Table Of ContentThe
T emplar
P apers
Ancient Mysteries,
Secret Societies,
and the Holy Grail
By
Oddvar Olsen
N P B
EW AGE OOKS
A division of The Career Press, Inc.
Franklin Lakes, NJ
Copyright © 2006 by The Temple, Oddvar Olsen
All rights reserved under the Pan-American and International Copyright Conventions.
This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form or by any
means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any
information storage and retrieval system now known or hereafter invented, without
written permission from the publisher, The Career Press.
THE TEMPLAR PAPERS
EDITED BY CHRISTOPHER CAROLEI
TYPESET BY EILEEN DOW MUNSON
Cover design by Lu Rossman/Digi Dog Design NYC
Printed in the U.S.A. by Book-mart Press
Permission for the use of the artwork Salome, page 55, The Resurrection, page
60, and The Beheaded, page 115 given by Yuri Leitch. Permission for the use of
the photos Wooden Black Madonna, page 76, Black Madonna with Child, page
80, Grail Knight, page 86, and Judgment, page 81 given by Ani Williams.
Permission of the use of the photos Temple, Scotland, page 179, and Belfry, Temple,
Scotland, page 187 given by Bob Mander. Permission for the use of the photo
Canadian Templar Uniform, Circa 1862, page 211 given by Stephen Dafoe.
To order this title, please call toll-free 1-800-CAREER-1 (NJ and Canada: 201-
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Olsen, Oddvar, 1971-
The Templar papers : ancient mysteries, secret societies, and the Holy Grail / by
Oddvar Olsen.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-1-56414-863-6
ISBN-10: 1-56414-863-6 (pbk.)
1. Templars—History. 2. Grail. 3. Freemasons—History. I. Title.
CR4743.O47 2006
271'.7913—dc22
2005056733
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Acknowledgments
This book would not have been conceived without the articles con-
tributed for publication in The Temple magazine, so a special thanks goes
to all the contributors!
My biggest thanks go to my son Solomon for completing the picture.
In addition, thank you to Lynne Adams, Paul Broadhurst, Gabrielle,
Serena, Stephen Andrews, and Karen Ralls for continuous support and
inspiration.
To Mark McGiveron, thank you for all of those long Holy Grail/
Joseph of Ariamathea/Templar conversations. To Natasha (at Chalice
Well), Jamie (at Gothic Image), and Karsten (at Watkins Books), thanks
for being the first bookshops that had faith in The Temple—without you
this book may never have been published.
I’m also indebted to the staff at Wells Library, the Taunton Record
Office, The British Library, and British Museum for their expertise and
help in locating rare texts. Thanks to Tony and the rest of the staff at PPL.
To all the Church Wardens and key holders of the various Templar
sites who have showed me around and unlocked locked doors, a similar
nod of appreciation!
To the Templar spirit, Henry de Blois, and John Arthur, thank you
for being beacons past and present. I have a lot of gratitude for everyone
that I have met on this fabulous journey, far too many to be mentioned
individually by name here. Thanks for all those illuminating discussions;
all being well we will meet again soon.
Thanks to Umberto Eco, for his insight, wit, and luminous writings.
And last, but not least, I am also very grateful to everybody at Career
Press and New Page Books for both approaching me to publish this com-
pilation, and for the guidance and support that have made it what it is!
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Contents
Foreword By Dr. Karen Ralls.............................................................9
Preface ............................................................................................13
Chapter 1. The Historical Beginnings of a Knightly Order...............17
A Brief History the Knights Templar 17
By Oddvar Olsen
Chapter 2. Godfrey de Bouillon and the Early Knights Templar.......23
The First Templars 23
By Sandy Hamblett
Godfrey de Bouillon’s Templar Knights, Mount Sion, 31
and the Essenes
By Sandy Hamblett
Chapter 3. The Ladies of the Grail...................................................53
Salome: The Lady of the Grail 53
By Yuri Leitch
The Legacy of Mary Magdalene 60
By Lynn Picknett
The Knights Templar and Lady Wisdom 67
By Damian Prestbury
Mary Magdalene: Mistress of the Grail 75
By Ani Williams
Chapter 4. The Templar and Related Mysteries................................93
The Franks Casket, Sabine Baring-Gould, and the Sangreal 93
By Yuri Leitch
The Larmenius Charter and the Legitimacy of Modern-Day 99
Knights Templar
By Vincent Zubras
Abbot Henry de Blois, the Templars, and the Holy Grail 105
By Oddvar Olsen
The Head on the Platter 115
By Yuri Leitch
Abraxas: The Seal of the Inner Order Templars? 119
By Oddvar Olsen
Knights Templar House, Kelevdon, Essex 125
By Terence Wilson
The Templars of Rousillon 133
By Sandy Hamblett
Schiehallion: Mount Zion in the Far North 147
By Barry Dunford
One Possible Source for the Grail: The Joseph of 158
Arimathaea Connection
By Mark McGiveron
Were the Templars Head Worshippers? 162
By Oddvar Olsen
Chapter 5 Templar Preceptories.....................................................171
Templars Sightings in Bristol and Somerset 171
By Oddvar Olsen
Balantradoch: The Scottish Temple 179
By Bob Mander
St. Michael’s Church, Garway 191
By Oddvar Olsen
The Fall of Acre:The Last Battle for the Holy Land 195
By Stephen Dafoe
Chapter 6 Freemasonry .................................................................207
A History of Canadian Masonic Templarism 207
By Stephen Dafoe
The Early History of Freemasonry 223
By Robert Lomas
Bibliography..................................................................................239
Index.............................................................................................247
About the Authors.........................................................................253
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Foreword
By Dr. Karen Ralls
The memory of the Knights Templar lives on today—a historical
enigma, long shrouded in mystery.
On the one hand, the Templars were known as the devout, loyal, and
famed monastic warriors of the Crusades—the “white knights” of medi-
eval Christendom. They were gifted diplomats, skillful farmers and navi-
gators, and they established the largest multinational corporation in
western Europe at the time (serving as bankers to kings, among others).
On the other hand, the Templars were rumored to have conducted
mystical religious rites, guarded the Holy Grail, and possessed the lost
treasures of the temple of Jerusalem.
But what is fact and what is fiction? When it comes to the Templars,
this has always been the “big question.” Even so, it is not always appreci-
ated that during the time of the Templars (1119–1312), the “history”
and “myths” concerning the Order were already becoming intertwined.
(cid:2) (cid:3)
9
