Nexus - 0504 - New Times Magazine-pages

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documents that undermined the Church's teachings, but they also cathedrals posed an enormous threat to the 'male-only' established their own Cistercian churches in opposition to Rome. Church by bringing the heritage of Jesus and Mary These were not just any churches; they were the greatest religious Magdalene to the fore in the public domain. Knights Templars had not only returned from the Holy Land with R= the 1100s, the powerful Knights Templars and their monuments ever to grace the skylines of the western world: the The cardinals knew that their whole establishment would tum- Notre Dame cathedrals of France. ble if the Messianic descendants gained the upper hand. They had Despite their present-day image, these impressive Gothic cathe- to be crushed! And so the brutal Inquisition was implemented—a drals had nothing whatever to do with the established Christian hideous persecution of all who dissented from the rule of the bish- Church. They were funded and built by the Knights Templars, ops. and they were dedicated to Mary Magdalene—Notre Dame, Our It all began in 1208, when Pope Innocent III sent 30,000 sol- Lady—whom they called "the Grail of the world". diers into the Languedoc region of southern France. This was the This, of course, defeated every dogma that the High Church had home of the Cathars ("the Pure Ones") who were said to be the encouraged, and the bishops retaliated by re-dedicating numerous guardians of a great and sacred treasure—a mysterious secret other churches to Mary, the mother of Jesus. which could overturn orthodox Christianity. But, in so doing, they made a strict decree The Pope's so-called Albigensian Crusade that all artistic portrayals of Mother Mary, lasted for 36 years—during which time, tens the Madonna, must henceforth show her of thousands of innocent people were slaugh- dressed in "blue and white only"—so as not tered—but the treasure was never found. to grant her any rights to ecclesiastical . The main thrust of the Inquisition (or office in the male-only priesthood. The sixth-century "Holy Office") was instituted by Pope , Mary vase on the other hand, was writings of Merlin were Gregory during the course of this mas- eing portrayed (by the world's greates sacre, in , and it was set against anyone artists) wearing the red mantle of cardinal expressly banned by the who supported "the Grail heresy". By 1252, sas of te bt be of. Nea Heh | Eoumenical Council, | s ortre of ims was oma autho Church could do about it. The bishops' only and the original "Heresy" was a wonderful charge to level and heetical_hecause in having prevows- | Nazarene Church eons rine it The vietims were tortured ly elected to ignore Mary Magdalene and of Jesus became an until they confessed, and having confessed her heirs, she was outside their juris- diction. It was at that time that Grail lore was itself denounced as a heresy by the Vatican. The sixth-century writings of Merlin were expressly banned by the Ecumenical Council, and the original Nazarene Church of Jesus became an "underground stream", aided by such notable sponsors as Leonardo da Vinci and Sandro Botticelli. In those days, the Church policed and controlled most literature in the they were executed. If they did not con- fess, then the torture continued until they died anyway. One recorded form of torture was to spread the victim, little by little, with fat (beginning with his feet), and then to roast him alive in sec- tions, limb by limb, over an open fire. These savage persecutions and pun- ishments were openly waged for more than 400 years, and were also extended against Jews, Muslims and Protestant dissenters. But the Inquisition was never formally terminated. As recently public domain; and so, in order to as 1965 it was renamed "the Sacred avoid outright censorship, the Grail Congregation", and its powers are theo- tradition became allegorical and its message was communicated retically still in force today. by way of secret watermarks, esoteric writings, Tarot cards and Undaunted by the Inquisition, the Nazarene movement pursued symbolic artwork. its own course, and the story of the bloodline was perpetuated in But why should Grail lore and the writings of Merlin have literature such as the Grand Saint Grail and the High History of posed such a problem for the High Church? Because, within the the Holy Grail. These writings were largely sponsored by the context of their adventurous texts, they told the descendant story Grail courts of France (the courts of Champagne, Anjou and oth- of the Grail bloodline—a bloodline which had been ousted from ers), and also by the Knights Templars and the Desposyni; and, at its dynastic position by the Popes and Bishops of Rome who had that stage, Arthurian Romance became a popular vehicle for the elected to reign supreme by way of a contrived "apostolic succes- Grail tradition. sion". In the light of this, the Templars became a specific target of the This apostolic succession was said to have been handed down _Inquisition in 1307 when the henchmen of Pope Clement V and from the first bishop, St Peter (and, indeed, this is still the promot- King Philip IV of France were set in their direction. The papal ed view). But one only has to study the Church's own Apostolic armies scoured Europe for the Templar documents and treasure— Constitutions to discover that this is simply not true. Peter was but, like the Cathar inheritance, nothing was found. However, "underground stream”, aided by such notable sponsors as Leonardo da Vinci and Sandro Botticelli. never a Bishop of Rome—nor of anywhere else, for that matter! many Knights were tortured and executed in the process, and their The Vatican's Constitutions record that the first Bishop of companions escaped to countries outside the papal domain. Rome was Prince Linus of Britain, the son of Caractacus the But the Templar hoard was not lost, and while the Vatican Pendragon. He was installed by St Paul in AD 58, during Peter's emissaries were searching, the treasure and documents were own lifetime. locked away in the Chapter House Treasury vaults of Paris. They cathedrals posed an enormous threat to the 'male-only' Church by bringing the heritage of Jesus and Mary Magdalene to the fore in the public domain. The cardinals knew that their whole establishment would tum- ble if the Messianic descendants gained the upper hand. They had to be crushed! And so the brutal Inquisition was implemented—a hideous persecution of all who dissented from the rule of the bish- FB: the 1100s, the powerful Knights Templars and their and the original Nazarene Church "underground stream”, aided by such notable sponsors as Leonardo da Vinci and JUNE - JULY 1998 NEXUS - 17 The sixth-century of Jesus became an Sandro Botticelli.