PowerKnights Templar
Knights Templar
Also called: templar · cross of lorraine
A Christian military order founded in Jerusalem in 1118 to protect pilgrims.In this narrative it reappears as the name of one of Freemasonry's highest degrees.
Established facts
The Knights Templar was a Christian military order founded in Jerusalem in 1118 to protect pilgrims.During the Crusades it grew powerful, building property and banking networks across Europe.On a Friday in 1307, King Philip IV of France arrested large numbers of the order's members.He charged its leader, Jacques de Molay, with heresy and Satan worship and had him burned at the stake.That arrest date was a Friday the 13th, and it was later often tied to that superstition, though it is not the superstition's actual origin.Pope Clement V formally dissolved the order in 1312.Freemasonry's York Rite includes a knightly degree called 'Knights Templar.'
In this narrativeThe Cross of Lorraine and Saturn
In this narrative the Knights Templar is one of Freemasonry's highest degrees1.Its symbol is introduced as the 'Cross of Lorraine'1.This cross is connected to the cube, that is, to Saturn1.It summarizes that a wealthy order that once protected pilgrims was arrested by the king on Friday the 13th1.It holds that being executed on charges of Satan worship is the origin of the expression 'double cross,' meaning betrayal1.This, it says, is how the superstition that Friday the 13th is unlucky arose1.
In this narrativeOreo and the McDonald's logo
Photos of Lil Uzi Vert, Johnny Depp, and Brad Pitt are placed together in a collage of secret-society symbols1.The pattern on an Oreo cookie is placed alongside the Jerusalem cross1.The Mason's 'M' and 'G' symbols are matched to the logos of Gmail, McDonald's, MTV, Google, and Gucci1.Photos of ringed hands and tattoos are also attached as evidence1.This picture reads the coincidental shapes of brand logos as evidence that the order has spread through popular culture.
In this narrativeA 600-year gap
The Knights Templar was founded in 11181.Freemasonry was organized in the early 18th century1.There is a roughly 600-year gap between the two organizations1.The theory that Templars fleeing persecution in 1307 hid inside stonemason guilds is used as the basis linking the two organizations1.There is also the shared point that after the pope banned Freemasonry in 1738, both organizations clashed with the Roman church1.This picture skips over that 600-year gap and links the two organizations into a single lineage.
Connected concepts
- Freemasonry →The Templar order survives as the name of one Freemasonry degree.The two organizations' stories meet again here.
- Black Cube →Fold the Cross of Lorraine into a cube and it becomes Saturn's black cube.The cross shape itself becomes the bridge.
- Saturn →Through the equation that the cube is Saturn, the Templar symbol overlaps Saturn worship.
- The Number 33 →The Knights Templar degree sits within Freemasonry's 33-degree system.The rank number returns again to 33.
Leads here fromMasonic Handshake