“Nothing
real existed, except as a symbol for something else.” -James Burke
“It is
not I who say, it is the thing itself that says.” -Umberto Eco
A list of
connections:
Hellenistic
Syncreticism: a philosophical/mystical/religious tradition combining
elements of Greco-Egyptian-Near Eastern religion (esp. the Mystery
Cults), Zoroastrianism, Jewish Kaballah, and Platonism and
Neo-Platonism. Common themes are the inherent
corruption/corruptibility of matter, God as a purely spiritual entity
apart from the physical universe. Many Hellenistic ideas show up in
Gnosticism, Hermeticism, Catharism, and Satanism.
The
fall of the library of Cordoba in 1013 introduces Muslim learning
and reintroduces Greek and Roman literature to Western Europe. The
texts take over a century to fully translate and help kick off the
European Renaissance. Following the methods of Aristotle and the
Arab natural philosophers, university scholars in France and Italy
begin to write manuscripts calling into question the teachings of the
church fathers and the Bible itself. The Order of Preachers (the
Dominicans) is founded to combat this. They serve a central role in
the Inquisition and the reconquest of Spain.
The
Investiture Conflict of 1075
touches off several centuries of conflict between the Holy Roman
Emperor and the Pope over temporal power in Italy. The central issue
is the role of the Pope as a figure of political, worldly authority
and as a landowner. Although this conflict is nominally resolved
with the Concordat of Worms in 1122, echoes of it will continue. The
conflict over the Franciscans, the Avignon papacy, the Italian
conflict between the
Guelphs
and Ghibellines, and
ultimately the Lutheran Reformation will all reference the themes
regarding the Pope's wealth and temporal power.
In 1119, 12
monks form the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of
Solomon (the Knights Templar). In 1307, the Templars are ordered
disbanded by Phillip the Fair, and are brought to trial on charges of
heresy. Two of the accusations are that, during initiations, new
knights were asked to trod upon a crucifix or image of the Virgin
Mary, and that they kissed a brother's ass. Denying the divinity of
Mary and the crucifixion are two features of Catharism, as is anal
sex (used as a form of birth control). The
Cathars
are also known as the Albigensians, and take much of their dogma from
the earlier Paulicans, Bogomils, and Bougres. ('Bougre' also becomes
'bugger' in English, a reference to anal sex.)
Supposedly,
some Templars also survive in Scotland. Knights with red crosses and
white cloaks are reported at the battle of
Bannockburn
(1314) (which may also recall the lost IX Legion Hispania, supposedly
gone missing in Scotland, and the later knights of the Round Table).
Spencer's “The Faerie Queen” is filled with Templar and
Rosicrucian imagery.
Certain of
the Grail traditions hold that
Joseph
of Arimathea, who brought the
Grail out of Judea, landed in Southern France, near Marseilles on his
way to Brittany. Some brief mentions in Merovingian period texts
hint at a Judaic state in Southern France, later occupied and
absorbed into France by Charlemagne. Southern France, especially
Provins (Provence) and Chartres later become strongholds of the
Templars. Finally, the
Languedoc
becomes the center of a Cathar community that is crushed in 1229 by
the Albigensian crusade. Suspicions remain about the orthodoxy of
the former Cathars. The Inquisition is founded to combat
crypto-Catharism.
In 1209
Francis of Assisi begins preaching the absolute poverty of Christ.
He inspires a number of followers, who become the Friars Minor or
Minorites. Eventually, they emerge as the Fraternal Order of St.
Francis (the Franciscans), charged with teaching orthodoxy to
heretics. They are a form of memetic inoculation against unorthodox
beliefs and practices. Along with the Dominicans they become
intimately involved with the Inquisition.
Following
the ideas of the Friars Minor, others preach against the wealth of
the pope and the bishops. Some heretical groups, such as as the
Dulcinians under
Fra
Dolcino, put these ideas into
practice, forming bands of peasants who kill landowners and priests
and plunder their estates. The Dulcinians (or Dolcinites) are
finally crushed on Mount Rubello in 1307 (the same year the Templars
are arrested).
In 1309 the
seat of the Papacy is moved from Rome to Avignon in southern France.
Ostensibly, this is done to remove it from the corruption of Rome,
but it also places the Pope under the thumb of the King of France,
which control Phillip the Fair exerts during the trial of the
Templars.
In 1609,
the
Rosicrucian
manifestos are printed and circulated in Germany. They promise
the existence of an unknown fraternity: learned men who move through
Europe adopting the customs and dress of the communities where they
live and working for the reform of mankind and combating the
wickedness and avarice of the church. They promise to live in the
community, and healing at no charge (much like the original Friars
Minor). Unlike them, they wear no distinctive habit and preach no
exoteric doctrine (hoping to avoid the persecution?) From the idea
of the hidden fraternity of learned men, Boyle refers to the need for
an Invisible College in 1640. The dream of unifying the educated of
Western Europe will finally materialize in the Royal Society.
