by Eddie Lark, Paladin

Never give up on your research! About 7 years ago I read somewhere that Hugues de Payns shield carried heraldry presenting three black Saracen heads. Soon after that I found a picture of all the Grand Masters Arms located in an unknown Chapter House in the Languedoc.  There were displays of the Arms of all the Grand Masters and Hugues de Payns shield was also there, but there was no further description.

So, for 5 years I researched for and could not find anything to enhance the description or where it came from, until now.  In the past few months I have found several instances that described the shield and more information than I thought I would ever have.

I found it in HRH Michaels new book, The Knights Templar in The Middle East, and The Sufis, by Indries Shah. Most of the material I found is below – a short version of it anyway.

This also goes to enhance the supposition that Hugues de Payns was indeed of Islamic lineage.

The Sufis, Idries Shaw

pp. xviii in the Intro, Robert Graves and on pp. 202-212

Please note all the Arabic allegories in this story.

Though Friar Bacon has been looked on with awe and suspicion because he studied the “black arts,” the word “black” does not signify “evil.”  It is a play on two Arabic roots FHM and FHHM, pronounced fecham and facham, one of which means “black” and the other “wise.”  The same play occurs in the arms of Hugues de Payns (of the “Pagans”), born in 1070(*) who founded the Order of the Knights Templars; namely three Saracen heads sable, blazoned as if cut off in battle, but really denoting heads of wisdom. The Hugues arms also appeared on his gold colored shield.

The Moslem Sufis were fortunate enough to protect themselves against charges of heresy by the efforts of EL-Ghazali (1058-1111), known in Europe as Algazel, who became the highest doctrinal authority in Islam and reconciled Koranic religious myth with rationalistic philosophy, thus earning the title “Proof of Islam.”  Nevertheless, they were frequently the victims of pogroms in less enlightened regions, and were forced to adopt secret passwords, grips, and other ruses in self protection.

The Sufis are an ancient spiritual freemasonry . . . .” Indeed, Freemasonry itself began as a Sufi society.  It first reached England in the reign of King Aethelstan (924-939) and was introduced into Scotland disguised as a craft guild at the beginning of the fourteenth century, doubtless by the Knights Templar.

(*) Les familles chevelresques du Lyonnais. There are two stories that claim that Hugues father’s nickname was “The Moor.” The other story is that Hugues de Payns nickname was “The Moor?” Count de Pagan, the family’s historian, refers to the very early contact with the Spanish Arabs which produced this unusual surname.

Dhu’l-Nun, revered by all Sufis, is referred to as having been of Nubian (“black”) origin, giving a connection with the adoption  of “black” (fehm) and “knowledge and understanding” (fehm) by the dervish school of the Coalmen, which we associate with the Carbonari.

Black is also another word for Egypt, said to be derived from the color of the soil.  The Black Art, is thought by many to mean nothing more than “the Egyptian Art,“ or the Art of Understanding.” By a similar process of thought, the Black Virgins of the middle ages could be translated as the “Wise Virgins.” The confusion between the Black Art, the Hermetic Art and the Egyptian Secrets has appeared and reappeared throughout medieval literature.  The misunderstanding exists only because of the ignorance of the similarity of “black” and “wise” in Arabic by foreigners.

Eddie

This message was edited by The Bard on 2-7-09 @ 10:30 AM

08-23-2008 @ 9:55 AM                          

CAPUT LVIIIm Legend

"Surely this evidence [given by Templars at their trial] suggests that copies of the head, perhaps some of them not unlike the Sainte Face de Laon, others of carved stone or alabaster, such as those of the Nottingham School of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, were widely distributed throughout the order's houses. This would at least explain why nothing resembling a pagan idol was found after the brethren had been arrested, and why none of the pictures found in their chapels raised so much as an eyebrow." - Noel Currer-Briggs, The Shroud and the Grail - A Modern Quest for the True Grail

The idol was also described as:

"...An old piece of skin, as though all embalmed and like polished cloth."

     - Chronicles of St. Denis

Ian Wilson also hypothesizes that the Templar idols were representations of Christ's face copied from the Mandylion/Shroud. A possible surviving example, on a painted panel found at Templecombe, England, shows "a bearded male head, with a reddish beard, lifesize, disembodied, and, above all, lacking in any identification mark....It conforms too, to some of the most rational Templar descriptions: 'a painting on a plaque', 'a bearded male head', 'life size', 'with a grizzled beard like a Templars'. The Templars cultivated their beards in the style of Christ." - Ian Wilson, The Shroud of Turin - The Burial Cloth of Jesus Christ?

A Daemon Guardian?

"...The descriptions given of it [the Baphomet] varied wildly. The physical characteristics assigned to the 'Baphomet' seemed to come either from the maufé or demon of northern folklore, or from church reliquaries. It was often said to represent a cat, a beast traditionally associated with witchcraft and heresy." - Peter Partner, The Murdered Magicians

"INQUISITOR: Now tell us about the head.

BROTHER RAOUL: Well, the head. I've seen it at seven chapters held by Brother Hugh de Peraud and others.

INQUISITOR: What did one do to worship it?

BROTHER RAOUL: Well, it was like this. It was presented, and everyone threw himself on the ground, pushed back his cowl, and worshipped it.

INQUISITOR: What was its face like?

