Article © William Mann Author of “The Knights Templar in the New World”

With the advent of the internet, there appears to be a swelling tide of interest relating to the question as to whether the medieval Knights Templar in fact possessed the Holy Grail. The answer to this is a very simple one: There is no doubt whatsoever that the Templars possessed the Holy Grail.

The explanation behind this answer, unfortunately, remains somewhat complicated and, to a degree, very speculative. The key, as I have learned during the writing of The Labyrinth Of The Grail, is to constantly “look beyond” what appears at first to be the true answer. The simple reasoning is that why else would both the Church and State pursue the Templars to the far ends of the earth and torture them beyond compassion. Obviously, the accusations of blasmephy were only an excuse to justify their actions. It really doesn’t take any skill to recognize that the inner circle of the Templars possessed something far more valuable than mere silver and gold – something that threatened the very being of the Church and State.

What the Templars possessed, and became sworn guardians of, was the unbroken line of “ancient knowledge” which among other things allowed the ancient mariner to circumnavigate the world. It is now coming to light that trade among the “Old World” and the “New World” had regularly occurred throughout the Neolithic to Roman eras by “societies who were in on the secret.” Hints of these visits and settlement now appear to be revealing themselves through a variety of sources including classic mythology, Indian legend and maritime folklore, as well as through recent archaeological discoveries.

This knowledge was pure power. Societies that not only possessed the ability to track the sun, moon and the stars, but possessed the inherent wisdom to maintain the “secret” of being able to fix longitudinal positions long before it became common practice, were societies in constant danger of being exterminated. On the other hand, those societies who were able to exploit their advantage to the fullest such as the earliest Templars enjoyed a status rivaled by none.

In other words, the Templars, and those who came before them, were accorded the ability to “look beyond” standard Church dogma to places yet to be “discovered” – the mythical Otherworld.

Think about it for a moment. If you possessed an unlimited source of raw material, fertile land, and mineral wealth, would you reveal it to the world? No, I don’t think that you would, especially if you were in the business of “brokering” peace among nations. The Templars would surely have considered this knowledge to be a “God-given gift.” Thereby, the Templars would have considered themselves to be the guardians of a direct “conduit” between God and man. The Templars would have also believed that this conduit of knowledge straight from the heavens exposed itself through the Mysteries of Christ. To the Templars, this embodiment of heavenly knowledge was The Holy Grail.

You may ask how was it that longitudinal coordinates could be established in pre-Christian times prior to the development of the chronometer. Again, the answer is the simplest, yet most complicated, of all possibilities. Since the concept of time began, man has turned his eyes to the sky and followed the paths of the heavenly bodies. Evolving from this activity was the establishment of strategic viewing positions, which allowed the “Ancients” to establish “roseline” (meridians) around the world. These ancient stone circles and menhirs found around the world, such as Stonehenge, were used to track the known paths or circuits of the eclipses of the sun and the moon.

It was this recognition of “order” and “pattern” in all that made up the universe, which resulted in the development of “sacred geometry.” As such, sacred geometry was derived through man’s ability to reason, which means that all men possessed the “Grail knowledge” through the “art of reasoning.” Come to think of it, there is nothing really “sacred” about it, other than the knowledge that certain Egyptian “royal lines” came to assume it as their God-given right.

Indeed, modern society should not be looking to certain royal houses to capture the “lost art,” but to its historical guardians including the Celtic Druids and Irish, and medieval Knights Templar. Hence, the seeker of the true Holy Grail must follow the path to the source of Celtic tradition and its Indo-European roots. Only when one understands their roots will one better understand themselves. And for the seeker who is able to arrive at the proper application of knowledge and understanding, wisdom and truth will be revealed.

Coming full circle, these four “commodities” were the “Grail treasures” that the inner core of Knights Templar possessed. Unfortunately, even sailing half way around the world in A.D. 1398 to what was considered a New Jerusalem (modern-day Nova Scotia) could not prevent the Templars from being relentlessly pursued by both Church and State. Therefore, it was in the wilderness of A(r)cadia that the 14th century spiritual leader of the Knights Templar, Prince Henry Sinclair, buried the Holy Grail until such time that a more enlightened society could make better use of its virtues.

In this circumstance, one can only conclude that the Holy Grail was the recorded knowledge of the Ancients, set down by those initiates who were willing to sacrifice their lives to perpetuate in words the one true connection between heaven and earth.

Remember that the Celtic soul lies in the head. Thus, the Templars did not allow their hearts to rule their actions. Similarly, the Holy Grail awaits those who practice the simple art of reasoning, enabling them to look beyond the trappings that await them on their journey.