The Sacred History by Mark Booth

Author:Mark Booth
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Atria Books
Published: 2016-11-12T16:00:00+00:00

Portrait of Brunetto Latini, Corso Donati and Dante by Giotto (taken from the Chapel of the Podesta in Florence)

The Templars operated something like an early secret service and may have learned much that helped them become rich and powerful. While in charge of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, they studied Islamic traditions and made an early treaty with the much-feared secret society the Order of Assassins, the followers of the Old Man of the Mountains. They remained respectful of Islamic traditions and practices for as long as they managed to keep control of Jerusalem, allowing Muslims in their charge to continue to pray to Mecca. Later Templar architecture would be much in the Islamic style. The white wool loincloth of the Templars may have been derived from the white woollen garments of the Sufis—the word “Sufi” coming from an Arabic word for wool because of the robes they wore as symbols of their purity. The Templars wore a cord similar to the one worn by initiates of the Order of Assassins—and by the dervish followers of Rumi. One of the accusations that would be made against the Templars was that this had been consecrated in a vast artificial underground cave in front of an idol called Baphomet—a name which was interpreted as a corruption of Mohammed.

In 1266 there was another political upheaval in Florence that allowed Brunetto Latini to return home. By now he was one of the foremost scholars in Europe, a renowned authority on, among other things, the occult properties of stones. He befriended Dante’s family and took the young man under his wing.

Like Francis of Assisi, Dante came from a mercantile family, but he had intellectual and spiritual aspirations that would lead him down a different road. He was initiated into the Templar brotherhood by Brunetto and taught by him to have mystical visions like the one that he himself had experienced in the Valley of Thorns.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.