After the
Revolution, France will found the Conservetoire des Arts et Metiers,
collecting all the products of the sciences in one place. They will
installit in St. Martin des Champs, built on Bacon's plans for the
Temple of Solomon, whose wisdom is praised in the Fama.
1613
Wedding of Princess Elizabeth (daughter of James I of England)
marries Frederick, Elector Palatine of the Rhine. Bacon arranges an
allegorical play on mystic knighthood. In Heidelberg, the groom is
celebrated as Jason of the Golden Fleece on a float that includes the
emblem of the Order of the Garter (see Tomar).
Throughout
the 18th and 19th centuries, the Royal Society
will serve as a clearinghouse of science and learning, patronizing
chemists, physicists, and naturalists (including Charles Darwin).
During the reign of Napoleon, the benefices of the Royal society
permit mutual visitations of academics between France, Germany, and
England. The Royal society thus may have become a cover for sub rosa
doings: conspiracies, spies, and intrigues.
The Royal
Society in turn will help guide the formation or codification of the
Freemasons (the Freemasons themselves may date back further, to
Scotland and the 16th century. Some claim they are
inspired by the Knights of Brannockburn). The Invisible College will
also play a role in the iconography of various Romantic thinkers and
poets including Shelly and Wordsworth. Later, Grant Morrison will
write it into The Invisibles.
The
Knights Templar of Portugal survive the purge in France and become
the Knights of Christ (settled around
Tomar).
They settle into a number of strongholds on the Atlantic shore.
Notably, King Henry the Navigator is a Knight of Christ. His school
of navigation sets of a series of explorations south along the coast
of Africa. Ultimately, Christopher Columbus sails West under the
banner of a red cross on white – the Templar emblem. The castle at
Tomar is remodeled under henry the Navigator, who includes the
emblems of the Garter and the Golden fleece.
North
America: the Avalon of the grail cycles? Tir Na Nog? Ultimate Thule
of Germanic myth (remembering that the NSDAP emerged out of the
theosophical Thule Society). The oak island money pit. Masons in
New England. References to the New World and the art of the sphere
in the Rosicrucian manifestos.
Parallels
exist between the occult tradition of the Templars and Sufism and
mystical Islam. Templars were accused of worshiping a bearded
idol/devil named Baphomet, and crying out to Yallah. Connection to
Mahomet and Allah?
1776,
the year of convergence: Deceleration of Independence signed.
The Wealth of Nations published, which underlies the
theoretical justifications for free markets (America = capitalism?).
Volume one of
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
published (America = Rome?). May 1, in Inglestadt, Adam Weishaupt
founds the Ancient Illuminated Seers of Bavaria. Their agenda:
secularism, papicide, and revolution. Beethoven's First Symphony is
dedicated to the AISB, commissioned in celebration of King Ludwig's
closing parochial schools in Bavaria in favor of state-run secular
schools.
The
Freemasons forbid all discussion of politics and religion in Temple.
They substitute a Theistic conception of God with the Deist “Great
Architect” (echoes of this in alcoholics Anonymous 'higher power as
we understand it'). Masons adopt the myth of Hiram of Abiff, the
Widow's Son. Hiram is killed by three ruffians named Jubelo, Jubela,
and Jubelum (the endings mirror the -o, -a, -um gender inflections of
many Latin words. Also see Jack the Ripper, “It was the juwes who
did it” and the recurrent whiff of Freemasonry in the Ripper case.)
Hiram dies of three wounds, one to the head, throat (or mouth), and
heart. These allegorically represent the death of free speech, the
death of free thinking, and the resultant death of the soul. The
Freemasons preserve and spread the ideas of Rationalism, the
Enlightenment, and liberty.
These
same ideas of liberty and rationalism underlie the Glorious
Revolution of 1688, the American Revolution of 1776, and the French
Revolution of 1789. The presence and influence of the Freemasons is
well known in the latter two. Upon becoming dictator in France,
Napoleon is inducted into various lodges and becomes honorary Grand
Master. Although known as a dictator and conqueror, Napoleon does
spread the ideals of the French Revolution throughout Europe.
