Men And The Monsters They (Allegedly) MadeMan, the Freemasons can't catch a break.
Almost every conspiracy theory smears the Masons with some sort of shadowy evil. In the book, Man-Made Monsters by Dr. Bob Curran (2011), that apparently harmless fraternal order is tied in with the artifical creation of life.
What kind of life? Take a look at the book's sub-title: A Field Guide to Golems, Patchwork Soldiers, Homunculi, and Other Created Creatures. So we're not talking about cute little beings like Smurfs or Teletubbies.
The author doesn't buy in to all the negative stories told about the Freemasons, especially the one that says the Masons inherited the secret of artificial life from the Knights Templar. Dr. Curran only describes the tales, questionable records and urban legends he encountered when researching his work. The book is categorized as Paranormal/Mythology which the emphasis on the mythology part.
Back in year 1119 the Templars were founded in the Holy Land just after the First Crusade. Apparently this military monastic order uncovered buried artifacts and documents from the Temple of Solomon, objects with mystical power such as scrolls written by Melchezidek, the legendary priest king of Salem. It was whispered the Templars used this power to create homunculi that they worshipped.
The reason for such stories is that some wanted the Templars destroyed. The Order was involved in early banking and amassed a great fortune. Besides religious enemies, such as rival orders, the Templars also had secular enemies, monarchs greatly in debt to them.
When a new pope came to power, there was an opportunity to portray the Templars as secret practitioners of witchcraft and other satanic acts. The order was accused of creating homunculi to act as spies, thieves and assassins. Under torture some Templars confessed to evil but improbable acts.
So what happened to the creatures created by the Templars?
Conspiracy theories surround Berenger Sauniere, the priest of Rennes-le-Chateua in Southern France who officially served from 1885 to 1909. Somehow this priest had access to all sorts of money, building many projects around the village. What was the source of his wealth?
Dr. Curran relates the tale that Sauniere found a Templar homunculus within his church and he sold it to the Vatican for a tidy sum. The creature is hidden somewhere in the Vatican.
And the Templars' mystical knowledge? 400 years after the downfall of the Templars the Freemasons rose to power, learning the secrets of Solomon's Temple, or so says the legend. The Masons kept the secrets in various lodges throughout the world. Dr. Curran observes:
"Hints and directions leading to such secrets were to be found not in hidden texts, but in the geometry and symmetry of Masonic building and ornamentation, and throughout the years here have been attempts by non-Masons to decode these and to discover what these supposed 'secrets' might be."
As far as I know no non-Mason has cracked the code.
But the Freemasons aren't the only secret society that is tied in with conspiracy and man-made monsters. Dr. Curran mentions rumors about Rosicrucianism, that some modern-day followers are secretly working for the government in stem-cell and cloning projects.
I don't think the government needs Rosicrucians on the payroll to create monsters. It does a fine job on its own.
Comments
I appreciate the depth to which you cover outre material here. I personally tend to avoid such things as Illuminati conspiracy hypotheses because they don't interest me. My interests lie more toward the political, which I would construe as the center of "conspiracy theory," with stuff like this (and Texe Marrs, and Liberty Radio) being sort of the fringe.
Do you think this book by Curran represents more a fringe of conspiracy research, or do you think it is more toward the center of it? Many of your more recent posts have given me cause to rethink my own position on this.
If I understand your question, by "center" you mean beliefs that aren't superfluous, that can have an effect on events. The term fringe does imply a group or belief system outside the mainstream with very little influence on it.
I'm interested in discussing fringe beliefs because I think that people should be aware of such beliefs, especially when they are hateful with racist or anti-Semitic overtones. Some of what I cover is indeed fringe, "truth" held by a minority but one that might spawn dangerous individuals. Look at Timothy McVeigh who was inspired by William Cooper and his fringe conspiracy beliefs. McVeigh's "political" action had tragic consequences. We shouldn't be surprised when a horrific event like the Oklahoma City Bombing happens. It didn't come out of nowhere but out there in the fringe.
At the same time I'm not here to demonize all freethinkers; most of them are harmless and they're entitled to their non-mainstream thoughts. Sometimes what only separates the fringe from the mainstream is how many people believe it. There are those believers who think the Bible is literal truth, that Noah built his Ark with two of each animal aboard or that when you die your immortal soul will live on (in heaven or hell). Is that any wilder than reincarnation, a concept that most Christians reject?
And let's not forget that until Constantine came along and made Christianity a state religion, it was a fringe group forced to bury its dead in the catacombs. During persecutions the catacombs were the only places where Christians could freely display symbols of their faith and celebrate the Eucharist. In a sense early Christianity was underground. Today's underground minority could become tomorrow's above ground majority.
I want to add that there's more to Curran's book than conspiracy theories. For example, he discusses what might have inspired Mary Shelley to write "Frankenstein."
(2) You do understand the nature of my question. I'm wondering where the center is in a school of thought that itself is defined as fringe. While I note that there is a fringe of a fringe, I'm wondering it's people like Marrs, or people like me.
As you know, the mainstream considers people like the former to be the center of conspiracy thought.