One of the exciting things about research involving signs, symbols, and tokens is once you start to understand what they are you begin to see the world in a different light where symbols are literally all around you. An incredible realization through symbolism came to me while traveling with Steve St. Clair in Nova Scotia. We were filming an episode for the new H2 series I was hosting called America Unearthed.TM Steve, a distant relative of Prince Henry Sinclair, was invited to participate due in large part to representing the Sinclair Clan. Many researchers believe Prince Henry Sinclair sailed to Nova Scotia in 1398, with the Templar treasure, whatever that may have been. I think it is likely Prince Henry did bring tangible treasure of some kind, but his most important treasure cargo were family members and others who were the bloodline descendants of Jesus and Mary Magdalene.
Steve shared the findings from his trip to Scotland the previous week where he had investigated his family genealogy, in particular the Herdmanston branch, the earliest St. Clair’s in Scotland even before the Rosslyn group. The Herdamanstons had received their land from the DeMorvile Family, who were involved in the killing of the Roman Catholic Archbishop, Thomas Beckett, in 1170, who had been excommunicating certain powerful English families including the St. Clair’s. The St. Clair’s—direct blood line descendants of the DeMorvile’s—gave the St. Clair’s land literally two hundred yards from their homestead, Saltoun Castle, which is only eight miles east of Rosslyn Chapel.
Steve pointed out the DeMorvile family financed the building of both Dryburgh Abbey (opened 1150) and Kilwinning Abbey (established circa 1165) which is known to students of Masonic History as Lodge Number 0.
Steve showed me a picture of the deMorville coat of arms—an upright lion with talons drawn and showing its fangs as a symbol of strength. This pose is called a “Lion Rampant,” which was facing left inside a shield. Steve reminded me that many of the royal families continued to use the Lion Rampant symbol on their shields in the centuries thereafter. This particular example also had a gold crown on the lion’s head, likely symbolic of Jesus actually being a king, and the gold color representing his Egyptian heritage.
The Mystery Stone was reportedly found encased in clay along the shore for Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire in 1872. The symbols carved on fours side of the stone and on the top and bottom ends of the roughly four and a half-inch long egg-shaped stone made of quartzite, could represent the shared ideology during the assimilation of twelfth through fourteenth century Templars into certain East Coast and Great Lakes Tribes. A roughly 3/16-inch-diameter hole runs through the long axis of the stone and contains a groove with scratches suggesting use of the stone as possibly some kind of key. (All photos taken by Wolter, 2007)
I reminded Steve that the lion was also a symbol for Jesus and his family lineage. The lion has often been used as an allegory for Jesus in stories and movies such as C.S. Lewis’s, Chronicles of Narnia. The lion in those stories was named Aslan who, like Jesus, was killed and later resurrected. One can be sure that any time there is a symbol or story that relates to Masonic symbolism there will usually be a reference to Jesus and a Freemason behind the scene.
On October 5, 2012, I saw a sign with a Nova Scotia flag. My eyes instantly fixed on the symbol at the center—a red rampant lion inside a shield facing left.
“Steve, look at this,” I said. “That’s the same lion you showed me yesterday.” Sure enough, it was the same red lion on a white background, a point not lost on Steve. He said, “The colors of the Templars.” I then pointed out the blue cross of St. Andrew extending to the four corners of the flag. Saint Andrew was the patron saint of the first crusade which I and other researchers, such as Alan Butler, believe were initiated by members of the bloodline families such as Pope Urban II.129 Besides calling on the Templars to recapture the Holy Land in Jerusalem for Christendom, their ulterior motive was to secure the perimeter of the city, allowing them to recover relicts under the Temple Mount.
Steve reminded me that the name Nova Scotia means “New Scotland.” Looking at the flag symbol again I noticed something unusual about the red lion’s tail. Sure enough, it was in the shape of the curved Arab sword, the scimitar. This could only be an acknowledgement of the Templar Knight’s respect for the Arab’s proficiency with numbers, mathematics, and geometry and that they likely learned a great deal from them during their years controlling the Holy Land. What else could it be? (See color section, Figures 30-34)
Steve and I figured out the rest of the story that to us seemed obvious from the symbolism in the Nova Scotia flag. Whoever designed the flag must have had inside knowledge that the Templars did come to these Canadian shores prior to Columbus, most likely the first time led by Prince Henry Sinclair. They also believed they were the bloodline descendants of first-century royal family of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. The large blue “X” provided further evidence these people did not embrace Roman Christianity, but Monotheistic Dualism faith whose roots extended back to Egypt at the time of Pharaoh Akhenaten’s reign.
The Canadian flag’s red and white seemed almost too obvious a connection to the Knights Templar, but there seemed to be more going on. The maple leaf symbol has tree parts that each has three points. This numerology reminded me of the face side of the Kensington Rune Stone, which was carved by a Cistercian monk traveling with Templar Knights in 1362, has three groups of three lines of runic text for a total of nine. Coincidentally, like the rune stone, which has three more lines of text on the spilt side, the bottom of the maple leaf also has three points, two at the bottom and the stem. The numeric total of twelve in both cases surely cannot be a coincidence and its symbolic meaning will be explained in the final section: Jesus: the Missing Piece.
The “C” Document research took a surprising, and seemingly ominous turn when I received a call from Zena on April 26, 2011. Her first words were, “Scott, I have a very important question to ask you.”
I said, “Go ahead.”
“Did you ever do an Internet search on Don’s friend?” Zena asked.
I immediately answered, “Yes, but that was at least a year ago.”
Zena said, “Oh, my God.”
“What are you talking about? Why did you ask me that?’ I said.
Zena explained that she had just received a letter from a friend of Don’s buddy who now lived in Spain. She said, “Someone put a note inside that letter telling us not to continue pursuing information about him.”
At first, I felt a little concern, but as we talked I started to understand the context of the note. I then asked her to send me a copy. A few days later I received the note which instead of being threatening turned out to be extremely helpful.
After talking over the note with Judi Rudebusch, the obvious person referenced from South Dakota, I called Zena and told her the note might be the best thing that ever happened. First, it (assuming it was real) convinced me that Don’s buddy did exist, which answered the question that prompted the Internet search in the first place. As the research unfolded, amazing things were materializing that we all began to think too fantastic to be true. So many times I thought this had to be some kind of elaborate hoax. Even though the factual evidence was piling up, we still had serious doubts.
The first thing the three of us did was to search Don’s friend’s name on the Internet to see if we could find out anything about him. The search came up with no evidence that he ever existed, which created lingering doubts about the overall story. Not only did the note explain the bizarre dead ends we encountered, but the year he reportedly entered the Federal Witness Protection Program was the same year we were told he had died. We all realized that anyone who entered the Witness Protection Program for all intents and purposes essentially was dead.
The other positive thing to come from the note was that Zena now had a fantastic way to entice the readers at the beginning of her book by explaining the reason why she was using an alias for the central figure behind the “C” Document mystery in her book. At that point it all worked out to make lemonade out of what at first seemed to be a big fat lemon.
As this book went to press, more pieces of the story continued to materialize. Don Ruh and his buddy had a number of friends who worked with them as contractors for the U.S. Government. Their business ventures were highly secret, and I can personally understand this since I found out after my own father’s death that he also did some clandestine work for the U.S. Government. We all know these secret activities are going on and somebody has to be involved in it.
Apparently, when Don’s friend visited Don in the late 1990s while in New York for medical treatments, he left some of the documentation related to his research into the “C” Document with Don. It is unclear how much of the documentation Don knew he was receiving and how much was hidden in places like behind the old photograph. Don has continued to receive additional documentation from the estates of the other men they knew who have recently passed away. His buddy apparently disseminated the documentation amongst his closest friends. Whether they knew what they had is unknown.
At this point, it appears Don is the one who is destined to receive the documentation his friend dispersed amongst his closet friends once he knew his time was limited. This is why he reached out to Zena to help him compile this immensely complicated story into a book.
