The Templars and the Baphomet (Sacred Severed Head)
' Within a short time of the Templars achieving prominence in medieval western society, the order reverted to conducting its ceremonies in
conditions of the greatest secrecy. Their receptions and chapters were held at night under tight security, with armed-sentries at the entrance and a
guard high above on the roof
--- dark tales began to circulate, rumours of necromancy and strange practices
--- it was rumoured that the Templars worshipped heads
There is no doubt that a preserved, severed head was involved in Templar ritual, and that it was regarded great veneration and awe.
after their arrest, Tempar after Templar admitted to this reverence of the head, often while rejecting the wilder flights of fancy of the Dominican
inquisitors, such as satanic worship of a cat
Several Templars, including Jean de Tour, the treasurer of the Paris temple, admitted 'adoring a a painted head in the form of a picture
Others confessed to seeing and being required to worship a 'representation' of a bearded head
One of the brothers, Jean Taillerfer, said at his reception that 'an idol representing a human face' was set before him, on the altar. It was
'about the natural size of a man's head, with a very fierce-looking face and beard'.
Hughes de Bure testified that a head of a man with a long beard and apparently wrought in silver or gold was taken from the aumbry in the chapel.
Bartholomew Bochier had also seen a head with a long beard, but whether it was made of wood, metal, bone or was human, he could not tell
Descriptions of the head varied from one wich 'seemed to be white with a beard', to ' a foul and black idol'
Clearly, along with various representations, several actual heads were involved
However, one relic stood pre-eminent -- the long-haired, bearded head that was seen almost exclusively at the Paris temple
Many tales centred around the worship of this severed, embalmed head, a head whose name, as many Templars admitted after their arrest, was Baphomet
The derivation of this name has been the cause of some dispute, but it now seems clear that it is derived from the argot of the Spanish Moors,
'bufihimat', which is itself a corruption of an Arabic word, abufihamet. The translation of this word is Father of Wisdom
That the Baphomet was the object of the greatest veneration and was not normally seen by the 'rank and file' of the order, was confirmed by another
Templar, Guilliame d'Arbley, a relative of Huges de Bure
Guilliame stated that, while copies of the 'idol' were fairly widely seen, the true object of veneration 'was exhibited at general chapters'
implying it was only showen to senior members of the order on special occasions.
A leading researcher into the Turin Shroud, Ian Wilson, came to a similar conclusion about the Templar heads while studying the apparent burial cloth
of Christ: 'Other descriptions, clearly referring to copies, included mention of gold and silver cases, wooden panels, and the like. But the Paris
head is different. One gets the distinct impression that this was the holy of holies, accorded ceremonial strikingly reminiscent of that used by the
Byzantines (to honour the embalmed heads of St. Peter and St. Paul) '
The contemporary descriptions of the 'Paris head', the Baphomet, all make plain that the head was not a copy or carving or any sort of 'graven
image'. It was a real embalmed, severed head. Brother Raoul de Gizy's testimony is typical:
Inquisitor: Now tell us about the Head
Far.Raoul: Well, the Head. I've seen it at seven chapters held by Brother Huges de Piraud and others
Inquisitor: What did one do to worship it ?
Fra. 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 ?
Fra. Raoul: Terrible. It seemed to me that it was the face of a demon, of a maufe (an evil spirit). Every time I saw it I was filled with such
terror I could scarcely look, trembling in all my members
Under further questioning, Raoul de Gizy stated that he had seen the idol of seven separate occasions, several of which had been held by Hugues de
Piraud, who was Visitor of France, a post which made him the virtual overlord of all the Templar houses, at least in Europe
Piraud was outranked only the Grand Master, Jacques de molay. This made him a very big fish indeed, and he was soon brought to the question.
