University of Murcia
President of the Association of geographers and historians of the
middle teachings of the Murcia region.
Academy honorary of The Municipalistica Brazilian Academy of
Letters.
 Hermes Mercurys Report
Congress Of Zaragoza
With enormous satisfaction I showed up
incognito in Zaragoza and participated in the first
congress on the Temple organized by the Dames
and Knights Templar.
The venue of the congress was impressive
as their activities took place in the Church of St.
Elizabeth, Queen of Portugal, who was married
to King Denis and was the mother of Alphonse IV.
She was a former Princess of Aragon having been
the daughter of King Peter III "The Great".
A magnificent baroque facade of Aragonese
style, the interior of the temple stands out for its
Greek cross layout and its altar, also of Aragonese
baroque style, and fashioned for the most part of
jasper.
And so, within this rich interior of Catholic
imagery, the activities of the congress took place
almost on schedule and I say that because there

were a few delays, and those were due to

technical glitches.

Jos Maria Fernandez, a researcher

involved with the Temple presented his book
and from what I could hear and understand,
it's a revolutionary and indispensable addition
to any Templar library.

Ramn Pamies surprised the assembly

with his conference on the trial of the Templars,
magnificently outlining the power struggles and
the expectations of those who ruled at that point
in history.
 Pedro Luis Conde Font delighted us
with an interesting and erudite conference
on the Holy Shroud in the time of the
Templars and the hypothesis that scientists
manage to explain the connection between
the Templars and the Shroud.
Saturday's activity took place, and it was
as exhausting as the previous day's, when
we were treated to a stupendous tour of
Templar routes and subterranean vaults
as well as Templar traces still visible in
Zaragoza.
All this, expertly narrated by the very
knowledgeable Mr. Toms Bernal.
On Sunday there were some delays due
to technical problems but once resolved, the
cycle of conferences was opened by Mr.
Bernal with the Church of the Temple in
Zaragoza, that showed us in a delightful and
well documented manner, the relationship
between the various layers of the Templar
House and their church, the archaeological
remains and their history.
Highly anticipated was the conference
by Mrs. Fuensanta Santos because
the title in of itself was tantalizing, "Women
Warriors in the Middle Ages and Dames
Templar", logically the question is were there
women warriors? but was not war, an affair

of men? But no, war was also very much an affair of women
such as Lady Urraca, the Queen of Castile, or Eleanor of
Aquitaine, Queen of France and England, or the Viking
female warriors. The scientific character of the conference
dismisses one of the actual myths on women in the Middle
Ages because these type of women did indeed exist, orders
of women warriors in our country and women in the Order
of the Temple, although these were not warriors.
And to conclude the highly informative congress, a
conference by Grand Prior Juan Antonio Cabezos
Martinez, on the Temple in the 21st century, which
highlighted the evolution of neotemplarism.
The congress fell short, because the quality of the
participants and speakers was of such great magnitude,
that to be truly satisfied, one would have required three or
four more such conferences. A truly successful and quality
presentation... Greetings to all!!.

Hermes Mercury
Translators Team

Luis Antonio Coln Arce New Jersey USA

University of Santiago
BA History
University of Naples
Studied local art history and architecture.
Member of the Scientific Committee of the Grail
 The Posting
Grail Rules
The Grail is an electronic magazine that offers all historians and scholars
of Temple; a place to share information and disseminate their work
It is a result of everyone as an effort to spread the history of the Order in
all areas of the culture in which it was engaged and formed an active part-
The content, of the Grail magazine, will be about the history of the Tem-
plars knights in the Middle Age, even to this day; as well as architecture,
art, symbolism, theology and economics.
A) Sending work
The author must submit to the direction of the magazine THE GRAIL your
text or original material (which, in turn, it will be sent to the scientific commit-
tee ), in word document. The work will be owned and published in its origi-
nal format.
B) The works will have a length of five or six pages, in Times New Ro-
man 12, spacing 1.5; the images will be free of copyright, and the right to
privacity will be respected if you include photos of people outside; in which
case there will be proper authorization.
C) The pictures will be numbered in jpg and in separate files. The texts
sent, are entirely the responsibility of the authors. In each collaboration shall
contain the name of the author or authors; the institution or the workplace
and address electronica. Sending of originals for evaluation and publication
implies acceptance of these conditions and its possible subsequent
diffusion in different media, provided the evidence of the authorship
of each article is maintained. The text should include footnotes
page and the corresponding bibliography at the end of work.

D) Previous evaluation of the submitted material

Upon receipt of the material, the editorial team checks that
all formal characteristics required are met. If not met,
the authors are communicated. Then articles are
evaluated by the Scientific Committee. Once received
both tests, if they are positive, the articles are
accepted for publication.
Fuensanta Santos.
Director.