The Templar Order teaches practical skills for modern Chivalry, using the full Templar knowledge base, giving all members access to more top-level “secrets” in the first few weeks, than fraternities give their highest degrees over a lifetime.
Every chivalric or monastic Order is ultimately defined by its teachings. The culture of membership, and the missions and role of an Order in the world, are entirely characterized by the doctrines preserved in its unique body of knowledge. Without a distinct tradition of teachings, an Order would be reduced to a mere fraternity or social club, limited to form over substance, and status over merit.
Pursuing humanitarian missions alone, without a body of sacred knowledge giving deeper meaning and enhanced effectiveness, an Order would simply be a non-profit charity like any other, with no reason for nor claim to chivalric knighthood and damehood.
The backbone of true Chivalry is a commitment to principles of traditional values, which must be developed through knowledge. As most concisely expressed by the psychologist Doctor Gordon A. Eadie in 1945: “If you don’t stand for something, then you’ll fall for anything.” ((Dr. Gordon A. Eadie, M.D., The Overall Mental Health Needs of the Industrial Plant, with Special Reference to War Veterans, Journal: “Mental Hygiene”, National Committee for Mental Hygiene, New York, Volume 29, Number 1 (January 1945), pp.101 et seq., quote at p.103.))
This folk wisdom originates from Templar heritage, in the inspiring quote attributed to Saint Joan of Arc: “Every man gives his life for what he believes. … Sometimes people believe in little or nothing, and so they give their lives to little or nothing.” ((Maxwell Anderson, Joan of Lorraine: A Play in Two Acts, 1st Edition, Anderson House, New York (1946); Play based on historical research, attributing this quote to Saint Joan of Arc.))
In world history and literature, Knights and Dames are most famous for being highly skilled warriors and professionals. One of the main attractions of Orders of Chivalry was receiving advanced skills training, to become part of a world-class force for positive change.
Chivalric training was also desired and much sought after for mastery of nobiliary and courtly culture, elevating a person’s character to that of a true Gentleman or Lady, transforming the individual into a pillar of civilization.
Such skills have always been deeply rooted in principles of justice and wisdom, requiring educational training. Those chivalric skills, which continued primarily through the knowledge base of the Knights Templar, effectively carried civilization out of the brutality of the Middle Ages into the uplifting spirit of the Renaissance.
The Order of Knights of the Temple continues its core tradition of educational skills training, drawing from the full depth and substance of Templar heritage, which the Grand Mastery diligently and continuously restores from the historical record.
This gives all Templars the benefit and advantages of many centuries of the collective wisdom and experience of our ancestors since 1118 AD. That body of Templar knowledge, in turn, carries the most ancient sacred wisdom tracing back to the beginning of recorded history ca. 10,068 BC.
What makes a person a “Real Templar” is knowing everything that the original Templars traditionally knew, living by the teachings of Templar principles, and taking positive action to apply the related skills for the benefit of humanity.
For that essential purpose, the Templar Skills Training Program ensures that all modern Templars will know everything that authentic Knights and Dames must know. Only such knowledge training enables all Templars to develop the expert skills for advancing humanitarian principles to uphold the pillars of civilization.
The essence of Templar Skills Training is perhaps best expressed by the Zen proverb of the Japanese poet Matsuo Basho (1644-1694 AD): “Seek not to follow in the footsteps of the wise masters of old; Seek what they sought.”
Thus, it is not sufficient to merely imitate what the Knights Templar appeared to do. Rather, it is necessary to know what they knew, to continue their original missions, by living the authentic Life of Chivalry in the modern world.
Authentic Templar Chivalry is based on Round Table principles, and thus does not have any artificial ranks or levels of initiatory “degrees”. The Order is not a “secret society”, and thus does not artificially withhold any “higher levels” of “secret” knowledge from its general membership.
It is a founding principle of the Order that Templars are Guardians of the Sacred Knowledge, which was given by God as the collective heritage of humanity. All supposed “secrets” of the Templars were never intended to be hidden, but only appear to be secret because they were suppressed and forgotten.
It is a core Templar mission to restore and return all of the Sacred Knowledge to humanity, as the keys to protecting God-given human rights and freedoms, to uphold the pillars of civilization. As the essential means to accomplish this historical mission, it is necessary for all Templars to fully learn and master these bodies of knowledge.
For this purpose, the Templar Skills Training program was developed to ensure that all modern Templars will know everything that the original Knights Templar knew, and everything that real Knights and Dames of a legitimate Order of Chivalry must know, to serve as Defenders of All Faith and Guardians of Justice, to once again lead the world into a new Renaissance period.
