Zaragoza
GRÜNE MÄNNER VON CALATAYUD
Nächste Orte: between Salamanca and Barcelona

My 1974 Vision of the Grail

Halfway back from Portugal I spent the night at Calatayud, in mid-Spain. Although I knew it used to have a famous Templar Church, I didn't expect anything to find there. Until I made my evening stroll. Right around the corner I saw a Renaissance/Baroque church portal. Nothing special, I thought. Until I came closer....

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On pillars left and right from the main entrance several huge Green Men grinned from ear to ear. I was speachless, nailed to the floor. 

 Coming closer I saw the wooden door covered with countless small images. First I thought, that they represented Baroque figures, measured to the abundance of decorative art. As my eyes sharpened I suddenly saw Green Men and Women figures all over the place, mostly related to each other in a broader composition.

A first association with the Tomar Sanctuary was forced on me. Taking the time difference into account (Tomar 14th century; Calatayud 16th) the Green Men showed strong similarities, indeed.

Look at these powerful images at the front of the gate. These are not symbols of an oppressed religion. How could it, that at the beginning of the 16th century these Green Men could be shown so openly. The one on the left side provocatively shows "the horns of the "pagan goat" i.e. representing the Goddess Astarte"

Goat, lion, horse, boar, bull and many other animals were considered "Mother's beasts". They are openly exposed. The reason the Templars dared to expose them is the (relatively) weakness of the Church at the beginning of the 16th century. It is also proof of the fact that the "old religion" was never successfully eradicated by the all-dominating church. 

On the right side another animal.....However, I got intrigued by an image on a pillar left in front of the gate. It appeared to be a woman with her legs open, exposing her vulva, out of which something poured down into a vessel. I couldn't believe my eyes. We now come to the core of the matter. In a moment I will disclose the Secret of the Templars.

As you probably know, the Templars went to the Holy Land "to protect pilgrims". At the same time they had a secret mission: to discover the Treasure of the Temple of Solomon. Against all expectations they found something heterodox: the Holy of Holiest that once belonged to the MotherGoddess Asherah. With it the door opened itself to the entire ancient (pre-Christian) MotherGoddess tradition, including Her Son/Lover, the Green Man.

Later this Holiest was called the "Womb of Astarte" (daughter of Asherah), a symbol of abundance, fertility and prosperity. The Templars were not afraid of portaying this in the most concrete way possible: the Womb poring her blood in a Vessel of Everlasting Life or the....Holy Grail. Left: another woman into the same act, EXACTLY the same image found at Tomar.... PS. Not surprisingly, my Vision of the Grail is intimately connected to this Mystery: the Chalice pouring out Her blood!

I had to catch my breath and went for a walk to watch the rest of the church. Inside a (dark/black) Madonna, put into a fare-away corner, "giving birth" to a angels' head. In former times the face of a Green Man - as Son/Lover of the Mother - used to occupy that place. See "The Templars' True Secret" (3)  

Is it accidentally, that this church is located in the Jewish Quarter? The Templars had a close connection to the latter, after all.

It has to be emphasized, that the images portayed both on the outside portal as well as the wooden door are never isolated phenomena. It is proof of the consistency, the power and the joy of the underlying belief. MotherGoddess, Green Men, the Grail with its abundance, the Dragons and the other "beasts" are always closely connected. It makes the Templars the transmitters of the intact archaic Mother religion into modernity (Renaissance).

Upper: MotherGoddess openly exposing Her vulva, like the one in Tomar. Left: closely surrounded (protected) by two Green Men and two Dragons, the Goddess is "fertilizing" a Chalice. Right and below: similar pictures.

The MotherGoddess as unifying factor to opposites (two men with the back to each other).

Green Men carrying the Vessel of Abundance on their heads. Below: similarity with the God Dionysos (also a Green Man) seems likely. Despite the difference in time (and thus artistic expression) the essence of the images in Tomar and Calatayud is the same. Proof of the consistency of the tradition.

I had a True Holy Night. Revealing the True Secret of the Templars is not a sinecure. In fact, for the first time in history we are able to know about their true background, motives and reason for eradication. It simultaneously confirms the claim of the Reborn Order to be the only true successor to the Order of the Temple, justified by the Transmission of its alive and hitherto hidden Secret.

ZURÜCK

 © 2000-2010 Copyright Han Marie Stiekema
Last revising: 12/31/09