The Templars and the Assassins: The Militia of Heaven

Rating:
Summary: Scholarly yet readable examination
Review: "The richness of the historical truths of the Order of Assassins and the Knights Templar intertwine inexorably with the myths that have stimulated the imagination of countless minds through the centuries. Both the Assassins and Templars were destroyed as heretics some seven hundred years ago."
Thus begins the latest book by James Wasserman, "The Templars and the Assassins: The Militia of Heaven" . Like many other researchers and practitioners of the Western Esoteric Tradition, I too have had a long and continuous interest in the "myths" of both of these groups, not least of all since I was born in Tripoli, Lebanon, which still has a Templar Fort as a landmark. Both groups shared a very similar structure, and were said to be guardians of initiatic wisdom (Wasserman supports the idea that the Templars were transformed by an infusion of this Wisdom from the Assassins). Both groups embody intriguing archetypes: the noble group of warrior monks devoted to a higher purpose (the Templar motto was "Not for our Glory but for yours O Lord") which supposedly later degenerated into a powerful elite that snubbed political and religious authority and then was sacrificed on a funeral pyre from whose ashes many branches of the Western initiatic societies claim lineage. In the case of the Assassins it is the darker archetype of the secret society using drugs to gain recruits, and deliberately molding them for political purposes by utilizing them as agents employing the method now synonymous with their name: "assassination". According to Brocardus, a 14th-century German priest, "The Assassins...sell themselves, are thirsty for human blood, kill the innocent for a price, and care nothing for either life or salvation. Like the devil, they transfigure themselves into angels of light, by imitating the gestures, garments, languages, customs and acts of various nations and peoples; thus, hidden in sheep's clothing, they suffer death as soon as they are recognized."
There are so many unanswered mysteries surrounding both orders , it is little wonder that there is a ready public hungry for the newest addition to the voluminous literature which often glamorizes these groups or merely repeats the mythos of secret initiatic teachings and the "hidden hand" which created Freemasonry , and even international banking . A detailed overview of both groups which leads us through the labyrinthine turnings to one of the best examinations of the historical reality and context of both orders. Wasserman acknowledges the help of such eminent scholars as Peter Lamborn Wilson (also known as the delightful Hakim Bey). For the first time we have access, in English to the document "In Praise of the New Knighthood" by St Bernard of Clairvaux, who supervised the writing of the Rule of the Templars.
Originally appearing as a preliminary investigation in "The Equinox 3, No 10", the author openly states his 25 year affiliation with the OTO. However he has truly fleshed out this earlier draft and presents many missing pieces of the jigsaw. Details of the theory and structure of secret societies, the little understood divisions between the Sunni and Shiite sects and the sub branches of seven and twelve imam schools are presented with the healthy mixture of scholarship and plain speaking. The Templars are shown to have been a revolt against the decadence that knighthood had become, and the Assassins are shown to have been a society of free thinkers, with a legitimate and sophisticated hierarchical system of nine degrees of initiation into Gnosis. By necessity they had to have a military wing in order to safeguard their existence due to the tyranny of local political and religious leaders. The Ismaili Nizari sect still in existence today and ruled by the Aga Khan are shown to be the descendants of the Assassins.
Curiously Wasserman points out that there is no evidence of the actual administration of the drug Hashish to any of the members and points out that the allegation was leveled against them by Sunni critics who wished to denigrate them by associating them with a practice even now associated in the Middle Eastern world with the disreputable elements of the lower class. Idries Shah has pointed out in his writings that another derivation for their name is "People of the Assas", ie "the Foundation" and infers that they were actually an arm of the Sufis whose allegorical methods were interpreted literally. Witness the common reference to wine as an intoxicant (symbolizing the inebriated state of ordinary consciousness and paradoxically its transmutation) amongst the many Sufi poets, such as Rumi and Omar Khayyam, who are claimed by the Nizaris as being members of their order .
There is a lingering romance in the popular mind with these seminal influences on Western culture generally, and esoteric orders in particular. This book will prove to be a valuable addition to the library of any serious researcher, and a good companion to revelatory texts such as John Robinson's "Born in Blood", which has presented one of the most lucid substantiations of the Templar origin of Freemasonry. Whilst many other books merely repeat the many historical details , James Wasserman has done us all a great service by allowing us to access further insights into the beliefs and relevance of these traditions. One always looks forward to such well researched and eloquently written expositions.