As the reader has likely already figured out, the redrawn Nova Scotia map with the two Hooked X symbols is what matters most to me. I want to believe that map is legitimate and part of the amazing story of a Knights Templar-led voyage to North America to recover hidden first-century scrolls. Even after all the investigation I’ve done into the eight known inscribed stones (Living Waters, Vulva, Delta, Theban B, Egyptian Bird, Hebrew, In Camera, and Dove), examination of the brass seal, review of over one-hundred pages of documents and dozens of photographs, I still don’t know if this whole story is true or not. Perhaps only parts of it are true. I’m not sure the story will ever be definitive until we find the original “C” Document or something dateable is excavated from the ground.
For now, it remains a fascinating mystery we’ll continue to work on until enough factual evidence is collected to decide one way or the other. Until that time, I’m forced to say something I’d rather not. Unfortunately, the current status of all the research leads me to only one conclusion: I simply don’t know.
Before launching into my thesis about how Jesus and the Royal Family fit into the nearly four-thousand-year-long Hooked X ideological thread, I think it’s important to clarify where I’m coming from by starting with what I like to call the “Religion Speech.” First and foremost, I want people to know I mean no offense to anyone. What I ask people to do is take whatever faith they might have and set it off to the side for a little while so we can discuss some sensitive issues. From this point on, if readers find the subject matter offensive and they still continue, it’s their own fault. The following pragmatic discussion is simply about trying to find the truth, and, in doing so, a variety of possibilities must be discussed. So here we go …
In the case of Roman Christianity, I would like to set aside belief in virgin births, and in people physically rising from the dead. Spiritually rising from the dead and ascending to heaven or wherever a spirit might go is another matter. However, until I see the factual evidence to support these claims, I, personally, am not buying it. So, if many of these events could not have happened in the first century, then what did happen? The analysis of evidence presented here represents the most likely explanation of what happened almost two thousand years ago, when viewed purely with science and logic.
For the longest time, I couldn’t understand, if the Templars and Cistercians venerated the sacred feminine, or the Goddess, following in the tradition of Akhenaton’s Monotheistic Dualism, why did they venerate Jesus if they knew he was just a man and didn’t really physically rise from the dead? Upon reading author Ralph Ellis’s books, it all came together for me when I began to understand the single most important thing that has dictated the profound changes in the history of religion: the careful tracking of the long-range movements and interaction of the heavenly bodies in the sky by the ancients and specifically, their close tracking of and veneration of the “precession of the equinoxes.” It seems appropriate to let Ellis explain this important astronomical phenomenon that serves as the backbone for the history of religion. From his 2009 book, King Jesus, Ellis writes:
The whole business of the constellation of Pisces becoming dominant in A.D. 10, and King Jesus-Justus-Arthur being closely associated with the fish symbolism, is related to the precession of the equinox. As we have already seen, the Earth wobbles on its axis like a spinning top, and this wobble makes the rising constellation at the vernal (spring) equinox change over the years. One cycle of the precession takes some 25,800 years, and since there are twelve constellations to pass through during one cycle, then each constellation is dominant for about 2,150 years (depending on its size). This change between constellations every two millennia or so is such an important event that the year-count was zeroed at that time, which is why we count our years from the beginning of the Piscean era (not from the birth of Jesus, as is often assumed).130
Ancient cultures around the world tracked these movements of the heavens and compiled detailed knowledge of the constellations of stars, planets, moon, and the sun. Recent archaeological discoveries in the Yucatan Peninsula confirm that astronomical records were kept by the Mayans that spans a 7,000-year-long period.131 The wisest in these cultures, be it a shaman, medicine man, or high priest, earned their revered status because they were the brightest in their society. One of their most important daily duties was to ensure that the Sun-god Ra (the Aton) rose every day, for without the sun everyone would die.132
To ensure the sun would rise, the ancient astronomers made their way to the highest point on a mountain, hill, or to the top of the pyramids and turned their attention to the east. What they saw prior to sunrise was a sky full of stars. On the eastern horizon was one of twelve prominent constellations (the twelve apostles) through which the sun would rise, making it very sacred. Tracking these movements by the ancients has likely gone on for tens of thousands of years, and it has been the change in the ages, or “houses,” through the precession of equinox that has served as the catalyst to influence the history of religion.
In occult circles, the procession of the equinoxes is responsible for the origin of the “X” symbol used by those at ideological odds with the Roman Catholic Church, those who embraced the teachings of science, which included astronomy. This symbol served as a secret code to those “in the know” that they understood the ancient secret knowledge of geometry, mathematics, and astronomy. The secret symbol of the “X” is created where the celestial equator intersects the plane of the zodiac during the annual vernal and autumnal equinoxes in the spring and fall.
This graphic depicts where the celestial equator intersects the plane of the zodiac during the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. It forms an “X” (at vernal equinox). Quite possibly the X symbol, so often used by the ideological enemies of the Roman Catholic Church, was a secret code for those who understood the astronomical and astrological meanings of the precession of the equinoxes. (Internet)
“Astronomer priests” also determined that, due to the earth’s tilt (22.5 degrees, the same angle of tilt of the Cross of Lorraine on the white hats of the thirty-third-degree Freemasons), it takes approximately 26,000 years for the twelve primary constellations of the zodiac to cycle through their 360 degree procession around the earth through the heavens. The length of time one constellation spends in the eastern sky depends on the size of the constellation, but the average is 2,160 years. Taurus, symbolized by the bull, was a large constellation that lasted nearly 2,700 years. Aries, much smaller, lasted closer to 1,700 years. Exactly how these ancient astronomers determined when it was time to usher in the New Age is unclear. However, we know that the Mayan calendar, or their 26,000 year-long precession of the equinox’s ended on December 21, 2012.
The popular media has made a big deal out of the inaccurate interpretation by doomsayers about the end of the Mayan calendar and that it signals the end of the world. This is ridiculous of course for, like most other cycles in life, when one cycle ends, a new cycle begins.
A statue of Mary stands on the outside of Notre-Dame Church in Old Montreal with twelve five-pointed stars encircling her head. These stars likely represent the twelve primary constellations of the zodiac that encircle earth and have been tracked by human cultures for hundreds of thousands of years. (Wolter, 2011)
The Hooked X historical thread I have puzzled over for the past twelve years, I now believe is finally solved. There are certainly many details that need to be filled in, but I believe the evidence demonstrates the thread begins with the “heretic” pharaoh of the eighteenth dynasty of the New Kingdom in Egypt, Amenophis IV, who changed his name to Akhenaten (1358 to 1340 B.C.e.) when he arrived at his new city along the Nile, Amarna. Akhenaten and his queen, Nefertiti, have long been considered by scholars as the ones responsible for changing the long-standing multi-God belief system to a single-God (Aten) form of Dualism we now call, Monotheistic Dualism.
Akhenaten’s new religion essentially changed the old religion of veneration of the setting sun to the veneration of the rising sun. Simple as it might seem, this change caused great consternation amongst the people. So much so that upon his demise or as many believe, his banishment, the extensive and elaborate carvings of his likeness were defaced and his temples dismantled.
This new religion was prompted by the change in the age as mandated by the astronomer priesthood of which Akhenaten was the high priest. He knew the constellation of Taurus was falling below the horizon in the morning sky, and the constellation of Aries was moving in to replace it. Akhenaten’s attempt to unite the followers of both religions is one of the multiple meanings symbolized by the crook and the flail. The flail herds the bulls, or the followers of Taurus, and the crook was used to herd the sheep or the followers of Aries.
Ultimately, Akhenaten’s attempt to unite Egypt under the new religion failed. His followers were eventually driven out of Egypt to what is now the Middle East. In his 1933 book, Moses and Monotheism, psychologist and author, Sigmund Freud, speculated that the biblical Moses was in fact, pharaoh Akhenaten. This meant that the “Israelites” descended directly from the Egyptian followers of Akhenaten’s new religion. This idea is consistent with Ralph Ellis’s convincing linguistic argument that Old Hebrew evolved directly from the Egyptian language.
