Gods of Eden by William Bramley

Author:William Bramley [Bramley, William]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Body, Mind & Spirit / UFOs & Extraterrestrials
ISBN: 9780380718078
Google: N6leGwAACAAJ
Amazon: 0380718073
Publisher: Avon
Published: 1993-03-01T00:00:00+00:00

Here a Knight, There a Knight. . .

Even after the collapse of the Stuart cause, the Knight degrees remained popular and spread rapidly. The pro-Stuart slant vanished in favor of an antimonarchial philosophy in some Templar organizations, and a pro-monarchial sentiment in others. Freemasons practicing the Templar degrees played important political roles on both sides of the monarchy vs. antimonarchy battles going on in the 18th century, thereby helping to keep that issue alive in such a way that people would find it something to continuously fight over. For example, King Gustavus III of Sweden and his brother, Karl, the Duke of Sodermanland, had been initiated into the Strict Observance in 1770. In the following year, one of Gustavus's first acts upon assuming the Swedish throne was to mount a coup d'etat against the Swedish Riksdag [parliament] and reestablish greater powers in the Crown. According to Samuel Harrison Baynard, writing in his book, History of the Supreme Council, Gustavus was assisted largely by fellow Freemasons.

The Knight degrees also found a home in Ireland where they attached themselves to the Order of Orange. As we recall, the Orange Order was a militant organization patterned after Freemasonry. It was founded to ensure that Protestantism remained England's dominant religion. Members of the Orange Order vowed to support the Hanoverians as long as the Hanoverians continued their support of Protestantism. The Knight degrees were grafted onto the Order of Orange in the early 1790's, by which time the Stuart cause was nearly dead. The Orange Order's Templar degrees were, and still are today, called the "Black Preceptory." Although the Orange Order and the Black Preceptory are supposed to be equal in status and rank, entry into the Black Preceptory is accomplished only after a person has first passed through the degrees of the Orange Order. According to Tony Gray, writing in his fascinating book, The Orange Order, the Black Preceptory today has eleven degrees and "a great deal of secrecy still shrouds the inner workings of this curious institution."1 Approximately 50% to 60% of all Orange members become members of the Preceptory. The Orange Order itself continues to be strongly Protestant and anti-Catholic, and in this way it contributes to some of the conflicts between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland today.

Another interesting chapter in the history of the Templar Degrees concerns the creation of a bogus "Illuminati." "Illuminati," as we recall, was the Latin name given to the Brotherhood. In 1779, a second "Illuminati" was started in the Strict Observance Lodge of Munich. This second bogus "Illuminati" was led by an ex-Jesuit priest named Adam Weishaupt and was structured as a semiautonomous organization. Openly political and antimonarchial, Weishaupt's "Illuminati" formed another channel of "higher degrees" for Freemasons to graduate into after completing the Blue Degrees. Weishaupt's "Illuminati" had its own "hidden master" known as the "Ancient Scot Superior." The Strict Observance members who were initiated into this "Illuminati" apparently believed that they were being initiated into the highest echelons of the real Illuminati, or Brotherhood.

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