Allegedly important moments in Napoleon's career: he attempts to
conquer Egypt and brings engineers and scientists with him
(uncovering the Rosetta stone in the process), fails to suppress the
civil war that leads to Haitian independence, he sells Louisiana to
Thomas Jefferson (a known Mason), attempts to conquer England (the
nation of the Faerie Queen and the Knights of Brannockburn),
instigates the peninsular campaign and the attempted conquest of
Portugal, launches the nonsensical invasion of Russia. The ultimate
paradox of Napoleon: although a militaristic dictator, Napoleon
spreads the ideals of the French Revolution (and to a lesser extent,
Freemasonry) throughout Europe.
Cecil
Rhodes gets rich from South African diamond mines, buys his own
country (Rhodesia), and founds academic round tables (an Invisible
College) encouraging co-operation between WASP England and the U.S.
These round tables survive today as the Council on Foreign Relations
(founded 1921), whose membership rolls permeate the highest levels of
the U.S. Government, high finance, and academia. Rhodes also founds
the Rhodes scholarships, funding the best and brightest of the U.S.
To go to school in England so that they can coordinate and learn
world domination (the initial Rhodes scholarships specified only
blond, blue-eyed men, of course).
The
Deutsches Arbeiterpartei (DAP) emerges from the Thule Society in
1999. Hitler later reorganizes the DAP into the NSDAP. Hitler's
military aspirations parallel many of Napoleon's: conquest of France,
planned invasion of England, aspirations towards Gibraltar, invasion
of Russia, a North African campaign aimed at Egypt and beyond. Where
Napoleon makes gestures towards reconciliation of the Jews, Hitler
attempts to eliminate them. Interestingly, great lengths are gone to
cataloging all of the possessions of the victims: their clothes and
shoes are warehoused and meticulously gone over.
Theosophy
attempts to find the central, unifying message in world religions.
It's principle success is a synthesis of Hinduism, Hermeticism, and
Christianity. A central tenet of Helena Blavatsky's is the existence
of an unknown number of Secret Masters or Unknown Superiors; immortal
and wise, they move invisibly through the populace secretly
controlling everything; or else they live in Agharttha, a secret
refuge beneath the Nepalese Himalayas, where they contemplate the
occult secrets of the universe. Another of Blavatsky's theories is
the conflict between anarchy (the present divided, sectarian
governments and religions of the world) and 'synarchy' (the
harmonious government of the secret masters for the betterment of
all). Theosophy will later influence Bormann and Hess, two high
figures in Hitler's government.
Propaganda
Due or the P2 is founded sometime in the late 1970's within the
Italian Grand Orient Lodge of Egyptian Freemasonry. It had ties to
the Vatican bank, the Mafia, and the CIA's operation Gladio
anti-Communism project. Gladio inaugurated the 'strategy of
tension', instigating terrorist incidents and then blaming them on
Communists so that the government would have to crack down on them.
P2 may have played a part in assassinating Pope John, plotted a
fascist coup in Italy, laundered money through the Vatican Bank, and
engaged in other corruption and crony ism.
The
partner organization to the Templars, the Knights of the Hospital of
St. John, survive to the modern era as the Sovereign Military Order
of Malta (the Knights of Malta). One of the prominent Knights was
William Modern Knights of Malta include William Casey, Reinhard
Gehlen, Alexander Haig, Licio Gelli, Roberto Calvi, and Michele
Sindona.
The
Order of the Golden Dawn is a Martinez inspired mystical Freemasonic
chapter founded in 1881. They contribute to the revival of
Hermeticism in the West in the early 20th Century.
Standing behind the Golden Dawn is the Ordo Templi Orientalis, a
mystical society that claims it's origins in Templarism: the OTO
claims that the highest grade in the Golden Dawn is the lowest grade
of the OTO. The Golden Dawn eventually changes itself, stripped of
many of its Masonic elements, into the Stella Martuitus (Star of
Morning).
In
1912, Aleister Crowley is made one of the five Outer Heads of the OTO
by inadvertently publishing the highest esoteric secret of the OTO in
his Book of Lies. Sometime afterward, Crowley founds the A
A to prepare the world for the
Aeon of Horus he has prophesied.
Ignatius
Loyola founds the
Society
of Jesus (the Jesuits) to promote the Catholic church's
Counter-Reformation and combat the Reformation. The Jesuits serve as
the church's theological shock troops: trained in theology, law,
philosophy, rhetoric, debate, and strategy. Their aim is to shore up
the faith and political reliability of Catholic monarchs and
aristocrats and help them combat Lutheranism and employ the new tools
of rationalism, science and technology in the service of Catholicism.
Outlawed and driven underground at various times and places, the
Order survives to this day.
The
Rand
Corporation is founded as a corporate think tank. The go-to
organization for systems analysis, game theory and social
engineering. They become pivotal advisers on Cold War strategy and
players in cryptography, digital computing, and the space program.