However, recent DNA studies confirm that Akhenaton’s mummy was found in the royal tombs at Amarna leading to speculation that the biblical Moses was likely a brother of Akhenaten. In the September 2010, issue of National Geographic magazine these results were first reported. Under the direction of Egypt’s often outspoken Minister of Antiquities Zahi Hawass, they reported, “DNA now confirms the mummy to be a son of Amenhotep III and Queen Tiye—known to be the parents of Akhenaten, the father of King Tut.”133
The stone statue of Pharaoh Akhenaten depicts his arms crossed in the “Osiris Pose” over his chest while holding the crook and the flail which are also crossed. In addition to representing the “Hooked X” ideology of Monotheistic Dualism, the crossed crook and flail also symbolized the Akhenaton’s attempt to combine the Old Religion’ of Polytheistic Dualism symbolized by the flail which herds the bulls, or the followers of the constellation of Taurus, with the New Religion symbolized by the crook which herds the sheep, or the followers of the constellation of Aries. Egyptian pharaohs were buried with their arms crossed in the Osirus pose, making an “X” as Ramses is here. (Internet, Internet)
One of the stories in the bible Christians seem to agree on is that Jesus was educated in Egypt. Based on the material I’ve read concerning Jesus, what makes sense to me is that Jesus’ education was an initiation in the high priesthood as all Pharaohs-to-be were at that time. Their education was a several years-long process whereby the Egyptian initiates studied the columns of the Temple on which were inscribed the secrets of the seven classic Arts and Sciences.134
If true, this education reportedly included seven years studying in India, “… sojourned six years amongst the Buddhists, where he found the principal of monotheism still pure,” from the time he was twenty years of age until he was twenty-six.135
This made perfect sense to me and seemed consistent with his being more than just a simple “carpenter” the Catholic Church wants people to believe. Perhaps the reference to Jesus as a carpenter was simply an allegory for “educator or teacher.” According to the research of Robert Feather, Jesus was also educated in the traditions of his unique faith which were contrary to traditional Jewish thinking and practices which included the following:
As a high priest, Jesus understood that Essene Dualism is where the enlightened ones dwell in the opposite constellation.138 While humans on earth were venerating the constellation of the zodiac at sunrise as the sun was rising through Pisces (until the winter solstice of 2012 according to the Mayan Calendar) the Creator (the sun) would shine upon the opposite constellation of Virgo. That is until the winter solstice of 2012 when it changed to the house of Leo. Upon reading this it made a lot of sense from the standpoint of trying to understand Dualism, which essentially is the concept of opposites that keep things in balance.
Reading further into Ellis’s research, I learned that after completing his education, Jesus was one of these elected high priests of Jerusalem as documented in the Epistle of the Hebrews.139 I believe it was the rigid and arduous teachings of primarily mathematics, geometry, and astronomy and how to use it that Jesus and his Essene ministry were primarily into. According to the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Essene considered themselves an elite messianic group.140 No doubt their confidence was due in large part to their breadth of scientific knowledge and more importantly, their application of it. This advanced knowledge was likely used in practical and pragmatic ways that led to strong influence and power. This would explain why so much attention was paid to the Essene and their activities by rival factions such as the Romans, who apparently felt threatened by Jesus and his followers. Ralph Ellis makes the point, “… that Jesus and his brethren were part of a rich and influential royal family who were inching ever closer and closer toward taking power in Judea —and perhaps even taking the throne of Rome too, if it fell in their direction.”141
The Star Prophecy at the time of Jesus that coincided with the change of the age from Aries to Pisces was, “That a king, which means ‘messiah’ in both Hebrew and Egyptian, would rise in the east to take over the Empire.”142 According to Ellis, the person referred to in the prophecy, along with his mother, appears to be identified by Josephus Flavius, who wrote the commander of the Jewish rebel forces who surrendered to Commander Titus when Jerusalem fell to the Romans was the son of Queen Helena of Adiabene, and his name was King Izus (Jesus).143
I am firmly convinced that king was the first Pharaoh of the New Age of Pisces who was baptized by the last Pharaoh of the Age of Aries: John the Baptist. That would explain why John the Baptist is often depicted holding a lamb, or a shepherd’s crook, which herds the sheep symbolic of the followers of his teachings. In many of the images of Jesus’ baptism, his arms are crossed in the classic Osiris pose, which makes an “X,” the infamous symbol of the heretics according to the Roman Church and what I believe is also a symbol of his royal Egyptian heritage.
Some Freemasons I have spoken with who are knowledgeable in the hidden history of Jesus and Mary Magdalene believe John the Baptist was actually Jesus’ father. As pharaohs descended from the matriarchal line of Akhenaten, this would make sense since they wanted to keep the bloodline pure and stay within the family line. If true, the John the Baptist/Jesus familial tie would be analogous to Akhenaten and his son, the boy-king Tutankhamen.
In the case of the Knights Templar and the Cistercians, I believe the evidence suggests their leadership was a key part of the dynastic royal families with the Templars being the physical guardians of the bloodline, while the Cistercians kept track of the linages to ensure the family line stayed pure. I also believe the Cistercian order was originally founded in the middle eleventh century to establish a monastic order whose primary function was ultimately to protect not only their physical bloodline, but their ancient religious ideology that traced back to Armana, Egypt, at the end of the Age of Taurus (circa 1650 B.C.). If Robert of Molseme, who originally founded the order at Cîteaux, France, in 1098, was not a part of the original plan, St. Bernard of Clairvaux was certainly in on the plan and was the mastermind during his time as the leader of the Cistercians from when he joined in 1113 until his death in 1153.
What scholars have not realized is the bloodline descendants and followers of Jesus and Mary Magdalene implemented the greatest plan of subterfuge in history. In the eleventh century they created incredibly successful monastic orders, the Cistercians and Knights Templar, which aligned with the Catholic Church and used the institution from within to further its own goals. To the Church, the Crusades were a religious mission; to the Cistercians/Knights Templar, it was a military mission with the primary goal of securing the perimeter around Jerusalem so they could retrieve the scrolls, maps, technology, gold, and human remains they knew had been there for a thousand years. For the next two hundred years, they enjoyed unprecedented growth, accumulating great wealth, power, and influence. This success story took a huge hit on October 13, 1307, when the King of France, Philip the Fair, and the Church in Rome conspired to bring down the Knights Templar which not coincidentally led to the decline of the Cistercians thereafter.
The date the Church and the king of France chose could hardly be coincidence. Given the coded reference of the number thirteen to Mary Magdalene by the heretics, they likely picked that date to send a message this bloodline-of-Jesus business would not be tolerated.
In spite of what many believe, the Templars didn’t disappear. They went underground. By this time they had established themselves with their allies in the Americas with whom they shared their blood. What’s clear is that it was their compatible religious ideologies that led to the bond and to their opposition to the oppressive dogma of the Roman Church. The Cistercians did decline, but they survived and the leadership formed alliances with other religious entities that embraced similar beliefs and long-range goals such as the Sulpicians in Paris. It seems clear that one of the primary goals was to establish a place where they could practice their religion without fear of retribution from the Church. It took three hundred years, but that refuge finally was established in North America in what many then called, “The New Jerusalem.” What we now call the United States and Canada.
Our Founding Fathers were well aware of this plan and the genealogy of George Washington suggests that he too was also a part of the bloodline that traces back to the royal family of the first century. I believe this, in part, is why he became the first president of the newly founding republic whose leadership was made of mostly of Freemasons connected to various secret societies that had been in existence since the demise of the Templars. The members of these societies had been ideologically against the Church and European monarchies who sought to limit the personal and religious freedoms of the people they controlled. This has been and continues to be the crux of the conflict that has raged for the past two thousand years.
With the coming of the New Age of Aquarius it appears almost certain this long-standing religious war is about to end. With the advent of the Internet and the instantaneous transfer of information, the historical claims I’ve made in this book linking the Hooked X families and their ideological thread winding through nearly four thousand years will either be confirmed or refuted. I’m confident they will not only be confirmed, but expanded upon exponentially.
