Cabal of The Westford Knight: Templars at the Newport Tower (Book #1 in the Templars in America Series)

by David S. Brody

  “So the Templars really weren’t heretics?” Cam asked.

  The Monsignor’s eyes shifted from Cam to Amanda. “Actually, in this case I believe the claims of heresy were legitimate. I believe the Templars had rejected the teachings of the Church.”

  Amanda’s brow furrowed. “But the Templars were the army of the Church, the protectors of Christianity.”

  Marcotte smiled sadly. “The protectors of Christianity, yes. But the protectors of the Church, no.”

  “Why? And what did they believe instead?” she asked.

  “The why part goes back to the excavation of the Temple of Solomon two centuries earlier. I believe the Templars found ancient scrolls and writings that called into question the teachings of the Church. The Essenes, a monastic order living outside Israel, may have hidden many of their writings and archives in the Temple in 67 A.D., just before the Romans conquered the city. You may have heard of the Essenes—they were the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which chronicled life during the time of Jesus Christ.”

  “What do you mean by called into question?” she asked.

  The Monsignor raised his eyes to the sky, seemingly studying the clouds. “Bear with me, please but to explain this thoroughly, I need to give you some more historical background. After Jesus died, a number of branches of Christianity emerged. Their teachings were often in conflict with each other, and with official Church doctrine, so much so that they were barely recognizable as the same religion.”

  “Are you referring to the Council of Nicea resolutions?” she interrupted.

  “No, that was much later, in the early 4th Century. That was a rather trivial dispute, involving the question of whether Christ was of the Father or rather from the Father.” He noticed Cam’s quizzical look. “I agree. I find the whole issue rather pedantic.”

  The priest stood, pacing back and forth, silhouetted against the rusting hulk of a long-abandoned steel crane. “The dispute I am referring to goes to the heart of Christianity. After Jesus’ death, some of his followers remained loyal to John the Baptist who, by the way, was a member of the Essenes. In fact, many believed Jesus was a disciple of John, rather than the other way around, and that John’s religious teachings, based on his Essenic upbringing, were derived from the Egyptian worship of the goddess Isis. The similarities between the story of Jesus and Mary and the legend of Isis are striking: The husband of Isis, Osiris, was killed and then resurrected three days later to conceive their son, Horus. Many of the icons of Isis show her nurturing this son at her breast in much the same manner as the Virgin Mary is shown nurturing Jesus. And the teachings of the Isis religion emphasize repentance and confession.” The Monsignor stopped, emphasizing his point. “Even the ritual of immersion into water as a purification rite has its roots in Egyptian legend.”

  He continued. “Isis in turn is based on the ancient religions that worshiped Venus, the first of which was practiced by the Grooved Ware people, so-named because of the pottery that was found at their settlements. They were the builders of Stonehenge.”

  “But Stonehenge is located in England,” Amanda challenged. “Isis is in Egypt.”

  Marcotte nodded. “The Grooved Ware people traveled to the Middle East, trading. And they brought with them their Venus worship.”

  “But why would other cultures adopt these beliefs?” Cam asked.

  “Simple. Because the Grooved Ware people had figured out how to use the rising of the planet Venus in the western sky as a kind of calendar. Venus travels in a five-pointed star-like pattern, repeating itself every 40 years. By studying this pattern, these Stonehenge builders were able to ascertain events like the summer and winter solstices and the spring and fall equinoxes. In ancient times, this was an incredibly important development; it told them when to plant crops, when to launch ships, when to slaughter livestock, when to hunker down for the winter. Often this knowledge was the difference between life and death.”

  “And so they came to worship Venus, believing it, or she, was the key to understanding the cycles of the earth,” Amanda said.

  “Exactly. Perhaps the best way to understand it is to say they worshiped Venus as the heavenly manifestation of Mother Earth. Many people call it worship of the Sacred Feminine.”

  “And this type of Venus worship is totally at odds with Church teachings,” Amanda said.