People:
Hermes
Trismegistus (?): Divine
author of the Hermetic Corpus and the legendary Emerald Tablets. The
foundation of Western Hermeticism. Probably a result of
Greco/Egyptian synecritism.
Joseph
of Arimathea (?) : Member of the council of Saducees and follower
of Yeshua of Nazareth. He owned the Garden of Gethsemane where the
Last Supper and the Crucifixion occurred, and the tomb where Yeshua
was supposedly buried. Legend holds that he caught the blood of the
Crucifixion in the Sang Graal and smuggled it out of Palestine to
Southern France, and from there to Brittany or to Britain.
Joachim
of Floris (1132 – 1202): Christian mystic who divided history
into three ages: the Age of the Father, the Age of the Son, and the
Age of the Holy Spirit (paralleling the revelations of Moses, Jesus,
and Joachim). May have been an inspiration for Crowley's Age of the
Mother, Age of the Father, and Age of the crowned and conquering
child (Isis, Osiris, and Horus). Also founded an Order of the
Illuminati which practiced poverty, which – centuries later –
would fall under the influence of Fra Dolcino.
Francis
of Assisi (1181 –
1226): Preached the absolute poverty Christ in the face of church
wealth and power. He and his Minorite followers are in perpetual
danger of being declared heretical.
Nicholas
Flamel (1330 – 1418): An
early alchemist. Claimed to possess a text
Book of Abraham the
Sage. Exposition
of the Hieroglyphical Figures
is attributed to Flamel. Supposedly turned iron to silver and lead
into gold; secret truths may be inscribed on his tombstone.
Guillaume
Postel (1510 – 1581): French polymath and religious
philosopher. A close ally of the Jesuits, but parted ways with them.
May have been an influence on the Rosicrucians, if not the writer of
the manifestos.
John
Dee (1527 - 1608): Court Astrologer for Queen Elizabeth I.
Summoned angels and one demon, and developed Enochian. Promoted may
voyages of discovery, and became interested in maps and ciphers of
various sorts later in life.
Giordono
Bruno (1548 – 1600): Italian
theologian. Early proponent of the Heliocentric view of the solar
system and the existence of extra-solar life. His life, writings,
and execution may have played a part in the prosecution of Galileo.
Also preached the inherent equality of man before God (a heretical
notion that denies both the priesthood and the aristocracy), a theme
later taken up in the French Revolution.
Johann
Valentian Andreae (1554-1601):
German theologian. The Rosicrucian documents were frequently
ascribed to him. He frequently denied it, but later in life claimed
to have authored the Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosencreutz as a
joke or intellectual exercise.
Heinrich
Khunrath (1560 – 1605): Alchemist and Christian mystic.
Attempted to reconcile alchemy and Christian theology. A major
influence in the rise of theosophy.
Francis
Bacon
(1562 – 1626): English natural philosopher and ploy-intellectual.
Developed a plan for inductive reasoning that underlies the Western
scientific tradition. Also wrote The New Atlantis,
which gives the dimensions of the Temple of Solomon. May have been
the author of the Rosicrucian manifestos. The focus of any number of
17th century conspiracy theories (Hite's “Six degrees of
Francis Bacon”). The priory of Saint Martin des Champs in Paris
(in the old Templar quarter) is said to built to the plan of the
Temple of Solomon from The New Atlantis, and now houses the Musee
des Arts et Metiers
Jakob
Boehme (1575 – 1624): Theologian and contributer to Christian
theosophy. Introduced the idea that sin and the Fall of Man is
necessary for redemption, an idea picked up by a number of
quasi-Satanic groups.
Christopher
Marlowe (1596 – 1563):
Playwright and poet. Nothing is provable, but there are perpetual
whiffs around him: association with the English intelligence
community, possible atheism or Catholicism, possible association with
various Elizabethan secret societies and conspiracies. Supposedly
stabbed over a tavern bill, “When a man's verses cannot be
understood, nor a man's good wit seconded with the forward child,
understanding, it strikes a man more dead than a great reckoning in a
little room.” - Shakespeare
Comte
St. Germain (1712? - 1784?):
French/German/Italian adventurer, alchemist and musician. Claimed to
be many centuries old. Claimed to have discovered the Philosopher's
stone and to have changed lead into gold.
Martinez
de Pasqually (1727 - 1774):
Introduced illuminism into Freemasonry and founded many, many, many
Mason chapters.
Louis-Claude
St. Germain (1743 – 1803): A disciple of Martinez de Pasqually
and early contributer to what would become Theosophy. Shares the
name of the more notorious St. Germain.