On October 7, 2011, after giving a speech to a group of Masons, a Knights Templar Freemason explained that, when they prayed before the meal prior to my lecture, they all crossed their arms across their chests in the Osiris posse, and he raises his right thumb. I asked why, and he said, “When Masons used to pass each other on the street they would place their right hand below their chest with their thumb raised vertically creating a square. When I pray with my arms crossed, I raise my thumb to make the square of recognition.” He then demonstrated by crossing his arms, raising his thumb and said, “I never realized it before, but it makes the Hooked X.” (See color section, Figures 35 & 36)
My discussion about Jesus and Mary Magdalene would not be complete if I didn’t comment on the recent archaeological discoveries made just outside of Jerusalem that have created a whirlwind of controversy. Readers might recall the Discovery Channel program in 2007 about the incredible discovery of a first-century tomb in East Talpiot, a mile and a half south of the Old City of Jerusalem believed to relate directly to the biblical Jesus, his family, and his closest followers.
There were two tombs revealed during the construction of condominiums in March of 1980 and 1981.144 The first, called the Garden Tomb, was exposed by a blast on March 27, 1980, and revealed the exterior façade over the entrance of an upward chevron above a circle. Inside the roughly square-shaped chamber were a total of six, approximately six-foot-long niches that contained a total of ten ossuaries. Six of the ossuaries were inscribed with the names Jesus, son of Joseph; Mariam called Mara; Joses; Judah son of Jesus; Matthew; and Maria.145
The controversy centered on this combination of names that represent either an incredible coincidence or what can only be the family tomb of Jesus and his royal family. Arguments against it being the tomb of that Jesus came about because these were common names in the first century. However, when a statistical analysis of the names was run against the roughly six hundred inscribed ossuaries collected from over one thousand tombs that have been opened and studied, this is the only tomb that has this combination of names. This data doesn’t prove it is Jesus’ tomb, but it seems virtually certain to me that it is.
If we assume this tomb is the final resting place of Jesus and his family, then there are a number of interesting things to consider besides the obvious humanity of the man known as Jesus. The implication of Jesus being human is what created the fervor among Roman Christians who believe both his body and spirit rose to heaven. It was their well-coordinated protests to Discovery Channel that led to them not replaying the film since its initial release in 2007.
These two late twelfth/early thirteenth century Crusader coins both have an upward triangle with a circle design that is essentially the same as the symbols above the burial chamber to the Talpiot Garden Tomb (top). The first example is found in a coin minted by the Crusaders in the Holy Land between the years 1197-1287 A.D. As possible further confirmation, the back side has small circles in opposing quadrants of the cross and could also be interpreted as the tops of two opposing Talpiot Garden Tomb chevron-circles (middle). The second coin was found by Dr. James Tabor (bottom), and is also believed to be a Crusader coin from the same period. Could this be evidence the Templars entered the Jesus Family tomb and incorporated the architecture they saw into the design of the coins? If so, the three circles and dots in a triangle could represent the three skulls found inside the burial chamber that were also arranged in a triangle. Additionally, the vertical columns around the face, presumably of Jesus, may represent the architecture of the antechamber that was intact in the twelfth century, but later destroyed by construction in 1980. (Internet; U. of WI; Internet)
As startling and exciting as finding the tomb of Jesus was, an important revelation in the book for me came on page 100 where Tabor wrote about his research investigating how frequent the name Jesus was during the first century. Of the 600 known ossuaries with names carved onto them, the name Jesus in any form occurs twenty-one times which equals about three and a half percent. However, Tabor argues that of the eighteen instances the name “Jesus” occurs on ossuaries, minus the three in in the Garden tomb, over half a dozen appear to be a reference to Jesus of Nazareth and not the name of the person whose bones are in the box. Of the roughly twelve that remain, they occur as a cluster in close proximity to the Talpiot Garden and Patio tombs and likely represent followers of Jesus.146
Without a doubt the biggest bombshell for me was when Tabor wrote that scratched onto the front and lids of at least two of the “Jesus” ossuaries, including the “Jesus son of Joseph” ossuary from the Garden Tomb, are “X” symbols! Skeptics reportedly argued these were mason’s marks, but it seems highly unlikely that of the dozens of ossuaries Tabor and his team have examined with similar X’s that they were all made by the same first-century stone mason.147 The only logical conclusion is the “X” is symbolic of something of utmost importance. I maintain it represents the essence of the Egyptian Monotheistic Dualism religion pioneered by Akhenaten that Jesus and his followers later embraced. The “Hooked X” symbol didn’t become associated with Jesus and his true teachings that harkened back to the secret Egyptian priesthood veneration of the rising sun-God until after his death.
An interesting and potentially important detail of the “X” on the Jesus ossuary is the curious hook on the lower right leg that bends ninety degrees to the lower left. This strange “X” is identical to the first Roman numeral ten caved on the In Camera Stone found in the Catskill Mountains in 2009. The “C” Document indicates that stone, if genuine, could only have been carved by the Templars in the late twelfth century. Could this be evidence that the Templars were in the Talpiot Tomb only a few decades earlier and saw the unique “X” carved on the Jesus ossuary? If so, the two “X’s” serve as reciprocal supporting evidence.
This first century ossuary has a large “X” carved beneath the Greek inscription of Caiaphas, the high priest who allegedly turned Jesus over to Pontius Pilate. Like Jesus and his followers, Caiaphas apparently also embraced the same Egyptian Monotheistic Dualism religion pioneered by Akhenaten that was symbolized by the “X.” (Internet)
The “Jesus, son of Joseph” ossuary from the Talpiot Garden Tomb in Jerusalem has an “X” symbol on the right side where the inscription begins. The artist drawing below by Jeffrey R. Chadwick shows a curious bend in the lower right leg of the “X,” which happens to look very similar to the first Roman numeral ten on the In Camera Stone found in the Catskill Mountains in 2009 (above). One could argue a somewhat tenuous connection since the stone was likely carved by someone closely associated with the twelfth-century Templars, devout followers of Jesus and used the Hooked X as a symbol of his religious teachings. (Wolter, 2010; Internet; Internet)
When thinking about the “X” being used in medieval times to symbolize Jesus and his religious ideology, it necessitated some changes for the Templars who copied the Cremona Document Nova Scotia map where “X” is used extensively for the Roman numeral ten. In two instances, the Roman numeral ten is hooked in what can only be a reference to the reverence of Jesus, who came into power when the celestial age changed from Aries to Pisces.
The Hooked X was an unmistakable code used by both the Templars and the subsequent secret societies in Europe who followed in their footsteps.
Janet found something else. On March 10, 2013, she pointed out three small round holes in a right triangle just to the left of the “X” and the Aramaic inscription. This posed more questions. Were these dots manmade? Were they made at the time the inscription was carved? Were they added later, perhaps along with the “X” when somebody entered the tomb? Could the Templars have added the “X” along with the dots when they entered the tomb at the time of the First Crusade? Were these three dots in a triangle left as a calling card on the ossuary just as the three skulls appear to have been left on the floor of the burial chamber? I’m hopeful I’ll be able to examine this mysterious ossuary at some point in the future to try and answer these questions.
After I sent the final draft to Simcha, he wrote that he was very impressed with the circa 1200 A.D. Crusader coin that appears to show the chevron-circle Talpiot Garden Tomb architecture on both sides. On March 6, 2013, Simcha’s colleague, Dr. James Tabor, posted another coin on his blog with an unmistakable chevron-circle and three dots in an equilateral triangle directly above! The coin has no known minting history, but is believed to date to around that same time as the coin I found, sometime between the 1197 and 1287.
These coins were potentially important pieces of evidence confirming not only that the Talpiot Garden Tomb was, in fact, the family tomb of Jesus and Mary Magdalene, but also that the Templars had entered the tomb shortly after they captured Jerusalem in 1099.
