In the 14th century, the Inquisition was determined to exterminate the Knights Templar. Some refugee Knights (and their treasure?) participated in trans Atlantic voyages to Nova Scotia in 1398. The Templars were the keepers of the Holy Grail who were searching for Avalon, a paradise free from religious persecution. Was this sanctuary Nova Scotia?
In "The Balance of Nature". we examine Templar beliefs with respect to man's dealings with nature, heaven and earth, good and evil, based on earlier Celtic, Arab, Muslim, Greek and Egyptian teachings and present the mysteries that evolve from the Templars use of SAcred Geometry and it's relationship to the earth's forces and strategic locations. The main question relates to the age-old belief that the Greeks, Carthagians, Phoenicians and the Mesopotamians circumnavigated the world and that maps remained from those times demonstrating remarkable accuracy. These maps became the property of the Knights Templar enabling them to sail to Nova Scotia at a time when most people considered the world to be flat.
The "Lord of the Rings" refers to Prince Henry Sinclair , an agent of the Knights Templar and hereditary Grand Master of the Freemasons. The prince's background in esoteric teachings, military strategy, geometry, astronomy, etc., provides an understanding of how a 14th century Earl could transport and hide the Holy Grail across the Atlantic and create a labyrinth of clues not uncovered until 1993. This chapter also relates how chess and Tarot Cards, both attributed to the Knights Templar, figured so prominently into Sinclair's plan, as does alchemy, Greek mythology, and Celtic/pagan beliefs relating to the "otherworld", as subsequently described by many authors and poets.
In Chapter 4,"Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary",we show how the royal Merovingian line continued throughout the centuries through princesses of royal descent. Associated with this is the theory that Mary Magdaline married Jesus Christ and bore him children. Thus a direct line of descendants from the house of David continues to this day and is supported by the "Priory of Sion". In addition, an examination of Celtic, Greek, and Egyptian high priestesses, from virgin to prostitute, and their relationship to the virgin Mary, explains the relationships between man and woman, the pentagram and hexagram. Also reviewed is the link between Rennes-le-Chateau, the medieval stronghold of the Knights Templar, located in France and Pleasant Valley, Nova Scotia.
"Peace 681" deals with the mystery surrounding Poussin's painting, "Les Bergers d'Arcadie". It's relationship to coded messages from the Rennes-le-Chateau parchments, and the relationships of figures in the painting to names in Nova Scotia (Acadia) is examined. Clues within art masterpieces by Grand Masters of the Priory of Sion, Botticelli and DaVinci are explored. The Celtic/Templar fascination of the skull (Baphomet), is explained along with how the head figures so prominently into the Poussin painting "Et in Arcadia Ego" and the Nova Scotia landscape.
In chapter six, "The Tempatation of St. Anthony", We refer to the painting by Teniers that has been lost but still remains a vital part of the Rennes-le-Chateau clue. Like St Brendan of Ireland and St Bernard of Clairvaux, St Anthony was a priory monk who travelled into the wilderness to become closer to God. Sublime references to Anthony in the wilderness are also shown to relate to physical features in the Nova Scotian landscape. Six is an appropriate chapter number because of it's male reference and relationship to the Gothic form. An explanation of Tarot Card #10, the Wheel of Fortune, reinforces the positioning of a waterfall as the veiled sanctuary within the inner sanctum (the Holy of Holiest) of the church and proceeds to illustrate the relationship of the physical landscape (mountain/valley) to the female form.
"The Key", as it is known to Freemasons is "66.6 - 72". This was deciphered from the tomb of Lord Anson of Shugborough and from the application of SAcred Geometry to a template reflecting a sine curve, and corresponds to the major axis of the previously noted geometric diagrams. 666-72 recurs with exciting regularity within geometry, the tetragrammation and the triple tau. We elaborate on the Tarot cards - Fortitude and the Hanged Man. Fortitude portrays the jaws of a male lion controlled by a female, as exemplified by the royal Merovingian line.
The chapter, "Val D'Or" recounts the legends of a great valley of gold and other associated mythological references, ranging from Jason and the Argonauts and the Golden Fleece, to the Midas Touch, or the Golden Apple. Alchemy has a strong relationship to this chapter, as does magic and spiritualism. A section on Champlain recounts his overwhelming desire to discover a lost copper mine at the head of Minas Basin in what was known as New France, and his untimely death at the hands of the Indians whom he always approached and questioned about earlier Europeans such as Henry Sinclair.
Chapter nine, "Tower of Glass" refers to a see through, hour glass shaped, allegorical tower of the Fisher King, that in fact existed at the Templar refuge in Nova Scotia. The tower may have existed before 1398 and was reconstructed by Sinclair and his men with the aid of the Micmac Indians and was similar to the Newport and New Ross towers. The relationship between the Westford Knight and the location of the "White" tower demonstrates that clues were left by Sinclair, albeit it in a sublime manner, indicating the exact location of the tower and the front and back door to an underground cave/abandoned copper mine.
In chapter ten: "Out of the Shadows",We state that the Rennes-le-Chateau treasure was moved to New France/Arcadia during Sinclairs time to the new Temple of Solomon in the New Jerusalem. The chapter describes the historical tension between Scotland and England which caused Sinclair to abandon his refuge so quickly and bury the holy relics prior to returning to Scotland to fight and die in an English invasion of 1404. It explains how the secret was scattered among six countries and all the background material to the labyrinth was lost during the burning of Rosslyn in 1404, as sublimely indicated in Umberto Eco's "Foucaults's Pendulum".
"Into the Light" reveals that through the Tarot virtues, Justice, Fortitude, Temperance and Judgement, the Sinclair site was to be the closest thing to heaven on earth, and that Sinclair demonstrated these virtues to the native Micmacs as "Glooscap" in return for loyalty. Nova Scotian place names mean something different when applied to another level, or etymologically, and Sinclair left his stylized road map, to be followed by applying esoteric clues including the sequence of events as they are portrayed through Tarot cards.
Chapter 12: "The Golden Bough", with reference to Frazer, explains, how the Nova Scotia landscape depicts four elements of the ancient crest, the eagle, lion, bull and man, thus completing the square. The planting of oaks to emulate the golden bough proves Sinclair's forestry knowledge and insight that the treasure would not be discovered for a long time and only by someone initiated in the knowledge of natural and applied sciences as well as Masonic rituals.
"A Fool's Discovery" recounts the moment the author uncovered the door to the inner Sanctuary and realized the meaning of "Et in Arcadia Ego". This final chapter provides a fitting end to the author's journey. Many have speculated as to the true nature of the Holy Grail/Templar treasure but few are prepared for what was discovered and how it relates to world history and Freemasonry.