Eliphas
Levi (1810 – 1875): French
occultist and reviver of Hermeticism. Perhaps best known for his
drawing of Baphomet (the idol the Templars were accused of
worshiping).
Leon
Foucault (1819 – 1868):
French physicist. Sanguinphobic. Demonstrated the first Foucault's
pendulum, which proves the rotation of the Earth, in t
he
priory of Saint Martin des Champs (see Francis Bacon, above).
Helena
Blavatsky (1831 -1891): Founder of the Theosophical Society, and
a pioneer of organized pan-religious theosophy. Attempted to unify
Christian theology, Hermeticism, and Hinduism. Posited the existence
of the Secret Masters of Agharttha, and the conflict between “anarchy
and synarchy”.
Aurthur Waite (1857 - 1942): Member of the Golden Dawn and co-author of the Rider-Waite tarot deck. Friend of Arthur Machen (inspiration for H. P. Lovecraft) and foe/rival of Aleister Crowley.
Margaret
Murry (1863 - 1963): Author of
The Witch-Cult in Western
Europe which posits the survival of pre-Christen religion in
Western Europe. Kept secret from the public at large, the cult
supposedly practices its rites in secret. This book becomes one of
the foundations of Gardnerian Wicca. It is also a strong influence
on the pulp-era writings of both R. E. Howard and H. P. Lovecraft.
Gerald
Gardner (1884 – 1964): Developed modern Wicca out of 19
th
century theosophy and Golden Dawn hermeticism. “So mote it be!”
is a Masonic invocation later popularized in Wicca.
Martin
Bormann (1900 – 1945): Adolf Hitler's personal secretary.
Wrote that Nazism was “wholly incompatible with Christianity”.
Bormann may have been in the forefront of Hitler's interest in
Teutonic myth and the occult.
Reinhard
Gehlen (1902 - 1979): The “Superspy” of Western Europe. Was
chief of the Abwehr's Soviet Intelligence section during World War
II. Defected to the U.S. At the end of the war, supposedly on the
strength of his intelligence regarding the Soviet military
establishment. Operated the Gehlen apparat as an entirely
independent intelligence organization feeding intelligence to the
CIA. [The present author had the interesting experience of meeting
his great-granddaughter once...]
Jack
Parsons (1914 – 1952): Early
American follower of Crowley. One of the founders of CalTech's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory. May or may not have affected the course of
the space race and the cold war through various rituals performed in
the desert.
James
Jesus Angleton (1917 - 1987): CIA counter-intelligence director
from 1954 – 1974. Was obsessed with the idea that the KGB had
infiltrated a high-level mole into the U.S. Government. May or may
not have been connected to the Kennedy assassination. Also helped
form and run Operation Gladio in Italy.
E
Howard Hunt (1918 - 2007): A known CIA agent in the later half of
the 20
th Century. Hunt was a known operative for the
Department of Operations, having participated in the overthrow of the
Arbenz government of Guatemala and the Bay of Pigs operation in Cuba.
He frequently arises in many of the theories regarding the Kennedy
assassination. He later served three years in prison for connection
to the Watergate burglary.
Licio
Gelli (1919 - ): Knight of Malta, Freemason, and the central
figure of the Italian P2 conspiracy. Collected boxes of blackmail
material on quite a number of major and minor officials in the
Italian government. Evaded arrest several times, was tried once and
acquitted, and was never convicted of any crime related to P2 or
Gladio.
Roberto
Calvi (1920 - 1982) : President of the Banco Ambrosiano and a
figure in the P2 conspiracy in Italy. Found dead, hanging from a
London bridge. Believed that
potere occulto
ran the world; the secret to success was to “find the hidden group
that held the most power and join it.”
Michele
Sindona (1920 - 1986): Mafia lawyer, Knight of Malta, and P2
conspirator. Assisted in the laundering of P2 funds. Died in his
cell while awaiting trial for plotting a pro-Fascist coup in Italy.
Raymond
Buckland (1934 - ): Author of Buckland's Complete Guide to
Witchcraft, considered by some to be the definitive work on modern
Wicca (known colloquially to a few as “Uncle Bucky's Big Blue Book
of Wicca”).
William
Casey (1913 - 1987): Knight of Malta and Director of Central
Intelligence under Ronald Reagan, who once said, “Some things are
right and some things are wrong. Eternally right and eternally
wrong.” As DCI, Casey oversaw Operation Black Eagle, that traded
weapons to Iran for money to give to the Nicaraguan Contras (the Iran
Contra scandal). According to some theories, he also aided
importation of cocaine into the U.S. In order to fund anti-Communist
guerrillas in Central America. Casey died of a brain tumor before he
could be investigated.