After completing my research into the ossuary “X’s” and the Crusader coins, something else crept into my brain. The Hooked X isn’t the only secret symbol the Templars quietly introduced to the world. After digesting the research on the tombs found at Talpiot, I started noticing a very basic, yet undeniable architecture that is found all over the world today nearly everywhere. This architecture incorporates the same basic symbology found on the wall outside the burial chamber of the Talpiot Tomb: the upward pointing chevron with the circle below.
Skeptics I’m sure are already rolling their eyes, likely thinking, “Sometime a peaked roof with a round window simply allows water to run off a building and light to enter a room.” This is certainly true, but perhaps there is more to it. It is a fact that after the Templars completed their mission in Jerusalem, in 1118, and returned to Italy and reported to their leader Bernard de Clairvaux, the massive Gothic Cathedrals began to be constructed along with many churches. They were built by the Cistercians and Templar stone masons and/or their money and liberally incorporated the upward pointing chevron with the circle into the architecture. Within these religious houses the circle below the chevron was often used as the Rose window symbolic of their veneration of the sacred feminine. The chevron-circle architecture is also symbolic of the male/female aspect of Dualism with Jesus represented by the chevron and Mary Magdalene by the circle.
After seeing the upward pointing chevron with the circle carved above the entrance to the Talpiot Garden Tomb of Jesus and his immediate family it dawned on me that symbolic architecture exists all around the world and is primarily found in Christian churches and cathedrals. The Cistercians were primarily responsible for the explosion in the construction of the Gothic cathedrals and churches of Europe beginning in the middle twelfth century. My thesis is they incorporated the chevron and the circle into their religious houses after the Knights Templar entered the tomb and then brought this sacred “Talpiot Tomb” architecture only they were privy to. (Wolter, 2012
If the Templars entered the Garden Tomb of Jesus and his family, it is a certainty they saw these symbols above the entrance to the burial chamber. If so, these symbols would have been of utmost importance and indeed sacred symbols of extreme reverence. After all, these were their distant bloodline ancestors and may have quietly introduced the symbols into the sacred churches and cathedrals they built as a secret acknowledgement they had been inside His tomb.
William A. Turnier designed the Oreo cookie in 1952, twenty-eight years before the Talpiot Garden Tomb was discovered. It is unclear if he was a Freemason, but the symbols are clearly important Masonic and Templar symbols. The design includes twelve Maltese-style Templar crosses, likely symbolic of the twelve primary constellations of the zodiac, surrounding the Cross of Lorraine, which is attached to an oval shape encircling the Oreo name. Opposite the Cross of Lorraine is a stylized AVM. In this case, it must surely be referring to Mary Magdalene.
The modern design of the Oreo Cookie was done in 1952 and includes twelve (symbolic of the twelve primary constellations of the zodiac) Maltese style Templar crosses surrounding the Cross of Lorraine attached to an oval shape encircling the Oreo name. Opposite the Cross of Lorraine and circled is a stylized AVM (left with color reversed). The design of the “Double Stuf” Oreo cookie was slightly modified in 1974. The most significant change is the AVM symbol was switched to the chevron-circle symbolism of the Talpiot Tomb (right). (Wolter, 2013
Three mysterious dots in roughly a right triangle are located between the Aramaic “Jesus, son of Joseph” inscription and the unique Hooked X. 3D microscopy should be able to shed light whether these dots are manmade, and if so, when they might have been made. (Internet)
The “Double Stuf” Oreo with the Cross of Lorraine and Talpiot chevron-circle design was introduced in 1974, six year prior to the Tomb discovery. The symbolism in the design of the cookie is the Templar Crosses represent Templar Knights surrounding and protecting the Cross of Lorraine, the bloodline descendants of the Royal Family through time. The chevron-circle is symbolic of the Talpiot Tomb and physical remains of the First Century Royal Family.
Admittedly, this is pretty heavy stuff to put on a popular cookie. However, the symbolism along with the timing when it appeared implies that somebody knew something about the Talpiot tomb prior to its discovery.
I got a very knowledgeable Freemason’s take on the design of the cookies. John looked carefully at the pictures sent by Channing Mabbett, and was quite impressed. I then asked him, “Assuming these dates for the cookie designs are correct, would it be safe to conclude that somebody knew something about the Tomb before its discovery in 1980?” He looked at me and said, “Oh, yes.”
I can only conclude there must be an obscure Masonic Templar “side” order still in existence today that has known about the tomb for a long time. This knowledge must go back to the Medieval Knights Templar, the only logical candidates to have entered the tomb in the past, most likely at the time of the First Crusade. A day after meeting with John, I met with another knowledgeable Freemason friend who said, “This is not a ‘regular’ Freemason thing.”
The thirteenth-century Crusader coins are likely evidence connecting the Templars to the tomb. Interestingly, the Oreo cookie also looks like a coin. While we’re talking about symbolism, isn’t it interesting the Oreo has black-and-white colors, which symbolize one aspect of Templar/Cistercian ideology, the concept of Dualism. Examples include the black-and-white-colored Masonic pavement common in Freemasonry, and the Cistercians had their white tunics with black mantles. It’s a lot to read into a cookie, but given the facts I suspect it’s probably right.
I forwarded the Oreo cookie information to my friend Alan Butler who I thought could give me balanced feedback on this mystery. As usual, he came back with some good stuff. The first thing he offered was a Latin possibility for OREO (OSSUARIUM REGINA ETERNUS OMNIPOTENS). His wife, Kate, who is proficient in Latin, said this was perfectly good Latin for, “Tomb of the Eternal and All Powerful Queen!” Given the AVM, Cross of Lorraine, and Templar Crosses symbolism, this queen could only be referring to Mary Magdalene.
Another interesting possible clue to the tomb appeared when John Freeburg stopped by my office with a series of a dozen antique wooden slides with York Rite Masonic images painted onto glass. He had checked them out from the Minnesota Masonic Historical Society and believed they dated back to the late 1800s. Because of our recent discussions about the likelihood of the Templars having entering the Talpiot Tomb and retaining knowledge to this day, he wondered if one of the slides associated with the York Rite Knights Templar final degrees might have more meaning than he initially thought.
The image was of a Templar knight kneeling with head bowed at the entrance to a tomb with a rectangular shaped doorway carved into bedrock. In his left hand, the knight holds a burning candle, in his right hand a skull. A dressed rectangular slab of rock sits next to the entrance on a larger slab of rock on the ground (antechamber?). On a deeper level, the scene could be interpreted as knowledge of Templar knights paying proper respect prior to entering the tomb of their first-century Royal Family ancestors. Does this image provide additional evidence that somebody knew about the Talpiot Tomb prior to its discovery in 1980?
I also noticed that the dressed slab of rock pushed aside from the entrance on the slide reminded me of another dressed slab of rock with a medieval inscription found in Minnesota. The artist painted the lower left part of the slab of rock in a pattern that is virtually identical to the white triangular calcite area on the Kensington Rune Stone. This almost certainly is a coincidence, but even the approximate shape and dimensions of the two stones is close to the same and had me wondering aloud. John and I agreed the symbolism related to Talpiot and the Rune Stone on the slide was compelling, but far from conclusive. Still, it was also the kind of veiled reference to something deeper that is so very common in the symbolism of Freemasonry and other secret societies.
Perhaps the most important discovery made in the Talpiot Patio Tomb was the ossuary with a carving Tabor and Jacobovici say depicts the Bible story of Jonah and the great fish. This Old Testament story tells how Jonah was swallowed by the great fish (symbolic of the constellation of Pisces?) and after three days was rescued and symbolizes “rebirth” or “resurrection” from the “womb” of the great fish.148 This Jonah and the fish symbolism of resurrection represent the earliest example that reportedly disappeared by the fourth century.
When they described the head of the human stick figure emerging from the mouth of the fish on the ossuary, “… looked like it is wrapped in the style of a mummy.”149 The authors assumed the bandages are seaweed wrapped around the head, but why couldn’t the bandages on the stick figure represent a mummy? While the assumption of seaweed seems to be corroborated by biblical texts, in light of Ralph Ellis’s research, the bandages could be another clue to Jesus and his Egyptian heritage.