Therefore, the Templar Order gives all members access to more top-level knowledge in the first few weeks, than fraternities or societies eventually give to their few members of their highest degrees by the end of their lifetimes.
Templar knowledge is not about studying things from the past – It is about recovering and restoring the best aspects of the heritage of humanity in the present. Templar studies are not about being an expert in history – It is about expertise in the time-tested solutions to the problems of the modern world. Templarism is not about anachronistic tradition for its own sake – It is about the relevance of a living tradition as a way of life for real impact on modern civilization.
Modern Fencing Match, Olympic style (2015) at Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas
Just as the original Knights Templar restored and applied ancient sacred knowledge to advance humanity from the 12th century, the modern Templar Order applies those same traditions to revitalize civilization in the 21st century.
Even the military departments of world governments officially acknowledge that modern warfare primarily involves “information warfare”, often described as the “battle for hearts and minds”.
Increasingly, public policy and even religion is actively undermined and corrupted by the suppression of factual Truth. In this modern era of propaganda, often enforced by censorship, the Truth preserved in the Templar Skills Training Program serves as the most powerful weapon in the arsenal of modern Templars, as spiritual warriors for upholding human rights.
As most famously expressed by the Victorian era British playwright Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1839 AD: “The pen is mightier than the sword. … Take away the sword – States can be saved without it!” (Play: Richelieu, Act II, Scene II)
The same concept is found in the New Testament: “Take… the sword of the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:17), and “The Word of God is… sharper than any two-edged sword.” (Hebrews 4:12)
As with most cornerstones of civilization, this traces back to the Templar sacred knowledge from the Ancient Magi Priesthood, originating from the Assyrian Teachings of Ahiquar ca. 650 BC: “The word is mightier than the sword.”
As the 16th century Sir Francis Bacon famously stated: “Knowledge is power” (Meditationes Sacrae, 1597 AD).
The 19th century American politician Horace Mann confirmed: “Every addition to true knowledge is an addition to human power.”
The United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan elaborated: “Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress, in every society.”
For these compelling reasons, the “Crown Jewel” of the Order of Knights of the Temple, and the centerpiece of its membership experience, is the Templar Skills Training Program, providing practical working knowledge for applied skills of Chivalry in the modern world.
Beyond the chivalric aspects of “Warrior Monks”, the historical Order of Knights of the Temple was also a major center of education. Despite the prevailing illiteracy of the medieval era, the Order provided many functions of a “University”, promoting scholarly studies and various skills training:
The Temple Rule of 1129 AD presents “studious purification” by learning as part of the essential merits of being a Templar (Rule 1), and describes “lovers of Truth” seeking purification through scholarship “by refined and studious hearts” (Rule 6).
It specifically commands to all Templars, “during periods of time, [to] study universally” by scholarly studies, “that you forego the deceiving world and despise it” (Rule 9), and that “to serve God, each must apply all one’s study and understanding” (Rule 279). ((Henri de Curzon, La Règle du Temple, La Société de L’Histoire de France, Paris (1886), in Librairie Renouard, Rules 1, 6, 9, 279.))
As a result of those principles, the Vatican Papal Bull Omne Datum Optimum of 1139 AD specifically recognized the Templar Order as a “university institution” ((Pope Innocent II, Omne Datum Optimum, “Every Good Gift” (29 March 1139); Translated in: Malcolm Barber & Keith Bate, The Templars: Selected Sources, Manchester University Press (2002), pp.8, 59-64.)).
Genuine Templar tradition requires a brief period of intensive study of the Templar Skills Training Program for all who join the Order:
The Temple Rule mandates that before admitting a new member “the Rule shall be read to him” (Rule 11), a somewhat metaphorical statement indicating general Templar knowledge training.
It requires that new members “shall be put to the test according to the wisdom of the Master”, indicating the importance of a process of in-depth skills training, to demonstrate practical working knowledge of Templar heritage, principles and wisdom (Rule 14). ((Henri de Curzon, La Règle du Temple, La Société de L’Histoire de France, Paris (1886), in Librairie Renouard, Rules 11, 14.))
Authentic to historical Templarism, the modern Order provides a robust package of training materials to all new members. This includes in-depth educational explorations of key historical documents of the Knights Templar, with new translations of some very rare medieval texts, which have been diligently restored by the Grand Mastery supported by a cooperating university.
The Ancient Order of Knights of the Temple possesses the full depth and substance of the original body of sacred knowledge of the founding Knights Templar from 1118 AD. As an ongoing priority mission, this knowledge base is continuously being restored by the Grand Mastery.