Rating:
Summary: A valuable resource and a lot more
Review: Let's start with I really liked this book even though I was expecting it to be something else. I picked it up looking for a good read about tough guys in robes and armor and sexy secret rites--maybe Dune Redux sans the worms. What I got was a balanced, information- packed discussion of the rise and fall of the Assassins set in the context of the development of Islam, what happened during the Crusades, and who and what were the Knights Templar and why we still care.

Admittedly this is a lot of material to pack into fewer than 300 pages of actual prose and sometimes the going is thick. Wasserman knows a vast amount about his subject and is beyond eager to share it. But in the end this surfeit of information works for us; a reader comes away with an appreciation of the complex religious history behind a part of today's Islamic politics. We also learn what there is to be known of the Templars: a chilling tale of battle, faith, greed, betrayal and suffering taking place against a backdrop of the medieval Papacy and royal courts.

I'm oversimplifying in a big way here but underlying thesis of the book is that the roots much of contemporary Western esotericism can be found in the exposure ot the Christian Knights Templar to Islamic mysticism as embodied by the Assassins as well as to Gnostic esoteric tradtions. During the Crusader centuries these three great schools came together to create the basis of what the author calls the Western Mystery Tradition.

James Wasserman, who apparently is an occultist of considerable reputation, comes across as a very clean and scrupulous writer. He says flat out whether he is speculating about something or referring to source material and what that source material is. The guy has major opinions about a number of things, some of them pretty controversial, but you know it when he's airing them.

This was a fine, thoughtful, and thought provoking book about a complex period and alien religious/philosophic traditions. It proved fascinating. I hope Wasserman writes more about all this and soon.

Rating:
Summary: Superb study!
Review: Superb study! I have read almost everything available on both the
Knights Templar and the Assassins. I believe this may be the best.
Certainly I wish I had read it first. What is particularly interesting
is the scholarly level of historical accuracy the author strives to
maintain (only the facts, Ma'am) - while not losing the incredible
romance and sense of magic that pervades these two secret societies. It
is also the first book I know to study the two orders as reflections of
the same spirit, the Holy Warrior, killing in the Name of his God, but
calling that God by different names. I am slightly amazed at the
hostility expressed in some of the other reviews here. I wonder if they
read the book or just hate the O.T.O. enough to try and hurt the author.
Great book here. Read it and learn. Read it and enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: Glad I looked twice
Review: This book was sitting on a table surrounded by post 9/11 geopolitical armchair analysts' books and I am so glad I bothered to pick it up. The amount of scholarly work and lack of bias are evident in Wasserman's assessment of the historical implications of Christianity and Islam's births and growths. This thesis, the influence that the East has had on the West is one that is often scoffed at, today. This book is rife with factual details that condense to form a sensible puzzle in contrast to other books who push a reader into adopting an extreme position (that of the expert author's). It was especially refreshing to read a book that complies so well with the blade of reason. Highly recommend this book to any individual who bothers to question.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: This is an excellent book. The author is uniquely qualified to offer
this new and exciting study of the Knights Templar and the Assassins,
which highlights the points of convergence between them. It is written
from the point-of-view of a longtime member of an occult society that
claims derivation from the interaction between Christians and Muslims
during the Crusades. At the same time, the author states his
determination to adhere to the most authoritative and scholarly sources
for his research.

Legends assert that the Templars were infused with Assassin doctrines
leading them to the anti-Christian heresy for which they were destroyed
by the political and religious authorities of their day. The historical
basis for such claims are carefully explored. Convincing evidence is
provided to buttress the long held theory that the interaction of these
two groups contributed to the Renaissance and the flourishing of the
occult arts in the West -- as Templar survivors carried the secret
teachings into an underground from which sprang both Rosicrucianism,
modern Masonry, and the disclosure of the essence of Kabbalah.

While many authors have either uncritically repeated misinformation or
invented their own fancies to embellish history, Wasserman has
scrupulously sought to tell an accurate story based on scholarly sources
that reads as far more fascinating than fiction

This is a mature work whose historical accuracy lends credibility to its
spiritual conclusions. It is a must read for anyone who has suffered
either the tedium of the scholar or the fantasies of the lunatic fringe.