  “Church teachings, yes.” The priest smiled. “But, actually, worship of the Sacred Feminine is totally consistent with Judeo-Christian traditions, though you will find few theologians or clergy who are aware of it. For example, have you ever heard of the Shekinah?”

  Cam remembered hearing the term in synagogue a few times but didn’t know what it meant. Marcotte explained. “It is a Hebrew word that refers to the feminine version of God. It is manifest throughout Jewish religious observances.” He looked up. “How about the Holy Spirit?”

  “As in the ‘Father, Son and Holy Spirit’?” Amanda asked.

  “Exactly. The Holy Spirit is one and the same as the Holy Sophia, goddess of wisdom in the Greek traditions. In the Apocrypha, the terms are used interchangeably.” The Apocrypha was the section printed in the back of many Bibles, behind the Old and New Testaments due to its uncertain canonical legitimacy.

  Despite his fatigue, the Monsignor was becoming more animated. “And here’s another example. Remember the Venus 40-year cycle? Well, we see this 40 period repeated often in the Bible, as if the number is of mystical importance—the Jews wandered in the wilderness for 40 years; Noah’s flood lasted 40 days and 40 nights; King Sol, King David and King Solomon all reigned for 40 years; Jesus fasted for 40 days and 40 nights; Lent lasts for 40 days; the period of postpartum rest and purification under Jewish law is 40 days; the list goes on and on. And speaking of King Solomon, some scholars believe that King Solomon’s temple was a shrine not only to God but to Venus—it was built by Hiram Abiff, a Phoenician Venus-worshiper, not by Jewish architects or craftsmen. The argument makes sense: Would you want non-believers building your most sacred shrine?”

  Marcotte waited for his points to register before continuing. “The bottom line is that worship of the Sacred Feminine or the Goddess or Venus or Sophia or Isis or Mother Nature or whatever you want to call her is an integral part of the Judeo-Christian tradition. And these traditions remain in Christianity, despite the Church’s attempt to whitewash them out and turn Christianity into a patriarchy.” He took a deep breath. “I can give you a more graphic example: Just look at the design of most medieval churches and cathedrals.”

  Cam furrowed his brow. “I don’t get it.”

  Marcotte slid a glossy photo across the table. The image showed a series of medieval churches featuring a pair of towers on either side of the doorway.

  [ http://www.askelm.com/doctrine/d980928.htm ]

  MEDIEVAL CHURCHES ILLUSTRATING FEMALE BIRTHING FORM

  He seemed a bit embarrassed. “I can explain best by reading directly from the reference material.” He cleared his throat, read from a page he apparently copied from a book: “‘If a woman lies on her back … and then lifts her knees to be perpendicular to her body, her legs will obviously be elevated above her body as two projections. The genitalia will be given full view.’” The priest looked up. “This is the position, I believe, commonly assumed when giving birth.” He continued reading. “‘Transferring this posture to an architectural application in regard to building a sacred temple … would reveal two elevated towers with an entrance to a temple between the towers at their base.… Such a scene is not unlike prime Gothic cathedrals having two spires on each side of an entrance leading into the sacred precincts.’”

  “I see it,” Amanda said excitedly. “That’s precisely what they look like.”

  The Monsignor pulled another pair of photos from his bag and dropped them onto the picnic table. “These just happen to be the first two I found; there are many others. The first is a church in Lisbon, Portugal. The other is a church in Gotland, Sweden.” Forsberg had said that the car
vers of the Kensington, Spirit Pond and Narrangansett Rune Stones were probably Cistercian monks from Gotland. “Note the similarities between the doorway and the … female genitalia,” he mumbled.

  [Photo courtesy Kimberly Scott]

  CHURCH OF THE CONVENT OF CARMO, LISBON, PORTUGAL

  [Photo courtesy of Scott Wolter.]

  LYE CHURCH, GOTLAND, SWEDEN

  Amanda jumped all over it. “Yes, it’s the vulva! The opening is the vagina itself and the arched ridges framing it are the folds of the labia.” She pointed. “And the decorative point at the top—could that be the clitoris?” She looked up excitedly. “You said all church doors follow this pattern?”