BROTHER RAOUL: Terrible. It seemed to me that it was the face of a demon, of a maufé [evil spirit]. Every time I saw it I was filled with such terror I could scarcely look at it, trembling in all my members." - from M. Michelet, Procés des Templiers

Based upon the idol's description as a "demon" having "very fierce-looking face and beard", the idol very likely could have been Asmodeus, the "daemon guardian" who helped Solomon build his Temple. A statue of the demon guards the door of the parish church at Rennes-le-Château.

"The Templars' stronghold in Jerusalem, the site of their foundation, was finally overrun by the Moslems in 1244. Thirty-three years later the victorious sultan, Baibars, inspected their castle and is recorded to have discovered inside the tower 'a great idol, in whose protection the castle had been placed: according to the Frank who had given it its name [this is an unreadable word, made in diacritic letters]. He ordered this to be destroyed and a mihrab [Moslem prayer niche] constructed in its place."

     - Ian Wilson, The Shroud of Turin - The Burial Cloth of Jesus Christ?

CAPUT LVIIIm

"...We found indisputable evidence for the charge of secret ceremonies involving a head of some kind. Indeed the existence of such a head proved to be one of the dominant themes running through the Inquisition records....Among the confiscated goods of the Paris preceptory a reliquary in the shape of a woman's head was found. It was hinged on top, and contained what appeared to have been relics of a peculiar kind." Baigent, Leigh & Lincoln, The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail (HBHG)

The reliquary was:

"A great head of gilded silver, most beautiful, and constituting the image of a woman. Inside were two head bones, wrapped in a cloth of white linen, with another red cloth around it. A label was attached, on which was written the legend CAPUT LVIIIm. The bones inside were those of a rather small woman."

     - Oursel, Le Procés des Templiers

"Caput LVIIIm - 'Head 58m' - remains a baffling enigma. But it is worth noting that the 'm' may not be an 'm' at all, but the astrological symbol for Virgo." Baigent, Leigh & Lincoln, The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail

"The number 58 is less puzzling if one remembers that five (5) is the number of the pentagram and eight (8) is indicative of Isis. We may now complete the simple equation which exposes her secret number:

     5 X 8 = 40 = 58 - 18 ISIS

"The numbers 5 and 8 are also exhibited in the beliefs of the 'Brothers of the Rose Cross', where the rose is constructed with a centre of five petals, surrounded by eight petals." David Wood, GENISIS (1986)

"That it had a feminine origin is shown by Gerald Massey who writes 'METE was the BAPHOMET or mother of breath'. According to Von Hammer, the formula of faith inscribed on a chalice belonging to the Templars is as follows: Let METE be exalted who causes all things to bud and blossom, it is our root; it is one and seven; it is octinimous, the eight-fold name." Kenneth Grant, Nightside of Eden

Scholars have tried to determine the truth, if any, of the charges against the Templars. Most agree that the Templars "had adopted some of the mysterious tenets of the eastern Gnostics". Their alleged idol Baphomet may have been the Triple Head of Wisdom pictured on the arms of the orders' founder, in the form of three black Saracen heads. On the other hand, no idol of Baphomet was ever found in the Templars houses or shrines, though these were seized and sealed immediately.

Templars were accused of "making a fig" at the crucifix with their hands; but this derisive sexual symbol was not a mockery by eastern standards. Orientals called it a knowledge sign, the feminine counterpart of the phallic cross; in India it was a lingam-yoni. If the Templars trampled a crucifix, they may have copied the custom of Arab dervishes who ceremonially rejected a cross with the words "You may have the Cross, but we have the meaning of the Cross".

08-26-2008 @ 6:19 AM   

Hey Eddie,

The information in these posts is quite interesting! Thanks for sharing the fruits of your treasure hunts. nuggets worth pondering!

Sophia v.Rosslyn

08-26-2008 @ 5:54 PM                          

Thank you Sophia.  I have a new book, some of which is already posted here entitled, "Knights Templar - Reloaded". I suppose I got that from "Matrix."  There is a lot of new material here for us to ponder, most of it good.  However, one of the authors is saying that Hugues de Payns did not exist, that he was actually Hugh de Champagne. [The Bacon-Shakespeare syndrome again.] After all the new material that I have reviewed here, I don't know if I can swallow that or not? I have heard this theory before, but I don't know where?  Anyone out there know about this?  It is going to take more research on my part.

The game is afoot . . .

Eddie

08-27-2008 @ 2:41 PM                          

The Mohammedan Descent Of Hugues de Payns

Sorry, I do not have a "lineage genealogical template" to do this properly, but this is very simple and will give you a good idea of Hugues' patrilineal descent:

5th Caliph & 2nd Imam Hasan d. 670

Hasan II - Son of Hasan; Grand Master - Assassins, or Prince of the Mountain.

Abdullah al-Kamal

Idris I - 789-93 Ruler of Fez

Idris II - 793-828

Umar

Abdullah

Ali

Ahmad

Mamun

Abu Ahmad

Muhammad  d. 1008 al-Mansur, Emir of Cordoba, Abba of Pamplona

Abd ar-Rahman an'Nasir (Prince Sanchuelo) Jimena of Cordoba

Theobaldo - Lord of Gardile / Angelica Doukas

Thibault de Payns Lord of the Castle of Martigny / Helie de Montbard

Hugues de Payns - 1st Master Order of the Knights Templar; / Elizabeth- she joined a convent when Hugues went to Outremer

Son:

Thibault, Abbot of Abbey of St Colombe