This plan view of the Talpiot Tomb was mapped by Israeli archaeologist Shimon Gibson, in 1980. The antechamber at the bottom was mostly destroyed during construction blasting for condominiums, but the burial chamber remained intact. Inside were two shelves and six niches that contained a total of ten ossuaries. On the floor of the burial chamber three skulls were found place in an equilateral triangle, likely a tell-tale calling card of the Knights Templar. (Tabor and Jacobovici, Page 29, 2012)
After reading Tabor and Jacobovici’s book, I wanted more details about this incredible tomb and looked at Jacobovici’s earlier book co-authored with Charles Pellegrino entitled, The Jesus Family Tomb. I was pleasantly surprised to learn new details that shed additional light on the initial discovery of the tomb. Another detail that triggered my speculation was the three skulls excavated from the floor of the main tomb encased in undisturbed red terra rossa soil. The Israeli archaeologists mapped the location of the skulls and realized they formed an isosceles triangle with the base oriented toward Jerusalem.150
The St. Louis Arch, symbol of the gateway to the west where Louis & Clark began their exploration up the Missouri River has Masonic symbolism. At its apex, a cross-section of the triangle-shaped structure produces the sacred feminine symbol of the equilateral triangle with the point downward. A similar triangle of skulls was found inside the Talpiot Garden Tomb, containing the remains of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and others of the first-century royal family. (Wolter, 2011)
The triangular layout of the skulls, which looks more equilateral in shape according to the original sketch made by the archaeologists, reminded me of the three-dot pattern Freemasons often use as important symbolism for multiple purposes. The three-dot triangle also reminded me of the triangle of stone holes at the Ohman Farm that were not part of the stone holes that create the lines that intersect at the location of the Kensington Rune Stone discovery site. Perhaps the three-dot triangle is a sacred symbol within secret organizations that goes back at least two thousand years and includes the triangle of three skulls inside the likely tomb of Jesus and his family.
On March 27, 2013, John Freeburg shared a late1800s era wooden slide with an image painted on glass of a kneeling Templar knight holding a burning candle and skull at the entrance of tomb carved into bedrock. This York Rite Masonic image could suggest knowledge of the Talpiot Tomb by a secret Masonic order prior to its discovery (left). The dressed rectangular shaped stone on the side has shading that matches the white triangular calcite area on the Kensington Rune Stone (right) possibly suggesting knowledge prior to its discovery as well. (Slide courtesy of the Minnesota Masonic Historical Society)
Whatever the meaning was for the placement of the three skulls inside the Jesus tomb, I agree with Jacobovici’s speculation about who was responsible for putting them there. In the twelfth century the stone that originally sealed the tomb was removed and then put back in place. But the stone was not replaced properly, which allowed a rare agricultural soil called terra rossa to flow into the tomb filling it to a depth of about three feet (one meter) creating a unique geochemical profile on surfaces inside the burial chamber including the ossuaries.151
The terra rossa soil contained a unique chemical make-up that included titanium and iron and was eventually used through chemical testing to prove that the controversial “James, son of Joseph” ossuary that showed up on the antiquities market around the same time the tenth ossuary from the Jesus tomb went missing could only have come from that same tomb. When added to the five other ossuaries with inscribed names from the Garden Tomb, including “Jesus, son of Joseph” and Mariamene, Mara (Lord), amazingly it could only mean this is with reasonable certainty the tomb of the first-century biblical family of Jesus.
Jacobovici speculates the Templar Knights who entered the tomb in the twelfth century were only interested in the “Jesus” ossuary and responsible for leaving the three skulls arranged in a triangle. I agree it had to be the Templars who entered the tomb nine hundred years ago after capturing Jerusalem and securing the perimeter of the city. The “C” Document is consistent with this premise, which mentions that among other things they found an ossuary that contained the “bones of a man.”152 It makes sense they were looking for the Jesus ossuary almost certainly to collect some (the crossed femurs and skull?) or all of his bones as insurance against future aggression by the Roman Catholic Church.
Another clue it was the Knights Templar who entered the Garden Tomb in Talpiot sits directly above the entrance in the carved architecture of the upward pointing chevron with the circle below it. I would offer two pieces of evidence consistent with the Templars entering the tomb, seeing the chevron and the circle above the entrance to the burial chamber, and then cleverly incorporating that symbolism into their future handiwork.
Reading these books felt like a gale-force of fresh air blown into the subject of biblical history by the use of scientific methodology and sound logical analysis mixed with the proper human sensitivity to such controversial subject matter. Upon closing the second book it felt as though I read what will become known as a classic work in the future. There were a number of points about Jesus made that have been debated before, but for me the truth was definitively put to bed here.
One fact they brought to clarity was that celibacy was not a tenant of first-century pious Jews, in fact their beliefs encouraged them to “Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth.”153 Further, the Roman Christian obsession with virginity did not come from Jesus’ time, but grew out of the second-and third-century asceticism. This misconception has led to significant emotional trauma and confusion about sexuality that much of humanity struggles with to this day.
The DNA testing of recovered bone fragments from the Jesus and Mary Magdalene ossuaries proved that the woman inside the Magdalene ossuary was not Jesus’ mother or sister. They argue this is consistent with their relationship being almost certainly that of husband and wife.154 Another critical point was not only were Jesus and Mary Magdalene almost certainly married, but they had at least one child, a boy named Judah, whose bones reside in an ossuary in the Garden Tomb along with his parents and other family members.
Perhaps their most potent argument made from Tabor and Jacobovici was the events that led to the Christian resurrection belief in the revival of the physical corpse after death was simply the misinterpretation of the empty tomb. It was Joseph of Arimathea, who put the body of Jesus in a temporary tomb prior to the Sabbath and later moved it in three days to the family tomb at Talpiot.155 This explains why his body was gone when followers arrived at the temporary tomb and proves that Jesus was just a man whose bones did not ascend to heaven, but actually lay within an ossuary placed inside the family tomb. Their research also shows the symbology carved on numerous bone boxes is consistent with his followers believing it was the spirit of Jesus that ascended to heaven.
Tabor and Jacobovici present what I believe is a conclusive case that they have indeed discovered the tombs of the biblical Jesus, his family, and his followers by using sound archaeological evidence along with scientific testing and analysis to support their arguments. What I respect most about their work is they had the courage to stand behind their conclusions in spite of ferocious opposition of many people driven by religious zealotry rather than scientific method.
I especially like their closing words with respect to their incredible research and what it means which I quote here: “Whatever one’s views of Jesus, we should always remember the lessons of the Enlightenment and the very foundation of academic and scientific culture—good history is never the enemy of informed faith. As has ever been the case through the ages it is dogma, ignorance, and bias that should ever remain our common enemy. Our hope is that our decade-long investigation of the Talpiot tombs will serve to dispel those ancient stumbling blocks so that responsible history and informed faith can dwell together in peace.”
For much of my discussion about the historical aspects of Mary Magdalene and her role in this research I rely on the 2011 publication by Ralph Ellis, Mary Magdalene: Princess of Provence and the House of Orange.
Context relative to Ralph’s work here is this book benefits from knowledge gained from his nine previous books on the subject of biblical history and the central figure of that time: Jesus. His theories were confidently presented and, for the most part, made a lot of sense to this pragmatist.
Ellis effectively argues that “… Mary Magdalene was a powerful and wealthy princess, who was probably the sister-wife of King Jesus in the time-honored Egyptian tradition of a royal sibling betrothal. And being so close to Jesus, she was probably his most intimate and trusted disciple.”156 This would certainly make her an important player at the time and one who would have been revered by followers. However, the true history of the biblical royal family had to be changed, which is exactly what the Church did, creating a largely fictional tome we now call the Bible.