  “Not all but many. Far too many to be a coincidence.”

  “How fascinating,” she said, still staring at the church images. “It’s so symbolic. The church itself as the womb, the Sacred Feminine, the giver of life.” She paused for a second and grinned. “The Templars were supposed to be celibate. Who would have guessed they were such experts on the vagina? They even included the clitoris—were you aware it is the only part of the human anatomy that serves no role other than giving pleasure?”

  Cam rescued the Monsignor, who apparently wasn’t sure whether Amanda’s question was rhetorical or not. “The thing you read mentioned Gothic cathedrals in particular. That ties these doorways right to the Templars, doesn’t it?”

  “Exactly. The Gothic period coincides exactly with the rise of the Templars. They designed and built most of the stone Gothic cathedrals. Remember, when the Templars were later outlawed they morphed into the Masons, a stoneworkers’ guild.” Marcotte gathered the images, placed them back into his bag. “But we’re getting off track. The key point is that the Church, even though it adopted many of these old Venus rituals, had a word for people who worshiped Venus or Isis or Mother Nature. It called them pagans. After all, the Church couldn’t have peasants rutting in the woods every equinox.”

  “I’m sorry, peasants rutting?” Cam asked.

  Marcotte nodded. “Yes. Easter is actually an old pagan fertility ritual, named after the fertility goddess ‘Ishtar’ and celebrated on the spring equinox. It really was little more than a mass orgy before the Church hijacked the holiday and turned it into the Jesus resurrection. But it still carries vestiges of its original meaning—the Easter egg and the rabbit are both signs of fertility and have nothing to do with Jesus or his resurrection. Same with Christmas—Jesus was born in September, not December. But the Church needed a way to convert the pagans. The sun was thought to be born on December 25th, the pagan winter solstice celebration. So the Church moved the birth of Jesus to the same date. And because the pagans worshiped the sun, the weekly day of worship was moved from the Sabbath, Saturday, to the day of the sun, Sunday.”

  “So is the Christmas tree a pagan symbol also?” Amanda asked.

  “Yes, in fact. It’s part of the pagan tradition of bringing an evergreen plant into the house to celebrate the rebirth of the sun after the winter solstice.”

  Amanda cocked her head. “Are you stating that many of Jesus’ early followers were actually pagans?”

  “I don’t think they would have called themselves that but, yes, they believed in the Sacred Feminine, the power of the womb, the mystical powers of the planet Venus, what we would call Mother Nature. And they also believed in Jesus. The Church, as I said, tried to redirect these pagan beliefs and traditions and weave them into Christianity.”

  The priest took a deep breath before continuing. “Many early Christians also followed Mary Magdalene, believing her to be the wife of Jesus and the mother of Jesus’ child, Sarah. I told you about how Mary and Sarah fled Jerusalem and went to France to live with some Jewish relatives and how their descendants, the Merovingians, ruled France and Germany during the end of the Dark Ages. Her followers, this cult of Mary Magdalene, were really just a continuation of the worship of the Sacred Feminine. The Church, of course, was based on a patriarchical theology, one that marginalized the role of women.”

  “Precious little has changed,” Amanda observed.

  The priest nodded. “To the Church’s detriment, I fear. Despite the Church’s efforts to demonize the Sacred Feminine, many sects worshiping the Goddess survived, drifting toward the more mystical side of the faith—the Gnostics for example. Gnosticism was based on ancient astrology and science, much of it, again, rooted in the old Venus worship. But it also incorporated some Christian teachings. Importantly, they believed Jesus was a prophet, not the son of God. And they did not believe in his resurrection.” He raised an eye. “Remember the Cathars, tens of thousands of them slaughtered in Southern France in the 13th century?”

  “The ones that God was supposed to protect if they were true Christians?” Cam said.