Restoration involves organizing and compiling archive materials into relevant topics, verifying and authenticating content from primary sources of the historical record, researching and integrating supporting academic source references which confirm or clarify historical facts, and packaging each topic into a useful educational book or practical manual.
The resulting materials of the Templar Skills Training Program are provided to ensure that all new members of the Order will know everything that Templars need to know, to most fully appreciate, enjoy, and benefit from serving as a Sergeant, Adjutante or Temple Guardian, and for later elevation to Knight or Dame of the Templar Order.
Focus on the Life of Chivalry – The Order of Knights of the Temple, first and foremost, is an Order of Chivalry, dedicated to chivalric humanitarian missions. Members join primarily to learn to live the Life of Chivalry, so all training materials necessarily focus on practical knowledge with real-world applications to active Templar missions.
Templar Spirituality Included – While Templars are Defenders of Religion, the Order itself is not a Religion, so it does not teach any specific spiritual beliefs or practices, which can be learned elsewhere. Nonetheless, as spirituality is an essential aspect of Templarism, principles of authentic Templar Spirituality are included throughout most of the training materials, often within seemly unrelated topics. Accordingly, spirituality from the Temple of Solomon is not taught directly, but is learned indirectly, through studying all aspects of Templar Chivalry.
Traditions of World Heritage – The Order has fully restored, and extensively teaches, timeless rules and principles of Templar Chivalry as major world heritage, including the Code of Chivalry of 1066 AD, the Temple Rule of 1129 AD, and Templar Code of 1150 AD.
It has also restored and teaches the medieval Templar traditions which continued to become international standards for institutions of royalty, nobility, chivalry, and even governments worldwide, including the Rules of Courtly Dress & Regalia of 1672 AD, the Rules of Courtly Etiquette of 1682 AD, and Rules of Courtly Titles & Forms of Address of 1769 AD.
As a result, all members of the modern Templar Order learn everything which the top experts of major historical institutions know, empowering them to effectively support the sovereignty of countries, kingdoms and nation-states, as guardians of the pillars of civilization.
Convenient Download Format – The Order plans to eventually publish all materials as hardcover university textbooks, for the general public. However, only registered Templar members will have access to electronic PDF file versions, text searchable, extensively bookmarked for easy reference, to keep with them at all times on computers and mobile devices. Also, this gives members private copies of the latest updates of all Templar books, many years before they are published for bookstore distribution.
Updates and New Releases – The Templar Skills Training program is an ongoing restoration project led by the Grand Mastery. The Order gives registered members access to all books and materials which are sufficiently restored and packaged. Continued restoration of additional works is supported by the monthly membership subscription donations. All registered Templar members are notified of all updates and new releases, as and when they become available.
Size of Training Collection – The total collection of training materials (including the official website) consists of approximately 1,370 pages of proprietary academic educational works (which would be over 2,740 pages in standard printed book size).
Estimated Study Time – The primary “Service Level” of Skills Training materials, to qualify as a Sergeant or Adjutante in active Chivalric Service, approximately 1,000 pages of practical applied knowledge, can be effectively studied during a period of 4 – 8 weeks part-time (or possibly 2 – 4 weeks full-time).
The real “Introduction Stage” of the Templar Skills Training Program is actually the Official Information Site of the Ancient Order of Knights of the Temple. This is not merely an “online brochure”, and thus not simply a “website”. Rather, it presents a complete online “Topical Encyclopedia“, freely and publicly giving the most essential Templar knowledge to the world, at a university textbook level of detail and quality.
Therefore, all new Templar members are reminded and strongly encouraged to first make sure they have studied all of the website content, as the foundations for the next levels of the Skills Training materials.
Public Templar Materials – The total content on the Official Information Site of the restored Templar Order is over 620 pages (on printer paper).
For a shorter study of Templar Essentials (approximately 120 pages), it is best to begin with these key topics: Introduction, Foundations, Survival Lineage, Codes of Chivalry, Knight or Dame Elevation, Modern Missions
For a focused study of Human Rights and Anti-Agenda work in Templarism (approximately 75 pages), one should see these most relevant topics: Magna Carta, Secret Societies, Real Enemies, and Exposing Defamation.
For a focused study of Templar Spirituality (approximately 45 pages), one should see these most relevant topics: Templar Spirituality, Sacred Activism, and Mary Magdalene.
For a focused study of Women in Templarism (approximately 35 pages), one should see these most relevant topics: Women in Membership, Mary Magdalene and Joan of Arc.
For a focused study of Muslims in Templarism (approximately 30 pages), one should see these most relevant topics: Muslims in Membership, and Muslim Saracen Chivalry.
Access the Membership Platform to Join the Templar Order.
Learn about Modern Templar Missions of the Order.
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