Many believe the sect of Jesus was essentially a Masonic organization where the ancient mysteries (the seven classic arts and sciences) were taught to his followers (initiates). Believers argue this legend is secretly preserved to this day within Masonic rituals and art. The stained-glass window in First Presbyterian Catholic Church in Kansas City, Missouri, shows a kneeling pilgrim (candidate prepared for the Fellow Craft degree) kissing the hand of the Church Father (Grand Master of the Lodge) with three pillars in the background which could be symbolic of the three degrees of the Masonic Blue Lodge. (Wolter, 2011; Secret Societies Illustrated, Page 16, 1909
I particularly like Ellis’s frank take on this point, “Such deliberate fabrications of biblical verses should alert readers to the obvious fact that the Bible on the family bookshelf should not be taken literally as evidence of what happened in the first century, for we have layer upon layer of deceit in this ancient work. Many of the events it records were deliberately manipulated by Saul, to suit Roman sensitivities and Roman needs, and this was the major revision of the true story that changed Jesus from a Warrior Monarch into a Pauper Carpenter. But each subsequent redaction and translation has overlaid on this unreliable account with yet further alterations to suit the sensitivities of each new era, and the betrothal of a sister-wife was one among many elements that could not be allowed to survive.”157
So what happened to Mary Magdalene after the Crucifixion? With Jesus exiled in what is now Britain, the most likely result if he survived the Crucifixion as many believe, was that Mary’s life would have been in danger. The only thing that made sense was going into exile. Legend has it the pregnant queen first went to Egypt where she gave birth to a daughter many believe was named Sarah. From there, she allegedly escaped in a boat across the Mediterranean Sea to southern France where the “Vine of Mary” legend began. (See color section, Figure 40)
This ornate life-size sculpture of the entombment of Christ came from the Knights Templar commandery of Reims that was destroyed during the French revolution in 1792. The sculpture was ordered by Francois Jarradin, Commander of the Hospitallers, in 1531. It was later placed in the St. Remi Cathedral in 1803. The sculpture shows a very pregnant and distraught Mary Magdalene with her arms in the air looking at her husband Jesus shortly after being taken down from the cross. Curiously, blood is depicted still flowing from the spear wound on his right side suggesting he was still alive after the Crucifixion. (Photo courtesy of Christian Tourenne)
At a Masonic funeral, specific arm poses are used to honor a deceased brother. In the Standard Monitor, the following rituals are performed. “The brethren then move in precession round the place of interment, and drop a sprig of evergreen into the grave, after which the Masonic funeral honors are given. The funeral honors are given by extending the hands towards the grave with the palms up. Then cross the arms over the breast, the left above the right, the fingers touching the shoulders. Then raise the hands above the head, looking upward.” At Royston Cave in Royston, England, numerous carvings believed made by the Templars in the fourteenth century include one of what appears to be Mary Magdalene with arms raised in the Masonic sign of distress. Curiously, the early sixteenth-century carving of a very pregnant Mary Magdalene at St. Remi has her arms in the same position. What was originally thought to be the Carthaginian Goddess symbol Tanit carved on the In Camera Stone might actually be a depiction of Mary Magdalene. Notice the position of the arms with the left bent ninety degrees in all three examples and the right bent at a lesser angle. The dot in the body/triangle could be symbolic of the long-rumored legend that Mary was pregnant at the time of the Crucifixion. (Internet; Wolter, 2010)
On page 216 of the Standard Monitor the following rituals are performed, “The brethren then move in precession round the place of interment, and drop a sprig of evergreen into the grave, after which the Masonic funeral honors are given. The funeral honors are given by extending the hands towards the grave with the palms up. Then cross the arms over the breast, the left above the right, the fingers touching the shoulders. Then raise the hands above the head, looking upward.” Many images of Mary Magdalene depict her in each of these poses suggesting some type of connection to Masonic ritual. The question becomes: why?
And what about the persistent legend that Mary Magdalene was pregnant with a daughter named Sarah at the time of the Crucifixion that I believe is one of the secret messages found in the Hooked X symbol? There is some interesting evidence that supports this, including a stunning life-size sculpture of the entombment of Christ ordered by Francois Jarradin, commander of the Hospitallers, in 1531. It resided at the Knights Templar Commandery of Reims until that building was destroyed during the French Revolution in 1792. The statue now resides at St. Remi Cathedral, where it was moved in 1803.
The sculpture depicts the Royal Family grieving over the body of Jesus with tears flowing from their eyes. A distraught and very pregnant Mary Magdalene has her arms in the air in an interesting position. It’s the same position Freemasons use at Masonic funerals and reportedly as a sign of distress to other Masons. The position of Magdalene’s arms is very curious and appears to be the same as a carving made by the Knights Templar on the walls of Royston Cave in England. The positioning of the arms has the left arm bent ninety degrees as in a square and the right arm bend at a lesser angle.
One example of believers secretly preserving the alternate story of Jesus and Mary Magdalene might be at the top of the window in the front of First Presbyterian Church in Franklin, Pennsylvania, the stone tracing looks as though two capitol “M’s”, with a prominently curved female “V” symbol in the middle of each, are on either side of what appears to be a Grail cup. (Wolter, 2010)
While studying these images on May 19, 2013, something prompted me to look at pictures of the In Camera Stone found three years earlier in the Panther Mountain impact area. What we assumed was a carving of the Carthaginian Goddess Tanit, suddenly became something different. I compared the angles of the arms on the carving with those of the Royston Cave carving and the sculpture at St. Remi. They were the same. Could the Tanit carving on the In Camera Stone actually be a waist-up depiction of Mary Magdalene making the sign of distress?
I immediately forwarded the three images to Zena Halpern and then called her. I asked if she saw the similarity of the arms’ positions and she did. We then discussed the dot made in the body on the In Camera Stone, and she said, “A dot on a female body is symbolic of the womb.” Again I was struck with a realization. The evidence in the “C” document clearly pointed to the Templars being in the Panther Mountain area in the twelfth century and the most likely candidates to have carved the stone if it indeed dates back to that time. If so, then the carving is not Tanit and can only be symbolic of a pregnant Mary Magdalene with her arms in the air in a sign of distress.
At this point, it is nearly impossible to know for sure what the truth is regarding this persistent legend. However, there is no question whatsoever that many people around the world for many centuries have believed the legend of Mary Magdalene to be true.
In September of 2012, another tantalizing piece of evidence surfaced relating to Mary and Jesus being married in the form of a fourth-century papyrus fragment with eight lines of text on the front and six lines on the back written in the Coptic language. The fragment was discovered by Professor Karen L. King, of Harvard University.
The Gospel text includes dialogue between Jesus and his disciples where he says, “Jesus said to them, ‘My wife … she will be able to be my disciple.’”158 As King stated in her paper, this discovery doesn’t prove that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married, but it moves the idea a major step closer to confirming it
The implications of the fragment caused heated debate and a predictable reaction from the Vatican, which, of course, claimed the parchment as a fake.159 What else can they say since it appears this was one fragment they were unable to round up and either destroy or hide away in the bowels of their archives.
The research in this book unveils evidence that supports the idea that the belief in the bloodline of Mary Magdalene and Jesus not only survived and then flourished in Southern France, but eventually made its way to North America during multiple periods in history. The Bat Creek Stone suggests a Hebrew presence in the first/second centuries, the Tucson lead artifacts suggest a Hebrew presence in the eighth/ninth centuries, and the multiple runic inscriptions, Templar/Mide’win rituals and the Newport Tower, suggest a Templar presence from the eleventh through the fourteenth century.
On line two of the Kensington Rune Stone inscription there is a “hook” on both the upper right arm and lower left leg of the character. If the “hook” on the upper right arm of the Hooked X character represents the belief that Jesus and Mary Magdalene had a daughter, could the second “hook” on the lower left leg symbolize the belief they also had a son? (Wolter, 2002)
An interesting footnote is the presence of an ossuary that appears to contain the bones of Mary Magdalene in the Talpiot Garden Tomb, suggesting that, at some point after her escape to Southern France, she must have returned to Jerusalem to be buried with her husband and children. Her return to Jerusalem has never been seriously considered to my knowledge and brings up all kinds of interesting possible scenarios. Her wanting to return to be with her husband in death would have been perfectly natural. However, given the volatile political climate with the Romans, it may not have been possible while she was still alive. This brings to mind the likelihood she was brought back by followers after her death, but is there any evidence for this?