  “Yes. Well, they were targeted because of their Gnostic beliefs and because they worshiped Mary Magdalene.” The priest paused. “And this brings us back to the Templars. The Cathars were closely associated with the Templars, whose roots were in the region. The Templars shared many of their Gnostic beliefs.”

  The priest ran his hand through his hair. “I tell you all this to give you some historical context. In the early days of Christianity, in the first century or two, there were many different interpretations of the faith. Most of them were based on a concept of duality, of balance between the male and the female. As we just discussed, some believed that Mary and Jesus had a child, Sarah. Some doubted the resurrection story, believing it was recycled from the Egyptian religions. Many worshiped the Sacred Feminine. And all were based on historical sources—the Gospels of Mary and Judas and Thomas, gospels that have now been suppressed by the Church.”

  “Pardon me,” Amanda interrupted. “There were more than just the four gospels?”

  “Yes, there were dozens of accounts, or gospels, of Jesus’ life. Many were in direct conflict with the official teachings of the Church; it is no surprise the Church suppressed them. As it suppressed the sects that followed them. Some groups were crushed violently, such as the Cathars. Others were merely marginalized. But all were eclipsed by the long shadow of the Church.”

  “The long shadow of the Church,” Cam repeated. “That’s a euphemism for the Crusades and the Inquisition and torture on the rack and burning at the stake, right?”

  “Not to mention scores of other slaughters and atrocities and abominations that are mere footnotes in history.” Apparently Marcotte had no delusions about the Church he served.

  “Well,” Amanda said, “how does all this tie in with the Templars?”

  * * *

  Salazar edged around an abandoned warehouse, the barren waterfront making it difficult to get much closer without being seen. Thorne had picked his spot well. Just as he had wisely checked for anyone tailing the Monsignor’s car. At some point he might even figure out the tracking device on the Subaru. But in the end he was an amateur, alive only because Salazar needed him to track the treasure.

  Tucked behind a tree a hundred yards away, he could hear pretty much everything the Monsignor said using a parabolic listening device—a handheld, plate-size disk attached to a pair of headphones. Fascinating information. But not nearly as interesting as what he had just seen through his binoculars. The model of the Tower was likely what McLovick had been searching for in the old couple’s backyard, a crucial clue to finding the treasure. Too bad for him he hadn’t bothered to look on their mantelpiece. As a treasure hunter, he probably wasn’t used to finding valuables in plain view.

  He adjusted the disk, focused on the Monsignor’s explanation about Venus worship. Not altogether surprising. Many Native Americans cultures worshiped Venus or some other form of the Sacred Feminine. The Pawnee creation myth stated that Mars, the red morning star warrior, mated with Venus, the female evening star, to produce the first humans. And of course all tribes revered nature and the earth mother—as his grandfather used to say, the earth was not something given to us by our parents but rather lent to us by our children.

  Th
e Monsignor turned toward him for a second; the man looked terrible, like he hadn’t slept in days. He was going to great lengths to share his information with Thorne and the girl, information that the Church was trying to suppress. More importantly for Salazar’s purposes, the priest believed Thorne and the girl—Salazar’s bloodhounds in his hunt for the treasure—were worthy recipients of this knowledge.

  * * *

  The Monsignor stuffed his hands in his windbreaker pockets. Cam watched him intently, alert for any sign of deceit or dishonesty in the cleric. “Yes,” Marcotte said, “how does this tie in with the Templars? That is the key question.” He took a deep breath. “And here is the answer: I believe the Templars, while excavating beneath the old Temple of Solomon, uncovered ancient Essene documents and scrolls that called into question the core teachings of the Church. What they found emphasized instead the importance of both the Sacred Feminine and other pagan practices including astrology, alchemy, magic and nature-worship.”

  “It sounds like witchcraft,” Amanda said.

  “Very much so. Another word for it is Kabbalism.”

  “You mean the Templars were Kabbalists? Like Madonna?” Cam blinked away an image of the vixen-like entertainer cavorting in the abbey with a legion of bearded, unwashed medieval warrior monks.