His testimony was dynamite: Piraud aknowledged the existence of the head and, questioned by the Dominican inquisitor Nicholas d'Ennezat, agreed that
he (Piraud) --- 'had seen, held and stroked it at Montpellier, in a certain Chapter, and that he and other brothers present had adored it (the Head)
with the mouth ... and not with the heart; however, he (Piraud) did not know if other brothers had worshipped it with the heart. Asked where it was,
he (Piraud) said he sent it to Pierre Alemandin. Preceptor of Montpellier, but did not know if the King's people had found it '
Eteienne de Troyes' testimony corroborated that of Raoul de Gizy, and again implicated the second in command of the order, Hugues de Piraud. Within
a year of being received into the order, he (de Troyes) attended a ritual in Paris:
" ... and they began to hold the first vigil of the night, and they continued until prime (6.00 a. m.) and at the prime of the night they brought a
head, a priest carrying it, preceded by two brothers with two large wax candles upon a silver candelabra, and he (the priest) put it upon the altar
upon two cushions on a certain tapestry of silk, and the head was, as it seemed to him, flesh from the crown to the shaped of the neck with the hairs
of a dog without any gold or silver covering, indeed a face of flesh and it seemed to him very bluish in colour and stained, with a beard having a
mixture of white and black hairs similar to the beards of some Templars. And then the Visitor (Hugues de Piraud) stood up, saying to all, " We must
proceed, adore it and make homage to it, which helps us and does not abandon us ". And then all went with great reverence and made homage to it and
adored that head "
Of equal interest was the obvious mystery school nature of the Templars. Many occult matters, including the denial of Christ and the Cross, were
apparently part of the inception process, but the existence of the Head was known as a secret only by the higher grades of Templar initiation, and the
younger brothers were not permitted to view it
Etienne de Troyes seems to have been the exception to this rule (he had been inducted into the order less than a year before); however, he was told
that the head was that of Hugues de Payens, which is obviously an explanation given to those of the lower grades of initiation to satisfy them until
the true nature of the head was revealed when, and if, the recruit had proved himself worthy of entering the inner mysteries of the order.
The depositions of the Templar witnesses can be seen to divide into three separate types. There are those who saw only a representation of a head,
those who saw other embalmed heads, and those who were privy to the holy of holies, the mysterious severed head known as Baphomet
The lower grades saw only representations of the head, copies and paintings, such as the long-haired, bearded face painted on a board that can still
be viewed at Templescombe in Gloucestershire. Those who had progressed further, or who showed natural aptitude, were allowed to participate in
rituals that included severed heads other than Baphomet, whilst it seems that most holy relic was normally reserved for the highest grades of
initiation
It is of great interest that almost all the brothers confirm a description of the head as having both a long beard and long hair.
As Neol Currer-Briggs has pointed out, ' ... The Templars, like the majority of their contemporaries, regarded long hair as effeminate, so the length
of the idol's hair was remarkable for this, if for no other reason. This speaks for the head being a true, and ancient relic. Had it been a
contemporary fake, one might reasonaly expect it to embody the Templar's own perceptions and values, and long hair would definitely not have been
among the required attributes. Indeed, it's 'womanly' connotations would have been strenuously avoided by an order that eschewed all contact with
the female sex. The fact that the idol has long hair reveals that it was not made by the Templars, but came into their possession by some unknown
route. That such a discovery or gift was not rejected as 'unworthy' by the Templars, despite the effeminate length of its locks, points very strong
to it having been important to the Templars beore it came into their possession. And given their position as warrior monks of Christ, it is
reasonable to supose that his importance must have been primarily connected with Jesus.
Once again, the long hair supplies the clue: one is immediately reminded of the Sampsaei and the Naziraei, whose locks were never touched by razor,
for whom the hair was sacred and untouchable, and who revered and followed the ancient teachings of Akhenaten/Moses.
And as we have seen, Jesus was most certainly a member of this cult. He was very probably its leader at the time of his death when, as the
Continuation records, a head of Jesus was in the hands of one of the two men who had been with the body in its tomb
This head, the head of Christ, would have been that of a man with long hair and long beard --- exactly as the Baphomet is described
The evidence suggested that the Templars most holy relic -- Baphomet, The Father of Wisdom -- was none other than the severed head of Jesus - the head
of God
Excerpted from:
The Head of God
Keith Laidler
(c) 1998
ISBN:0 75282 689 1
.
[edit on 24-4-2010 by Dock9]