Back at the Talpiot tomb, we find that of the six inscribed ossuaries only one is carved in Greek. This ossuary has beautifully decorated carvings befitting someone highly revered and of significant status. The inscription on this ossuary has been translated as “Mariamene Mara.” “Mariamene,” a relatively rare form of “Mary,” was used by the Jesus’ contemporary followers referencing Mary Magdalene. “Mara” is a title of honor equivalent to “Lady,” “Lord,” or “Master.”160
This painting on wood on the ceiling at Rue Bonsecours Church in Montreal, Canada, is a beautiful allegorical depiction of Monotheistic Dualism (Hooked X ideology) and symbolic representation of the Star Prophecy ascribed to the coming new Age of Aquarius. Jesus places the crown onto his wife Mary Magdalene, as she ascends to her equal and rightful place next to her consort. Witnessing the event are twelve angels that represent the twelve primary constellations of the Zodiac and the procession of the equinox who’s most recent twenty-six thousand year-long cycles ended on December 21, 2012. (Wolter/2010)
Recent DNA test results from the Jesus and Mary Magdalene ossuaries in the Talpiot Garden Tomb shows they likely weren’t a brother-sister marriage speculated by Ellis. However, his argument of a royal Egyptian king-queen relationship seems to be reinforced by the title of authority carved into what evidence suggests is the ossuary of the queen and wife of King Jesus: Mary Magdalene.
That this inscription is carved in Greek unlike the rest of the family names in the tomb suggests it was likely carved at a different time. Perhaps she returned in her later years when politics in the region became less dangerous, or her bones were brought back to her final resting place many decades or perhaps even centuries later? It’s an intriguing possibility!
So what does all this Talpiot tombs business mean for the Hooked X symbol? One of my first thoughts was of speculation. In my previous book of the Hooked X symbolizing the first-century royal family with the upward-pointing triangle representing Jesus (the father),161 the downward-pointing triangle as Mary Magdalene (the mother), and the “hook” in the upper right arm that creates a smaller downward-pointing triangle as the long-rumored daughter, Sarah.
While there is no ossuary within the Garden tomb with the name Sarah, there are four other ossuaries without inscriptions as well as skeletons that apparently were never placed within a bone box most likely due to the upheaval caused by the conflict with the Romans. This leaves open the possibility that a daughter could be interred within the tomb. Unfortunately, we might never find out.
There could possibly be a clue to knowledge of the son of Jesus and Mary in the fourteenth century that, while admittedly a long shot, still merits pointing out. On line two of the Kensington Rune Stone is a Hooked X with a second “hook” on the lower left leg of the character. My Compelling New Evidence co-author, Dick Nielsen and I speculated the hook singled-out the character used for the letter “a” was part of a “Grail Code.” I still believe this to be the case, but the extra hook on that character could also be pointing out the upward-pointing triangle symbolic of another child, a previously unknown son. Given the known Jewish religious traditions of the time, it seems more likely than not that Jesus and Mary Magdalene would have had several children and the ossuary from the Talpiot Garden Tomb with the name, “Judah, son of Jesus” suggests one of those children was a son.162
Throughout the last decade I have learned to trust my intuition or “Spider sense” as some people liked to call it. While far from perfect, I have gotten better at knowing when I’m on the right track with my research or simply spinning my wheels. Ralph Ellis, James Tabor, and Simcha Jacobovici’s books were an epiphany for me that finally made all the historical pieces of the Hooked X ideology fit together into a logical and cohesive thread.
The Akhenaten-King Jesus-Knights Templar-Modern Freemasonry historical trail, winding through 3,700 years of history, was finally complete to my satisfaction.
In his first public appearance as the first Roman Catholic Pope of the New Age of Aquarius, Pope Francis from Argentina flashed the ‘M’ hand gesture, not a natural position of the fingers and one that requires intent. Does this mean he’s subversively sending the message he is open to the restoration of balance in the world, or is it simply a coincidence? (Associated Press, Gregorio Borgia)
If I am right about even most of this then the burning question is: what’s next? The popular media for the last several years has been all about the impending apocalypse as prophesized with the end of the Mayan calendar on December 21, 2012. Like many other people, I have always scoffed at this myth, knowing the world was not going to end. The “end of the world” predictions by religious zealots have come and gone so many times throughout history that there was no reason to think this prediction would be any different. On the other hand, the new age of Aquarius is very likely to have the opposite effect.
Through my education of the esoteric side of life and religion that is filled with symbolism and allegories, I have learned some pretty interesting things. From prophecy keepers in the Native American tribes of the Ojibwa and the Cherokee, as well as Templar mystics, the arrival of the New Age has a beautiful, and in my opinion, long overdue message of things to come. From what little I know of prophecies, I do know they are very powerful. Say whatever you want, but if the majority of people believe a prophecy to be true, then it is true. The prophecy of the New Age of Aquarius goes something like this: “Women are going to rise up and reach their equal and rightful place next to their consort, man, and balance will be restored to the universe.”
Some could argue that the process already started decades ago. It is an undeniable fact that woman have made tremendous strides in the last century, most notably in the “New Jerusalem” of the United States of America. Indeed, because of the Internet with its instant access to information and communication, the world is rapidly becoming the international community so many over the last century have predicted. Oppression of women in countries ruled by patriarchal societies is feeling the rumble of the restoration of balance of the sexes that is sure to come.
Let’s face it, most reasonable people would probably agree that this dominantly patriarchal world of the last two thousand years hasn’t exactly worked out very well. One thing is certain, if we humans as a species are going to make it on this planet, some things have got to change. It seems to me the best way of knowing how to make good decisions at this critical junction in our history, we have to know the truth about where we have already been. And not some sanitized or biased version of history that we have been fed, but the whole truth. I believe that once we know what really happened in the past, only then can we move forward intelligently and with optimism into the future.
Having decided after my father died tragically when I was young man that I would live my life from then on with a “cup is half full” philosophy, I am confident the New Age of Aquarius will inspire that positive change we have all been looking for.
While visiting the Rosicrucian Museum in San Jose, California, a few years ago I was inspired by a painting by the Russian mystic Nicolas Roerich, of his wife and consort Helena Roerich (1879 to 1955), along with her words reportedly uttered in 1933. (See color section, Figure 41)
The approaching great epoch is associated with the ascendency of woman. As in the best days of humanity, the future epoch will again offer woman her rightful place alongside her eternal fellow traveler and co-worker, man. You must remember that the grandeur of the Cosmos is built by the dual Origin. Is it possible, therefore, to belittle one Element of it?
Helena Roerich Letters1929-1938
Conclusions: Freemasons in the past 115 years have taken a special interest in the Kensington Rune Stone after quietly recognizing various symbolisms and esoteric meaning that has a direct connection to their Masonic rituals and principals. Changes in the overall attitude toward acceptance of the genuineness of the artifact has prompted positive media coverage resulting in more people coming forward with related artifacts and information.
Conclusions: New evidence will continue to come forward with increased awareness about the ever-increasing number of mysterious artifacts and sites that with careful and thorough investigation will shed new light on the untold history of North America.
Conclusions: The Hooked X symbol in the Copiale Cipher provides an apparent link between twelfth-to fifteenth-century Cistercian/Knights Templar orders in the Baltic Region and eighteenth and nineteenth century Masonic orders in the Baltic Region; most notably Germany and Sweden.
Conclusions: The “X” has long been a symbol of organizations who embraced both political and religious ideology that is opposed to the dogma of the Roman Catholic Church.
Conclusions: The ever-growing number of stone holes demands proper scientific investigation into their geographic and topography locations, their relative-age using geological weathering methodology, and more research into the likely reasons they were made.